Chapter 369: The Saint Master's Story (Part 3)
Ji Hongli's brow arched slightly.
"That's all it took?"
"That's all it took," the Heavenly Demon Venerable said with a shrug. "The Saint Master has never been one for pointless words. He'd rather fight than reason."
He continued,
"Besides us three—I, the Eldest, and the Second—who were also pawns on this board, there was also the Saint Master's first disciple, Zhou Moran..."
As he spoke this name, his tone noticeably chilled.
"And the Saint Master's..." The Heavenly Demon Venerable stole a glance at Ji Hongli, his voice dropping even lower, "...Dao companion."
After uttering the words "Dao companion," the Heavenly Demon Venerable subtly lifted his eyes. Seeing that Chen Chang'an and Ji Hongli showed no reaction, he breathed a silent sigh of relief, thinking to himself:
"The Saint Master's temper is far better than it was in his younger days."
Chen Chang'an tapped the table lightly with his finger and asked,
"What about the betrayal that came later?"
The Heavenly Demon Venerable sighed and continued,
"The Saint Master made a bet with a certain great power. Using a world as the chessboard, they wagered on who this world would revere a millennium from now. Each side sent five people, who were stripped of their cultivation and reborn into this world with their memories intact."
He shook his head, his tone tinged with helplessness.
"Of the five of us, the strongest was only at the Saint Realm, while the other side consisted of five Immortal Venerables! I don't know how the Saint Master could be so bold, to dare make such a wager."
"But the Saint Master was absolutely certain of his own victory," the Heavenly Demon Venerable said with a wry smile. "Yet, no one in the Upper or Lower Realms believed he could win."
"However—" his voice suddenly rose, a flash of excitement in his eyes, "a miracle happened!"
"Setting aside the two traitors, just the three of us were enough to crush those five Immortal Venerables!" The Heavenly Demon Venerable beamed, as if transported back to that proud and spirited time. "We hunted them across the world, driving them to the brink of extinction!"
Chen Chang'an raised a brow slightly.
"How did you manage that?"
To have forced five Immortal Venerables to such a desperate end was clearly a rare highlight in the Heavenly Demon Venerable's life. He boasted proudly,
"The three of us traveled the world with the Saint Master. While we may have swindled and deceived, committing every imaginable wrong, there was one thing the Saint Master taught us."
"What was that?"
"An equal heart." The Heavenly Demon Venerable's tone suddenly turned solemn. "In the Saint Master's eyes, there were never distinctions of high and low, of gods and mortals—only enemies and friends."
A look of nostalgia appeared in his eyes.
"One moment, he could be locked in a earth-shattering battle with a Saint Venerable; the next, he could be at a mortal's tea stall, spinning tales with an old man."
"The Saint Master revered every life and treated every person he met with equality."
"That's why on the 'chessboard'," the Heavenly Demon Venerable mused, "we quickly raised armies and established nations, while those five Immortal Venerables were still fretting over getting too close to mortals."
His expression suddenly darkened.
"But those five had a strange fortune. No matter how we pursued and cornered them, they always managed to escape at critical moments, even gaining benefits from it."
The Heavenly Demon Venerable gnashed his teeth.
"One of pretty-boy traitors, in a fight with the Saint Master's Dao companion, fell into a secret realm together. I don't know what happened inside, but when they came out, something was different in their eyes..."
He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.
"It led to the Saint Master's Dao companion ultimately choosing to betray us!"
The room fell silent for a moment. Sunlight streamed in from the window, illuminating the Heavenly Demon Venerable's face, which was twisted with anger and pain.
...
The Heavenly Demon Venerable's voice was low and suppressed, as if every word was steeped in hatred.
"That traitor, Zhou Moran..." he sneered. "His becoming the Saint Master's disciple was a scheme from the very beginning."
The candlelight in the room flickered, casting his grim face in a shifting glow.
"After the great calamity of antiquity, the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths of the Upper Realm were all plagued by the seven emotions and six desires. Especially when it came to passion and desire, it often gave rise to absurdly infatuated fools." The Heavenly Demon Venerable scornfully twisted his lips. "And Zhou Moran was the most foolish of them all."
He picked up his teacup but didn't drink, instead staring at his own reflection on the water's surface.
"He was the son of a prominent cultivation family in the Upper Realm, blessed with exceptional talent from a young age and destined for a brilliant future." The Heavenly Demon Venerable's tone grew colder. "But his fiancée and childhood sweetheart doted on his adopted younger brother, showing him favor at every turn."
His fingers tightened slightly, and the teacup let out a faint "crack," sounding as if it couldn't bear the pressure.
"The most ridiculous part is that later, that vile woman personally dug out Zhou Moran's spiritual roots to heal her adopted son, then kicked him down to the Lower Realm." A hint of disgust flashed in the Heavenly Demon Venerable's eyes. "And yet, he still couldn't forget that fiancée, believing she had just been deceived by the adopted son."
Ji Hongli frowned slightly.
"Why... would the Saint Master take someone like that on as a disciple?"
"The Saint Master's heart grew soft." The Heavenly Demon Venerable sighed. "He pitied the boy, and his talent was indeed exceptional, so he took him as a disciple and nurtured him carefully."
His voice suddenly sharpened.
"But all it took was that vile woman to beckon him, and he betrayed us in an instant!"
The Heavenly Demon Venerable shot to his feet, his eyes blazing with fury.
"In that game, even if we hadn't won, we were already invincible! But it was these two traitors, who conspired with the other five to lure us out and surround us!"
His fist slammed onto the table, causing the teacups to leap.
"The Eldest and I were killed on the spot, our souls returning to our bodies. The Eldest, though grievously wounded, managed to escape and held on for several centuries..."
The Heavenly Demon Venerable's voice dropped suddenly, tinged with a sense of unwillingness.
"Even so, in their final battle to kill him, the enemy paid the price of three lives."
The Heavenly Demon Venerable's chest heaved, as if he were once again back on that night of betrayal.
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