Venerable Xiaoyao and the others looked toward Li Ling, only to see golden radiance surge from his fingertip, like a dying lamp kindled in the night sky.
"He... he's burning his own finger!"
Bin Yuansheng, Fu Sima, and the others cried out in astonishment.
"What exactly is he trying to do?"
Venerable Xiaoyao frowned. "Burning his finger? This method seems to consume his own cultivation and dharma power to invoke the true intent of the laws...
"If an ordinary person learned this method, he would undoubtedly be an unorthodox cultivator of the demonic path, for it would damage his foundations and consume his life.
"But when one of great virtue and power burns himself to illuminate others, it is an act that transcends the mundane and enters the realm of sainthood.
"Fellow Daoist Li is emulating the virtuous sages of antiquity with this finger-burning almsgiving, bringing his spiritual wisdom to its fullest brilliance!"
He had vaguely discerned the deeper meaning behind Li Ling's actions.
In truth, the affairs of this world-orthodox or unorthodox, immortal or demon-were separated by a single thought.
Ordinary people were dull and unenlightened. One careless misstep could turn such a practice into a method of self-harm and send them falling onto the Unorthodox Path.
Yet in Li Ling's hands, it was grand and dignified.
At this moment, his body seemed to have become an immense stick of spirit incense, or a torch that burned itself to illuminate others.
A lonely lamp against dark walls; the endless ages were a night. Through the long course of history, within the River of Time, most living beings were ignorant and unremarkable.
They had not been born this way.
Heaven brought forth all things to nourish humanity. All intelligent beings were born bearing the essence of heaven and earth, the