Starting at the Nascent Soul stage, a rogue cultivator is incredibly poor.

The moment I stepped through the palace gate, everything went dark.

Absolute darkness, as black as ink, devoured all light. Even Qing Youzi, probing with his Nascent Soul divine sense, could not find its edge, as if behind this door lay nothingness itself.

breath

Three breaths.

五息

Suddenly, a tiny light appeared.

Immediately, two points, three points, a hundred points, a thousand points… countless spots of light bloomed one after another like sparks spreading across the land. In the blink of an eye, the entire hall was bathed in golden light!

Exquisite jade pillars support the dome, the wall carvings are lifelike, and the floor is paved with warm white jade. But the most eye-catching feature is the mountain of sacred stones piled up in the center of the hall.

It's not a small hill.

It is a "mountain" in the true sense.

The crystal-clear spirit stones covered the ground like gravel, forming low walls several feet high and piled up into small hills.

The spirit stones shimmered with light, and spiritual energy rose like mist, illuminating the entire hall in a dreamlike state.

Old Gao gasped.

Lingyu also froze on the spot, her beautiful eyes wide open. She subconsciously squatted down and picked up a spirit stone. It was warm to the touch, with pure spiritual energy and natural patterns, no different from the real thing.

"So many spirit stones..." she murmured, "There must be at least tens of millions of them, right?"

At that moment, Qingyouzi's voice rang out.

"More than that."

He stepped forward slowly, picked up a spirit stone, rubbed it between his fingertips for a moment, and then gently put it down.

"It's too detailed. The direction of the spiritual patterns, the flow of spiritual energy, even the subtle spiritual essence within... it's all too detailed, what a pity..."

Lingyu and Old Gao both looked at him, their faces showing confusion.

"What do you mean by that, senior?"

Qingyouzi shook her head, her tone tinged with regret:

"If these are truly spirit stones, I would love to lie down on them and enter seclusion for a hundred years right now."

"pity."

He paused, and a blue silk thread quietly emerged from his sleeve, darting into the pile of spirit stones like a slender snake.

"They're all fake."

The moment the words left his mouth, Qingyouzi loosely clenched his right hand.

"Disperse."

An invisible gust of wind suddenly spread out from him!

As the wind passed, the magnificent palaces faded and dimmed, the jade pillars turned into broken stone pillars, and the reliefs became blurred and mottled traces.

The mountain of spirit stones shattered inch by inch in the wind, turning into countless gray pebbles that rolled down with a soft rustling sound.

In less than half a breath, the entire hall had been reduced to a dilapidated stone chamber.

The walls were peeling, the ground was pitted, and only a few dim lamps embedded in the walls emitted a faint yellow light.

Old Gao and Lingyu stood there, speechless for a long time.

"Alright, stop spacing out."

With a wave of his hand, Qingyouzi unleashed a burst of blue silk threads from his sleeve, which swept across the area like hundreds of vines, clearing away all the piled-up rubble. Beneath the rubble, an ancient bronze door was revealed.

The door was plain and undecorated, except for a palm print groove in the center.

He stepped forward, raised his hand and placed it on the groove, and magic power flowed into it.

"Click".

With a soft click, the bronze door slid open inward.

Behind the door was a stone staircase leading downwards, its depths unfathomable. Qingyouzi had just taken a step when he suddenly stopped and stepped back.

He released hundreds of Crimson Fire Demon Insects from the spirit insect pouch at his waist.

The swarm of insects flapped their wings, flowing like a dark red stream deep into the stone steps.

A moment later, Qingyouzi received feedback in his divine sense, confirming that there was no danger, before he took a step forward.

"Walk."

The three stepped onto the stone steps.

The bronze door behind them closed silently.

The stone steps were long and spiraled downwards. At first, one could still see by the faint light filtering through the cracks in the door behind them, but the further down one went, the dimmer the light became, until it was completely dark.

In the darkness, only the sound of three people's footsteps echoed through the passageway.

despair.

blah blah.

I don't know how long it took.

Qingyouzi suddenly stopped.

He slowly turned his head and looked to his side.

Lingyu and Old Gao have disappeared.

Not only were the people gone, but the stone steps beneath their feet and the surrounding stone walls had also vanished.

He is standing on a log bridge at this moment.

The bridge was no more than three feet wide and stretched to the horizon, with bottomless, dark abysses on either side. The bridge swayed slightly, making a soft creaking sound, as if it might break at any moment.

Above, there was a gray-white sky, devoid of stars and moon.

"Wait, is there another hurdle?"

Qingyouzi narrowed her eyes.

"Another illusion array."

This time, he was completely unaware, not even knowing when he had been tricked. Xuan Yizi's skill in illusion arrays was truly astonishing.

He remained calm, standing quietly in the middle of the bridge, waiting for things to change.

really.

In the gray-white sky, a line of ancient seal script slowly emerged:

"What is your heart for the Way?"

The calligraphy is vigorous and powerful, like iron strokes and silver hooks, with a subtle Taoist charm flowing through it.

Qingyouzi remained silent for a moment, then spoke with a serious expression:

"The Way of the Heart? Questioning the Heart? Interesting."

He gazed into the abyss, his voice calm, offering his own answer:

"My Daoist principles are nothing more than the pursuit of truth."

"Seeking truth?"

An ancient voice echoed from the heavens, seemingly from ancient times.

"Where is the truth?"

"It lies within oneself, within heaven and earth, and within all things," Qingyouzi said slowly. "Cultivating oneself is to seek the power of the true self; observing heaven and earth is to seek the path of the true way; examining all things is to seek the wonder of truth."

What is the true self?

"To understand one's true nature and be honest and truthful. To know what I desire, what I fear, what I can do, and what I cannot do. To not change one's will because of external things, nor to change one's mind because of difficulties."

"What is the true path?"

"The Tao follows the natural way, yet it goes against the will of Heaven. It conforms to the principles of Heaven and Earth, seizing the opportunities of creation. It borrows the power of Heaven and Earth to strengthen itself, yet it never loses its sense of awe."

What is truth?

"The workings of all things follow a pattern. Every blade of grass, every tree, every grain of sand, and every stone is a manifestation of the Dao. Only by understanding its principles and methods can one reach a higher realm."

He paused, then added:

"These three truths are my Dao heart."

The sky remained silent for a long time.

The seal script slowly faded away.

A second question then arises:

"Have you ever regretted it?"

Qingyouzi smiled.

The laughter was soft, yet it carried an unwavering resolve.

"No."

Why?

"Everything I do comes from my heart. Right or wrong, gain or loss, are all experiences. If the result is not satisfactory, it is because of my lack of ability and poor planning, not because of wrong choices."

His tone was indifferent:

"Life's journey is long, how can every step be right? All the past actions were the best choices I could make at the time. To criticize my past self is no different from denying one's own principles."

"If you could do it all over again, what would you do?"

"When I am more cautious, when I am stronger, I stand firm in my choice. The path I am on now is the best one, so my choice... will not change."

The seal script disappeared again.

This time, the heavens remained silent for an even longer period.

As time went on, the log bridge began to sway more violently, and a faint howl of wind came from the abyss, as if the entire illusion array was brewing something.

at last.

The third question arises.

Unlike the previous two questions, this line of seal script is not a single question, but rather a dense, sky-filling expanse, like a scripture:

"If one day you reach the summit and look down upon all living beings, you will realize that this world is but a cage, immortality is but a deception, and the Great Dao is but an illusion. What you once sought will all become a joke; what you once treasured will all turn to dust. What will you do then?"

The question is extremely long and complex.

It doesn't ask about the Dao or choices, but rather... the fundamental meaning of existence.

If everything is empty, what is the point of spiritual practice?

Qingyouzi quietly looked at the seal script.

This time, he remained silent for an even longer period.

Time passed until cracks appeared on the narrow bridge, time passed until black mist rose from the abyss, time passed until the sky began to tremble slightly.

Then he spoke.

The voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear:

"Then, break the cage."

"What does that mean?"

"If this world is a cage, then break free. If immortality is a deception, then seek true immortality. If the Great Dao is an illusion, then establish the true Great Dao."

He looked up, his gaze sharp as a sword:

"My spiritual practice has never been about verifying a predetermined answer. My journey has never been about reaching a pre-set destination."

"If everything is empty, then I will redefine existence."

"If everything is illusory, then I will create reality with my own hands."

"The path is beneath my feet, the road is in my hands. What do I care about the schemes others set up, the dreams they weave?"

The moment the words left his mouth.

"boom!!!"

The entire log bridge exploded with a deafening roar!

The sky shattered, the abyss collapsed!

Countless fragments scattered like mirrors, each reflecting Qingyouzi's serene face. And behind the fragments, the true scene slowly emerged.

A simple stone room.

One stone table, three stone benches.

On the table, an oil lamp burned quietly.

Beside the lamp sat a semi-transparent, gray-robed, illusory figure of an old man.

The old man had white hair and beard, and a gaunt face. He was looking at Qingyouzi with a mixture of relief, emotion, and a hint of... relief in his eyes.

"A thousand years."

He spoke softly:

"Finally, we got a... decent answer."

"I finally understand why they failed back then, causing such a great calamity. Master, have you ever regretted it?"

"Hahaha, good, good, good! You are a promising young man. The legacy I left here is all yours."