Edge Meditation Cushion, Listening to the Dao is Like Listening to Heavenly Script

Inside Zixiao Palace, vast and boundless, it seemed to be a world of its own. Stars shone brilliantly on the dome, and clouds and mist coiled around the ground. At the very front was a tall cloud bed, empty, clearly the seat of Dao Ancestor Hongjun.

Beneath the cloud bed, three thousand meditation cushions of various colors were neatly arranged, emitting a faint Dao Rhyme. The closer the cushion was to the front, the more potent the Dao Rhyme, indicating a better position for clearer listening and deeper comprehension.

The Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Jieyin, Zhunti, and other future Saints, rushing to the front, unhesitatingly occupied the foremost six purple meditation cushions (the famous "Saint Seats"). The remaining powerful figures also quickly found their places and sat down. Though there were no words exchanged, their gazes met, their energies intertwined, and an undercurrent of tension flowed.

Li Wuyang, knowing his place, didn't dare to crowd the front. He retreated to a corner in the back row and found a dull, gray meditation cushion with the weakest Dao Rhyme. As soon as he sat down, he felt a faint suction from the cushion, fixing him in place. Simultaneously, a cool energy flowed into his body, helping him calm his mind and spirit.

"It even has auxiliary functions? Not bad, not bad." Li Wuyang was quite satisfied with this "edge-of-the-map observer" position.

Soon, all three thousand meditation cushions were occupied. The palace doors slowly closed. The palace fell into silence, so quiet one could hear a pin drop, and an atmosphere of solemnity and reverence permeated the air.

A moment later, an old man appeared on the cloud bed without any warning. He wore a simple Daoist robe, his face indistinct, as if he had merged with the Dao. No aura emanated from him, yet he seemed to be the center of the entire world. It was Dao Ancestor Hongjun.

Hongjun's gaze swept calmly over the three thousand guests below, neither pleased nor displeased, and began to expound the Dao:

"The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the origin of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of all things..."

As the true words of the Great Dao were spoken, they did not manifest as sound but transformed directly into tangible golden runes, like flowers falling from the sky and lotuses springing from the earth, filling the entire Zixiao Palace. Each rune contained the ultimate principles of heaven and earth and the origin of laws.

The powerful figures in the front rows were entranced, some smiling, some frowning, some gesturing wildly, clearly immersed in their comprehension of the Great Dao, each gaining something.

However, Li Wuyang, sitting in the back row, found it all baffling and felt drowsy.

"What does that mean? What is he even talking about?" He tried hard to concentrate and understand, but the true words of the Great Dao were too profound and mysterious, completely beyond his current realm and comprehension. It was like asking a primary school student to listen to a doctoral supervisor lecture on cutting-edge theory – utterly incomprehensible!

He only saw the golden runes flickering before his eyes, heard a buzzing in his ears, and his mind felt like a muddled mess. An intense drowsiness washed over him, and he nearly dozed off.

"No! I can't sleep! This is the Dao Ancestor preaching the Dao! A heaven-sent opportunity!" Li Wuyang forced himself to stay awake and pinched his thigh hard. He remembered the Great Dao Imprint in his sea of consciousness and tried to activate it to aid his understanding.

The Great Dao Imprint faintly circulated with a purple glow, indeed clearing his head a bit and reducing his sense of rejection towards the true words of the Great Dao, but... he still didn't grasp the essence. It was as if he had been given a top-tier simultaneous interpreter, but the interpreter was translating only professional jargon, and he still didn't understand the deeper meaning.

"It's over, my foundation is too weak, I can't understand the lecture..." Li Wuyang felt like crying. It was like guarding a mountain of gold and silver but not knowing how to spend it.

He looked around; even some powerful figures at the True Immortal and Mystic Immortal levels were struggling to listen, though they could at least catch a hint of the rhythm. Only he was completely lost, as if listening to a foreign language.

Just as he was about to give up, deciding to just let go and treat it as background music to sleep to, something unexpected happened.

The dull, gray meditation cushion beneath him seemed to sense his "predicament" and grew slightly warm. At the same time, the bronze compass in his arms also felt warm again.

Between the two, a strange resonance seemed to occur.