Enlightenment

"Screee-"

The Wind-Howling Beast beat its wings ceaselessly, trying to throw Li Dao off.

But his legs were locked tightly around its body, and it could not shake him loose.

Man and beast grappled in midair, wobbling as they plunged into the forest.

"Die, damn you!"

Li Dao's blood and vital energy surged like beacon smoke, his iron fists alternating as they hammered the beast without pause.

Even the Ferocious Beast's thick hide and sturdy flesh buckled beneath that storm of blows, powered by physical strength surpassing that of ordinary Pure-Blooded Creatures.

The Wind-Howling Beast's resistance grew weaker and weaker, streaks of crimson trickling from its sharp beak.

Thud, thud, thud-

The sound of fists striking flesh echoed through the forest. Blood splashed across his face, but he did not even notice.

Only one thought remained in his mind: keep punching, and beat down everything before him!

Thud-

With that final punch, the Wind-Howling Beast beneath him stopped struggling.

Under his relentless battering, its once-majestic head had become a mangled mess of flesh and blood.

His own blood mingled with the Wind-Howling Beast's, drenching Li Dao until he looked like a man made of blood.

"Whew-"

"You really were hard to kill! I told you not to mess with me!"

Li Dao collapsed to one side and spoke between ragged breaths, though a gleam of delight flashed in his eyes.

Pummeling a Cave Heaven Realm Ferocious Beast to death with physical strength alone was already a feat worth boasting about.

He pulled a stalk of Treasure Medicine from his clothes and tossed it straight into his mouth. The furnace within him opened, rapidly refining it to replenish his vitality.

A large part of the reason he had been fleeing all this way was that he had raided Ferocious Beasts' lairs for this Treasure Medicine and been hunted down for it.

Feeling his divine power recover swiftly, he grew increasingly pleased with the Flesh Furnace he had devised.

Originally, he had only wanted to speed up digestion. He had never expected that, once his mastery of the Dao and his physique improved, it could advance further and give rise to a technique like Divine Furnace Protection.

"Since it can develop into a protective technique, it seems I underestimated this rough creation of mine, this Treasure Art."

"I'll have to put more effort into it from now on! Who knows, it might bring me a few more surprises!"

After recovering somewhat, he hoisted the bird's thoroughly battered head onto his shoulder and slowly headed into the distance.

Their battle had caused such a commotion that other Ferocious Beasts might well be drawn over. He had better get farther away.

He reached an abandoned cave, dragged the Wind-Howling Beast's corpse inside, and set it to one side.

Then came the most enjoyable part.

He lit a fire, cut off the meat, and placed the Wind-Howling Beast's two enormous wings beside the firepit.

Every so often, he sprinkled them with seasonings he had found in the Great Wilderness.

Before long, the roasting meat turned golden and began giving off tantalizing aromas.

Rumble-

Rumble-

Just as Li Dao was roasting the meat, he heard an earth-shaking peal of thunder.

"Is it going to rain?"

"That's quite a rare sight."

The sudden thunder startled Li Dao, making even the seasonings in his hand tremble.

He seldom encountered weather like this in the Great Wilderness. He picked up an enormous wing from beside the firepit.

Then he sat on a blue-gray rock beside the cave and gazed at the distant sky, where dark clouds massed and flashes of red and white lightning flickered.

The sight weighed heavily upon Li Dao. Beneath that blazing might of heaven, it seemed that all things could be destroyed.

Facing heaven's might at such close quarters, he felt utterly insignificant within the world, like a tiny ant beneath the vast blue sky.

A sense of helplessness swept through him, yet Li Dao's expression did not change.

He ate the enormous wing while watching the rolling thunder, allowing that terrifying heavenly might to envelop him.

There was not the slightest fear in his eyes. Instead, a gleam of eagerness shone within them.

As the saying went, contending with heaven, with earth, and with men brought boundless joy.

Drip-

Only when a raindrop landed on his forehead did his tangled thoughts slowly withdraw.

Then rain came pouring down. The world fell still, leaving only the incessantly falling droplets.

Li Dao admired the rain while eating his roast meat, utterly comfortable and at ease.

Before long, the mountain-sized Wind-Howling Beast had all gone into his stomach.

It turned into streams of warmth that swept through his limbs and bones, steadily nourishing his precious body.

At some point, he returned to the blue-gray rock where he had sat before.

Scattered raindrops drifted into the cave and landed on him. Their cool touch suddenly carried his thoughts into a mysterious, elusive state.

Before him, the rain fell like a curtain, splashing onto the ground and dripping into his heart.

This rain was born in heaven, buried in earth, and returned once more to the blue sky.

What did that mean?

Was a person living between heaven and earth not also a drop of water?

Yet even a drop of water had a day when it could return to the sky. How, then, should a person living in this world conduct himself?

Those questions fell into the sea of his heart and instantly stirred towering waves.

Watching the endless raindrops before him, he could not help closing his eyes.

His divine sense spread outward, and each drop of rain became clearer before him.

His whole being sank into a state of profound mystery, as though he were questioning the process by which rain was born and perished.

In truth, he was questioning himself: how should he walk the road ahead, and how should he conduct himself between heaven and earth?

Images of the world's future destruction flashed through his mind, and a bead of sweat slipped from his temple.

The aura radiating from him also grew strange, while strands of fathomless black mist seeped toward him from all around the cave.

They seemed intent on dragging him into boundless darkness.

Just as that black mist was about to pull him into the abyss, he saw a tender shoot sprouting upward from the soft soil.

From a tall, gnarled ancient tree beside it, a withered yellow leaf drifted down, covering the shoot and sheltering it from the wind and rain.

I considered my form akin to heaven and earth, receiving vital energy from yin and yang.

Yet heaven could perish, and earth could be destroyed. Only I could ferry myself across.

Plant a seed, build a precious raft to cross the world, and escape the endless cycle of rain's birth and death.

This was the Dao I would walk!

As that thought took root in his heart, the black mist surrounding him vanished in an instant.

In his mind, every vision of the future shattered like a mirror.

A profound aura blossomed from his body. It was his own "Dao."

Ever since transmigrating, he had carried a gnawing dread, as though the sun were plunging from the sky. Now it was swept away.

He slowly opened his eyes, a gleam of gold flashing in their depths.

"This rain came at just the right time."

"It washed away the filth of the world, and cleansed the distracting thoughts in my heart."

Only upon awakening did he realize that he had been so focused on pressing forward that he had nearly fallen into a barrier of the heart.

Fortunately, that barrier had now dissolved, and a smooth road lay before him.

"Next, it's time to plant a seed of my own."

"Then I need only wait for it to sprout and bear fruit!"

This had been an unusual kind of enlightenment. A barrier of the heart had corroded him, but he had also found the road he wished to walk.

Now he understood what had been missing from that earlier sense of incompleteness.

"Flesh-and-Blood Seed Dao. I'm looking forward to seeing what changes it brings."