Discussing the Dao

"I feel the same! Since that is the case, we must have a proper discussion today."

After pondering for a moment, Yuan Yan flipped his hand and produced a plate of Wisdom Fruits, setting it upon the table before continuing, "You two are so generous; I cannot be stingy either. These are the fruits borne by the mid-grade innate spiritual root, the Wisdom Tree. I hope you will not disdain them."

"That is not right, Fellow Daoist! If anyone ought to feel ashamed, it should be you, looking down on the spirit fruits we presented!" Nuwa's eyes shone with delight.

Though she had yet to attain the Dao of a Great Luo Golden Immortal, she was still a peak innate sacred being at the perfected Taiyi Golden Immortal realm. Naturally, her discernment was not lacking.

Although these three innate spirit fruits had merely been borne by a mid-grade innate spiritual root, they were most likely its first batch of fruits. She could sense that the Dao resonance and spiritual essence contained within them far surpassed those of ordinary fruits from mid-grade innate spiritual roots.

Moreover, that was not even the most important part. More importantly, the Wisdom Fruits radiated Dao resonances of wisdom and enlightenment. They were clearly spirit fruits meant to aid one's comprehension of the Dao, making them far more precious than other innate spirit fruits of the same grade.

At this, Nuwa and Fuxi did not stand on ceremony. Each took a Wisdom Fruit.

Yet after consuming the Wisdom Fruits, the two of them tacitly chose to temporarily seal away their medicinal effects.

In truth, they had no choice!

At their current cultivation realms, if they allowed the Wisdom Fruits' effects to spread freely, they would most likely enter a state of Dao enlightenment, perhaps even sudden enlightenment.

But they had invited Yuan Yan inside for a talk. They could hardly leave him sitting to the side while they contemplated the Dao, could they?

Though they believed Yuan Yan would not take the opportunity to act against them, it would still be rather impolite.

Thus, they could only temporarily seal the Wisdom Fruits' effects, intending to unseal them and enter seclusion to cultivate and comprehend the Dao after they had finished talking and Yuan Yan had departed.

Seeing this, Yuan Yan nodded inwardly. As he ate innate spirit fruits and conversed with the two of them, he felt thoroughly at ease.

As the conversation grew more animated, Yuan Yan came to approve of Nuwa and Fuxi a little more. Not wanting the medicinal effects of the Wisdom Fruits they had consumed to be wasted, he intended to lend them a hand and proposed that they discuss the Dao.

Hearing this, Nuwa and Fuxi were overjoyed and agreed with traces of gratitude in their hearts. How could they not know that Yuan Yan intended to help them?

Otherwise, what was there for one Great Luo Golden Immortal and two Taiyi Golden Immortals to discuss? They had not even grasped their own paths yet!

"Since I proposed this discussion of the Dao, I shall begin," Yuan Yan said solemnly. He manifested his Yin-Yang Great Luo Dao Fruit, which bloomed with boundless Dao light.

In an instant, fragrance filled heaven and earth. Countless laws and Great Daos manifested, innate spiritual qi swirled through the air, and Dao resonance and spiritual essence flourished as all manner of wondrous phenomena emerged.

Beneath the illumination of that boundless Dao light, Nuwa and Fuxi no longer sealed or suppressed the medicinal effects of the Wisdom Fruits within their bodies. As the effects dispersed, their minds became clear and their wisdom greatly expanded. Both entered a state of sudden enlightenment.

"What is one's own Dao? One's own Dao must take the self as its foundation. My understanding, realizations, and beliefs... all are Dao."

"Yet this is too insubstantial. There must be something to bear it, something that can help one forge one's own Dao."

"This vessel may be all things in heaven and earth—a grain of sand, a stone, a blade of grass, a tree, a saber, spear, sword, or halberd... It may be one of the myriad Great Daos of heaven and earth, such as yin and yang, the five elements, creation, destruction, or the Eight Trigrams... It may also be one's own beliefs, such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust... Or it may be one's own seven emotions and six desires, entering the Dao through one's joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness..."

Yuan Yan did not immediately expound upon the essence of the Great Dao. Instead, he first explained what one's own Dao was—and this was precisely what Nuwa and Fuxi urgently needed!

In an instant, boundless realizations arose in the hearts of Nuwa and Fuxi as they remained in sudden enlightenment. They, too, questioned their Dao hearts: what was their own Dao?

Gradually, they gained enlightenment! Nuwa's Dao was creation! What was creation? Creation and evolution—everything in the world lay within creation and evolution. Fuxi's Dao was the deduction of heavenly secrets...

As the two of them comprehended their own Daos and opened their own paths, they did not awaken. They remained immersed in sudden enlightenment.

Using their own Daos, they explained and developed their understanding of all things in the world. They comprehended Yuan Yan's Yin-Yang Great Dao and used it to verify themselves, while their own Daos rapidly evolved and became more complete.

Ten thousand years later, Yuan Yan ceased his lecture. The voice of the Great Dao abruptly fell silent, and the myriad wondrous phenomena slowly faded away.

Nuwa and Fuxi emerged from their state of Dao enlightenment, feeling somewhat bereft.

Still, they were peak innate sacred beings and future great cultivators. In but an instant, they steadied their emotions, rose, and offered a formal bow.

"Thank you for your guidance, Dao Brother!"

"There is no need for such courtesy, Fellow Daoists! Even without my guidance, it would not have taken you long to comprehend and forge your own paths."

As Yuan Yan spoke, he did not avoid their bow. However, he accepted only half of it before raising a hand and using an invisible force of the Great Dao to help them up.

Seeing this, Nuwa and Fuxi did not insist, nor did they say anything further. Yet they had already engraved Yuan Yan's kindness in their hearts.

Even if Yuan Yan had not lectured on the Dao and guided them, they would likely have comprehended their own Daos and broken through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm someday. But no one knew when that day would come.

Perhaps ten kalpas later, perhaps twenty or thirty kalpas later, or perhaps even a hundred kalpas later.

If that happened, they might fall far behind the peak innate sacred beings of their generation.

Furthermore, the Wisdom Fruit, combined with Yuan Yan's guidance during this lecture, had not allowed them to immediately condense their Great Luo Dao Fruits and break through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm. However, it had saved them at least twenty or thirty kalpas of time.

The Daos they had opened had yet to evolve fully to the level of the early Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, but they were close.

At most, after another ten or twenty kalpas of secluded cultivation, they would be able to evolve and perfect their Daos to the level of the early Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, condense their Great Luo Dao Fruits, and then break through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.

Together, these two matters meant they owed Yuan Yan no small karmic debt.

They were not the sort to forget kindness and repay it with enmity—owing a karmic debt, then thinking of killing the creditor so they would no longer have to repay it.

(Zhunti, Jieyin, I'm talking about you two!)

Naturally, they would keep this karmic debt and kindness firmly in their hearts.

"Dao Brother Yuan Yan, though we have yet to condense our Great Luo Dao Fruits, we have already forged our own paths. We ask that Dao Brother appraise them," Nuwa and Fuxi said.

"Good." Yuan Yan nodded lightly.

Upon seeing Yuan Yan nod, Nuwa and Fuxi began to develop and explain their respective Daos, along with all their insights into the three thousand laws.

As Nuwa and Fuxi began their exposition, Yuan Yan also consumed a Wisdom Fruit and listened attentively.

Though their Dao realms were inferior to his, he believed that their Daos surely possessed merits worth learning from. By using their Daos to verify his own, he should gain no small harvest as well.

At this moment, having consumed the Wisdom Fruit, Yuan Yan's mind became clear and his wisdom greatly expanded. He, too, entered a state of sudden enlightenment.

Not only did he have the capacity to comprehend Nuwa and Fuxi's Daos and verify them against his own, and to understand their insights into the three thousand laws and deepen his comprehension of the Great Dao of the three thousand laws, he also had the capacity to evolve and perfect his own Yin-Yang Great Dao. As time passed, his cultivation rapidly advanced.