Dimensional Invasion: I Can Fish for All Heavens

Chapter 259 Only those who stand at the top can define what is good and evil.
However, it would be incorrect to say that Doflamingo was afraid of death.

Doflamingo's worldview is distorted, and he possesses an almost insane level of self-confidence.

He believed that "the winner is always right" and that "the world is a playground where the strong prey on the weak." Under this view, death was the fate of the losers, and he never thought he would fail.

Therefore, he did not have the same fear of death as most people; rather, he viewed it as a result of failure rather than the terrifying end of life.

Compared to death, what Doflamingo fears most deep down is actually "loss".

He lost power, status, control, the "family" order he had built, and the "birdcage" world he had carefully woven.

Death is simply the ultimate form of "losing everything".

According to the Tian Shu Bureau's assessment, Doflamingo absolutely "does not want to die." He extremely enjoys the power, control, and chaos that life brings, has a strong survival instinct, and will try his best to avoid death.

But he was not "afraid of death" in the usual sense.

He did not have the awe or fear of death that most people have. He despised death, especially the death of others, and regarded it as the end of the weak.

For him, living was about carrying out his will and enjoying his game; if the game ended and he failed utterly, death was merely the final period to this mad story, not an end that required any particular fear.

Although in theory, any form of submission is not allowed for a "conqueror" who has awakened Conqueror's Haki, in reality, many people in the One Piece world who have awakened Conqueror's Haki have their own reasons for submitting to it.

Justice, the stronger, dreams, companions.
It's just that there's a core principle that absolutely cannot be yielded to.

For Doflamingo, the core of this is—belief!
After being completely defeated by Luffy in Dressrosa, he still laughed wildly when confronted by Luffy's questions, declaring that "only the victor is justice" and mocking Law's revenge as "pirate child's play".

Even after being arrested by the Navy and imprisoned in the lowest level of Impel Down, he could still laugh out loud while reading newspapers reporting on the world's turmoil.

For him, the collapse of his beliefs, the shattering of his ambitions, and the humiliation of being dragged down from his pedestal were always more unbearable than death itself.

He could accept death as the end of his "game" and the failure of the "truth" he believed in; but it was impossible for him to submit, admit defeat, and abandon his beliefs.

Doflamingo may seem to have lost everything in the pirate world, but at the core of it all, his "beliefs" have not been denied.

Therefore, even though Ye Xuan's pressure shattered his Dao heart and filled him with immense anger, he was still able to suppress his emotions and remain calm; even when the Tian Shu Bureau made him sign a contract to guarantee his obedience in the real world, he was still able to sign his name without hesitation.

As for Doflamingo's belief that "only those at the top can define what is good and evil," no one would deny his view.

In this respect, they, who have witnessed thousands of years of history, have a deeper understanding than Doflamingo.

In a sense, this is a fact, and also the truth.

After saying this, Su Mengyao turned around and pushed open the conference room door. The Tian Shu Bureau members who had been waiting outside immediately came to greet her.

Doflamingo sat there for a long time before letting out a low laugh:

"Fufufufufu, this world is becoming more and more interesting to me."

Time passed slowly, and before we knew it, it was the next day.

A villa courtyard in Hangzhou.

As the morning light dispelled the night's mist, Angel Yan and Angel Zhixin once again appeared in the villa.

Inside the pavilion in the center of the flowerbed, Ye Xuan was already seated, with a set of antique purple clay teaware placed in front of him.

His slender fingers moved slowly and deliberately through each step of the tea-making process: warming the cup, adding the tea leaves, and pouring water. His movements were fluid and graceful, with a unique sense of rhythm.

"It seems you knew we were coming all along."

Angel Yan stepped into the pavilion and looked at the scene before her, her lips twitching slightly.

You should know that in the past, Ye Xuan was almost a cultivation monster, wishing he could spend all his time improving his strength; it was not until he broke through to the sixth level that he suddenly slowed down.

However, although she had seen Ye Xuan's life after "slowing down his cultivation," she sometimes couldn't help but feel that Ye Xuan was slowing down a bit too much.

Ye Xuan didn't even look up, focusing on the tea ceremony in his hands, and said calmly:
"It's just a habit of waking up early."

"Your habit of waking up early was for the purpose of cultivation."

Angel Yan said speechlessly.

Ye Xuan slowly poured the brewed tea into the cup:

"I used to work hard at cultivation because I lacked the talent, so I could only spend more time on cultivation."

"Now I have so much talent that it exceeds the point where I need to work harder."

"People always need to find something to do."

"The time available for cultivation is limited, so we always need to find some other ways to pass the time."

With the blessing of [Heavenly Fortune], his talent was maximized, and his time for independent cultivation was nothing more than using the "Heavenly Dao Perspective" to comprehend all things in this world.

The effective time for cultivation each day is limited; forcing cultivation during the rest of the time will only have the opposite effect.

In the past, I worked hard to cultivate my skills because I lacked the talent and needed to work hard to improve. Now that I have the talent, I don't need to work hard anymore. In fact, working hard might even hinder my progress, so why bother working hard?

"This tea is pretty average." Ye Xuan picked up the teacup, took a sip, and couldn't help but shake his head.

In the past, he could only taste the differences between different types of tea, but he couldn't distinguish the quality of the tea itself.

But now, his five senses have long since transcended the ordinary.

Upon careful tasting, every trace of bitterness and every hint of blandness in this tea becomes apparent, and even the weather conditions when the tea leaves were picked can be discerned.

"I couldn't tell the difference between good and bad before, but now it's become a problem."

Ye Xuan put down his teacup, his tone tinged with helplessness.

He used to not care about the taste at all, and even though his five senses were no longer on the same level as ordinary people, he didn't feel anything. Now, as he savors it carefully, he feels a lot more.

He suddenly thought of the special ability of the [Flower Card], and wondered if he could use it to cultivate tea leaves.
But he dismissed the idea as soon as it came to mind.

Flower vines can indeed cultivate plants, but all plants cultivated through them will eventually mutate into a specific type of flower. If you want to use them to improve the quality of tea, you will probably only get "tea flowers" that can bloom, rather than better tea.

However, it would be a good choice if I wanted to try flower tea in the future.

Seeing Ye Xuan's thoughtful expression, Angel Yan couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Are you not satisfied with this tea?"

"Ah."

Ye Xuan nodded.

"Lacking in spiritual energy, bland in flavor, quite ordinary."

"If given the opportunity, we could cultivate them ourselves."

Although the Flower Cards cannot be used to cultivate tea leaves, there are quite a few characters in the anime world who possess plant-related abilities.

Hashirama Senju's Wood Release, Hanami's Plant Manipulation, and Green Bull's Forest-Forest Fruit Ability—while all three primarily utilize plants for offense, catalyzing their growth shouldn't be too difficult.

Tea leaves grown directly under the influence of spiritual energy are also of good quality.

Sufficient "spiritual energy" can make up for most deficiencies.

However, Ye Xuan did not intend to materialize them; it was more appropriate to leave professional matters to professional "people".

For example, Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, grains, and harvest in mythology, and Inari are good choices.

Since it is a deity in charge of this matter, cultivating a tea tree that Ye Xuan sees as flawless should not be a difficult task.

At worst, we can just bring everything to life and let them discuss what to do.

If one "god" isn't enough, then have more.

In any case, with the blessing of the Rat Talisman, he is no longer limited to manifesting only one character.

The angel, Zhixin, blinked curiously:

"Is my idol going to grow tea?"

"Not me, but pretty much the same."

After all, it is the manifestation of his ability, so it is somewhat reasonable to say that he is of a different race.

what?
You ask him why he wastes his time on such a boring thing?
Because he has a lot of time.

He only had a limited amount of time each day to immerse himself in cultivation, so he naturally had to find things that interested him to do in the rest of the time.

Since we're going to do it, and since we have the ability, we should naturally do it to the best of our ability.

With the blessing of the Rat Charm, this pursuit was effortless for him.

When he became interested in tea, Lu Yu, the Sage of Tea, explained the "Classic of Tea" to him, and Cai Xiang taught him the art of tea making; when he wanted to study painting, Gu Kaizhi taught him the spirit of figure painting, and Wu Daozi demonstrated the "Wu brushstrokes flowing in the wind" technique.

When he becomes interested in musical instruments, all those who have been at the forefront of their respective fields throughout history will impart all their knowledge to him.

Someone in the real world once said: "I had a dream last night, and when I woke up this morning, I was able to make it come true."

While this statement reflects the power he wields, it is somewhat exaggerated. However, Ye Xuan truly possesses this ability.

Each of his sudden inspirations can bring to life all those who have achieved extraordinary accomplishments in the "related fields" throughout history and even in human imagination, and then help him realize this idea.

Calligraphy, chess, music—everything is like this.

Why? Because it's possible.

Since you have the ability to take every interest to its peak, why not do it? Since you have plenty of time, why not explore all the possibilities of life?

Upon hearing Ye Xuan's words, Angel Yan naturally knew that Ye Xuan couldn't possibly plant the tea trees himself; he must have used the Rat Talisman to manifest the corresponding character to do it.

But won't the figures and items manifested by the Rat Talisman disappear after the effect ends? Besides the knowledge and some products left behind, can the things cultivated also be preserved?
However, is it a waste of her talents or a perfect use of her abilities to do something like this?
The Holy Lord certainly never intended to use the Rat Talisman in this way.

(End of this chapter)