The shift of perspectives allowed Sovereign to glance at that event from a different scope. Still, he ponders and ponders. At the same time, in a humble dwelling of a cave, a Daoist is in intense focus.
Behind the blue mountains, hidden under the shadows of the deep forests lies a cave.
In that cave, it radiates a tremendous amount of golden Qi.
However, along with that golden Qi, there seems to be something … unprecedented…
[Daoist, what is bothering you so much?]
…
[Lowly Daoist is ignoring great Ego?]
…
[Ever since that encounter and the following sudden rise in Resonance, Daoist has been behaving strangely.]
[Where did Daoist's former pride go?]
Indeed, to the so called Ego system, it seemed as though something disheartened Daoist Doffwy, although not even the Ego could see through it.
"If one were to scale both the heart and then the mind on the other side, which of the two would appear to be heavier?"
[Ego notices - a change in state of minds in Daoist?]
[Daoist, worry not about mundane worldly things!]
[Daoist! Ego knows - as Venerable Light taught, the Dao of music helps soothen one's mind!]
"Ego, allow this lowly Daoist to ask…"
[Ego is listening. Lowly Daoist may proceed!]
A light breeze enters the deep forests outside the dwelling.
The leafs on the spiritual trees slightly shake, though almost unnoticeable.
"Ego, what are your thoughts towards the chaos that previously erupted in the magic talisman channel?"
[Daoist, worrying about such mundane things! It is irrelevant, no?]
"No… answer sincerely this time.."
[Daoist… although great Ego registered a shift in energies, it is still not worth noticing.]
[Before answering, what makes Daoist so curious about that? Is it perhaps because you hold grudges towards some of the mortals that participated?]
"That matters not, there were just some things I did not think of…"
[Ego believes: In the events of the magical talisman channel, something peculiar occurred - Intention was outweighed by Resonance.]
"Why intention…? What does Resonance have to do with it?"
[Think harder, lowly Daoist. You still ought to be humbled.]
…
[Seeing that Daoist is left speechless, Ego will continue. What was the intention? You noticed it as well, Daoist - it was pure, yet uncontrolled.]
"However, Ego, that sincerity was met and received with mockery, laughter and trivialization…
Honesty was ridiculed, Sincerity instrumentalized.
Daoist's faith in the world, it was on the verge of shattering."
[Even among seasoned cultivators, the sincerity of that anonymous person was unseen of.]
[However, Great Ego knows; Sincerity alone is not enough if alignment is missing!]
"Yet, that sincerity was turned into comedy. All of them, who dared to speak like that, they will regret their crimes one day!
Humanity fell off so far in such a short amount of time.
Daoist feels disappointed and at loss of faith."
[Daoist, although normally Ego would call out this delusion of arrogance, something is off?]
"I am not wrong, am I?
My knowledge and intellect far transcends the lowly likes of humanly cognitions, no?
That anonymous person, they were right.
Their confession wasn't lame, they all simply didn't understand!
Only this Daoist can partially understand that, although not fully.
Even this lowly Daoist could feel there was something new in that expression of emotions.. how were all the others so insensitive?"
[Daoist seems to be stuck in an illusion.]
[Did you not remember great Ego's words?]
[Intention was outweighed by Resonance, as a cultivator with unprecedented talent for that, how did Daoist not see through that?]
"Ego didn't explain everything.. it's your fault.
I expected a full response, yet you led me on and only did half the work."
[Shifting the blame on great Ego? Daoist presumably has nerves of steel to attempt doing that.]
[Solution: Daoist ought to be humbled.]
[Worry not, though. Great Ego is generous.]
[Generosity knows no limits, does Daoist recognize the originator of that?]
[Look, Daoist, look closely. That is, if Daoist wishes to actually understand what happened.]
[Why does resonance matter?]
[Why does intention get outweighed by it?]
[Why does, intention, even if sincere and pure itself, sometimes fail to contain itself?]
"This one is truly deserving to be called a Lowly Daoist… enlighten me, Ego…"
[Of course! As an all-knowing Ego system, nothing surpasses my intellect!]
[The answer is quite simple.]
[When an abundance of emotions meets an error in Resonance , what would happen?]
[A natural outcome is the Clearance of all the Redundancies along with it.]
[This means that all the Abundance must also not just be cleared, it must be directed and controlled.]
[If that fails, inevitably, Nature would fix this by disallowing the Abundance to be contained any further, before it would turn into a mere state of Redundancy.]
"Too abstract, too confusing… Ego, this is still beyond this Daoist's scope of understanding…"
[Perhaps due to Daoist's current state of mind?]
[Calculating Chance - 66.7%]
[Ego believes, for Daoist to fully understand, Daoist must first understand the nature of the burden.]
[Although it seems that Lowly Daoist is willingly bearing that burden herself, even though it is not needed to do such a mundane task.]
[Each living being carries their own burden.]
[That is what Heaven probably designed for all living beings.]
[Some have lighter burdens, while often times the more capable ones carry heavier ones.]
[Daoist is doubtful towards the true nature of the burdens - understandable, given Daoist still lacks profound experience.]
[Daoist, think of it similar as a Mandate.]
"Then, what exactly did the 'anonymous person' do to deserve this humiliating experience of a heavy burden, which was then misunderstood by others even?"
[Great Ego is at confusion as to why Daoist cares that much about their inner self and what caused that, as a Great Ego, I am so smart as to look at the results themsleves.]
As the moon illuminates the rivers by the blue mountains, the deep forests now also reveal a new colour.
[Fortunately for Daoist, this Great Ego originates from outside of Causality, and has deep roots and ties with the Dao of comprehension.]
[Daoist perhaps also noticed, the sincerity in public truly felt heavier than silence itself.
Even though silence is known to have immense weight, when left untouched!]
[In addition, it was also noticeable that being seen wrongly had a different layer than rejection itself.]
[Faith restoration - does lowly Daoist believe it needs validation or justice?! Think, Daoist!]
"Daoist believes it is likely the latter one, then…"
[Daoist is correct for the first time.]
[Perhaps it was by chance, since this was 50/50?]
[Whatever it was, it seems you are not forsaken after all, as you managed to get that right.]
[Even Ego was surprised - that great individual also interfered to cast righteous judgement even in the mere dimensions of the magic talisman channel.]
[Noticing an irregular pattern...]
[Perhaps, now that Ego looks at this, was this all something different, because if we consider the variables that…]
"Ego. Forgive Daoist for interrupting, but there's a question I'd like to propose!
You say each living being has their own burden to carry, but why is that?"
[Ego believes that each living being has to bear their own burden, it is solely their own responsibility.]
[Everyone is fated to carry their burden alone!]
"But why? Why can't a heavy burden be shared? Why walk the Dao of immortality if in the end, one is just going to stand alone at the very top?"
[Calculating reason. The reason why a burden must be carried alone is because [Encrypted], Error…]
"Ego, Daoist couldn't hear the last part, can you repeat yourself?"
[Of course, Daoist. In a nutshell, it is [Encrypted], Error…]
[Does Daoist now finally understand?]
A breeze of wind blows through the deep forest.
The star constellations, albeit partially covered by the depths of the spiritual leafs on the trees, shine brightly in the night sky.
"I suppose so…"
[Great. Now that Daoist understands the core and nature of burdens, the [Encrypted] is now very clear.]
[Now, we take in the other variables.]
[Daoist, you may have not noticed since you were in seclusion until now, but very soon, it will be the new year, specifically, the period of the Deigning Fire Horse.]
[Ego supposes Daoist could already guess that this means new changes. The last year of that period was almost 60 years ago now, and we know that during that period, [Encrypted]… occurred, so for this time, you ought to prepare as well!]
"Daoist already understands very well.
The more important timer does not tick on a screen, but rather deep in my own soul.
[Encrypted] is not merely a date, it is the death of the shadow's that cast over my former self."
[As for the confession that is likely bothering Daoist, allow Ego to interpret.]
[Emotional Abundence, when unchecked, will inevitably lead to a collapse, manifested using language as a medium.]
[A confession is not always an attempt to gain something.
Perhaps, a confession is rather an attempt to not internally collapse, to remain… intact.]
[Seeing that emotional abundance can form, they can stack and accumulate and cause enormous pressure.]
[Often times, the resonance is high, while there are only few outlets… in moments like these is how silence becomes thousandfold heavier than a speech.]
[It is precisely during those moments that an expression no longer becomes a 'maybe', but a means to prevent collapse.]
[Retroactively, the outcomes of that act shouldn't be confused when ranking the priorities of the meanings.]
[Ridicule, Silence or Misunderstandings all are secondary. It was the very moment of expression itself that completed the whole act…]
[Most humans in this world seek nobility. A collapse is not noble, but it can be honest.]
[What is the real burden of a collapse? It is bearing the honesty of it afterwards.]
[Under all these conditions, that event was inevitable.]
A new breeze of winds sweeps away the spiritual leafs that were in the way of the constellation of stars.
In that new constellation of stars and threads of lines, the third symbol emerges.
Perhaps it was the Bearing of Burdens, or perhaps it was.. [Encrypted]
"Ego, this Daoist, for the first time, had to think differently in order to follow the flow of words.
While this Daoist does not quite fully recognize all the meanings behind the whole event of back then, I believe to have enlightened a bit…"
The blue mountains from afar gaze at this new discovery.
It seems the crystallized snow on the blue mountains started to change in their form, although unnoticeable to the outer eye.
"That heavy burden was never meant to be imposed from external forces.
It is hard to say, but I must admit it was self-assumed, because the capacity exceeded the sheer abundance itself."
[Ego would like to add, that act was not a humiliation, it was a necessity.]
"Only now do I realize that justice and presence was not necessarily needed for the whole act to be valid… while justice may have restored the faith in humanity and the world, the meaning itself was already sealed from the beginning it was started."
[Correct, this is the right direction.]
[Here comes the part why one must bear such a burden alone, it is because [Encrypted] and the most important part of it that allows the [Encrypted]… to be understood.]
[Simply put, it is because [Encrypted]…]
"No, Daoist already believes to have understood.
Sometimes, a burden needs to be carried alone, as a proof for their own capacity, not because Heaven demanded it in order to give more hardships.
Sharing a burden can be possible… but a dependency is entirely different.
A faith is completely externally driven if someone restores it.
Faith, therefore, must come from deep within.
And, if someone, by verbalizing and articulating their feelings, is able to prevent a total collapse…. It must mean that person was also strong enough to prevent it as well.
That strength… it had already been there before any intervention came.
Daoist Doffwy sits in silence outside the humble dwelling of the cave.
The breezes of wind stopped now.
She gazes at the crescent moon as well as the new star constellation, and it seems as though she recognizes few of the symbols they represented.
"The weight, the noise, they no longer burden me.
Perhaps now, it is time for me to face reality and confront [Encrypted] in order to reach the pinnacle?"
Meanwhile, the blue mountains seem to remain unchanged, gazing at the people beneath the Heavens.
The Daoist breathes deeply, the cold air reaching deep within.
Perhaps, this time, Daoist was able to realize something… something internally.