“What are you talking about, boy? How can the Dao only be touched by Mahayanas? Are you stupid?!”

Elder Lie Zheng of the Punishment Pavilion replied, looking at Lei Yun in bewilderment, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

And that was Aotian’s true reaction.

‘How can a former Mahayana not know this? It’s so basic, everyone who knows about cultivation has heard this befo—’

‘… Wait! Maybe I’m taking this for granted and it’s not actually like that. They didn’t have thousands of xianxias to read like I did, but instead groped their way and fought all the way up to reach a higher and illusory realm… so it’s normal for them not to know concepts that are so basic to a reader, but so profound to a native.’

‘Immortality, in a sense, cuts off access to such information. Perhaps in the immortal world this is common knowledge, since many touch the Dao there, but in the mortal world it’s not so, because such people, upon touching it, ascend directly before being able to leave behind detailed instructions. And that’s if there were even people ascending, since Rihai said there hadn’t been a Mahayana in this world for a long time.’

Aotian’s heart raced as he began to understand the issue.

Taking a deep breath, he quickly composed himself, not letting Rihai, whom he was holding, notice his chaotic state of mind.

Controlling Lie Zheng, he rolled his eyes, even seeming too lazy to discuss something so silly with Lei Yun.

“N-Not?!” The former Mahayana even stammered in shock at that moment.

Forget his calm, forget his former power, now he was just like a confused student hearing his teacher speak of the meaning of life.

Even Mu Luyin was stunned, hearing about something so far removed from their reality. Mahayana, the Dao, the laws… they were nothing but myths in this world, and she didn’t even know if they truly existed. Even if they did, nothing was actually known about them.

So the two stared intently at the elder, eager to hear more about such marvelous and hidden matters.

“Of course not!” Lie Zheng spoke firmly. “The Dao is the path, and the path is the Dao. The Dao is in everything. When you swing the sword, you tread the Dao of the Sword; when you do Alchemy, you follow the Dao of Alchemy. Even when you breathe, you walk the Dao of air, of wind, of breath, and even of life. The Dao is all around you at all times, in every tiny thing, and if you wish to master it… you only need to learn to listen to it, to notice it. If you continue with the mindset that it is something untouchable, then it will always be untouchable for you.”

Elder Lie proclaimed firmly, and concluded:

“It is not something illusory, not something distant and only attainable in a high cultivation realm. I tell you, even a mortal, with sufficient comprehension, can understand the Dao, for the Dao… has always been within reach of one’s hands.”

As Lie Zheng spoke, the couple’s eyes widened more and more in disbelief.

But the most impacted was Lei Yun, who had once begun to touch the Dao, but ultimately failed.

With each word of the elder, he felt his head explode, and many things he hadn’t understood in the past began to clear up.

The world began to resonate with him, his mind went blank. Carried by the very wind and nature, his body slowly descended to the ground, and instinctively he crossed his legs, sitting as the sword he had been flying on fell beside him.

His soul seemed to leave his body, and his empty thoughts rose beyond the reach of human perception.

He no longer controlled what he thought on his own, but his very being thought for him, at a blinding speed, breaking apart each fragment of his memories, reorganizing them and bringing clarities he had never deemed possible.

Mu Luyin, beside him, woke from her daze and opened her mouth in shock upon seeing the wondrous state of unity with nature that Lei Yun had entered.

“He is having an epiphany!” she whispered softly, afraid to interrupt him.

Epiphanies were extremely rare occasions in the cultivation world and extremely beneficial for those who experienced them. Most cultivators died before ever experiencing even a small epiphany in their lives.

Aotian too was speechless at the sight.

‘Damn, I spout some nonsense with a serious face, and you actually enter an epiphany?!’

Although he didn’t consider what he said to be nonsense, Aotian had never truly touched the Dao. He was merely transmitting some opinions based on what he had read in his previous life, which could even be wrong, though he doubted it very much. Even so, he had never thought it would trigger an epiphany in the boy.

While he was in disbelief, he suddenly noticed that a great amount of spiritual energy from the sect was flowing on its own into Lei Yun’s body. But his body trembled, rejecting the energy unconsciously, as if something was missing, and he didn’t dare proceed without it.

‘This… ah, I understand!’ Aotian, who had been confused, quickly grasped what was lacking.

Lie Zheng, with a serious face, glanced to the side and, after a moment, nodded.

Mu Luyin, who was guarding the surroundings so her Brother Yun wouldn’t be disturbed in this precious moment, noticed the gesture, as if the fierce elder before her had communicated with someone.

Elder Lie then suddenly stepped forward, startling her, but when she tried to block him to ask what he was doing, she felt her body imprisoned. She couldn’t move at all, not even speak.

It was Lie Zheng, who with absurd ease restrained her using a synthesized Nascent-Tier body-binding spell, locking her in place.

Aotian understood that the girl was new to the sect, and that trust between the parties wasn’t very strong, especially standing before an elder she didn’t know. After performing several Soul Searches, he could even guess what she might be thinking, understanding the mentality and common sense of this world’s natives.

He imagined she must be thinking something like: ‘This elder might belong to a rival faction of Elder Gu Jian, and wants to crush the talent he brought before it grows and strengthens the rival faction.’

And he was right. That was exactly what she thought, though not with complete certainty.

She only feared the possibility, since that was very common in the cultivation world. But being imprisoned that way increased her belief in it by 80%, making her struggle madly against the binding, seeming desperate to help her Brother Yun.

Lie Zheng’s mouth twitched as he felt the girl’s struggle, but he ignored it while his index and middle fingers extended straight like a sword, a pale blue light condensing at their tip.

He then struck, the light shooting directly toward Lei Yun’s forehead, sinking in and disappearing.

Mu Luyin struggled desperately at the sight, her eyes red with grief and anger.

Elder Lie then turned to her, rolling his eyes.

“Stop the drama, I’m not hurting him. I’m just transmitting the Golden Core portion of the technique to him. For some reason, he didn’t seem to want to advance, and when I asked the elders who brought you two, they said he only had the Foundation Establishment part of the technique. So I figured that was the reason, and I was right, look.”

Lie Zheng explained, a little impatient, but still made it clear what had happened before pointing to the boy sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Mu Luyin, who had been desperate, froze for an instant, and her eyes—the only part of her body not restrained—turned to Lei Yun.

And indeed, she saw that, unlike before, spiritual energy was flowing into his body unhindered, and his aura was increasing.

Realizing this, she felt guilty for having misjudged the elder, who was clearly being kind to them. A wave of shame invaded her heart for her previous actions, making her face flush and her head lower. With that movement, she noticed her restraints had loosened at some point, freeing her.

She immediately clasped her fists and bowed deeply before the elder.

“Senior, it is this junior’s fault for being foolish and failing to see elder’s good intentions. Thank you, elder, for taking care of Brother Yun. This junior will slap herself to atone for her foolishness,” she spoke with determination, straightened, and raised her hand toward her face.

Lie Zheng saw her apology and sincere remorse, and sighed, immediately grabbing her arm, stopping her just before she struck herself.

“You are still new to the sect, and it is normal to be defensive. But the Infinite Dao Sect is different from any other sect you’ve heard of. Here, there are none of those dirty and shady tricks from other sects, especially not from the elders. I hope you will not harbor such distrust of your elders again, since we would never harm any disciple. You don’t need to hit yourself.”

He spoke firmly, and Mu Luyin, even more ashamed, promised to keep the elder’s words in her heart, bowing again and thanking him deeply.

As the conversation ended, they felt Lei Yun’s cultivation advance to the Golden Core. Then, Aotian listened attentively as faint rumbles arose from his body at short intervals.

‘One compression… two compressions… three compre…’

He began counting mentally, and as expected, heard a total of nine compressions, thus reaching a high-quality, first-class Golden Core, also known as a Supreme Golden Core.

Even though he was a former Mahayana advancing through an epiphany, the fluctuations he emitted, though close, were still somewhat below those of when Aotian had broken through to the Golden Core with his Supreme Supreme Core.

That, strange as it seemed, was normal. After all, Lei Yun might be experienced, but Aotian had seventy-two avatars paving the cultivation path for him, the supervision of an ancestor three realms above in cultivation, and synthesized techniques from the very start.

Just for context, with only his fifty outer elders, he had gone through the process of advancing to the Golden Core and forging Supreme Cores fifty times in a row, which gave him vast experience and confidence when advancing.

Feeling good about himself for having the best Golden Core in the sect, and believing this fact would likely not change in the future, he returned to teasing Rihai.

He was also confident his wife would not forge a core worse than that of the former Mahayana, since he had been instructing her and helping through dual cultivation all this time.

Back to Lei Yun, even after advancing, his epiphany did not cease, and the energy continued pouring into his body as if he were a whale sucking in water.

His energy fluctuations quickly stabilized, firmed, and then began growing again at high speed.

Moments later, his body trembled, and his fluctuations reached the 2nd level of the Golden Core… and did not stop.

Aotian’s good mood froze as he saw the young man advancing nonstop in cultivation.

Soon, he reached the 3rd level of the Golden Core, and just as he was about to step into the 4th level, Lei Yun subconsciously resisted and did not allow the energy to push further. His subconscious knew it was not good to progress too quickly.

‘What envy! I want an epiphany too! Years of effort achieved in just a few minutes,’ Aotian thought, a little jealous. Although he had many advantages, it was natural to be greedy and want more, but he soon let it go. ‘Well, at least the main point of an epiphany, which are the insights, I also gain through feedback. So I can consider I had half an epiphany, right?’

He smiled again upon realizing he hadn’t given his motivational words and wisdom for free, since he too had reaped some benefit.

While he reflected, Lei Yun’s fluctuations and the anomalies of his state of unity with nature began to subside, showing that his epiphany was coming to an end.

Epiphanies were quick states, because if they lasted too long, someone could truly become invincible with them.

But just as Aotian was about to control Lie Zheng to speak with the awakening youth, he completely froze.

A wild joy suddenly appeared on his face.

Before him, a new system screen appeared.

Ding!

[New functionality available!]

[Epiphany Points: 1] (?) <{ Epiphany Points, or EP, are points gained when a sect disciple enters an epiphany. Points can be used in the avatar shop }

[Avatar Shop:

Outer Elder – 1 EP

Inner Elder – 10 EP

Sect Leader – 5000 EP [Not Purchasable] (?) <{ Only one can exist at a time }

Ancestor – 1000 EP]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep