The only way

Chapter 935 Mayflies live only a day and a night, the Great Dao is only about struggle.

"The great way is like the sea; how can it have cliffs and shores?"

On the rocky cliff behind Taiqing Mountain, Lingchu sat on the ground with her legs dangling in the air, quietly looking down into the bottomless abyss, letting the gentle breeze lift her skirt.

Ling Chu couldn't quite remember how she left the sect leader's hall or how she returned to Taiqing Mountain.

All she remembered was that the sect leader's usually clear and calm eyes, in that instant, seemed to be like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, splashing up a stormy sea.

At the same time, a huge stone was thrown into Lingchu's heart lake, and the ripples it caused still leave traces to this day.

The mountain mist is clear and bright, and flocks of cranes leisurely flap their wings in the mist. The continuous mountains are lush and green like a painting, and the pure and spiritual energy is endless. Occasionally, cultivators ride their magical artifacts into the air, and the light is dazzling.

Everything was peaceful and serene, befitting this secluded paradise.

It was also far removed from the desolate landscape of Yunzhou, where the land was covered in red earth and corpses littered the fields.

The colorful clouds, like burning flames, painted the mountains.

The moonlight, as bright as a bolt of silk, shone and shone with countless stars.

The sun hangs high in the sky, just as the golden crow cries out, shining brightly.

The sun, moon, mountains, and rivers were reflected in Ling Chu's eyes, and then all of them came into view.

For ten days, Lingchu sat quietly on the mountaintop and the edge of the precipice. Finally, the lake of her heart returned to complete calm, and the light in her eyes gradually became like the rising sun.

A figure in purple quietly landed behind Ling Chu, his gaze tinged with a faint golden hue as the rising sun appeared.

"Do you understand?"

Suddenly, True Lord Duanyi spoke up, asking this seemingly random question.

Ling Chu understood.

“Master, I understand now,” she said, tilting her head slightly, half of her face bathed in the golden light of the rising sun. “Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs.”

Life is as insignificant as an ant, and people are as insignificant as grass. Under the vast sky and within the great Dao, all things are the same.

Birth, aging, sickness, and death are inevitable for all mortals; life and death are but a hundred years apart.

Cultivators, seeking to escape illness and attain immortality, find such things as celestial music upon first hearing them, and all people in the world yearn for them.

However, cultivators are far removed from old age and illness. Their birth is predetermined, and they alone are destined to die. The longer they live, the more they fear. Therefore, cultivators are destined to compete, seize, and plunder.

Humans eat beasts, and beasts eat humans; natural selection and survival of the fittest are the way of nature.

Cultivators slay demons, and demons devour cultivators, either for survival or for personal gain. For example, cultivators refine demon pills to increase their cultivation level and use demon bodies as weapons to enhance their sharpness. Similarly, demons eat mortals and devour cultivators to refine their essence into qi.

They're all just looking out for themselves.

The great war between humans and demons in the past was to seize the creation of heaven and earth, and the current invasion of the demon race is still to seize the opportunity of heaven and earth.

The demons are vying for power, and the cultivators are also fighting for it; only mortals are caught up in the chaos.

Are ordinary people truly the only ones who can be manipulated?

Ordinary people spend their days and nights, busy with a few taels of silver, while cultivators, who seek longevity and transcend the mortal world, also strive for the Great Dao.

Whether it's a mortal's life spanning a hundred years or a cultivator's life spanning a thousand years, in the end, they are all bound by this world and swept along by their own desires.

The only difference is that mortals are confined to the bottom of the pool, while cultivators float on the top, possessing a greater courage to leap out and splash more water.

This vast world is like a chessboard; those who are powerless can only become chess pieces, unable to move forward or backward at their own discretion.

Ling Chu understood very well that, regardless of whether they were demons, monsters, mortals, or cultivators, all living beings were merely pieces on this chessboard of heaven and earth, with only the Great Dao holding the game.

All the struggles and scrambles are ultimately contests against the established rules of heaven and earth; they are nothing more than vying for wealth and profit, or fighting for life and death.

Duanyi Zhenjun pondered these words carefully, his eyes reflecting the rising sun and his little disciple's back. He neither affirmed nor denied, but simply asked, "Then have you figured it out?"

If one sits and observes the heavens and earth for ten days, will one gain insight into one's own mind and nature through observing the heavens and earth?

"I observe the mayfly, whose life spans only a day, and I suppose that's how Heaven and Earth view me."

It's but a fleeting moment. Ling Chu's eyes reflected the rising sun, shining brightly. "Master, I will fight, fight for every moment, fight for the Great Dao, fight for immortality!"

Lingchu's heart remained steadfast and unwavering in her pursuit of the Tao.

Therefore, regardless of whether the path to ascension is severed or not, she will do her best to strive for immortality and seize the Great Dao. Now that the path to ascension is severed and a great calamity is about to befall the world, she will spare no effort to fight and seize it.

The five major immortal sects chose to abandon Yunzhou and used the demons' schemes, walking a tightrope. From a long-term perspective and from the perspective of the cultivators themselves, none of these actions were wrong.

The demons' schemes will not be extinguished by the five immortal sects' single intervention. The fact that all five continents have joined the war and risen up in resistance will only result in more deaths and injuries among the human race, aside from the so-called shared survival.

It's simply a choice between sacrificing one to save the many, or sacrificing the many to save one.

One is utterly innocent, and the rest are equally innocent.

There is no right or wrong, it's just a matter of choice.

The cultivators stood atop the peak, the demons lay in wait at their sides, and the mortals were trapped on the ground. Therefore, in the end, only the cultivators and the demons had to make their choice.

Lingchu sat atop the mountain, observing the cries of crows across the heavens and earth, the setting of the moon and the sinking of stars, feeling like a drop in the ocean. He felt both pity for mortals who drifted with the tide and resentment at his own similar predicament within the world.

In the end, it all turned into endless ambition.

So what if heaven and earth are a cage? So what if the path to ascension is cut off? If we don't fight to the very end, if we don't grab to the very end, who can predict the outcome!

However... Ling Chu felt that her passion had not yet cooled and her ambitions had not yet been fulfilled. She could understand and think clearly about the choice to sacrifice one to save thousands, but she disdained it!

“Master, I understand. The fall of Yunzhou is a foregone conclusion. The Demon Clan’s scheming over the past ten thousand years is unlikely to change anything. The current situation is the greatest advantage that all the senior members of the immortal sects can strive for.”

The demons have been planning this for more than a decade or a century. A war between the human and demon races is inevitable. If they don't fight today, they will fight tomorrow. It's just a matter of whether it's the current generation of cultivators who will fight or the later generations.

If they are unwilling to abandon Yunzhou and expand the battlefield to the entire Eastern Continent, the number of mortals and cultivators who die will only increase.

The demons' summoning of the gods was the core of their scheme. Rather than letting the demons act in secret, it was better to make it public. Rather than stopping this summoning of the gods and causing countless more to follow, it was better to seize this opportunity to take control of the destiny for their own use.

If Ling Chu were to stand above the immortal sects, she would make the same choice, even if she disdains it.

However, at this moment, Ling Chu's path of cultivation has always been smooth, and his cultivation level and age can be described as those of a young prodigy in the cultivation world.

Now, although she cannot save one of them, she is also unwilling to be the one who benefits the ten thousand.

"I understand even more clearly that no matter what I think, with my cultivation level, I cannot change much of the outcome. Therefore, what I think now is to do my best to save as many people as I can and protect as many areas as I can. As for the matter of the demons descending to the gods, as long as there is something I can do, I will do my utmost."

"Once the matter with the demons is settled, I also wish to enter the mortal world to refine my mind and seek true enlightenment."

Nascent Soul cultivators are considered high-level cultivators in the cultivation world, but those who can truly influence the fate of the human race are those above the Nascent Soul level, such as the Divine Transformation True Venerables of the five great immortal sects.

No matter how clearly Ling Chu understands or thinks things through, with her current cultivation level, she can only influence the local battle situation.

It would be better to do your best to follow your heart, and after this matter is settled, go back to the mortal world to find your own path.

"Very well. After reaching the Nascent Soul stage, the most important thing in cultivation is to have a Dao heart. Apart from the changes in your childhood, your cultivation path can be described as smooth. Taking a trip into the mortal world is also a form of cultivation."

True Lord Duanyi always felt that his little disciple had more talent, resources, and opportunities than most people on the path of cultivation, and could be considered to have had a smooth and successful journey.

However, the waxing and waning of the universe are constant; water overflows when full, and the moon wanes when full. Too much smooth sailing is not necessarily bad, but it is worrying.

It would be better to actively enter the mortal world and cultivate one's mind and spirit.

Lingchu's thoughts differed slightly from those of her master, Duanyi Zhenjun. She wanted to enter the mortal world to refine her mind and cultivate her spirituality, so as not to forget her original intentions.

Having already recognized the vastness of heaven and earth, I still cherish the green of grass and trees.

She still doesn't want to forget the teachings she received in the past.

The literary scenes are not as easy to write as the martial arts scenes... I revised the draft of my daughter's journey of cultivating her Dao several times. Looking back on my daughter's experiences, I unexpectedly discovered that it naturally closed the loop of my daughter's first determination at the beginning of her cultivation: "Having seen the vastness of the universe, I still cherish the green grass and trees."

After so much cultivation, my daughter can now rationally and calmly judge the most advantageous option. But deep down, she is still the same girl who cherishes the beauty of nature. After much thought, I decided that rather than making her completely hard-hearted, I would rather she retain her original intentions. After all, I don't write protagonists who suffer great hardships and hatred, and my daughter's growth experience wouldn't lead her down that path. Well, besides, I'm her mother, and in most cases, I still hope that the protagonists I write about have passion and that there is always something beautiful in them.

Of course, my daughter only retained a touch of gentleness; she didn't overestimate her abilities or misplace her kindness. Don't call her a saint; that's a perfectly good word that's been misused. Kindness itself isn't wrong; it's overestimating one's abilities and being inappropriately kind that are the problem.

The classic trolley problem—to save one or five—is a clash between utilitarianism and moralism. In essence, there is no right or wrong, only choices.