Chapter 6355 The Natural Dao

“Long Chen, absorb this Grand Dao qi. If you sense it carefully, though it is mixed and chaotic, you can still find its essence. You have always asked—what is the Dao? Within this essence, you will find your answer.” The Earth Cauldron’s voice rumbled in Long Chen’s mind.

Long Chen nodded.

Cultivate the Dao, comprehend the Dao, use the Dao, and corroborate the Dao.

There were countless sayings, yet the most laughable truth of all was that no one could clearly define what the Dao truly was.

Now his chance had come. By absorbing this Grand Dao qi—by sensing even a fragment of the Grand Dao Source—he would come closer to the Dao than ever before.

But just as Long Chen prepared to meditate, a furious roar split the air.

“Filthy human, die!”

Some foolish creature charged straight at Long Chen. Perhaps he felt that Long Chen’s aura wasn’t strong, so he chose to attack him over everyone else.

“Fuck off!”

Before he could reach Long Chen, Evilmoon’s petals swept through the air and sliced him into shreds, reducing his corpse to drifting mist.

“Long Chen, go ahead and cultivate in peace. Leave these fools to me,” Evilmoon said, its voice dripping with bloodlust.

Seeing this, Long Chen frowned slightly. A single attacker shouldn’t have provoked Evilmoon into such a frenzy. Could it be that the Grand Dao qi was stirring Evilmoon’s emotions?

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

The next moment, Long Chen summoned his eight-colored divine ring, and the Grand Dao qi surged toward him, enveloping him in immortal mist.

A strange energy also flowed into his body, leaving him baffled.

How can this immortal mist contain so many impurities?

The influx of energy was immense. The instant it entered Long Chen’s body, his Sovereign flames roared with excitement, madly devouring it. However, he was horrified to find that his pure Sovereign flames were quickly tainted with various impurities. No matter how he refined it, he could not separate the essence from the filth.

Long Chen thought the Earth Cauldron would explain, but it didn’t say a word. It silently absorbed this energy as well, seemingly in a deep trance.

A startling thought struck Long Chen.

Could this truly be the Grand Dao Source? Not pure, not flawless—but a unity of essence and impurity, coexisting as one?

Long Chen took a deep breath. Since the Earth Cauldron had told him to absorb it, he didn’t overthink and patiently sensed the Grand Dao qi’s fluctuations.

As it entered his body, his Sovereign flames blazed and crazily absorbed it to strengthen themselves. At the same time, new Sovereign flames were born. Until now, every Sovereign flame Long Chen possessed had come from the fallen dragon race’s experts. It was his first time condensing Sovereign flames with his own power.

The 978th Sovereign flame was soon born.

Previously, Long Chen’s Sovereign flames had all been pure and flawless. Now they felt like pure lotuses dunked into mud—tainted. A new, wild, and bloodthirsty dark qi swirled inside them.

If the Earth Cauldron hadn’t told Long Chen to absorb it, he would have stopped immediately. This Grand Dao qi was practically poison.

Long Chen forced himself to ignore the impurities seeping through his body and continued to study the energy’s fluctuations. His body was like a well that had always contained clear water, and now dirty sewage poured in. Yet rather than rejecting it, the well drank it greedily.

Long Chen could feel his blood, meridians, and bones being contaminated by the Grand Dao qi and becoming stronger because of it. But this strength made Long Chen uneasy.

Somehow, this dark, bloodthirsty power reminded him of his heart-devil—his white-robed self. That realization made him feel even more nervous.

...

In another plane, the white-robed Long Chen sat atop a blood sea with his eyes closed as if meditating. The sky above that sea was also scarlet.

Behind him, where the sky met the sea, there was a colossal throne of withered bones, breathing a dreadful aura. Blood-colored flames pulsed around it like wailing ghouls.

All of a sudden, the white-robed Long Chen opened his eyes as if sensing something. His pitch-black eyes were like black holes devouring everything in the world.

“You foolish child, you finally felt it?” he said with a sinister smile. “That power was mine once. How could you possibly stop it?”

...

Back in the present, Long Chen’s body shone. Flame after flame condensed, and in the span of an incense stick, he surged from 977 to 993 Sovereign flames.

At this moment, Long Chen halted his absorption. The Grand Dao qi was enormous and wild, as though it would tear free of his control. He had to stop and settle it first.

Looking behind, Long Chen saw the Earth Cauldron still sitting in its original position. Meanwhile, Evilmoon’s petals were still swirling around him, continuing to absorb the Grand Dao qi.

“Senior...” Long Chen finally spoke.

Then, the Earth Cauldron cut him off. “The Dao is the Dao. Words cannot capture the true Dao, so you must comprehend your own Dao. By no means should you pursue the same Dao as someone else. If you understand, then you understand. If you don’t, then you don’t. Never seek corroboration from others.”

Absorbing the Grand Dao qi had strengthened Long Chen’s physical body and increased the number of his Sovereign flames, yet the change made him feel apprehensive.

However, the Earth Cauldron would not explain further; he had to rely on himself. Watching how calm the Cauldron was and how Evilmoon inhaled the energy like a whale, something clicked in Long Chen’s mind.

“Upon reaching a peak, there is nowhere to go but the other way... From stillness comes motion, from motion comes stillness; from purity comes impurity, from impurity comes purity...”

As Long Chen felt the energies settle inside him, he muttered, recalling the Five Sovereigns’ voices during the struggle with the scales.

“Purity comes from impurity, motion comes from stillness...”

A sudden clarity washed over Long Chen as he reviewed his cultivation path—always purifying and seeking absolute purity. Then, he realized the paradox: the Dao was a mixture of purity and impurity. Only after reaching this height in cultivation did he understand this principle.

“Man born of the earth; earth born of the heavens; heavens born of the Dao; the Dao born from the world’s essence. So the peak of cultivation is here, hahaha!”

Long Chen threw back his head and laughed. He didn’t know if this was the true Dao, but he knew one thing—this was his Dao.

In that instant, he felt reborn, as if he had shed all his burdens.

His laughter thundered like a dragon’s cry and a tiger’s roar, shaking the entire altar until it quivered beneath his might.

“Damn human, how dare you interfere?! Die!” A furious roar answered him.

From the void, a colossal hand ripped through space, clawing straight for Long Chen.

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