บท 161: What is Dao?
Outside of Black Peak, two figures stood in the air silently. One stared at the other, whilst the other gazed at Black Peak with a complicated expression.
Yaan sighed deeply.
The experience just now was one of the strangest of his life, and that was certainly saying something. The feeling of completely losing all connection to the world around him, but also to his own body, his cultivation, his very mind…it was shocking.
But right now, Yaan felt inexplicably calm.
Whilst he was trapped within the dark cave, he touched upon a certain feeling, a feeling that he would never forget. Back there, after feeling terrified by his loss of control and by the feeling that he might die at any giving moment if he did not escape from his predicament, he felt a serene calmness sweep over him.
This unusual calmness was steadily fading away now, but Yaan was savouring and observing this feeling for as long as he could hold onto it.
"To not care about life and death…what do you think of this?" Yaan suddenly turned towards the Immortal Ancestor and asked.
"I think that such an individual would never achieve anything impressive in their life, if they truly did not care at all."
"Perhaps you're right…" Yaan nodded slowly.
However, the immortal was not finished speaking.
"But…everyone has their own dao. There are many unusual individuals in this world…" The Immortal Ancestor trailed off as a certain someone who appeared in his past flashed through his mind.
After another long period of silence, Yaan turned towards the white-haired immortal and asked him another question.
"Could you tell me…what is dao?"
"Dao is cultivation." The immortal replied without missing a beat. Yaan waited for him to expand, but he said no more.
"I don't understand." Yaan laughed and shook his head.
"I know. You don't understand because everyone's answer to this question is different."
"Is that so?" Yaan blinked, then nodded, somewhat understanding now. "So to you, dao is cultivation, that is your dao. What a useful dao heart, no wonder you became an immortal…"
The Immortal Ancestor glanced at Yaan, but he said nothing.
"You said that you won't intervene in my life for the next year, right?" Yaan suddenly asked.
"Yes. You may do as you wish from now until the Xuqi Sect entrance examination in 13 months time. If you wish for my assistance, I will assist you. However, I suggest that you focus not on your cultivation, but on the pursuit of dao."
"How?" Yaan asked simply.
"That is up to you to realise."
After pondering for some time, Yaan made his decision.
"I'm going to see Keasal. I'll call for you if I need you."
"…"
The Immortal Ancestor remained silent as he watched Yaan fly away. When Yaan had finally disappeared from sight, the white-haired man muttered to himself quietly.
"His talent in perceiving dao might be the most shocking thing of all…this suggests that she was telling the truth, he truly is the Fragment of Dao…but why do I feel that this dao does not suit the Primordial Devil's nature…?"
Yaan soon arrived at Blue Peak, where he was promptly greeted by Keasal. It had been three years, but this old man looked no different compared to before, he was still as energetic and enthusiastic as Yaan remembered.
"Junior brother, when teacher announced that you would be going into seclusion for three years, I was truly surprised. You are so young, and you only just arrived at the sect, but you are already spending years in seclusion! Sigh, this sort of practice should be saved for old men like me, you should enjoy your life a little."
Yaan smiled but shook his head.
"There's no need to say this senior brother, I did this under teacher's instructions. Besides, I benefited quite a lot this time, teacher even suggested that I enter the Xuqi Sect's next entrance examination."
Keasal showed a shocked expression.
"Teacher really made such a suggestion…?" After pondering for a moment, he nodded. "I understand, you would like to know more about this matter, right?"
When Yaan nodded with a wry smile, Keasal laughed.
'As expected, teacher told him basically nothing. Sigh, it's always like this, I understand your struggle, junior brother.'
Seeing Keasal's sympathetic expression, Yaan wasn't sure what to say, so he remained silent and waited for Keasal to explain.
"You already know that the Xuqi Sect is the sect established by the Xuqi Dynasty, responsible for overseeing the Southern Continent?"
Yaan nodded, though 'overseeing' was putting it very lightly. They forcefully enforced their laws upon the entire continent and its inhabitants, they did not merely 'oversee'.
"And you are also aware that the Xuqi Sect is backed by the Xuqi Dynasty, the most powerful group in the Southern Continent with history stretching back for as long as our records show?" Keasal asked Yaan seriously.
At this point, Yaan raised an eyebrow. He remembered Keasal mentioning this before, but he had found a different truth in the Five Towers Library.
"Senior brother, isn't the Xuqi Dynasty derived from the Sou Clan? The records definitely go back further than the Xuqi Dynasty's existence…"
"Hah…" Keasal exhaled and scratched his head. "Where did you learn that?"
"In the sect's library…"
"We have such a text?" Keasal laughed wryly. "Anyway, the reason I'm bringing this up now is to let you know something. Junior brother, don't mention that history in public, or you'll end up offending the Xuqi Dynasty! If anyone asks, the Xuqi Dynasty has existed since the beginning of the Southern Continent's records, understand? Since you're going to be visiting the Xuqi Sect's headquarters in one year, it's important that you understand this point."
Yaan blinked, but then nodded, he understood this logic. Why would he want to offend the Xuqi Dynasty in the first place?
"I understand."
"Good." Keasal exhaled slightly, then became less serious as he went on. "I won't go too deeply into the Xuqi Dynasty and Xuqi Sect's organisational structure, since I'm sure that you have already learned about these things. What you want to know is the specifics of the entrance exam, am I right?"
"Yes, exactly." Yaan agreed.
"The Xuqi Sect's entrance examination comes in two portions. The first, is to prove that you possess battle strength equivalent to a cultivator at the Mid Origin Soul Realm…" After saying this, Keasal paused, squinting at Yaan ever so slightly.
Yaan chuckled, it was understandable that he would feel doubtful, after all, Yaan's aura was that of someone with Rank 4 cultivation. However, he didn't realise that Keasal was actually feeling uncertain for a different reason.
"Junior brother, what happened to your cultivation exactly? Did teacher alter the concealment method placed upon you?"
"Hmm?" Yaan blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Your cultivation seems different from before, your aura has also changed. Previously, you emitted the aura of an ordinary Spirit Core Realm cultivator, though this was obviously teacher's concealment. Now, however…you still possess the aura of a Spirit Core Realm cultivator, but it seems unusual. It is more domineering and many times more powerful!"
Yaan was not actively releasing his aura, but neither was he bothering to hide it. He quickly realised that the Immortal Ancestor had indeed removed the concealment ability placed on him! If he had known this, he would have actively hidden his aura.
But this…did this mean that he actually looked like a Qi refiner in the eyes of others now, even without the Immortal Ancestor's concealment? Based on what Keasal said, it seemed that this was the case, though his aura was a bit different compared to normal Qi refiners, whilst the feeling of power emanating from his body was closer to that of someone in the Origin Soul Realm!
Since Yaan did not want to explain everything that had transpired to Keasal, he gave a half-hearted explanation.
"My cultivation has improved senior brother, I indeed now possess Rank 5 battle strength."
Keasal's eyes widened and he gasped slightly.
He knew that previously, Yaan possessed battle strength that could contest against those at the Origin Soul Realm for a few moves, but that was all. Now though, he truly had Rank 5 battle strength!
As for his exact level of strength, Yaan did not mention it, because honestly, he wasn't sure.
After getting over his shock and congratulating Yaan on his rapid improvement, Keasal went on with his explanation regarding the Xuqi Sect's entrance exam.
"There will be a competition between everyone taking the entrance exam, though the exact nature of this competition varies with each exam. It could be a series of one on one battles, it could be an all out melee between all participants at the same time, or it could even be a challenge against a current member of the Xuqi Sect. Usually though, the outcome of the battle is not what's important - the important matter is to display your full abilities to prove your worth. Even if you lose your first battle, you might still be able to pass the 1st exam if you prove your capabilities."
It was an unusual method of testing people, but it was quite effective and assured absolute fairness. These rules made it such that you would not lose your chance to enter the sect due to bad luck. For example, if you ended up facing off against a Peak Origin Soul Realm powerhouse and losing your first battle, you still might have a chance to continue on, depending on your performance in that battle.
"The 2nd trial is the true test." Keasal sighed deeply. "This is not a test of cultivation, or a test of battle strength…but a test of dao!"
"A test of dao?" Yaan repeated, narrowing his eyes and paying close attention. Clearly, it was because of this test that the Immortal Ancestor was sending him to the Xuqi Sect. In fact, Yaan even had a feeling that the immortal might not care about him becoming a member of the Xuqi Sect, he just wanted to make use of this exam to test him!
Keasal's explanation of the 2nd trial more or less confirmed this guess of his.
The 2nd trial took place within a powerful construct. Nobody knew if this construct was a spell, a formation or a treasure. The construct was too far beyond their comprehension to even see through this much.
The construct was called the 'Tower of Mortal Dao'.
Upon entering the Tower of Mortal Dao, the challenger's cultivation would be completely suppressed. Be it their body cultivation, Qi cultivation, soul cultivation or mind cultivation, all were sealed away within the tower, suppressing the challenger to the state of a mortal!
When Yaan heard this, he was reminded of Black Peak, but this tower actually seemed to be even more shocking.
As the challenger climbed up the tower, the suppression became even greater. However, this suppression did not suppress the body or anything of the sort…it suppressed their very dao heart!
There were a total of 99 floors in this tower, but the highest anyone had ever climbed was said to be the 31st floor!
Within the tower, a suppressive force was imposed upon the cultivator's dao heart. Since the challenger's cultivation was sealed away and they were like a mortal within the tower, possessing stronger cultivation would not help them to resist this force.
This trial was a trial that tested the strength of the dao heart. In order to pass the trial and become an elder of the Xuqi Sect, the challenger needed to reach the 10th floor.
A 99 floor tall tower, but to pass, you only needed to reach the 10th floor? Just what was this tower exactly, was it designed to test immortals?
Yaan couldn't help but consider this possibility, but the tower's name made him think that this was not the case.
'Tower of Mortal Dao'.
Why would an immortal trial have the word 'mortal' in its title? This could only mean that the trial was made such that it could properly test any Foundation Step cultivator; nobody was expected to reach the 99th floor, perhaps even reaching halfway was impossible.
Yaan intended to ask the Immortal Ancestor exactly what he needed to achieve in order to pass his 3rd test, but before that, he had one last question to ask Keasal.
"Senior brother, could you tell me…what is dao?"
"What is dao?" Keasal blinked, surprised by this sudden question, until he thought about it properly.
'I see, so junior brother is looking to comprehend dao to improve his dao heart before the entrance exam. I will try to help him then, but this question is a bit vague…'
Keasal laughed wryly, but he gave his best answer.
"Some say that dao is the way of the world. Others say that dao is the way of the self. I say; why make these distinctions? In the end, is there really any difference?"
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