Warhammer Cultivation: Cultivating the Tao Te Ching in the 40K Universe

When he re-examined this Khorasan kingdom from Pherous's absolutely "materialistic" perspective, what he saw was no longer a terrifying, powerful war hell.

Instead, it was a... buggy, poorly made, and riddled with flaws... substandard program.

Hector's lips curled into a cold smile, radiating an aura of "reason."

He no longer tried to suppress his anger.

That sea of ​​blood, enough to plunge any Space Marine into eternal rage, became so under his "all-seeing eye," filled with absolute logic...

First tribulation, broken!

The Second Calamity: The Decaying Garden!

Before Hector could fully recover from that cold world full of logic and order, a cloyingly sweet scent, full of both "vitality" and "decay," instantly enveloped him!

The sea of ​​blood and mountain of skulls before my eyes melted and vanished silently, as if they had been thrown into a painting made of thick acid.

Instead, there is a garden that defies description, a garden full of contradictions and harmony...

Here, there is no sky, only a vast, gray-green expanse, swamp-like and teeming with life spores.

Here, there is no earth, only a constantly writhing ground covered with a soft, flesh-like carpet of fungus.

The air was filled with a strange, rich fragrance, a mixture of the sweet scent of flowers in full bloom and the stench of rotting corpses.

Countless enormous flies, their abdomens swollen and sparkling like jewels, buzzed and danced in the air, chanting hymns filled with joy and new life.

In the center of the garden, a huge, ancient cauldron, constantly bubbling and filled with colorful pus, is bubbling and boiling, cooking up all the diseases and suffering in the universe.

Beside the cauldron, a massive, bloated being, whose exact form was obscured, and filled with paternal care and love, was gently stirring the deadly broth with its rotting, pus-draining giant hand.

An irresistible, deep-seated weariness instantly overwhelmed Hector.

He recalled all the suffering he had endured in that "Dark Realm": the severed meridians pierced by the "Spear of Law"; the spine shattered by the "Shock Hammer" and on the verge of collapse; the body, corroded by the "Law" and left to wither like a mummy, filled with agony…

All the pain was magnified a billion times at this moment!

He was really, really tired.

He didn't want to fight anymore. He didn't want to think anymore. He didn't want to bear the heavy burden of the "cause and effect" between the two civilizations anymore.

Chapter 130 Quartet 2 (Bonus Chapter 6)

He just wanted to... let go.

All he wanted was to throw himself into that warm cauldron that could heal all pain, to give up all struggle and resistance, and to find final peace in that eternal, “merciful” decay.

Come, my poor child.

A gentle whisper, full of love and seemingly capable of soothing all pain, resonated deep within his soul.

"You have fought for far too long. Look at your wounded soul, look at your weary Dao heart. This universe is so cruel, so merciless. Why cling to that meaningless 'order'? Why bear that heavy 'responsibility'?"

"Come, come into my embrace. Here, there is no pain, no aging, no death. Only eternal new life, only equal decay. Here, you will find... true 'peace'."

This is the tribulation of Nurgle!

It won't scare you or attack you.

It simply means... "love" you.

It uses the gentlest yet most malevolent "compassion" in the universe to undermine all your fighting spirit, corrupt all your hopes, and make you willingly give up the pain of being "self" to embrace the happiness of the "collective"... death.

Hector's moral compass began to waver violently under the irresistible torrent of "love"! His cold "reason," which had just broken free from the wrath of Khorne, appeared so pale and powerless in the face of this warm and all-encompassing "emotion."

However, just as he was about to give up resistance and sink into that warm, deadly, decaying ocean—

The "rain and dew" within the dantian poured down!

He remembered the "perfect city" reduced to ashes by orbital bombardment. He remembered the solitary yet proud figure kneeling amidst the ruins, smearing the sacred texts with his own blood. He remembered the seeker, Loka Aurelion, who, after realizing "nothingness," rediscovered his "self"...

A faint yet incredibly firm voice rang out from the deepest part of his Daoist heart, which was about to be submerged by "compassion".

“Calmness is not the same as 'stagnation'.”

He slowly raised his head. His strange eyes, one like eternal night and the other like a star, pierced through the gray-green sky filled with life spores, staring directly at that enormous being, filled with "love".

“What you have given is not ‘new life,’ Your Excellency.” His voice carried a clarity that had just emerged from the deepest despair, a clarity filled with the light of “enlightenment.” “What you have given is merely a false ‘happiness’ that rejects all ‘pain’.”

"Pain is a part of life. Aging is a part of time. Death is a part of the cycle."

He slowly straightened up. His newly reconstructed "Dao body," full of harmony and vitality, appeared so "incongruous" in this garden filled with decay and decay.

True compassion is not about erasing suffering, but about giving suffering meaning!

"It is like my Dao Guardian, who transforms the hatred of Monakia into a 'hearth fire' to protect all living beings!"

"It's like the original form of Loka, transforming the despair of collapsing faith into a 'heart of seeking the Dao' within!"

"You stole their pain, but you also stole their potential for growth! You gave them eternal peace, but you also... deprived them of their most precious dignity as 'life'!"

"You are not a 'benevolent father'!"

Hector's voice suddenly rose, like a thunderclap of judgment, severing this false garden full of mercy!

"You are nothing more than the most selfish and cruel thief, who imprisons children forever in their cradles because you are afraid to see them stumble and suffer as they grow up!"

At this moment, his Dao heart, which had been completed by Luo Jia's "devout devotion," burst forth with an unprecedented light full of "meaning"!

That light proclaims the most thorough denial of "life" itself, a denial of the false and stagnant "immortality"!

The second tribulation is broken!

The Third Tribulation: The Ever-Changing Labyrinth!

The decaying garden, like a punctured phantom, instantly transformed into billions of dust-like fragments shimmering with iridescent light.

Hector then found himself in a... boundless labyrinth that defied any geometric principles, constructed from countless crystal walls that were constantly changing color and shape!

The space here is distorted.

He took a step forward, only to find himself back where he started. He turned to his left, only to find himself on the ceiling.

Time here is chaotic. He can simultaneously "see" the scene when he first stepped into the "Myriad Worlds Star Chart Hall" and "hear" his own dying wails in some unknown war in the future.

Past, present, future...

Everything within this labyrinth has been kneaded into a meaningless tangled mess full of contradictions and paradoxes.

"Welcome, little 'variable'."

A whisper, full of wisdom and mockery, seemingly composed of billions of different voices superimposed simultaneously, and indistinguishable in gender, rang out from every corner of the labyrinth.

“You are special. Your ‘path’ is not in any of my scripts. This gives me a long-lost feeling of ‘joy’.”

Hector's Dao heart instantly tightened to its limit!

He knew who he was facing.

Tzeentch! The one who planted the seed in Vero's heart, the most cunning and unpredictable architect of fate with whom he had a brief encounter!

“Tell me, what do you want, Hector Kane?” The voice was filled with irresistible allure. “Is it supreme power? I can reveal to you the most fundamental mysteries of the Warp, and make you the next… Emperor.”

The scene before Hector's eyes instantly transformed! He saw himself, clad in a platinum dragon robe more magnificent than any emperor's, constructed from pure "Tao," seated upon a golden throne! And beneath his feet were the twenty Primarchs, along with their already subjugated legions, offering him their most devout and eternal loyalty!

"Or... endless knowledge?"

The scene shifted again! He saw himself walking alone in the legendary "Black Library," built by the Aedaling! All the lost and forbidden knowledge in the universe unfolded slowly at his fingertips like docile pets!

Or perhaps... an answer?

Chapter 131 Quartet 3 (Bonus Chapter 7)

The sound became like the hiss of a venomous snake, piercing the deepest secret of his soul!

The scene finally settled on the majestic, mythical mountain peak of ancient Terra! He saw the figure clad in a black dragon robe, whose face was impossible to recall, slowly turning around to reveal to him the true...face hidden beneath the ancient mists!

This is the tribulation that awaits the villain!

It doesn't attack you, it doesn't corrupt you.

It is simply... given to you.

It presents to you, in the most authentic and alluring way, all the "possibilities" deep within your heart that you yearn for but dare not even think about.

It's telling you that fate can be "chosen".

If you're willing, you can make a small "deal" with it.

For the first time, Hector's breathing became rapid. His Dao heart, which had long been tempered and refined, wavered violently and uncontrollably for the first time in the face of this ultimate temptation that could drive any Primarch to madness!

However, it was precisely in this most critical moment, when utter collapse was imminent—

Within the dantian, the "sky" was filled with lightning and thunder!

He remembered that solitary, proud figure sitting atop the throne of the Tower of Light, offering a cup of water to commemorate his shattered dreams. He remembered Magnus, the Crimson King, who, in pursuit of the ultimate truth of the universe, dared to defy taboos and challenge authority.

"lie……"

A voice, filled with exhaustion yet incredibly clear-headed, resounded within his Dao heart.

"...No matter how perfectly it is woven, its essence is still a lie."

This purest obsession with "truth," stemming from Magnus's tragic life, was like a sharp blade forged from pure reason, slashing fiercely at Hector's mind, which was about to be overwhelmed by temptation!

His eyes, which had become somewhat hazy due to desire, instantly regained their abyssal clarity!

"You're wrong, great 'deceitful man'."

Hector slowly raised his head, his strange eyes—one like eternal night, the other like a star—piercing through the layers of labyrinthine walls built of lies and illusions, staring directly at the true "reality" hidden behind countless changes.

“A true seeker of the truth never tries to predict fate.”

His voice carried an absolute calmness born of profound understanding.

"We will only go on to... 'understand' it."

He no longer tried to find a way out, nor did he try to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

He simply sat down quietly.

He completely let go of the Daoist heart that had been filled by Magnus's "pride of seeking knowledge".

He began to "read".

He regarded this ever-changing labyrinth, built from billions of lies and filled with paradoxes and transformations, as an unprecedented, magnificent, and most interesting... library!

He sought to understand why the illusion of "power" appeared in the form of "submission."

He analyzed why the allure of "knowledge" is set against the backdrop of "loneliness."

He tried to deduce why the ultimate answer to the "true face of the figure" whispered to him in a tone full of "tragedy" and "fate".

He is no longer the "prisoner" struggling in the maze.

He transformed into an "architect" who was calmly and with great interest analyzing the "architectural structure" and "design concept" of this maze!

When he stopped trying to "break the deadlock" and started to "solve the deadlock," the most core and most fragile "logical foundation" of this seemingly seamless and ever-changing labyrinth was completely exposed to him.

Hector's lips curled into a knowing smile.

"All your 'changes' are based on one unchanging 'premise'."

"—That is the existence of 'me'."

"All your temptations are aimed at satisfying that insignificant 'self' called 'Hector Kane'."

"You think I think, therefore I am... but you don't know..."

"How unexpected that our true nature is inherently pure; how unexpected that our true nature is inherently neither born nor dies."

"How unexpected that our inherent nature is complete in itself; how unexpected that our inherent nature is unwavering."

"How unexpected that our own nature can give rise to all phenomena!"

The third tribulation is broken!

The Fourth Tribulation: Paradise!

The ever-changing maze, like a castle in the air whose fuel has been removed, collapsed with a roar!

But that is not the end.

That was merely the prelude to another, more lavish, and more deadly feast.