Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao

Chapter 1617 - 131: Still Dare to Call Yourself a Genius?

Zhou Yan looked at Zhuge Xiye, and seeing that she didn’t seem to be joking, he also felt rather speechless.

In truth, everything Zhou Yan said was the truth.

By nature, he was not someone good at lying.

All the more so because, with his status, he had absolutely no need to lie, and disdained lying.

But the truth was not necessarily something others would believe.

Even a woman like Zhuge Xiye, at this moment, completely did not believe in him, Zhou Yan, so explanations instead seemed unnecessary, meaningless.

Even if there were some things they had actually witnessed with their own eyes, they still couldn’t believe them, because those things were practically defying the heavens, violating the rules.

Yet Zhou Yan had no intention of carefully explaining. In the past, when he was misunderstood and betrayed, he disdained explaining; now, after living through these endless years, spanning epochs, how could he possibly explain himself carefully over this?

Those who believe do not need explanations.

Those who do not believe will not believe even if you explain.

Zhou Yan withdrew his gaze from Zhuge Xiye’s beautiful face.

He fell silent for a moment, then said, "You don’t believe me, do you?"

"Among the things you’ve said, which sentence sounds normal? Which sentence can people believe?"

Zhuge Xiye countered.

Zhou Yan fell silent again.

With a tone of persuasion, Zhuge Xiye said, "Whatever the reason, whatever your secret, I won’t ask more. If you don’t want to say it, then don’t. But the things you said on the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect—did you mean those as well?"

"Of course I meant them."

"But how are you going to change the Heavenly Road of the Thirty-Three Heavens? And those strange runes in the Heavenly Mechanism Hall, immeasurably profound—how will you erase them?"

"Tell me, how are people supposed to believe you when you say such things?"

Zhuge Xiye said.

Zhou Yan pondered for a moment, then said, "I don’t need you to believe me. If I accomplish it, that’s enough. Before this, didn’t you all also not believe that I could casually crush the Saint Heirs and Holy Daughters? But in reality, I did it."

"Before this, didn’t you also not believe that I could crush those old-generation figures? Yet I still did it!"

"You even thought that, when facing the provocations of Zhang Yuyang and Xia Houchen, I’d most likely be slain, but I still pulled it off."

"So then, on what basis do you think that, when it comes to the Thirty-Three Heavens’ Heavenly Road and the carvings on that carved hall, I definitely won’t be able to change them?"

Zhou Yan asked in return.

He suddenly felt that in this world, there truly wasn’t a single person who could understand him.

Perhaps that corpse-like old man, Li Yuchuan, had some inexplicable sensing of it, feeling that he, Zhou Yan, was extraordinary, hence his shock and uncertainty—but that was all.

Aside from that, there was no one who could truly understand him.

If Zhou Yan didn’t have his past, then just this level of ability alone should be enough for him to be treated as a peerless genius, right?

Yet some of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect’s actions were indeed somewhat disappointing.

But in the end, all of this stemmed from the lack of effort of the juniors. Though Zhou Yan felt some disappointment in his heart, he didn’t take it too seriously.

He could not abandon a junior just because of that junior’s failure to act.

What he wanted to do was to give the Heavenly Mechanism Sect an entirely new future, to allow the Heavenly Mechanism Sect to flourish. In this way, at least he would be able to face those old acquaintances.

Zhou Yan’s question left Zhuge Xiye slightly stunned.

She suddenly followed along with Zhou Yan’s line of questioning and seemed to feel that what he said wasn’t wrong.

But it was as if the two things had no real connection at all!

"You possess the Ten Thousand Souls Heavenly Mechanism Order, and can even obtain the recognition of a Holy Ancestor Weapon—only then do you have such skill and confidence. In addition, you have a unique hidden foundation that allows you to tear Weapons apart with your bare hands. But your Realm is simply... It’s not that I don’t believe you; it’s that you lack the kind of foundation and ability that inspires belief, you lack a complete set of methods that conform to the rules. That’s why all your abilities end up being questioned."

"I don’t know if you can understand what I’m saying, but this is the most direct reason."

Zhuge Xiye sighed.

"So in the end, it still comes down to Realm. Once you have the Realm, then having such abilities wouldn’t be strange anymore, right?"

"That’s... not entirely it. After all, things like runes—without at least a thousand years of accumulation, it’s hard to grasp much of anything, let alone attain mastery."

"So when it comes to runes and carvings, honestly... that is the real reason everyone is pessimistic about you."

Zhuge Xiye said.

Zhou Yan nodded slightly.

He knew that Zhuge Xiye had more or less opened her heart and laid out all the reasons.

But these runes that they found difficult to comprehend and grasp—what were they to Zhou Yan?

They were truly nothing at all, because from Ancient Runes, Netherworld Runes, to the combined Tai Chu Runes, Tai Chu Emperor Pattern, and so on, Zhou Yan had blood-soaked memories of every step of his advancement.

Three lifetimes, three worlds, and even a million years of tempering in the Holy Spirit Land—would that still not be enough for him to master these to Perfection?

However, these were things that Zhuge Xiye and the others did not know.

Even if he said it out loud, they absolutely wouldn’t believe him, they’d even think Zhou Yan was a complete lunatic.

"People’s abilities are different. There are idiots, and there are geniuses. And then there are the geniuses among geniuses; as for me, I actually belong to the last kind. You don’t have to believe that now, but you definitely will in the future."

"As for anything else, there’s really no need for me to say more, because you won’t believe the truth, and I’m not willing to tell lies. So, that’s that. You just take care of my daily life, and be responsible for teaching me the Cultivation of the Heavenly Mechanism Skill."

"You don’t need to worry about the rest. Also, don’t worry, although there’s all that talk about a marriage between the Heavenly Mechanism Saint Son and the Heavenly Mechanism Saintess, you can relax—I’m not interested in you. Of course, I also don’t think you’re worthy of me. That’s just the truth."

Zhou Yan said calmly.

This was the first time he’d spoken so seriously.

But his words were indeed a bit hurtful.

Especially that line—"You’re not worthy of me"—was like a Sword stabbing straight into Zhuge Xiye’s heart.

Zhuge Xiye was almost dumbfounded; she’d never seen someone so full of himself!

She’d always known Zhou Yan was narcissistic and arrogant, but this level of arrogance was truly beyond anything she’d ever seen.

She herself, the dignified Heavenly Mechanism Saintess, with Cultivation already at the Sixth Great Perfection of the Soul Condensation Realm, her Heavenly Mechanism Skill level in the Heavenly Mechanism Sect second only to the Sect Master, the ultimate Extraordinary Woman in the hearts of Saint Heirs and Holy Daughters across the world—was actually not worthy of him?!

At this moment, even Zhuge Xiye felt the whole thing was a bit absurd, ridiculously laughable.

But she still didn’t argue, because she had already come to understand Zhou Yan’s personality, understood this kind of shameless character, so to take it to heart would be unnecessary and meaningless.

"I’ll handle your daily life arrangements for this month. As for the Heavenly Mechanism Skill, I’ll start teaching you from the very basics. But with talent like yours, I think if I teach each Tao three times, that should already be more than enough. No need to teach each Tao seven or eight or ten times, right?"

Zhuge Xiye said mockingly.

The Heavenly Mechanism Skill was extremely complicated—three times? Ten times? Even a hundred times weren’t enough, because the entry to each Heavenly Mechanism Skill required repeated explanations, comprehension, and the display of the corresponding Secret Technique for the Disciple to experience.

Forget a hundred times—even in a hundred days, anyone who could get in the door was already an ultimate genius!

Right now, the fastest one to enter the Heavenly Mechanism Skill in the Heavenly Mechanism Sect was Zhuge Xiye, who had taken one month to get started!

So in the Heavenly Mechanism Skill, Zhuge Xiye possessed absolute authority.

The "three times" she spoke of was of course just angry talk; she naturally wouldn’t get perfunctory or half-hearted when it came to teaching Zhou Yan.

But when she said that, not only did Zhou Yan not get angry, he instead frowned slightly and said arrogantly, "Three times is too many. Once is enough."

"Once? Once is enough? The Heavenly Mechanism Skill, the entry-level Tao, is incomparably complex and completely different from any other Tao. Once—you sure you’re not joking?"

"If you can’t learn it in one go, how dare you call yourself a genius?"

Zhou Yan shot back.

Zhuge Xiye fell silent.

A moment later, Zhuge Xiye had already brought Zhou Yan to the Main Peak belonging to the Heavenly Mechanism Saint Son.

At this time, Zhou Yunchuan immediately came forward respectfully to greet them.

He still didn’t know the exact details of what had happened, since he wasn’t qualified to watch, but seeing Zhou Yan return and having heard the Heavenly Mechanism Sect’s Female Sect Master announce Zhou Yan’s status, he at least knew that Zhou Yan’s position as Heavenly Mechanism Saint Son was now firmly seated.

Thus, he would naturally rise with the tide; his mood was excellent, and he was naturally even more respectful toward Zhou Yan.

"Saint Son."

Zhou Yunchuan immediately bowed, saluting three times.

Then he moved to salute the Heavenly Mechanism Saintess as well.

"No need for formalities. For the next month, she and you will share the same status as Servants. Only she’s a Maid and you’re the steward, so your position is temporarily higher than hers."

Zhou Yan said casually.

Zhou Yunchuan was startled, then immediately looked carefully at the Heavenly Mechanism Saintess, afraid she would explode.

However, it was obvious the Heavenly Mechanism Saintess showed no sign of anger; instead, she nodded slightly to Zhou Yunchuan and said, "He’s right. You may go. Leave matters here to me."

"Uh—"

Zhou Yunchuan’s eyes went wide, his face full of incredulity.

"Go on. When this Maid is no longer a Maid, you can come back to serve me. For now, you’re free."

"Also, later go to the Law Enforcement Hall yourself and ask the Hall Master for a steward’s identity token, so it’ll be easier for you to come and go. Don’t worry, just report my name, Zhou Yan—no one will dare to give you trouble."

"And if someone really does, I’ll stand up for you."

Zhou Yan said offhandedly.

Zhou Yunchuan clicked his tongue silently. He suddenly felt that Zhou Yan was indeed insanely impressive.

At the very least, other Disciples treated the Heavenly Mechanism Saintess like a treasure in their palms, afraid of wronging her the slightest bit. And this guy? He directly ordered her around as a Maid!

This was just way too badass!

Moreover, from Zhou Yan’s tone, it sounded like he was the number one person in the Heavenly Mechanism Sect. What did he mean by "go to the Law Enforcement Hall and ask for a steward’s identity"? Was that kind of status so easy to get?

Zhou Yunchuan felt a bit jittery inside, but seeing that the Heavenly Mechanism Saintess didn’t object, he mustered up his courage and went.

Zhou Yan, unconcerned, turned to look at Zhuge Xiye and said, "Alright, how about you start teaching me the entry-level Tao today?"