📖 Chapter 1179 - Dao

08 Dec, 2023

“Master, what is Dao?” In the Underworld Dream, Wang Baole once asked this question to Ming Kunzi.

“Think about it this way… Can you control the muscles in your legs? Can you control the path you walk? Whether you want to go forward, backward, left, right, or even stay still… Even if you’re disabled, there is still a path in your heart, a path that can take you wherever you please. Isn’t that so?”

“Sure.”

“That is Dao.”

“Master, I don’t quite understand…” Wang Baole was at a loss.

“If there is danger behind you, or to your left or right, which way would you go?” Ming Kunzi’s eyes were full of profundity as he spoke softly.

“Obviously, I’d go forward!”

"Would you be doing so freely?"

"Freely? Probably, right?"

“Walking the path you chose, would you feel at ease?”

“I’d feel at ease.”

“That is Dao. When you comprehend the meaning of the words free and at ease, you will understand your Dao.”

… …

Memories of this discussion with his master in the Underworld Dream emerged in Wang Baole’s heart at this moment. Originally, he believed that he’d understood, but he later discovered that he didn’t understand at all. After arriving at the Underworld Emperor Tomb, he had come to believe once more that he’d understood what his master meant.

But now, sitting down cross-legged, he found that he still didn’t understand. After going through the fated trajectory of the soul in front of him, he began to think deeply, and seemed to vaguely glimpse something.

What was the mission of the Underworld Sect?

On the surface, it was to represent the Heavenly Dao and divide all things into yin and yang, life and death. To hold all creation to the cycle of reincarnation, so that the living couldn’t live forever and the dead wouldn’t die for eternity.

This first-level mission was highlighted by the lyrics of the Underworld Ballad.

“Scenes of the past life cannot be known; this life can only reap what was sown…”

If you accumulated good deeds in your past life, you would receive blessings in the current life. If you piled on sins in your past life, you would endure suffering in the current life. The karma of the past life bore fruit in the current life. However, that alone would not be a cycle. With such a burden on their souls, all living beings would lose hope, which was why the Underworld Ballad had another sentence.

“The next life is cloaked in obscure mysteries; but our actions in this life will still sow the seeds…”

Accumulating good deeds in the current life would lead to blessings in the next, and committing evil would likewise lead to suffering. The karmic fruit of the next life was sown in the current life.

In fact, fate was not absolute. For example, although Wang Baole determined a fated trajectory, not all events were set in stone. There was a trace of chance left behind, a chance for change. If the soul in the next life grasped this chance, they would be able to change their fate.

However, the so-called change of fate actually still followed a certain trajectory.

The truth was… living beings had the power to choose from countless fates. It all depended on which path they walked. But no matter where they went, they would still be part of a grand design.

Heaven and earth were like a chessboard, and all living beings were nothing more than chess pieces.

This was the surface-level mission of the Underworld Sect. As for the deeper mission…

Beyond the chessboard, there was an almighty being named Allheaven. He turned his hand into a stone stele, his palm print into fate, and his flesh and blood into the Heavenly Dao. All of this was to seal everything within the palm of his hand.

To seal the universe, the world, and all living beings. This was the second-level mission of the Underworld Sect.

Naturally, there would be those who wanted to resist, those who were unwilling to accept being sealed.

From this point of view, the Underworld Sect wasn’t incorrect, but the living beings who sought to escape weren’t incorrect either. Even the Never-Ending Clan… wasn’t incorrect.

Who was at fault here? Wang Baole didn’t care to think about that, because it no longer mattered to him. At this moment, another hidden layer to the Underworld Sect’s mission appeared in his mind.

It was… tolerance!

Not for Allheaven, nor for the Underworld Dao. He would draw his own Corpse Face, decide his own fate. Since the cycle of reincarnation still existed, he naturally had to go. But the fate of all living things wasn’t something that the Underworld Sect should control. Rather than letting people still within the confines of predestination falsely believe that they had changed their fate, it was better to… add an unknown variable!

A new path, a path that wasn’t controlled by anyone and was full of unlimited possibilities.

Let the extraordinary tread an unpredictable path, and let the ordinary remain safe and secure!

Why should there be only one path for people to walk?

Perhaps, Allheaven… was wrong. He was wrong in the stele world, and he was even more wrong in the world beyond. He wanted to protect, but ended up trying to control everything in the palm of his hand. That was why outstanding figures eventually rose up and cut off his fingers, walking their own extraordinary paths.

That was why there was the first sentence of the Underworld Ballad.

“Until this heaven and earth separate, no end shall come to the cycle of fate…”

What Allheaven wanted to do was to prevent heaven and earth from separating and continue the cycle of fate and reincarnation into perpetuity. It was like this in the stele world was like this, and even in the outside world, it was the same. Perhaps it was because he wanted to control all living things, or perhaps there was something he wanted to protect. However, none of that was important. The important thing was…

His Dao was wrong.

Opening his eyes from meditation, Wang Baole’s mind was spinning rapidly. He didn’t know whether or not his thoughts and speculations were correct, but it didn’t matter. This was his comprehension of Dao.

Tolerance!

It was different from his senior brother’s Dao. Chen Qingzi’s Dao used to follow the first level of the Underworld Sect’s mission, but it was now the second level.

It shared some similarities with his master’s Dao, but it was also different. Ming Kunzi’s Dao used to follow the second level of the Underworld Sect’s mission, but it was now the first level.

“The stories Yiyi’s father spoke about and everything I saw in my past lives made me think of something.

“Allheaven… was quite pitiful.

“In the beginning, his Dao was about protecting. But as he walked this path, it eventually became about control. That’s why there was resistance and struggle.

“I didn’t know why that happened, until… I saw those 108 figures in the world of illusion that the red-clothed woman created…” Wang Baole murmured. Now, he had a guess as to why Allheaven had changed to the Dao of Control…

Perhaps he came from that void where the 108 figures were. Perhaps he was enemies with that place. Perhaps… the path he walked when he left was one of uniting the universe with himself, becoming a true Almighty!

“In any case, I’ve thought it through. Even if I end up being wrong, I have no regrets!” Wang Baole suddenly waved his right hand violently. All the souls from the seven ghost kingdoms spread out, and the Fate Compass in the sky rotated at an unprecedented speed.

Threads of gray fate aura constantly descended and fused into the souls, causing them to fluctuate with spirituality and adding fate to the vitality that was already there. However, their fates… were incomplete.

Because… there was no karma!

The four steps Underworld Sect disciples went through to reincarnate souls were Soul Guide, Corpse Face, Fate Determination, and Karma Connection!

Among these four steps, Wang Baole erased the final one. Even though the soul’s fated trajectory had been determined, their karmic bonds were still up to them. Karma represented changes in fate. If enough changes occurred, they would eventually escape from the confines of their fate!

It was a path that could tolerate anything and everything!

“This is the path I’m trying to walk…” As he murmured, Wang Baole’s eyes became brighter and brighter. He slowly stood up from his cross-legged position, and heaven and earth rumbled!

All the souls around him would be free to make their own choices. Although the mysterious threads of fate still existed, whether those threads would completely tie them down was unknown. Now, as a monstrous rumble filled heaven and earth, the sea below the platform churned. A huge crack suddenly appeared in the waters.

The crack spread deeper and deeper, bypassing the next layer that should have been reserved for connecting karma and revealing… the deepest part of the Underworld Emperor Tomb!

There, a coffin lay in the middle of the floor. Sitting cross-legged in front of the coffin was an old man!

Raising his head, the old man looked at Wang Baole. His eyes were filled with emotion.

“Do you understand now?”

“I understand!” Wang Baole bowed deeply.

“The word ‘free’ represents the body. In my hometown, after being released from prison, people would declare ‘Henceforth, I am free!’. The word ‘at ease’ represents the soul. Watching the changes in the world at ease, I become carefree!

“My Dao is to let my body be free and my mind be at ease^[1]. This Dao is my choice and my will!”