Chapter 458 - 407: The Daluo Fruit Position

Within the Blood Sea, all was deathly silent.

The deep blue figure stood with his hands clasped behind his back. The deductive light in his Cyan Gold eyes had not faded; on the contrary, it grew even more brilliant and dazzling.

In Nether Spring’s blood-red eyes, the lazy, playful look had long since vanished.

He just quietly watched the figure’s back, watched the Dao Rhyme flowing gently over it, and watched the eyes that seemed capable of piercing through all of eternity.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

But the words on the tip of his tongue dissolved into the faintest of sighs.

Because he knew that at this moment, his original self was in a Realm he could not touch, could not comprehend, and could not even imagine.

It was a choice of the Dao Heart.

It was the laying of a foundation for his Dao path.

It was—

A Cultivator, questioning the fundamental meaning of his own existence.

...

Outside the Blood Sea, the battlefield still raged, and the sounds of slaughter shook the heavens.

But Qi Yun’s Heart and Spirit had already sunk completely into that esoteric deduction.

He gently closed his eyes.

Before him lay two paths.

One was the Profound Yellow Dao Certification Method.

The path was broad, substantial, and ancient, like a Divine Mountain that had existed since the dawn of creation, standing majestically on the banks of the river of time.

On the mountain were countless trails. Every trail led to a different Daoist tradition, and every trail bore the footprints of those who had come before.

Those who set foot on this mountain could climb the paths forged by their predecessors, cultivate using the mountain’s resources, and seek the Dao in peace under its protection.

And atop the mountain’s peak, a Fruit Position hung suspended.

This Fruit Position was like a great sun at the summit, illuminating the entire Divine Mountain and nourishing all upon it.

When a Cultivator reached the peak, they could pluck that great sun and merge it into their own being.

From then on, the great sun is I, and I am the great sun.

Upon the Divine Mountain, a world forms unto itself. Below it, the river of time surges on, yet it can no longer touch that great sun in the slightest.

This was the Profound Yellow Dao Certification Method.

It was the smooth, heavenly path paved with the very lives of countless sages throughout the ages.

The other was the Primordial Spirit Daoist Method.

This path was narrow, steep, and treacherous, like a lone peak piercing straight into the Celestial Vault.

On this lone peak, there were no footprints from those who came before, no resources for nourishment, no great sun for illumination.

There was only oneself.

Only a sword, a flask of wine, and a Dao Heart.

Those who walked this peak could not rely on any external aid, nor could they depend on any who came before.

With every step, they had to cut through the thorns themselves; with every inch, they had to forge the path ahead on their own.

And atop this peak, there was no Fruit Position.

There was only a vast emptiness.

A Cultivator who reached this summit could not pluck a great sun, could not merge with any Fruit Position.

But they could use their own bodies as wings, their Dao Heart as feathers.

And leap forth to soar, roaming free and unfettered through Heaven and Earth!

This was the Primordial Spirit Daoist Method.

It was the new path Qi Yun had forged by risking his very life, carved out between life and death during the Dao debate with the five hundred Arhats in the Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm.

...

Qi Yun quietly gazed upon these two paths, gazing at the majesty of the Divine Mountain and the treacherousness of the lone peak.

After a long time.

He smiled.

But within that smile was an ineffable sense of relief.

’So that’s how it is...’

He muttered to himself, his voice echoing slowly within his Purple Mansion.

’These two paths seem diametrically opposed, as incompatible as fire and water.’

’But when you get down to it...’

He paused for a moment, and his Cyan Gold eyes slowly opened.

’It’s merely the difference between ’borrowing’ and ’not borrowing.’’

’To borrow the power of a Fruit Position, to borrow the willpower of sentient beings, to borrow the fortune of Heaven and Earth—this is the Profound Yellow Dao Certification Method.’

’To borrow from no external source, to rely only on oneself—this is the Primordial Spirit Daoist Method.’

’But is ’borrowing’ versus ’not borrowing’ really the entirety of the Dao?’

He raised his gaze slightly, looking into the void above the two paths.

There was nothing there.

Only a boundless darkness.

Yet as he stared into that darkness, the light in his eyes grew ever brighter.

’The flaw of the Profound Yellow Dao Certification Method is that it ’borrows’ too much.’

’Borrow the power of a Fruit Position, and you are subject to its restrictions. Borrow the fortune of Heaven and Earth, and you must bear their karma. Borrow the willpower of sentient beings, and you must shoulder their karmic burdens.’

’The more you borrow, the more you are bound.’

’In the end, the Fruit Position is I, and I am the Fruit Position—but is that Fruit Position truly still ’me’?’

He paused, his tone growing deeper and more solemn.

’The flaw of the Primordial Spirit Daoist Method lies in its refusal to ’borrow’.’

’By borrowing from no external source, you have nothing to rely on. By borrowing no external power, you can only endure on your own strength.’

’You must cut through the thorns with every step, and forge the path ahead with every inch.’

’The Dao cultivated in this way is, admittedly, a pure ’me.’’

’But how long can that purity last?’

’The river of time surges on relentlessly, and the calamities of Heaven and Earth are unending.’

’Without the protection of a Fruit Position, without the nourishment of fortune, without the feedback from the willpower of sentient beings... ’

’Can that ’me’ truly endure?’

As his voice faded, a dead silence fell over the Blood Sea.

Nether Spring quietly watched the figure’s back, a light flickering in his blood-red eyes.

He wanted to object, to argue, to point out a clear path for his original self.

But he opened his mouth and, in the end, said nothing.

Because he, too, knew that what his original self said was true.

The Profound Yellow Dao Certification Method and the Primordial Spirit Daoist Method each had their own strengths and weaknesses.

Neither path was perfect.

Neither path could allow a Cultivator to truly roam free throughout Heaven and Earth, to transcend the bounds of time.

Just as there are no perfect people, there is no perfect Dao...

...

The silence stretched on in the Blood Sea for a long time.

So long that even the churning of the Blood Sea grew faint.

Finally, the deep blue figure moved.

Qi Yun slowly turned around.

His Cyan Gold eyes no longer held the light of deduction, nor the gravity of deliberation.

There was only an unprecedented clarity.

A lucidity like parting a ten-thousand-year-old fog to finally witness the great sun at dawn.