Translator: CinderTL
Days turned into years, and five years later, Xu Sanyan turned six.
Xu Sanyan had gradually accepted his new life, yet a nagging feeling lingered in his heart: he didn't truly belong in this Martial World.
No matter what he did, a subtle sense of dissonance always remained.
One day, an immortal descended from the heavens, riding auspicious clouds and wielding a whisk. His face was ruddy, his long beard flowing beneath his chin—every inch a celestial being.
All the villagers knelt on the ground, their faces filled with awe.
The immortal had come to select disciples. After examining all the village children of suitable age, it was no surprise that only Xu Sanyan met the criteria and possessed promising talent. He bid farewell to his parents and followed his Master to cultivate immortality.
Once he entered the immortal sect, Xu Sanyan cultivated diligently. At seven, he achieved Qi Refinement; at sixteen, he mastered Inner Qi; at thirty-one, he became a celestial being; and at fifty, he reached Foundation Establishment.
His cultivation progress was unparalleled within the sect, earning him the title of the righteous path's leading young talent!
He then descended the mountain to gain experience, vanquishing demons and upholding justice. His name became known throughout the world!
For twenty years, he traveled the land, searching for his own path.
One day, Xu Sanyan experienced a sudden epiphany and entered seclusion to contemplate the Dao.
The Great Dao encompasses three thousand six hundred paths, divided into three realms: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity.
The Heavenly Dao represents the natural order—the cycles of the sun and moon, the shifting stars, the changing seasons. Any Dao that adheres to the laws of nature falls under the Heavenly Dao.
The earthly dao encompasses the natural processes of all things: growth, natural propagation, mountains crumbling, lakes and seas drying up—all fall under its domain.
The human dao encompasses all human endeavors: formations, talismans, sword dao combat, suppressing desires to guard the heart, and pursuing selfish gain at the expense of all else. It contains both good and evil, as well as the principle of non-contention.
The dao has no hierarchy or precedence. All great paths can lead to the ultimate truth, depending solely on one's choices.
In this lifetime, Xu Sanyan cultivated the Sword of Uprightness—a blade dedicated to upholding the righteous path of heaven and earth.
This path is considered a derivative of the heavenly dao, upholding the righteousness of the heavenly dao. Its emphasis lies on "uprightness" rather than "sword," yet it cannot abandon the sword entirely.
It also incorporates sword dao, effectively merging the heavenly dao's "uprightness" with the human dao's "sword."
From childhood, his parents taught him to be an upright person, to care for the weak, and to never do evil.
After joining the sect, his Master further instructed him to uphold the righteous path of heaven and earth, to respect his elders and revere his Master, to care for his Junior Brothers and Sisters, and to never break the sect's rules.
As a result, Xu Sanyan had always been exceptionally upright. He cherished his Junior Brothers and Sisters, showed respect to his elders, and earned the admiration of everyone in the sect.
Now, having suddenly achieved enlightenment, Xu Sanyan broke through two cultivation levels in one stroke, reaching the Mid Stage of the Dao Seeking Realm.
From this point forward, he must always adhere to the dao within his heart and never act against his conscience. Otherwise, his cultivation level would stagnate, making further progress impossible.
At this point, the faint sense of unease in his mind grew stronger. When he opened his eyes again, the scene shattered, and he found himself back in the cave.
Xu Sanyan lowered his head in silence. He now understood the purpose of this cave and the true nature of the so-called "Holy Scripture."
Yet he remained dissatisfied with the outcome and process of this life. He continued forward, and the sensation of weightlessness returned.
Memories of his first life gradually faded from his mind...
This time, he was born into a wealthy family. As their only son, he was spoiled by his parents, who indulged his every whim. As a result, he grew up extremely mischievous.
Yet a sliver of conscience still remained within him. While he committed minor offenses constantly, he never crossed the line into serious wrongdoing.
Later, his family spent a fortune sending him to an immortal sect as an Outer Sect Disciple. He endured immense hardship, and his personality underwent a complete transformation. He became more patient, more cunning, like a venomous snake that strikes only when it's certain of its prey.
After countless trials and tribulations, and with painstaking effort, he finally broke through to the Dao Seeking Realm at the age of one hundred and two.
In this life, his heart was cold and ruthless, and the path he cultivated perfectly suited his nature.
The scene shattered, and he returned once more to the cave.
Xu Sanyan remained dissatisfied. He continued forward, moving on to his third life, then his fourth, fifth...
It wasn't until his seventeenth life that he finally found his path.
In this life, he was born into a hunter's family. From childhood, he was clever and quick-witted. His parents sent him to school to learn to read and write. As he grew older, he stumbled upon a cultivation cave in the mountains, and from that moment, he embarked on the path of cultivation.
He lacked the bitterness and resentment of his second life, nor did he possess the upright and virtuous character of his first. All he had was a selfish desire for self-gain.
All things in the universe are born of heaven and earth and inherently ownerless. Whoever proves strongest claims them—there's nothing more to say. This is also a form of heavenly dao:
—Survival of the fittest!
In this life, he endured countless hardships and repeatedly teetered on the brink of death. Yet he never once wallowed in self-pity.
At fifty, while fighting over a treasure, he was defeated and severely wounded, nearly losing his life. Still, he harbored no resentment. After all, he was simply weaker and couldn't defeat his opponent. He had no one to blame but himself.
At sixty, after years of meticulous planning, he finally joined forces with others to kill the man who had defeated him and seize the treasure, thus avenging his past humiliation.
Not resenting someone and seeking revenge were two entirely different matters.
At eighty-two, Xu Sanyan successfully broke through the Dao Seeking Realm. In this life, the path he cultivated was:
—To compete by any means necessary.
Fight with others, fight with the heavens!
Fight for the path to immortality, fight for eternal existence!
Only by experiencing every path can one truly understand what lies within their heart, and only then can they know how to walk the road ahead.
In the illusion, one seals their own thoughts and acts purely on instinct, thus coming closest to their true Dao.
The scene before him shattered. Xu Sanyan grinned, turned, and began walking back. There was no need to continue down this path; he had already obtained what he sought.
As for the Holy Scripture, he had already read it.
In his final life, the cultivation method he practiced was the Holy Scripture.
The Holy Scripture was never a single cultivation method. Xu Sanyan had lived through seventeen lives, each with a different cultivation method.
If he had turned back in his first life, the cultivation method he practiced then would have been the Holy Scripture.
But when he entered his second life, the memories of his first life would fade, making it impossible to retain all the cultivation methods.
Xu Sanyan opened his panel and saw that the Supreme Truth and Absolute Stillness Sutra in the cultivation method section had been replaced by another method:
Dao-Seizing Vitality Origin Sutra
When he emerged from the cave, Tu Wanshan and Fang Xiang were already outside. The group nodded in greeting and stood silently behind the three Hall Masters, waiting.
As night deepened, Qi Liang and Jiang Qinqin finally emerged together.
Venerable He Yu, seeing everyone assembled, spoke slowly, "Return to your respective sects. Cultivate diligently. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Gather at Harmonious Heart Mountain in a month to discuss matters."
"Yes," the crowd replied, bowing in respect.
The Hall Masters then departed with their disciples. Qi Liang headed up the mountain, as Harmonious Heart Mountain was his home.
The Mad Daoist didn't inquire about Xu Sanyan's cultivation methods, but simply warned, "Not a word about what happened in the cave. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Master," Xu Sanyan assured him immediately.
Even without thinking, Xu Sanyan knew that the cave was the Harmonious Heart Demonic Sect's most important location, without equal.
"Mm," the Mad Daoist nodded faintly. In the blink of an eye, the two were back at Crimson Dragon Mountain. After setting Xu Sanyan down, the Mad Daoist turned to leave, adding as he departed, "From now on, you'll manage all matters, large and small, on Crimson Dragon Mountain. As long as you don't make any mistakes, you'll do fine."
Xu Sanyan was stunned for a moment, then his face lit up with joy. "Yes, thank you, Hall Master!"
(End of the Chapter)
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