Chapter 715

After all, life is not entirely smooth sailing.

Occasionally one must undergo some tempering before one can gain anything.

"This is the unity of heaven and man, conforming to nature…"

Jiang Daoxuan's eyes flickered as he murmured.

During these past few months.

He had come to understand all the more that if one possessed incomparably powerful strength but lacked a state of mind to match that power, one would in the end become a slave to power.

When that time came, it would not be he who wielded power, but power that controlled him!

Therefore, in pursuit of flawless perfection.

His cultivation was not merely cultivation, but even more so the cultivation of the heart!

And the eight-character maxim "unity of heaven and man, conforming to nature" was likewise the summary of his own enlightenment.

Unity of heaven and man meant maintaining inner harmony and balance, perceiving the operating laws of heaven and earth with one's heart, and finding the way to coordinate with them.

Thereby casting aside the limitations of self, remaining unmoved by the external world, transcending the distinction between self and other, and achieving the wondrous state where the true self merges with heaven and earth.

Conforming to nature meant pursuing inner ease and tranquility, facing the myriad changes of sentient beings with a transcendent attitude, and following the natural development of all things in the world.

And in Jiang Daoxuan's view, what one conformed to was not only nature, but also the Great Dao.

As the saying goes, the Great Dao numbers fifty, the Heavenly Evolution numbers forty-nine, and man escapes the one!

Conforming to the Great Dao meant conforming to the forty-nine; the forty-nine is the great trend, and once one knows and is familiar with it, mastering its laws.

One can use the missing escaped-one to reverse the situation and create that sliver of life!

Thereby breaking free from the shackles of fate, mastering one's own destiny, completely transcending heaven and earth, wielding the great trend, so that every word and deed of oneself becomes the "Dao"!

"It's just that, to reach this realm, looking at things now, it is still extremely distant…"

Jiang Daoxuan shook his head.

He then closed his eyes once more, preparing to enter the state of cultivation again.

A mere Ten Thousand Manifestations realm cultivation base was still far from enough to make him stop in his tracks!

He needed to become even stronger.

Strong enough that no one in the world was his match, truly achieving the name of invincibility!

Strong enough that even if heaven and earth fell silent, he would not fall silent, undying and imperishable, proving the Dao and attaining eternity!

"This is the true ideal in my heart…"

In his eyes, from beginning to end, the land of the Nine Kingdoms was nothing more than a mere speck of land.

Even the incomparably prosperous Moonlight Imperial Dynasty, compared to all of heaven and earth, was nothing more than a single grain in the vast ocean.

And the pursuit within his heart would ultimately be known to none.

Only to himself.

Then, when Jiang Daoxuan once again fell into cultivation.

In less than a hundred breaths, a strange stirring came over his body.

Buzz buzz buzz…..

Accompanied by the sound of the Cangwu Token.

Jiang Daoxuan could only temporarily stop his cultivation.

He opened his eyes, took out the Cangwu Token, and opened it.

Gazing at the content displayed above, he could not help but raise an eyebrow and fall into thought.

The one who had sent him a message was none other than the Grand Elder of the Elder Council, "Jiang Hongguang."

However, the content of this report was different from before; it was not a report on the clan's development, but rather a request for him to return to Cangwu Mountain for a trip, to go back and appraise a treasure.

The cause of the matter had to start with the Heavenly Demon Sect's Sect Master, "Jiang Han."

Several months ago, Jiang Han had left the Earth Demon Sect for the first time, passing through Cangwu City on his way, and later returned to Cangwu Mountain.

And before arriving at the clan's great hall, he had handed over all his spoils from the past several months to the clan.

Faced with that extremely large number of spatial rings, even the Elder Council was alarmed.

Later, personnel were transferred from the Seven Branches, and several dozen Elders of the Seven Branches were called in to tally the vast resources within the spatial rings.

Most of these tallied resources were stored in the clan's treasury and listed on the 【Clan Treasure Pavilion】 section of the Cangwu Token, available for clansmen to claim for free; some precious resources required the use of clan contribution points to exchange for.

Logically speaking, such a small matter would certainly not go through layers of reporting, ultimately even being reported all the way to him.

But because of Jiang Yi's appearance, an accident occurred.

Originally, during the tallying process, the crowd discovered a mysterious, ancient, and unadorned stone disk.

Regarding this object, none of the Seven Branches Elders present in charge of tallying could see the slightest abnormality.

Even after inviting the Grand Elder, no clue could be discerned; it could only be treated as an utterly ordinary mundane object.

Therefore it was not stored in the clan's treasury, but merely placed in the Elder Hall as a small ornament.

But today, when Jiang Yi brought Jiang Hao and temporarily left Bai Yu Capital, returning to Cangwu Mountain, preparing to go to the Clan Tower to test the results of his recent closed-door cultivation, he happened to chance upon the Second Elder Jiang Hongwen.

Jiang Hongwen was Jiang Yan's grandfather, and also Jiang Daoyun's father.

And before the two brothers had returned to Cangwu Mountain, for several years along the way, it had all been Jiang Daoyun who sheltered them from wind and rain, protecting their safety.

It could be said that without Jiang Daoyun, how would it ever be their turn to have their current fortune?

Therefore, toward the family of Jiang Hongwen, Jiang Daoyun, and Jiang Yan, they all harbored deep gratitude.

The two sides met and had a most pleasant conversation.

Because Jiang Daoyun was in the Elder Hall, reporting the situation of the Tianxuan Branch to the Grand Elder.

Therefore Jiang Hongwen issued an invitation, asking the two brothers to come to the Elder Hall for a gathering.

How could Jiang Yi and Jiang Hao refuse? Naturally they agreed with pleasure.

And it was precisely on this trip that he discovered something unusual.

Jiang Yi, as a bearer of double pupils, possessed the innate ability to see through the very essence of all things.

Relying on this ability, he immediately discovered that the mysterious stone disk contained an extremely terrifying power—fluctuations of such magnitude that they could even be called the likes of which he had never seen in his life!

This remark quickly drew the grave attention of everyone present.

In order to ascertain the origins of this stone disk,

the Grand Elder even went so far as to use the Cangwu Token, summoning Jiang Han—who had been in closed-door cultivation for months—back.

However, even with Jiang Han present,

when faced with this mysterious stone disk, he too was unable to provide any useful clues.

He only recalled that this object had been obtained back in the day, when he had been surrounded and attacked by numerous cultivators at Dangmo Mountain in the Shanhai Prefecture—he had casually slain a young man and taken it.

He didn't even know that person's name, let alone the origins of this object.

Seeing that even Jiang Han was unaware,

everyone understood the matter was of great importance and could not be treated with the slightest carelessness.

Thus, they could only, helplessly, choose to disturb his own quiet cultivation and invite him to make a trip to the Elder Hall.

Now, Jiang Yi, Jiang Hao, Jiang Han, Jiang Hongguang, Jiang Hongwen, Jiang Daoyun—all of these people had gathered together in the Elder Hall, patiently awaiting his arrival.

"Even Jiang Yi's double pupils cannot glimpse the full appearance of the stone disk. Just what level of thing is this stone disk?"

Jiang Daoxuan's eyes grew thoughtful, and he felt immense curiosity.

He had never expected that Jiang Han, just a few months ago, had already encountered such a fortuitous opportunity in the Shanhai Prefecture.

A treasure exceedingly rare even across the Nine Kingdoms had delivered itself right to their doorstep—this was how unreasonable it was to bear the red fortune.

However, the only slight regret was that this opportunity had not manifested itself.

Had it not been discovered by Jiang Yi, it would likely have continued gathering dust in the Elder Hall for a long time, never able to be put to use.

"Since that is the case, let me personally take a look and find out..."

Jiang Daoxuan smiled, then with a single thought, immediately tore open the void, left Bai Yu Capital, and returned to Cangwu Mountain.

At the same time, elsewhere.

The Elder Hall.

Jiang Hongguang, Jiang Hongwen, Jiang Daoyun, Jiang Hao, and Jiang Yi had all gathered together, continuously discussing and speculating about the origins of the mysterious stone disk before them.

And Jiang Han stood in a corner.

He folded his arms across his chest and cast a glance at the crowd.

Then he withdrew his gaze, silently lowered his head, closed his eyes, and fell into recollection.

He began to recall every detail from that time at Dangmo Mountain, attempting to discover some clue that might provide the Clan Leader with useful information.

But regrettably, even if he racked his brains, he still came away with nothing.