Dao resonance

Was this... a system?

Lin Ke narrowed his eyes at the three choices.

Splitting firewood one hundred and eight thousand times had activated this system called the "way of the gentleman's choices." Lin Ke calculated how often he split firewood each day and how many days he had been here.

He had been here for over ten days.

One hundred and eight thousand swings?

At one swing per second, that made three thousand six hundred an hour. Ten hours a day meant thirty-six thousand swings, and ten days meant three hundred and six thousand.

But Lin Ke's predecessor had grown so accustomed to splitting firewood that, once Lin Ke fully adapted to this body, he could split almost two or three logs per second.

At his fastest, he could even swing more than fifty times in a single second!

That was fast enough to leave afterimages!

When nothing else needed doing, he could spend twelve, thirteen, or even fourteen hours a day splitting firewood.

When other tasks came up, he had to go to East Mountain and West Mountain to fell plum trees for firewood, which cost him a day or two.

After a rough calculation, it seemed this system was something he had brought with him, rather than something "Lin Ke" had possessed all along.

"Choices one, two, and three, huh..."

Looking at those three lines, along with the parenthetical note in the system-"fourteen characters, excluding punctuation"-Lin Ke refrained from making too many snide remarks and instead thought carefully.

What to take and what to leave? Choices?

What this system meant was actually quite clear.

Make a choice, and each option led to a particular outcome!

The first choice meant he would ultimately enter the Daoist order.

Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism were all among the upper three ranks. Whether one held Confucian, Daoist, or Buddhist registration, one stood firmly at the top of society.

The second choice was slightly weaker.

A military prodigy of the School of War naturally could not compare to the Daoist Dao Heir offered by the first choice.

A Dao Heir!

It might not sound like much, but if one translated that into the terms of an imperial dynasty...

The Dao Heir of the Daoist order was equivalent to an imperial dynasty's crown prince!

Without the third choice, the best option would undoubtedly have been "choice one": become a Dao Heir and embark on the path of immortal cultivation.

But there was a third choice here.

What was the third choice?

Confucianism!

Under all heaven, among the upper three ranks, middle six ranks, and lower nine ranks, who held the greatest prestige?

Three sovereign traditions, six paths, and nine ranks...

They appeared to stand like the three legs of a cauldron, but in truth, one tradition towered above the rest!

Moreover, of these three choices, only the third would not prevent Lin Ke from exploring the other ranks in the future.

So which of these three choices should he pick?

The answer was simple.

At that thought, a gleam flickered in Lin Ke's eyes. He had already made his decision.

He tightened his grip on the chopping blade and picked up another thick log from beside him.

The moment the log entered his hand, a single touch brought its center of gravity, center, weak points, and other positions into Lin Ke's mind.

Why was that?

Nothing more than a practiced hand!

In ancient times, an old oil seller placed a gourd on the ground, covered its mouth with a coin, and slowly poured oil into it with a ladle. The oil passed through the coin's hole without wetting the coin.

That story told of an old oil seller who set a gourd on the ground, laid a copper coin over its mouth, and slowly ladled oil into the gourd. The oil flowed through the hole, yet the coin remained dry.

That was a practiced hand!

Ten years of splitting firewood finally put to use-all focused on a single point, reaching the very pinnacle!

Crack!

The blade swung down, striking the log's weak point dead center. In an instant, the log split into two pieces of exactly equal mass.

Then he swiftly picked up the next log and swung almost without thinking, hitting the bull's-eye with a single stroke.

Then came the next...

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

In an unnamed pavilion, two middle-aged men were playing Go.

Click...

The sound of stones being placed rang out from time to time. Black and white crisscrossed the board, two great dragons fighting each other with all their might.

The two players each had their own distinctive air.

One wore fitted black martial attire, his eyes as wide as bronze bells and his face fierce. He sat sprawled boldly in his chair, looking less like a man playing Go than a street laborer competing at drinking or arguing.

The middle-aged man opposite him could not have been more different in posture and demeanor.

Gray at the temples, he wore a long white robe and sat upright, a jade pendant hanging at his waist. Neatly dressed and solemn, he exuded an abyss-deep presence simply by sitting there. One glance marked him as a refined scholar.

Neither man spoke. Their eyes remained fixed on the board, as though they had poured their entire beings into the game.

Suddenly, the middle-aged man in fitted black attire, who had just raised a white stone, froze. His eyes went vacant for a moment. Once their focus returned, he abruptly spoke. "Old man, can it be anyone?"

The middle-aged man in white remained seated upright and motionless while the other man was distracted. Only after he recovered and asked his question did he slowly reply, "Not the women of the household. Anyone else is permissible."

"Good, good, good."

The man in black rubbed his hands gleefully. "I've made my choice. Well, uh, let's stop here for today and call it a draw. Ha, hahaha, hahaha!"

As he spoke, he thrust out his large, rough hand and swept it forcefully across the board, even stirring the stones around as though kneading dough.

The board was instantly thrown into chaos.

"No matter. You can summon him after we finish." To his surprise, the man in white opposite him merely waved a hand.

An invisible force surged forth, and the disrupted board immediately returned to its original state.

Then the man in white said, "Come, continue."

"Huh?! What's wrong with you, old man?" The man in black's eyes widened like bronze bells. "It's only a game! How could it matter more than our business?!"

"Then concede." The man in white gave him an indifferent glance.

The man in black immediately sat down, grumbling and swearing. Yet once he settled into his seat, he abruptly froze, then instinctively looked toward the man in white.

This time, the man in white froze as well, then exchanged a glance with him.

"All right, this time I've really made my choice. Haha!" The man in black burst into laughter. "Who would have thought? Who would have thought!"

The man in white frowned, his attention leaving the board as well.

As he frowned, his graying temples stirred without a breeze. The surrounding space warped to varying degrees, and even the air trembled faintly.

Yet seeing the man in white frown only delighted the man in black. "Well? Shall I summon him?"

The man in white remained silent, merely giving a slight nod.

Overjoyed, the man in black said, "Looks like I'm going to win our wager this time! Ha, hahaha!"

The man in white looked at him indifferently and said softly, "Merely the son of a lowly whore."

"That again?!" The man in black glared, his brows rising. Bloody baleful intent began gathering around him, roiling through the air in the form of vast armies of men and horses.

The man in white calmly picked up the teacup beside him and took a gentle sip, scarcely reacting, as though that bloody baleful intent were no more than a fresh breeze against his face.

Neither spoke. Silence alone filled the pavilion.

Yet just then, as though they had seen or sensed something, both men's expressions suddenly changed.

"Impossible! Such Dao resonance..."

"What a fine poem! A fine poem indeed! Haha!"

Elsewhere, Lin Ke had finished splitting the firewood, but he did not stop there.

With leisurely, languid steps, he walked to the rustic gate and stretched gently, letting out an "ah" that sounded utterly content.

Then he slowly sat down against the gate, pillowed his head on his hands, crossed one leg over the other, and focused on the horizon before gradually letting his gaze drift.

Watching the bright sunshine at the edge of the sky and the clouds curling and unfurling, he narrowed his eyes slightly, a lazy smile appearing on his face.

Then he chuckled softly and murmured to himself in an ethereal yet languid voice:

"Who first awakens from the great dream?"

"My life... I alone know!"

Choice one, choice two, choice three?

Only children pick a single answer. In an adult's world, every question allows multiple choices!