Chapter 8: The Way of Deception

  The Art of Deception (Seeking Recommendation Tickets and Favorites)

  "Finally, it's you, Red Cloud. I've never quite understood you. You cultivate the laws of the soul, but there's also an illusionary effect to it. What exactly is the Great Dao that you're cultivating?" Shen Long looked at Red Cloud and asked.

  Dào zì, Dù Kāng and the crow were also looking at Hongyun in surprise, thinking that even Dong Wang Gong, such a powerful being, couldn't see through it. What kind of great Tao was Hongyun actually cultivating?

  Upon hearing Hongyun's question, Hongyun's eyebrows furrowed, but immediately relaxed, and then stared at Shen Long for a long time before saying:

  "Can I trust you?"

  "How dare you speak to your senior like that? The Immortal is just pointing out your lack of cultivation."

  The knife holder's face changed color, afraid of provoking Shen Long, and immediately shouted at Hong Yun. After all, the two were considered brothers. Then he apologized to Shen Long:

  "Please don't blame me, Eastern King, Hongyun has always been eccentric by nature, without any ill intentions."

  Hongyun heard Daojian's words and frowned slightly, but immediately recovered, still staring at Shenlong, waiting for his response.

  Shen Long heard Hong Yun's question and looked at her, ignoring the apology of the knife holder, just looking at her for a long time before saying two words: "Okay."

  Hongyun's face broke into a smile. The smile was extremely radiant, but Shen Long thought it was also extremely arrogant. Who let this guy look even more handsome than Shen Long?

  "What I've been cultivating is..." Hongyun finally spoke up, and the several people around him all perked up their ears to listen. However, Hongyun's tone was drawn out so long that it gave everyone a strong urge to slap him.

  "The Way of Deception."

  "What?"

  "Is this deceitful way also considered the great Way?"

  "You're not fooling us, are you?"

  Hongyun finally spoke out his own Tao, the Tao of deception. Upon hearing this word, Shen Long's mind was shaken, while Du Kang and Wu Ya were skeptical, not believing that deceiving people could be a great way, not believing that deceiving people could achieve greatness. Only Dao Jian furrowed his brow, falling into deep thought.

  "Hmph! The great way is boundless, every path can be verified as the origin, why can't the way of deception be the great way? It's just extremely difficult, that's all." Shen Long let out a cold hum, explaining to them, then looked at Hong Yun.

  "In that case, many things can be explained clearly. If I'm not mistaken, your current cultivation should still be at the peak of Mahayana Xian, right? The Way of Deception is indeed formidable, and it actually deceived even my eyes as a quasi-Saint."

  "Hmph, if it weren't for the fact that Knife Disc took away my original source of fire, causing my original source of fire to be incomplete, I would have long ago obtained the Great Luo Golden Immortal Fruit position through the Fire Law. How could I choose a deceitful path?" Red Cloud thought back to when Knife Disc stole his original source of fire and said angrily.

  "Alas!" The knife paused for a moment, speechless.

  "It's all right, though. Cultivating the Way of Deception, every time I deceive someone, my Dao will increase a bit. This time, having fooled you three and made you dance in circles, I'll return to my Huoyun Cave for closed-door cultivation. When I come out, I should be able to advance to the Great Luo Golden Immortal stage." Hongyun continued.

  "What?" cried the raven in surprise.

  "It's also true, Crow. Haven't you noticed? Every time Hong Yun teases us, his Taoist cultivation advances a bit afterwards." Du Kang suddenly enlightened, explained to Crow.

  "Oh~~~ Indeed, how despicable! He actually used us as a stepping stone to perfect his own way." The crow, reminded by Du Kang, also remembered and scolded Hong Yun loudly.

  "Bang!!!" A purple golden ruyi struck the crow's head.

  "Little crow, you're still too tender, it seems you haven't woken up yet. The path of the great way is extremely arduous and treacherous, as long as you can get through it, you'll be a good man. What's there to be ashamed of? Haven't you noticed that you're still alive?"

  Shen Long hit the crow once and then said to Knife Rack, Du Kang and Crow.

  "The path of cultivation is difficult, and the path of cultivating deception is even more treacherous. It requires constant deception, which also means having many enemies. A slight mistake can lead to eternal damnation. However, this has also made those who cultivate the path of deception formidable. I thought it was you three brothers letting Red Cloud win earlier, but it seems that Red Cloud was actually letting you win."

  "What? How can this be?"

  "Is he really that fierce?"

  Du Kang and Wu Ya looked at Shen Long incredulously, then turned to look at Hong Yun, while Dao Gu was silent, just lowering his head in contemplation.

  "Do I have to deceive you?" Shen Long glanced at Du Kang and Wu Ya, saying: "You can go ask Hong Yun."

  The crow and Du Kang looked towards Hong Yun together, even the knife holder lifted its head to look at Hong Yun, waiting for Hong Yun's response.

  "Hmph!!! If you hadn't always spared my life, I would have made my move against you long ago." Hongyun's face sank, and with a cold snort, he pushed out a palm towards the mountain peak opposite him, which instantly turned to nothingness.

  "It's also true that those who cultivate the way of deceiving people have the most sensitive souls and are the most trusting of their own souls. Perhaps it's normal for them to clearly sense your murderous intentions."

  "Just now, you asked me if I could trust you, and at that time, you were probably using your spiritual sense to perceive me. Benzun thought his face was quite trustworthy, but it turned out he was being calculated by you. You're really careful. Shen Long shook his head with a bitter smile, an accurate saint like himself had been deceived several times by a Daluo Xian."

  Listening to Hongyun's words and Shenlong's affirmation, they saw the mountain peak that had turned into a void again. The three brothers understood that Hongyun was not attacking weakly, but rather did not want to fight them at all.

  "Alas!" The three brothers exchanged a glance, sighed, and then stood up, bowing to the red cloud.

  "Hmm!!" Hongyun also stood up, but not to accept the gift, but to dodge, although still humming a cold hum, turning his face away, however, his complexion began to improve.

  "It's all settled then, no need for any more fighting and killing, that would be bad. This way, your matter is also concluded." Shen Long said with a smile, holding his scepter in his right hand and patting his left hand.

  "Since the great immortal East King Gong wants to guide my junior's cultivation, I wonder if he can enlighten me on my Great Dao of Deception." Although the rift between Red Cloud and Knife Rack wouldn't be resolved immediately, after Shen Long's mediation, things were developing in a positive direction. However, at this moment, Red Cloud was actually giving Shen Long a test.

  "You little devil, you're still testing me. Although I haven't cultivated the Great Way of Deception, I'll give you a hint, there is something." Shen Long said with a smile.

  "Listen carefully."

  "If I'm not mistaken, the order in which you cultivate the Great Dao of Deception should be to deceive oneself, deceive others, deceive ghosts, deceive gods, and finally deceive the Heaven and Earth to attain the Dao. Am I right?" Shen Long said slowly.

  "How could you possibly know?" Hong Yun's face was gloomy, and he asked in a low voice, while the three brothers of the Knife and Fork were shocked, the Great Tao of Deception was indeed powerful, and it could actually deceive the Heavenly Dao.

  "I not only know this, but I also know that you constantly deceive, first deceiving yourself, and then deceiving others, namely fellow cultivators with similar cultivation levels."

  "Then there's the swindling of ghosts, as everyone knows, ghostly thoughts are fleeting and unpredictable, you should hone your great way of deception on the ghosts, the red cloud floating around your body shouldn't be flames but rather the ghosts that have been deceived by you."

  By this point, Hongyun's face could no longer be described as merely ugly; it was almost twisted. Anyone who heard their own Dao being analyzed so thoroughly would feel uncomfortable, and this was especially true for Hongyun, whose Dao was a fake one.

  "If I'm not mistaken, you've now developed to the point of deceiving gods, or rather, deceiving quasi-saints like me." Shen Long continued.

  "How did you know in such detail?" Hongyun asked with a gloomy face and a hoarse voice.

  "Because..." Shen Long looked at Hong Yun and said slowly:

  "Your path was wrong from the start."

  "Pffft——" Hongyun spat out a mouthful of blood, looking like he was on the verge of collapse, his lips still murmuring to himself:

  "It's impossible, it's impossible."

  "Red Cloud, what's wrong?" Knife Rack asked worriedly.

  "Hmph! You should have understood by now, your cultivation method is fundamentally unable to reach the level of deceiving heaven, and barely able to deceive the gods."

  "Pffft——" Hongyun spat out another mouthful of fresh blood.

  "Great Immortal, I beg of you, please save him quickly. I, Knife Rack, am willing to offer the origin of fire and all the treasures I've collected, even my life if needed. Please, save him." Knife Rack directly knelt down, hugging Shen Long's leg and wailing loudly in tears.

  "Big brother." Hongyun weakly called out, her eyes filled with relief:

  "I can finally call you Big Brother."

  "Red Cloud——" Dao Zhen rushed over, embracing Red Cloud, and the two of them enacted a farewell between life and death.

  "Hey, what's going on? It's not like there's no way to save him." Looking at the two guys' true performance, Shen Long suddenly felt that these guys all have the talent of a movie emperor.

  "Ah - thank you, great immortal, thank you, great immortal." Dāo Jiǎng heard this and immediately released Hóng Yún, kowtowing to Shen Long in gratitude.

  "Never mind, it's fate that we met. First, let me swallow my golden elixir. Honestly, the art of deception isn't just about deceiving others, but also about being deceived oneself. One must first learn to be honest in order to deceive. The true path of deception lies in the balance between truth and falsehood - nine parts truth, one part falsehood. When truth becomes false, then falsehood becomes true; when falsehood becomes true, then truth becomes false. At your level, you should understand that the ultimate goal of the art of deception is to live a life without deceiving others, to be honest for a lifetime. Until finally, with just one strike, you transcend fate."

  As Hongyun swallowed the Dan medicine, Shen Long began to explain. His ordinary words meant nothing to Dukang and Wuya, but to Hongyun, they were pearls of wisdom, like the true words of the Great Way.

  "Hum~~~~" The yuanqi around Hongyun burst out, shining brightly in all directions, with a full face of red light, what weakness is there?

  "It's broken through." The knife whispered to itself.

  "What?"

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  Judging from the situation in recent days, everyone is still paying attention to this book, but the recommendation of Cang Hai has not been going up. Dear reader friends, when you click on it, please recommend it and collect it, thank you.