Chapter 539 - 325: The Doubt of the Broken Sword

Chapter 539: Chapter 325: The Doubt of the Broken Sword

Ye Shuping truly hadn’t expected such an outrageous ability. This went far beyond the scope of a mere whim or a Martial Artist’s intuition.

"So you’re saying that you knew about my plan for Yan Sea that night?"

"I sensed you wanted to use Yan Sea to involve me, but that was all I knew. It was only after I ran into Zhao Tianhen, Liu Ze, and the others that I slowly began to understand the specifics of your plan."

Ye Shuping pondered for a moment, grasping the nature of Yu Fei’s ability.

"You mentioned someone plotting against you. Does that mean you become aware whenever someone makes a move against you, but you don’t know who it is? Then, as soon as you see the person involved, you realize they’re the one targeting you, and you just have to figure out the specifics on your own?"

Yu Fei nodded. "Exactly!"

He hadn’t followed Zhuo Feiming’s advice to keep this ability a secret. He preferred to lay everything out on the table. That way, if the old master wanted to make any arrangements in the future, he could give him a heads-up and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

Ye Shuping composed himself and sat down leisurely. He was beginning to realize that this young disciple of his was heading down a monstrous path, never to return.

’Immune to plots, able to discern good from evil, capable of teleportation, and unrivaled in battle.’

’With all that, I guess it doesn’t matter if he’s a little slow on the uptake.’

"Teacher, why did you set up a scheme involving Yan Sea?"

"Why don’t you take a guess?"

Ye Shuping asked back with a smile.

Yu Fei’s brow furrowed. "How am I supposed to know?"

Seeing that Yu Fei was unwilling to think it through, Ye Shuping didn’t press the issue.

"Yan Sea... he’s a good man..."

Ye Shuping seemed to be lost in thought as he began to recount the events of the past.

"The entire process, from the moment I first became aware of Sima Hong to the day I arranged for his death, took a full eight years. Thinking back, Yan Sea had only recently become his disciple at the time."

"Ordinary Grandmasters aren’t worthy of my attention, but Sima Hong was different. He came from a common background, yet his combat prowess was considerable. In him, I saw another kind of possibility.

Later, his ideology grew more and more extreme. He used his fame to constantly incite antagonism between prodigious Martial Artists and common ones. That put me on alert. Of course, if it had just been an ideological conflict, I wouldn’t have gone so far as to act against him; at most, I would have taught him a lesson or two.

But as I had people investigate his past, I discovered that for years he had been secretly conducting human experiments and had even hunted down prodigious Martial Artists.

His targets were mostly Grandmasters. That was something I could not tolerate!"

"As the investigation deepened, I discovered that the minds of his so-called Jie Jian disciples had been corrupted by a demonic Cultivation Technique. They were on the verge of losing control and were beyond saving, which is why the subsequent purge was necessary.

Yan Sea... the investigation showed he had nothing to do with Sima Hong’s shady dealings. The man’s will is firm, and he’s endearingly naive, so I spared him. As for what happened to him afterward, I didn’t concern myself with it."

"Until... you appeared before me, bringing news of both the Jie Jian and Yan Sea.

Frankly, I was very wary of the Jie Jian you were cultivating. That Cultivation Technique is indeed powerful; Sima Hong relied on it to go from an ordinary person to having the combat prowess of a top prodigy. I estimated it would be even stronger if you were the one cultivating it. But its weakness is also glaringly obvious: after developing Inner Qi, it’s easy to become corrupted by Evil Qi.

I studied it for a long time but could never find a way to strip away the Evil Qi. Just as I was about to step in and destroy the foundation of your technique, you unexpectedly managed to remove the flaw yourself. And now, its power is no weaker than the original version!"

At this, Yu Fei’s eyes went wide. "You were actually planning to cripple my cultivation?"

Ye Shuping waved his hand dismissively. "There’s no point in staying on the wrong path. It’s better to make a clean break early on. Your talent is unique. Even if you walked a different path in the future, you might not be as strong as you are now, but you wouldn’t be much weaker either."

"Now, back to the matter of Yan Sea. Since he was your first teacher, I can’t say I’m entirely without responsibility for his years of suffering. So, I wanted to give him a chance—and to test you at the same time!

The Buddhist scripture Xiaoming gave him is good, but unfortunately, Yan Sea has been blinded by the truth and cannot grasp its true meaning. If one hasn’t even entered the tribulation, how can one speak of overcoming it?

And then there’s you, Yu Fei! You are about to enter the Grandmaster Realm. With your power, there will be nothing left in this world that can restrain you. I want to see what choices you make. I want to see if I judged you correctly!"

Hearing Ye Shuping’s blunt words, Yu Fei couldn’t help but swallow hard.

"What kind of choices are you looking for?"

Ye Shuping’s gaze was distant and his voice was light, but his words made Yu Fei’s scalp prickle with fear.

"How you treat your peers. Whether you have the will to help the weak.

How you treat Yu Wen Baji. Whether you have the capacity for tolerance.

How you treat Yan Sea. Whether you possess a heart of gratitude."

Yu Fei took a deep breath and asked, "And what if I possess none of those things?"

But Ye Shuping didn’t answer directly. "Yu Fei, I have always had high hopes for you. I’ve even seen you as the future hope of the martial arts world, humanity’s chance to break through its current predicament. But I’m always thinking, what kind of Martial Artist is fit to bear such a heavy responsibility?

Besides having transcendent martial skill, they must also possess some spark of humanity. As long as a person has even a sliver of kindness in their heart, even if they don’t become a shield for the masses, they at least won’t become a threat to the weak."

Ye Shuping paused here. "If you possess none of those three qualities, I will..."

"You’ll off me?"

Yu Fei asked, making a slicing motion across his neck with his hand.

Ye Shuping shook his head. "Not so quickly. I’ll find other ways to test you. If, in the end, none of it works, I still won’t kill you. At worst, I’ll simply banish you!"