Chapter 97: The Immortal and the Deity: Rules and the Dao

Inside the guest room.

Fang Shi was pondering the application of Dao characters, intent on enhancing the gravity Dao character’s power.

The gravity Dao character is not actually called “gravity Dao character”; its true name is “Carry the Mountain.”

“Gravity Dao character” is merely Fang Shi’s own term, because he felt it better reflected its essence than “Carry the Mountain.”

Fang Shi had originally considered calling it “gravity,” wondering if the attribute panel would display it that way.

But the attribute panel rejected it, as if this Dao character were unworthy of the title “gravity.”

“It’s difficult—I can barely alter this Dao character.”

“This Dao character is too refined; it’s already at the limit of Spiritual Sense realm mastery.”

Fang Shi shook his head and sighed, relying on his physical constitution.

He fiddled with the Dao character, freely adding or modifying it.

But no matter what he did, the Dao character’s power refused to increase.

It was barely as strong as the original.

Fang Shi even created a negative-value Dao character and asked other cultivators for advice.

Yet none could offer him a better one.

“Master Fang, we seek an audience.”

At that moment, a voice emerged from the talisman, startling Fang Shi from his contemplation.

“Who is this?”

At the door, Fang Shi saw the Daoist acolyte who had served him these past days leading in a young man.

“I am Cui Tianyu, third disciple of Master Long Yu, here to seek an audience with Master Fang.” The young man bowed respectfully.

“So you are a high disciple of Master Long Yu—please come in, please come in.”

Fang Shi led Cui Tianyu into the room and said, “What brings you, Disciple Cui?”

Cui Tianyu said, “I have come with a genuine request.”

“Speak freely.”

“Master, you must understand our current situation is dire.”

Fang Shi nodded. “You’re right—but do you have a solution?”

Cui Tianyu said, “We do, but the senior cultivators refuse to act.”

“So you came to me?”

Cui Tianyu bowed deeply. “Master, you detest evil without regard for your own cultivation, repeatedly descending the mountain to slay demons and purge malevolence.”

“You are a model for all Dao practitioners.”

Fang Shi said bluntly, “Just say what you need. If I can do it, I’ll agree. If I can’t, forget it—no roundabout talk.”

Cui Tianyu said, “This request is not mine—it comes from my Master.”

“The demonic god is powerful; he now controls half of Yizhou.”

“The remaining half may fall at any moment.”

“My Master learned that the demonic god plans a grand ritual across the eight directions to weaken the seal.”

“If they succeed, the remaining half will be utterly overwhelmed.”

“Thus, my Master wishes to send cultivators to disrupt the ritual.”

Fang Shi mused, “This won’t be easy—otherwise you wouldn’t have come to me.”

Cui Tianyu said, “Indeed, many senior cultivators refuse to act.”

Fang Shi’s mind stirred—he understood why.

These past days, he had been discussing Dao and making friends, feeling greatly enriched.

Occasionally descending the mountain to slay monsters, he found it effortless and pleasant.

He didn’t know why, but the demonic god’s side had sent no powerful experts.

At first, Fang Shi thought the monsters hadn’t arrived yet; eventually, he realized they simply weren’t coming.

Yet the demonic god’s influence still expanded rapidly.

Leveraging their numerical advantage, they slowly eroded counties from rural areas.

Most cultivators, aside from those harvesting ingredients for the Ninefold Golden Core Pill, refused to clear the monsters.

This wasn’t stupidity—it was excessive cleverness.

So clever they hoarded their cultivation, unwilling to risk it in slaughter.

Like Ming officials and merchants before Li Zicheng entered Beijing, all claiming their granaries were empty, refusing to spend money or effort.

Then, when their homes were ransacked, they found them overflowing with silver and grain.

Moreover, the cultivation world had no proper organization.

No one owed allegiance to another; at most, they respected those with deeper cultivation.

Added to that, the deterrent of the Sage’s principles made it nearly impossible for even Master Long Yu and others to reform the cultivation world’s atmosphere.

And even if you stepped back, the demonic god hadn’t breached the borders yet.

The three top Spiritual Sense cultivators hadn’t failed their breakthroughs.

They weren’t truly refusing to help.

So why rush? Let things unfold as they will.

Perhaps tomorrow, success will come, and all crises will vanish.

Only outliers like Fang Shi were the main force clearing the infected.

“If Master agrees to this task, I will present this treasure.”

Saying this, Cui Tianyu pulled from his robe a dark, dull black pearl.

“What is this?”

Cui Tianyu said, “It is the Solidify Pearl—it can condense intangible, ethereal things into physical form.”

“And most importantly, this pearl is effective against heart demons.”

Fang Shi smiled inwardly—Master Long Yu truly observed every cultivator, keenly aware of his needs.

“I heard the Sage’s rules are unbreakable—can condensing a heart demon into substance come at a cost?”

Cui Tianyu said, “Master is correct—the cost is that the user’s soul will also solidify, ensuring a fair duel between user and heart demon.”

“That’s hardly a cost.”

What made heart demons hardest to fight?

They were formless, immaterial soul entities, dwelling within Fang Shi’s upper dantian.

He could not use brute force to destroy them directly.

He could only wage guerrilla warfare within the upper dantian, all while guarding against the heart demon’s hidden strikes.

If solidified, it would lose its ability to disperse and reform.

Fang Shi could then lock onto the heart demon and engage in direct soul-to-soul combat within the upper dantian.

Then it would be a pure contest of spirit and will.

“What are Master Long Yu’s exact demands?”

“Disrupt the ritual. If you cannot stop it entirely, at least interfere. Whatever you do, just delay the seal’s breaking.”

Fang Shi’s expression shifted: “Can I receive the reward in advance?”

“This?” Cui Tianyu hesitated.

“Yes!”

A figure immediately materialized from the Solidify Pearl.

It was an old man with white hair, his appearance ancient and extraordinary—a true Daoist master.

Most importantly, when Fang Shi saw the old man, his spirit trembled.

The old man’s form was not ink-painting-like—it was real, truly human.

A sudden impulse surged in Fang Shi—he wanted to ask the old man what this meant.

But seeing Cui Tianyu’s unshocked expression, he decided it was inappropriate.

“Master!” Cui Tianyu hurriedly bowed.

“Rise,” Master Long Yu bowed to Fang Shi. “I’ve been occupied lately and failed to greet you properly—please forgive me.”

Fang Shi rose quickly and returned the bow. “Master’s deeds serve the people of Yizhou—no need for such courtesy.”

Master Long Yu shook his head. “I thank you, Master Fang.”

“The demonic god’s plague runs deep—if mishandled, it won’t be just Yizhou’s problem.”

Fang Shi asked, “Is it truly possible for the demonic god to break the seal?”

The original sealing had been performed by several Earth Immortals.

And those Earth Immortals were seasoned, renowned masters.

Thus, Fang Shi worried—even if Qinyu Mountain produced three Earth Immortals,

they might still fail to resolve the crisis.

Master Long Yu understood Fang Shi’s concern: “Impossible. The original seal was never simple.”

“Over these years, the demonic god’s power has waned from its peak.”

“As long as its power is suppressed, a single Earth Immortal can end the threat.”

Fang Shi asked again, “Why haven’t Earth Immortals across the world acted?”

“When they act, why should we take such risks?”

This was Fang Shi’s doubt—he had asked around these days, but most cultivators didn’t understand.

Now that he had met the top-tier Spiritual Sense cultivator, he couldn’t help but ask.

Long Yu True Person fell silent for a moment: “Tianyu, leave the room.”

“Yes, Master.” Cui Tianyu understood—the matters to follow were not for him to hear.

After Cui Tianyu left, Long Yu True Person suddenly said: “Outsider, how do you perceive this world?”

Fang Shi’s heart surged with shock: “What does True Person mean by that?”

Long Yu True Person stroked his beard and chuckled: “Why pretend ignorance with me?”

“You left Tongchang County—I noticed you long ago.”

“Do you remember the old man fishing by the river? Look at me again, carefully.”

A flash lit up Fang Shi’s mind: “You cast a cognitive veil on me.”

Ever since Long Yu True Person said those words.

Fang Shi’s mind felt as if a barrier had been shattered.

If Long Yu True Person’s current form were rendered in ink wash, it would be identical to the old fisherman.

“It wasn’t me who cast the cognitive veil—it was this world.”

Fang Shi asked: “This world? What exactly is going on here? Why are all the figures in this world distorted?”

“Yet from a material standpoint, it’s no different from the outside world?”

Long Yu True Person smiled: “Because this world doesn’t exist within the material realm at all.”

“The material realm? What does that mean?”

Long Yu True Person said: “Do you know what the multiverse looks like?”

Fang Shi ventured: “The multiverse? Aren’t worlds like bubbles floating in the Chaos Sea?”

Long Yu True Person shook his head: “You’re partly right. From a material perspective, the multiverse is indeed like that.”

“But the multiverse isn’t only material—it also has a spiritual dimension.”

“Only by considering both material and spiritual attributes can you determine a world’s coordinates.”

“This world has an extraordinarily high spiritual attribute, floating at the outer edge of the multiverse.”

“Beyond that lies the dreams of all beings and the ethereal realm of spirit.”

“Your world, however, lies at the innermost layer—the very center of the multiverse.”

Fang Shi was startled: “Impossible. How much energy would it take to travel from the innermost layer to the outer edge? Yet I felt no energy fluctuation at all.”

Long Yu True Person laughed: “You’re attached to form. Travel across the multiverse isn’t determined by energy quantity.”

“It’s determined by connection. Just as a mortal’s spirit and dreams lie at the outermost layer—does a mortal possess such immense power?”

Fang Shi suddenly said: “Not impossible. Spirit is the greatest power.”

“There are spiritual sorcerers in the multiverse.”

“I’ve heard that those with powerful spirits can create something from nothing, forge objects from emptiness, and accomplish anything.”

Long Yu True Person fell silent: “The great beings you speak of do exist—like the Awakened Ones of the Western Teachings, all masters of the spirit.”

“The Law of Spirit they wield grows stronger as the spirit grows stronger.”

Fang Shi said: “Then what exactly is this world?”

“I clearly remember I was in an underground ancient city before coming here.”

“A city identical to Tongchang County. I emerged from the ascension site of a senior, and then arrived here.”

Long Yu True Person spoke with deep meaning: “After all I’ve said, haven’t you figured it out yet?”

“Is this a dream? The dream of the Tongchang Ancient City’s Golden Corpse?”

“No, you’re wrong. A mere Golden Corpse couldn’t possess such power.”

“But isn’t a Golden Corpse equivalent to a Earth Immortal?”

Long Yu True Person laughed heartily: “Who told you a Golden Corpse equals an Earth Immortal?”

Fang Shi frowned: “A Golden Corpse equals a Legend, a Legend equals a Golden Core, a Golden Core equals an Earth Immortal—so isn’t a Golden Corpse an Earth Immortal?”

Long Yu True Person said: “In the material world, you may think so. The heavier the material, the more the power of Immortals and gods resembles that of mortals.”

“In your world, equating Immortals and gods with Legends is correct.”

Fang Shi interrupted: “You mean Immortals and gods? Are deities the same?”

“Are the deities you speak of manifestations of the multiverse’s rules?”

Long Yu True Person said: “Yes. They are manifestations of the multiverse’s rules.”

“They are indeed great, but the Dao of Immortals is no less profound.”

Fang Shi asked: “Rules? Dao? Aren’t they the same thing?”

Long Yu True Person said: “No. Rules govern matter, govern energy.”

“They are neither energy nor matter, nor time, space, or spirit.”

“They can even govern time, space, and spirit in reverse.”

“You may call them authority, or law.”

“Dao, however, is the synthesis of rules—born from rules, yet transcending them.”

Fang Shi asked: “So Dao is superior to rules?”

Long Yu True Person said: “Not so. Why are deities called manifestations of rules?”

“Because they are the rules themselves. Their depth of mastery over rules far exceeds that of Immortals.”

“Immortals merely harness rules, forging their Dao—a patchwork of fragments, touching on everything.”

Fang Shi asked: “So deities are stronger than Immortals?”

Long Yu True Person said: “You’re attached to strength again. Don’t always think in terms of stronger or weaker.”

“Though the Dao forged by Immortals isn’t weaker than the rules wielded by deities.”

“But the two cannot be directly compared.”

“Just know that the Dao forged by Immortals is a profound application of rules.”

“Compared to deities, their depth may fall short, but their height far surpasses them.”

“And since Immortals don’t deeply master rules, they are far freer than deities.”

“Yet deities, by mastering rules, can rapidly ascend if they receive sufficient worship, even inheriting the legacy of predecessors and leaping to divine heights.”

“Immortals must personally contemplate rules, summarize and apply them—progress is excruciatingly slow, sometimes not advancing a single step in a thousand years.”

“In short, deities have their merits, Immortals have their wonders—no superiority or inferiority, only different paths.”

Fang Shi understood: the multiverse is filled with countless paths called rules.

Deities are the owners of those paths—the farther they walk, the stronger they become.

Immortals have no path—they take fragments here and there, forging their own.

The longer their path, the stronger they become.

Of course, reality may differ, for rules and Dao are concepts nearly impossible for mortals to grasp.

But broadly speaking, this explanation isn’t far off.

Fang Shi asked again: “If rules govern matter, why is the power of Immortals and deities weaker in worlds with heavier material?”

Long Yu True Person said: “Have you considered the possibility that there is a rule called ‘matter’—and it is extraordinarily powerful?”

“Rules are not independent. The evolution of one rule is also a characteristic of another.”

“The rule of matter dominates all others, occupying a central position in the world.”

“It repels other rules, causing the power of Immortals and deities to diminish.”

“Your world is the one where the rule of matter is strongest.”

“But as other worlds invade, matter’s authority weakens, and it gradually rises from the center of the multiverse.”

Fang Shi’s heart leapt: “You know my world is under invasion? What exactly is happening?”

“Is it gods, Immortals, or some other unknown force?”

Long Yu True Person shook his head: “I don’t know. Everything I know came from peering outward when you opened the gateway to this world.”

Fang Shi hurriedly asked: “Do you know how to leave this world?”

Long Yu True Person said: “Of course. But leaving this world isn’t simple.”