Gou Dao and Cultivation of Immortals, Start from Farming

"Fear is a warning sign; only by knowing fear can one gain courage."

The chaotic Daoist principles dissolve the paralyzing will, leaving only the true meaning of self-awareness and the ability to clearly discern danger.

The split soul of the Hate has a ferocious face, filled with boundless hatred, and its body is engulfed in black demonic flames, containing hatred for the Ghost Clan, hatred for evil spirits, and anger for injustice.

……

Li Mu's mind and spirit resonated with it, and he comprehended the root of the hatred—the sins of the Ghost Clan invading all realms and slaughtering living beings; the evil of demons wreaking havoc on the heavens and turning the righteous path upside down; and even the various injustices and hardships on the path of the Great Dao... This hatred was like a knife, slashing at all evil and wickedness.

"Hate evil and defend righteousness, hate wickedness and protect goodness."

The radiant light of the Order Dao Fruit shines brightly, and the golden patterns of the theorem are like chains binding and binding the violent thoughts in the mind of hatred, leaving only the true intention of eliminating evil and upholding the righteous path.

Joy, happiness, infatuation, delusion... all kinds of emotions and fragments of the soul undergo purification under the cleansing of the chaotic Daoist rhythm.

The joyful spirit smiled radiantly, its warmth brimming with the happiness of enlightenment, the joy of reunion, and the comfort of protection. Enveloped in primordial energy, this joy transformed into sweet rain, nourishing the very roots of the Dao Tree.

The soul of the music is clear and melodious, its body radiating light and color, containing the joy of enlightenment, the happiness of peace in all realms, and the joy of family reunion. This music is like a spring breeze, brushing through countless branches and leaves, causing the tree of the Way to flourish with vitality.

The obsessive soul, entangled in its obsession, has a hazy gaze, yet it harbors an inner yearning for the ultimate Dao, a steadfast devotion to its protectors, and a thirst for peace throughout the heavens. The chaotic Daoist principles wash away its blind and biased thoughts like a clear spring, leaving only an unwavering and indomitable pursuit of the Dao. This obsessive thought transforms into a green vine, twining around the tree trunk with unparalleled resilience.

The illusory souls, fragmented and flickering, present a myriad of illusions, containing within them the delusion of reaching the pinnacle, the dream of all worlds bowing in submission, and the delusion of immortality. Orderly Dao patterns descend, the true meaning of principles reflecting reality like a mirror, shattering unrealistic thoughts and leaving only the true spirit of striving for the summit and forging ahead. Delusions condense into steps, extending towards the heights of the Dao Tree, seemingly leading to a supreme realm.

……

All emotions and thoughts are baptized in the chaotic furnace.

Li Mu's true self resonated with all his divided souls, simultaneously experiencing the fluctuations of emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, fear, hatred, infatuation, and delusion. At this moment, Li Mu transformed into all spirits, experiencing the myriad aspects of the mortal world and comprehending the thoughts of all beings.

Pain is like being slowly sliced ​​to death, joy is like ascending to heaven, fear is like falling into an abyss, anger is like the sky burning... all these extreme experiences simultaneously cleanse the mind and soul.

Even with Li Mu's unwavering Daoist resolve, his face turned pale, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and beneath his green robe, his body trembled slightly, with the chaotic energy around him fluctuating erratically.

The slightest carelessness, any loss of control of emotion, can trigger a chain reaction, causing thousands of fragmented souls to go berserk at the same time. At that time, the soul will be torn apart by ten thousand horses and instantly collapse. Even with the protection of the Chaos Banner, it will be difficult to escape the fate of annihilation and death.

"Chaos encompasses all things, and thoughts reside within it." Li Mu's will was as firm as iron, drawing upon the primordial essence of the Chaos Dao Tree: "All thoughts flow back to the source, all entering my Dao!"

The next moment, the gray-gold Dao Fruit on the branch of the Dao Tree suddenly burst forth with boundless clear light, and all the newly formed "Chaotic Aspect of Mind" Dao patterns lit up, evolving into a vast cycle of emotional Dao rhymes like a starry sea. The sweet rain of joy, the golden sun of anger, the bright moon of sorrow, the warning mirror of fear, the Dao sword of hatred, the spring breeze of happiness, the green vine of infatuation, the ladder of delusion... all kinds of emotional true meanings were drawn in and merged into the Dao Fruit.

The myriad fragments of the soul trembled together, transforming into countless streams of light that swept back and returned to Li Mu's original divine soul.

In the instant his soul returned to oneness, Li Mu's body trembled violently, and a wisp of chaotic energy flowed from his seven orifices at the same time. The color of the energy changed constantly, sometimes as red-gold as anger, sometimes as dark blue as sorrow, and sometimes as gray-white as fear... All kinds of emotions and Daoist charms flowed and blended within it.

Li Mu suddenly opened his eyes. The chaotic star vortex had already transformed—the center was still gray and chaotic, but the outer perimeter was filled with the flowing light of seven colors of emotions: warm orange of joy, red gold of anger, dark blue of sorrow, gray-white of fear, black of hatred, bright yellow of happiness, cyan of infatuation, and illusory purple of delusion... The colors intertwined and rotated endlessly, reflecting countless thoughts in his mind.

The Chaos Dao Tree then underwent a transformation.

On the tree trunk, countless emotional patterns emerged, coiling like dragons and snakes. Among the branches and leaves, the sweet rain of joy fell, the golden sun of anger shone, the bright moon of sorrow shone, the mirror of fear reflected in the sky, the sword of hatred roared, the spring breeze of pleasure blew, the green vines of infatuation entwined, and the steps of delusion extended... All these strange phenomena coexisted harmoniously, evolving into a chaotic realm of the mind that encompassed all thoughts.

Li Mu possessed an indescribable Daoist aura.

When joyful, a warm feeling spreads throughout his body, like a gentle spring breeze; when angry, his eyes gleam with golden light, his awe-inspiring power freezing the void; when sorrowful, his gaze softens, his compassion soothing the soul; when fearful, his aura recedes, a hidden vigilance lurking within; when hateful, his sword intent soars to the heavens, his true intent to vanquish evil piercing through illusion…

All emotions can be moved by thought and transformed into the manifestation of the Dao.

“Thoughts are the Dao, emotions are the Dao.” Li Mu murmured to himself, his voice like the first tolling of a Dao bell, rippling outwards with waves of emotion: “From now on, my joy is the Dao, my anger is the Dao, my sorrow, happiness, fear, and hatred… all my thoughts are the resources of chaos.”

Li Mu raised his finger and pointed, a wisp of joyful Daoist energy transforming into warm sunlight, shining on a spiritual plant in the corner of the mansion. The spiritual plant instantly burst into life, sprouting branches and leaves, flowering and bearing fruit. In just three breaths, it completed a century of growth.

With another flick of his finger, a wisp of angry Daoist energy transformed into golden lightning, striking the void. Wherever the lightning passed, illusion shattered, laws wailed, and the most essential chaotic energy was revealed.

With a wave of his hand and a flick of his sleeve, a sorrowful and profound sentiment flowed like a clear spring, bringing tranquility to all things, calming restlessness, and bringing peace to the mind.

With the slightest thought, all kinds of emotions and Daoist principles can evolve at will, with unpredictable power and infinite mystery...

From then on, Li Mu's emotional fluctuations were no longer an obstacle to cultivation, but rather became resources for the Great Dao. Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, hatred, and delusion could all be transformed into chaotic Dao power, nourishing the Dao Tree and deducing the Great Dao.

“This is the state of ‘mind merging with chaos’.” Li Mu’s eyes were deep as he looked out into the endless void outside the treasure house: “There is only one step left to truly merge with the Dao—to transform this Dharma body, this Dao tree, and this mind into the origin of chaos and merge with the root of the Great Dao.”

Li Mu sensed that the connection between the Chaos Dao Tree and all the heavens and myriad worlds was becoming increasingly close. In the Dao Fruits on the branches, the Dao Pattern of "Chaotic Mind Pattern" extended, sensing the emotional fluctuations of billions of beings in all the heavens through the veins of the myriad worlds.

Joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, fear, hatred... all kinds of emotions, like sparks of fire, are scattered across the heavens.

Li Mu suddenly frowned slightly.

Through the perception of the Dao Fruit, I sensed extremely intense fluctuations of fear, hatred, and despair emanating from several realms at the edge of the heavens—the intensity of these fluctuations far exceeded that of ordinary ones, mixed with a trace of familiar cold filth.

"The remnants of the Ghost Clan... are stirring up trouble again." Li Mu's eyes turned cold, and his hatred and Daoist aura surged naturally. The next moment, his figure flashed and disappeared into the Chaos Treasure Palace.

The barrier of the ancient realm of Taixie crumbled like rotten leather, and the three-sided Silent Demon shattered the chaotic flow of time and space, stepping into the edge of all the heavens and myriad realms.

The demon's body was 100,000 feet tall, its left side pale white and its right side pitch black. The single eye in the center reflected the scene of the fall of all worlds. Its six arms were outstretched, wrapped with five layers of Dao patterns: calamity, death, chaos, sin fire, and time and space. These patterns were forged from the essence of countless ancient evil bones, and with each breath, they caused the realm to tremble.

Behind them, the Ember Dragon Owl raised its head and hissed, its nine pale soul flames shattering the void; the roots of the Weeping Soul Vine swayed like billions of dying arms, drawing away the souls of all living beings wherever it passed; the Corrosive Time Bat blotted out the sky, its wings stirring up ripples of time; the Star Skeleton Statue strode like falling stars, crushing the remnants of the world along its path... The army of evil creatures surged like an ink tide, annihilating starlight, and rushed straight to the heart of the myriad worlds.

"The Ancient Realm of Xuanhuang..." The face of the Corrupted Source was deathly pale as it parted its lips and hissed, "Back then, the Lord of Chaos saved that Lord of Xuanhuang... Today, I will first shatter the core of this realm and sever a wisp of his karma!"

The three heads of the Devouring World Mask laughed in unison, and its six arms tore open the boundary wall in front of it: "With the blood and souls of billions of Xuanhuang beings, I celebrate my return!" The gray-white beam of light from the Eye of Annihilation swept across, illuminating the dark star sea and locking onto the Xuanhuang Great World.

In an instant, the mountains and rivers within the Xuanhuang Realm trembled violently.

While Xuanhuang Daojun was in seclusion at the ancestral mountain healing his injuries, he suddenly felt his blood boiling. He opened his eyes abruptly, took a step out of his cave, and saw that the sky was stained pale, and countless eerie shadows pressed in like locusts. The boundary wall wailed, and cracks spread everywhere.

"The Ghost Clan... actually had such a hidden trump card?" Xuanhuang Daojun's face turned pale as he sensed that overwhelming pressure was even three points stronger than the original source of the Mother Tree.

"Cultivators of the Xuanhuang realm, heed my command—activate the Zhou Tian Zhen Jie Grand Array! All those above the Mahayana Dao Realm, enter the array's core and defend the ancestral vein to the death!"

As soon as the decree of the Xuanhuang Daojun was issued, the evil tide from beyond the realm arrived.

The Ash-Boned Dragon Octopus was the first to crash into the boundary wall, its nine soul flames exploding simultaneously. The ash of the corrosive spirit poured down like a sea, and the spiritual light of the boundary wall dimmed rapidly. The roots of the Weeping Soul Demon Vine pierced through the cracks, burrowed into the earth, and frantically absorbed the life force of the earth's veins. The Corrosive Light Bats scattered into a sky full of gray shadows, swooping down on the cultivators of various sects. Wherever their wings passed, their faces aged instantly, and their blood and qi withered away. The Star-Boned Demon Statue smashed down with a single punch, causing a 30,000-mile mountain range to collapse...

The Xuanhuang cultivators formed an array to resist, their sword light and Daoist techniques swirling like rain. The evil creature's ferocity was too overwhelming, and the battle lines crumbled step by step. Suddenly, eerie white mist surged from the earth's openings in various parts of the realm, whispers like needles piercing the soul: "Submit...merge into our race..."

The power of mind manipulation erupts!

Countless cultivators froze, their eyes turning ashen, the cracks in their Dao hearts magnified infinitely, fear, despair, and hatred spread like wildfire, fellow disciples turned against each other, masters and disciples killed one another, and the nodes of the great formation fell one after another.

"Calm your mind!" Xuanhuang Daojun's eyes were bloodshot as his Xuanhuang Qi transformed into a ten-thousand-foot-long dragon that soared into the sky, forcefully clearing away a patch of eerie mist.

However, the mind is treacherous and invisible, impossible to guard against. Even the elders at the highest level of cultivation were bleeding from all seven orifices, clutching their heads and howling in agony.

Outside the boundary, three eerie demons coldly surveyed the scene.

The crack in the face of the source of corruption slightly raised: "The seeds of treachery have been sown; this world shall be the granary of our race."

The Devouring Surface raised its six arms high, its palms swirling with demonic vortexes, drawing upon the malevolent energy of the entire evil army, transforming it into the "Annihilation Demon Spear" that traversed the starry sea. The spearhead, gathering the true essence of destruction—calamity, sinful fire, and temporal turbulence—fiercely pierced towards the core of the Xuanhuang Realm Source!

If this spear hits, the source of the realm will shatter, and all spirits will perish.

Xuanhuang Daojun felt ice-cold all over his body. He wanted to ignite his source to fight for his life, but it was too late. He could only watch helplessly as the world-destroying demonic spear approached inch by inch.

Suddenly, the entire dark yellow sky came to a standstill.

The wind stopped and the clouds lingered. Collapsed rocks hung suspended in mid-air, and cascading rivers solidified into jade ribbons. Cultivators scattered their divine light, evil creatures spewed filth, and demonic spears tore through the air... Everything was like a scene from a painting, frozen in time.

Only one figure in a green robe stepped out from the void.

Ripples spread out beneath his feet, and chaotic energy silently swirled, melting away the pale, eerie mist wherever it passed. The cultivator, corrupted by the demonic mind, trembled slightly, the grayness in his eyes rapidly fading into confusion, before he awoke with a start.

"Li... Fellow Daoist Li?" Xuanhuang Daojun stared at the sky in astonishment, then exclaimed with delight.

Li Mu stood in mid-air, his gaze as calm as a deep well. Behind him, a towering, illusory image of a Chaos Dao Tree appeared, its branches piercing through reality and illusion. Miniature worlds on its leaves were in a cycle of birth and death, and countless rays of clear light fell from the gray-gold Dao Fruits. Within the clear light, the warm sun of joy, the golden thunder of anger, the bright moon of sorrow, and the warning mirror of fear were faintly visible... All kinds of emotions and Dao rhymes flowed and merged, transforming into a gentle and vast purification mantra, spreading like a tide, instantly enveloping the entire Xuanhuang Ancient Realm.

Where the power of the purification mantra passed, the whispers of the mind dissipated, the controlled cultivator's mind became clear, he collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face, and the eerie mist gushing from the earth's aperture evaporated, returning to pure spiritual energy to nourish the mountains and rivers.

The ancient boundary between the primordial and the primordial world was suddenly divided into inner and outer realms.

Within the realm, the clear light shines brightly, and all spirits gradually find peace; outside the realm, eerie atmosphere pervades, and armies of evil creatures howl.

Li Mu raised his eyes, his gaze piercing through the shattered boundary wall and landing on the ten-thousand-foot-tall demonic body of the three-sided Silent Demon. Their gazes met in the void, as if they were tangible, colliding to create a silent thunderclap.

“Lord of Chaos…” The source of corruption’s face turned pale and his eyes narrowed as he said hatefully, “You came quickly.”

The three heads of the Devouring World Mask spun around simultaneously, its six eyes burning with eerie green ghost fire: "Perfect! Saves us from having to search for you again. Today, we'll use Xuanhuang as your grave and bury your Dao Fruit!"

The gray-white beam of light from the Eye of Annihilation suddenly solidified, transforming into a destructive torrent that shot directly at Li Mu's brow. Wherever the beam passed, space and time collapsed, all laws wailed, and the true meaning of annihilation was contained within.

Li Mu remained still, while the branches and leaves of the Chaos Dao tree behind him swayed gently.

A Dao pattern of "Wrath" lit up from the branch, and a stream of crimson gold light surged out, condensing into a chaotic Dao axe in front of him. The axe body was unadorned, but the blade flowed with the fierce true intent to cut through all evil.

Li Mu gripped his axe, and with a simple, forward slash, a streak of gray axe light flashed past.

As the axe light touched the gray-white pillar of light, the annihilating torrent melted away layer by layer, like snow meeting boiling water, dissipating into nothingness. The axe light continued its momentum, slashing towards the chest of the three-sided demon!

The face of the source of corruption roared fiercely, and the billions of branches of the left half of the strange tree grew wildly, intertwining to form a pale white bone shield. Strange time and space patterns appeared on the shield's surface, as if trying to banish the axe light to a chaotic spacetime.

The axe light was formed from the chaotic Daoist principles, encompassing all laws and ignoring the barriers of time and space. The moment it touched the bone shield, the pale branches snapped inch by inch, and the strange patterns of time and space disintegrated into dust.

With a loud clang, the axe struck the demon's body, splattering eerie flames and black blood everywhere.

The three-faced demon staggered backward, a deep, bone-revealing crack appearing on its chest, within which five-colored strange energy surged violently.

"You..." The head in the center of the Devouring World roared, its six arms glowing with demonic runes. Calamity, sin fire, and spacetime traces intertwined and erupted, transforming into six ferocious demonic dragons that pounced on Li Mu: "Devour him!"

The army of evil creatures, including the Ash Bone Dragon Owl, the Weeping Soul Demon Vine, the Time-Eroding Bat, and the Star Bone Demon Statue, surged forth like a black tsunami, pressing down on the Xuanhuang Boundary Wall.

Li Mu remained expressionless, his right-hand axe vanished, and he formed hand seals.

The Chaos Dao Tree's countless roots emerged from the void, like a group of dragons patrolling the sky, plunging into the army of evil creatures. On the surface of the roots, the Dao patterns of "Sorrow" flowed in a deep blue, and the Dao of Compassion spread like a tide. The evil creatures it touched suddenly slowed down, their soul fires flickered, and the ancient evil remnants that were forcibly refined even produced a trace of struggle and mournful cries.

The roots of the Weeping Soul Vines coiled back, entwining themselves around the Ash Bone Dragon; the Time-Eroding Bats swarmed wildly, and ripples of time accidentally injured the Star Bone Demon Statue; the evil army clashed with each other, their formation thrown into chaos. (End of Chapter)