The passage of time taught Chen Xia lessons.
Do not enter other people's time, because for him, the ending can only be a tragedy.
It is good to take a look occasionally, but if you really use this to comprehend the Dao, Chen Xia feels there are only two possible outcomes.
Either he will become depressed, or he will become very cold-hearted.
He is already a little cold-hearted now. If he becomes even more cold-hearted, he estimates he will really have no feelings about life and death.
This is not a good thing.
Chen Xia stayed in his dim cave for many days, constantly reflecting and thinking about whether he could have done better, if there were places he did wrong.
But what use was reflecting?
The ship had already sailed.
Chen Xia sighed, slapped his sleeve, turned yesterday's drunk tea back into the day before's, picked it up and took a sip, before slowly swaggering out.
This was his new understanding of time - being able to make large changes to objects, from nothing to something, from imaginary to real.
It was more profound than strengthening the flow of time.
But the price of comprehension was also slightly higher.
Chen Xia walked out with his hands behind his back. The situation outside had not changed much. After all, for cultivators, a few decades of time was not too short, but also not long.
He had come out to clear his mind, but did not expect to be tangled up as soon as he came out, and not just by one person.
It was a group of probationary disciples and little elders, surrounding Chen Xia. Their faces showed discernible surprise and indignation. They excitedly berated:
"Brother, after you closed up in seclusion, those formal disciples became rampant again. Not only did they beat and plunder us, they even did not spare the little elders, beating them silly."
"We came to find you many times, knocked on your cave abode, but no one answered. We guessed you were in seclusion and did not dare disturb you. Today we finally waited until you came out of seclusion!"
In the eyes of these probationary disciples, only Chen Xia could fight against those formal disciples.
But Chen Xia was not in a good mood now. He just wanted to clear his mind and had no thoughts of fighting. So he waved his hand and asked back:
"If a dog bites you once, do you have to bite it back?"
"But the problem is it didn't just bite me once, it almost bit me to death!"
The probationary disciple indignantly replied, and also questioned:
"You accepted so many gifts from us, don't tell me you want to abandon us now?"
Chen Xia really did want to just take the gifts and not do anything, but his morals were not low enough, his skin not thick enough, so he could only nod and say:
"In a few days, I'm in a bad mood these days, I'll stand up for you in a few days."
Having obtained Chen Xia's promise, the crowd was instantly filled with righteous indignation. They immediately roared loudly:
"It's settled, you're our leader now. Let's see who still dares humiliate us!"
"Can't stand it anymore, I'm going to slap Elder Dabi right now, get him to snatch my magic treasure!"
Don't go, he's stronger than you.
Chen Xia wanted to shout out these words very much, but the person had already walked far away, clearly unstoppable.
Oh well, learn from experience.
Hopefully this person will not be so impulsive in his next life.
The group of probationary disciples escorted Chen Xia in their middle. They had already pushed Chen Xia forward as their spokesman. Even the little elders were looking to him for guidance.
"What about Emperor Capital and Qiu Li, aren't they doing anything?" Chen Xia curiously asked.
He had been comprehending the Dao for a few hundred years. In this time, had Emperor Capital and Qiu Li not led the probationary disciples to rebel?
Especially Qiu Li, who was the descendant of a certain important figure in Blue Sky Sword Sea. How could he still be oppressed?
The little elder sighed and helplessly said:
"Emperor Capital did rebel once. He fought fiercely with two formal disciples, even gaining a slight upper hand. But unfortunately..."
This 'unfortunately' meant Emperor Capital had not succeeded in beating them.
"Later the fifth ranked formal disciple, Qiong Qi, abruptly came on stage and unceremoniously slapped Emperor Capital until he was half dead. Since then no one has dared to rebel again."
Chen Xia frowned, suddenly thinking of something very interesting. He asked the little elder:
"In these past few hundred years, the only person Emperor Capital has beaten is Zhuai Yu, right?"
The little elder carefully recalled and nodded, "It does seem to be so."
The second time he was fiercely beaten by Chen Xia. The third time he was slapped down by Qiong Qi.
He thought he was the Emperor's descendant, so he should walk an invincible path. But he kept hitting walls. Who could he complain to?
He could only admit his own bad luck.
The little elder sighed and suddenly smiled:
"But now Emperor Capital seems to have opened his mind. Even being slapped down by Qiong Qi does not make him look dejected."
"What invincible path?" Chen Xia was a little curious.
"I don't know." The little elder shook his head and mentioned, "I only heard Emperor Capital often muttering to himself, saying people he can't beat can be considered equals. They are all seniors."
"I see." Chen Xia nodded, thinking it was indeed worthy of the Emperor's descendant. He had always had a talent in self-hypnotism.
"What about Qiu Li?" he asked again.
This famous figure, possessing Divine Eyes and an Attached Immortal Body, was called the strongest of the three descendants of Emperors in the past.
The little elder shook his head, "Qiu Li seems to want to seal himself again. He said this age is not the same as his original era. He finds it a bit hard to adapt."
"Can he keep sealing himself?" Chen Xia was a little curious.
Would this not make him an eternal turtle, hiding whenever he could not win, waiting for a time when he could surpass and compete for the Emperor's path?
Good grief.
That was also an invincible path, right?
The three Emperor's descendants among the probationary disciples indeed all had their own invincible paths to walk.
One considered anyone he could not beat his equal. Another hid whenever he could not win.
The last persevered until death, not needing to fight at all.
They were the invincible three brothers.
The little elder shook his head and explained:
"Of course not. Each time he seals himself for an era, it damages his Dao Heart. Since you hid, your will for invincibility becomes more shallow. In the end when you have no will left, you can no longer seal yourself."
"Weren't relations between formal and probationary disciples eased a few decades ago?" Chen Xia suddenly asked, changing the subject.
"We don't know either." The little elder replied, "It did seem to ease. The formal disciples stopped coming over. After all, what good things could there be in the probationary disciples' area? They came over before just to experience the feeling of oppression."
"But twenty years after you went into seclusion, the formal disciples suddenly swarmed in again, even more viciously than the first time. They crippled many probationary disciples."
The little elder answered.
Chen Xia glanced at him, "Do you have any clues?"
"No clues, but I did get beaten a few times." The little elder honestly replied.
"I have a clue." Chen Xia said.
"What is it?" The little elder was surprised and asked.
"Someone is making trouble behind the scenes. It's the one who beat Emperor Capital, Qiong Qi. As for the reason, it may be aimed at me."
Chen Xia crossed his fingers together and slowly stretched them outwards, making popping sounds of bone cracks. At the same time he flatly said:
"If they come, then let them come. It just so happens I have a bellyful of suppressed anger..."
"I won't feel better until I let it out."