Chapter 8: A Seeker of the Dao Who Is Smart Yet Not Too Smart

Qi saw Taiyi turn back with some surprise, not understanding why he had returned.

Taiyi reached out to grab Qi's collar; Qi tried to dodge but lacked the strength to evade, was seized, and walked toward the way out of the mountain.

After walking a full day's journey, they finally set Qi down, then said:

You're just as not smart as my elder brother; you've clearly reached your limit yet still force yourself to squeeze out more, only stopping when you can't go on—but then stopping leaves you powerless to change the situation.

All you can do is sit in place, using all your mind to resist the heavenly pressure—where does the mind for cultivation come from?

You came to Mount Buzhou to broaden your horizons, found it beneficial for cultivation, so you should cultivate—but you instead exhaust heart and strength competing with yourselves.

In the end, besides harming yourself and wasting time, you gain nothing; this heavenly pressure won't disappear soon, so why insist on this moment's progress?

Your limit here is the most you can cultivate while resisting the pressure; though the pressure is great, you can still reap some reward—until we meet again.

Taiyi turned and headed back up the mountain.

Qi had no reply, feeling grateful yet seeing Taiyi turn back again.

Right, you're smarter than my elder brother; he's more stubborn—at least you know to turn back and heed advice." Taiyi said, then turned and left.

Qi's heart was a mix of feelings: unconscious shame, the burden of causing trouble for others, and affection for Taiyi's childlike heart and sincere words.

And relief at being thought better than Di Jun, plus embarrassment at having such thoughts about himself.

Regaining his senses, under the heavenly pressure Qi could not attend to anything else; most of his mind was used to resist the pressure.

The remainder could only barely operate his mana, circulate the celestial circuit; not a shred of mind could be spared, forcing a state of no stray thoughts.

When he regained his senses, it was Taiyi who shook him awake.

Qi had great doubts, not understanding why, and how Taiyi had come back.

Taiyi seemed to know Qi's thoughts and explained:

I have cultivated on the mountain for three thousand years; whenever I felt the pressure insufficient, I advanced a segment. Later I reached the mountainside, where the pressure suddenly became extreme, and I could not go further.

Staying outside would also be ineffective, so I planned to leave the mountain. Seeing you still here, with your Dao resonance perfected, I thought further progress would be futile, so I came to call you—would you like to go together?

Only then did Qi realize he seemed to have adapted here, and indeed it matched what Taiyi said: in his perception, knowing that climbing the mountain again, if he couldn't get past the mountainside, would be pointless.

He then agreed to leave the mountain together with Taiyi.

My name is Qi.

My name is Taiyi.

I come from Cloud Dream Marsh—what about you?

Sun Star.

Sun Star? That's the transformation of Pangu's left eye, a top-tier blessed land under heaven!

Not much good—everywhere is fire and explosions, lethally hot, with nothing but fire for scenery, and only my elder brother and I as living beings, utterly boring.

How is Cloud Dream Marsh? What's the environment like?

Not bad; at dawn and dusk the light, water, and vapor are one, water flies and heavenly rosy clouds appear—very beautiful.

The two chatted awkwardly along the way, seeing too few living beings to know what to say, yet not wanting to walk in silence, but they ended up enjoying it.

After all, who would want to think about or sing that solo play any longer after so many years?

The two nearly forgot Di Jun on Mount Buzhou; if Qi hadn't remembered, Taiyi would have planned to go live with Qi in Cloud Dream Marsh.

Moreover, Taiyi didn't know why he liked Cloud Dream Marsh so much—perhaps it was fate.

When they found Di Jun, he had already risen, his expression grim; at that moment he personally saw his brother and another chatting while walking, and just passed by his side.

He had wanted to call out a reminder, but felt it would be too embarrassing, so he sat cross-legged again; he didn't realize, and only several days later did he discover he was missing, then turned back to search.

But seeing Qi beside Taiyi, he did not flare up, raising his hand in salute:

Di Jun greets you, fellow Daoist.

Qi returned the salute.

At this moment Qi was also curiously looking at this Taiyi, whose mouth had never spoken of defeating his brother.

Seeing Qi's gaze, Di Jun felt worse, knowing his younger brother Taiyi must have told all his shameful deeds.

He also felt helpless; to all beings in the world, his foundation and fortune Dao were top-notch.

But compared to Taiyi, he lagged far behind, including but not limited to luck and strength.

But he had nothing to say; after all, he was the younger brother, so just as he was about to speak, he saw Taiyi say:

Elder brother, I plan to go with Qi to his Dao Chang, Cloud Dream Marsh, to cultivate there for a while.

Hearing that, Di Jun was somewhat dazed, not reacting, began to wonder whether his younger brother had remembered him and come back, or whether he was going to Cloud Dream Marsh and felt he should give notice, only then recalling this elder brother.

Seeing Di Jun give no reply, Qi issued an invitation.

Di Jun, fellow Daoist, why not come along? My Dao Chang is still quite large, the journey is far, three together can look out for each other, and sitting to discuss the Dao would be more interesting.

Me? Sure.

Upon saying that, Di Jun finally realized what he had said.

Di Jun felt awful; his younger brother had run off with someone, he too had been invited and now had to run along.

At this moment Qi felt that what Taiyi said was actually true: the renowned demon emperor of the Primordial Wasteland, the Lord of the Heavenly Court, really was not very bright.

Seeing this, Taiyi also had no thoughts; he had expected his elder brother to restrain himself and refuse.

At this point he again urged Qi, so that he himself could also go out alone to play in the Primordial Wasteland.

Still, this wasn't bad; after all, he was his elder brother, never separated since birth, and being apart would feel somewhat unfamiliar.

The three set out for Cloud Dream Marsh; along the way they cultivated together, stopping for beautiful scenery to sit and discuss the Dao, or hunt fierce beasts, and play the xiao flute.

Qi also learned that the two brothers had set out from Sun Star, flying all the way from the sky; this was their first journey through the Primordial Wasteland.

Qi shared the method to achieve the Great Ultimate Realm, the Way of Purification; Taiyi lectured on his Sun Way; Di Jun also shared his Lesser Yang Way.

The three mutually debated, gaining greatly, and also exchanged blows several times; after all, discussing the Dao, if you don't understand the reasoning, this poor Daoist also knows a bit of fist and foot.

In terms of combat power Taiyi ranked first, but he lacked initiative and was reluctant to fight; usually when Qi and Di Jun couldn't settle the Dao and resorted to breaking through defenses, Taiyi would retaliate.

It was only then that Qi realized that the two did not know the way to achieve the Supreme Ultimate Great Luo, so they shared it, and also to give himself an edge in their Dao debates.

In their interactions, the three had a change of heart, but they discussed the Dao much less, after all they couldn't keep fighting all the time, and besides they couldn't beat Taiyi!

Qi's World-Rejecting White Jade Tablet, upon seeing Taiyi's Chaos Bell, was as if seeing his own father, and could not be moved at all.

Fortunately, Taiyi also could not handle the Twelve-Grade Pure World White Lotus, so Qi rarely suffered a loss.

Only Di Jun was most helpless; his River Chart and Luo Book had no advantage in combat, and he was better at deduction.

As they fought, the three-way melee would invariably evolve into Qi and Di Jun teaming up against Taiyi, suppressing him.

The main performance was that Qi relied on the Pure World White Lotus to withstand Taiyi's attacks, while Di Jun from the side restrained him, breaking Taiyi's attack rhythm, then gradually suppressing Taiyi, forcing him to stop.

Yes, once Taiyi makes a move, he easily gets carried away and can't stop.

Especially when the difference in strength is not great, he becomes fiercer the more he fights, completely unlike how he was at the start of the fight.

It was as if he were gradually releasing his innate belligerent nature.

Because Taiyi is usually too gentle, even to the point of being described as tender.

(End of chapter)