Lu Yin took a sip of tea. This particular tea had been grown on the other side of the mountains, and it was quite ordinary. "Senior, are you discussing philosophy with me?"
Mr. Daheng laughed. "I'm merely overthinking things. Dao Monarch Lu is still so young, so why would you muse about such things?"
Bureau Director Gan looked at Lu Yin enviously. The director and Mr. Daheng were both old, while Lu Yin was so young yet so powerful. No one knew how high the young man might reach in the future.
Lu Yin put down his tea cup. "Senior, do you feel like you are growing old, or do you feel that the person you are now is no longer the person you once were?"
Mr. Daheng smiled. "What do you think, Dao Monarch Lu?"
Lu Yin replied. "The former."
Bureau Director Gan shook his head, but Mr. Daheng laughed. "At Liberation Palace, we focus on being free and unfettered. That is because we all feel that we are being forced to change by everything around us and that we cannot escape the constraints that bind us.
"Because there is the Endless Frontier, we must enter it.
"Because the Arborean realm exists, so we had to be diligent with our cultivation.
"Because there is day and night, we must distinguish between the two.
"Because there is good and evil, we must consider the morality of our actions before acting.
"These are all influences that constrain us, but we never consider such things. Are we really doing what we want to? I want to sit here and drink tea, but because night is falling, I must return. I want to enjoy the scenery in a location, but because it became a battlefield, I was unable to go there anymore. I want to eat a specific type of delicacy every day, but because the chef died of old age, I can no longer enjoy it.
"From birth to death, every person is swayed by too many influences, and it is impossible to achieve true freedom. Isn’t this the ultimate regret of life?
"The purpose of our Liberation Palace is to allow people to feel at ease and to have thoughts that inspire eternity.
"Dao Monarch Lu, have you ever considered staying in one place forever? Never parting ways from one person? Have you ever imagined what kind of life you could live? Why have you not lived that life?"
Bureau Director Gan's eyes blazed with emotion. This was the exact reason why he had joined the Liberation Palace. He wanted to do what he wanted to do.
There was a bang, and a teacup cracked.
The sound startled Bureau Director Gan out of his thoughts, and it caused Mr. Daheng to abruptly stop speaking.
Lu Yin relaxed his hand. "I'm sorry. Your words reminded me of the past."
Mr. Daheng stared at Lu Yin with fervent eyes. "It appears that Dao Monarch Lu is also a man of emotion."
Lu Yin smiled. "There is something that I really want to do right now. I wonder, could you help me, Senior?"
"Dao Monarch Lu, please tell me," Mr. Daheng replied with a smile of his own.
Lu Yin stared at the man. "I want to get the jiao back."
The comment surprised Bureau Director Gan, and he turned to look at Mr. Daheng in confusion. "The jiao?"
Mr. Daheng was not surprised. He calmly observed Lu Yin. "I also have something that I really want to do, and I would like to ask Dao Monarch Lu to help me."
"Please tell me, Senior."
"I want Chen Le to join the Liberation Palace."
Lu Yin and Mr. Daheng stared at each other, and neither looked away. They had both stated their conditions.
Lu Yin understood. Mr. Daheng was a truly ruthless person. The entire reason why he had taken the jiao away had been to force Chen Le to return to the Liberation Palace. For this one reason, he had not hesitated to target the jiao, even on a battlefield as dangerous as the one at the Tea Ceremony. The man had risked death, and he knew that he could die if he were discovered. Despite that, he was willing to potentially become an enemy of the Origin Universe.
There was no way that Chen Le was what Mr. Daheng truly wanted. What the man actually wanted was the same thing that he had desired all along. Even if the Peaks and Rivers Rock had fallen into Luo Shan's hands, Mr. Daheng still needed to learn why Chen Le had given the stone to Luo Shan. Where had Chen Le gotten the confidence to defy Mr. Daheng, and who had helped the Monarch? These details were very important, and Mr. Daheng wanted to know the answers.
This was the Liberation Palace.
According to Mr. Daheng’s own words, he wanted to be free and do whatever he wanted, and he was working hard towards that goal. Chen Le was one of the things that Mr. Daheng wanted.
In order to regain Chen Le, Mr. Daheng had taken a terrible risk at the Tea Ceremony, and he was even willing to use the jiao as a bargaining chip. He did not care about the methods he used, and he eschewed ideas such as good or evil.
Bureau Director Gan was unable to understand what the two were talking about, but he understood that the atmosphere had suddenly grown very heavy.
"Chen Le voluntarily joined the Heavens Sect. If he wants to join the Liberation Palace, I won't stop him. If he doesn't want to, I also can't force him," Lu Yin calmly stated.
Mr. Daheng argued, "Dao Monarch Lu certainly has the means to do so. Chen Le is nothing more than a minor figure. I want him to join the Liberation Palace."
Lu Yin looked away and stared out at the distant farmland. "It seems that Mr. Daheng is determined."
"A thought to eternity," Mr. Daheng stated bluntly.
Lu Yin rose to his feet. "Very well, I'll bring Chen Le. However, it will be up to you, Mr. Daheng, to convince him to join you. Of course, I also want to see the jiao."
Mr. Daheng smiled. "I'm sorry to have troubled you, Dao Monarch Lu."
Lu Yin left the Liberation Palace, and Mr. Daheng’s smile faded.
Bureau Director Gan could not resist speaking up. "Senior, this-"
The man knew that the conversation between Lu Yin and Mr. Daheng had not been good.
Mr. Daheng waved the question off. "Call Wu Heng. Lord Lu might not be willing to compromise so easily."
"Doing this will offend the Origin Universe and the Lu family. We will be in trouble if one of the Lu family’s seniors come, especially their ancestor, Lu Yuan."
"There’s no need to worry. We are only requesting Chen Le. For this child of the Lu family to become the Heavens Sect’s Dao Monarch and the ruler of the Origin Universe, he can’t be helpless. Besides, I have already prepared enough of a reward to satisfy the Lu family," Mr. Daheng replied. He genuinely did not want to offend the Origin Universe. He would never forget the scene that the Lu family had put on at the Tea Ceremony. First, Lu Yin had called the Great Sovereign a crazy bitch, and then Ancestor Lu Yuan had repeated the insult. These were not people who could be crossed.
The man rubbed his cosmic ring. As long as he was able to meet Chen Le, he would pay a price sufficient to convince the Lu family to leave the Liberation Palace alone. The jiao was nothing more than a lure to draw Lu Yin over. Mr. Daheng was certain that he would be able to satisfy Lu Yin.
Mr. Daheng had founded the Liberation Palace, and regardless of his behavior’s morality, he was no fool. He clearly understood which people could be offended and which people could not.
Bureau Director Gan breathed a sigh of relief. This was good. If Dao Monarch Lu became upset, the Bureau Director feared the retaliation of the Heavens Sect and the Lu family. Those powers were capable of destroying the entire Liberation Palace.
Mr. Daheng had come up with a good idea, and he had used the jiao to lure Lu Yin to the Liberation Palace. As long as Lu Yin brought Chen Le to Mr. Daheng, the man was willing to pay a steep price to convince Lu Yin to give Chen Le up.