198: Shen Lang, Wang Lianhua, and Xiongmaoer, the Three Heroes Enter the Tianxia Association [Explosive Update]

Shen Lang, Wang Lianhua, and Xiongmao Er—any one of these names was once enough to stir up immense waves in the Jianghu.

Now, the three of them arrived together, silently infiltrating the World Society's main headquarters. Four years ago, this would have been a world-shattering event.

But at this moment, standing deep within the headquarters, in a garden built into the mountainside, they felt only a heart-pounding stillness.

The garden was exquisite, with small bridges over flowing water and the swaying shadows of bamboo, a stark contrast to the ruthless and imposing image outsiders had of the World Society's headquarters.

Indeed, after passing through a patch of slender bamboo, they saw a pavilion built by the water.

A figure in a sky-blue robe stood with his back to them, leaning on the railing, watching several leisurely swimming koi in the water.

He casually scattered a handful of fish food, his movements as relaxed as any Young Master enjoying an afternoon.

But a pressure permeated the air, causing the three uninvited guests to completely change their expressions.

The three stopped in their tracks.

Even Shen Lang's usual faint smile, which seemed to understand all things in the world, receded somewhat, becoming solemn.

Wang Lianhua lightly fanned himself, appearing as debonair as ever, but the cynical glint in his eyes had been replaced by extreme vigilance.

Xiongmao Er's thick brows were tightly furrowed, and his rugged face showed unconcealed shock and wariness.

The vast Internal Energy within him almost began to circulate uncontrollably, resisting the omnipresent pressure.

They looked at that back.

It was unremarkable, without the slightest fluctuation of Internal Energy or an imposing Aura.

But he simply stood there, as if he were the center of the entire world.

The pavilion, the pond, the bamboo grove, and even the ground they stood on, all existed silently around him.

"You've arrived."

A calm voice sounded; he didn't turn around, seemingly already aware of their presence.

The voice was not loud, yet it clearly entered their ears, flat and devoid of emotion, as if it wasn't a question.

Shen Lang spoke first, his voice still gentle: "We came uninvited and disturbed Gang Leader Lu's tranquility. We hope Your Excellency will forgive us."

Lu Jiuyuan slowly turned around.

His face seemed unchanged from four years ago, his skin smooth and showing no trace of the passage of time.

His eyes were unfathomably deep; he simply looked at them calmly, yet it made the three top experts of their generation simultaneously feel as if they had been completely seen through, with nowhere to hide.

His gaze swept over the three of them one by one, pausing slightly on Shen Lang's face.

"What should I call you?"

"Shen Lang!"

"Wang Lianhua!"

"Xiongmao Er!"

"Shen Lang... it really is you all."

Lu Jiuyuan's tone showed no surprise: "After the deaths of the three Manor Lords of Renyi Manor, I thought you might come.

But I never waited for you.

Why didn't you come then, and why choose to come now?"

"In this world, there are many who uphold the status quo, and few who innovate.

Even fewer possess great ambition and the ability to reform," Shen Lang said.

"At that time, your reforms had already begun in the Jianghu. If we had stopped them, everything would have been in vain, and all those who sacrificed themselves earlier would have died for nothing.

Now, five years have passed, and the effects of your reforms on the Jianghu have become evident.

Whether the three Manor Lords died worthily can now be concluded."

"Oh, and do you think it was worth it? Or not worth it?"

Shen Lang fell silent for a moment, his gaze meeting Lu Jiuyuan's unfathomably deep eyes frankly, and slowly began:

"The results are significant: banditry has sharply decreased, private feuds and vendettas are restrained, small Schools can survive, and ordinary people suffer far less from the repercussions of the Jianghu. This is Karma."

He paused slightly, his voice still steady, but with a hint of sharpness:

"However, the cost is immense.

The Legacies of the Seven Schools are almost severed, the Martial Forest's Origin Qi is severely damaged; those who comply do not necessarily prosper, but those who defy are certain to perish.

Rules are dictated solely by the World Society, and good and evil are determined by Your Excellency. This is the Dao of the Hegemon."

"The Jianghu has become your Jianghu alone."

A silence fell around the pavilion, broken only by the gurgling of water and the occasional splash from a koi's tail.

Lu Jiuyuan's face showed no emotion; he simply gently brushed off the remaining fish food crumbs from his hand, his movements unhurried.

"Karma? The Dao of the Hegemon?" He repeated the two words, a faint, elusive curve seemingly playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Shen Lang, do you know why the Jianghu used to be plagued by endless disputes—today you kill my father, tomorrow I destroy your School, an endless cycle of vengeance?

It is only because power was dispersed, and rules were suspended. Everyone believed their own strength was reliable, and their own thoughts were justice."

"Only absolute power can establish absolute rules. Only unchallengeable authority can make these rules prevail everywhere, without compromise."

"In ancient times, Emperor Qin unified the six states, standardized writing, cart axles, and weights and measures. Though a sea of blood was shed, it laid the foundation for later unification.

Thereafter, through all dynasties, no matter how chaotic the world became, no matter how many countries it splintered into, if one person could rise, he would inevitably take unifying the world as his mission.

The Jianghu of today is no different."

His gaze swept over Shen Lang, Wang Lianhua, and Xiongmao Er.

"What you perceive as the 'Dao of the Hegemon' is precisely the cornerstone of 'order' at this moment. What you call 'cost' is the price that must be paid to end centuries of chaos in the Jianghu."

"As for good and evil being determined by me..." Lu Jiuyuan let out a soft laugh, a laugh imbued with a transcendent indifference,

"What I determine is not good and evil, but a bottom line. A bottom line that allows the vast majority of people to live, and to try to live a little better.

Given enough time, this bottom line will be etched into the bones of Jianghu people, becoming an established rule, generation after generation.

The sin is in the present generation, the merit is for a thousand autumns."

"Is this not closer to... good, than the Jianghu of old, where 'righteous vengeance' often led to corpses strewn across the land, entire families annihilated, and the wails of the innocent?"

"I destroyed nine of the Ten Great Sects, but I did not hoard their Legacies; I have already had A Fei release them into the Jianghu.

Martial Dao flourishes, and its Legacy continues without end!"

"The sin is in the present generation, the merit is for a thousand autumns..."

Shen Lang slowly repeated, his gaze sharp as a blade,

"What grand words.

Gang Leader Lu, you use the bones of countless heroes of today as steps to pave the way for the future in your mind, but have you ever asked if the fellow cultivators of the Jianghu are willing to accept this 'thousand-autumn achievement' you offer?"

"Willing?" Lu Jiuyuan finally turned around, facing them: "Shen Lang, you have traveled the Jianghu for many years. Have you ever seen anyone ask the displaced if they were willing to practice cannibalism when corpses littered the land?

Have you ever seen anyone ask the Disciples of a small School, whose School was annihilated during a sectarian struggle, if they were willing to be slaughtered?"

"The so-called 'willingness' has always belonged only to the strong. The weak do not even have the right to choose 'unwillingness'."

"What I am doing now is simply giving those who originally had no right to be 'unwilling' the confidence and environment to calmly say 'willing' or 'unwilling'.

As for whether those former 'strong' are willing..."

He gently raised his hand and scattered fish food; a plump koi was involuntarily drawn by an invisible force, leaped out of the water, bit the fish food, and then splashed back down, creating a ripple.

"...does it matter?"

Xiongmao Er couldn't help but say in a muffled voice: "But your rules are too cruel! They often cripple martial arts, cut off descendants, and even involve collective punishment and slaughter! How is this different from the Demonic Path?!"

"The difference is that the Demonic Path acts on a whim, while I act according to the rules."