522: Chapter 522 Living Towards Death, the Dao Heart Shattered!

"Presumptuous!"

The voice of the Su Family Grand Elder exploded, like a thousand thunderclaps erupting simultaneously above the Underworld River.

The river water was shaken by this sound wave, churning up giant waves dozens of zhang high, and countless wronged souls within the giant waves were shattered into dust.

"I primarily Cultivate the Great Dao of Death, and have reached the absolute Peak of a Golden Immortal!"

"In this world, who else understands death better than I?"

"You, a lonely ghost without even a trace of Qi, dare to criticize my Dao?"

As he spoke, he took a step forward, arrogant!

He, a member of the Su Family, had bitterly Cultivated the Dao of Death for ten thousand years, refining himself into a half-dead person, only then finally reaching the step of condensing the Immortal Lord mark.

Aside from the high and mighty Immortal Emperors, who else in the world would dare to say he does not understand death?

A ferryman of unknown origin actually dared to spout such nonsense!

However, facing the towering rage of the Su Family Grand Elder, the ferryman only chuckled softly.

"Heh heh..."

The laughter was calm and composed, even carrying a trace of... disdain?

"You understand death?"

The ferryman stopped rowing and parked the flat-bottomed boat about ten zhang away from the reef.

The viscous Underworld River water flowed slowly beside the boat, but it could never touch the hull in the slightest.

Then, he slowly raised his head, revealing a face as ordinary as can be under his bamboo hat.

Not handsome, nor ugly; such a face would never attract anyone's attention in a crowd.

Lu Yuan chuckled softly, stopped the flat-bottomed boat not far from the reef, raised his head, and revealed a pair of double pupils as deep as an abyss.

"Your so-called death."

The ferryman spoke, his voice as calm as if he were stating the most ordinary fact.

"Is merely the severance of vitality, the end of all things, a void of dead silence."

"But this is only the superficial appearance of death."

"This is only the lowest grade of the Dao of Death."

Lowest grade?

These two words were like a heavy hammer, fiercely striking the Su Family Grand Elder's heart.

His heart, which had already been like withered wood, involuntarily surged with a strong palpitation at this moment.

Not because of anger, but because... a trace of inexplicable unease mixed with absurdity.

"Absurd!"

The Su Family Grand Elder suppressed that trace of unease in his heart, his face still maintaining a sneer.

The sneer pulled his withered lips until they almost tore, revealing the ink-black gums inside.

"Death is death! How can there be any distinction between high grade and low grade!"

"Your so-called high grade is nothing more than the cliché theory of Reincarnation! Resurrection after death is precisely an evil path that goes against the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth! True death should cleanly and efficiently reduce everything to nothingness!"

The more he spoke, the more he felt he was correct; Reincarnation?

Ridiculous!

All things must eventually die; this is the most fundamental Law between Heaven and Earth.

The reason death is powerful lies in its irreversibility.

If one can still come back to life after dying, can that still be called death? It is precisely a desecration of death!

"Wrong, completely wrong."

The ferryman's tone remained calm, yet every word was a pearl of wisdom, each word seeming to contain some Profound Truth of Heaven and Earth, piercing directly through the Su Family Grand Elder's heavy defenses of Death Qi and smashing into the depths of his Divine Soul.

"Isolated Yin cannot produce, solitary Yang cannot grow."

"Without life, where does death come from? Without death, where does life come from?"

"Your so-called Great Dao of Heaven and Earth is merely half of the Laws of the Universe."

"Only Cultivating half of it, yet you still dream of condensing a complete Immortal Lord Dao Fruit?"

Upon hearing this, the Su Family Grand Elder's mind was in turmoil, not because the other party's words were so profound, but because those few simple sentences miraculously resonated with the many puzzles he had encountered during his ten thousand years of Cultivation!

He recalled his Cultivation over these years; every time he tried to make the Immortal Lord mark reach Perfection, it was always just a little bit off.

What was that little bit? He had previously always thought it was that his accumulation of Death Qi was not enough, that his understanding of death was not deep enough.

But now, this ferryman was telling him—it was not that it was not enough, but that he had taken the wrong direction?

"The true Great Dao of Death."

The ferryman's voice continued, unhurried, yet possessing a certainty that made it impossible to refute.

"Is not the end, but the starting point of Reincarnation."

"Living towards death, the circulation of life and death, that is the supreme Profound Truth of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth!"

This was not Lu Yuan making things up; as an existence who had simultaneously mastered the two supreme Laws of the "Great Dao of Life and Death" and the "Law of Reincarnation"—and the complete version obtained through the System's critical strike rebate—his understanding of these Daos had long surpassed anyone in this era.

These few sentences he threw out casually sounded like profound Daoist mantras to the ears of the Su Family Grand Elder.

But to himself, this was merely the most superficial part of his Dao insights.

However, it was precisely this most superficial part that, for the Su Family Grand Elder who was still struggling to grope for "pure death," had already constituted a complete crushing of his will!

"Living... towards death?"

The Su Family Grand Elder was stunned, and in those ghostly green eyes, a trace of unprecedented bewilderment flashed.

Living towards death?

These four words were like four thunderclaps, exploding simultaneously in his Sea of Consciousness.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

His Dao Heart, which had originally been as firm as a rock, felt as if it had been fiercely struck by an invisible giant hammer the moment he heard these four words!

"Crack..."

A tiny crack appeared on his Dao Heart.

This crack was imperceptible, but for the Su Family Grand Elder, who was at the critical moment of condensing the Immortal Lord mark, it was fatal!

Because the Dao Heart is the Foundation of the Immortal Lord Dao Fruit!

If a crack appeared in the Foundation, even if it was only one ten-thousandth of a strand of hair, it would lead to the collapse of the entire Dao Fruit!

The Su Family Grand Elder's face instantly turned pale—although his face was already as pale as paper, at this moment, it added something called fear.

He recalled his ten thousand years, blindly pursuing extreme Death Qi, making himself look neither human nor ghost.

For what? To gain power! To comprehend the true meaning of death!

He did indeed gain power; he went from an ordinary Golden Immortal, step by step, to the absolute Peak of a Golden Immortal.

The Dao Fruit of Death he condensed was enough to make Cultivators of the same rank tremble with fear.

But...

That Immortal Lord mark...

That Immortal Lord mark, into which he had poured ten thousand years of effort, could never truly be condensed, always lacking that subtle feeling.

Previously, he did not understand what that little bit was, but now, he seemed to understand.

Could it be... that he had really taken the wrong path?

"No! Impossible!"

The Su Family Grand Elder shook his head frantically, the corpse spots on his head wriggling with his movements, appearing exceptionally hideous and terrifying.

"My Dao cannot be wrong!"

"Death is the end! It is nothingness! It is the final destination of all things!"

"What you say is nothing but bewitching heresy!"

He roared, but his voice carried a hint of hysteria.

Because he knew that if he admitted that what the other party said was right, it would mean that his persistence over these ten thousand years, his efforts over these ten thousand years, and his suffering over these ten thousand years were all a joke!