Dual Cultivation God Returns

Chapter 237 The entrenched path

"That is... my home country..."

"The Yen Kingdom... were you part of the Royal Family?"

"An exiled nobody at this point"

"I guess you lost in the political struggle"

"..."

"Do you want revenge?"

"No... the matter was over six hundred years ago, and most of the people that lived at that time have already died of old age. I was quite satisfied with that when it happened, heheh, but now I don't really even care..."

"If my guess is right, the main opponent who pushed you out is still living and ruling that country, no?"

Wu Long chuckled and Old Yen widened his eyes.

"I will ask you again. Do you want revenge?"

"... I... I do"

Old Yen first hesitated, and then nodded.

"Very well then, you will have your chance when we visit to investigate Nie You's matter and his Master"

Wu Long nodded and left while Old Yen emotionally bowed and thanked him over and over again. Wu Long did not like overly ceremonious things but he knew that telling him to not bother thanking him would be not only futile but also disregarding his gratitude, thus he just left so that the man could calm down and gain control over his emotions again.

Wu Long rejoined the company of the beautiful ladies, listening in on the discussion of the Dao.

"Wu Long, is it true that the Blade Empress is a Dao Cultivator?"

Once Gong Cui and her older sister retired to their room and there were no outsiders Luo Mingyu asked with vivid interest in her beautiful purple eyes that shined a little from the excitement.

"Hahaha, yes, it is true. Are you interested?"

"Of course I am, she is a ruler of a country and also a Dao Cultivator"

"It is not that uncommon you know, rather, it is rarer for cultivators of other paths to become rulers"

Apart from Ye Ling the other heavenly beauties around Wu Long showed expressions of surprise at this statement.

"Are you talking about the world outside this one?"

Wu Mengqi asked with some interest. Wu Long explicitly told his women not to mention her past life, but Wu Long's own change could only be explained if his was revealed so that is exactly what she was told, that he regained memories of a past life, living in a world beyond this small and isolated place with no mention of their past connection. The concept was still vague for her, so she was very interested in the topic.

"Yes"

He nodded with a smile as she heard the confirmation of what she heard from the others from him, solidifying that notion in her mind.

"But... is it not then easy to take away the throne by force?"

Hua Ziyan asked, as it was common knowledge here that in cultivation world power meant everything.

"Not necessarily, you see this world, due to it being isolated is immune to the existing power structures of the world outside. There, the politics and the composition of power are vastly more complex, inter-related and inter-dependent.

You might get away with taking over a country by force here and even then you will need to seek approval from the "Masters" of the three continents but in the outside where there are checks and balances, as well as organizations that transcend countries on which those rely, the importance of one's power is diminished to an extent. There are exceptions and irregularities everywhere but the overall rule is stable"

He explained as the others looked on with pondering gazes.

"But... why Dao Cultivators?"

Shen Min asked, already in her true state as the Gong sisters were not around. She was someone who went against the rulers of her own country to an extent, so the importance of her individual power held a very large significance to her.

"Dao Cultivators were among the first cultivators to appear, as they pondered on the Dao they reached heights that mortals could not, living longer years that allowed them to build up a foundation of power that later became more and more stable.

There was a short period when Martial Cultivators almost took over by force, but they quickly started hitting a bottleneck that required Dao Cultivators to help them. Of course there appeared those who decided to confine them and make them help with their cultivation but that effort turned futile as there were always differences in opinion and disputes. The world was never a monolith of opinion. There was a large portion of Martial Cultivators who chose to either cooperate with or serve Dao Cultivators in return for their help"

As Wu Long briefly narrated the origins of the power structure of the outside world, a light of realization appeared in their eyes.

"So those who cooperated or served naturally progressed faster since the Dao Cultivators were eager to help them..."

Luo Mingyu said and Wu Long nodded with a smile.

"Correct, eventually those who confined Dao Cultivators were wiped out with the power of those who served as they were seen as a threat to the order of Dao Cultivators"

"So the Dao Cultivators built their own order?"

Wei Lan asked as she now roughly understood how the politics of the outside world and Wu Long nodded again. It made sense that after such a turmoil and threat any ruler who tried to confine Dao Cultivators and make them help with their cultivation by force was seen as the outlaw and not only they but the whole country or organization of the perpetrator would be wiped out of existence.

"But it also makes logical sense since for one to be able to adequately rule a country they must have intellect, but it is not necessarily a requirement for them to be a great warrior.

One might have high talent for governance but lack the talent to cultivate, thus Dao Cultivation that largely ignores the practitioner's cultivation talent is the perfect choice"

Wu Long shrugged his shoulders.

"Why didn't you start with that reason?"

Wei Lan asked as she noticed a hidden meaning in the order in which he presented the reasoning. The second reason was far more natural, after all.

"Hehe, you are still thinking of human greed and desires too lightly, Lan'er.

The second reason may be natural, but the one that supports rulers being Dao Cultivators is the first one. Since reason is only listened to when it is backed by power in this world.

Just look at this small world as an example, as soon as the existing power structures and order were cut off, it delved into the rule of power. Even Nie Xiwang, the Empress of this country is only able to sit on her throne because she practices Equilibrium Dao and has sufficient power to back her claim to the throne."

Wu Long chuckled as it was very Wei Lan-like to think that the reasonable explanation would be more important than the enforced order due to how righteous she was. Righteous people often could not even begin to understand the wicked, since it was simply unfathomable to them.

Wu Long greatly admired her ability to stay so pure hearted even though the world was not so kind to such people. Some would call it naivety but Wu Long saw it as a beauty of her soul. Even now he could see her slightly uncomfortable with his words and chuckled as he caressed her cheek. Wei Lan blushed as she was not used to public displays of affection even if she was in the circle of Wu Long's women, however her heart still fluttered with a warm and fuzzy sensation.

"...! Khm!... What about Alchemy Cultivators?"

As she noticed the smiling faces around Wei Lan cleaned her throat and while still with rosy cheeks asked a follow-up question.

"You mean that they could potentially be in the same boat as Dao Cultivators? You are correct, when they first appeared they were viewed as a threat to the power structure built by the Dao Cultivators, since they also helped people cultivate past their natural talent. But, as it was before there was a difference in approach, and the side that decided to embrace Alchemists won, so they acquired a similarly high status in the cultivation world as the Dao Cultivators, though still slightly lower"

Wu Long nodded to the logical question and proceeded to explain.

"But is that world order not fragile? Couldn't one powerful enough Martial Cultivator turn it on its head?"

Shen Min asked next.

"Well, it is a daunting task.

Think of a path in the snow. Once a horse-drawn carriage passes through the snow it creates the trail where the horse passed through and two trenches of the wheels.

The second carriage may slightly deviate but follow the same path.

Then a new snow would fall covering the old one, but the places that were passed would be still lower so the next carriages would also pass through the already made path. And this continues on and on, the snow keeps falling and then is being compressed and solidified, until one day, even if you want to deviate from that path you can't since the wheels are following two deep trenches with solid ice on both sides, and the horse is stuck in a narrow path between the deep ice as well.

The world is roughly the same, once it goes in a certain direction it is very hard to change, and the following generations of that order solidify it further and further.

The cultivation world has been entrenched in this order since time immemorial. Just imagine how many structures are in place that solidify it. And more than that, it is already deep in people's minds"

Wu Long said with a pondering gaze.

"But..."

He then added, and Ye Ling looked at him with surprise since she did not expect a counter-argument. She was very familiar with just how deeply ingrained in the life of the Seven Boundless Worlds was the order Wu Long talked about.

"... we might in a way need to take on that very daunting task so who knows?"

He then chuckled and Ye Ling's eyes widened.

"You...!"

He only smiled to her astonished exclamation and a worry appeared in her eyes since she now understood that Wu Long was planning to do something very ambitious and incredibly dangerous upon his return.