The scene before him, for Ye Tiancheng, might have been fleeting, but he paid it no mind. His thoughts had already shifted to a different mode. In his heart, he was brewing, not repeatedly practicing, the thirteenth stance of the Fiery Sky Sword: Fiery Sky Burning Heaven. This move was incredibly potent; if wielded effectively, it could achieve victory through surprise. He pinpointed the center of the opponent's tornado, a small, incomplete fissure, like a strand of hair.
He aimed to pierce through this point. No matter what, the opponent would be unable to dodge this attack. Fiery Sky Burning Heaven required the accumulation of energy. If all his energy could be condensed into a single point and launched at the opponent with lightning speed, the opponent would be utterly incapable of resisting the attack of this snake staff. He would act once the timing was right.
However, it was regrettable that after using the move Fiery Sun, the staff had already developed cracks and could not be used for extended periods. This meant Ye Tiancheng had only one chance. If he failed this time, he would be utterly finished. The thought made him nervous. Sensing this tension, everyone else saw an opportunity. Of course, the snake tribe leader in red had no idea what Ye Tiancheng was up to, as the Great Green Snake was already harassing him. Although the Great Green Snake was no match for the opponent, its harassment made him lose focus. Ye Tiancheng was accumulating energy, and the snake staff in his hand became incredibly strange. A colossal, fiery red aura formed an insurmountable power.
This power declared to all that anyone who dared to deal with Ye Tiancheng would pay a heavy price. It had to be said that some people truly were the masters, and despite the unfavorable circumstances, he could still turn the tide.
Seizing the opportunity provided by the Great Green Snake, Ye Tiancheng's snake staff swung towards the opponent's head like a white steed galloping past. This week, all the flames had pierced through the tornado, which had just reached Ye Tiancheng. If he had not achieved this effect at this moment, he would be the one to die. It was a moment of extreme peril.
Ye Tiancheng never dreamed he would have such a rare opportunity. It was a matter of life and death: either he died, or the opponent died. After seizing this chance, the opponent felt no pain, only the crisp sound of bones shattering. Because Ye Tiancheng could not condense sword energy into a line with his palm, and the line was rather thick, when he struck, it felt like a blunt weapon hitting the opponent's body. After feeling no pain, the opponent's bones completely shattered.
The killing effect produced by Ye Tiancheng in the critical moment stunned the entire snake tribe. They looked at each other, unsure. Before such powerful beings, their fate was only in the hands of others.
What can you do? Before powerful individuals, you can do nothing but obediently follow their arrangements. That is all. Therefore, the path of cultivation is very narrow; it is either you die or I die, with no other way. Once you choose this path, there is no turning back. You can only continue forward resolutely. Ye Tiancheng felt immense difficulty in his heart.
He did not know how he would choose his options now. Previously, he had asked the guards to give him a hundred people so he could obtain demon beast materials. These hundred people would be killed, their luck stolen. This was an extremely cruel act, as the person asking was also a living being. Thinking about cultivation, he could not afford to care too much. If he did not take their lives, others would. So, he would be the villain.
Thinking of these damnable reasons, Ye Tiancheng's heart grew darker. The black inner core in his dantian gradually became darker. It turned out that what condensed was not a golden core, but a demonic core.
Every life under this condition presented a dim, gray color, as it was burned by one's desires. This mode originated from the heart. To eradicate it was certainly not a matter of a single day, because everyone had a dark side within their hearts. When this darkness was infinitely magnified, they would become corrupted. Ye Tiancheng naturally knew why he had become dark; it was because he was a very selfish person.
He would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. However, he felt that it did not matter anymore. Since he had become this way, he did not know if he would perish because of it. For now, he would just follow this path. Life always has an end, no matter how powerful one is. When the universe is destroyed, all immortals, gods, demons, and Buddhas will turn to ashes, and they too will vanish. Nothing will last forever, so it is only a matter of time. Thinking of this, Ye Tiancheng felt it did not matter.
As for those terrifying things, they had long since become blurred. He used to be very afraid of these things happening to him, but after cultivating, he gradually became numb to them. His heart had become indifferent. His entire being was colored by darkness. What he had to do was to do those hypocritical things that others dared not say. He wanted to be a righteous villain.
To be a villain required considerable capital. On this path, he would be attacked by everyone, becoming the target of public criticism. However, Ye Tiancheng felt it did not matter. Since he had chosen this path and done so many bad things, the cycle of karma would eventually catch up. If he were to accept such retribution one day, he would not beg for mercy.
The kind of chaotic fighter like this guy was the absolute best of the best in this world. Of course, this world was on the verge of collapse because humans had excessively exploited the planet's resources, making it unbearable. Humans were destroying themselves. Everyone knew this, but they did not act to protect it, because the power of one person was minuscule. It required everyone to act together. But most people were indifferent, thinking only of their own happiness. As for their descendants or others, it seemed to have nothing to do with them. This extreme selfishness was spreading, almost consuming everyone.
Ye Tiancheng killed the snake tribe leader. The remaining snake tribe members were completely leaderless. The gatekeeper who had previously blocked Ye Tiancheng spoke to him, "If you are in charge, please select a hundred snake tribe people for me. I want to take their lives and collect demon beast materials."
No one seemed to hear Ye Tiancheng's words, becoming timid. They dared not agree or refuse. Now they were in a dilemma. They dared not refuse Ye Tiancheng, nor did they dare to agree to his words, as these hundred snake tribe people were their masters. Humans would not kill their own kind or betray their own kind. Naturally, the people they represented would not do so either. But Ye Tiancheng smiled, "What you think is not what you think. Humans also kill each other. For their own benefit, they naturally do not care about others' interests. If you want to live, I advise you to agree to my request, otherwise, your leader is your best example."
Ye Tiancheng was threatening the gatekeeper, who turned pale and trembled continuously. In the face of overwhelming power, all resistance was futile, because others could control you completely. You were just a pathetic wretch. No one sympathized with the weak; they only respected the strong. Therefore, Ye Tiancheng's words were undoubtedly the final command of a strong person. Whether he agreed or not, he had no choice.
"I, I, I disagree. Then kill me." The guy mustered his courage to resist. Ye Tiancheng did not care about his resistance and smashed his hands towards his head. This gatekeeper was smashed into a pulp by Wang Kaifan. For someone who dared to defy his will, he would naturally show no mercy. In the face of absolute strength, the weak were merely ants to be trampled upon at will.
Therefore, no one should resist his words. Only by learning to obey could one preserve their life. Although Ye Tiancheng killed him, he still had to admire the guy for having the courage to resist his authority. So, he felt a trace of shame. He wondered if, one day, he would fall into such a situation and have the courage to resist the strong. After hesitating, he did not stop his actions. His fists flew everywhere, and the snake tribe people cried out in distress.
But Wang Gaofan paid no attention to them. In the eyes of humans, they were merely sources of profit. By killing them, they could obtain a considerable amount of demon beast materials. These materials were what cultivators dreamed of. Obtaining many materials could lead to advancing to higher levels. Every success was built upon endless skeletons and blood. Without this accumulation, one could not reach a higher realm. Therefore, Ye Tiancheng's heart had long since become cold and cruel.
He felt he was trampling on others' lives, but he had to. If he did not trample on others' lives, his own life would be trampled upon. Living in such a contradictory and unavoidable world, he could only choose to be selfish. If there was someone who cultivated like him and reached a very high level, and he met that person one day, that person would definitely not show him any mercy. On this narrow and bloody path of cultivation, if you showed mercy one day, you would be the one to die. In a narrow encounter, the strong win. Every strong person has walked the path of blood. No one pities the weak; they only submit to the strong.
Those who become strong endure suffering, while those who are weak are consumed. The path of cultivation is that simple and terrifying. Therefore, he had long understood this principle.
In this chaotic and dark world, being a righteous and upright person is quite difficult. However, being a scoundrel and a dark person is very easy. But you would constantly face the danger of being attacked by righteous people. What kind of person you choose to be is your freedom, but you must bear the corresponding consequences. Ye Tiancheng had already made such plans. He knew that one day he would also end up disgraced. But so what? He had completely let go, completely indifferent. Therefore, he no longer cared about what retribution he would receive in the future. A person who has chosen their own life must naturally consider their future path and the consequences they will face. The Divine Stone and the Great Green Snake did not expect Ye Tiancheng to think this way; it was simply shocking. However, they could not influence Wang Gaofan's thoughts.
After all, these were his choices, and he had decided to bear the consequences. It was something he had long planned for. Trying to stop him would be meaningless. This guy was a very stubborn person; he would not listen to anyone's good advice. Even if he were to head towards destruction, he would not care.
A person who is severely ostracized can only hide in a corner. How can someone who is very powerful and can kill them at any time be treated like this by that person? Therefore, powerful people can live like individuals.
And the weak are trampled upon by others.
Ye Tiancheng did not want to be that kind of person. Therefore, no matter what, he would become a strong person among the strong, holding his destiny firmly in his own hands. As a person with dignity.
To become such a person, one naturally has to trample on the lives and happiness of others. Are the demon race just some low-level creatures?
He said that he simply did not care about what life was, only that they were a group of people who had to hurt others for victory. Ye Tiancheng had, unknowingly, killed over a hundred demon race members and obtained various materials from these snake demons.
Regarding these snake demons, he felt that if their true qi had not been greatly depleted, he would have once again unreservedly taken their lives. The materials obtained from the snake demons were called demon beast materials, which could help cultivators acquire a lot of wealth. In the world of cultivators, money was also very important. Having a lot of money meant you could buy many treasures.
Ye Tiancheng's methods made the catfish demon race members shiver with fear. Those who had previously wanted to persuade or obstruct him now stood obediently. This move by Ye Tiancheng was undoubtedly effective. Those who wanted to resist now stood obediently, not daring to speak up. They knew they would be next.
After all, being alive was a very good thing. Who would want to lose their life? Every living organism had a program that feared destruction. Therefore, using this move was often enough to scare them.
Perhaps they cursed Ye Tiancheng in their hearts, hoping that God would destroy him sooner rather than later, because his existence was the pain of others. Some people built their happiness on the suffering of others because they felt it would highlight their uniqueness and supreme sense of superiority. Perhaps so, Ye Tiancheng chuckled.
Yes, he did not find these so-called words of others to be correct, nor did he want to argue against them. Because how others saw him had nothing to do with him. What he wanted to do was what was most important. After collecting these demon beast materials, he found that Wang Xiaoliu was looking at him with a very strange gaze. He had originally thought he was a hero.
Now it seemed he was just a devil. Ye Tiancheng sighed helplessly when he saw that gaze.
He couldn't help it. Living in this world, he was also a person in the jianghu, unable to control himself. If he hadn't done this today, by the time he hadn't developed, he would have suffered the same fate as the snake tribe. The path of cultivators was very narrow; no one would pity you, only you could pity yourself, and no one would help you, only you could help yourself.
He felt no warmth from others because his heart had become numb. He also did not pity others because his heart was like a stone. Therefore, any sunlight, warmth, familial affection, or friendship had long since vanished from his body. He was merely a living shell, or one could say, a walking corpse. Such a person was very terrifying because he did not pity other lives, nor did he pity his own life. For him, death was not a terrible thing, but merely the beginning of another cycle.
Ye Tiancheng did not care what he had become, nor was he afraid of what he had become. What he wanted to do was simple and persistent. No one would understand what he was thinking; only he himself understood it very well. He had completely approached a state of destruction, so it did not matter if he was destroyed.
"This person is truly approaching the state I feared. I didn't expect him to not help me at all, and now I have to clean up his mess. We must guide this guy, otherwise, if he is destroyed, it will be of no benefit to us at all." The Divine Stone looked at the immense darkness in Ye Tiancheng's heart and appeared very worried. However, the Great Green Snake shook its head, because this kind of person was not someone he could guide, nor could he help.
Unless such a person awakens themselves, no one can help him much, because he is very stubborn.
Upon hearing this, they became very dejected. If even they could not help Ye Tiancheng, then no one could help him. If he continued to sink like this, he would eventually perish prematurely. Heaven does not allow such resentful people to exist, because this mindset of his would eventually turn him into a devil.
Ye Tiancheng felt that even if he were destroyed, it would not matter, because he had long been prepared for destruction. It did not matter if he lived or died, if he existed or not. He had long been disappointed with this world, so death, in any case, would be a welcome release. Therefore, whoever met him was merely a coincidence of his past life. He should have been stimulated. As someone who desperately wanted to destroy everything.
The darkness in my heart cannot be resolved overnight; it requires a long time. But before this darkness is resolved, whoever meets him will surely meet their doom.
Perhaps others find this world beautiful, but in his eyes, this world is filthy and unbearable. Therefore, he wants to destroy this filthy and unbearable world and let the Earth start anew with new life.