Chapter 101: A Point of Spiritual Rhinoceros

A Point of Spiritual Rhinoceros

"Have you understood this game of Yin-Yang?"

Ruan Ci said sincerely, "Dao Ancestor game, how can Little Ci say it is clear? At most, I can guess a little—the Dao Ancestor holds the Nirvana Great Dao, and is a Dao Lord who cannot be completely killed no matter what in the universe. Therefore, no one could have thought that the Yin-Yang Dao Ancestor would actually borrow your death to prove the Dao and end it. Perhaps after your fall, the Yin-Yang Dao Ancestor proved the Dao and ended it, and the Great Dao was temporarily perfect, but before the Dao Ancestor Nirvana, its Dao would eventually reveal flaws, but the Yin-Yang Dao Ancestor before that, then—"

"Then break the void, carry dozens of Great Heavens, cross from the old universe to here, and recreate a new universe, thereby proving the eternal Dao." The Nirvana Dao Ancestor did not cross the pool, but sat leisurely by the pool. Under the white skirt, her jade legs kicked the water surface, which was quite playful and agile. But looking closely, the gauze skirt and cape could not withstand Ruan Ci's gaze, and they shattered into spiritual light until she moved her eyes away, and then they restored. "Among the three thousand Great Daos and Dao Lords, only I call the Dao City eternal. I thought the Nirvana Great Dao was the most special. Although I failed to open a universe, I Nirvana and reborn after every annihilation, which is not far from eternal. It was not until I fell to this point that I realized that the Eternal Dao Lord has his own realm, which is not what people in the lower realm can imagine."

Her speech and vocabulary were quite similar to Huangyang's. Ruan Ci heard it and yearned for it. She secretly thought, "After the Nirvana Dao Ancestor is annihilated, there must be a very short moment of complete non-existence, so there is heaven and earth mourning, and then Nirvana is reborn and re-proves the Dao. I think, I think the Yin-Yang Five Elements Dao Ancestor grasped that short moment of opportunity, proved the third Dao, and immediately opened the universe. He is truly worthy of being the most talented and romantic figure in the old universe, always so desperate and moving forward..."

"In this game, I lost because my vision was not enough, and I am convinced."

Her tone was calm, without any resentment. Mentioning the Yin-Yang Five Elements Dao Ancestor, her tone was even more gentle and lingering, as if containing faint nostalgia. Ruan Ci knew that the joys, sorrows, and joys of these Dao Ancestors were different from ordinary people. Perhaps the Nirvana Dao Ancestor did not hate the Yin-Yang Five Elements Dao Ancestor, so she asked curiously, "Then what kind of existence is the Venerable One now? At the time of rebirth, you have already entered the new universe, but—but you are not completely reborn. And why can't I communicate with Hengze Heaven? Is it that all cultivators who have seen through the truth cannot touch the things of Hengze Heaven?"

"After opening the new universe, the Great Heavens carried from the old universe will accept the baptism of the new universe's Dao rhyme, just like some passengers, walking off the old ship and boarding the new ship of this universe. This change is not only on the 'real' side you see, but also in the imaginary number, there are also creations washed by the Dao rhyme. But at that moment, I was nothing, I had fallen, I was neither positive nor virtual."

The Nirvana Dao Ancestor sighed gloomily, "This broken Dao Foundation is the remnant of the old universe. I was already gone in the old universe. Now I am a dream in a dream, a virtual in a virtual, only relying on the origin of the Dao Foundation to survive. How can we remnants of the old universe board the ship of the new universe?"

Her words were mysterious. If it were someone else, it would be inevitable to be confused, but Ruan Ci had crossed the imaginary number many times and fell into the past life to talk to Qing Jun. She couldn't help but say, "I understand a little. The Dao Ancestor is a dream in a dream. The more you want to be close to someone, the further away that person is. Those cultivators who don't know who you are can take away some irrelevant things from Hengze Heaven, but they are just illusions condensed. They deceived themselves. The precious materials obtained are nothing more than the essence condensed by the cultivators of this universe who died in Hengze Heaven."

"But the things that truly belong to Hengze Heaven, they can't take away or touch at all. Even if they think they have mastered it now and think they have improved their realm, once they return to the Langhuan Zhou Heaven, everything will dissipate, all insights will be forgotten, and the promoted realm will fall. The more you understand the truth of the Dao Ancestor, the more difficult it is to touch and communicate. Even if the two sides have met, they don't know each other and don't recognize the sound—because the Dao Ancestor does not belong to this universe at all. You are... a shadow wandering between two universes."

Ruan Ci said this, and couldn't help but feel a burst of pity. She had always felt that death and annihilation were not the most terrible endings. Like the Nirvana Dao Ancestor, wandering between rebirth and eternal sleep for endless time, no one knew, no one saw, and even if she wanted to tell the cultivators who broke into Hengze Heaven about her existence, the more she said, the further away the two sides became. By the time the most important sentence was spoken, the other party could no longer understand—perhaps this was the eternal torture.

"But... but why is this?" She was a little puzzled, "The Yin-Yang Dao Ancestor has already proven the eternal Dao, why did he carry the Langhuan Zhou Heaven to this place? He has already left the old universe. Does the Venerable One's Nirvana rebirth in the old universe affect the foundation of this universe?"

"He has already proven the eternal Dao, so he can naturally cross time and perfect the Dao Foundation. The three thousand Great Daos of the new universe are his Dao Foundation. My changes in the old universe have nothing to do with him." The Nirvana Dao Ancestor couldn't help but have a smile on her lips, and said softly, "Yes, if I were face to face with him, I would ask him why he carried the Langhuan Zhou Heaven to this place, making me forever trapped in this broken dream."

She never had the slightest displeasure. Ruan Ci looked at her beautiful face and couldn't help but be obsessed. She moved her eyes away, but forgot her appearance in a blink of an eye. She couldn't help but collect her mind, secretly warning herself not to be a pawn of the Dao Ancestor again. If Qing Jun was still using her and a certain existence to play chess, and he himself was a Dao Ancestor of life, obviously not completely fallen, it was not that terrible. This Nirvana Dao Ancestor was in a game with the Yin-Yang Five Elements Dao Ancestor, and the Creation Dao Ancestor seemed too terrifying. Ruan Ci also gave birth to a trace of fear and didn't want to ask too much.

"Can the Yin-Yang Dao Ancestor hear our conversation here?" She secretly kept a warning. The Nirvana Dao Ancestor also understood and shook her head, "I have not been contaminated with Yin-Yang Dao rhyme. This place is the remnant of the Dao Ancestor, and there is Nirvana Spirit Domain suppression. Your conversation with me will not be heard by the creatures of this universe."

Does this include the Yin-Yang Five Elements Dao Ancestor? After all, Ruan Ci can be considered his creation. However, this level of existence is no longer what Ruan Ci can speculate. According to her thoughts, since the Yin-Yang Dao Ancestor specially carried the Langhuan Zhou Heaven to this place, and did not erase Hengze Heaven, and even allowed the name of Hengze to spread, perhaps he also had his own intentions. She nodded and said, "Then that is to say, I can talk about the bad things of the Dongyang Dao Ancestor here?"

The Nirvana Dao Ancestor had a smile on her lips, as beautiful as a strange flower, and she said, "It turns out that the Dao name of the Dao Ancestor who protects this place is Dongyang? This fellow Daoist is very interesting. Disciples who practice his Dao never dare to enter Hengze Heaven."

Ruan Ci said, "Not bad, those merchants and peddlers never come to Hengze Heaven. Why is this?"

"He practices the Great Dao of Communication. He is in charge of the communication of all things. All things must communicate if they communicate. This is his Great Dao, and he cannot violate it. He is afraid that disciples who practice the Great Dao will walk into Hengze Heaven and accidentally bring my breath out."

The Nirvana Dao Ancestor's answer was meaningful. Ruan Ci couldn't help but listen, and countless thoughts arose because of this. Moreover, because this place was not covered by Dongyang Dao rhyme and there was no Nirvana Dao rhyme, the ideas were very bold. She thought for a long time before tentatively asking, "Dao Ancestors also cannot violate the Great Dao they hold? Just like the Venerable One, knowing that constant reincarnation will weaken the cultivator's will and make it more difficult to climb to the upper realm, but also cannot change the rules in the Dao system?"

The Nirvana Dao Ancestor sighed, "This is the reason why I cannot defeat Yin-Yang. Not bad, Dao Ancestors cannot violate the Dao they hold. Following the Dao is the instinct of the Dao Ancestor."

No wonder! With the dignity of a Dao Ancestor, how could he not see the drawbacks in his own Dao system? I think it is because the Great Dao is like this, and even if he wants to change it, he cannot. It seems that there are natural enemies among the Dao Lords, and some Great Daos naturally restrain many Great Daos. Once a cultivator joins the Dao, it will also have a profound impression on the universe pattern.

Since this is the case, why did the Dongyang Dao Ancestor block the Langhuan Zhou Heaven so tightly?

Ruan Ci's heart was full of more doubts, but she also knew that the Nirvana Dao Ancestor could not answer this question. She was obviously also a creation closed outside, at least for the Dongyang Dao Ancestor. Therefore, she asked, "Since this is the case, why do the sects of the Langhuan Zhou Heaven still come to collect Hengze Jade Dew? I heard that this dew can irrigate the Lingshan, but—since it is a remnant of the old universe, then—"

"Then if you go to irrigate, nothing will happen. Cultivators who don't know this go to irrigate, it is Hengze Jade Dew, which can bring the dead back to life and flesh and bones," the Nirvana Dao Ancestor had a smile on her lips and said leisurely, "One of the rules of the illusion array is that low-level spiritual objects cannot simulate the role of high-level spiritual objects. Hengze Jade Dew is the Dao Ancestor spiritual liquid, the most refined energy gathering in the world, which can change into any thing. Since these cultivators now firmly believe that it can irrigate some Lingshan, then it must have such ability."

If you think about it this way, is this Zhou Heaven true or false, and is everything just

If one thinks about it this way, is this Zhou Tian real or fake? Is everything just an illusionary array, and is the Dao Ancestor the master of this illusionary array?

Ruan Ci's thoughts flew, but she quickly steadied herself, not daring to think further. At this moment, although she had not crossed over, in a place like this remnant of the old universe, she was already extremely far from the "real" plane. With no great beings around her, she did not dare to provoke the void numbers to attack. She asked again, "Does Your Excellency allow Langhuan cultivators to enter because you want to use the lives of Langhuan cultivators to absorb some of the origin power of this universe?"

"That is probably the case. But the Dongyang Dao Ancestor you mentioned, who drives Langhuan cultivators in, isn't he also using the origin of this universe as bait, wanting to absorb my origin spiritual liquid to make my Dao foundation wither sooner?" Nirvana Dao Ancestor smiled slightly. "Such a transaction can only continue if both sides taste the sweetness. Everyone knows it without speaking. Sometimes the origin power I leave behind is too little, so they cannot bring back Jade Dew; sometimes too many people die... Hmm, there has never been such a time; there are never enough people dying."

The paths and lives of millions of cultivators are merely insignificant chips in the game between two Dao Ancestors. Ruan Ci has never liked such behavior, but at this moment, she could not feel any resentment. These two forces were excessively vast, seemingly exceeding the limits of emotional perception. She felt neither resentment nor the slightest admiration, as if she were watching a play that had nothing to do with her. For cultivators of the Nirvana path, their view of life and death is likely very different from Ruan Ci's, and the Nirvana Dao Ancestor naturally would not feel that her actions had any problems at all.

"Is it possible to truly absorb the origin power?" she could not help but ask. "I fear it is just a case of drawing water with a bamboo basket, having the Jade Dew taken away for nothing by the Dongyang Dao Ancestor... No, that's not right!"

Ruan Ci suddenly realized, "If the Jade Dew can truly have an impact on the things of the Langhuan Zhou Tian under the gaze of the Dao Ancestor, doesn't that also mean Your Excellency is beginning to slowly integrate into this universe?"

The Nirvana Dao Ancestor showed two dimples on her face. "Not bad, you little girl are truly very smart. No wonder Qing Jun would gift you the silver hairpin—before you came, it was indeed like scooping the moon from the water. The origin left behind would gradually leak away, and the Dao rhyme gifted never truly permeated. What remained in the world were merely mirage-like illusions. But after you came, it became different."

Ruan Ci held the silver hairpin, not knowing what to feel in her heart. Countless tens of thousands of years ago, Qing Jun, through her hand, wanted to gift the silver hairpin at this very moment to the remnant party of the old universe that had been wandering here for billions of eons. The ability, plotting, and calculation of a Dao Ancestor reached such a point that Ruan Ci did not even know if she could guess the true intentions of Qing Jun, or even Nirvana and Dongyang Dao Ancestors. Even if they were merciful and willing to tell her their layouts one by one, Ruan Ci was not sure if her sea of consciousness could withstand such ancient secrets.

But regardless, she had already walked to this point. This silver hairpin seemed to have to be given. The Hengze Jade Dew had already been obtained by Ruan Ci, but for her to re-refine the Donghua Sword, she had to have the Nirvana Dao Ancestor gift her the remnant sword Qi of the Donghua Sword. Huang Yang died under the branch sword intent of the Donghua Sword, and the feedback from the Phoenix Sand had already allowed her to ascend to the third layer of Dao foundation. What the Nirvana Dao Ancestor endured was a full-force strike from the Donghua Sword. The sword intent and sword Qi she could gift to Ruan Ci were indeed worth Wang True Person urging her to reach Foundation Establishment in ten years, and by all means, she had to make a trip to Hengze Heaven!

Her slender white fingers tightened in her hair, and Ruan Ci bit her lip lightly, making a gesture to pull it out, but then slowly lowered her hand. The Nirvana Dao Ancestor leaned against the high platform, not urging or rushing, remaining leisurely and self-possessed, as if whatever decision Ruan Ci made was within her expectations.

"Before I present the silver hairpin, I would like to ask Your Excellency one last question."

The young girl in white stood by the pool, her figure delicate and fragile, as if she could break in the wind. "I want to ask Your Excellency, beneath the Dao Ancestors, all are pawns in the Dao struggle. Born as creations of the Dao Ancestors, living by Dao rhyme, living for the Dao struggle, and dying for the Dao struggle—are we cultivators merely puppets in the Dao Ancestors' fight?"

Ruan Ci's eyes were deep and dark, her tone cold. "Even the thoughts in my heart are merely a manifestation of the Great Dao's will?"

The Nirvana Dao Ancestor could not help but look at her with new eyes, but not knowing what she thought of, a faint smile appeared on her lips. She did not hesitate and answered refreshingly, "That is not so."

"You are a creation of the universe, born of the three thousand Great Daos. A Dao Ancestor can only control one Great Dao within your body. Your thoughts are the natural result of the three thousand Great Daos generating and restraining each other, producing spiritual nature. Unless it is the Creation Dao Ancestor, other Dao Ancestors can only manipulate various means, influencing subtly, coercing, or tempting, but they can never directly decide the thoughts in your heart. Even if the Creation Dao Ancestor wanted to change your thoughts, they could not directly correct them; they could only adjust the three thousand Great Daos to change your thoughts at this moment—however, the three thousand Great Daos are interconnected, and such actions often lead to unexpected results. Therefore, you can also think of it this way: before becoming a Dao Ancestor, in this universe, nothing is yours. What truly belongs entirely to you is actually only your thoughts."

She looked at the young girl in white from afar, seeing her brows knit in concentration. After a moment of thought, she finally smiled. This smile was peerlessly beautiful and graceful, revealing an indescribable sense of freedom and joy.

"Not bad. If a Dao Ancestor could truly manipulate thoughts, then at this moment I wouldn't even have this doubt." She recited the Nirvana Dao Ancestor's words. "What truly belongs to me is only my thoughts? The universe is so vast, and to possess only this little bit, it is truly pitiful."

"—But in fact, to have this bit of spiritual nature is already enough."

After speaking, she no longer hesitated and pulled out the silver hairpin to send it to the Nirvana Dao Ancestor. The Nirvana Dao Ancestor floated up, and in an instant, she had flashed to the edge of the pool. Her jade finger reached toward Ruan Ci, but inadvertently crossed the white jade brick edge of the pool. Her flesh and blood immediately turned into spiritual energy, evaporating in pieces. Although the distance between the two was infinitely close, they seemed to be moving apart at high speed. Because Ruan Ci knew the details of Hengze Heaven, once the silver hairpin was pulled out, the separation speed was extremely fast. Clearly, their fingertips were only a hair's breadth apart, but between them were countless layers of shattered space, mountains and rivers difficult to cross, and it was impossible to get any closer. With every breath, they were still moving apart.

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Updated! Sorry for the wait, everyone. I will send out the red envelopes for the previous chapter in a moment.

I see many friends saying they didn't understand. Some things were mentioned before, some are foreshadowing for later, and some were indeed not explained clearly in the main text. When the Hengze Heaven chapters are all finished, I will post on Weibo or answer questions under that chapter. Anything that doesn't involve spoilers will be answered carefully~

Eating braised fish head with tofu for lunch today!

Still in a book drought, sigh!

. Thanks to the little angels who cast overlord votes or irrigated nutrient solution for me during the period 2020-09-23 11:53:50 ~ 2020-09-24 11:59:47~

Thanks to the little angels who cast landmines: Yu Yu Wan Yao, Lalala, Long Qian, Aichuan Rongshe, He Xi, Daodao, Wu Mingya, Ming Ji, Da Donggua (1 each);

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: 26390428 (68 bottles); kkc (40 bottles); Shaohua Shengji° (30 bottles); Jiajia, Jianling Qiyao, Xiaoyan, Kilimanjaro, momo (20 bottles); mayying6993 (16 bottles); pandal, I am not a passerby A..., 41802649, A-Zhai Zhai Ding Dong Dong, raumfahrer, Li Li Xianxian, Pencil, The Lychee that had its account stolen, myadam11, Terminal Laziness, Yuntian, Tuanzi (10 bottles); Yuyuan, Qinbao, sidewalker, Chen Xiao Chuang, 18772065 (5 bottles); Clair, Fengguang, Xiaoyudian (3 bottles); Muwan, Lilyko (2 bottles); Qinglou Chuguan Yihong Academy, oliverfi, Yisheng's Big Bacteria, Chengbi, 42669612, Juan, Dandan, 18205385, Sandwich Cookie (1 bottle);

Thank you all very much for your support; I will continue to work hard!