Warhammer Cultivation: Cultivating the Tao Te Ching in the 40K Universe

Hector's original plan was to gain Logar's trust and then, under the pretext of "purifying inner demons" and "severing ties with the past," request to take these people away to a place far from the legion, leaving them to fend for themselves or to be slowly guided. He likened this action to pruning the last rotten leaf that might cause disease in a newly sprouted sapling.

He had even prepared hundreds of arguments in his mind to persuade Luo Jia, the core of which was "sacrifice" and "moving forward." He knew that to give a rusty knife a new lease on life, scraping away the rust was a painful but necessary first step.

But now, Irebas's overt scheme and Nurgle's plague have inadvertently provided him with a stage a thousand times better than originally planned. A "miracle" worthy of being recorded in history has become the most powerful "rust remover".

It not only washed away their physical pain, but more importantly, it washed away the deep-seated distrust of all outsiders in their hearts. On this soil interwoven with despair and rebirth, his words about "turning hatred into protection," which he had already honed a thousand times in his heart, could so easily, like the sharpest carving knife, carve into their souls, which had already been tempered by pain to be incredibly resilient.

This is no longer a simple "persuasion", but a "reconstruction" on the ruins.

He knew he had succeeded.

He turned a group of the most devout believers into a group of the most steadfast...believers.

He transformed a group of the most pitiful victims into a group of the most terrifying...guardians.

They will be the first practitioners of the "Way of Silence".

They will be the sharpest and most heartbreaking sword in Hector Kane's hand.

Their names will be—

Meanwhile, deep within the "Words of Loyalty," in the private sanctuary of Arebas.

The first priest was watching everything happening in the quarantine zone with an expressionless face through a mirror made of distorted psionic energy.

When he saw the miraculous rain of light fall and the thousands of mortals healed, his handsome face showed no anger or surprise, only a... abyssal, icy calm.

He slowly shut down the Mirror of Psionic Power.

“Interesting.” He muttered to himself, a cruel and gleeful smile playing on his lips. “A mortal man, actually able to purify the grace of the ‘Father’. It seems he holds more secrets than I imagined…”

"Since the methods of 'God' cannot eliminate you, then..."

He slowly stood up and took down a scepter from the wall—an ancient-looking scepter that exuded an ominous aura.

"...Let me give you my final blessing in the most 'ordinary' way."

The murderous intent in his eyes was no longer concealed.

Enraged by the failed conspiracy, he decided to take matters into his own hands and use the most direct physical means to completely erase this "heretic" who had caused him such shame from the universe!

However, just as he gripped the scepter, preparing to depart...

"boom--!!!"

A deafening roar, far more muffled and more...majestic than any explosion, came from the deepest part of the warship.

That was not a sound from the physical realm, but a... awakening "heartbeat" originating from the soul!

Immediately afterwards, a grand, calm, yet undeniably majestic will, like an invisible tide, swept across the entire warship!

Under this will, Irebas's murderous body suddenly stiffened! He felt like an ant being targeted by a dragon, unable to even muster the courage to move a finger!

The cruel smile on his face froze instantly, replaced by an unprecedented, soul-deep fear!

He knew to whom this will belonged.

“My Lord…” he murmured, his voice filled with disbelief, “He…he actually…”

He actually managed to "realize" something from that mortal's "fallacies and heresies"!

Irebas knew that his last and best chance had already been missed.

Inside the quarantine zone, Hector had just walked up to the group of "orphans".

Just as he was about to speak, that grand will enveloped him like warm sunshine.

He looked up towards the direction of the Luo Jia Sanctuary, a relieved smile appearing on his lips.

He knew that his most powerful "reinforcements" had finally arrived.

Chapter 27 Extinguishing the Flame of Truth (6 Extra Chapters)

When that grand, calm, yet undeniably majestic will swept across the entire "Words of Loyalty" like an invisible tide, time and space seemed to freeze for a moment.

Inside the quarantine zone, the thousands of mortal auxiliary soldiers, who had just escaped Nurgle's "mercy" and been reborn, felt a warm, vast, fatherly aura gently caressing their souls, soothing their last fears and anxieties. Unconsciously, they bowed towards the direction from which that will emanated—a reverence born of their very being for a higher being.

In the observation room, Jaha and the Space Marines behind him were struck dumb. Their explosive pistols clattered to the ground, and they involuntarily knelt on one knee. This will was all too familiar to them. It was the unique mark of their genetic father, the one for which they were willing to give everything!

In the private sanctuary deep within the warship, the First Priest, Eribus, the schemer who had just been preparing to personally annihilate a mortal, had a look of horror and disbelief on his handsome face.

He could sense that the "confusion" and "emptiness" he was familiar with, the kind he could guide and manipulate, were gone from that will. In its place was an unbreakable "tranquility" he had never felt in Loga before. A higher level of manifestation, like the "way of silence" embodied in Hector Kane!

The heavy, adamantium-plated gate of the quarantine zone slid open slowly with a low rumble.

A tall figure, dressed in a grey ascetic robe, slowly emerged from within.

He is still Loka Aurelion.

But he was no longer the same Loka Aurelion.

His eyes, once filled with emptiness and despair, now, though still bearing a deep, bone-deep weariness and sorrow, held a glimmer of light in their deepest recesses... an unprecedented, tranquil, and unwavering light, like a lighthouse in the darkness...

His gaze did not fall upon the kneeling mortals, nor upon the horrified subordinates in the observation room. His gaze immediately fell upon the pale-faced, swaying mortal boy standing in the center of the crowd.

Luo Jia's eyes were complex. In them were shock, curiosity, scrutiny, and even a hint of... an equal "respect" that even he himself hadn't noticed.

“You have done well, Hector Kane,” Loka’s voice rang out slowly. The voice was no longer as hoarse as before, but had a clear, resonant quality, like the booming of a bell. “You have demonstrated your ‘Way’ through your actions. It is not just empty talk.”

Having said that, he slowly raised his hand. An invisible, gentle power instantly enveloped the entire quarantine area. Those mortals who had just been cured but were still weak felt a warm current flow through their bodies, and the deep-seated fatigue was rapidly fading away.

This is the power of the Primarch. But this time, this power no longer contains the fanaticism of trying to change everything, but rather a trace of... a "vitality" that follows nature.

Then, his gaze shifted towards the observation room, and his eyes instantly turned as cold as ancient ice.

"Erebus."

Just four words were enough to send the First Priest, deep inside the warship, into a chilling abyss.

“Come to my sanctuary.”

When Erebas passed by the hall, he found that the "Flame of Truth," composed of countless books and burning fiercely, had also been extinguished. Only a pile of ashes, still radiating warmth, remained.

Iribus felt a sense of "loss of control" wash over him. As he dragged his increasingly heavy steps into the familiar, tomb-like obsidian palace, he discovered that everything here had changed.

The scriptures that were once engraved on the walls, filled with fervent praise of the "original truth," have been completely erased by an invisible force, replaced by a smooth, cold stone wall.

His master, Loka Aurelion, had his back to him, gazing silently at the obsidian tablet inscribed with the Heart Sutra by Hector Cain using his true essence.

“My lord…” Eribus began with difficulty, attempting to salvage the situation with his most proficient tone, one filled with loyalty and concern, “You… your heart seems to be blinded by that heretic. What he has demonstrated is nothing more than another, more sophisticated form of witchcraft, a…”

“Witchcraft?” Loka slowly turned around, interrupting him.

He looked at Irebas, whose once empty eyes were now filled with a calm that Irebas found unfamiliar, a calm that seemed to know everything.

“No, Eribas. That’s not witchcraft.” Loka’s voice was eerily calm. “It’s a kind of ‘order’ that I’ve never seen before. A kind of… indestructible order that originates from within.”

“I sat in silence before this stone slab for ten days,” Luo Jia said slowly, as if stating the simplest of facts. “For the first time, I did not pray to any external being. I simply… looked at it, and looked at myself.”

“I saw my pain, my anger, my pride, my stupidity… They were like a never-ending storm raging in my soul. In the past, I had tried to suppress this storm with a more powerful ‘god.’ But in the end, I only brought on a more terrible tsunami.”

“But now, I understand.” A glimmer of understanding flashed in Loka’s eyes. “I don’t need to suppress the storm. I just need to… become the eternal ‘tranquility’ at the center of the storm.”

He extended a finger and gently touched Irebas's forehead.

Iribus froze, feeling a cold, pure, and emotionless will surge into his mind. Before this will, all his meticulously woven lies, all the blasphemous prayers to the chaotic god hidden deep within his soul, were exposed like shadows cast under the blazing sun!

“You have disappointed me greatly, Irebas.” Loka slowly withdrew his fingers, his voice carrying a genuine, fatherly disappointment for his son. “You and I have both made the same mistake. We were both… too eager to find an ‘answer’. So much so that when a seemingly ‘perfect’ answer appeared, we didn’t hesitate to offer up our souls.”

“Those ‘primordial truths’ you believe in, those ‘gods’ from the Great Ocean,” a deep-seated disgust flashed in Loga’s eyes, “what difference is there between them and the alien monarch who enslaved Barbarus with witchcraft, and the ruthless tyrant who ‘educated’ me with orbital bombardment?”

"They all just want to turn us into their slaves."

Irebas's face was deathly pale. He knew it was all over.

“From this day forward,” Loka’s voice was like a final verdict, “you are no longer the Legion’s First Priest. Surrender your scepter and lay down your armor. Go to the ashes of the ‘Hall of Truth,’ kneel down, and repent. Do not rise without my command.”

"My Lord!" Eribus could no longer remain calm. He roared, but deep within his voice was a fear he himself was unaware of, stemming from a loss of control: "My Lord! You cannot do this! You are betraying the truth we have sought together! You are... denying yourself!" He tried to pry open Loga's newly healed wounds with the most vicious words. This was his last and most instinctive counterattack.

“I have not betrayed my faith, Eribus,” Loka interrupted him calmly. “I have simply… found someone more worthy of my faith.”

"—Myself."

Chapter 28 Talking about Taoism While Sitting (7 Extra Chapters)

Over the next month, the entire Legion of Word Bearers began a top-down, silent "ideological reform."

Logar, the Primarch who was once most enthusiastic about preaching, stopped all "missionary work." He disbanded all prayer gatherings and extinguished the "fire of truth" on all warships. He simply distributed rubbings of the obsidian tablet inscribed with the Heart Sutra to all the high-ranking members of the Legion.

There was no explanation, no coercion.

He simply gave a single command: Go see, go think, go and “understand”.

The atmosphere within the Legion began to undergo a strange transformation. The restless, fanatical, and self-destructive energy gradually faded, replaced by a deeper, more introspective stillness, imbued with contemplative meaning. The Space Marines began to practice meditation during their breaks from training. They no longer sought power from external "gods," but instead began to listen to the voice within their own hearts.

Marcus, a veteran of the 34th Company, initially scoffed at this "lesson" from the Primarch. He was used to filling the emptiness in his heart with prayer and fighting. But when he first tried to "sit quietly" in the silent compartment, the flames of Monakia and the cries of his comrades arrived as expected. He instinctively wanted to resist, but remembered the teaching of "observation" on the stone tablet. He tried not to fight, but simply to watch. Gradually, he discovered that behind the endless clamor, there truly existed a trace of... tranquility that he had forgotten for hundreds of years. Although it was only for a brief moment, it brought a long-lost peace to his perpetually restless heart.

Hector Kane, on the other hand, became the only regular visitor to the Logar Sanctuary.

They are no longer in a "mentor" and "apprentice" relationship, but more like "fellow practitioners".

They would spend several days and nights sitting and discussing philosophy. Loka would raise the various confusions he encountered while comprehending the Heart Sutra, those ultimate questions about "self" and "universe." Hector, in turn, would use the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching, the Diamond Sutra, and even Zhuangzi to answer them one by one.

He explained the principle of "governing by doing nothing" to Lojia, telling him that a true leader should be like the "Tao," formless and nameless, yet omnipresent, allowing the legion to function like a healthy body, rather than interfering in everything.

He explained to Loka the Zen principle of "dwelling nowhere and yet giving rise to the mind," telling him that he should not be attached to the suffering of Monakia, nor to his resentment towards the emperor. Only when the mind is truly "without dwelling" can the purest and most powerful force be generated.

Hector never displayed the slightest arrogance towards this supreme wisdom spanning thousands of years of civilization. He always placed himself in the position of a "transmitter," and he confessed to Loka more than once: "My Primarch, I am not the creator of this wisdom, and I may not even be able to fully comprehend a fraction of its true meaning. I am merely... a fortunate 'reciter' who can barely read. All I can do is relay these ancient words to you—a seeker of the Way who possesses the most advanced and powerful mind in the entire galaxy."

This humility, on the contrary, made Loka trust him even more.

Their discourse was less a teaching and more a resonance of ideas that transcended time and space. Hector was responsible for proposing those groundbreaking "concepts," while Loka, with his Primarch brain that was comparable to a super logic engine, frantically deduced, deconstructed, and corroborated them with his own hundreds of years of life experience.

This is like Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism, who, though illiterate, was able to attain enlightenment on the spot upon hearing the phrase "one should abide nowhere and yet give rise to the mind" from the Diamond Sutra. The original body's enlightenment is unparalleled in the galaxy, and its depth and speed often even startle Hector himself.

It was late at night again. In that quiet room where only the stone slab of the Heart Sutra emitted a faint light, Luo Jia raised a most fundamental question.

“Hector, I seem to… understand ‘dependent origination and emptiness.’” The Primarch’s voice was deep and powerful, filled with the light of contemplation. “I understand that the ‘perfect city’ I cling to, the ‘pain of betrayal’ I feel, are not independent and constant, but arise from the coming together of countless causes and conditions. But… where exactly is the boundary between this ‘emptiness’ and the all-consuming ‘nothingness’ I felt after Monarchia? If everything is empty, then what is the meaning of our struggle?”

This is an ultimate question that would leave any philosopher deep in thought.

Hector remained silent for a moment, knowing that this was the key to whether Loka's Dao Heart could truly be stabilized. He did not answer directly, but instead told a story.

“In my lineage, there were two great seekers of the Way. Their teacher, in order to test them, asked each of them to compose a verse to explain their understanding of the ‘Way’.”

The first seeker of the Way, a man of exceptional intelligence, wrote: 'The body is a Bodhi tree, the mind a mirror bright. Constantly wipe it clean, lest it be defiled by dust.' This means that our body and mind are like a Bodhi tree and a mirror bright, which need to be wiped clean at all times in order to keep them pure and not be polluted by the dust of desire and suffering.

Loka nodded slowly, his eyes showing approval: "Well said. That's exactly what I've been trying to do for the past month. Constantly looking inward and brushing away the dust that originated in Monachia."

“Yes, that is already a very remarkable level.” Hector changed the subject, “but another seeker, an ascetic who was even illiterate, shook his head after hearing this verse and expressed his own opinion.”

He said: 'Bodhi has no tree, nor is the bright mirror a stand. Originally there is nothing, so where can dust alight?'

When Hector slowly recited this verse, the entire meditation room seemed to be enveloped by an invisible and deeper sense of "emptiness"!

Luo Jia's massive body shuddered violently! His golden eyes, which had just regained their luster, widened instantly, filled with an unprecedented shock, like the explosion of stars!

Bodhi has no tree... the bright mirror is not a stand...

Originally there was nothing... so where could dust settle?

He didn't need Hector to offer any further explanation. With his superhuman understanding, he instantly grasped the vast difference in spiritual depth between the two verses!

The first verse still clings to the idea that there is an "I" that needs to be cultivated, a "heart" that needs to be cleansed, and a "dust" that needs to be swept away. It is still struggling at the level of "existence".

The second verse, however, transcends all of this! It points directly to the true nature of mind, telling people that the so-called "body," "mind," and "dust" are all illusions of "dependent origination and emptiness"! When you truly "see" this, when you understand that even the "mirror" that needs to be wiped does not exist, how can the so-called "dust" possibly taint you?

“I understand…” Luo Jia murmured to himself, his voice trembling slightly from the shock.

"I understand……"

The brilliant golden light in his eyes faded away at this moment, replaced by an unprecedented peace that was as profound, inclusive, and tranquil as the void of the universe.

“Monakia…that perfect city, is the 'Bodhi tree' I planted for myself. My pure faith in my father is the 'mirror stand' I polish day and night.” His voice, like a dream, yet crystal clear, dissected the deepest obsession of his soul. “I was fixated on the magnificence of this 'tree,' fixated on the purity of this 'mirror.' So, when my father uprooted my 'tree' with his thunder and shattered my 'mirror,' the flying 'dust' tainted everything about me, dragging me into an endless hell…”

"But... if I had known from the beginning that the city, the faith, and even the tormented 'me' were all 'originally nothing'..."

"How could the Emperor's Judgment, Guilliman's cannon fire... possibly 'provoke' me?"

At that moment, a genuine smile appeared on the face of this once most devout believer. It was a smile devoid of fanaticism or sorrow, but rather one of profound freedom after overcoming all suffering. In his spiritual world, the ruins of Monaco, which had burned for centuries, the shattered imperial statue, and the blood-stained Book of the Word, had not vanished, but rather, like a mirage, had lost all their heavy physical form.

They were still there, but they could no longer burn him or bind him. He finally broke free from the cage he had built with his own hands, a cage called 'obsession'.

In the midst of this rare tranquility, a message from Terra, with the highest level of encryption, shattered everything.