A Discussion of the Dao

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

Yuan Yan pondered for a moment, then with a flip of his hand, took out a plate of Wisdom Fruits and set it on the table before continuing.

"You two are so generous that I cannot be stingy either. These are fruits borne by the mid-grade Innate Spiritual Root, the Wisdom Tree. I hope you will not find them lacking."

"You are mistaken, Fellow Daoist! If anyone should find something lacking, it should be you finding fault with the spiritual fruits we put out!" Nuwa's eyes shimmered.

Although she had yet to attain the Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm, she was still a Top-Tier Innate Divine at Taiyi Golden Immortal Perfection. Naturally, her discernment was far from poor.

Although these three Innate Spiritual Fruits had merely been borne by a mid-grade Innate Spiritual Root, they should have been the first batch of fruits, barring any surprises. She could sense that the Dao Rhyme Spiritual Essence within them far surpassed that of fruits normally borne by a mid-grade Innate Spiritual Root.

And that was not even the most important point. The most important thing was that the Wisdom Fruits radiated Dao Rhymes of wisdom, enlightenment, and the like. They were clearly spiritual fruits meant to aid Dao comprehension, making them far more precious than Innate Spiritual Fruits of the same grade with other effects.

At that moment, 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 their medicinal effects.

In truth, they had no other choice.

At their current cultivation realms, if they allowed the Wisdom Fruits' medicinal effects to fully disperse, they would most likely enter a state of Dao comprehension, perhaps even enlightenment.

But they had invited Yuan Yan inside for a talk. They could not simply leave him sitting to one side and watch while they comprehended the Dao, could they?

Although they trusted Yuan Yan and believed he would not take the opportunity to act against them, doing so would still be rather impolite.

Therefore, they could only temporarily seal the medicinal effects of the Wisdom Fruits and wait until they had talked enough and Yuan Yan had departed before unsealing them to enter seclusion and cultivate through Dao comprehension.

Seeing this, Yuan Yan nodded inwardly. As he ate Innate Spiritual Fruits and conversed with the two of them, he felt thoroughly at ease.

As their conversation grew more animated, Yuan Yan came to approve of Nuwa and Fuxi a little more. Not wishing for too much of the Wisdom Fruits' medicinal power to go to waste, he intended to lend them a hand and suggested that they discuss the Dao.

Upon hearing this, Nuwa and Fuxi were overjoyed and agreed with faint gratitude in their voices. How could they not realize that Yuan Yan intended to help them?

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

"Since I proposed this discussion of the Dao, I shall begin!" Yuan Yan sat upright and manifested his Yin-Yang Great Firmament Dao Fruit, which bloomed with boundless Dao light.

In an instant, heaven and earth became fragrant. Countless laws and Great Daos manifested, Innate Spiritual Qi swirled through the air, Dao Rhyme Spiritual Essence brimmed with vitality, and all manner of wondrous phenomena appeared.

Beneath the illumination of that boundless Dao light, Nuwa and Fuxi no longer sealed or suppressed the medicinal power of the Wisdom Fruits within their bodies. As the effects dispersed, their minds became lucid and their wisdom expanded, sending both of them into enlightenment.

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

"Yet that is too intangible. There must be something to bear it, something that can aid in opening one's own Dao."

"That bearer may be all things between heaven and earth: a grain of sand, a stone, a blade of grass, a tree, sabers, spears, swords, halberds... It may be one of the myriad Great Daos of heaven and earth, such as Yin-Yang, the Five Elements, Creation Dao, destruction, the Eight Trigrams... It may also be one's personal ideals, such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust... Or it may be one's seven emotions and six desires, entering the Dao through one's own 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, which happened to be precisely what Nuwa and Fuxi needed most.

In an instant, boundless insights arose in the hearts of Nuwa and Fuxi as they sank into enlightenment. They also questioned their Dao Hearts: what was their own Dao?

Gradually, they came to understand. Nuwa's enlightened Dao was Creation Dao! What was Creation Dao? Creation and evolution—everything in the world existed within creation and evolution. Fuxi's enlightened Dao was Heavenly Secrets Deduction...

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

Using their own Daos, they expounded and evolved their understanding of everything in the world. They contemplated Yuan Yan's Yin-Yang Dao and used it to verify themselves, while their own Great Daos rapidly evolved and improved.

Ten thousand years later, Yuan Yan stopped preaching. The voice of the Great Dao ceased abruptly, and the myriad phenomena slowly faded away.

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

But they were, after all, Top-Tier Innate Divines and future great cultivators. In but an instant, they steadied their emotions, rose, and performed a solemn bow.

"Many thanks for your guidance, Dao Brother!"

"You need not be so formal, Fellow Daoists. Even without my guidance, it would not have taken you long to understand and walk your own paths."

As Yuan Yan spoke, he did not evade 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 more. Yet they had already firmly remembered Yuan Yan's kindness in their hearts.

Even if Yuan Yan had not preached the Dao and guided them, they would most likely have eventually understood their own Daos and broken through to the Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm. But who knew when that would have been?

Perhaps after ten Epochs, perhaps after twenty or thirty Epochs, or even a hundred Epochs.

If that happened, they might fall far behind the Top-Tier Innate Divines of their generation.

Moreover, that Wisdom Fruit, coupled with Yuan Yan's guidance during this sermon, had not allowed them to immediately condense their Great Firmament Dao Fruits and break through to the Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm, but it had at least saved them twenty or thirty Epochs of time.

The Great Daos they had opened had yet to evolve fully to the level of the Great Firmament Golden Immortal Early Stage, but they were close.

At most, after entering seclusion for another ten or twenty Epochs, they would be able to perfect their Great Daos to the level of the Great Firmament Golden Immortal Early Stage, condense their Great Firmament Dao Fruits, and then break through to the Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm.

Together, these matters caused them to owe Yuan Yan no small Karma.

They were not the sort to repay kindness with enmity, owing Karma only to think of killing their creditor so they would not have to repay the debt.

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

Naturally, they would remember this Karma and kindness in their hearts.

"Dao Brother Yuan Yan, although we have yet to condense our Great Firmament Dao Fruits, we have already walked our own paths. We ask Dao Brother to appraise them," Nuwa and Fuxi said.

"Very well." Yuan Yan nodded lightly.

Seeing Yuan Yan nod, Nuwa and Fuxi began to expound upon and explain their own Daos, as well as all their insights into the three thousand laws.

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

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

At that moment, after consuming the Wisdom Fruit, Yuan Yan's mind became lucid and his wisdom expanded. To his surprise, he too entered enlightenment.

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