The Luofu Dao Contention: The weak fight among themselves, the strong contend with those above

He couldn't make sense of it...

The old monk's wistful sigh had barely faded when a voice grumbling indignantly drifted over from the kitchen next door on the night breeze, mingled with a savory, spicy fragrance.

The old monk nimbly climbed off his bed and dusted the ash from his kasaya, his steps light.

Ah, if I can't make sense of it, then so be it. There's no need to contend over a single day or night. Nothing dispels a hundred worries like the sights and smells of everyday life. Even a heart steeped in meditation for a century can't resist the flavors of this mortal world.

Before long.

The old monk lifted the curtain and entered the kitchen. He helped himself to a coarse porcelain bowl and a pair of chopsticks, nudged Dingguang aside, and said with a benevolent smile:

"Good, good. Benefactor Yu's cooking has improved again."

Yu Tunzhou was stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected Master Xuanku to come and join the fun, and a hint of anticipation rose in his heart.

Usually, the master hardly ever set foot outside. He showed his face even less often than the old Daoist priest and spent all seven days of the week deep in dreams.

The vegetarian meals Dingguang brought him on time were often left untouched.

But whenever the master did come calling and ate one of his meals, he would usually answer one of his questions!

Dingguang found that he couldn't squeeze past his master, so he could only look pleadingly at his senior brother.

Yu Tunzhou chuckled helplessly and moved over to make room.

Li Jingxuan smiled. "Master, don't you abstain from meat?"

The old monk tucked in, taking a moment to wipe his glistening lips before replying:

"All things are born between heaven and earth. Meeting by chance is fate, and so is becoming acquainted. Parting ways is also fate, and going down the gullet is even more so."

"You're not a monk, so you don't understand the true meaning of it. This humble monk doesn't blame you."

Yu Tunzhou secretly gave him a thumbs-up. What a fine way for fate to arise, fade, and end up in the belly.

The cooking fire crackled, and steam filled the air. The group sat around the pot, and the mountain night's chill melted away.

Once the old monk had eaten his fill, he set down his bowl and chopsticks with a satisfied look and turned to Yu Tunzhou.

"Benefactor Yu, I've eaten one of your meals, so how about I answer one of your questions?"

Yu Tunzhou fell silent for a moment, then voiced the question weighing on his heart. "What exactly is being contested in the town's Dao Contention? Is it just providence? Why have the casualties over the years been so horrific? Is it really a worthwhile 'bargain' for all the factions?"

The Dao Contention was about to begin, and all he knew for now was that seizing providence was the foremost objective. But did that require the factions to fight one another to the death?

Shouldn't it be a contest of who cultivated their Qi Ingestion Method faster, or whose Qi Ingestion Method was stronger?

"That's more than one question, but put together, they can count as one."

The old monk smiled and raised a finger.

"A thousand years ago, someone established a Dao through martial arts, independent of the three Daos of immortals, gods, and Buddhas. It was an extension of the human Dao, and he gathered Martial Fortune into himself."

"Let's set aside what this person did in the past and what he later went through, and speak only of the present."

"The disciples of every faction have gathered in the town to divide up his Martial Fortune. In truth, however, the providence we can forcibly scatter and strip away is extremely limited. Otherwise, the factions would have swarmed him and forcibly divided it all up long ago. Why wait until today?"

"And the providence stripped away was nowhere near enough for every faction's disciples to forge martial Dao immortal foundations at the same time. The factions originally planned to take turns enjoying it, until something happened more than nine hundred years ago."

"On that occasion, someone suddenly heard a voice transmission by his ear, ordering him to defeat another person in the town, with a reward promised if he fought well. He went as told, and after his victory, he indeed received a strand of martial Dao providence, along with his next instruction."

"But this time he wasn't instructed to defeat a martial artist, but to... kill one! And his opponent heard the very same words."

"The owner of that voice was naturally the owner of all that Martial Fortune, the one suppressed beneath the grotto-heaven."

At that, Yu Tunzhou's heart trembled. For some reason, he felt a powerful malice rushing toward him.

It was as if he saw someone standing beside a pond, casually tossing in a little bait and making the fish fight until their heads broke and blood flowed, yet they had no choice but to fight...

He finally understood why, in the town's most brutal contest, only one person had survived!

"Did the factions just let him sow discord among their disciples as he pleased?" Yu Tunzhou asked in a low voice. "Was following his orders and currying favor with him really the only way to obtain enough extra Martial Fortune?"

"Yes, but also no."

The old monk nodded, then shook his head.

"That person does indeed have control over Martial Fortune and can dispense it as he pleases. But whether you can pocket that providence depends on whether you can hold on to it. Besides, not just anyone is qualified to receive his instructions."

"The real key is not gaining his approval, but winning the favor of Martial Fortune."

"In the past, there have been those who followed none of his words, yet part of the Martial Fortune came to them of its own accord, as if choosing another worthy master, and fell into their hands."

"Benefactor Yu, do you now understand what the 'Luofu Dao Contention' is?"

The old monk gave the youth a meaningful look.

Without realizing it, Yu Tunzhou had risen to his feet. He took a deep breath, suppressing the surge in his chest, and said each word deliberately:

"The Luofu Dao Contention... isn't just a life-and-death struggle among the disciples of the factions. It's also a contention with that person over the Great Dao, over the martial Dao?!"

"Exactly!" The old monk burst out laughing. "A thousand years ago, that person spoke a profound truth: the weak fight among themselves, the strong contend with those above. That's precisely how it is!"

"And the key to contending with those above, according to what the factions have concluded over the years, is a tug-of-war of temperament, a transformation of the Dao heart, a transcendence of oneself, and even more so, a display of innate talent."

"Reaching the 'pinnacle' of any one of these may win the favor of Martial Fortune."

"As for whether the 'losses' involved are worthwhile for the factions..."

The old monk sighed and finally answered Yu Tunzhou's earlier question.

"For the factions, losing one genius every thirty years amounts to little. It doesn't even matter whether an immortal seed emerges. But the Martial Fortune on that person must be stripped away completely. As long as it's taken out of this grotto-heaven, the providence will eventually return to heaven and earth. That is the thousand-year plan."

The old monk sighed. For a hegemon of a thousand years ago to have fallen to such straits was truly enough to leave one wistful beyond words.

Beside him, Li Jingxuan gazed silently out the window.

Of everyone present, only the little monk took advantage of the pause in eating to scoop fish from the pot, as though he could never get enough.

Master Xuanku patted the little monk on the head, his expression kind, making no move to stop his disciple from eating his fill.

Since ancient times, food had been heaven to the people. An appetite too great to satisfy was a bad thing in the mortal world, but sometimes it was a blessing as vast as heaven.

Yu Tunzhou's emotions surged, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

The true meaning of this Luofu Dao Contention had never been the victories and defeats of the younger generation, but an unseen contention over the Great Dao with that person...

Later that night.

After giving the kitchen a quick tidy, Yu Tunzhou returned to his room for that night's Qi Ingestion cultivation.

Master Xuanku's words that evening had been like a guide pointing him toward another path.

The weak fought among themselves, the strong contended with those above!

But before becoming strong, he still had to put in the practice.

He carefully took out the jade bottle containing the Water Fortune Dragon Qi.

According to Ao Xiyu, all he had to do was hold it beneath his nose, take a light sniff, and draw the Qi into his body...

Hmm?

What a pure, mellow, and peculiar fragrance.

Yu Tunzhou took a light sniff, and it was as if an abundant flow of immortal Qi entered his body, coursing lightly through his limbs and bones.

The internal Qi seed in his Dantian was bathed as though in spring rain. The Spark Instruction circulated silently on its own, devouring the pure Qi around him at twice its usual speed.

He couldn't resist taking another light sniff.

This time, he felt his Primordial Spirit grow clear, and a powerful longing from Little Black came from the Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth.

Yu Tunzhou pondered for a moment, then sniffed a third time.

In the Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth, the ocean that had always been boundless yet more like a dead sea now rippled with waves, one after another. It was no longer merely a dead sea!

It was as if life other than the black fish had finally appeared in this vast, boundless world.