Chapter 737: Reference Point

"Truly a harsh way of thinking, a harsh way of progressing."

Li Heng smiled slightly.

He found this old man much more agreeable, because the words just spoken were almost identical to his own thoughts. In a sense, he and this old man were fellow travelers.

"Heh, harsh? Is this considered harsh?"

"I used to have fellow travelers, and I have encountered countless seekers who were also searching on the Path of Transcendence. Guess why I am the only one left now?"

Without waiting for Li Heng to answer, the old man continued.

"Because they were not this 'harsh' with themselves! Thus, they believed they had attained the Dao, had achieved the ultimate, and were immersed in their own dreams of being Omniscient and Omnipotent."

"I have also seen the situations of some fellow travelers on the road before. Guess what I saw? I saw someone achieve Infinite Transcendence in a single thought, and I don't know how many Upper Realms or how many existences countless times stronger than them were surpassed by them."

"But what was the result?"

"In the eyes of a bystander like me, that person was marking time, never having truly taken a single step forward; they were just staying within their own circle of the known, amusing themselves. How ridiculous."

When the old man spoke of this, his expression was actually somewhat self-deprecating.

"That is falling into the barrier of knowledge and views."

Li Heng responded.

The old man nodded.

"You can indeed describe it that way, but it is not entirely accurate. The things encountered by those who fall into the barrier of knowledge and views are false, but for that person, everything they surpassed was real and existed—the Upper Realms, the powerful beings, all of it was real."

Li Heng pondered for a moment upon hearing this.

"Actually, I thought about what you said a long time ago, but I could never determine the truth or falsehood of this matter, or rather, I could not determine its universality."

"Perhaps there really is someone who has attained the Dao and truly achieved Transcendence?"

He raised a question.

The old man scoffed at this.

"Bullshit 'attained the Dao and truly achieved Transcendence'."

"I don't know how many times I have encountered this situation, and it's not like I haven't killed people who thought they had attained the Dao and truly achieved Transcendence. Since they had truly achieved Transcendence, why were they still able to be killed by me?"

"I won't say that my remarks have infinite universality in this endless Unknown, or that they are applicable everywhere. But I dare say, my Reason, my remarks are far stronger than those trapped in their own realms, and that is enough!"

He spoke slowly, his words resonant and forceful.

"So, your current situation..."

Li Heng did not say much more, but instead looked over the old man before him—who was like a lonely ghost and could only barely manifest his form by borrowing this pile of strange bonfire—and asked.

"Isn't the current situation self-evident?"

"I am dead," the old man said.

"Then you haven't specifically revealed what you died for," Li Heng asked. Although he did not get a definitive answer, a conjecture had already emerged in his heart.

"You young man are very sharp. Correct, a large part of my death is also attributed to the fact that I was trapped by my own realm; I only felt that everything was already under my control, Omniscient and Omnipotent, and I could no longer truly take a step forward."

"Perhaps this is actually true?"

Li Heng smiled slightly.

The old man shook his head.

"If I didn't have a reference point beside me, that would be one thing; then I could be like other fellow travelers, falling into the illusion of being self-Omniscient and Omnipotent, transcending everything."

"But your and my hometown, the Great Void, it is a reference point; that supreme Dao Lord is also my reference point; even this Great Dao Road that constantly winds and extends to the endless front, that is also my reference point. My power cannot affect these things. Then I would not deceive myself into thinking I am Omniscient and Omnipotent."

Li Heng frowned.

"Wait, I can understand the Great Void and the Dao Lord, but this Great Dao Road is... could it be that this road was truly opened up by someone?"

"What else! You should be able to perceive the artificial traces around you; perhaps these artificial traces were even deliberately left by the sages who opened this road, specifically to warn those who come after."

"After I transcended the Great Void, I kept exploring in the infinite Unknown, constantly collapsing the Unknown into the Known, constantly coming into contact with newer things, but the speed was truly too slow, because it required opening the path myself. It wasn't until the end that I encountered this Great Dao Road, and then the speed improved by leaps and bounds."

"It was like stepping from a sheep-gut path onto a broad, smooth road."

"You should also be able to sense very clearly that this Great Dao Road is completely out of place with the surrounding infinite Unknown, right?"

Li Heng nodded.

"The Great Dao Road has a specific name, a specific form; it is not that unknown chaos, so it is undoubtedly something known. It is likely that it was also opened by some predecessor. It is just hard to say whether that predecessor had good intentions or bad."

The old man nodded.

"You are right."

"That predecessor opened this Great Dao Road, and its essence is just like when I opened the Hongdao Realm, containing a group of cultivators of the Transcendence Path. Perhaps it was to make it easier for those who come after, or perhaps it was just to better contain those who come after."

"Of course, it might be both."

"Then you still took the risk to walk on this road? Perhaps your current predicament is because you walked on this road."

Li Heng asked.

The old man was silent for a moment, then squeezed out five words.

"Young and ignorant."

Li Heng was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing.

"You were already old when you transcended the Great Void, right? That group of powerful beings you trapped in the Hongdao Realm all cursed you as an old bastard; how does that count as a young person?"

"The concept of 'young' is relative; don't mind it."

The old man spoke awkwardly and waved his hand.

"It was only after I stepped onto this road that I realized such risks existed. But later, I didn't care anymore. Guess why?"

"Because what was gained far outweighed the potential risks."

Li Heng answered.

He could feel that this Great Dao Road was truly "convenient."

"Exactly, that is indeed the case. There is no need to open the path yourself; you can just move along the path of those who came before. The efficiency is not just improved a thousand or a hundred times—it's countless times! Besides, even if there is a risk of being contained, so what? Is the risk of exploring the infinite Unknown not high?"

"I do not know how many people have been swallowed by the Terror in the Unknown."

The old man said.

"Besides, even if one is contained, it does not mean one cannot transcend and break through. Are you not a living example? I used power above the Hongdao Realm to set the ceiling for the Hongdao Realm, yet did you not break through all the same?"

"That is different."

Li Heng shook his head.

He was cheating, but those who cheat are, after all, in the minority.

"Perhaps. After all, since I died, I have been unable to update the ceiling of the Hongdao Realm and could only let it grow freely; otherwise, I fear you would not have broken through to arrive here."

The old man sighed and said.

"That is not necessarily true."

Li Heng smiled slightly.

"It seems you are truly confident. Although cultivators of the Transcendence Path are generally very confident, it must be said that this is of no use; those you cannot defeat, you still cannot defeat."

"Old man, do not be so dejected. In the Da Xu Kong, there is even a rumor that you can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Dao Lord," Li Heng shook his head and laughed.

"Stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Dao Lord?"

The old man's expression became strange.

"Hmm, in a certain sense I truly have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with one, but it was only temporary. After all, you know what the Dao Lord relies on, and I have no way to deal with that."

"Do not speak of me; even the pioneer who opened this Great Dao Road might not necessarily be able to defeat those Dao Lords. If I were to return to the Da Xu Kong at this moment, I would inevitably be suppressed by those Dao Lords."

Li Heng shook his head.

"That is not necessarily true; it would be fine to go back now."

"Because the Dao Lords are practically finished..."