The Way of Myriad Laws, with No Turning Back

Dragon Mouth City, Yan Dao Heavenly Pavilion.

In a cluttered and shabby room.

Qin Ming found the Mad Daoist and said urgently, "Old man, stop drawing! A big shot from the Upper Realm has come down to investigate the transmission of this cultivation technique!"

The Mad Daoist priest, who was writing furiously at his desk, paused, and the ink smeared onto the paper.

He slowly raised his head, his face showing little surprise, but rather a hint of "I knew it."

"Finally... it's finally here." The Mad Daoist put down his talisman brush, his voice calm with a sense of resignation. "Very well, if they want this worthless life, they can have it."

"No!" Upon hearing this, Qin Ming hurriedly stepped forward and pressed down on his shoulder. "Have you forgotten your Grand Wish? Didn't you swear to spread the essence of these techniques throughout the world, so that even those from poor families could have a ladder to heaven?"

"Perhaps we can tell him everything we've planned before."

The Mad Daoist priest trembled slightly, but did not refute.

He slowly stood up and looked around the house where he had lived for hundreds of years.

The walls, beams, pillars, and even the ground were densely covered with deductions, annotations, and insights into the techniques.

The scattered papers were piled up like a mountain, with several pages spread out, the glaring characters "Qin" on them burning into his eyes like branding marks.

Even if we tell him, what difference will it make? What can be changed?

"These children...they are all my most beloved children..." He stretched out his calloused and ink-stained hands, trembling as he stroked the words on the wall, his voice filled with almost choked pain, "I treated them as my own children, poured my heart and soul into them...I studied them day and night, hoping that more people could understand and learn from them...but they are ultimately not my children."

"Every time I put pen to paper, every time I publish a copy, my heart aches a little more."

"Knowing it's stealing, knowing it's wrong, yet having no choice but to do it."

The Mad Daoist's cloudy eyes were filled with weariness and despair as he repeated, "When will this end? Perhaps... perhaps it would be better to end it all now, at least it would be clean!"

Qin Ming took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "The one who Lower Realm this time is no ordinary person, but... the Divine Son himself has come!"

"The Qin Clan Divine Son?!" The Mad Daoist suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with a terrifying light.

That was a natural awe and extreme curiosity towards the one who created these profound techniques.

But this brilliance lasted only a moment before being replaced by deeper bitterness and self-mockery.

"Ha... Divine Son..." He smirked, slumped back into his chair, "Those great figures high above in the Nine-Layer Heavenly Palace, who can turn the world upside down with a flick of their wrist, whose eyes hold the stars and the sea, whose feet tread upon the vast mountains and rivers... How could they possibly stoop down to listen to the lament of an ant?"

He shook his head, saying, "It's no use."

"This Divine Son is different!" Qin Ming said with unwavering certainty. "He might... truly understand our painstaking efforts!"

The Mad Daoist remained silent for a long time, and only his heavy breathing could be heard in the room.

Finally, as if he had used up all his strength, he slowly stood up and dusted off his worn-out robe stained with ink.

Instead of rushing off, his gaze swept greedily and painfully over the room full of "hard work," as if he wanted to engrave every stroke into his soul.

He sighed heavily, his voice desolate:

"Fine, fine... Since that's how it is, I'll make this trip."

He looked at Qin Ming, his eyes filled with a resolute understanding. "If things cannot be done, remember, I will take full responsibility. This old life... is better off gone, so I won't have to spend my days worrying about other people's children, unable to get what I want, unable to let go... only adding to my suffering."

"Ridiculous, ridiculous indeed!"

The Mad Daoist followed Qin Ming to the Private Room the teahouse. After hesitating for a moment at the tightly closed door, he finally pushed it open and went in.

The scene inside the door was beyond his expectations.

There were no glittering decorations, no heavy guards, only an ordinary-looking man in Green Robe sitting by the window, with a woman whose eyes were covered by White Veil standing beside him.

Qin Wangchuan was not surprised to see the newcomer and gestured, "Please sit down."

The Mad Daoist felt slightly relieved, but a mocking smile appeared on his lips, "So you are an envoy from the Divine Son's court."

As he spoke, he became increasingly convinced that his conjecture was correct.

"Indeed, why would such an important figure personally descend to the Lower Realm?"

This imagination is truly exceptional.

Although Qin Wangchuan is indeed concealing his true identity, we might as well go along with him and see what the old man really does.

Just as he was thinking this, the Mad Daoist suddenly stood up, straightened his tattered Daoist robe, and solemnly bowed:

"There's no need for interrogation or anything."

"The unauthorized alteration of the Qin Clan Cultivation Method and the establishment of a new sect were all my doing. Envoy, please report this to the Divine Son. Kill me or torture me, I will have no complaints."

After saying this, he turned to leave, displaying a rather otherworldly and ethereal air.

But after taking just one step, he paused, as if suddenly remembering something, and walked back to the front.

Then, with a "thump," he knelt straight down in front of Qin Wangchuan.

"Envoy!" The Mad Daoist raised his head, his eyes filled with a desperate resolve. "I know I deserve to die, but before I die, I have one request. I hope the envoy will convey it to His Highness Divine Son!"

Qin Wangchuan quietly looked at the old man.

Although the Shadow Guard had already thoroughly investigated the man before him, he still spoke up, "Please speak."

"Could... could Your His Highness Divine Son, when you create a new cultivation technique in the future, also release a censored version?"

The Mad Daoist's voice trembled, "Those original techniques are too profound; no one can understand them at all! Take the <Dao Slash> for example; I've studied it for years and still haven't been able to comprehend it..."

<Dao Slash> is a technique that Qin Wangchuan comprehended after observing the Old Ancestor, and naturally, it is also placed in the Chuanliu Pavilion.

But the Mad Daoist was unaware of this.

The "Dao Slash" technique circulating in the Chuanliu Pavilion is already a censored version, only allowing the use of the palm as a substitute for a sword.

Despite its name, it cannot invoke the Principle to truly reverse the flow of time and space.

"To my shame," the Mad Daoist said in a low voice, "When I was young, I committed many evils and was even driven out of my home, reduced to the state of a homeless dog. At that time, I firmly believed in the law of the jungle, thinking that the more cultivation techniques I collected, the stronger I would become. So I used any means necessary to collect all the Secret Method of the heavens..."

He looked around, his gaze seemingly piercing through the walls, seeing the painstaking effort that filled the room:

"Until one day, as I looked at the thousands of martial arts manuals I had stolen, I suddenly realized—no matter how much one possessed in life, after death it was all just piles of waste paper."

"Now that my lifespan is coming to an end, I only wish to pass on the Myriad Families' Cultivation Methods before my life is over, leaving a trace of my existence in this world."

"However, some techniques were simply unbearable to look at, so I conceived the idea of optimizing them before passing them on to others..."

As he spoke, the Mad Daoist paused, "Until I obtained the Cultivation Method Created by the Divine Son."

"With just one glance, I knew what a true genius was!"

"Later, they learned of the Great Dao that the Divine Son sought, and gathered all the words he had spoken..."

As he spoke, the Mad Daoist stood up as if he had gone mad, his hands seemingly holding up something, and said, "All laws cannot return to the same source, therefore, I shall become the Source of Myriad Laws!"

"So arrogant, so flamboyant, so... impressive!"

"But seeing the masses holding supreme teachings yet unable to grasp their essence, I had a delusional thought—since the original version is unlearnable, I'll create a version that anyone can learn."

"Once I did it, there was no turning back..." His voice trembled. "Every time I hold the Cultivation Method Created by the Divine Son, a vile jealousy wells up in my heart."

"People respectfully call me a senior, but I know I'm nothing more than a rat that stole martial arts techniques."

At the end, the Mad Daoist's voice choked with emotion. "Therefore, I humbly beg you, when the Divine Son creates this technique, could you... directly release a simplified version? Its power doesn't need to be earth-shattering, as long as... everyone can learn it."

"Such exquisite Daoist techniques should be shown to the whole world."

"With the talent of the Divine Son, it shouldn't be difficult for him. Isn't this... precisely the practice of his Great Dao?"

As he said this, a final glimmer of hope shone in his eyes, as if he had placed all his life's ambitions on this one sliver of hope.

However, Qin Wangchuan reached out and helped the old man up, slowly shaking his head:

He won't.

"How could it not be!" The hope that had just ignited in the Mad Daoist's eyes instantly dimmed. "This is clearly his Dao! Messenger, please be sure to convey my message, I still have some..."

He frantically reached into his robes to retrieve something, but Qin Wangchuan gently pressed his hand down.

"He won't."

Qin Wangchuan gazed into the old man's bewildered eyes. "The Qin Clan's Dao is paved for geniuses from the very beginning. Opening the doors is about ensuring 'everyone can learn,' not 'everyone can learn.'"

"What he has always wanted is a sharp edge that can unify all paths, cut through Foreign Lands, and even cleave through the sea of the Star Sea, not a blunt blade that everyone can wield."

"There is no turning back on this road."

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(P. S.: Is this kind of writing style, which focuses on discussing the Dao, not a good idea? If it isn't, then this is the last time I'll mention the concept of Dao.)