Chapter 1023: Chapter 1020: Insight
Seeing these golden inscriptions leaping into view, Yang Fei’s eyes lit up, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
It truly is like mountains and waters resting quietly—when in doubt, a secluded village suddenly appears.
Those four fluorescent gates before were indeed just illusionary tricks; the real treasures should be inside this cave.
"Tao Longevity Scripture!"
Yang Fei’s gaze swept over the dense golden inscriptions and astonishingly locked onto five characters at first glance.
These inscriptions were in the ancient seal script from the Pre-Qin period, the same kind of script as the words ’White Jade City,’ which Yang Fei already knew.
Of course, Yang Fei wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about these characters. Yet, for some reason, all the golden inscriptions appearing here at this moment, even those he hadn’t seen before, clearly manifested their precise pronunciation in his mind, as if recognizing pictograms—comprehensible at first sight.
However, upon seeing these five bold characters, "Tao Longevity Scripture," Yang Fei was momentarily dumbfounded.
Really?
Scenes from his first trip to the Hidden Sect with Xu Jian and Wang Lei abruptly flashed in his mind.
At that time, they encountered Qi Hongshao, who had stolen a secret manual from the Giant Sword Manor, and that book was coincidentally also called Tao Longevity Scripture.
Yang Fei also remembered that the author of that book had the Taoist name ’Master Miao Jian.’
Furthermore, he had read the content of that book, which mainly detailed the soul-transfer Body Seizing Technique recorded in Taoist traditions.
Abandoning an old body, seizing another’s soul, thus achieving longevity in spirit and soul awareness.
So now, upon seeing the words ’Tao Longevity Scripture,’ Yang Fei was truly stunned in place, feeling utterly bewildered.
He instinctively couldn’t believe that such a powerful illusion array left by a predecessor would contain such a secret manual.
Could this be Master Miao Jian’s cave dwelling?
With immense doubt and unwillingness in his heart, Yang Fei’s gaze swept over the other characters.
"Pursue my great Tao, and one may attain longevity!"
Amongst the dense golden inscriptions, these eight characters jumped forth first, growing somewhat bolder.
Merely seeing these two statements, Yang Fei’s heart shook, as if a dominating righteous energy had come charging towards him.
He was usually arrogant, yet at this moment, he felt that the predecessor who left these inscriptions was even more so.
No, it was not just arrogance, but a kind of absolute confidence.
He continued reading.
"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name..."
Yang Fei was again dumbfounded.
His previously eager heart suddenly turned as bad as eating a dead fly.
This can’t be a joke, can it?
Tao Te Ching?
Damn!
I came here with great effort, and you use this to fool me?
He nearly couldn’t hold back from cursing out loud.
But as he grudgingly continued reading, he suddenly felt a chill.
The character for ’name’ changed to the inscription character for ’inscription.’
No, wait.
The entire script had changed.
Especially the character for ’Tao,’ which seemed imbued with life, with each ’Tao’ transforming into different rune scripts, conveying distinct power rules to Yang Fei.
Most importantly, the subsequent content differed entirely from the Tao Te Ching version on Earth he was familiar with.
The subsequent sentences were profoundly esoteric, with each character injected with the powerful law of the writer, and the power and rules expressed by these combined characters were unfathomable.
After a full thirty minutes, merely pondering the first four sentences, Yang Fei realized a truth.
There is no inherent Tao in the world; the strong create their own.
Whether it’s a truth or the cultivation path, it’s determined by the strong.
The same Tao, discovered by different individuals, results in different realizations.
At this moment, Yang Fei’s understanding of all things and truths in his mind underwent a groundbreaking transformation.
He felt he no longer needed to be constrained by any rules or truths.
Body unbound, mind unrestricted.
He was no longer just an entity between heaven and earth, not because there was heaven, humanity, and parents that there was him.
But rather, because of him, there existed his parents, humanity, this world, and heaven and earth.
Enlightened!
Yang Fei, already of great insight and exceptional cultivation talent, now quickly entered some profound state, guided by this ’Tao Longevity Scripture.’
All the inscriptions came alive before him.
Even the most ordinary inscription character embodied and contained some supreme Tao, captivating him utterly.
These characters seemed to possess supreme magical power, not only giving him a new understanding of the cultivation path but directly elevating his comprehension and knowledge of the Rune Tao to an unprecedented height.
Previously obscure sections of ancient runes on the Six Changes Wood Box materialized.
Gradually, as he continually grasped the five thousand golden inscriptions, he discovered that each character contained profound Taoist resonance.
So powerful!
Yang Fei stood solemnly respectful, genuinely admiring.
The predecessor who left these inscriptions was undoubtedly a heaven-sent genius, no wonder their words were so arrogant, boldly leaving the words ’Pursue my great Tao, and one may attain longevity.’
Yang Fei first reviewed all the inscriptions in his mind.
Then, worried the manifestations would have a time limit and might suddenly vanish, he read them several times.
Even though reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage almost granted photographic memory, these characters were too esoteric and obscure, taking him four or five reads to truly memorize them all.
After memorizing them, he began to understand and comprehend each one.
Slowly, he realized there were many imperfect aspects in the Profound Sect cultivation techniques he had been practicing. Based on the analysis of cultivation essence in this Tao Longevity Scripture, he found his cultivation techniques had room for improvement.
He could now see some of its defects and felt that by calming down to reflect, he could modify them to become the most optimized cultivation method.
This Tao Longevity Scripture wasn’t just a generic cultivation technique but a profound understanding of Tao, runes, heaven and earth rules, and even spatial dimension laws.
Memorizing these inscriptions could truly enlighten the practitioner, opening the real door of cognition to heaven and earth laws and Tao.
Because Yang Fei had practiced Profound Sect techniques from a young age, he resonated highly with this Tao Longevity Scripture. Thus, upon comprehending it, he discovered that his cultivation methods could be further improved, fundamentally enhancing future cultivation efficiency.
Of course, what made this Tao Longevity Scripture truly remarkable was that each character represented a profound understanding of the laws of heaven and earth and spatial dimensions. Observing these characters was like listening in person to a Saint imparting the Tao.
The words of a Saint encapsulated the true principles of the Great Tao, and listening in person could enlighten one to the Great Tao.
Now, as Yang Fei viewed the inscriptions left by a Saint, he too had the sense of immediate enlightenment as if hearing an imparting in person.
And so, immersing himself in it, Yang Fei continually comprehended the Tao Longevity Scripture, oblivious to the passage of time outside.
When, suddenly at a certain moment, while Yang Fei was still engrossed, the inscriptions vanished.
Yang Fei woke from his enlightenment.
Although he clearly remembered all the text of the scripture in his mind, upon losing these glittering characters from before his eyes, he found his perception of the Tao wasn’t as intense.
As he was feeling dejected internally, changes ensued again within the cave.