Chapter 552: The Existence of You and the Dao's Contradiction

The screen of light vanished. In a palace constructed from white jade, Li Wang set down the ancient zither in her hands and turned to look at Yun Mengshang, who was sitting cross-legged.

A hint of smug satisfaction tinged the worry in her eyes.

“And here you are, sister-in-law, resorting to the Joyful Fragrance. With my brother’s temperament, if his love for you were deep enough, he would have stayed by your side on his own. Besides, this is a romantic tribulation for the two of you, something you can’t escape anyway. And you still used such a trick!”

The Joyful Fragrance was so terrifying that even an exceptional Divinity Transformation Stage cultivator like Yun Misha was wary of it. While this Spiritual Object was used to “train” cultivation partners, it was most often used on powerful Cultivators with firm Dao Hearts, like Yun Ying of the Divinity Transformation Stage. Once addicted, even someone at the Divinity Transformation Stage would be completely controlled by the drug. That was why Yun Misha had worn such a worried expression when she first saw Yun Mengshang using the Joyful Fragrance.

Li Wang’s charming smile returned. “But no matter. This will serve as another trial to temper his Dao Heart. Once he completely overcomes the Joyful Fragrance, he’ll have a much greater resistance to such substances in the future. He won’t fall for this kind of trap again. Otherwise, given his destiny, his journey on the Path of Red Dust would be fraught with hardship!”

As she spoke, anger flickered across Li Wang’s face. “And look at you, sister-in-law, doing just fine. All you have to do now is purify your heart to break through to the Divinity Transformation Stage. He, on the other hand, will probably have to suffer like this many more times. And who knows if your Fox Demon Race’s Path of Indifference will even allow you to remember him after all this!”

Fate had woven them together, so Li Wang couldn’t completely wash her hands of the matter. Surrounding Yun Mengshang were four eighth-rank Heart Purifying Jades, constantly helping her quiet her mind and purify her spirit. These were supreme treasures coveted by cultivators at the Divinity Transformation Stage, and they were even immensely useful for the soul to those at the Mahayana Stage.

It was a mystery where Li Wang had obtained such Spiritual Objects—and to use four of them directly on Yun Mengshang, no less.

Meanwhile, in You’s Divine Palace, after communicating with Li Wang, You warped the space around him and vanished.

Outside the Dao Storage Hall, Chen Dong was sprawled out like a dead dog, drenched in so much sweat he looked as if he had just been pulled from the water.

Just after You left the Divine Palace, the Jade Pendant on Chen Dong’s chest flashed, and Liu Ling’s figure appeared before him.

She angrily grabbed Chen Dong by the collar. “How could you be so familiar with beings like that? And two of them! We’re finished! They definitely know about the Dao Artifact’s existence now!”

Chen Dong gasped for breath, his voice weak. “Don’t panic. You exists outside the Six Dao. He can’t covet the Hongmeng Dao Artifact.”

Liu Ling was completely unconvinced. “What do you mean, ‘outside the Six Dao’? Your Realm just isn’t high enough for you to understand! He is clearly a being who has surpassed immortal ascension. I don’t know how he’s managed to stay in the Floating Shadow Realm, but he is absolutely not ‘outside the Six Dao’ as you claim!”

Chen Dong pushed himself into a sitting position, only then processing that Liu Ling had said “two.” ‘Could it be…?’

He quickly asked, “Was there a woman in a red dress there after I passed out?”

Liu Ling recalled how the woman had touched the Jade Pendant—her physical form—whether intentionally or not. And just before leaving, she had given it a profound, meaningful glance.

With that, Liu Ling shook her head and lied. “I don’t know. Their auras were too powerful. I didn’t dare try to perceive them.”

‘Them?’ Chen Dong noticed Liu Ling’s reluctance to speak and didn’t press her further. Instead, he began to explain. Perhaps with Liu Ling’s vast knowledge, she would be able to figure out what You was planning.

“You wasn’t like this when I first met him. Even though my Realm was low back then, I could clearly feel the nether energy coming off him without even trying. He told me himself that he was revived with the Nether Burial Rebirth Technique and was no longer part of the Six Dao. But now, all that nether energy is gone. I have no idea how he managed it.”

Liu Ling fell into deep thought upon hearing his words. A moment later, she started in sudden realization.

“So that’s it! No wonder… I understand now!”

Seeing her sudden start, Chen Dong asked urgently, “What do you understand? Tell me!”

Liu Ling began to explain slowly. “They say there are three thousand paths of the Great Dao, but that’s just a figure of speech. It is truly infinite. However, within that infinity, there is always ‘the one that escapes.’ This ‘one’ represents the perpetual cycle of existence. It is because of this ‘one’ that the Great Dao is bound to a wheel of reincarnation, endless and eternal!”

Chen Dong was completely lost. ‘Why does cultivation theory sound like quantum mechanics?’

‘Within infinity, there’s an existence approaching infinity that prevents it from ever reaching true infinity. Schrödinger’s cat? The theory of relativity?’

Liu Ling saw Chen Dong’s confusion and switched to an explanation he might understand. “From time immemorial, the Dao has followed the way of nature; nothing can escape its endless laws. Even for those whose cultivation surpasses immortal ascension, there will come a day when they fall and are reincarnated. So-called immortality is merely a lifespan that is infinitely long compared to that of a mortal. But to die and be reborn is to escape those laws, to step outside the Great Dao itself and enter another kind of infinity—another ‘one.'”

“The Great Dao is the Path of Positive Order—it governs the celestial cycles and natural reincarnation. The ‘one that escapes’ truly does escape, into the Path of Reverse Order. By leaping from the Path of Positive Order to the Path of Reverse Order, one is no longer bound by the laws. It doesn’t matter what kind of technique your so-called Nether Burial Rebirth Technique is. As long as it defies the laws of the Path of Positive Order, this kind of death and resurrection is the Path of Reverse Order!”

The more Chen Dong listened, the more confused he became.

“What are you even talking about?”

Liu Ling shot him a disdainful look. “How can you be so slow to comprehend this! From the moment he died and was reborn, that You was no longer a being of the Great Dao! It doesn’t matter how high his cultivation is. Saying he’s ‘outside the Six Dao’ sounds impressive, but in reality, his very existence has become one of ‘the ones that escape.’ He is, in essence, an illusion. The more he interferes with events governed by the Great Dao, the closer he gets to ceasing to exist entirely!”