Chapter 311: The Heavenly Dao
After learning the new Fireball Technique, Mo Hua devoted all his focus to studying formations.
A few days later, after he had mastered the Spirit-Reversal Formation, he went to consult Mister Zhuang once again. Mister Zhuang pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked,
“Hua’er, cultivators seek the Heavenly Dao — do you know what the Heavenly Dao is?”
Mo Hua thought for a while and replied, “Isn’t it longevity?”
“Longevity is the result, not the Dao itself.”
“Isn’t longevity the same as attaining the Dao?” Mo Hua asked.
Mister Zhuang looked at him and said earnestly,
“A cultivator attains the Dao and thereby gains longevity. Only by comprehending the Great Dao and following the Heavenly Dao can one truly achieve immortality.”
“To neglect the comprehension of the Heavenly Dao, to ignore the laws of the Great Dao and still crave longevity — that is abandoning the root for the branch. Such a path leads only to deviation.”
Mo Hua half understood, yet nodded solemnly, committing Mister Zhuang’s words to memory.
“Then… do the Five Elements count as part of the Heavenly Dao?” Mo Hua asked after a pause.
“They do,” Mister Zhuang said.
“If the Five Elements count,” Mo Hua continued thoughtfully, “then do the Two Principles, Three Talents, Four Symbols, and Seven Stars also count? Or the ways of manipulating Divine-Sense, the physical body, and spiritual power — are these all forms of the Heavenly Dao as well?”
He sounded uncertain.
Mister Zhuang nodded.
Mo Hua was stunned. “Then wouldn’t the Great Dao be… far too vast and messy?”
“The Great Dao contains all things,” Mister Zhuang said. “It encompasses everything. Every blade of grass, every flower and tree in this world — all conform to the Heavenly Dao.”
Seeing Mo Hua’s confusion, Mister Zhuang elaborated further:
“In ancient times, cultivators gazed upon the heavens above and studied the lands below. Observing the myriad phenomena of the world, they comprehended the laws governing the forces of heaven and earth. From this understanding were born cultivation methods, Dao arts, and all manner of branches such as formations, pills, talismans, and artifacts.”
“All things under heaven follow the Heavenly Dao; the strength of cultivators also originates from it.”
Mo Hua pondered deeply, then asked doubtfully,
“If everything in this world follows the Heavenly Dao, then what about those who defy it? Are they following it or defying it?”
“What is called defying the Heavenly Dao,” Mister Zhuang explained, “is also following the Heavenly Dao.”
“The Great Dao has both creation and destruction. Those who follow the Heavenly Dao follow the Dao of Creation; those who defy it follow the Dao of Destruction.”
Mo Hua was enlightened somewhat.
The Heavenly Dao was divided into Two Principles — opposing yet complementary.
Being and non-being give rise to each other; life and death define one another; good and evil coexist; right and wrong interweave.
All are manifestations of the Dao. Every action of man follows some aspect of it — only that some paths are life-nurturing, while others lead only to self-destruction.
After a pause, Mo Hua asked again, still uncertain:
“If everything we see and hear is the Dao, then what are cultivators actually seeking when they seek the Heavenly Dao?”
“The Great Dao encompasses all,” Mister Zhuang replied, “but to encompass all is also to harbor chaos and contradiction — truth and falsehood, righteousness and evil, appearance and essence.”
“Humans possess the six senses — eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. The world offers form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and perception. What we experience daily is a tangled mix of good and bad, true and false. Over time, people drown in illusion and shallowness, unable to perceive the true essence of the Dao.”
Mo Hua’s eyes brightened slightly. “So it’s like observing a meditative visualization diagram — you have to see beyond the surface to perceive the essence?”
Mister Zhuang’s gaze softened with satisfaction; he nodded gently.
Mo Hua frowned slightly. “Then what exactly is the true essence of the Great Dao?”
“That,” Mister Zhuang said, “is something you must discover for yourself. As long as one has not become an immortal, the Dao one perceives is not the true Dao — some understandings may even be flawed or erroneous.”
He smiled. “I’ve never become an immortal either, so what I tell you is surely not absolute truth. What I see as essence may only be another layer of the surface, not the ultimate Dao.”
“I understand, sir,” Mo Hua nodded. “Only the truths one realizes through personal comprehension truly belong to oneself. No matter how right others may sound, if I’ve not experienced it myself, I can’t truly understand it.”
“So, to seek the Heavenly Dao, one must rely on personal realization. Even if at first one’s understanding is shallow, continued contemplation and insight — stripping away falsehood to reveal truth — will eventually unveil the essence of the Great Dao.”
Mister Zhuang nodded approvingly. “Well said.”
Mo Hua smiled, then hesitated. “Sir, I’m only at the Qi-Refining stage… isn’t it a bit too early for me to ponder the Heavenly Dao?”
Mister Zhuang shook his head gently, his voice warm.
“Cultivation begins with Qi-Refining, and understanding the Dao begins with small steps. Bit by bit, from low to high, from weak to strong, from the shallow to the profound — only then can one forge a Dao Heart and truly comprehend the Great Dao.”
“It’s like observing the world: when you look from high above, your own vantage blinds you, and you see only yourself. But when you look from the lowest place, seeing the vastness of the world and the suffering of living beings, only then can you perceive the world’s true essence.”
Mo Hua nodded thoughtfully.
But he was still young, with little experience. Though he grasped Mister Zhuang’s meaning in part, he had not yet witnessed the world beyond Tōngxiān City, so his understanding was shallow.
Mister Zhuang sighed softly. “These principles… I hadn’t meant to tell you so soon. But if I don’t say them now, I might never have the chance to later…”
Mo Hua was startled, but then understood. He nodded solemnly.
“Sir, I’ll remember everything you’ve said!”
Mister Zhuang smiled faintly, then continued,
“Now that you understand this principle, I can teach you the application of the Spirit-Reversal Formation.”
Mo Hua blinked in surprise. “The Spirit-Reversal Formation… is related to all this?”
“Of course,” Mister Zhuang said. “A cultivator’s pursuit of the Heavenly Dao lies both in the Dao Heart and in cultivation itself. To seek the Great Dao, both must advance together.”
“What I’ve said before concerns the Dao Heart. What I’ll teach you now concerns cultivation — or more precisely, the essence of the Heavenly Dao as it manifests in spiritual power.”
Mister Zhuang’s tone slowed, his gaze deepening.
Mo Hua straightened his posture, eyes focused, listening intently.
Mister Zhuang exhaled softly and said,
“The origin of heaven and earth is Qi. At the dawn of creation, primordial Qi gave birth to all things.”
“The most primitive Qi was called Primordial Chaos Qi — vast, potent, and undifferentiated. After countless eons, that chaos was refined and clarified, becoming the Vital Qi of all things.”
“The purest and most concentrated form of this Qi — that which cultivators can refine and wield — is spiritual Qi. Spiritual Qi contains the power of the Heavenly Dao. This power is what we call spiritual power.”
“All the countless cultivation arts and Dao methods of the world — whether of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, or ice — are merely different manifestations of this spiritual power.”
“The arts of spiritual cultivators, even the blood and force of body cultivators, though they appear vastly different, are all forms of spiritual power in expression.”
Mo Hua’s eyes lit up.
“So the powers of the Five Elements, the arts, the blood and physical strength — all these are just appearances, while spiritual power is the true source of their might?”
Mister Zhuang nodded. “Correct. All Dao arts — whether spellcraft or martial arts — are derived from the transformations of spiritual power.”
“And formations as well?”
“Formations as well.”
Mo Hua quickly pieced it together.
Formations draw spiritual power from their cores; that power flows through formation patterns, eventually manifesting as the forces of the Five Elements.
“Then what’s different about the Spirit-Reversal Formation?” Mo Hua asked.
Mister Zhuang paused, then said slowly,
“Ordinary formations gather and condense spiritual power to manifest the Five Elemental forces. The Spirit-Reversal Formation, however, reverses and decomposes spiritual power — producing a purer energy, one that approaches the very origin of the Great Dao: the power of dissolution.”
“The Great Dao creates and destroys — where gathering is creation, dissolution is destruction.”
“The Spirit-Reversal Formation embodies this destructive power of the Dao! What it unravels is not merely the formation itself, but the very spiritual power at its core!”
(End of Chapter)