Chapter 670: Observation

On the plaza of Zhanhu Gate, Li Qi said with a smile, “It seems you’ve gained something.”

“Thank you for your guidance, sir. I think I’m starting to understand what you mean.”

Li Qi nodded slightly, “You should have a purpose in what you do. Cultivation is merely a means. And to achieve that purpose, you should have your own set of evaluation standards for the world, so you know what is good and what is bad.”

“I will ponder it,” Ju Ye bowed, expressing gratitude.

He understood Li Qi’s meaning.

To judge good and bad, one must first have standards. Without standards, all things are the same, and there is no distinction between good and bad.

And this standard is how a person views the world, which is the manifestation of the Dao within a person.

Such standards do not necessarily align with the external objective world, so they require tempering. Either you smooth out the external world to change the entire world, or the external world smooths you out, changing your standards.

But no matter what, you must first establish your own standards. With standards, you gain the qualification to scrutinize this world.

Yes, people without standards are not qualified to scrutinize the world, because to them, the world is all the same; good and evil, strength and weakness, are naturally occurring. In the end, you can only be influenced by the ways of the world, letting the ways of the world become your sole standard, drifting with the current.

However, establishing one’s own set of standards requires a large amount of practical experience, thought, and observation.

Ju Ye was still too young, having experienced too little. It was difficult for him to establish his own standards, meaning he had no ‘Dao’ of his own. His standards were all instilled from external sources, and he didn't even understand where these standards came from.

Take the simplest example—

The external world tells you that money is very important.

Everyone tells you money is very important, and your practical experience also proves that money is very important. The concepts instilled by others, as well as specific events in external society, all indicate that money is very important.

That is, you also think money is very important.

So, why do you think money is very important?

Perhaps some would say that money can buy social resources, food, housing, and even the loyalty of others, leading to the idea that ‘money is omnipotent.’

So, is money really omnipotent?

Don’t think this is a simple question, because in a primitive world, or during a disaster, when social rules collapse, is money still useful?

This is not to deny the role of money, but rather that one should think about where the ‘usefulness’ of money comes from. Why is money useful? Why can a piece of paper serve so many functions?

Ultimately, through discussion, study, and comparison of historical and modern Systems, we can reach a conclusion.

That is: money is a power to allocate social resources under the current social System. Under the current social System, holding currency means holding the power to allocate resources across the entire society. This power can be exchanged for materials, means of production, and labor. And the source of this power is the ‘collective consensus of society,’ it is all people in society collectively who have endowed ‘money’ with this exchange capability.

Therefore, money is useful, but its usefulness is based on the current social rules. If the social rules change, it may no longer be useful.

Thus, you then understand the essence of ‘money.’ It may not be entirely correct, but at least it is a conclusion.

Thus, by knowing the essence of money, you can better utilize money, or even subvert it.

Instead of holding an empty and superficial view like ‘money can buy things, so money is useful.’

It’s like you only know how to use Daoist Art, but you don’t know how to approach the ‘Dao’ through Daoist Art.

Yes, under this logic, ‘money’ is Daoist Art, and the operational logic of the entire society is the ‘Dao’ of society, which is also the Dao of civilization.

It is the ‘Dao’ that developed Daoist Art. If you master the Dao, you can better master money.

Under this view, if you don’t know how money works, and others use their Dao to override your money, your money becomes useless. No matter how much money you accumulate, it will be of no use, just like when the Human Dao changes the celestial phenomena, and the Daoist Art cultivated by countless civilizations for a lifetime directly collapses.

Those who merely believe in phenomena, treat Daoist Art as truth, and regard the ‘Dao’ as something ethereal and illusory, lack cognitive ability. This is because they perceive the world only through experience and instinct, carelessly believing in life experiences, relying on everyday common sense, and lacking comprehensive study and rigorous deduction.

If the world is a game, then the ignorant study the gameplay, the optimal solution for a certain playstyle, and how to improve stats. But those who pursue the Dao study the game’s code, or even its underlying language.

Explore the ‘Dao,’ and don’t spend too much energy on ‘Daoist Art.’

Once you have a certain understanding of the ‘Dao,’ ‘Daoist Art’ will naturally become proficient, even more so than those who study Daoist Art for a lifetime.

This is what Li Qi wanted to tell Ju Ye.

This is what the world wants to tell all civilizations in the Universe.

The Dao that Li Qi is going to spread in the Immortal Heaven is this ‘Dao.’ This is not a specific thought or idea, but a complete method of cognition and thinking.

Through this method, the conclusions drawn may very well be completely opposite, but that does not prevent this set of cognitive and thinking methods from continuing to be effective.

The conclusion Li Qi drew through this method is that the world is objectively real, just as money is objectively real, but the world in my eyes and the world in your eyes may have some differences in their manifestations.

This is the answer Li Qi believes in. Li Qi believes this, but he may not be correct.

As for the Spirit Dao, they believe that the world is simply the world, and human definitions do not change the world itself. What they seek is the ‘true essence of the world,’ that is, the foundation of everything, and then through this foundation, they interpret all possibilities of the entire world.

And for the Demonic Dao, their cognition is the True World. The world itself is shaped by their subjective will: when their eyes open, flowers bloom; when their eyes close, flowers wither.

For the Dao of Reason, the foundation of the world cannot be traced. The limited phenomenal world is merely interpreted subjectively, and the true essence is unknowable to us, beyond logical description. Therefore, one only needs to focus on phenomena, categorize phenomena, and from within phenomena, like blind men touching an elephant, grope for a tiny bit of the ‘Dao.’

As for the Dao Orthodoxy, they acknowledge the ultimate existence of the Dao and believe that the ultimate Dao universally exists in all things. Matter itself carries the Dao, and the Dao is the manifestation of material laws. As long as it is paired with ‘virtue,’ one can enter the Dao and achieve true freedom.

This is also what is called: ‘That which moves through all things is the Dao; that which pervades heaven and earth is virtue.’

These are the answers they obtained through thought and practice. Therefore, when you delve into why the world exists, and seek to understand the essence of the world, to understand what the ‘Dao’ is, you must first understand that for the external world, human practice is the essence.

Therefore, there is the saying, ‘The Dao is within.’ Through ‘The Dao is within,’ we then arrive at the conclusion, ‘The Dao is without.’

Although the various Dao Orthodoxy contradict each other, they provide directions and avenues for human thought. This is fundamentally different from being muddled and guessing blindly, or simply drifting with the current.

Perhaps the views and conclusions of the various Dao Orthodoxy might be wrong, but the act of thinking itself is not wrong.

Looking at Ju Ye, who had once again fallen into deep thought, Li Qi felt he had said enough.

So, he waved his hand, leaving behind a trace of scholarly Qi. This was an introductory cultivation method of the Dao Orthodoxy, systematically explaining how to condense the inner elixir, how to perceive the existence of the ‘Dao,’ and so on.

This way, after those powers were exhausted, Ju Ye would have something to rely on.

As for these so-called ‘bad guys’ in front of him…

Let Ju Ye handle them himself. Li Qi was very curious: once Ju Ye’s borrowed cultivation was exhausted, how would he deal with so many presences?

Perhaps he would only be able to cultivate the Dao Orthodoxy cultivation method he left behind?

This is cognition and practice!

Of course, it didn’t matter if the other party didn’t cultivate; Li Qi merely acted on a whim.

After doing all this, Li Qi left the place, incidentally dissolving the Formation.

The mountain god outside looked at Li Qi as he walked out and quickly lowered his head.

Li Qi returned the bow and said, “Thank you, Mountain God. The matter is concluded. Please return.”

With that, Li Qi disappeared.

After that, Li Qi began to travel in the Mortal world.

This journey lasted over five hundred years.

He encountered many cities similar to Bailu City. It seemed that such cities were a common model. Later, he directly confronted one of the city lords and discovered that the other party had mastered a cultivation method similar to the Human Dao’s evil techniques, which was to gather the power of the masses for their own use.

But this was only similar, not a Human Dao method, and it had a very clear development lineage of Immortal Heaven cultivation method. So it was clearly something Immortal Heaven developed on its own.

It was quite advanced. Immortal Heaven actually managed to grasp this method on its own. Although it was crude, it’s normal for things in the Mortal world to be crude. The difference should be significant after Ascension.

Everywhere he went, Li Qi would find someone similar to Ju Ye: intelligent, kind-hearted, thoughtful, and in a dire situation with enough pressure and motivation to act.

He would find such a person, then guide them, impart the Dao, resolve their doubts, and then leave.

This cycle repeated.

Occasionally, Li Qi would also stop to experience the local customs and traditions of Immortal Heaven, just like an immortal descending to the Mortal realm to experience life, tasting local foods and admiring the scenery.

But he never intervened. When he encountered conflicts, he would simply disappear, like a ghost wandering in the Mortal world.

Over five hundred years passed in a flash; everything was so fast.

The lives of Mortals were like mayflies, born in the morning and dying in the evening. Mortals who drifted with the current, they lived a lifetime, but in reality, they only lived three days.

Youth, prime, old age.

These three days repeated endlessly, filling their pale and empty lives.

Just like the Mortal world of Immortal Heaven.

In the Mortal world of Immortal Heaven, with its endless conflicts, everyone strives only for Ascension. In this situation, how similar are these Mortals?

According to Li Qi’s estimation, the Mortal world of Immortal Heaven probably has a history of no less than tens of billions of years.

As a First Grade world, a history of tens of billions of years is not uncommon.

But for tens of billions of years, the Mortal world of Immortal Heaven has been stuck in this barbaric era. Once anyone achieves a Breakthrough, they are immediately sent to the True World…

This situation is simply identical to that of Mortals.

This is not tens of billions of years of history; this is the same day, the same event, repeated for tens of billions of years.

A stagnant history has led to a stagnant civilization.

Was this situation intentionally created by the high-ranking individuals of Immortal Heaven?

Li Qi didn’t know, but he felt that with his current strength, he might be able to stir up a ripple in this stagnant pool of water.

Of course, Li Qi was not planning to cause too much trouble; that would only invite disaster for himself.

If one’s virtue is shallow yet their position is high, their wisdom is limited yet they scheme great things, and their power is small yet they bear heavy responsibilities, then it is like a tripod whose legs break, spilling the offerings. Its form is ruined, and disaster will surely follow.

If one lacks virtue yet holds a high position, is shallow in wisdom yet desires to scheme great things, and is small in power yet bears heavy responsibilities, then it will only bring calamity, ultimately harming oneself and others.

Do as much as your ability allows; don’t force yourself.

The Mortal world of Immortal Heaven is vast, very vast. Li Qi has only wandered within an area of a few tens of billions of miles so far. He doesn’t know if this is even one trillionth of the Immortal Heaven Mortal world, after all, the area here is calculated in light-years.

However, with Li Qi’s actions, in this particular area of the Immortal Heaven Mortal world… a Sect called ‘Zhen Dao Sect’ rose to prominence within a few hundred years.

Li Qi investigated and found that this was a new Sect established by the group of people he had imparted the Dao to.

Zhen Dao Sect possessed extraordinary unity, and despite immense external pressure, they still developed rapidly.

Nothing else, it was simply the unity brought about by the characteristic of pursuing the Dao.

In the Mortal world of Immortal Heaven, the number of people who opposed the development of Zhen Dao Sect far outnumbered those on Zhen Dao Sect’s side. However, the disciples of Zhen Dao Sect could awaken each other and coordinate tactical and strategic actions. In contrast, although the opposing side had many people, they were not united, and thus completely unable to stop Zhen Dao Sect.

However, in Li Qi’s view, there were also Dao disputes within Zhen Dao Sect. After all, different ways of thinking naturally lead to differences in Dao paths, and Dao disputes naturally arise. But since the external pressure was too strong, and a Sect had too many things to contend with, any dragging of feet was done in secret, not daring to be too obvious.

But everything is relative. On the Immortal Heaven side, that couldn't be called dragging their feet; that was directly chopping off their feet. Whoever was responsible for confronting Zhen Dao Sect was essentially caught between a rock and a hard place, simultaneously besieged by their own allies and Zhen Dao Sect, naturally unable to resist and only able to retreat steadily.

As Zhen Dao Sect’s influence grew, over five hundred years, they finally became the dominant superpower in the vicinity. Their prestige had already surpassed cities like Bailu City, showing signs of subtly annexing over a dozen such large cities.

This momentum greatly interested Li Qi five hundred years later.

He wanted to see what the seeds he had sown back then had grown into.

After traveling for a few days, Li Qi headed to the Zhen Dao Sect mountain gate.

The Zhen Dao Sect mountain gate was also one of the most prosperous areas around, primarily at the foot of the mountain, where a large city had formed due to the gathering of admirers.

However, Li Qi found that an unexpectedly large number of people had arrived.

This was not normal, so he scanned their shallow thoughts and discovered something.

The Ancestral Master of Zhen Dao Sect was about to achieve Ascension.