NOVEL WEB Chapter 83 Living
"Lord Taoist..."
Chi Wu's face was slightly flushed. She lowered her head, her voice murmuring, not daring to look directly at the strong frame etched like a sculpture before her.
"Straighten my robe."
Lu Yuzhen left the Longevity Pool, raising both hands. Chi Wu hurriedly followed, taking out the White Paper Daoist robe and inner garment, meticulously dressing the Daoist Lord.
Moments later, Lu Yuzhen donned the cloak once more.
The tragic battle of the White Paper Barrier seemed never to have occurred.
Although at this moment, his blood-stained face appeared slightly pale.
Yet the bloodstained waters of the Longevity Pool were no longer relevant to his clean attire... The white paper was like snow, fluttering with the cloak, rustling in the wind.
Chi Wu stood respectfully to the side, her eyes full of joy as she looked at the man before her, this was the true Daoist Lord of the Paperman Sect.
"Always staying under the Pure White Mountain, you must feel bored, right?"
Lu Yuzhen shifted his head slightly, looking at Chi Wu with a gentle smile and said, "Would you accompany me for a stroll up the mountain?"
Chi Wu, hearing these words, did not hesitate in the slightest and bowed deeply.
"As you wish."
...
...
Lu Yuzhen, accompanied by Chi Wu, walked along the ridge of the Pure White Mountain, stepping past skulls embedded in the mountain path, until they reached the cave lit by the flicker of furnace flames.
Chi Wu had never been here before.
The Longevity Pool preferred the ice cold and over the years was accompanied by the Xuanming Mirror.
Yet here, the candle flames danced, and the temperature was unusually high.
Chi Wu, dressed in white, felt sweat bead on her forehead.
The Refining Furnace was blazing fiercely.
She took a deep breath and with difficulty approached the fiery furnace.
The blazing light was blinding.
Chi Wu vaguely saw a small cauldron beginning to form within.
"Is that... Dao Jiu?"
"Yes."
Lu Yuzhen, with hands clasped behind his back, nonchalantly said, "Dao Jiu is different from Xiang Ba and Xiao Qi. His 'death' is a true, genuine 'death'... The life of Qian Yuan Daoist has reached its end, and his spiritual consciousness needs to return to the Refining Furnace to be reforged. This process will take a long time."
Chi Wu looked at the furnace, her gaze somewhat envious.
She knew...
Dao Jiu was different from Xiang Ba and Xiao Qi.
Dao Jiu was different from everyone on Pure White Mountain.
The Daoist Lord treated Dao Jiu with extraordinary tolerance and gentleness...
The eight Immaculate Venerables of Pure White Mountain were transformed from Treasures, yet only Dao Jiu was granted a genuine 'life'. If Dao Jiu had followed the Daoist Lord the longest, being the most senior in Pure White Mountain, then such an arrangement would seem reasonable. However, Dao Jiu joined Pure White Mountain the shortest time ago.
"...This is unfair."
Chi Wu softly spoke, "Your approach makes us all perplexed."
"I know."
Lu Yuzhen said blandly, "I promised you that I would let you really 'live' once. You all are waiting to taste the feeling of 'living', but I handed that power first to Dao Jiu."
"If you had given this 'life' opportunity to Jing San, then everyone's grievances would be much reduced, and it would be relatively fair."
Chi Wu respectfully said.
"Is that so?"
Lu Yuzhen chuckled and said, "But fairness never really exists in this world. The outside world has no fairness, and neither does Pure White Mountain... If the chance to 'live' only comes once and if Jing San took it, would you genuinely accept it?"
"...."
Chi Wu opened her mouth but had nothing to say.
After a moment of silence.
She lowered her gaze and said softly, "But Dao Jiu did not cherish this opportunity."
"Thus he died."
Lu Yuzhen sighed and said, "After dying once, it is very difficult to gain another life..."
Treasure Transformation appears to have attained life.
But in reality, it is not so.
To truly 'live', one must break the shackles and possess flesh... Transformed Treasures are different from Transformed Great Demons, who have a true body, a Divine Sea, a Purple Mansion, and a Dantian. Treasures are inanimate objects, which gain spiritual consciousness due to serendipity, thereby obtaining will. The 'shackles' of Treasures becoming human are much harder to break than those of Great Demons.
Yet it is not without hope.
On this point alone... the cultivation of Treasures encounters similar problems as the Southern Border Evil Cultivators.
Southern Border Evil Cultivators need to achieve the Great Dao by advancing to the Yang God, but the path to Yang God has been severed!
For Treasures to truly become a living 'life', they too need to cultivate a complete Great Dao...
In a certain sense.
Treasures, like Evil Cultivators, need to cultivate to Yang God to break their shackles.
However.
The prerequisite for Treasures cultivating to Yang God is to possess their own flesh... These two prerequisites are paradoxical, connecting end to end, becoming nearly an insoluble 'circle'.
"Little Chi, do you know... how much time I spent finding the Qian Yuan Daoist?"
Lu Yuzhen gazed at the Tao Furnace burning within the flames.
He spoke slowly, "To give Treasures 'flesh', a sufficiently compatible person must be found. This is not the commonplace art of seizing. Finding a compatible Transformed Treasure candidate is extremely difficult. From the eight characters to destiny, to the Spirit Root attribute, everything must match perfectly, only then is there a one to two-tenths chance to achieve 'defying destiny'."
Chi Wu listened quietly.
"Originally, the Qian Yuan Daoist wasn't the perfect candidate."
"So, I devised many methods... to let him swallow the suitable Furnace."
Lu Yuzhen regretfully said, "Those people Hehuan Sect took in Lingqu City were actually 'Elixirs' I offered to Qian Yuan Daoist. When he consumed these 'Elixirs', his cultivation realm rose, and the body constitution changed... Jing San and you need the 'Ice Cold' Tao Realm, Qin Liu and Xiao Qi require the 'Wind Cutting' Tao Realm. The Tao Realms needed by Mo Si and Xiang Ba are rarer still, almost never appearing in the South Border... Unfortunately, Qian Yuan Daoist ultimately cultivated a 'Fire Element' constitution. The only fitting person was Dao Jiu."
"You really don't have to explain these things to me."
Chi Wu, with a heavy heart, hurriedly apologized, saying, "If it's your arrangement, there must be deeper meaning. Letting Dao Jiu 'live', we are merely puzzled, not dissatisfied..."
"...Ten years."
Lu Yuzhen paid no mind to Chi Wu.
He watched the fire in the furnace and softly said, "To make Qian Yuan Daoist the 'vessel to defy destiny', I spent ten years. Not because this step was so difficult, but because when I promise something, I must fulfill it... If Qian Yuan Daoist could truly let Dao Jiu 'live' as a human, then you all would have opportunities as well."
Chi Wu was once again stunned.
She had always been curious...
Why the Daoist Lord was neither angry nor upset that Dao Jiu "died" just like that?
Now she understood.
Dao Jiu's 'life' was merely an experiment.
From the moment Dao Jiu became Qian Yuan Daoist, replacing him to experience life, the Daoist Lord's experiment had succeeded.
"Bringing you here was to tell you good news."
Lu Yuzhen smiled and said, "Would you like to 'live'? The second person after Dao Jiu will be you... However, this time you might leave Pure White Mountain and go far away."
Chi Wu pursed her lips.
She seemed a little overwhelmed.
But soon she was relieved.
Gazing at the small cauldron burning brightly in the fire, Chi Wu murmured, "Lord... I want to 'live'."
...
...
(PS: I know this chapter is very short, but staying up all night is unbearable. The main storyline will be pushed tomorrow, there will be an update during the day but the exact time is not yet determined.)