Chapter 261: There's Nothing Wrong With Having A Heavenly Dao

What Yan Qianli admired was the courage to contend with fate in such a manner, the genuine desire to achieve the concept of “my destiny is my own.” In the final moments, Xie Jiuxiao had finally transcended his own character limitations and was no longer the “indecisive and overly cautious” person as defined by the Heavenly Dao.

However, soon, Yan Qianli’s expression was somewhat strange.

Because he knew very well that Xie Jiuxiao still hadn’t grasped the essence of the heavens. He believed that once he died, the heavens couldn’t control him anymore, but in reality, the heavens could resurrect him at any time. It didn’t require any special intervention; a simple adjustment by Chu Ge would suffice. In a predetermined plot, you couldn’t die. Just like when he adjusted white flames back then.

Even his belief that “I am important, my death will have a significant impact on the trajectory of the heavens” was not as significant as he had imagined.

Perhaps Xie Jiuxiao, as one of the pillars of righteousness, and Yunxiao City being a prominent faction of the righteous path, would play a somewhat important role in the future. However, he was not the protagonist. The Heavenly Dao only needed to add a line like “Xie Jiuxiao failed in his forceful attempt to ascend and died, Xie Yun’er succeeded him,” and then give Xie Yun’er some special treatment. This would hardly have any impact on the world’s trajectory…

Even dying was of no use; you couldn’t even die if you wanted to.

But Xie Jiuxiao’s determination to control his own destiny was truly worthy of respect. Yan Qianli knew that he had been surpassed, at least in this regard.

Among the righteous path, there were indeed heroes. Even in Chu Ge’s eyes, Xie Jiuxiao had made many mistakes and had fallen into the demonic path, making it difficult to judge right from wrong. From Yan Qianli’s perspective, he was still willing to acknowledge his greatness.

He turned to look at Chu Ge, wanting to know how he would handle this.

Chu Ge was gazing at Xie Jiuxiao’s lifeless body in a daze, thinking; Well… he smiled and chose to end his own life. He must have felt that he had done something to break free from fate. I wonder what expression he’ll have when he’s resurrected. Maybe the shock will be even greater. Shouldn’t I let him rest a bit? Death could be considered the appropriate ending for him, given his previous descent into the demonic path.

But there was a trace of frustration in Chu Ge’s heart.

What’s going on? You guys are the champions of justice, you have your pursuits, but why have you turned me into an evil boss against my will? Did I do something wrong? Have I let you down?

Making a heroic struggle in the face of death sounds impressive, but there was nothing wrong in the first place. Isn’t this just creating trouble out of nothing?

He had seen people forcibly turning others into villains, but he had never seen someone twist their own fate and claim someone else to be the villain.

What kind of situation was this!

He couldn’t hold back his anger any longer, and there was ripple in Chu Ge’s eyes.

With that ripple, Xie Jiuxiao’s old and stooped appearance visibly restored to that of middle-aged scholar with black hair and long beard, and he opened his eyes in confusion.

Qiu Wuji tilted her head.

I knew it.

Yan Qianli stared at him, dumbfounded. “Damn, you won’t even let a person die, you’re even more like a demon than me.”

Chu Ge remained silent with a stern expression.

Xie Jiuxiao was initially a bit bewildered, but as soon as he understood the situation, anger welled up in his eyes, “Is the Creator God really like this, not allowing even death?”

Chu Ge was even more infuriated, slamming his hand on the table, spilling wine all over, “Damn it, I gave you life, designed you as a modest gentleman, admired by all, with meticulous thinking, unyielding pride, a prominent figure among the masses, shining in the final battle. I endowed you with all these virtues, and what do you do? You go against all this just to oppose the heaven?!”

Xie Jiuxiao: “?”

Qiu Wuji covered her face.

Yan Qianli covered his face too.

Indeed, looking at it from Chu Ge’s perspective, it was like that. It could really drive someone crazy.

Initially, the reason why Qiu Wuji was willing to have a good communication with Chu Ge in the first place was because they could think from each other’s perspective.

Chu Ge continued to vent his frustration, “Do you think you’re brave for dying? You should learn from Qiuqiu and Qianqian! Only by living can you break free from the Heavenly Dao, only by living can you master yourself! Dying is for cowards who evade responsibility! Useless!”

Xie Jiuxiao had his mouth half open, utterly dumbfounded by the scolding.

He had never even considered that Heavenly Dao would give him such a harsh lesson from this perspective.

“What can you do when you’re dead? If I wave my hand, I can make your daughter get randomly married. Are you happy about that? Even your wife… forget it. Anyway, when you’re alive, you can still negotiate with me. What can you stop when you’re dead? Are you brain-dead?”

Xie Jiuxiao was drenched in cold sweat, “You…”

“I won’t actually do that, of course! I’m just telling you that your fanciful idea of the Heavenly Dao manipulating and controlling everything is nonsense. You guys just need to cooperate with me to complete the established world, and afterward, do whatever you want. What business do I have with a bunch of old men with beards? I’m not into that!”

Xie Jiuxiao subconsciously glanced at Qiu Wuji.

Qiu Wuji remained expressionless.

“Don’t even think about competing with me for control, the so-called ‘Seizing the Heavens.’ Forget it; you can’t achieve that level of skill. Besides, there’s the Heavenly Realm above, and the people there can’t even do it. When will it be your turn?” Chu Ge said with frustration, “I suggest all of you, including Qianqian…”

Yan Qianli muttered, “What does it have to do with me…”

“I suggest all of you, if you notice any signs of someone else trying to usurp the Heavenly Dao, you should all stop it! Others don’t respect you like I do because you’re creations of mine. I have emotions, and the more dignified and impressive you are, the more it proves my excellence! We are one family! If someone else takes control, they won’t care about you; that’s when you become true puppets, just like how Xie Jiuxiao controlled Lu Shaotong. He doesn’t treat him as a person, that’s the difference! Understand?”

Xie Jiuxiao’s expression turned serious.

The last sentence touched him deeply because his own actions and experiences were the most profound. He really treated Lu Shaotong as a tool; not a person.

He had initially thought that the Heavenly Dao was the same, but now, seeing Chu Ge’s furious demeanor… it seemed like it wasn’t the case…

“Why am I so agitated this time? I could have just corrected it directly, but I had to meticulously go through every detail and have a face-to-face meeting with you? It’s because this is serious; I must fill in all the loopholes to prevent such incidents from happening again. Old Xie, if there’s anything you’ve missed, you better tell me quickly!” Chu Ge said urgently.

Xie Jiuxiao instinctively replied, “I… I haven’t missed anything…”

Qiu Wuji sighed and said to Chu Ge. “You should calm down too. I rarely saw you this furious since knowing you. If this were a written work, there would be over a dozen exclamation marks by now, right?”

Chu Ge; “…I’m just really annoyed, Qiuqiu.”

“Understood,” Qiu Wuji said softly. “Take a break and have a drink.”

Chu Ge took the offered drink, feeling like a cat that had been petted.

Xie Jiuxiao watched as if in a dream and finally managed to say with some difficulty, “So, Sect Master Qiu, you cooperated with the Heavenly Dao because of this?”

Yan Qianli really wanted to say no, but he opened his mouth and closed it again. The sight of the Heavenly Dao’s furious outburst just now had even made him uneasy. It was probably best not to stir up trouble…

Qiu Wuji gave him a stern look and earnestly replied to Xie Jiuxiao, “Exactly. As I asked you before, did you really think Qiu Wuji is someone who goes along with the flow?”

Xie Jiuxiao was sweating profusely. “This… it’s different from what I expected… I always feel something is off. Aren’t we supposed to break free from our predetermined destinies and contend with the heavens? How did it turn out like this…”

Chu Ge almost jumped up again. “I should have set you all to respect the heavens! Without that, we’d have so much less trouble!”

“Forget it, if everyone just respected the heavens, it would make you lose your personal charm, and you wouldn’t like it either,” Qiu Wuji said gently, and Chu Ge closed his mouth again.

Xie Jiuxiao looked back and forth between the two of them but didn’t say anything.

Qiu Wuji said, “Brother Xie is a resourceful man. There’s probably no point in saying too much. You seem to have a clear understanding of things. You should figure out why Yan Qianli and I, despite our past grievances, have come together to cooperate on this matter.”

Xie Jiuxiao sighed, “So, after all this, I’m the villain?”

“Setting aside the act of seizing control of the heavens, Brother Xie, your actions, manipulating puppets and inciting conflict in the Southern Border are indeed villainous. Honestly, I couldn’t even imagine that you were behind these actions before. Xie Jiuxiao, you are far from being on the righteous path!” Qiu Wuji said with a touch of anger. “You even attempted to take advantage of my benevolence. I hope you understand the gravity of your actions. You have no grounds for complaint when you face punishment from the divine.”

Xie Jiuxiao remained silent for a long time, then said in a low voice, “The temptation to control others is indeed hard to resist, and it gave me a sense of ‘this is the Heavenly Dao,’ which made me even more delusional. If not for you all exposing me in time, I might have sunk even deeper… In this matter… I am willing to accept the punishment from the Heavenly Dao without complaint.”

“It’s not my punishment that you’ll face. I will resurrect Lu Shaotong and the Venerable Azure Serpent, and what you’ll need to accept is their vengeance, as well as the release of all puppets, allowing them to regain their autonomy,” Chu Ge said with a stern expression. “As for me… I won’t punish you, but I must modify your consciousness to respect the heavens. Do you have any objections?”

Xie Jiuxiao was overjoyed, “If they can be resurrected, I, Xie Jiuxiao, am willing to endure three deaths and six injuries and become a puppet without any complaints!”

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Yan Qianli’s mind: There’s nothing wrong with having a Heavenly Dao. Those who shouldn’t have died, those mistakes that shouldn’t have been made, all regrets and shortcomings can be compensated for.

Nobody is born into the demonic path…

His gaze became somewhat distant, as if he was reminiscing about events from many years ago.