751 Red Dust
Wang Wei laid his head on the World Tree, not saying a word. He waved his hand to manifest a bottle gourd. And as soon as he removed the gourd seal, a thick wine scent scattered throughout the surrounding few million miles. The sheer smell of this wine changed the surrounding clouds, making them jump around and dance as if they were drunk.
Without hesitation, Wang Wei took a sip and felt his mind refreshed. Furthermore, the taste of this win was Heavenly. Subsequently, he sensed a mysterious power traveling throughout his fleshly body and nourishing it.
Unfortunately, it was not enough to help increase his True Power Dao Realm. However, he was not in the mood to care about such a thing, as he continued to drink.
Wine in the cultivation world had three ways to distinguish its worth: the materials, the technique, and the time spent aging. The method used in Wang Wei’s wine is excellent but could not be said to be the best or revolutionary.
As for the materials? He used the best material possible. However, what made this wine truly valuable was the aging time. Wang Wei used time formation to accelerate the time the wine simmered. And since wine does not have to worry about Time Energy hurting it through Time Acceleration–like humans–he could cultivate peerless wine.
And the one he was drinking was brewed for 50 million years. A sip of this wine can make a Saint Realm cultivator drunk and sleep until their lifespan of 500,000 runs out.
It can nourish the bodies, souls, and energy of True Monarchs and Quasi-Emperors. More importantly, it can boost comprehension and allow people to understand the Dao better.
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Wang Wei shook his head and continued drinking. He controlled his fleshly body and soul to cancel his natural immunity, allowing himself to get drunk; he could indulge in his mind and emotions.
“The ancients called all the emotions, grudges, obsessions, joy and sadness of the world Red Dust–a dirty thing that corrupts or stains the mind of cultivators.
“Taoism believes cultivators should have a detached attitude toward Red Dust; they advocate to remain free from its karmic ties. According to them, freedom from Red Dust is one of the best states for cultivation and achieving immortality.
“However, some schools believe cultivators should refine their minds and hearts through Red Dust. However, these schools also believe in cutting the connection from the Red Dust, thus achieving a detached state of mind.”
Wang Wei thought for a moment before shaking his head as he thought this philosophy was also cruel and not easy to practice. After experiencing the joy and sadness of the world, the ups and downs, love and hatred, how could someone easily cut them off from their minds and look at their experience from an indifferent point of view?
“Plus, how is that any different from the cold-hearted nature of devil cultivators?” He sneered before taking a sip from his drink.
“Buddhism believes in Karma and sought to save all sentience beings. So, their core practice involved immersing in the power of Red Dust and even using it for themselves.”
Wang Wei’s mind thought of the power of Incense.
“Although there are also schools of Buddhism that also have similar views as Taoism who believe only through the absence of Karmic Ties can monks seek self-enlightenment and achieve Nirvana, they are rare and not the mainstream.”
Countless thoughts flashed in his mind.
“After creating the River of Karma, this philosophy fit me the best. However, I”m different from these monks–I have no desire to save all sentient beings. I only want to immerse in Red Dust to use its power to help me cultivate and find a way to transcend Karma.
“No, maybe these monks are similar to me. The only difference is their hearts are pure and truly cultivated for the sake of all sentience beings. After reaching Transcendence, these monks would definitely help people transcend karma and the Cycle of Reincarnation. However, I would only do it if I felt like it.”
Wang Wei exhaled as he ended his state of Enlightenment. He felt his understanding of Karma elevated, which in turn promoted his understanding of his Fate Dao; one of the unique aspects of his Fate Dao is his understanding of the other Daos (Karma, Luck) also increased his comprehension of Fate, and vice-versa.
Furthermore, he also elevated his Soul Dao to a higher level–including the Dao of Seven Emotions and Six Desires which is a part of the Soul Dao.
“My current understanding of the Dao should have been enough to reach 5, 6, maybe 6% of the Grand Dao Source. Unfortunately, Grand Dao prevents anyone from comprehending and controlling the Source of the Dao without gaining access to the Heaven Will. In some ways, the rules of this world are a cage for a genius such as myself.”
Wang Wei shook his head in frustration before falling asleep holding the wine gourd. Formations instinctively appeared to protect him. The next day, he woke up in a better state than before. The previous enlightenment increased his Dao and helped him better understand himself.
Unfortunately, he was still sad and depressed, so he spent the next three days drinking and sleeping. Finally, he knew it was time to reign himself in and continue his journey.
“After all, it is only a temporary parting,” he muttered before looking at the towering World Tree. He then constructed a massive Space-Time Formation to continue nourishing the tree. But, he felt it was not enough, so he summoned some Dao Ancestors and two Third Class Insurgents from the sect to control the formation and ensure it worked at maximum capacity.
“In a few hundred years, you should grow even more,” he commented as he caressed the tree. Finally, he left some benefits for the people of the Heavenly Tree Village and asked the sect people to ensure nothing happened to this village.
Although the tree was no longer visible and was no longer desired by countless people, he was sure some people still remembered its existence and might be planning to get their hands on it.
After leaving the village, Wang Wei did not return to the sect since he had another place to visit.
‘It’s time to temper my Dao Heart once more and maybe find some answers.’
Wang Wei teleported to the Western White Tiger Continent, specifically the Evil Punishment Domain located in the Northeast of the continent. He soon reached his destination: a yellow desert with no end in sight.
Many cultivators were heading into the desert. His appearance caught people’s attention since he was so famous, but people only muttered and glanced at him, so he did not care.
‘Asking Heart Road,’ thought Wang Wei as he looked at this desert. This piece of land was a legacy left by a mighty Pseudo Eternal Emperor called Mind-Heart Emperor.
According to history, he cultivated the Dao of the Mind and was known for his powerful Dao Heart and how he could use it to attack. The Mind-Heart Emperor had a technique called [Asking Heart Road] that could find the flaw in people’s Dao Heart and destroy it.
For unknown reasons, the Mind-Heart Emperor hated devil cultivators with passion and would use his famous technique to break their Dao Hearts and force them to kill themselves. And with the cruelty and unstable mind of the devil cultivators, he was indeed their antithesis.
Unfortunately, the later generation of the Emperor suffered tremendously because of his Karmic Debts. The Mind-Heart Emperor once left an Emperor Lineage called Profound Mind Temple. However, a few generations after his ascension, these devil cultivator’s lineages who hated him banded together and destroyed his sect.
The Asking Heart Road was one of the foundations of the Profound Mind Temple, and these cultivators also wanted to eradicate it. The Di Clan stepped up and tried to take it for themselves. Unfortunately, the sects in the different continents did not want their clan’s lineage to become more powerful and intervened.
Finally, the [Asking Heart Road] became an ownerless thing accessible by anyone.
‘The cultivators of this world believe too much in the Dao Heart Road. Otherwise, they would have fought even fiercer for this land,’ pondered Wang Wei.
‘Grandpa told me this place helped him stabilize his Dao Heart after the battle. Let’s see if it is helpful to me.’
Wang Wei took a deep breath before taking a step into this desert. Immediately, he found himself in this dark and empty space. And before him were memories of his entire life–from birth to the present.
Wang Wei felt his mind clear and devoid of any distractions. Subsequently, he discovered he was directly confronting many of the deepest and most hidden thoughts.
‘The subconscious?’ he analyzed. ‘Well, let’s see if this thing can help me.’