Chapter 0926: Size of the Dao
Chapter 0926: Size of the Dao
The fact that the Bestowing Lawless Fruit truly had great use in comprehending the lawless spirit technique made Ning Cheng’s heart more and more delighted. Valley Master Sikou was a Dao Fusion powerhouse. How deep was the insight of a Dao Fusion powerhouse? Ning Cheng believed that he was definitely not talking out of his ass. What’s more, how many years has he stayed here?
Ning Cheng could tell that Valley Master Sikou had purposefully come to the Land of Broken Laws to comprehend the ‘no law’ here. Perhaps the valley master and the others already knew a way out of this place but purposefully decided to stay here to cultivate.
Ten days passed quickly, but ten days for a Dao Fusion Holy Emperor were considered too short for a dao sermon. However, Ning Cheng had gained so much in these ten days. Not only had he gained a new understanding of the Land of Broken Laws, but he also realised the preliminary concept of the lawless spirit technique. But more importantly, Ning Cheng gained a brand new understanding of the Dao. He even gained insights into some of the doubts that plagued him during cultivation.
These ten days were worth a hundred years of tumbling around in the dark all by himself, making Ning Cheng sigh in his heart. Cultivation, in truth, was nothing more than learning from other people’s experiences and then stripping the essence of it for personal use. How far a cultivator can go lies in how much he can find what suits him and then comprehend his own from it.
On the tenth day, Valley Master Sikou suddenly stopped talking, causing all the cultivators immersed in Valley Master Sikou’s sermon to abruptly wake up.
“The valley master’s sermon had benefited me a lot. Many thanks for the sermon, valley master.” A female cultivator sitting at the front stood up with an excited face and bowed to Valley Master Sikou.
However, Valley Master Sikou shook his head, “You misunderstood. What I spoke isn’t about my Dao, but my epiphany of the Dao and laws of the Land of Broken Laws.”
“Haha…..” Another man stood up abruptly, “I have reached Dao enlightenment, I’ve reached Dao enlightenment…..”
It was a grey-haired old man who stood up. He called out a few times before pointing his finger into the void and declaring aloud. “I wish to use the laws I have comprehended to sculpt my Dao, to respect the might of heaven and earth, and to sincerely abide by the grace of the Dao…..”
As the grey-haired old man’s words came out, Ning Cheng and everyone else clearly felt the aura on his body changing. Everyone understood that this grey-haired person’s strength had drastically improved compared to before. He still couldn’t manifest his strength in the Land of Broken Laws. But once he exited the Land of Broken Laws, the might of his sculpted Dao would surely manifest itself.
However, no one spoke about it. Although it was rare to see someone sculpting one’s Dao in the Valley of Peace, it wasn’t the first time this has happened. Dao sculpting was only related to epiphany, and the strength of one’s spirit essence rarely played any role in it.
The grey-robed old man’s aura changed entirely an hour later, and he bowed to Valley Master Sikou to express his gratitude.
Valley Master Sikou nodded and said in a calm tone, “Sculpting the Dao, in a sense, requires fusing the laws of heaven and earth with your own spirit techniques. For you to be able to sculpt your Dao in the Land of Broken Laws, your future achievements would certainly surpass that of the average person.”
The grey-robed old man thanked him once again before bowing and retreating.
Valley Master Sikou then said aloud, “If you don’t have any questions, you can take your leave. If you have any questions, please ask.”
Carole pulled on Ning Cheng’s arm, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning Cheng, let’s leave.”
Ning Cheng hurriedly said, “I still have many questions to ask. How can I leave?”
Carole whispered, “Asking questions requires spirit crystals. One million spirit crystals for the first question, two million spirit crystals for the second question, and in increasing order after that.”
Ning Cheng couldn’t help but glance at Valley Master Sikou in surprise after hearing it. He couldn’t help but think to himself that this Valley Master Sikou truly knew how to earn spirit crystals. However, Ning Cheng didn’t condone it; after all, knowledge equated to wealth. It was nothing abnormal for the Valley Master to answer questions in exchange for spirit crystals. If it were him, he would have also charged spirit crystals to answer questions.
“Senior Sister Carole, you should go first. I still have some spirit crystals, and I need to ask a few questions.” Ning Cheng naturally wouldn’t let go of such an opportunity. Outside, even if you had as many spirit crystals as you wanted, you wouldn’t be able to ask a Dao Fusion powerhouse to answer your questions.
After knowing that Man Huishan wouldn’t be able to trouble him for at least a thousand years, Ning Cheng had long since wanted to leave the Valley of Peace. Now that he learnt about the effects of the Bestowing Lawless Fruit, he immediately wished to go out and find a place to comprehend this lawless spirit technique. As for staying in the valley to understand this spirit technique, he wanted to avoid it as much as possible.
It wasn’t that Ning Cheng didn’t trust others, but because the value of the Bestowing Lawless Fruit was simply too high. Who could guarantee that when he took out the Bestowing Lawless Fruit, it would not cause others to covet it?
Fortunately, there weren’t many cultivators who stayed here to ask questions. Obviously, everyone did not have large stashes of wealth. However, Man Huishan wasn’t polite and directly went up and took out a storage ring.
Ning Cheng didn’t know how many questions this fellow had asked, but Ning Cheng had to wait almost half a day before this fellow left satisfied.
Only after Man Huishan left did Ning Cheng come forward and take out a storage ring to place it in front of Valley Master Sikou. He then cupped his fists and bowed, “Senior, this junior has a few questions that he would like to ask.”
Seeing Valley Master Sikou smile, Ning Cheng continued, “Senior, I reached the full-circle of Eternal Realm. Having just finished the spirit essence transformation, I now want to sculpt my Dao. It’s just that this junior had always been a rogue cultivator and had no master to learn from or guide me. As such, I don’t know much about Dao enlightenment. I just hope to ask Senior to enlighten me about it.”
Valley Master Sikou nodded, “I already noticed the perfect transformation of your spirit essence as soon as you arrived. Your surging spirit essence is far stronger than the average Eternal cultivator, which makes your future much better average. It’s just that I never thought you would be a rogue cultivator and assumed that you came from one of the great clans. Very impressive, very impressive indeed.”
Valley Master Sikou’s words made Ning Cheng understand that this valley master wasn’t trying to earn spirit crystals by answering questions at all. But rather, this person had a fraternal mind. It all spoke volumes whether it was Valley Master Sikou’s dao sermons or him taking the initiative to answer questions and collect spirit crystals.
A cultivator who was trying to earn spirit crystals would definitely not talk so much nonsense to him.
As expected, after Valley Master Sikou finished those words, his tone turned a bit severe, “Your spirit techniques are all over the place, and you rely too much on pills. It has thrown your primary and secondary out of balance[1]. If you cannot resolve it, it would greatly limit your future achievements.”
Ning Cheng sweated profusely in his heart. He knew about his situation better than anyone else and had indeed used many pills to reach this far. Because Ning Cheng had never felt any side effects, he had not cared about it all. But now that Valley Master Sikou had spoken about it, he realised that he had walked into a grave misunderstanding about himself. As for his spirit techniques, whether he had problems with them or not, he had no idea about it.
Valley Master Sikou sighed, “I have never seen an Eternal cultivator with such amazing talents. Your age makes it even harder to believe it. Perhaps you have your own secrets…..”
Ning Cheng felt even more shocked when he heard those words. He never expected Valley Master Sikou to see through his age, especially in a place with scant laws. Moreover, his biggest secret was the Mysterious Yellow Bead; this thing must not be seen by the other party.
Luckily, Valley Master Sikou didn’t go on about the secret but changed the topic. “I can tell that you have an amazing comprehension ability. From what I see, you comprehended most of your spirit techniques by yourself. With this kind of comprehension ability, you shouldn’t need to rely too much on pills. Pills might help you speed up for a while, but if you cannot find a way to contain, if not neutralise, the pill poisons, you’ll simply be walking towards your grave.”
Hearing the words of Valley Master Sikou, Ning Cheng became even more determined to go back and look for a detoxification pill recipe. He could give up using other pills, but he still needed the Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill. Having a strong Sea of Consciousness was the most fundamental thing for every cultivator.
“There are millions of Daos, and sculpting your Dao is just the first step to prove your Dao. However, this step is also the most crucial of all. You can easily sculpt your Dao whenever you want after you have sorted out your spirit techniques and removed the limits on your achievements.”
When Valley Master Sikou said this, he paused slightly. He looked carefully at Ning Cheng before asking, “What did you think about that person’s Dao enlightenment?”
Ning Cheng answered honestly, “After that senior sculpted his Dao, his aura changed greatly, and his strength also seemed to have improved by several notches. Coupled with proving his Dao in the Land of Broken Laws, it should make him very powerful.”
Valley Master Sikou shook his head, “The Dao he sculpted is just a minor one. Thus, his future achievement will remain limited. The only thing that makes him stronger than others is that he succeeded in sculpting his Dao in the Land of Broken Laws.”
“Dao has sizes too?” Ning Cheng had never heard about it till now. However, the words had shocked him to the core. Ning Cheng even secretly rejoiced that he was lucky to have met Valley Master Sikou. Otherwise, if he ended up realising a minor dao, he might end up regretting it one day.
“A cultivator walks against the heavens, yet his Dao remains under the control of heaven and earth. I’m afraid that he will never be able to reach the second step in his life.” Valley Master Sikou replied seriously.
Ning Cheng then recalled the Dao-sculpting vow that the grey-robed old man had made when sculpting his Dao earlier. “I wish to use the laws I have comprehended to sculpt my Dao, to respect the might of heaven and earth, and to sincerely abide by the grace of the Dao…..”
If Valley Master Sikou had not said those words, Ning Cheng might not have realised it. Sure enough, what hid Dao was, it was a dao under the control of heaven and earth and that he had to abide by it with sincerity. But once Valley Master Sikou said it, Ning Cheng gained a clear understanding.
“Please guide me, Valley Master. What are the Great Daos, and what are the Lesser Daos?” Ning Cheng’s tone turned even more respectful.
Valley Master Sikou sighed, “Back then, my master had told me that the Dao has no size. Rather, the size of the Dao lies in the person who gains enlightenment in it. For millions of years, I wandered around in Dao Fusion, unable to reach Dao Perfection. Only later did I realise that everything in heaven and earth has a height and size. As to which are the Great Daos or the Lesser Daos? I do not know; I’m still trying to sense them as a person walking in darkness. As such, even if you ask me, I cannot tell you clearly. All I can tell you is that the Dao lies in yourself and your dao intent.”
“However, I can tell you that to prove your Dao purely with the help of external objects. To have no root of one’s own that stands outside heaven and earth or be forever below the heavenly dao. They are all lesser Daos.”
Ning Cheng’s heart shook when he heard those words. The Great Dao was a Dao that had to transcend the Heaven Dao. How did one go about attaining this? In that case, wouldn’t it mean that proving one’s dao using dao fruits would mean walking on a lesser dao?
Previously, he had been a little hesitant when he had decided to use the Bestowing Lawless Fruit to comprehend the lawless spirit technique. After all, it was a treasure that could allow one to sculpt their Dao. But now, Ning Cheng no longer thought the same about it. He decided to not use any dao fruits or objects to sculpt his Dao.
“To prove one’s Dao requires perseverance, wisdom, vitality and opportunity. If even one of them is missing, then a lesser dao is still a dao. Well, that’s all I have to say to you. When it comes to your Dao, you still need to enlighten yourself……” After Valley Master Sikou said those words, his figure suddenly turned illusory and soon disappeared.
Ning Cheng wanted to ask about the third step of Dao Confirming, but he didn’t expect Valley Master Sikou to leave as soon as he finished. However, the questions he had just asked added up to more than three, but the spirit crystals he put in the ring only added up to three million.
With a clear direction, Ning Cheng gained an even more precise understanding of Dao Sculpting. He decided to leave the Valley of Peace and find his own place to comprehend the lawless spirit technique before looking for Dao Sculpting opportunities.
[1] Truth be told, I have no idea what ‘primary and secondary’ means in this context, but it’s what’s mentioned in the raws. Presumably, he’s talking about spiritual roots. That is the only thing in this book that has ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ attached.