Expounding the Great Dao, Comprehending Wondrous Arts

Li Zhengyuan completed his bow and only rose after a long while. He gazed in the direction Heaven-Earth Daoist had gone, unable to forget him for a long time.

Over these many days, the two could be called friends, yet not quite. Whenever they discussed the Dao, Heaven-Earth Daoist spoke while Li Zhengyuan listened. To call them master and disciple would also be inappropriate; they had merely met by chance. Li Zhengyuan held Heaven-Earth Daoist in his heart, but Heaven-Earth Daoist had no intention of taking a disciple.

"Ah, I should continue south. When autumn comes, on the ninth day of the ninth month, when my flowers bloom, a hundred flowers perish." Li Zhengyuan decided to continue south with the Treasure-Seeking Rat. This journey had been full of twists and turns, but its gains had been immense as well.

After carefully taking stock, he found that aside from the Earth Book and Apricot-Yellow Banner, he had gained the Pure Water Alms Bowl and the Lost Soul Bell. All were top-grade innate spirit treasures; even Heaven-Earth Daoist might not possess such a fortune.

Yet aside from the Earth Book, his accompanying spirit treasure that had already been fully refined, none of his other treasures had been completely refined. If he did not refine them soon and link them to his fate, there was a danger that they might one day be lost and change owners.

The Nine Autumn Sword, on the other hand, was of decent grade and had been forged by his own hand. It had already been fully refined. It was also quite handy for slaughtering the bandits and scoundrels who failed to recognize their place.

There was also the merit he had earned alongside Heaven-Earth Daoist by sorting out the earth qi and clearing away miasma—more than a hundred mu's worth. The Earth Book, which stored this merit, now glimmered with mysterious yellow qi, and its origin had improved slightly. After all, at the level of a top-grade innate spirit treasure, advancing further would be difficult without some great fortune.

After much consideration, Li Zhengyuan finally decided to refine this merit into a Merit Golden Wheel. It could protect him, increase his fortune, and he could also take a portion of it to refine the Pure Water Alms Bowl. Though the Apricot-Yellow Banner and Lost Soul Bell were fine treasures, they did not suit his tastes. Spirit treasures possessed awareness; they would not be able to join hearts and minds with him.

He had long learned from Heaven-Earth Daoist that more treasures were not necessarily better. Though these two spirit treasures had not been forcibly sought by him, Li Zhengyuan decided to refine them only enough to use them. Perhaps these two treasures would bring him enormous benefits in the future.

The Pure Water Alms Bowl was different. Hongjun Daoist had personally bestowed it upon him. It could produce Immaculate Pure Water, nourish spirit roots, and dispel evil qi. With all the killing and slaughter to come during the Kalpa, this spirit treasure should be able to display its divine might.

Thus, he circulated his merit and began refining the Pure Water Alms Bowl. In only a few hundred years, he had refined more than thirty restrictions—a fairly rapid pace. As for the remaining few, Li Zhengyuan planned to refine them after reaching the Grand Divine Ability Realm.

Li Zhengyuan put away the spirit treasures, his heart brimming with indescribable joy. Then he began dealing with the remaining merit.

He circulated the spiritual power throughout his body and, with utmost concentration, refined it into a Merit Golden Wheel that shone with dazzling brilliance. Then he gently placed it behind his head. At once, he felt his aura grow ever more tranquil and peaceful, as though he had merged with heaven and earth.

As though standing before ten thousand Daos, the Great Dao seemed to unfold before him, demonstrating and expounding its teachings, elucidating the Earthly Dao of origin. Even his comprehension of Dao laws deepened another layer. All manner of profound and mysterious laws appeared clearly in his mind, leaving him utterly entranced.

At the same time, Li Zhengyuan exuded a deeply compassionate air, as though he held profound pity for all things in the world, inspiring reverence in those around him. Yet he was also vast-hearted and tolerant, making others feel as if bathed in the spring breeze.

After steadying his emotions, he began expounding the Dao to the Treasure-Seeking Rat at his side. Over this long period, he carefully imparted the portions of Dao arts he had comprehended to the Treasure-Seeking Rat. It was not because Li Zhengyuan harbored reservations that he did not teach it every Dao he knew, but because the Treasure-Seeking Rat's foundation was too shallow to touch upon deeper Dao. Its virtue was insufficient; forcing it to learn would bring it a hundred harms and not a single benefit.

Moreover, while Li Zhengyuan expounded the Dao for the Treasure-Seeking Rat, was he not also sorting through and perfecting his own Dao arts? He had been born naturally close to the Earthly Dao, and later had been fortunate enough to receive Heaven-Earth Daoist's inheritance of Earthly Dao laws. Yet there were simply too many profound Dao arts and insights, overwhelming him so completely that he had no time to carefully comprehend them.

Only now, while expounding the Dao to the Treasure-Seeking Rat, was he able to calm his heart and slowly sort through and integrate these chaotic principles one by one.

After speaking for roughly three hundred years, Li Zhengyuan suddenly fell silent. He had entered enlightenment, wrapped within the Dao, there yet not there, slowly comprehending the wondrous Dao within. Seeing that Li Zhengyuan had fallen into Dao enlightenment and fearing someone might disturb him, the Treasure-Seeking Rat set up an illusion array around him to conceal the heavenly secrets, then stood guard at his side.

As time passed, those Dao arts that had once been obscure and difficult to understand became like wine left to ferment for ages—ever richer and more mellow—until they formed a powerful force that enveloped Li Zhengyuan.

This force continuously nourished his spirit and expanded his wisdom, causing the realm of his heart and mind to advance day by day.

Although Li Zhengyuan's cultivation had not made any substantive breakthrough over these years, that did not mean he had made no progress.

On the contrary, he had undergone a qualitative transformation, like a vessel changed at its very core—once, he had merely been a water jar capable of holding one vat of water; now, he had become a vast and surging river, rushing onward without end!

This continued for ten thousand years. Then Li Zhengyuan suddenly broke open the cocoon formed by the Dao and stepped out. One step carried him a billion miles. He had comprehended the Dao art Heaven-Earth Daoist had bestowed before departing: Instant Billion-Mile Traversal. At the same time, he had also comprehended a grand divine ability: Heaven and Earth in the Sleeve!