690 Turning the World Upside Down I (1/2)

The carriage was running on the ground, and on the ground was the world of humankind. If the Headmaster had figured out ”how”, he would've left for battling with Haotian early instead of sitting in the carriage.

”I thought about it for a long time but did not have any idea how.” The Headmaster said, ”Hundreds of years passed by, and one day I met the guy named Ke Haoran, your Youngest Uncle.”

Ning Que was depressed at the moment, but his face lighted up at the mention of ”Ke Haoran”. He was excited and he could feel the Great Spirit of his Youngest Uncle flowing in his body.

The Headmaster then said, ”Your Youngest Uncle was talented, or a genius as others called. He learned things quickly. He never knew what a Knowlege barrier was, but it was a pity that he had such an odd temper, and there were many things he refused to learn.”

Ning Que then said, ”Lotus told me that the Haoran Sword was the one and only method Youngest Uncle knew. And he also told me that through the 'one' the Youngest Uncle learned the way to 'all'.”

”No matter what it was, I would say it was quite limited since he finally killed himself.”

The Headmaster then said, ”Back to our topic. I was totally impressed by your Youngest Uncle because he was more talented than me. And I hoped he could live up to my dream if I cultivated him with great effort. By that I mean the dream to defeat Haotian.”

”And then?”

”I told you he had such an odd temper.”

”Was it pride?”

”That is odd enough.”

”Well... you're also pretty proud, teacher.”

”I'm always impersonal and objective.”

”I think we're straying from the topic.”

”That's your fault... well, your Youngest Uncle was a proud one. Actually, he was so proud that he even refused to be a student of mine. So I asked him, 'If I am not qualified to be your teacher, then who on earth is?'”

The Headmaster said, ”His answer was 'no one', and that he could teach himself. I was irritated by him at first till I saw myself in him— I used to be the one who was self taught! But still, I wanted to teach him some shortcuts in cultivation. Therefore, I lied to him that 'someone' wanted him to be his student, and when he asked who the 'someone' was, I said it was 'no one'. That was when he agreed.”

The Headmaster halted for a second and continued, ”I was hoping I could teach him some shortcuts in cultivation but in the end, I found myself erring completely.”

Ning Que asked, ”Why?”

The Headmaster answered, ”He was walking so fast on those shortcuts that he was almost flying in the end.”

The metaphor was a little bit complicated, but Ning Que had the gist of it.

”He was making progress too fast, and that made me nervous. So I picked up my travels around the world, and during the journey, I met your Eldest Brother in a small town, then Jun Mo afterwards.”

”Your Youngest Uncle left the Academy on the back of a donkey. He traveled to Chang'an, and around the world. He wiped out the Devil's Doctrine. Then he was back in the Academy and continued to make progress at an unbelievably fast speed. It was believed that he was at his peak when wiping out the Devil's Doctrine with just one sword, but he was even more powerful when he was back in the Academy.”

”He finally experienced the same problem as I did. He questioned the heavens and decided to fight Haotian. I objected to it firmly. I told him there was no way that he could defeat Haotian. Yet he said to me, 'Senior Brother, you'll never know if you can do it till you've actually done it. So do it before you draw conclusions.'”

Ning Que didn't say a word. In his mind, he was picturing his Second Brother from whom he could see part of the Youngest Uncle. Then he raised up his chin and asked, ”And then?”

After a moment of silence, the Headmaster answered, ”Then he left for the fight.”

”Then he lost it.”

”Then he died.”

The Headmaster laughed out loud after he finished the story, in loneliness and bitterness.

Ning Que might feel distant from the world in the Headmaster's story, but he could share the Headmaster's feelings now.

Powerful people are lonely. The Drunkard and the Butcher were not of the Headmaster's kind. It had cost the Headmaster so much to finally find a man who had a common ground with him, but sadly, they were separated before they had the chance to fight side by side.

The Headmaster finally calmed down, and he said, ”I've been concentrated on teaching your Eldest Brother and your Second Brother since then. I taught them through my experiences gained from my 1,000-year lifetime. I taught Manman kindness and righteousness and taught Jun Mo propriety. And they've lived up to my expectations.”

”It is a pity that they've been following my ways too closely, and no matter how well they do, they'll only be the second and the third 'me' or Ke Haoran. That is not a good sign if they want to defeat Haotian. As for your Third Sister, her cultivation is one of a kind, however; she's also trapped in the world of Haotian.”