Chapter 506: Artificial selection

Within Mount Luofu, inside Zhu Ming Cave.

In the core area, on an immortal mountain, a small maze-like mechanism was operating, controlling the traps and 'tests' outside.

Next to all of this, a single orchid swayed.

Its leaves were short and soft, with one flower on one stalk. The flower was like jade petals, six petals and three stamens, emerald green in color, without black veins or purple patterns. The orchid had not yet bloomed, its bud not yet emerged from the soil, but its fragrance already filled the air.

When a gentle breeze passed, its fragrance wafted outwards, exceptionally ethereal.

Li Qi took a deep breath, feeling refreshed and invigorated. The books once said that the orchid was the ancestor of fragrance and a symbol of virtue.

It is said: The orchid does not cease to be fragrant because no one wears it. When one travels with a gentleman, the fragrance is like entering a room filled with orchids; after a long time, one does not notice it, for one has become one with it.

Granny Lan, she must be a gentle and elegant Senior, like a gentleman's fragrance.

The two hurried forward. Shen Shuibi eagerly said to the orchid, "Granny Lan, Granny Lan! You—"

She stopped speaking halfway.

Li Qi's expression also became somewhat off, and he chose to stand aside.

As previously mentioned, this orchid was still alive.

But… it didn't feel 'alive'.

Its Spirit Soul was completely extinguished, leaving only its body, swaying, as if it were… the 'prize' for breaking through that maze.

This was a true Opportunity.

A First Grade orchid!

The events here were not difficult for the two of them to understand.

Li Qi patted Shen Shuibi's shoulder and said, "It seems… Senior Lan protected her life force before her death. Knowing that her Spirit Soul was extinguished and she wouldn't live long, she used her last strength to set up these Opportunities, even spreading the cultivation method outwards."

"So… those fluctuations were lures. At the last moment, she threw out the Legacy of Mount Luofu, hoping that Mount Luofu could find a suitable successor in the future."

Yes, a successor. At her last moment, Granny Lan thought of the Legacy of Mount Luofu. Under the human emperor sword, she might have thought she was the sole survivor.

Thus, she designed this maze at the end, guiding this series of challenges. Everything outside was a trap she set. Those thousands of people, and even countless more who might come in the future, were her 'difficulties' for screening successors.

The cultivation method she spread would attract these people to 'challenge' the trials. All the items on her, Spiritual Artifacts, Medicinal Pills, Spirit Treasures, were already placed here, and even her own body was here.

Those First Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade items outside were merely casually scattered bait, attracting those lower grades to challenge the trials. Although there were rewards for challenging, they were just miscellaneous items.

The true treasures, the true Legacy of Mount Luofu, required passing all the assessments and finally arriving at Zhu Ming Cave.

As long as one person passed the test, he would receive all the inheritance of a First Grade Great Power, including her main body.

The value of this First Grade orchid was self-evident, probably far exceeding a First Grade world.

Then, Zhang Xin's matter could be logically deduced.

Zhang Xin was the one who inadvertently picked up the Legacy, and when he came to this place, he wanted to enter and access the true Legacy, to get the treasures inside.

However, the interior of Mount Luofu was too dangerous. Without Mount Luofu's suppression, the Ghost Gate opened wide, and Yin ghosts ran rampant. He didn't dare to venture in himself, so he maneuvered outside, looking for opportunities, and even established relationships with those Second Grades.

At this time, he happened to encounter Li Qi and the others. So, taking this Opportunity, Zhang Xin, under the banner of Mount Luofu, combined with benefits, incited the people outside, began to gather manpower, and rushed inside.

The result was also obvious: they successfully rushed inside, triggered this maze, and activated the 'challenge'.

If someone succeeded, then… this person would become a direct Disciple of Mount Luofu, a personal Disciple of Granny Lan.

"This is Granny Lan's wish, so let it be." Shen Shuibi shook her head, "Li Qi, how about we stay here for a while? I want to see how many of those thousands of people outside can break in."

"No problem. I'll go deal with the matters outside first. As for the challenges and assessments, you can guard them here." Li Qi nodded. At this moment, he didn't know what to say either.

Facing the remains and last wish of a Senior, perhaps patiently waiting for the dust to settle was the best way to respond.

Li Qi silently left. He knew he was of no use here, so he let the rabbit be quiet.

As for him, he would go out and finish the miscellaneous tasks first. After that, the rabbit should calm down, and then he could talk about comforting her. That would be best.

Li Qi left this place and went outside, pulling the old horse to continue searching for the remaining Materials, Spiritual Plants, and the like.

Shen Shuibi, on the other hand, sat cross-legged on this immortal mountain, observing the scene within the miniature maze. The events outside had already been mapped here.

Here, one could clearly see the performance of the young Taoists challenging the trials outside.

There were already casualties, but not many. Granny Lan's Heart-Nature was not bloodthirsty, but… after all, no one was controlling the difficulty, so casualties were unavoidable.

However, many people also benefited greatly, some even achieving a Breakthrough on the spot.

Some of those Spiritual Artifacts and Spirit Medicines were also seized by people.

And so…

Many Taoists almost went mad.

Two or three days passed. They began to form factions, engage in schemes, and divide into different forces, each coalescing around a different Yang Spirit Practitioner. They tried every means to eliminate dissent within this maze relic and hoard various Spirit Treasures.

Despite only a few thousand people, several 'wars' broke out.

Their Dao Heart became chaotic amidst these things.

These people, when had they ever seen such a high density of Spirit Treasures? And among them were not a few Third Grade ones, which could be obtained just by challenging and passing the relic's tests.

As for how to hold onto them after obtaining them, that was their own problem.

In just three days, more people died at the hands of their own kind than were killed by the relic, and by a great deal.

The relic at most accidentally killed dozens, but the thousands of casualties were all caused by the Taoists themselves.

Ouyang Dongsheng and Liu Dewang even directly turned hostile. Their two families fought fiercely over seven Third Grade Spiritual Artifacts, resulting in over a hundred casualties. In the end, they had to find another one and were forced to split them equally.

Under such circumstances, the Old Taoist also had to hide. He didn't want to get involved in these matters, nor did he want to take risks. If he were to be surrounded and attacked alone, he estimated he wouldn't have a chance to go back and see his Disciple.

So he found a place and honestly acted like a timid turtle.

After all, he was also a Second Grade, and others didn't dare to do anything to him, nor did they want to provoke him, lest the Old Taoist join other factions. So they let him be.

However, being a Cultivator after all, he unexpectedly discovered that there was still a puzzle in the place he was hiding, which piqued his interest.

Since he was idle anyway, he hid while solving this puzzle.

As for Zhang Xin.

He was the only one here who understood the true intention of this relic.

Therefore, he didn't engage in meaningless争抢 because he knew these were merely petty gains, scattered trash next to the true Great Opportunity, just the scent emanating from a piece of meat.

Just some scent made these people so frantic, truly… ignorant.

So, he didn't care about the other people's struggles, pretending as if he had no intention of snatching anything, and hid like the Old Taoist. The only difference was that the Old Taoist was truly hiding, while he was wandering around, searching for the true location of the Opportunity.

Shen Shuibi just sat there, quietly watching them.

These people were all too ordinary. In her opinion, none of them were worthy candidates to be the successor of Mount Luofu.

Not to mention having extraordinary Cultivation talent like Li Qi, they weren't even good people.

However, this should only be the first batch, right?

Or… is it no longer the first batch?

The screening mechanism set up by the First Grade before her death should ensure a continuous stream of people come to participate in this screening.

Granny Lan was truly afraid that the Legacy of Mount Luofu would disappear. She probably wouldn't have done such a thing before. In Shen Shuibi's memory, Granny Lan had always been a gentle and kind person.

"Don't worry, Granny Lan, you don't need to worry anymore. Mount Luofu is not destroyed, Her Ladyship is not dead. Everything still has a chance to start anew…" She sat beside the orchid, speaking to it.

Although she knew the other party couldn't hear, she was speaking to herself.

It's just…

Is there really?

Perhaps not. The moment she accepted Li Qi's proposal meant that the Dao Opportunity of Mount Luofu was handed over in exchange for a chance to live.

Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron, the Dao path is broken.

His path ends here.

For a Cultivator, there is nothing more painful than this. Your path, the truth you pursued your entire life, the ultimate goal you spent countless hours exploring, is shattered by someone, and you can never see it again in this life.

How desperate must that be?

It's like telling a physicist that physics doesn't exist. For someone who pursues truth as their lifelong goal, it directly extinguishes all their dreams, all their passion.

This is especially painful for long-lived beings.

Why are long-lived beings willing to live long?

It's not because they fear death, but because pursuing the Dao with a finite life can never be achieved. So they must live long, prolong their lives, and use endless life to endlessly pursue the end of the Dao, all the way to the end.

If the Dao path is broken, what meaning does this long life have? All that remains is pain. Endless life is no longer an advantage, but a torment.

Shen Shuibi knew that the troubles of all beings were nothing more than seeking but not obtaining, being greedy but incapable, loving but without fruit, being born with delusion, and following ignorance. This was even the Dao foundation of the Demon of Affliction.

Life must have its own pursuit to continue. A life without pursuit is only pain.

However, only the lowest forms of life pursue material desires, seeking to be fed, clothed, and to reproduce.

Further up, life loses its desire for material things, pursuing vanity, recognition, status in the hearts of others, wanting to be remembered in history.

Continuing upwards, these types of life already feel that even being remembered in history is useless. They want to realize their ambitions, want to establish a certain system, want to write a great masterpiece, want to surpass their own limits. These are their goals; they pursue self-realization.

Further up are the Dao seekers.

What is called self-realization is merely self-satisfaction. True Dao seekers seek nothing but the ultimate truth, the root of all things.

And a broken Dao path is telling them that 'truth' will forever close its door to them. Their future life will never achieve this greatest goal.

This is the most cruel 'seeking but not obtaining'.

How many people whose Dao path was broken had their Dao Heart collapse because of it, were invaded by the Demon of Affliction, and ultimately became demons?

The pillar of Mount Luofu, Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron, was about to face such a future.

She spoke of a chance to start anew…

In the future, could Mount Luofu still produce a First Grade?

Shen Shuibi could not see such a future. The First Grade Dao Opportunity, among all the heavens and myriad worlds… the only known one was in the hands of Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron. The others had already been used up; some became true First Grades, while other Great Powers ultimately died and their Dao dissipated along with that Opportunity, perishing together.

Yes, who said that having a Dao Opportunity guarantees promotion?

Dream on. A Dao Opportunity merely gives you a chance to try. If you fail… you bear the consequences.

So, after a moment of silence, Shen Shuibi chose to change her words—

"Granny Lan, I was wrong just now. It's not about going back, but… we can continue to move forward, just as you desperately wanted to leave behind a Legacy. Since we are not destroyed, the Dao that Mount Luofu has passed down will surely have someone reach its end. Although the Sect Master's Dao path is broken, he is still a Second Grade and can hold up a sky. As long as the sky hasn't collapsed and people are still alive, someone will always continue to walk."

She said this to the orchid.

Since that was the case, there was only one way: to continue forward.

"However, I still cannot leave you here, Granny Lan. But I will help you perfect these methods you left behind. This way, you will one day find a suitable successor."

Saying this, Shen Shuibi began to arrange the remaining methods.

She reinforced the maze, added circulating spell formations, introduced new methods, placed new prizes, and perfected the logic for prize distribution.

Shen Shuibi even took out her Pill Furnace, the 'Three-Five Furnace' that had helped her and Li Qi escape danger several times, and then cast a set of imprints on it.

This was an Alchemy method. Later, when Li Qi arrived, she would have Li Qi set up an automatic Alchemy mechanism here using the Spiritual Artifact assembly line and Shamanic Silkworm Artifact techniques, to replenish the consumed prizes.

She couldn't do this, so she could only leave it to Li Qi.

As for the Alchemy Materials…

Those who died in this maze assessment mechanism should be very good Materials, so a corresponding collection device would need to be made…

Shen Shuibi modified the maze, preparing to extend its lifespan to over four hundred years.

This amount of time should be enough to find a suitable successor, right?

After doing all this, Shen Shuibi also left a message, telling the story of Granny Lan to the final winner.

All these matters were concluded five days later.

By then, Li Qi had also returned.

It was time to return to Shaman God Mountain.