Chapter 1203: Fishing in the Sea of Blood, Sacrificing Life with Wisdom

As that wisp of silver thread fell into the sea of blood, the Ear Dao God, leaning against the four swords, became completely quiet.

Its aura was like an abyss, containing incomparably complex changes, and Ou Ou Yezi seemed to see nine kinds of extreme states of mind that exhausted the Great Dao, through the small body of the Ear Dao God, swallowing all motives.

This kind of absolute silence of standing like an abyss and sitting like a mountain connected the infinite complex 'movement' in the sea of blood through the bamboo pole and a wisp of silver thread.

"Using stillness to control movement?"

Pei Erke felt his movement-sensing eyes itching.

He actually saw a kind of extreme silence like an abyss appearing on the small, inconspicuous Ear Dao God, fishing out the infinite complex motives in the sea of blood.

Both the infinite motives in the sea of blood and the stillness of the Ear Dao God at this moment exceeded the scope that the movement-sensing eyes could spy on.

The Heavenly Emperor of Profound Heaven said slowly: "Fishing on the sea of blood, is it one of the rituals that best conforms to the Dao Fruit of Movement and Stillness in the world?"

"The sea of blood has infinite changes, movement, and growth, but it has no extinction. It is one of the places with the most complex movement in the world, symbolizing one of the greatest powers in the universe—vitality. And simple stillness is difficult to balance, accommodate, and subdue this great vitality."

"Only wisdom!"

"Stillness can produce wisdom. Only by collecting one's own wisdom, in 'stillness', making it deep

"If Great Yu had seen this scene in the past, rather than the tortoise and snake fighting and locking the great river, perhaps the Dao of movement and stillness would no longer be the imagery of the tortoise and snake intertwined! Interesting! Interesting!"

Ouyezi was also somewhat lost in thought.

He sighed faintly and said, "The Nine Abyss state of mind actually has such changes? This is not only the key to opening the Life Dao Fruit, but it is also a reflection of the Wisdom Dao Fruit."

Zhang Zhang Tian Shi once attained the Dao before Xuanwu Lake, and also forged the Zhang Tian Shi Sword between the Tortoise and Snake mountains of the Dajiang.

Although he did not understand what the so-called "Nine Abyss state of mind" was, at this moment, he still saw a mysterious energy in an inconspicuous little monster like the Ear-Dao God.

Meng Zhan asked him solemnly, "What did the Zhang Tian Shi see?"

Zhang Zhang Tian Shi said slowly, "Xuanwu!"

"I saw the snake coiled and the tiger crouching, the changes of the military formation. It is the Yin-Yang method in the Woqi Jing..."

Meng Zhan hesitated for a moment, but still did not say what he had truly seen, instead using military strategy to respond vaguely.

What he truly saw was that Great Wall spanning across the Sea of Realms.

Towering and immovable, eternal and unbreakable, yet constantly facing the infinitely complex changes and endless wars of the cosmic Sea of Realms.

It is immovable, yet it is also moving.

This kind of defense relying on immobility, while using the movement of military formations to respond to the infinite changes of war, is another kind of movement and stillness combined with extremely high significance.

Two existences at the Primordial Spirit level, who had just touched a trace of the Great Dao, exchanged their findings like blind men touching an elephant.

And Ouyezi, who had truly seen the elephant, was too lazy to even glance at them.

Only a great swordsmith like him, who had forged the Long Yuan Sword, and only a great Great Fangshi of the Immortal Qin like him, knew what this meant.

In the past, Daoist Hu Zi opened the Nine Springs in the Sea of Blood with the Dao of the Nine Abyss, thereby opening the Life Dao Fruit and mastering a key to the Dao of human body creation.

But the Great Great Fangshi never knew why the Dao of the Nine Abyss could open the Life Dao Fruit.

Why was the Dao Fruit obtained by Hu Zi still the Nine Springs, and not the Nine Abyss?

Today, Ouyezi finally realized with a sudden flash of insight: what Dao of the Nine Abyss, what Nine Springs Dao Fruit—the key to opening the Life Dao Fruit was clearly the Wisdom Dao Fruit.

The Dao of the Nine Abyss was merely the nine states of mind Hu Zi obtained from contemplating the Wisdom Dao Fruit!

When he forged the Long Yuan Sword in the past, he searched through all the spring water in the world suitable for sword forging, and also used a heart of utmost sincerity to seek the things that condensed wisdom between heaven and earth.

Finally, he discovered seven hidden spring eyes on Mount Ci.

Ouyezi chiseled the mountain into a pool, drew out those seven spiritual springs, and used them to forge the sword.

After the sword was completed, looking down at the sword body was like climbing a high mountain and looking down into a deep abyss; it was ethereal and profound, as if a true dragon were coiled there, hence the name "Long Yuan."

"I am, after all, only a swordsmith. With the utmost sincerity of my heart, I resonate with the heart of heaven, and thus I can hear and taste where the spiritual nature of all things in heaven and earth lies, and forge divine swords by following their changes."

"Therefore, although I forged the Long Yuan Sword, which symbolizes wisdom, I ultimately failed to obtain the wisdom within it."

Ouyezi sighed, "Seven stars of Long Yuan, seven appearing and two hidden. I only realized seven of the Nine Abyss, which belongs to the number of the underworld, so after this sword appeared in the world and helped me open the root of human spirit, it hid away. Later, it appeared in the hands of Wu Zixu, and I once disguised myself as a fisherman to save him before I took back this sword."

"Thinking about it now, my forging of this sword was originally inspired by Hu Zi..."

"What master sword-appraiser Fenghuzi of the State of Chu."

"Wind is formless; Fenghuzi is clearly Hu Zi hiding his name! This Daoist Lord, who has countless incarnations in the Daoist and Demon sects, led me to Mount Ci to forge the Long Yuan Sword!"

"The high-level figures of the Daoist sect are indeed unfathomable; I only realized it today."

"This high-level Daoist figure observed the Sea of Blood and drew the Nine Springs to open the Yellow Mud Path. Later, the Yellow Mud Path was forced by the Demon sect, so it sought change and became an important help for the birth of the Creation Path."

"He used the pseudonym Fenghuzi in the State of Chu, leading me to forge the Long Yuan, Tai'e, and Gongbu swords. Among them, the Long Yuan Sword helped me achieve the Pointing-Spirit Dao Fruit, and the Tai'e Sword once relieved the King of Chu of disaster, but later fell into the hands of Ying Zheng, becoming the Sword of Might, helping Ying Zheng destroy the six states and achieve the status of Human Emperor."

"The Gongbu Sword, skilled in battle formations and spreading martial arts throughout the world, followed the military strategists into the world several times, and also had a profound influence!"

"This high-level Daoist figure laid out plans several times without leaving a trace, his calculations unfathomable, like a wild goose leaving traces on snow, vague and mysterious. Just the traces of the two times he made a move that I saw indirectly influenced the birth of the Creation Path and the fate of Ying Zheng and the military strategists."

"Observing his actions, it seems he was secretly guiding the birth of the Immortal Qin..."

Ouyezi had a complex expression, staring at the Ear-Dao God who was fishing for the energy of the Sea of Blood.

"What is your origin, fishing in the Sea of Blood with the Dao of the Nine Abyss, and drawing out the Life Dao Fruit with the Wisdom Dao Fruit! Such secrets, even for great Great Fangshi like us, are separated by a thin sheet of paper, difficult to pierce through for a long time."

Ouyezi sensed that in the Sea of Blood, infinite motives and countless unimaginably complex energies were forming, merging, and transforming into an incredible life under the reflection of the Nine Abyss in the heart of the Ear-Dao God.

That was the "fish" that the Ear-Dao God wanted to catch!

It was also an incredible secret method to achieve the Life Fruit status.

The Yellow Mud Path used the Nine Springs to open the creation of the human body, returning to the Yellow Mud body created by Empress Wa.

After Brother Qian Chen saw through this secret, he went a step further, transforming into a big fish and diving into the Sea of Blood to evolve the Nine Abyss, thereby shaping a body for Xu Fu.

But more importantly, he hid that fish in the "Sea of Blood," just to let the Ear-Dao God catch it at this moment.

"I was wrong!" Ouyezi said frankly, "Ying Zheng's grand plan was not ruined by your little spirit creature, but because there was another more profound and unfathomable calculation!"

"This is not fishing, but a supreme sacrifice, an extremely extraordinary sacrificial secret method. Controlling movement with stillness, controlling demons with the Dao, sacrificing life with wisdom—all these things are letting you use your own supreme wisdom and Dao heart to sacrifice to the Sea of Blood, to sacrifice to the Life Dao Fruit, and to demand a supreme life from it!"

Divine sacrifice has a supreme law.

Once the chief sacrificer follows the ritual and the rules to offer a sacrifice to the gods.

The gods must respond. This law is the foundation upon which the ancient Witch Dao could trade with gods, and it is also the root of the Witch Dao.

The Dao Fruit is the same. Once attained, one is the master of the Dao Fruit. Trying to forcibly erase someone else's fruit status will also attract the backlash of the Dao.

The first to discover the secret of attaining the Life Dao Fruit was Hu Zi.

He contemplated the Wisdom Dao Fruit, realized the Dao of the Nine Abyss from it, and also broke the secret of the Life Dao Fruit—taking the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of Wisdom at the same time makes one a "Perfected Person."

A secret close to the root of the human Dao, close to the Dao Fruit of the Perfected Person.

This secret led the Supreme One to hand the Life Dao Fruit to the Demon Zangshan Laozu of the Sea of Blood for safekeeping, and hide the Wisdom Dao Fruit in the mysterious darkness for protection.

Because only the Life Dao Fruit can melt all life into the Sea of Blood and complete the unification of all living beings, and only the Wisdom Dao Fruit can merge all consciousness and represent the ultimate wisdom of the human race.

Bestowing ultimate wisdom upon ultimate life will give birth to a supreme existence—a "Perfected Person."

How Hu Zi knew this secret, Brother Qian Chen did not know.

But the moment he saw the Sea of Blood, he had a very strong sense of déjà vu. When he realized the relationship between the Wisdom Dao Fruit and the Life Dao Fruit from the great secret of the Yellow Mud Path, he immediately thought of this possibility.

It can only be said that the memory of the Supreme One, even if it is false, is still too valuable!

The Supreme One in his previous life might have been a shut-in...

Hu Zi used the Wisdom Fruit status to sacrifice to the Life Dao Fruit, opened up the "Nine Springs," and attained the Nine Springs Dao Fruit.

Brother Qian Chen did not understand why this high-level Daoist figure, who already had the fruit status of the Daoist sect, had to hide his name and attain another Dao Fruit to become a Demon Lord of the Demon sect.

But looking at it now, this high-level Daoist figure calculated very deeply... he might have many incarnations, not just the identity of two Daoist Lords.

It is even possible that he is hidden among the seven Great Great Fangshi of the Creation Path.

"In the past, during the trip to Gui Xu, the bottom of the Immortal Divine Tree hid the Nine Abyss, the key to the ultimate secret of the Life Dao Fruit! I also used the Taboo Immortal Tree to swallow a part of the True Dragon Dao Fruit, and even used Senior Brother Yan to sacrifice the four spiritual emotions to the Azure Heaven to refine the Immortal Divine Medicine. Thinking about it now, the secrets hidden inside are truly deep! What I realized at the time was only a part of it."

"The Wisdom Dao Fruit can sacrifice to the Life Dao Fruit to create a life representing a 'Perfected Person' from the Sea of Blood."

"What about the remaining three Dao Fruits? Courage, Benevolence, and Integrity?"

"Sacrificing to the Four Spirits of Heaven with four spiritual emotions? Or are the Four Spirits of Heaven themselves existences created by the Supreme Dao Zangshan Laozu to replace 'Heaven' in receiving sacrifices?"

"The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—these Four Spirits of Heaven have a deep relationship with the Supreme One. I once saw the Azure Dragon; it was the Green Ox under the Supreme One's seat in the past! That sage of the Confucian school shaved off the four virtues of the Heavenly Emperor, essentially shaving off the Heavenly Emperor's qualification to enjoy these four kinds of spiritual emotions."

"And the Heavenly Emperor's quest to forge the Heavenly Emperor Sword seems to be an attempt to find the four Dao Fruits that the Supreme One shaved off."

"This makes one think of the difference between the Heavenly Emperor of ancient times and the Heavenly Emperor of today. Not to mention that Haotian God, even the Primordial Five Emperors might have had the qualification to enjoy the sacrifice of the four virtues. The ancient Son of Heaven sacrificed to the Five Emperors to obtain the status of Son of Heaven, and Qin Shi Huang also performed the Fengshan sacrifice to condense the Emperor Dao Fruit."

"I have already cracked some of the secrets of the Fengshan Great Sacrifice, including the secret that the Five Sacred Mountains are the altars to pull down the Five Emperors' Great Dao."

"Including... the secret of sacrificing to 'Heaven' with Wisdom, Courage, Benevolence, and Integrity!"

"Everything has an inexplicable coincidence with that Great Sacrifice at Gui Xu in the past..."

"All this thanks to the Jade Emperor and Ouyezi; the secret of the birth of the Pointing-Spirit Dao Fruit has completed the most critical link!"

"Haotian sealed the spiritual nature of humans in Xuanzhen Taiyi, later stole the 'human nature' from it and bestowed it upon all races. The Supreme One shaved off the wisdom, courage, benevolence, and integrity of all races and resealed them in Xuanzhen Taiyi, but also left a glimmer of hope for all living beings, until Ouyezi forged the four swords, broke the seal, and gave the spiritual nature of humans to the heaven, earth, and all living beings!"

"If this spiritual nature is one of the sacrifices enjoyed by the Heavenly Emperor..."

"During the time of the Old Heaven, all living beings could sacrifice to Haotian and the Five Emperors, but after the Supreme One opened the New Heaven, he shaved off wisdom, courage, benevolence, and integrity, thereby sealing the Divine Dao and cutting off the sacrifice to the Heavenly Emperor."

"Because 'wisdom' defeated the ignorance of faith."

"Because 'courage' blew the battle song of resistance."

"Because 'benevolence' anchored the good and evil of the human heart."

"Because 'integrity' defined the justice of heaven and earth."

"The Supreme One did not let the Divine Dao go, nor did he not carry out crucial reforms to the Divine Dao. He locked up the spiritual emotions of humans—the most precious spiritual energy—with the four virtues of wisdom, courage, benevolence, and integrity. Only faith and sacrifice that follow these four virtues can reach the Divine Dao, discarding all blind faith, fanatical faith, delusional faith, and evil faith. He made the faith of the human race without the four virtues meaningless to the gods, leading the path of faith onto the right track."

"But even so, you still don't trust the Divine Dao? Supreme One! Is this the PTSD sequelae of facing the Heavenly Emperor?"

Brother Qian Chen thought somewhat irreverently.

"Ordinary gods enjoy spiritual emotions only when believers possess the four virtues of wisdom, courage, benevolence, and integrity. This avoids evil gods raising the human race and imprisoning civilization!"

"But the ritual of sacrificing to 'Heaven' and the Heavenly Emperor is not that simple!"

"The ancient Son of Heaven sacrificed to the Heavenly Dao and the Heavenly Emperor with his own wisdom, courage, benevolence, and integrity. It is because they could already grasp these four virtues, their own moral conduct was extremely high, and they were extremely likely to have attained these four fruit statuses, thus being able to break the seal, trigger the Five Emperors' Great Dao, and achieve the status of 'Son of Heaven'."

"But Immortal Qin's Shi Huang was really a bit far from these four virtues. He could trigger the Five Emperors' Great Dao and even forge the Emperor Dao Fruit entirely by relying on unparalleled Immortal Dao technology!"

"Ouyezi attained the Pointing-Spirit Dao Fruit by opening the Xuanzhen Taiyi Dao Fruit with four kinds of moral conduct..."

"That's it!"

"The Supreme One hid morality in Xuanzhen Taiyi, Primordial One bestowed holy virtue upon Great Yu, the Buddha hid hidden virtue in karma, the Heavenly Emperor hid merit in the Heavenly Court, and the Yellow Emperor hid blessed virtue in the human Dao. The Great Dao of the Primordial Five Emperors is so obvious: the Five Elements Great Dao is the foundation, the Five Virtues Great Dao is the operation. The ancient Son of Heaven had no obstacles in triggering these Five Virtues Great Dao, because they were favored by the Supreme One, blessed by the Primordial One, grasped all karma, and as leaders of the human Dao, they only needed to ask the Heavenly Court for the merit Dao Fruit to fully carry the Five Emperors' Great Dao."

"And Immortal Qin?"

"If the Pointing-Spirit Dao Fruit can open Xuanzhen Taiyi and trigger morality, and the Primordial One opened the Primordial Great Dao and bestowed holy virtue upon all holy kings, Immortal Qin also fought with the Buddhist sect for reincarnation, seized a part of the Reincarnation Disk, and could open the hidden virtue Dao Fruit. Also coming from the human Dao, there were no obstacles to blessed virtue. Only merit... only the merit hidden by the Heavenly Court was the only obstacle for the First Emperor to trigger the Five Emperors' Great Dao!"

"No wonder Immortal Qin and the Heavenly Court had countless wars..."

"In this way, I finally have a clue about the Five Emperors' Great Sacrifice!"

"The Great Sacrifice for the Emperor Dao Fruit now only lacks how to trigger the part of the Primordial Five Emperors' Dao Fruit..."

Ouyezi's expression as he looked at the Ear-Dao God became increasingly serious.

"The person who enlightened you must possess earth-shattering wisdom and secrets."

"In the past, Ying Zheng's Fengshan Great Sacrifice, in addition to the painstaking efforts of our seven Great Great Fangshi, had countless records of ancient Sons of Heaven sacrificing to Heaven, as well as the accumulation of the foundations of the Qin State and the Heavenly Shang, which was how it was created."

"Now you have actually touched upon a part of its secrets!"

"The spirits of the world began with me. Many great beings enlighten living beings by using a part of their own scattered spiritual nature. Their boy attendants, attendants, and mounts are sometimes transformed from the spiritual nature they have discarded themselves, transformed from the laziness, sorrow, love, and desire that would hinder their cultivation."

"Enlightening another self as a living being and keeping it by one's side to feel the difference of another self in the world is also a kind of cultivation."

"Therefore, for many great beings, boy attendants and mounts are sometimes closer than disciples, and even slightly presumptuous, and it doesn't matter if they make mistakes, because those are the mistakes they would make themselves, the self they discarded after achieving the Primordial Spirit."

"But I cannot see through where your spiritual nature comes from?"

Ouyezi stared at the Ear-Dao God.

The Pointing-Spirit Dao Fruit can see its spiritual root, the "other self" that disturbs Xuanzhen Taiyi.

But the spiritual nature of the Ear-Dao God did not point to any living being in the present world, nor did it point to the Sect Master of the Supreme Louguan Dao behind it.

Instead...

"Innate living being? Spirit without cause?"

"Impossible..." Ouyezi shook his head and said, "Many of your memories are very ancient, coming from some primordial gods and demons, but your essence, your origin, makes me unable to see through you."

He looked down at the two little guys, the Gold and Silver boy attendants: "And you too!"

"The spirit of a non-human must come from the human race; this is the Great Dao law set by the Supreme Dao Zangshan Laozu. No race can violate it, and they can only fall into demons, relying on eating humans to steal spiritual nature, relying on eating the human race from which their spiritual nature originates to attain the Primordial Spirit."

"But you have exceeded my expectations."

"Is it that my Pointing-Spirit Dao Fruit cannot see through the source of your spiritual nature, or are you the legendary innate spirits?"

The Ear-Dao God suddenly pulled the rod, and the Nine Abyss state of mind of the Wisdom Dao Fruit finally completely reflected the infinite movement in the Sea of Blood, reflecting the existence that Brother Qian Chen left in the Sea of Blood.

It turned its head and glanced at Ouyezi.

What are you muttering about? Did you see my fish take the bait?

The entire Sea of Blood, every bit of blood containing incredible, infinite life, was transforming and wriggling.

That silver hook seemed to hang over the Sea of Blood, lifting the entire Sea of Blood up.

One could only see the vast Sea of Blood rising into the sky. From the place where the Ear-Dao God's hook hung, infinite blood surged, transformed, and turned into an incredible life form...

A big crimson fish!

Zhang Zhang Tian Shi only felt a monstrous demonic nature, an aura of life that could be called terrifying to the extreme and chaotic to the extreme. A dignified Zhang Tian Shi felt like an ant.

Even Ouyezi could not help but widen his eyes.

What did he see?

That little monster fished up the entire Sea of Blood, fished up a "fish" whose aura even surpassed his own.

No, this is not a fish.

How could this be some kind of taboo life bred by the Sea of Blood?

This is clearly the Sea of Blood itself, clearly an incarnation of the Demon Zangshan Laozu of the Sea of Blood!

Ouyezi widened his eyes, looking at the Ear-Dao God, finally moved for the first time by a spirit creature. One must know that the Pointing-Spirit Dao Fruit he mastered is the source of all spiritual nature in the world, and also the ancestor of all spirit creatures.

But, he must now admit that the creation of living beings in the world far exceeds his imagination.

Someone could actually fish up a Demon Zangshan Laozu...

The Demon Zangshan Laozu of the Sea of Blood, who had been fished up like a fish, was taking shape from the Sea of Blood, transforming from infinite chaotic life into an infinitely powerful existence that shook the entire First Emperor's Mausoleum and made the Black Emperor's altar tremble.

He raised his eyes and sneered at Ouyezi's ignorance...

What? Haven't you seen a Dao Venerable being fished up?

Nanhua, leak one for him to see!

"That thief Brother Qian Chen superficially helped me create a race to lure heaven and man to fall, but actually left a backup in this Sea of Blood, refining the entire Sea of Blood into a 'fish'."

"Heh! This kid probably guessed that Wisdom Dao Fruit sacrifice could trigger Life Dao Fruit the moment he knew what Hu Zi did. As a result, when this little thing sacrificed, the life bred by the Sea of Blood became my incarnation, and with the jade disc sacrificed by Ying Zheng, I had to respond. Shame! In all my years of fishing, this is the first time I've been fished up as a fish..."

"But thinking about Nanhua, it seems acceptable!"

"After all, this guy was the first to lose face, sent an incarnation, and caused me to lose that game."

The Sea of Blood grew wings, and countless blood gathered and wriggled into a feather made of countless tentacles.

The Demon Zangshan Laozu of the Sea of Blood transformed into a giant Kun formed by draining infinite blood, thrown high by the bamboo pole. Its incomparably huge body shattered the entire firmament, and its eyes looked thoughtfully at the Ear-Dao God, who was like a bean-sized speck below...

Compared to it, it was a glance at something not even as good as an ant's aura!

If you can't catch a big fish, you might as well join in another way...

"This little thing has fulfilled a destiny of the Supreme One, becoming more and more outrageous!"

"The Supreme One gambled with me back then, using the Xuanzhen Taiyi Dao Fruit to cut off a possibility of mine—that is, all the possibilities of me catching a fish. To break his technique, I have tried countless ways of fishing over the years."

"But looking at it now, many of the Supreme One's destinies have been fulfilled by the side of that Dao-dust body. This little thing might be the fish-luck that was cut off from me by the Supreme One..."

"The Supreme One's cultivation level later broke the limits of this realm. A thought, an idea, had incredible power. In the Old Heaven gamble, he still needed to use the Xuanzhen Taiyi Dao Fruit."

"After opening the New Heaven, I also attained Xuanzhen Taiyi. I had originally grasped all my possibilities, but he said he felt I couldn't catch it, and damn it, I really couldn't catch it."

"This kind of achievement has surpassed our cognition... That's why I was convinced by him and guarded the Life Dao Fruit and the Nine Heavens Demon Realm for him."

"I didn't expect that after billions of years, one of his Dao-dust bodies could still calculate me once."

"Forget it! I am no longer the Black Emperor now! I want to see how you summon my old body."