The Dao of Daos

"I suddenly feel like expounding on the Dao. Any questions?"

When Logean Wuji said this, Ye Hong and Ling Ji'er were already sitting by the water with their hands up, waving them around much like over-excited children.

"Me!"

"I have a question!"

"Me! Me!"

"Yes, Ye Hong, what is your question? I'll get to you in a moment, Ling Ji'er." All of a sudden, Father Tang felt like the Logean Wuji next to him was entirely different. The air around him was difficult to breathe, and the pressure was building up to soon become suffocating. Without dallying, he rushed over and also took a seat where the others were.

"Sir Wuji, what is the true essence of cultivation? How can we have more than a surface-level understanding of it?"

Complex emotions flashed in his silvery eyes before he took a deep breath and chased them away. Looking solemn, he said, "The Dao of Cultivation is, like all Dao, a personal thing. No one can certainly define it or explain it to anyone but themselves. However, the essence of it is another matter."

Ye Hong and Ling Ji'er seemed to live for every word that Logean Wuji was saying. Even Father Tang, the Buddha himself, was feeling like those words were touching upon something that had long eluded even him.

"Essentially- at its root- cultivation is the act of connecting spiritually with the driving force behind existential constructs; karma, dharma, destiny and so on. Cultivation exposes mortal souls to the catalyst that is the energy of heaven and earth. Call it qi, call it ki, call it chakra or even mana. That is not what matters. What matters is that you first establish a connection between soul and what lies beyond."

Enlightenment was already bright in their eyes, but Father Tang felt a bit odd. He could not suppress the urge to question, and thus did. "But doesn't the body itself first need to be strong enough to withstand that change to the soul?"

Ye Hong and Ling Ji'er glared at the fool that dared to question Sir Wuji, but Logean Wuji kept his somber look and continued.

"Misconceptions about cultivation are so deeply rooted that even someone like you will say this; it is to be expected. Answer me this: In the womb, does the soul of an unborn child grow from the body, or does the body grow from the soul?"

To this question, Buddha casually remarked, "The body grows from the soul."

"If that is the case, then why is it that the body can then contain the soul?" Logean Wuji closed his eyes, the twinkle of starlight dancing about his face and hairs.

Father Tang was speechless as he gleamed the answer, his golden energy spiraling out of control and bursting out of his eyes. In an enlightened daze, he cried out, "The soul paves the way. Allow the fluctuation of the soul to form the suitable body, making the body secondary."

Instantly, his buddhist aura transformed and became more refined. Ye Hong and Ling Ji'er were also undergoing changes, but most of what was said went over their heads. They could not comprehend the things of such a mental realm as theirs was lacking far too much development.

Logean Wuji gave them a while to digest their gains, then waited for Ling Ji'er's question.

"Sir Wuji, what decides how talented we will be in this life?" Hearing her question, Logean Wuji could not help but think about her younger sister, Ling Jian'er.

At first, she seemed like a fiery little girl who did not realize how big the world was. He looked down on her and her talent, feeling like she would fold under the pressure the minute she found out who he really was. However, and quite intriguing to him, Ling Jian'er feigned surrender and instead tried a sneak attack.

It was in that moment that he realized that, whether she knew who he was or not, this girl was only interested in landing a blow and regaining some semblance of honor that she felt was lost. Logean Wuji quite admired this about her, and thus he gave her a fraction of the script for the Divine Elemental's Zephyr Art.

Of all the people he had seen, her potential was actually the greatest. He had also blessed Zhou Hua with the book 'Essence of the Culinary Dao,' which made them both individuals that he wanted to impress him. In a sense, they were his chosen talents, much like the elders'.

"Ling Ji'er, as I'm sure you know, we are born with certain unchangeable traits. However, most of these traits are decided by our blood. Blood limits us in these ways. As for potential, that is a limit of the soul. Contrary to what a lot of people think, the limits of the soul are not decided by our parents."

"Think of it like this: A plethora of ingredients are needed to produce a fine soup, however, by themselves, none of these ingredients are soup. Yes, you can have a carrot soup or a corn soup, but a carrot alone cannot be soup, nor can the corn. The limit of the soul, or one's potential, is like this."

Ling Ji'er especially was mesmerized by these words. This was a topic she had spent many years pondering, but was never able to wrap her head around it. She had started to feel like there was no hope for her to ever surpass her sister. Logean Wuji's words were now bolstering what little hope she had left, multiplying it over and over.

"With your mortal soul and a mundane life, you have the ingredients for the limits of mortality and will only be a simple and regular person all your life. There is nothing wrong with this, as the dao is unbiased and omnipresent; even ordinary men can expound on a dao they know nothing about."

"However, like I said before, cultivation plays a large part. Perseverance through willpower, luck through karma, assistance through dharma in the form of new, good friends. All these things are the ingredients you collect in your search for the ultimate recipe of your life. All you have to do is cultivate, meditate, and be patient. You will achieve what you are fated to achieve, and that will be the fullest extent of your potential."

Logean Wuji was now shrouded in clusters of divine lights, looking like twinkling fairies or masses of stardust. This was the aura of enlightenment, something that only appeared when the truest form of the Grand Dao was being discussed. As long as your attainments were high and your understanding deep, talking about the Grand Dao would bring about a change in the atmosphere.

You and those listening would feel enlightened, happy, fulfilled and free. This was thanks to the aura of enlightenment.

Ye Hong, Ling Ji'er and Father Tang were also being covered in this aura. Their eyes closed and their breathing slowed as the water of the pond calmly surged, making tiny waves. Logean Wuji nodded at them, waved his hand and sent the rest of the aura of enlightenment toward them. He did not need to retain it; it seemed to pour out of him in an endless amount. Instead, he would give it to them and aid them in their understanding of his words.

Once he had done that, he sighed and looked up at the sky. This time, though, he spotted something above the cloud barrier that caught his eye.

High above, two figures were flying through the air together, slowly darting one way before swiftly swerving to the next. They seemed to be in search of something and were slowly getting closer and closer to his mountain. His silver eyes shone and his perception extended. Not only could he clearly sense those two figures in the sky, but he experienced their surroundings as if he was standing there himself.

It was like teleportation without leaving his original location, something truly bizarre.

Those two figures were actually two women, dressed in white clothing that seemed like clouds and had very short azure hair. One of them was dark-skinned and slender, but the other was pale and buxom. She flew around haphazardly while the other just followed behind her, frantically spouting words.

"Miss Nephele, please wait!" The slender woman cried out, trying to catch up but always being a moment too late.

"There is no time, Selene! Do you not sense the aura of enlightenment and how strong it is in this realm? I already erased any trace of it, so we definitely weren't followed. Now help me find where it's coming from!" After that, and a loud 'hmph,' Nephele, the pale woman, flew off even faster than before.

"Ah! Miss Nephele! Please wait!" Selene rushed after her. They both caused loud explosions that parted the clouds and rocked the earth below them as they rushed toward the source of that aura.

Logean Wuji retracted his perception and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths and reining in his aura. They had already found him, so there was no longer a need to keep it out.

Soon enough, he opened his eyes to see two women hovering above the ancient village, looking straight at him. Nephele was the first to descend toward him, expression unreadable as she folded her arms behind her. With the grace and elegance of a sky deity, she landed on the water of the pond and stood there on the calm water. Selene followed her example, clearing her throat and looking around nervously.

'Oh, Miss Nephele. I hope you know what you're doing. There's a reason the King banned travel to other realms, you know.'

Meanwhile, Logean Wuji was surprised. 'Two from the Graikos Realm, it seems. I wonder how that brat Zeus is doing these days. He should be old and grey by now, though...'

Suddenly, Nephele exhaled a breath of strong, icy wind that blew over to Logean Wuji. Right off the bat, she was probing. He smiled warmly, allowing the breeze to pass by him. He received it without any discomfort at all, then watched as she frowned and bowed her head.

"Forgive me, but I had to be sure."

"Be sure of what, exactly? Also, didn't Zeus make it a law that no one was to leave the Graikos Realm?" Logean Wuji kept smiling, but the cold wind that blew past him was reversed and set back toward them with more than a hundred times the intensity. They both had to call upon a great amount of power to withstand it, and a thin layer of frost had built up around their bodies. The water, however, was completely fine.

Gasping, the women regarded him in a new light and were beginning to regret coming to this realm, Selene more so than Nephele.

"Venerable Expert, we did not know that you knew our King. Forgive us for our trespass." Nephele fell to her knees on the surface of the water and Selene followed, inwardly begging for them to be able to leave this place alive.

"Hm. I take no offense, but if you had interrupted my servants behind you we would have had a problem. Consider yourselves lucky that you did not. Now, why are you here?" Nephele and Selene both felt the sweat running down their backs after that. It was truly out of sheer luck that they had not affected the three people who were attaining enlightenment.

"Venerable Expert, we are in desperate need of the aura of enlightenment. Our sister has experienced a precursor to cultivation deviation. She is expending all her energy to suppress it as she awaits our return with something that can help advance her mental realm."

"Could you not find help in your own realm? The system of cultivation there is, after all, unique."

Nephele's face darkened and she gulped, seeming melancholic. "We tried to find help, but no one could. The truth is, Sir, our sister doesn't belong to the Graikos Realm. She isn't actually our sister, either. She is originally from the Mythical Realm, but we found her a few months ago and have grown close."

Logean Wuji's brow raised and he said curiously, "What is her name?"

Nephele opened her mouth, but hesitated to speak for just a moment. Selene was at a loss, so she lowered her head and said nothing. Nephele finally steeled herself, deciding that this was for the best.

"Her name is... Xiwang Mu."