Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2301: Little

Hummm...

Robin stepped out of the golden portal with his hands clasped behind his back, then calmly looked around, one eyebrow slightly raised as his gaze slowly swept across every corner of his surroundings.

This time, he had not appeared directly beside the person he was looking for. Even so, according to his soul perception, that person was not very far away, meaning it would only be a matter of moments before he found them.

Considering the surroundings, however, it was only natural that he did not locate his target immediately.

He was standing inside what resembled an underground cavern, dimly lit and oppressively hot. A faint glow shimmered across sections of the ceiling as though reflecting pools of radiant liquid hidden somewhere above, while the suffocating heat made the entire place feel like the surface of a dormant volcano whose quiet exterior concealed a violently restless core beneath, giving every breath a heavy, burning sensation.

The cave itself was anything but smooth. It was filled with uneven slopes, jagged rises, rocky spikes hanging from the ceiling, and strange viscous secretions slowly trickling down the walls, making the entire cavern appear ancient, wild, and almost untouched.

After searching for a few moments, Robin chose a direction and walked forward leisurely, as though he were simply taking a casual stroll through a peaceful garden rather than traversing an unfamiliar underground cavern.

Humm.

Glatheon and Richard appeared behind him. This time Richard was walking on his own. He no longer seemed to need support, though he still moved rather slowly, his body evidently not having fully recovered from everything he had recently endured.

As for Glatheon, he remained beside Richard, prepared to catch him if he stumbled at any moment, before finally calling out to Robin, "My Lord, may I ask you something?"

"Go ahead." Robin replied without stopping, continuing forward at the same relaxed, unhurried pace.

"The advice you gave the Marshal was essentially to continue doing what he’s already doing, while performing good deeds that would be counted in his favor to offset it..." Glatheon frowned thoughtfully. "Isn’t that making light of the concept of deeds? You yourself said it stands above the Laws."

"I merely told him what I’ve experienced myself, and what many others before me have experienced." Robin smiled faintly as he answered.

"I understand that. I do the same myself, a whole budget in my empire is dedicated towards charity, oh sorry, I meant my wing." Glatheon waved his hand. "But this loophole everyone at the top knows it and use it to the fullest. I’ve never heard anyone speak of the concept of karma with such reverence and such a profound philosophy like you did. In the end, the Purity Law can free someone from its consequences... yet after praising it so highly, you ended by presenting the enormous loophole like it’s nothing."

Robin nodded.

"Hmm. The Purity Law doesn’t erase accumulated negative karma—it merely lessens its consequences. Negative karma causes the Heavenly Laws to regard you as an enemy to a certain degree, and the Purity Law simply acts as a mediator, reducing that hostility. That’s all. The negative karma itself remains and continues to accumulate regardless... You saw for yourself what it did to Aro even with a huge Purity Array with him day and night. Given enough time, it would have claimed his life in the end."

He then smiled again.

"As for what you call a loophole... did I ever say it was one? If such a thing truly exists, discovering it certainly wouldn’t be my place. I’m far too insignificant before concepts such as these. All I can do is contemplate them, observe them, and keep pace with whatever little I manage to understand from them."

"So it isn’t a loophole?" Glatheon knitted his brows together even more tightly. "Then what’s the point of karma if someone destroys several planets, then goes around giving charity or building villages afterward? Isn’t that exactly a loophole? He remains a sinner committing evil, and whatever good he does afterward is nothing but obvious hypocrisy, I do it too, and I say I’m a hypocrite!"

"Heh~." Robin stopped walking and turned around with an amused smile. "You simply don’t understand. You don’t understand the point."

He stretched out both palms and slowly raised his right hand.

"Aro destroyed one hundred villages, causing one thousand people to die."

Then he raised his left.

"The same Aro later built one hundred villages and created the opportunity for one thousand people to be born in good conditions."

Finally, he looked directly into Glatheon’s eyes before asking calmly,

"When you look at the bigger picture... did Aro truly did anything at all?"

"....?" Glatheon furrowed his brows, unable to immediately find an answer to Robin’s question as he silently considered the example from every angle he could think of.

"Now let’s reverse the example." Robin slowly closed his right hand into a fist. "Aro destroys those same one hundred villages and kills the same one thousand people, but because karma has no Loopholes, as you claim, it refuses to let him atone and judges him to be an evil man forever... Would Aro still go on to build villages or create opportunities for anyone else to live after that?"

"..." Glatheon slowly shook his head. The answer seemed obvious once the situation was presented that way.

Robin snapped his fingers with a light smile. "Exactly. That is it— that Loophole is actually the opportunity for someone who has committed evil to take a step back and repair the damage they’ve caused themselves. Perhaps, by repeating enough good deeds over time, they’ll eventually grow accustomed to doing good and gradually leave their wicked past behind. Even if he didn’t and kept doing evil, no problem, with this opportunity he’s still making life possible DISPITE his wickedness."

"But if negative karma were truly unforgivable, then you would be living in a genuine hell—a world where anyone whose path to repentance had been permanently sealed would simply continue committing every imaginable evil, with or without reason, because sooner or later they’d inevitably ask themselves... why not?"

"If a man kills a hundred mortals and the doors of repentance are sealed, what would stop him from killing No.101? Why not make it a thousand?!"

Then he pointed toward Glatheon with an easy smile. "Let’s imagine, for a moment, that you’re a teacher. You have an extremely troublesome student who beats his classmates, tears up their books, and breaks their pens every single day. What would you do? Would you tell him he still has an opportunity to correct his mistakes as long as the school year hasn’t ended yet—even if only outwardly—thereby protecting the other students from his behavior while giving him time to reflect on himself? Or would you shut that door completely and tell him that failing is already inevitable no matter what he does from now on?"

Robin then gave Glatheon a playful wink. "And when the school year finally comes to an end, you, as the teacher, can gather together everything he has done throughout the entire year and decide whether he deserves to pass or fail. The important part is that you’ve protected the rest of the students from him for as much of that school term as possible, all without having to intervene personally every single time."

"...." Glatheon stared into Robin’s eyes with unmistakable unease. "Is this what you meant when you told the Marshal that you wouldn’t speak about anything you weren’t certain of? Because you sound very certain to me."

"I’m simply connecting the dots." Robin shrugged before turning around and resuming his leisurely walk. "You’ve already understood the idea, Glathy, and how you choose to make use of it is entirely up to you. Just remember... we’re still far too small. Far, far too small compared to concepts like these."

A broad smile spread across Robin’s face when he reached one corner of the cavern, and he pointed in a particular direction.

"Oop, there she is."

In that direction sat a woman with nine tails, covered in thick white fur, while an exquisite suit of black-and-gold armor embraced her body elegantly from head to toe. Directly before her lay a large lake filled with a transparent liquid carrying a faint bluish tint, its surface remaining perfectly still despite the heat filling the cavern.

She sat in a meditative posture with her eyes gently closed. Even after Robin’s loud voice and cheerful laughter echoed throughout the cavern, she showed no reaction whatsoever, remaining completely motionless as though isolated from the outside world, while several empty vials lay scattered around her.

"Hmm?" Glatheon frowned as recognition flashed across his face. "I know her... that’s the young Renara, the Spearhead of the Cradle Empire!" He then raised his voice slightly in surprise. "We’re already in Mid Sector 100?"

"Hehe." Robin began walking toward Renara, his eyes shimmering with a brilliant golden glow as he fixed his gaze upon her tranquil figure. "It’s time for the Spearhead to be sharpened once again."