The Beginning of the Dao

The sun rose, scattering Morning Glow over the mortal world.

The morning sunlight shone into the mountains. Zhao Li's eyes stirred slightly, and then he opened them, only to discover that he was lying on the grass in Back Mountain. Thinking of what had happened last night, he shook his head and laughed in Self-Mockery.

"Zhao Li, oh Zhao Li, since when did you become so sentimental? You've lived two lives, more than thirty years altogether, and you actually cried. Really impressive."

Zhao Li stared at the sun, dazed for a long while. Then he got up and walked to the nearby pool, scooping up two handfuls of water and splashing them on his face. Looking at his reflection in the water, he silently thought, Zhao Li, goodbye... Maybe I can do something...

Zhao Li wiped his face and straightened his robe. He had originally planned to go down the mountain and return home, but then he remembered the cultivation technique he had gotten from his father yesterday. It was the perfect time to study it.

With that thought, Zhao Li took the scroll out of his Storage Ring.

"Hmm, Blazing Fire Technique. Father said this is a Mid-Grade Profound Tier Fire Attribute Cultivation Technique. I remember when I read the novel, cultivation techniques were divided into four tiers: Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, Yellow, and each tier was further divided into high, middle, and low grades. The highest technique in Xiao Huohuo's family was only mid-grade Mysterious Tier. Huohuo's grandfather should have cultivated that one too, and then reached Dou Wang. Judging from the novel, the Misty Cloud Sect's highest-grade cultivation technique should be Mysterious Tier, High Grade. They probably don't have an Earth Tier Cultivation Technique, and it seems that would be enough to reach the Dou Emperor realm."

Unfurling the scroll, Zhao Li looked at the cultivation technique and pondered inwardly.

"Unfortunately, all these years, Grandfather and the others have always treated me like a child. They were vague about many things."

Zhao Li looked at the cultivation technique, sometimes frowning, sometimes nodding. After a long time, he sprawled on the ground and let out a long breath, casually putting the scroll away.

After finishing the cultivation technique, Zhao Li discovered that there was not much fundamental difference between it and the Yellow Tier Cultivation Technique he had seen before.

"If the process of cultivation is regarded as a machine's production process, then Dou Qi is like a natural energy source, while the cultivation technique is the converter. The better the cultivation technique, the higher its degree of absorption and conversion of Heaven and Earth Energy, making it easier to convert into energy that the machine can use. As for how Dou Techniques use Dou Qi, that is the machine's output power, the process of turning fuel into external work. There may be some discrepancies, but that is roughly the process."

"No wonder Dou Zhe is the true first step of cultivation, and only after becoming a Dou Zhe can one cultivate a technique. This Dou Qi Cyclone is like the machine's core engine. Without a core, the machine can't operate."

Zhao Li sighed, but then remembered what his father had said when he had asked him for some cultivation techniques.

"The cultivation in this world seems more like a process of purely absorbing Dou Qi, taming Dou Qi and turning it to one's own use, while cultivation techniques are methods explored and summarized since ancient times. Judging from the rough descriptions of the effects of Heaven Tier Cultivation Techniques in the novel, the factors that distinguish the level of a cultivation technique are nothing more than two things: one is the ability to absorb Dou Qi, and the other is the ability to tame and transform Dou Qi. Based on the information I currently know, that should be the case."

Zhao Li recalled the novel's descriptions of cultivation techniques, comparing them with the cultivation technique information he had read, as well as the vague words he had gotten from his elders, and he came to a few guesses.

"A single piece of evidence proves nothing. In the future, I'll look for more cultivation techniques and see if that's really how it is."

After all, that was only his own speculation based on what had been written in the novel. Zhao Li did not simply draw a definitive conclusion about cultivation techniques because of it.

"Hmm, come to think of it, after breaking through to Dou Zhe, I don't seem to have cultivated yet. I'll cultivate first and see."

Perhaps because he had bid farewell to all those things from his past life, Zhao Li's attitude toward cultivation had also changed somewhat. He immediately sat cross-legged on the ground, assumed the posture of Five Hearts Facing Heaven, and began to cultivate.

The moment Zhao Li focused his mind and entered the cultivation state, he felt his perspective change, as though he had left his body and become an observer. He could see everything inside his body clearly. Zhao Li understood that this was the Dou Zhe ability of "Internal Sight."

Immediately, Zhao Li instinctively used the cultivation method he had researched during the past few years of studying Dou Qi cultivation, a method with which he was already extremely familiar. This time, Zhao Li clearly "saw" that as Dou Qi circulated through his meridians, the Dou Qi throughout his body was swept along and gathered into the meridians, then converged toward his Dantian.

Finally, after passing through the Dou Qi Cyclone, that strand of Dou Qi became thinner, while also becoming somewhat purer. At the same time, Zhao Li felt that controlling that strand of Dou Qi had also become easier. After that, it repeated the circulation cycle it had just completed.

After continuing to circulate for several more circulation cycles, Zhao Li ended his cultivation.

Zhao Li reviewed the cultivation process from just now. After personally "seeing" the changes in Dou Qi inside his body, he gained some new insights, while also giving rise to many doubts.

"During the cultivation process just now, my cyclone seemed to have only played the role of tempering Dou Qi. It didn't actively absorb Dou Qi. I suppose that's because I haven't cultivated a cultivation technique and haven't found a way to make the cyclone actively absorb Dou Qi. But when I used my previous cultivation method, I could still 'see' clear changes in the Dou Qi, and the Dou Qi gathered from all parts of my body seemed easier for me to control."

"In a natural state, every person's body contains more or less Dou Qi. Being able to sense the Dou Qi within the body and gradually use it is cultivation in the Dou Disciple stage."

"But this Dou Qi remains in the body because people live in this environment, and it seeps in due to the difference in Dou Qi concentration. Normally speaking, as the amount of Dou Qi one can control increases and the difference in Dou Qi concentration between oneself and the outside environment becomes smaller and smaller, cultivation becomes harder."

Zhao Li thought of how the Ancient Clans had independently opened up pocket worlds, and how sects and schools were mostly established in Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands. Perhaps it was because of the environment. The fact that disciples from great clans and great sects generally had higher realms and found cultivation easier should also be influenced by the external environment.

"Looks like during the initial stages of cultivation, the environment's influence is still quite significant. Perhaps this is the origin of the three levels of high, middle, and low in the Dou Disciple stage. No wonder Student Xiao Yan still remained at the third stage after his realm dropped. Perhaps the Dou Qi concentration of the environment he was in was at the third-stage level."

Zhao Li unconsciously recalled what he had seen and heard over the years, slowly summarizing it.

"Whether it's the Dou Qi Veil at the Dou Shi stage, the Dou Qi Armor of Da Dou Shi, or the Agile Transformation of the Dou Ling stage, all of them are standards for the degree to which one controls one's own Dou Qi. If one's control over Dou Qi isn't sufficient, forget condensing a Dou Qi Veil; perhaps the moment it's released outside the body, it would disperse into the air, and one's realm would regress instead of advancing."

"As for the characteristics of the Dou Wang and Dou Emperor levels, they're probably using one's own Dou Qi as a medium to interact with the Dou Qi of the outside world, thereby controlling external energy in a small range, and treating this ability as 'momentum.' The flight of Dou Wang and Dou Emperor using Dou Qi Wings is perhaps this ability. If it were only condensing Dou Qi wings, with the nimble control over Dou Qi at the Dou Ling level, that could also be done. But Dou Ling don't understand 'momentum,' so even if they condensed wings, they would only be decorations."

In the past, every time he asked about these things, his grandfather and the others would always smile and brush him off with a few vague sentences, even saying things like he shouldn't aim too high. Zhao Li did not know much.

"The book said that a Dou Sect expert can initially grasp space and walk through the air. That should be control over the energy within a certain range around the body. Hmm, the word 'domain' might fit perfectly. As for control over space, it's more like a gift from the world. Most know what it is but not why it is, gradually groping their way into Dou Zun and Dou Sheng."

Zhao Li recalled the iconic abilities of the various realms in the book, and thought of many things.

When he had read the novel in the past, Zhao Li had found it strange. It was as though realms were keys; as long as one reached the corresponding realm, they could all grasp certain identical abilities.

"After countless years of development, the cultivation system of the Dou Qi Continent has indeed developed to its peak. Through the efforts of countless people, a path leading to the mountaintop has already been built. It's very impressive. But just because it has always been this way, does that mean it is good?"

A mad idea rose in Zhao Li's mind.