Saint's Dharma Eye, Dao of Survival is also the Great Dao

The voice was not loud, yet it carried the celestial resonance of the Dao, detonating directly within the Primordial Spirit of every living being.

The soundproof barrier Zhao Gongming had laid was as thin as a cicada's wing before this voice, vanishing into nothingness in an instant.

He stood frozen in place, all color draining from his face.

It was over.

A Saint had personally named him.

This kid had poked a hole straight through the heavens.

Outside the cave dwelling, the entire Golden Ao Island had fallen into an eerie dead silence.

The wind stopped.

The clouds ceased.

Birds and beasts lay prostrate on the ground, trembling.

Tens of thousands of Jie Sect disciples, whether Inner or Outer, regardless of their cultivation level, all halted whatever they were doing, staring in horror toward the ancient, eternal palace deep within the sea of clouds.

The Jade Palace.

The Saint's Dao Field.

That name echoed in their hearts like a heavenly Imperial Edict, over and over again.

Chen Changsheng.

An Outer Sect Disciple.

What virtue or ability did he possess to be personally summoned by the Master?

Inside the cave dwelling, Chen Changsheng could no longer maintain his calm.

His heart felt as if it were gripped by an invisible hand, and even breathing became difficult.

In his mind, the cold system prompt rang out like the sharpest alarm, screaming wildly.

code
[Warning! Detected host has entered the Saint's Dharma Eye! Karmic Entanglement instantly elevated to maximum!]
[Danger Level: Blood Red · Certain Death!]
[System performing emergency calculations... Calculation failed! The Saint is inscrutable, the Heavenly Mechanism is now chaotic!]

Chen Changsheng slowly exhaled, forcing himself to calm down.

Fear wouldn't solve anything.

There was no dodging this trial.

He turned to Zhao Gongming, whose face was deathly pale, and forced a smile that was uglier than a cry.

"Senior Brother, it seems I have to make a trip."

Zhao Gongming's lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but not a single word came out. In the end, it could only turn into a long sigh as he patted Chen Changsheng's shoulder.

"Be careful... in everything."

Chen Changsheng nodded, straightened the plain Daoist robe he wore, turned, and pushed open the stone door.

Outside the door was utter silence.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on him.

Among those stares were shock, confusion, jealousy, and bewilderment.

Chen Changsheng looked straight ahead, not glancing sideways, and took his first step toward the direction of the Jade Palace.

The moment his foot landed.

A Seven-Colored Rainbow Bridge, spanning heaven and earth, extended from the depths of the clouds around the Jade Palace, laying itself precisely beneath his feet.

A Saint's personal reception!

Gasps of awe erupted from the crowd.

What kind of honor was this!

On ordinary days, even Inner Sect direct disciples had to ascend step by step along the stairs. Yet today, for him, an Outer Sect Disciple, a Bridge to Heaven had been erected.

But Chen Changsheng's heart only sank.

The higher you're lifted, the harder you fall.

He did not hesitate and stepped onto the Rainbow Bridge.

Beneath his feet was solidified twilight glow; around him swirled the Dao Charm.

With one step, Golden Ao Island behind him rapidly shrank, as if the stars had shifted and ten thousand miles had passed in an instant.

He could see, beneath the Rainbow Bridge, immortal mountain caves and dwellings flashing by.

Inner Sect disciples poked their heads out from their caves in shock, staring at the figure on the bridge whose "aura seemed shallow," their faces full of disbelief.

"Who is that? To receive such courtesy from the Saint?"

"It seems to be... Chen Changsheng from the Outer Sect?"

Chen Changsheng paid no attention to any of this. All his focus was devoted to circulating the Great Freedom Head-Shrinking Technique.

The two methods, [Turtle Breath] and [Sever Causality], were pushed to their absolute limits.

He suppressed his sense of existence again and again, trying to make himself more like an insignificant speck of dust before the impending arrival of the supreme being.

At the end of the Rainbow Bridge stood an ancient stone gate.

There was no plaque on the gate, yet it exuded an unmatched majesty that suppressed all heavens and repelled all laws.

The gate opened silently.

Chen Changsheng walked through.

The scene before him was not the golden splendor he had imagined, but a formless chaos.

There was no up or down, no past or future.

Only an endless flow of Dao Charm churning, evolving earth, fire, water, wind, and the birth and death of universes.

At the center of the chaos, a figure in a Green Robe sat with his back to him, quietly cross-legged.

He merely sat there, yet he seemed to be the center of this chaos, the source of all paths.

Chen Changsheng could not make out his face, nor could he perceive even a trace of his aura.

But he knew.

This was Sect Leader Tongtian.

Master of the Jie Sect, a Heavenly Dao Saint.

"Disciple Chen Changsheng pays respects to Master."

Chen Changsheng dared not show the slightest negligence. He prostrated himself fully, performing the most reverent of great bows.

"Rise."

Sect Leader Tongtian spoke.

The voice was very plain, yet it seemed to ring directly within his Primordial Spirit, leaving none of his thoughts hidden.

Chen Changsheng slowly stood up, keeping his head lowered, not daring to look directly.

"You are quite interesting."

Sect Leader Tongtian turned around.

Chen Changsheng finally saw his face.

It was a countenance beyond words—at times majestic, at times kind, at times cold, at times compassionate.

It was as if the myriad forms of all beings were contained within it.

"At merely the Golden Immortal realm, yet you managed to deceive everyone on the island, even Duobao failed to see through you. This skill at concealment is not bad."

These plain words made Chen Changsheng's hair stand on end.

His greatest secret had been seen through at a single glance.

"Disciple... disciple merely stumbled upon a fragmentary aura-concealing technique by chance."

He forced himself to explain.

"Is that so?"

Sect Leader Tongtian smiled faintly, not pressing further.

He extended a finger and tapped lightly.

An image unfolded before Chen Changsheng.

It was the scene of his confrontation with Daoist Duobao on the Dharma Transmission Platform.

In the image, his piercing questions echoed clearly through this chaos.

"What did their deaths win? And what sliver of life did they seize for our Jie Sect?"

Sect Leader Tongtian looked at the image, then at the trembling Chen Changsheng before him.

"Do you know that your words today have already disturbed the Dao heart of my first disciple?"

"Disciple would never dare!"

Chen Changsheng immediately knelt.

"Disciple was merely... merely feeling that those fellow disciples who died unjustly were not worth it."

"Not worth it?"

Sect Leader Tongtian dismissed the image, a hint of amusement in his tone.

"The way of my Jie Sect is to seize a sliver of life for all beings under heaven. This sliver of life cannot be obtained by sitting around Discussing Dao—it must be fought for, contended for!"

"That so-called Guidebook of yours teaches people to avoid the world, to fear battle, to retreat at every turn, to endure at every moment. If everyone were like you, how would my Jie Sect be any different from the Chan Sect's vaunted submission to heaven's will?"

The Pressure of a Saint descended silently.

Chen Changsheng felt as if his Primordial Spirit was trembling, on the verge of shattering completely at any moment.

But he knew this was the final trial.

Clenching his teeth, he bore down against the pressure—enough to reduce even a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal to ashes—and struggled to lift his head.

"Master, please hear me out."

His voice was distorted by the immense strain, yet his thoughts had never been clearer.

"This disciple believes that contending is not wrong. But how to contend, and when to contend, are matters worth careful deliberation."

"An ant shaking a tree, a mantis blocking a chariot—these are not acts of courage, but of folly. To do what one knows is impossible, not to seize a thread of hope, but to throw one's life away for nothing."

He took a deep breath and poured out the philosophy he had rehearsed countless times in his mind.

"This disciple believes that our Jie Sect, with its Myriad Immortals Paying Homage, appears prosperous on the surface, but in truth, it stands out too much and has long drawn the envy of the other Saints. The great tribulation of the world is approaching, and our sect is poised at the very crest of the storm!"

"At this moment, we should not be the protruding beam, nor the raging wave that dashes against the rocks."

"We should be like the deep-sea whale—sheathing our edge, diving low to lie in wait, and gathering our strength. When the raging waves have passed and the seas are calm, then we shall leap forth. At that time, how vast the world will be—where can we not go?"

"The 'survival' this disciple speaks of is not about refusing to contend, but about contending better. It is to preserve the people even if the land is lost, so that both people and land are kept. It is to keep the green mountain, so that there will be no shortage of firewood!"

After he finished speaking, Chen Changsheng was drenched through, as if he had been pulled from the water.

That terrifying pressure, however, dissipated silently the moment his words ended.

Within the chaos, a long silence fell.

Sect Leader Tongtian gazed at him quietly, the light in his eyes—containing the birth and death of universes—shifting and changing.

A long time passed.

Then he suddenly smiled.

"Well said—'preserve the people even if the land is lost, so that both people and land are kept.'"

He rose, walked over to Chen Changsheng, and personally helped him to his feet.

"What you said has merit."

Sect Leader Tongtian patted him on the shoulder, a look of unprecedented appreciation in his eyes.

"This Seat founded this sect with the principle of teaching without discrimination, seeking only that every disciple under the gate may attain the Dao and achieve immortality."

"But it seems they have all forgotten this."

He let out a long sigh, a trace of loneliness in his voice.

"From today onward, you shall be the 'Dao Protector' of our Jie Sect."

"What you protect is the path of their lives."

Before the words had even faded, a ray of profound yellow light flew from his fingertip and instantly sank into Chen Changsheng's brow.

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have successfully conveyed the philosophy of the 'Dao of Survival' to the heavens and gained the recognition of a Saint!]

[Your 'Dao of Survival' has become one of the official guiding ideologies of the Jie Sect! The main quest has undergone a major deviation!]

[Obtained Heavenly Dao-level rewards: Ten thousand years of cultivation! One strand of Primordial Merit! Supreme treasure 'Chaos Bead' (fragment)!]

Chen Changsheng's cultivation instantly shattered the shackles of the Golden Immortal realm and soared upward!

Primordial Unity Golden Immortal!

And that ray of profound yellow light, deep within his Primordial Spirit, transformed into a Supreme Dao Seed.

At the same time.

A decree imbued with the Saint's Will was transmitted from the Jade Palace, resounding across the entire Golden Ao Island.

"I now decree that Outer Sect Disciple Chen Changsheng be appointed as the 'Dao Protector of the Jie Sect,' with status equal to that of a direct disciple. He shall oversee 'Discipline' and manage 'Tribulation Avoidance.' All disciples of the Jie Sect must study his Safety Guidelines without fail!"

If you can't find the book by its title, try searching by the author's name—maybe it's just been renamed!