After a few cups of yellow wine, He Laohun was a little tipsy. A drink like this after more than half a day of hard labor was truly a pleasure.
He was on fairly good terms with Jiang Yi in the Large Compound. Seeing him "drowning his sorrows in wine," he offered some advice:
"Brother Yi, let it go. Luo Qian'er is proud and haughty. All she thinks about is getting into the Inner Sect and climbing to a higher branch.
"The talisman money you earn in a month isn't enough for her pills and cave abode rental. Why keep clinging to her?
"We have to live for ourselves! Look at Old Li in our compound. He scrapes by, and his wife still nags him for being useless!"
Jiang Yi sipped his yellow wine. Naturally, he was not drinking to drown his sorrows. Having weathered plenty of upheaval across two lives, he had long since tempered his disposition.
It was just that he had opened his eyes to find himself a Mortal Laborer doing menial work in a Demonic Dao sect, toiling day and night like an ox or horse, with no hope of escaping his cage;
Then he had obtained the heavenly book, investigated cause and effect, and gained hope of securing an opportunity to cultivate.
The feelings stirred by those dizzying rises and falls were too tangled to explain to an outsider.
He had to press them down with wine!
"Brother He."
Jiang Yi set down his cup and said:
"From now on, I just want to earn some talisman money through honest work, see if I can attend a few lessons in the Inner Sect, and seek a cultivation method to win myself a way forward."
Surprise appeared on He Laohun's face before he lowered his head:
"Brother Yi, it's good that you want to better yourself, but an Inner Sect lesson isn't cheap. And... it's not much use.
"Take your brother's advice. That road leads nowhere."
Jiang Yi raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised:
"Brother He, you've been to the Inner Sect?"
According to the original owner's memories, He Laohun was an old hand at Crimson Flame Peak. After his twelve-year term ended, he had not gone down the mountain, remaining in the Qianji Sect instead.
He ordinarily started work on time but never did any extra, resting as soon as he had put in eight hours or completed his quota.
Nor was he diligent in meditation and practice. He had always given the fixed impression of someone eating his fill and waiting to die, drifting through his days.
"Ah, I attended a Dao Academy too. I once hoped to reach the top of the Twelve-Story Tower and become a Foundation Establishment True Person..."
As though old feelings had been stirred, He Laohun sighed:
"Back then, I worked myself ragged earning two thousand in talisman money every month, sleeping in a communal bunk and gnawing steamed buns, all to save up for lessons in the Inner Sect.
"I went eleven times over a year, but gained nothing.
"The things the sect elders taught were always about the 'Great Dao,' 'longevity,' 'grotto-heavens,' and 'blessed lands.'
"They spread the boundlessly vast mountains and rivers of the Five Domains before your eyes, yet never breathed a word about how to take the first step."
So the public lessons had no substance?
Just what you'd expect from a Demonic Dao sect!
Jiang Yi thought:
So the Qianji Sect lets Mortal Laborers attend lessons and seek cultivation methods just to harvest them like chives. They never intended to teach anything real!
"Brother Yi, laugh if you like, but even now I still dream of stepping into the Inner Sect, sitting below the teaching platform, and attending lessons alongside those Qianji Sect disciples..."
Fine wrinkles gathered at the corners of He Laohun's eyes. Years of labor had deepened the marks of time, making him look like a little old man of sixty when he was barely in his forties.
"The most poisonous medicine in this world is the word 'hope.'
"Especially for people like you and me. Who was born wanting to be a Mortal Laborer? Who doesn't long to cultivate, feasting on rosy clouds and drinking dew, gathering Qi and refining arts?
"But there's no chance! Mortal Laborers are material to be consumed, not talents for cultivation! I only understood that after spending every last bit of my talisman money!"
Jiang Yi fell silent.
Who could have imagined that He Laohun, the least ambitious-looking man in the Large Compound, had once possessed such a firm, tenacious heart for the Dao?
"Brother He, if the Demonic Dao is like this, is the Immortal Dao the same?"
Changing the subject, Jiang Yi asked:
"I heard a teacher at the Dao Academy mention that the Southern Continent lacks spiritual potency, far less than the Eastern Victory Continent under the Immortal Dao's rule."
He Laohun downed several more cups of yellow wine. Perhaps it had gone to his head, for his words grew unrestrained:
"Ah, what difference is there? It's just that the Immortal Dao is hard to enter and values pedigree, while the Demonic Dao teaches without distinction and puts everything to use.
"Think about it, Brother Yi. Immortal Dao or Demonic Dao, they're both paths of cultivation, seeking immortality and freedom for all eternity.
"With the same goal, sooner or later different roads lead to the same destination. What difference could there be?
"Does following the Immortal Dao mean you'll pity the world and care about ordinary mortals? Put plainly, what towering figure ever gives ants a second glance?"
"Brother He, you have insight, real insight. Tell me more..."
Jiang Yi immediately grew interested and hurried to pour He Laohun more wine, hoping to hear something of substance.
He automatically ignored the resentment and indignation mixed in, picking out only what was useful.
There was no helping it. As a Mortal Laborer, he had access to far too little information.
"The real difference between the Immortal Dao and the Demonic Dao is actually where you're born.
"If you aren't born with a father who has entered the Immortal Dao, or a fate and Root Bone superior to others, you have no chance in this lifetime.
"With the Demonic Dao, humble birth doesn't matter. It can give you an 'opportunity' to try, to stake everything."
He Laohun pinched a strip of wild rabbit meat and chewed it without a drink:
"I also heard an Inner Sect elder say that the Eastern Victory Continent has abundant spiritual potency, but the higher sects control and gather it all, establishing the Nine-Rank Dao Register.
"Without a pedigree, it's extremely hard to enter a sect. Without receiving a register, it's hard to cultivate. You can only become an unregistered wild cultivator of the mountains and marshes. That's why Immortal Dao cultivators from the Eastern Victory Continent often come to our Southern Continent to seek a living..."
Jiang Yi turned those words over and more or less reached a conclusion.
If cultivating the Demonic Dao meant being a "beast of burden working for others" on an endless road, the Immortal Dao sounded like "passing the civil service exam and securing a post."
"There wasn't much useful in those eleven lessons, but I'll pass one thing along to you, Brother Yi."
Perhaps because he had enjoyed his drinking today, He Laohun spoke freely, unlike his usual evasive, guarded self.
"On the Immortal Dao path, having a father who's a True Person makes Foundation Establishment easier, and having an ancestor who reached the twelfth level of Qi Refining makes entering the sect easier.
"The Demonic Dao path comes down to one word: 'struggle.' Without fighting or seizing, without money or backing, you'll never turn your fortunes around in this life."
Jiang Yi considered this carefully and agreed.
Attaining the Dao had been difficult since ancient times. Of course every step was fraught with obstacles.
He looked at He Laohun. Presumably, those words from the Inner Sect elder had dealt him a blow, making him feel the road ahead was bleak, so he had chosen to "lie flat."
"Every word is a pearl, Brother He. I've learned a great deal!"
Jiang Yi raised his cup in a toast, deliberately holding it lower to show him full respect.
"Brother Yi, you look like someone who could reach the Fifth Level of Qi Refining! Give it your all!"
Jiang Yi's manner pleased He Laohun immensely, and he said expansively:
"Anything else you want to ask? Your brother has seen a thing or two..."
Jiang Yi did not probe any deeper. He had already drawn out most of what substance He Laohun had to offer, so he merely asked in passing:
"Why are we called the 'Demonic Dao'? 'Demonic' doesn't sound very nice."
Breathing wine fumes, He Laohun swayed his head and spoke with the measured cadence of someone reciting a book:
"The 'demonic' in Demonic Dao actually has two origins.
"First, it was the founding patriarch's own title, the name he established for the Dao lineage and its teachings. His disciples and their descendants couldn't very well change it;
"Second, this word 'demonic' doesn't mean doing evil and running wild without regard for law or heaven. It means being unfettered by rules, restrictions, and sinful karma, seeking only to 'preserve one's true nature and do no harm to oneself.'"
Jiang Yi understood, feeling strongly that this meal had been worth treating him to. He had managed to cram in some "basic knowledge" and at least understood what the Demonic Dao was about.
The two drank, ate meat, and rambled from topic to topic, only stopping after the midpoint of Hai Hour.
Jiang Yi settled the bill, spending a full four hundred in talisman money. His purse instantly shriveled.
Without the substantial income from his recruitment share, his heart truly would have bled at the painful expense.
Carrying He Laohun, who could barely walk without staggering, Jiang Yi felt his way along the mountain path in the darkness of the night.
The latter might truly have been drunk, for he was still muttering:
"Brother Yi, you're still young. Whatever you do, don't be like me, thinking you're a talent for cultivation, only to spend all your hard-earned talisman money before learning that cultivation is fishing for the moon in the water... That road is far, far too hard... Take your brother's advice. Muddle your way to the Fifth Level of Qi Refining, save some talisman money, and go down the mountain to enjoy yourself..."
Back at the Large Compound, Jiang Yi simply dumped He Laohun onto his bed without tending to him further.
He had cultivation, after all; a little cold would not make him ill.
Then Jiang Yi sat in the courtyard, letting the breeze disperse the smell of wine from his body before washing up and going inside.
"Though the Dao be long and fraught, I must still press forward. Otherwise, wouldn't this tremendous stroke of luck have been wasted?"
Jiang Yi leaned against the rough earthen wall as before. That page of the Golden Book appeared in his vision, its tiny tadpole-like characters flickering.
After he had specified the prerequisites, there was only one opportunity listed!
[Matter investigated: opportunities suited to oneself] [Case one: two days from now, three quarters past midnight, north of Crimson Flame Peak, where fallen trees lie on the shaded side of the mountain, Moonlight Essence will gather and Flowing Essence will descend. A means may be found to swallow it.]
Before you continue