Yefutidaolu

Chapter 248 The Abyss of Wisdom
What appears before my eyes is a great deal of charm.

And the profound insights that Ye Qingmu offered.

Originally, Gao Jian's plan was to slowly study Ye Qingmu's spiritual essence. After all, there was no rush, and the spiritual essence itself was not complicated. Ye Qingmu relied on this when he was cultivating. Even an insignificant person who had not broken through the first realm could understand it and had been able to cultivate to this day. It is conceivable that the spiritual essence within it is not too difficult to understand.

Therefore, there's no need to waste the sharpness of the rusty knife on this.

But now...

Let's do it all at once.

Gao Jian didn't know what these divine auras that suddenly appeared before him were, but they were definitely not cultivation techniques. They were more like some kind of 'remains' or 'corpse'.

It's like... the 'thoughts' of a powerful being after death. These thoughts did not dissipate, but instead permeated the entire Desire Realm, continuing to exist by relying on this demonic energy.

Gao Jian suddenly felt a peculiar sense of crisis, though it didn't come from any particular reason.

He felt that many things that had happened in the past few days...

Ye Qingmu, Helunsabao, Caisheng Zhege, and the Buddhist temple before him all seemed to be there to guide him into contact with the demonic energy before him.

What's the purpose?
I don't know, but I'll eat first and see.

The information contained in Shen Yun can only be understood by experiencing it firsthand.

Gao Jian did not hesitate, after all, he only had a three-inch blade at the moment, and could not afford to waste it.

Once the rusty knife has cleared its surface, the mind moves quickly, able to analyze many things rapidly. Therefore, even now, the time it takes to glean profound insights is but a fleeting moment.

So he opened his heart and took in all these whispers and noises, including Ye Qingmu's.

There are probably hundreds of divine charms here.

However, Gao Jian was not afraid. To date, no divine power has been able to truly harm Gao Jian's soul in his rusty-knife state.

Even the Great Dao Song of Profound Transformation and the terrifying divine aura from the Great War of the Gods within the Eternal Profound Ice could not overcome this state of profound insight.

So just come on.

And then... a deluge of sounds came crashing down.

Gao Jian sensed the information within it; he read from it the pain hidden within those wreckage.

What kind of pain was that?
Gao Jian was even somewhat shocked!

Among these massive amounts of voices, he discerned a terrifying, even bewildering, truth.

So... the world of dreams, it seems to be connected?

Gao Jian heard those hundreds of divine voices, which came from different people, different dreams, and were their different 'wailing', even containing some of their own instincts and experiences.

All of this is both independent and... part of a dream. In other words, these cries can be considered a kind of 'dream' or 'hallucination' for these people.

This is the nature of the Desire Realm; the Desire Realm... is such an existence.

Then the problem is coming.

The horrifying part has emerged.

If dreams are a part of human thought, then what exactly is the world of dreams?
When everyone's dreams share the same underlying theme, the same background, and exist in the same world, and all dreams are interconnected... then a big problem arises.

Imagine that each person is obviously independent, right?

Each person's thoughts are independent.

Dreams, obviously, are part of thought, and also part of each person's independent thought.

So, do all independent thoughts become a unified whole in dreams? Are everyone's dreams actually connected to other people's dreams?

Is each person still an independent individual?
From the very beginning, were people... a unified whole?

This is an extremely frightening proposition.

The key question is... is a person still themselves?
Is the self itself independent?
However, Gao Jian immediately realized something.

From this hypothesis, a kind of magic technique can even be derived...

One type is illusion.

Ye Qingmu's technique is essentially an illusion.

Since everyone's dreams are interconnected, I can influence the realm of desire through my own dreams, and in turn, influence your dreams, causing them to become disturbed on their own...

Then, the so-called illusion... becomes 'deceiving yourself'.

Can a person see through the illusion they are deceiving themselves?

It's not an illusion created by someone else, but an illusion created by your own dream. Can it be seen through?

If it were really possible—

That's probably a very powerful illusion, even more powerful than Ye Qingmu's.

But the problem is, if such an illusion is created, or even if such an illusion comes true, does it mean that everyone's mind and everyone's dreams are not actually 'independent'?
Independent thought and independent will seem to have become a... luxury? Are the minds of people in this world interconnected, rather than existing independently?
The mind seems to be something that can be manipulated at will.

"However... that also depends on the degree of determination, right?" Takami thought to himself.

The rusty knife has lost two inches of its sharpness, leaving only one inch.

Having grasped the essence of the spirit, he voluntarily released his senses and ceased this state.

The next instant, he recovered. The surrounding noise hadn't disappeared, and nothing had changed.

Of course, nothing will change.

Because Gao Jian only had an insight and did not make any substantial manipulation, he simply watched as the demonic energy was slowly destroyed by the Buddha's light.

After all the demonic energy was dispelled, Gao Jian turned to look at Dan Sha and Shu Jian behind him.

The mouse's expression looked rather grim. Although he was a mouse, the expression on his face was quite human-like, indicating that he wasn't the only one affected.

Dansha, however, was even more impatient. She immediately asked Gao Jian in confusion, "Just now... I couldn't see anything, and I heard a lot of people talking. What were those things? Gao Jian? And... that monk, did you do this? What happened?"

Fei Xiang clasped his hands together, put away the previous incantation, and replied, "The incantation to destroy these demonic energies was created by me, and there may be some omissions. What you all felt earlier was the true face of the 'Desire Realm'."

"That's an abyss of desire, a place where all the sensual pleasures, lust, and cravings reside. It's a place filled with boundless malice. If you encounter it, you must try your best to avoid it and guard your mind to avoid any misfortune." "Ah? Is it that serious?" Dansha exclaimed in surprise.

Fei Xiang then said very seriously: "The six desires can bewitch the mind, indulging one's will and satisfying one's desires. The ears and eyes are filled with sounds and sights, the mouth and nose are filled with fragrances and stench, and the skin is filled with cold and heat. Therefore, they are the abyss of the mind. Once immersed in them, it is difficult to extricate oneself. They are the great enemy of cultivation, disrupting the foundation of cultivation, stealing wisdom and life, destroying the Dharma, and damaging the roots of merit and goodness. Therefore, they are called 'demons.' The desire realm is the place of demons. You must never take it lightly."

Gao Jian stood awkwardly to the side for a moment.

Um... should I tell Fei Xiang that I've already absorbed it, and... it doesn't seem as terrible as they say?

Let's not talk about it for now.

After all, we still have important business to attend to.

So Gao Jian stepped forward and said as always, "Master Fei Xiang, now that things here are settled, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?" Fei asked.

Gao Jianze said, "I want the master to help me watch over this place. The harvesting and killing in this area is supposed to supply the entire capital. I want to control this place, but I'm afraid I can't do it alone... so I hope the master can help me."

These words made Fei want to glare.

This……

“Benefactor Gao, you know what you’re doing, right? By cutting off supplies to the capital, many people will come looking for trouble for you,” Fei Xiang warned.

Gao Jian has offended Helensabao, and Fei Xiang already knows about these things.

Given his high-minded personality, he would never back down. So, all he could do was try to seize some of Helensabao's key interests and force Helensabao to choose to 'reconcile' with him.

This is a better option.

However, I never expected that Gao Jian's appetite would be so huge.

It's one thing to give Helunsabao a little push, but the main branch of the Taotie tribe is located far away, making it difficult to invest too much power in the capital. Gao Jian and the other party are unlikely to cause too much trouble.

But if they were to control the entire harvesting and mutilation industry in the capital, the problem would be far more serious than it seemed.

"Yes, there will definitely be many people coming to cause me trouble, but correspondingly, there should also be many people coming to help me, for example, Master Fei Xiang, right?" Gao Jian said with a smile.

"You—" He was about to choke on his words.

“Benefactor Gao, you… you’re not exactly peaceful even in the capital.”

"Those who have nothing to lose are not afraid of those who have something to lose. Master Fei, you always say that you dare not get involved in karma, but you always intervene in my affairs. Isn't that because of this? Because working with me means you don't have to take responsibility and you avoid karma." Gao Jian laughed.

Fei Xiang also smiled.

Indeed.

He was always reluctant to work with those powerful and influential families because he was afraid of getting too entangled in their karma.

Actually, it wasn't that he was completely afraid to get involved; it was just that... the powerful families would shirk some responsibility and make him bear more of it.

And you don't have to worry about working with someone who has insightful opinions.

Because Gao Jian doesn't seem to worry about taking on the consequences, doing things with him will involve far less undue involvement.

To put it simply, Gao Jian was the 'mastermind,' and he was just following along.

But at this moment, Dansha suddenly asked, "Isn't that a bit off? It's not that you don't get involved, it's just a little less. But you still did what you were supposed to do, and even got more involved with Gao Jian. If you didn't want to get involved in karma, then you shouldn't have taken on these things in the first place, and you shouldn't have entered the world or gotten involved with Gao Jian."

“Indeed, what Benefactor Shun said makes sense.” Fei Xiang put his hands together, nodded, and readily admitted it.

Shu Jian curled his lip, leaned closer to Dan Sha, and whispered, "Idiot, why make such a fuss? Isn't this monk just looking for an excuse to kill someone? Didn't you see how desperate he was? All he talked about was cause and effect, just excuses. That's how these people are."

Dansha also lowered her voice: "Really? I think this guy is pretty nice. Hasn't he been helping Gao Jian the whole time?"

The mouse continued in a low voice, "Who knows what they're up to? Monks are a very selfish group. Whether they do good or bad things, it's all for themselves. They all seek transcendence and enlightenment, so it's not surprising that they do something weird. Don't get too involved."

"That insightful opinion? Doesn't he have a close relationship with this monk?"

“Gao Jian is intelligent; he knows what’s important and what’s not, so there’s no need to worry about him.”

"I see... wait, no, so you mean I'm brainless?"

The mouse immediately jumped out of the car, leaping from Dansha's head to Takami's head!

Dansha wanted to chase after him, but when she rushed in front of Gao Jian, she suddenly remembered something and stopped. She put on a ladylike demeanor, but still couldn't help but glare angrily at Shu Jian.

As for your insightful opinion...

He was completely oblivious to all of this; at that moment, he was preoccupied with communicating with Fei.

While the two were whispering, he had already reached an agreement with Fei Xiang: "Then it's settled, Master Fei Xiang, thank you."

“It’s just a matter of mutual benefit. I should thank Master Fei Xiang. However, there’s still something I don’t quite understand… Master, you just said that Yangjing isn’t big enough. What exactly do you mean by that?” Gao Jian said.

Fei Xiang explained, "You must understand, this world of the Divine Dynasty is already dead and desolate. How can a dead and desolate world support so many cultivators, and even give birth to spiritual materials?"

"There's also the outside world?" Gao Jian's pupils contracted.

I've never heard of that before.

Even in the Xuanhua Tongmen Daoda Ge (a collection of ancient Chinese philosophical texts), nothing like this was mentioned.

He knew of the existence of the 'Heavens', including the 'Celestial Beings' before him, who also came from the Heavens. But the Heavens... were actually a place like 'foreign lands,' which should also be within this world.

Since even the heavens are within this world, what is the place further away, the outermost place?
Could it be... my origin?
Instead of simply nodding, he said, "Yes, the reason it can still operate is because of the supplies from other places. The dead world is losing massive amounts of resources every second. If we hadn't been constantly trying to collect resources from the outside world to sustain it, it probably would have collapsed long ago."

"However, it is also very difficult to collect information from the outside world. Unless one becomes an immortal, the human body cannot leave the world itself. So... what we can do is actually to 'pull' the outside world into this world. We, the heavens, were also pulled in this way and became part of the world."

"Wait, what about that piece of ancient ice at the entrance of the Imperial Academy..." Gao Jian realized something.

“Yes, wasn’t that piece of mysterious ice ‘pulled’ from beyond the heavens?” Fei Xiang said.

"In other words, the Earth Immortals of the Divine Dynasty are constantly bringing things from beyond the heavens to expand this world itself?" Gao Jian said.

"Perhaps that's true, but Earth Immortals are already transcendent beings, so I'm not entirely sure. However, don't underestimate the 'Demon' just because you've come to the Divine Capital," Fei Xiang said.

His tone was extremely serious.

(End of this chapter)