How Do You Feel About Dao?

As Yaan continued to speak with the Spirit Plane Lord, eventually, the conversation shifted towards the topic of dao.

"Yaan, please tell me…how do you feel about dao?"

"Uh…" Seeing her serious expression, Yaan wasn't sure how to answer that. No, to begin with, he didn't really understand the question…

"How I feel about dao…? Dao is dao, it's a part of cultivation that I don't really understand, yet apparently have inexplicable talent for…but even so, if I think of dao as my understanding towards the mysteries of cultivation…then I suppose that comprehending dao is my favourite aspect of cultivation."

The woman's eyes lit up with shock.

"You truly enjoy comprehending dao? Truly?"

"Uh, yes?"

"I see…"

She quickly hid her emotions, but a conflicted look remained hidden within her gaze towards Yaan. He had no idea why her reaction was so strong to something that he had only said casually, but she seemed disinclined to explain herself.

Unprompted, the Spirit Plane Lord suddenly enlightened Yaan into some of the mysteries of dao.

"Dao can indeed be thought of as the mysteries of cultivation, but at the same time, cultivation is the journey towards the understanding of dao. But this is only a shallow, poetic explanation."

"When people speak of dao, they fail to make distinctions. Whilst dao is dao, it is also not…"

"This world is governed by the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao provides us with the opportunity to cultivate, but it also blocks our progress at each stage…this is dao."

"The Heavenly Dao is all encompassing, it cannot be understood directly, but the Heavenly Dao manifests itself in the form of the 3,000 earthly daos. Each earthly dao is like a fragment of the Heavenly Dao, these are typically the daos that cultivators pursue. Enlightenment into an earthly dao allows us to comprehend the mysteries of the Heavenly Dao, thus removing bottlenecks in our cultivation and permitting our ascension…this is dao."

"Cultivators at the Foundation Step frequently misunderstand dao, believing that every individual's dao comprehension is unique. In truth, these beings have merely grasped such a small portion of an earthly dao that it is incomparable to the comprehension of others at their level…this is dao."

"The Heavenly Dao is balanced, objective and unfeeling, whilst all sentient life in this world is subject to emotion and extremity. In cultivation, we often refer to the 'dao heart'. In truth, the cultivation of the dao heart is the cultivation of a dao unique to the individual. This type of dao is present in all life, but absent from the Heavenly Dao…this is dao."

"Whilst almost all cultivators embrace the Heavenly Dao and follow their own dao heart, there are those in this world with the determination to reject the Heavenly Dao. There are even some who reject their own dao heart. To walk against dao…this is also dao."

After a long, dazed silence, Yaan asked:

"Why tell me all this?"

"Only so that you understand dao."

Yaan continued speaking with the Spirit Plane Lord about the Four Paths Cultivation Technique, but also about other matters which intrigued him.

Essentially, since this mysterious powerhouse was being so helpful, Yaan fully intended to make good use of this opportunity! Whilst her extensive help in answering some of his queries combined with her total refusal to answer other things was highly dubious, Yaan would still be a fool to not make use of this chance.

For the most part, Yaan was the proactive one in this meeting, asking questions and receiving answers. However, the Spirit Plane Lord did speak out once or twice, mentioning some matters unprompted.

The strangest of these matters was some advice which she gave him…she said that if he died, he should try to preserve his soul. Apparently, so long as his soul remained intact, then upon his death on the Qi Plane, his soul would naturally cross past the plane boundary and enter the Spirit Plane, allowing him to reincarnate as a spirit!

However, this was a slightly difficult matter, and it would become decreasingly feasible as Yaan grew stronger. At the Origin Soul Realm, cultivators would often attack and kill their opponent's soul, to ensure that they were well and truly dead. Once he reached that level, it was unlikely that he would find a situation where his body was killed, but his soul was left in perfect shape.

As Yaan came to understand various matters regarding cultivation and this world, the Spirit Plane Lord became less willing to answer some of his more curious questions, namely those which hinted at his own identity, and his relationship with her. In the end, with nothing else to ask, Yaan enquired about a few of his more unusual treasures.

Notably, he deepened his understanding of the golden armour.

As it turned out, this armour was no ordinary soul treasure, though that much was obvious just based on the treasure spirit, the so called '3rd Celestial Demon General'.

In fact, even though this was indeed a treasure pertaining to the soul, it could not be classed as a mere 'soul treasure', because it was a 'divine treasure'!

At the Foundation Step, there were many different types of treasures, each type named depending on the compatibility with the different key paths; spiritual treasures were used by Qi refiners, soul treasures by soul cultivators and so on. As for body temperers, they could make use of vital treasures, but those at the 4-Star Realm and beyond could also use their Vital Energy to activate spiritual treasures, though this activation would be quite forced.

Those with Origin Souls or Primal Souls could also use soul treasures, but again, the effect wouldn't be as impressive compared to a true soul cultivator. For one, soul cultivators could utilise multiple soul treasures simultaneously, whilst those of other paths could not.

To summarise, it was possible to use the treasures of other paths, but it would be preferable to stick with treasures specialised for one's own abilities.

Beyond these treasures, there were immortal treasures - these were treasures which contained immortal power, and they were favoured by Immortal Step cultivators!

And beyond this, there were divine treasures!

Learning that his golden armour was actually one such divine treasure left Yaan feeling speechless.

Was this ridiculously lucky encounter another facet of his tangled fate…?

Regardless, it seemed that once he formed his Spirit Soul, Yaan would be able to properly activate the armour!

As of right now, he had merely bound the treasure spirit, which he had achieved previously thanks to the Spirit Plane Lord's assistance. Once he reached the equivalent of soul cultivation's Spirit Soul Realm however, he would gain the ability to activate the 1st stage of the golden armour!

Until now, all Yaan could do was wear this armour like a vest beneath his robe. Whilst it was certainly extremely sturdy, he was made to realise during the 3rd trial that using this treasure in this way was not effective against opponents like Ghu Lin, who was able to use strange attacks which were able to phase past the material entirely.

In the end, only the material was shocking, the armour itself was unable to prevent phasing attacks like this. Only when he became able to activate this treasure would Yaan see its true effect, as an armour of the soul!

Aside from the golden armour, there was one other treasure that he naturally wanted to ask about. This treasure had been with him ever since he stepped onto the path of cultivation, and yet, he knew absolutely nothing about it.

This was of course the stone ring!

Ever since he found the stone ring back in the dark forest, Yaan only knew that Rui's soul was contained within. As for any information about the treasure itself, he really knew nothing!

Was it even a treasure, or did Rui just attach her soul to some random stone?

No, it was obviously a treasure. Not to mention the fact that it hadn't been damaged in the least throughout all of Yaan's tumulus battles and life experiences, this ring would light up with nine runes whenever Rui absorbed energy or blood essence to awaken herself. It would also light up at certain other times, and whilst he didn't quite understand the pattern behind this, Yaan suspected that this was related to Rui's actions.

However, no matter what he tried, the ring never reacted to his own actions. He was fairly confident that whilst there was some unknown connection between himself and the ring, Rui was still the current owner.

"That ring…is useless to you." The Spirit Plane Lord said with an odd expression when Yaan brought up the ring.

She refused to say anything else about this matter, but this only increased Yaan's curiosity towards the mysterious treasure.

"Whilst the ring itself is of no use, the soul within, the woman you know as 'Rui', can be considered an important teacher for you. Of course, she is a shrewd and ruthless person, so be careful, but…she is not your enemy, so try to get along, ok?"

"Wait, what do you-"

WOMP!

Just as Yaan started speaking, his vision suddenly blurred. The woman reached out and gently tapped his forehead, momentarily pausing his disappearance.

"Unfortunately, we are out of time. I wish we could have spoken some more, truly, but for now, please remember this advice; walk your own path as you see fit, but please…do not completely cut off your heart, Yaan…"

Whoosh!

The moment she finished speaking, Yaan vanished from this space which existed on the border of the Spirit Plane. His consciousness re-fused with his younger illusory self and they both returned, continuing on with this 'memory' within the illusion world on the Qi Plane.

For a while, the Spirit Plane Lord stayed within this borderland region. She stared at where Yaan had been for a long time whilst wearing a complex expression.

"Did I say too much…or not enough…?"

She sighed deeply and showed a bitter smile.

"In the end, I still don't know if I made the right choice…"

She looked up at the sky with a contemplative expression. As the world around her vanished and she took a step back towards the Spirit Plane mainland, she muttered words to herself that only she could understand.

"Sister Sage, just why did you leave behind that formation?"

"Sister Sage, why have you not contacted me ever since that day? "

"Sister Sage…just what is your plan this time…?"

The moment Yaan left the strange temporary world, departing from the Spirit Plane Lord and returning to the Qi Plane within the illusion, an unknown figure silently appeared within the 9th level pagoda, outside of the illusion formation.

Currently, only the three trial spirits and the two 4th Trial Realm elders remained in the pagoda, the other four residents of the 9th level had returned to their cultivation. Yaan was spending an extended period of time in the illusion after all, whilst those four were not actually able to see within, so they wouldn't waste their time by hanging around constantly.

When the sixth, unknown person appeared within the pagoda, she materialised silently, floating in the air like an ethereal spectre, whilst staring at Yaan within the formation.

She made no sound, nor could any of the other five see her. Her appearance caused no ripples, her existence was still and cold, as if she was not truly there. It was as if she existed as an observer to the world without interacting with it.

The girl had an appearance similar in age to Yaan's own, only, her eyes were filled with endless ancient wisdom, intelligence and experience. Even just looking at her, nobody would believe that she was truly a child.

In fact, if one were to see her deep emerald eyes that seemed both bright and dull simultaneously, they would instantly realise something…

This girl did not possess a trace of human emotion within her heart.

Embedded within the centre of the girl's forehead was a perfectly symmetrical black crystal. The girl ignored all of the others in the room, who were completely oblivious to her presence, and touched the crystal within her forehead.

Suddenly, her entire form collapsed, condensing into a single strand of invisible light. The moment the strand formed, it drifted unhurriedly into the formation, phasing past all of the formation intricacies without being obstructed, before entering Yaan's body and disappearing within.

Nobody saw her arrive, and nobody noticed her vanish.