Chapter 143: Three Thousand Great Paths, I Am the Path

Everyone touched their faces.

"What is this??!"

"Uh..."

"Uh-oh!"

These people let out sounds of agony.

"Why can't I use my Yin spirit anymore??"

"Me too!"

In reality, these people had not arrived in their physical bodies. They were entirely in the state of Yin spirits.

There is a legend that when someone achieved sagehood in ancient times, heavenly demons would come to disturb them. In truth, those were not heavenly demons at all, but wandering Yin spirits that had lost their physical bodies.

There is a distinction between a Yin spirit and a Yang spirit.

A Yin spirit is merely an illusory soul body attained upon reaching a certain level of cultivation.

A Yang spirit, on the other hand, is equivalent to a second self—simply put, an external incarnation.

"Heh heh heh!" Zhao Feng laughed with an ambiguous meaning.

Those people emitted terrified screams.

"Ah! This is a tranquilizer!!"

"How is this possible? How can there be so many tranquilizers!"

"Ah! My Yin spirit!!"

"Heh heh heh!"

Both Red Square and Zhao Feng laughed.

"Humph!"

Zhao Feng let out a cold snort and waved his hand once more. A surge of internal energy dispersed the tranquilizers in the air even further.

At this moment, the tranquilizers falling from the sky came in liquids, powders, reds, and whites. Truly, all manner of tranquilizers were present.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Zhao Feng coldly watched the scene before him.

The forms manifested by those Yin spirits resembled a purgatory on earth.

Some let out miserable shrieks, their faces distorted, their mouths stretched wide open.

Others had shattered chests, with their intestines and entrails spilling all over the ground, looking like ravenous ghosts.

These were all the shapes and forms of Yin spirits.

However, even if their physical bodies had come, had Zhao Feng intended to slaughter them, the spectacle would only have been far more horrifying than it was now.

This scene lasted for a full hour and had yet to come to an end.

If Zhao Feng truly wanted to annihilate them, it would take no more than a wave of his hand. However, Zhao Feng intentionally chose to torture them.

For these immortal cultivators who projected their Yin spirits certainly committed all manner of evil, frequently using their Yin spirits to torment ordinary mortals and plague all living beings.

When one reaches a certain bottleneck, the abilities bestowed by immortal cultivation instead become a hook to entrap people rather than a liberation.

The wind tonight carried a hint of a bloody scent.

Blurry and unable to keep one's eyes open.

A dream of a yellow millet pillow, murky and chaotic, beyond description.

The slaughter came to an end.

Although the Yin spirits of those people had all perished, their physical bodies suffered no actual harm.

Nor would they themselves ever know what happened tonight.

Because those who projected their Yin spirits did so while fast asleep. When they woke up, at most they would dismiss it as a dream.

However, they could forget about projecting their Yin spirits so easily next time. After all, this was now the era of science.

Having resolved these matters, Zhao Feng and Red Square gathered together once again.

"How did it go?" Red Square asked.

Zhao Feng shook his head. "Still haven't found their lair! All I know is that it's a temple!"

Red Square's expression turned somewhat cold. "What has this world come to? The sustenance of people's faith has actually turned into a place of filth and gloom!"

Zhao Feng chuckled and shook his head. "I have never believed in deities!"

"Why?" Red Square asked. "Isn't it good to have some faith??"

"Heh!" Zhao Feng sneered. "The words spoken by those deities are the greatest lies of all!!"

"What do you mean??" Red Square frowned.

Zhao Feng gave a low chuckle. "Deities teach people liberation, yet where in this world is there any such thing as liberation?"

Red Square frowned.

Zhao Feng continued, "Liberation is only relative. If there were no suffering, what use would liberation even have?? Once there is no more suffering in the world, the purpose of the word 'liberation' ceases to exist."

"In other words, there is no such thing as liberation in this world at all. Yet they insist on teaching you liberation."

"Tell me, if this isn't a lie, what is it??!"

Red Square looked at Zhao Feng in astonishment, her small mouth forming an "O" shape.

She stared at him in surprise. "I never expected you to have such profound insights!"

"Heh heh heh!" Zhao Feng smiled modestly. "Just blowing off some steam!"

Red Square rolled her eyes. "Give you an inch and you take a mile!!"

"Hehehee!" Zhao Feng rubbed his nose.

In truth, cultivating immortality begins with cultivating the mind.

Although Zhao Feng had never mentioned it, he had never lagged behind in the cultivation of his state of mind.

The thing closest to the Dao is not the ability of immortal cultivation, but one's own true heart.

After listening to Zhao Feng's words, Red Square gained a certain realization within her heart.

She asked, "Zhao Feng, among immortal cultivators, there is a heterodox profession called Dao practitioners! Are you a Dao practitioner??"

Zhao Feng was surprised. "How do you even know the term 'Dao practitioner'?"

Red Square did not answer, continuing on her own. "The so-called Dao practitioners do not cultivate abilities; they cultivate only a true heart!"

"They might just be ordinary people with no power to truss a chicken, yet with their mortal bodies, they can match the Five-Penetrations Saints!!"

Red Square did not know what the Five-Penetrations Saints she spoke of actually were, but Zhao Feng did.

Among the Three Pure Ones in the Immortal Gate, the highest were merely the Five-Penetrations Saints.

However, these were not the main points right now.

Zhao Feng asked in astonishment, "How do you know all this?"

Red Square rolled her eyes slightly, her red lips puckering. "Am I not allowed to have a few little secrets of my own?"

Zhao Feng rubbed his nose. "Alright then!"

"Heh heh heh!" Red Square looked at the tender night scenery and smiled gently. "Zhao Feng, are you a Dao practitioner?"

Red Square brought up the question once more, causing Zhao Feng to frown.

"What do you mean?"

Red Square smiled playfully. "Nothing, let us engage in a discourse on the Dao today!!"

"Very well!" Zhao Feng's interest was piqued as well.

To be honest, Zhao Feng had entered the Immortal Gate for a year. What interested him most was neither the medical arts capable of bringing the dead back to life and growing flesh on bones, nor heaven-defying cultivation.

What interested him most was the Dao!!

Red Square smiled faintly. "Zhao Feng, what is the Dao??"

"Humph-humph!"

Zhao Feng let out a low chuckle, calm and composed. "There is no such thing as the Dao in this world at all. It is merely that sages wanted to guide people toward liberation, and thus they fabricated the concept of the Dao!"

Red Square was surprised and uttered a word of praise. "Profound!"

"Heh heh heh!" Zhao Feng smiled faintly and turned the question back on her. "You tell me, then, what is the Dao?"

Red Square frowned in deep thought.

Zhao Feng was not in a hurry, quietly waiting.

The two of them thus fell into deep contemplation.

Suddenly, Red Square said, "This is the Dao!"

Zhao Feng shook his head. "No-Dao is precisely the Dao!"

"Nonsense!" Red Square rebuked.

"Humph!" Zhao Feng snorted coldly.

Suddenly, he pointed one finger to the sky and another to the earth, uttering three words: "I am the Dao!"

"Arrogant!" Red Square rebuked further.

"Pfft!" Zhao Feng scoffed derisively, saying, "If you insist on defining what the Dao is, then this lump of excrement is the Dao!"

"Pui!"

Red Square spat in disgust. "Vulgar!"

Zhao Feng shook his head. "You are still too green!"

Red Square instantly put on an angry look. "You must give a proper definition of what the Dao is!"

Zhao Feng shook his head helplessly. "It is precisely because mortals are just like you that they can never attain liberation!"

"There is inherently no Dao in this world, yet you insist on forcing me to invent a Dao and fabricate a Dao. If this isn't placing a head on top of a head, what is it??!"