Donghuang Ziji

Chapter 848: Asking What People Are
"It is his embodiment. In addition to fate, his power also includes fortune, disaster, cosmic light, life, death, decline, and prosperity. Although these are related to fate to a certain extent, he has made considerable achievements in each aspect, which is far beyond the reach of ordinary gods."

Chu Tai's answer did not make Shen Gongbao relax. He looked at Chu Tai, then looked into the void, as if he sensed something.

Shen Gongbao bowed to Chu Tai and asked, "Excuse me, Immortal Venerable, where did you come from? I can feel that your power seems to have a connection with this ancient god..."

"Origin? You can just say that I am taking its power. As for where I got it from?"

Chu Tai chuckled, looked over and said, "The world you are in now is the product of countless cycles. Of course, cycle is just a metaphor. After all, the light of the universe keeps moving forward. Although all destinies are similar, everyone in each era has their own characteristics and cannot be considered one person."

"The so-called cycle is more about similar fates repeating over and over again, such as Nezha's trouble with the sea, Yang Jian saving his mother, Shen Gongbao making friends with Jiejiao, and so on."

Looking at Shen Gongbao, whose eyes widened when he heard the last destiny, Chu Tai explained: "Although your destiny is mostly bound to Jiejiao, it is also separated at some times. It's just that this cycle, under the mutual influence of me and several fellow Taoists, your destiny finally moved towards the current possibility."

Shen Gongbao did not feel angry when he heard this.

Having already stepped into the path of human calamity and sensed part of the destiny view of the God of Destiny, he has realized that there is no great god in the world who fully masters the concepts of destiny, fate, and destiny, and that everyone can only interfere with part of it.

As the targeted person, he himself is also able to interfere with part of his own destiny. The current result is more the result of interference by Chu Tai and others.

It would be more accurate to say that several major forces were fighting each other, affecting the overall environment, and he, as an individual, simply made the choice he thought was best under that environment.

In essence, everyone just made their own choices and then created this possibility.

Just like his way of human calamity, if he could let many people see part of the situation and tell them part of the situation, he could make them make the wrong choice.

Ultimately, there are gaps in the information we know and the choices we can make.

The power embodied by Chu Tai has always been to give all living beings more rights to choose. As the beneficiary of such rights, Shen Gongbao has no reason and no qualifications to yell in front of him.

Chu Tai smiled at Shen Gongbao's enlightenment and said, "Yes, being able to stay rational will be of great help to your future achievements in calamity and even destiny. However, you should not limit yourself to one or two views of fate. It will be more beneficial to absorb more in the future."

After saying that, Chu Tai brought the topic back to the original question and gave a casual explanation.

"The so-called Taitian Emperor and the Immortal Lord of Protecting Disasters are actually the result of me gathering together the power of some special individuals with similar fates in the past."

Upon hearing this, Shen Gongbao was amazed at Chu Tai's magical powers, but he repeated Chu Tai's words carefully.

"From those with similar fates, select similar individuals, gather together the Taitian Emperor, and protect the Jieyun Immortal Venerable..."

"Tai Tian Emperor? Tai Yi Tian..."

Shen Gongbao's eyes suddenly widened, and he thought of something. He turned around to look in the direction of Taiyi Zhenren, opened his mouth, but felt fear again.

"Did you see it?"

Chu Tai was not surprised that Shen Gongbao could guess the relationship between him and Taiyi Zhenren. He just glanced at the source of Kunlun Immortal Law on Shen Gongbao and said casually: "Tai Tiandi is an illusory emperor constructed with Taiyi as the core in countless past cycles."

"And the Taiyi Zhenren you know can be regarded as an incarnation of me left in the human world."

After receiving a positive answer, Shen Gongbao asked in a somewhat hoarse voice: "Excuse me, Immortal Venerable, does Taiyi really exist?"

"What kind of stupid question are you asking?"

Chu Tai laughed and said, "Before, when you were dealing with your own fate, you were able to remain calm. Why are you so concerned about Master Taiyi that you get confused? Do you have such a good relationship with him?"

"It's not good, but we are brothers after all. We know each other and I'm a little curious."

Shen Gongbao's explanation made Chu Tai sneer.

"Do you believe this yourself?"

Shen Gongbao lowered his head and said nothing. Chu Tai shook his head and said, "Don't worry, he exists."

“Although in many cases, judging whether a person really exists depends on whether the person has a little innate spiritual light. But more often, whether a person exists also depends on the person’s own memory and whether anyone still remembers him.”

Looking at the somewhat confused Shen Gongbao, Chu Tai randomly waved ripples, and the image of Shen Gongbao's father Shen Zhengdao emerged, and asked: "Do you think your father has lost his memory, is he still him?"

"Of course it's him!"

Shen Gongbao answered without hesitation. Chu Tai continued to stir the ripples, stretched out his hand to pull out a phantom from Shen Zhengdao, and sent it into the pine wood growing next to him.

Chu Tai asked again: "If his physical body dies and his soul escapes into the plants, then is the physical body him, or is the plant him?"

"Of course it's grass and trees!"

"Then if his memory was stolen and sent into the grass and trees, even though his soul still remains in his body, he has lost his memory. Then who is he?"

"Of course it's the flesh!"

When Shen Gongbao answered here, he had vaguely grasped Chu Tai's meaning, but Chu Tai did not give him time to think further and raised a new question.

"Then if his soul was split by someone, or if it was split into two parts due to problems in his practice, and one part fell into the grass and trees with its memories, while the other part remained in the body, developed new memories, and a new personality, then who is your father?"

Chu Tai's question made Shen Gongbao silent.

If we follow the current practice in the spiritual world, this question is actually not difficult to answer. All we have to do is ask where the innate spiritual light that is unique to human beings is.

According to current practice, the individual who possesses the innate spiritual light is a complete living being.

But Shen Gongbao knew that this was not what Chu Tai wanted to ask.

He thought for a long time before asking a question: "Can the two be combined?"

"No."

Chu Tai's answer made Shen Gongbao further understand his true intention. After sighing, Shen Gongbao replied: "I don't know."

"I really want to say that the one with the innate spiritual light is the father, but I can't do it."

Shen Gongbao stepped forward and looked at the wound on Shen Zhengdao's eyebrow: "This was when I was young and ignorant. When I was out playing, I was spotted by a cultivator. My father left this wound to save me."

Then he looked at his father's severed arm and said, "This was cut off by a righteous monk on the way to send me to Kunlun." "And this..."

After saying that, Shen Gongbao turned around and looked at Chu Tai: "If the spiritual light is not in this body, then this body is not my father? The soul and the blood flowing in it do not belong to my father? If there is no grass and trees, even if there is no spiritual light as a representation, is this not my father who has lost his memory?"

"By the same logic, if we apply it to the grass and trees, isn't that the father?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Tai simply asked, "Then who do you think is your father?"

"If I have to choose one, I can only answer that I don't know. If I can choose more than one, then I think both of them are my father. At most, at most on the physical side, I can before he develops new memories..."

Shen Gongbao stood there in a daze, and suddenly understood the intention of Chu Tai's question.

"It seems you understand."

Chu Tai erased the two phantoms and projected the chubby image of Taiyi Zhenren.

“The essence of a person is not just a concept inherent in the individual, but also the sum of all social relations. A person’s emotional memory, way of thinking, and physical condition are the foundation and skeleton of a person; but the external environment and past experiences are the outline and flesh of a person.”

"It's like your father. Even if he has lost his memory or his physical body, as long as you still think he is your father, then he is your father. Of course, even if you don't admit it, you are still related at the level of karma, but the depth of the relationship is very different."

"As for the individual who has your father's memory, if they are not related to you by blood, you can naturally not acknowledge them as your father."

Having said that, Chu Tai stretched out his hand and tapped lightly, materializing his own shadow next to Taiyi Zhenren.

Then, Chu Tai merged his own shadow into Taiyi Zhenren's body, and then he materialized many people that Taiyi Zhenren knew, or people who knew him, but they spoke seemingly unrelated words.

"If everyone around you thinks that someone is your father, whether you agree or not is no longer important to the outside world. You can only decide whether you admit it or not."

"Similarly, if enough of you don't think your father is your father, even if he is related to you by blood and has complete memories, he may not be your father."

Chu Tai's words were very confusing, but Shen Gongbao already understood what he meant, and was also aware of the fact that Taiyi Zhenren was not in danger for the time being.

But Shen Gongbao wanted more than just temporary safety, he wanted a clearer answer.

Even though this answer may endanger his life, it is also a very important anchor point in the process of practicing the Way of Tribulation for others.

This question is very important both for himself and for his future practice.

"Will Taiyi be able to obtain spiritual light in the future?"

"Of course he can. When his emotions accumulate to a certain level, under the operation of the three elements of heaven, earth and man, spiritual light will naturally be born."

Chu Tai's answer did not satisfy Shen Gongbao. He gritted his teeth and asked again, "Will Taiyi be able to obtain spiritual light in the future?"

"Yes! Didn't I tell you? As long as emotions accumulate to a certain level and the connection with the heaven and earth is close enough, spiritual light will naturally be nurtured and born. Otherwise, how can those unconscious plants, trees, mountains and rocks transform and become sentient beings?"

This answer was still not what Shen Gongbao wanted. He looked at Chu Tai, and Chu Tai looked at him with a smile in his eyes.

Shen Gongbao realized that Chu Tai already knew what he wanted to ask, but he wanted to ask it himself.

Shen Gongbao took a deep breath, closed his eyes, opened them again, closed them again, and opened them again. After thinking for a while, he slowly asked, "If Taiyi can obtain spiritual light in the future, will you allow it, Immortal Venerable? Will you allow your incarnation to be independent and become a brand new individual?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the Taiyi Daoguo Treasure Wheel behind Chu Tai's head emerged, and layers of halos emerged, interfering with each other and interweaving with each other, forming an incomparably terrifying pressure that fell on Shen Gongbao's mind.

"You know what you're talking about?"

Facing Chu Tai's oppression, Shen Gongbao forced himself to look at Chu Tai and gritted his teeth and said, "I know, but I still want to know if you will let him go?"

Chu Tai took a step forward, and the pressure instantly increased, causing Shen Gongbao's body to begin to disintegrate. His agile spirit completely solidified, leaving only a little willpower to struggle against the odds.

“Please… Immortal… have mercy…”

"Mercy? Mercy for what? Let you go? Or let him go?"

Chu Tai looked at Shen Gongbao with more and more admiration, but the pressure from the halo behind his head became more and more terrifying, pressing Shen Gongbao's face to the point of blurring, and his soul separating, gradually revealing the innate spiritual light within.

“Although Taiyi is a little fat... he has a good personality... and is kind-hearted... Although he is careless... he is responsible... Although he is narcissistic... but... he is a good person... Please... Immortal... have mercy...”

Shen Gongbao was still talking, and Chu Tai shook his head: "Then let me put it another way. In your opinion, are Taiyi and I the same person?"

"No...it's not..."

"So do you think Taiyi is a separate individual?"

Chu Tai asked again. Shen Gongbao's innate spiritual light had already materialized and his will was almost dissipated, but he finally answered according to his own thoughts: "He...he...how could he...couldn't...be..."

As these words came out of his mouth, Chu Tai retreated, the Dao Fruit started to rotate, and Shen Gongbao's form was instantly restored. He also had a clearer understanding of the operation of the calamities around him, and he had a clearer grasp of the human calamities.

Shen Gongbao looked up at Chu Tai with a hint of shock in his eyes, but before he could open his mouth, he saw the illusory Taiyi Zhenren winking at him.

"I never thought that you, Junior Brother Shen Gongbao, would think so highly of me. This is truly more satisfying than drinking nectar!"

Taiyi Zhenren said, looking at Nezha and Ao Bing beside him happily and said: "Remember to come to my temple later, I will cook hot pot for you. Ao Bing, remember to call your master up when the time comes."

"Yes, uncle."

Ao Bing saluted respectfully, while Nezha said indifferently: "What's there to be happy about? You are who you are. Do you need others to prove this? It's meaningless..."

Although he said this, Nezha still whispered about what Shen Gongbao liked to eat and what he didn't like to eat.

Shen Gongbao, who was standing nearby, saw this scene, his eyes widened, he looked in the direction of Chu Tai, and asked stutteringly: "Wait...wait...wait a minute...when did these people come..."

"Them? They were here before you asked."

Chu Tai chuckled, causing Shen Gongbao to freeze in his tracks. Then the Taiyi Light Wheel behind Chu Tai's head spun, the sound echoing around him. He said, "As for my answer, I think you know it."

(End of this chapter)