907: Limiting oneself makes it difficult to reach the ultimate.

She picked up a white piece and placed it, pondering, "The Great Dao is eternal, immortal, and unfathomable. The path of self-inquiry limits oneself, making it difficult to reach the extreme! Only by inquiring into the Dao of the universe can one glimpse the true profundities of the Great Dao."

"Limiting oneself and failing to reach the extreme is because one's Dao Heart is not strong enough, trapped by the present, not daring to gaze at the heavens, and lacking the qualification to glimpse the Profound Truth of the Great Dao."

Xie Weilou smiled faintly, then made his move.

As the black piece fell, it exuded an endless aggressiveness, intent on devouring, slaughtering, crushing the white pieces, using them as stepping stones to advance further and ascend to the highest point.

Shi Qingxuan, seeing the piece Xie Weilou had placed, immediately felt the murderous Qi within it. She looked at Xie Weilou: "What kind of Dao Heart is qualified to glimpse the Great Dao?"

Xie Weilou smiled and said, "When the sea reaches its end, the sky becomes the shore; when the mountain reaches its peak, I am the summit! If one has limitations, then transcend them. If the path of the Great Dao is ethereal, then forge your own path. When you stand at the highest point, you are your own Dao."

He continued, "The path of the Great Dao is paved with mountains of bones, yet those who seek the Dao must advance with indomitable will, with the belief to sweep aside everything. Even if one dies and their Dao vanishes, they should have no regrets. To hear the Dao in the morning, and die content in the evening."

"To hear the Dao in the morning, and die content in the evening?"

Shi Qingxuan picked up a chess piece. Hearing Xie Weilou's words, she was momentarily lost in thought, unsure how to refute him.

With her current cultivation, she had already glimpsed the threshold of a Half-Saint. She only needed to take one more step to achieve the position of a Half-Saint.

But that half-step, she couldn't take it no matter what. Perhaps she was afraid, or perhaps she lacked Xie Weilou's Aura of 'when the mountain reaches its peak, I am the summit.'

Many people like her had their moments of high spirits, their grand ambitions of sweeping through eternity, but as they walked further and further, they gradually developed fear.

Because most of those who walked that path became the stark white bones along the way.

Just like the Headmaster, a powerful expert of the Half-Saint Realm, who once dominated the Eastern Barrens, finding few rivals, but after many years of struggle, his Lifespan was nearing its end, and he wouldn't live much longer.

Shi Qingxuan placed the chess piece in her hand: "Reality can be very cruel!"

Xie Weilou picked up a black chess piece and placed it: "Precisely because it is cruel, one needs to carve out a bloody path. How can those with unstable Dao Hearts see the vast world? How can one see the beautiful scenery of 'all mountains small' without reaching the summit?"

"..."

Shi Qingxuan did not reply, continuing to place pieces.

The two continuously placed pieces.

After many pieces were placed.

Shi Qingxuan captured several of Xie Weilou's pieces: "Many people are destined to be stepping stones. Seeking the Dao, perhaps one is not seeking the Great Dao, but witnessing the cruel Heavenly Dao!"

Even though she was a Venerable, even though she had glimpsed the threshold of a Half-Saint, she still felt lost when seeking the Dao, which is why she needed to seek the Dao.

Is seeking the Dao about inquiring into the heart, or into the heavens?

Or is it about inquiring into the ethereal "Dao"?

In the Guangyin River, on the endless path of the Great Dao, the further one walks, the more one sees, and the more lost one becomes.

If asked what her Dao was, perhaps she couldn't give an answer. The end of living beings seems to be death, but what is the end of the Dao?

Who can provide an answer?

Perhaps those who have attained the Great Emperor Dao can provide an answer.

But even powerful Great Emperors, throughout the eons, can one still find one in the Eastern Barrens, or the Heavenly Barrens today? One cannot find any at all.

Take the Eastern Barrens, for example. One hundred thousand years ago, after the Human Emperor passed away, there have been no Great Emperors in the Eastern Barrens since!

"Life is like a game of chess, and so is the path of the Great Dao. Some are pieces that make a grand entrance, while others are discarded pieces that exit in sorrow. And you should be the player of life's chess game! The cruel Great Dao, when Corpse Skeleton pile up like mountains, your path should be to step on billions of Corpse Skeletons, cutting through thorns and thistles."

Xie Weilou placed a black piece, and a whole section of white pieces was instantly wiped out, exiting in sorrow.

"..."

Shi Qingxuan subconsciously looked at the chessboard; many white pieces had silently become discarded pieces.

In contrast, the black pieces, from beginning to end, had only one goal: aggression, devouring, slaughter, to stand at the highest point.

This was like walking on the same path, she and Xie Weilou were moving forward, and she seemed about to become his stepping stone.

As Xie Weilou said, seeking the Dao is not as good as seeking the heart. When your resolve is firm enough, you will have only one goal, constantly moving forward, and external things will not affect you at all.

If there are obstacles, they should be used as stepping stones, to be trampled over!

Shi Qingxuan did not continue placing pieces. She said with a complicated expression, "Perhaps there's no need to continue this game."

Her game of seeking the Dao was not Xie Weilou's way of seeking the Dao; rather, she herself was seeking the Dao, and Xie Weilou was explaining it.

Her seeking the Dao could not trap Xie Weilou; it could only trap herself. The outcome of this game might have been revealed from the very beginning.

Xie Weilou shook his head: "Everyone has their own Dao. Inquiring into the heavens, inquiring into the Dao, inquiring into the heart, these are all one-sided. The unity of heaven and man, the Dao existing in heaven and earth, the immortal Dao Heart, existing for eternity—only by unifying them can one glimpse the ultimate Dao. This game is full of variables; let's continue placing pieces! If you don't go to the very end, how will you truly know that your path is not right?"

"That makes sense! Let's continue then."

Shi Qingxuan pondered for a moment, then continued to place pieces.

"..."

Xie Weilou smiled as he placed a piece.

In a flash.

Half an hour passed.

On the chessboard, the white pieces were utterly defeated, disarmed and disheartened, completely becoming stepping stones.

The black pieces covered the entire board, surrounding all sides, aggressively attacking without regard for consequences. If gods blocked, they killed gods; if Buddhas blocked, they killed Buddhas. The white pieces simply couldn't stop them.

"I lost!"

Shi Qingxuan sighed in her heart. If she had known she would lose so badly, she shouldn't have continued placing pieces.

Xie Weilou stretched languidly with a smile on his face: "Miss Shi, you've been too kind!"

Having utterly defeated Shi Qingxuan, he felt very comfortable and satisfied.

What kind of Dao-seeking game was this?

Could he truly understand it?

He was a young man in his twenties who hadn't even seen much of the real world, hadn't fully comprehended life and death, and whose cultivation was only at the Peak Dongxuan Realm. What qualifications did he have to speak of the Dao?

He was just making things up, just talking nonsense, and he certainly wasn't going to let himself be at a disadvantage!

Shi Qingxuan extended her hand towards Xie Weilou, revealing the white scale totem on the back of her hand: "If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

"Can I touch it?"

Xie Weilou stared at Shi Qingxuan's slender hand.

Shi Qingxuan paused slightly, then nodded: "You may!"

"..."

Xie Weilou was not polite. He directly grasped Shi Qingxuan's slender hand, touched the white totem on it, and then squeezed it.

Shi Qingxuan, seeing this, asked, "How is it?"

Xie Weilou said with a serious expression, "It's very soft, very smooth..."

Shi Qingxuan raised an eyebrow and immediately pulled her hand back.

Xie Weilou smiled and said, "I once saw someone with green scales on the back of their hand. The shape of those scales was exactly the same as the ones on your hand, Miss."

"Green scales? Like this?"

Shi Qingxuan's fingers moved slightly, and the white scale totem on the back of her hand directly transformed into a white scale.