Daoist Master, I'm really not an evil cultivator.

Chapter 66 Blood Sea and Red Lotus Bloom, Joy Comes Naturally from the Heart

"Daoist Master... slow down, slow down." He replied to Qi Qinzi, but his eyes quickly swept over the Ape Warrior beside him, who had a hearty smile and a mellow aura.

This ape demon had clear eyes and natural movements, completely different from the shrewd and calculating old ape who had just been appraising treasures. If it weren't for the information from the altar, he would never have been able to connect the two.

"Come, come, monk, sit here." Qi Qinzi didn't care about Xu Changqing's thoughts. He pressed him down next to the wooden table set up outside the wine shop, and sat down with a "thump" while holding a large wine gourd, making the table shake.

Qi Qinzi, clutching his large gourd, slumped on the stool, half-closing his eyes, and said, "Monk, the Qi within you is incredibly powerful."

He let out a hiccup, "as if he were about to transform into the Heavenly Spirit Official, displaying the might of thunder."

Xu Changqing's heart skipped a beat, but he smiled and said, "Daoist, you jest. This humble monk is carefree by nature; how could I possess the might of thunder?"

Ape Knight poured three bowls of wine and replied, "Young friend, you are too modest. I think it is the Daoist Master's exceptional insight. However, in my humble opinion, the origin of Qi is nothing more than the two words 'purity' and 'turbidity'."

He picked up the bowl and said calmly, “Take my wine for example. It is made from the essence of a hundred fruits and fermented over many years. The turbid parts sink to the bottom as dregs, while the clear parts rise to the top as liquid. Cultivation is the same. Taoism talks about ‘refining the turbid to return to the pure,’ Buddhism talks about ‘cleansing away impurities to see one’s true nature,’ Confucianism talks about ‘establishing the mind and proving the practice,’ and the demonic path talks about ‘transforming the turbid into something useful’... They seem to be different paths, but in fact they lead to the same goal.”

Qi Qinzi chuckled and shook his head: "Together we perish? Heh heh... You make it sound so easy."

He suddenly opened his eyes wide, as if a faint light flashed across them, "The Pure Void True Lord sat in the Purple Sun Cave for three hundred years, observing the gathering and dispersing of the clouds and the rising and falling of the sun and moon, and finally attained the 'Pure Void Qi,' understanding that purity and void are the essence, morality is the function, and that punishment should be carried out in accordance with Heaven. This is the way of Heaven. Anything else? Anything else is a minor path."

Upon hearing this, the Ape Warrior remained silent for a moment before slowly saying, "What you say, Daoist, is an extremely high realm. However, the innate qualities of all beings are different, and many have attachments."

He looked down at his hairy palms. "The *Sandalwood Buddha's Discourse on Merit* states that the Buddha spoke of 'formlessness,' meaning that good and evil share the same origin and are fundamentally without distinction. Hence, there is 'Buddha-Magic Qi,' which seems to encompass both good and evil, without bias or attachment to contradictions, but in reality, it encompasses both without bias or attachment. Therefore, formlessness is the means to transform sentient beings..."

As Xu Changqing listened, a multitude of thoughts churned within him.

The Pure Qi advocated by Qi Qinzi is to follow the will of Heaven in punishing evil; while the Buddha-Demon Qi mentioned by Yuanxia is to be all-encompassing in good and evil, impartial and unbiased, but it falls into demonic attachment and transforms formless beings.

As the ape-wielder spoke, his voice gradually lowered, and his eyes became somewhat lost in thought. A slight ripple appeared in his aura, making him even more demonic. This change was so subtle that Xu Changqing would have barely noticed it had he not been paying close attention.

"Damn it, this won't do..." Xu Changqing's alarm bells were ringing. "One of these two is a powerful avatar, and the other is a demonic ape avatar. If they get carried away with their discussion, what if one of them touches a demon in their heart and they suddenly fall into demonic possession... I'm just a lowly Karami in the Qi Refining stage. If I'm caught in the middle, I'm afraid I'll be crushed into dust by the aftershocks."

Seeing that the strange aura of the Ape Warrior was getting stronger, and that Qi Qinzi's drunken eyes were blurry but there was a faint trace of ethereal energy flowing between his brows, Xu Changqing dared not let them discuss it any further.

He picked up the wine bowl and took a sip. The wine was initially sweet, but then a warm, refreshing sensation spread through his throat; it was indeed a fine wine.

He put down his bowl and said casually.

"I have benefited greatly from your insightful remarks. I have heard Shang Yang say, 'To stop killing with killing, even if it means killing, is acceptable.' The Yin Fu Jing says, 'Heaven gives birth and heaven kills; this is the principle of the Dao.' The universe operates in a cycle where there is life and there is death, where there is purity and there is turbidity. In this turbid world, all living beings are sinking into depravity, and only by killing can one cross the river of life."

As soon as he finished speaking, it felt as if a sea of ​​blood was churning within him, and a red lotus slowly bloomed from within it, both eerie and solemn.

A faint joy rose from the bottom of his heart. The killing energy in his sea of ​​qi seemed to be drawn out, transforming into blood lotuses that churned and dispersed, showing signs of condensing into foundation-building true qi.

Qi Qinzi stared at him with hazy, drunken eyes, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Good, good 'killing to save the world,' I like it."

He slammed his fist on the table. "Drink! Drink!"

Ape Knight nodded with a smile: "Master's insights are unconventional. There are countless paths to cultivation, and no fixed method exists. To understand one's own mind and nature, and to practice it diligently, is the right path."

He also raised his wine bowl, "To this auspicious occasion."

Xu Changqing suppressed the turmoil in his Qi Sea and hurriedly raised his bowl to welcome the meal. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, finally managing to steer the conversation away from those profound philosophical discussions that could easily trigger inner demons.

Looking at the seemingly drunk yet unfathomable Taoist priest and the ape-like warrior whose aura was mellow yet contained terrifying demonic obsession, he suddenly felt that the "world" he had come out to "sell stolen goods" and "see the world" on the side... seemed a bit too big, too big for his small body to handle.

......

Inside the quiet room of the high-rise building, a jade mirror clearly reflects the scene in front of the winery.

Ah Li looked in the mirror, her fox ears twitching slightly. She turned to Mei Qianqian and said, "Sister Qianqian, look at Xu Ming. Has he... sensed something?"

Mei Qianqian gazed at the mirror, her fingertips unconsciously twirling a strand of hair, and slowly said, "This person has keen senses and is meticulous. He must have extraordinary methods or reliance to escape from the deadly trap of Black Wind Mountain. It's not surprising that he could sense it."

She paused, a faint smile playing on her lips: "However, it's better that we've noticed. The more extraordinary he is, the greater our chances of using him to unlock the secrets of the Ziyang Temple ruins."

Ahri curled her tail, somewhat worried: "But Senior Ape Warrior and the others are involved in a lot of trouble. Will our scheming be...?"

"Calculation?" Mei Qianqian gently shook her head. "We treat everyone fairly, so how can there be any calculation?"

Ah Li thought for a moment, nodded as if she understood, looked at the jade mirror again, and muttered, "Anyway, Sister Qian, you know what you're doing. I'm just afraid of playing with fire and getting burned..."

"Playing with fire doesn't necessarily lead to self-destruction; it might also illuminate the path ahead," Mei Qianqian interrupted her. "The path of cultivation is inherently about contending with heaven, with others, and with oneself. When opportunities arise, if one hesitates due to fear of potential risks, that is the true dead end."

She said no more, silently watching the three people sitting and drinking in the mirror, her mind a jumble of thoughts, which finally coalesced into a barely audible whisper:

"Xu Ming... I hope you won't disappoint me."

After several rounds of drinks, Qi Qinzi was completely drunk. He was holding the large vermilion gourd, nodding his head and muttering incoherently.

Ape Knight remained calm, though the gentle smile in his eyes had faded slightly. He gazed at the lights of the distant market, seemingly lost in thought.

"Taoist Master? Taoist Master?" Xu Changqing called out twice, but Qi Qinzi only responded with snoring.

"Hey, you can't hold your liquor either, yet you're dragging this humble monk to drink with you."

He shook his head and chuckled, about to call out to the ape warrior, when he saw the hearty old ape nod slightly to him before returning to the wine shop.

"This..." Xu Changqing was stunned. When he turned around again, he found that Qi Qinzi had disappeared.

The stool was empty except for a blue jade bead lying quietly on the table.