Mutated Tao

The little girl picked up the chopsticks and squinted closely along the edge of the pot for a long time. After a while, she forcefully plunged the chopsticks into the pot.

She pulled her chopsticks out and found she had grabbed a braised duck head with a portion of the neck still attached.

She paid no heed to the heat and cheerfully brought the duck head to her two waiting sisters.

The three of them ate the duck head as if it were a gourmet delicacy, their eyes brimming with joy. The youngest even tilted her head back and giggled with delight.

Bai Lingmiao walked silently, seemingly able to sense their happiness as her lips curled into a slight smile of her own.

She once had a younger brother too, and she would share her tasty food with him. As she watched the young girl, Bai Lingmiao seemed to see her former self.

Soon, she reached a bustling alley where a newlywed couple was worshiping the God of Prosperity. Everyone was cheering and laughing as if the hardships they had just endured were merely an illusion.

They brought out two cherished persimmon cakes and cut them into small pieces to share as wedding candies.

No one looked down on the makeshift candies. On the contrary, they ate them eagerly and savored this rare sweetness by letting them dissolve in their mouths. Some even carefully stored the candies in their pockets to take them home.

Bai Lingmiao was suddenly overcome with a blinding sensation as this thought emerged. The telepathic connection granted by the relic stopped responding, and she felt that she had been plunged into darkness.

No, they... they don’t need to go to the Hometown of True Void. Living well is enough for them. Only someone like me, who needs to escape, needs the Hometown of True Void.

Suddenly, Bai Lingmiao felt her telepathic senses granted by the relic extend even further. She could feel activities up to two or three miles away.

The next moment, she sensed Li Huowang speaking with a young man on the main street.

“Senior Li?” Bai Lingmiao stopped walking. She felt the emotions of other people within her sensory range.

In the past, she valued her own emotions greatly. Now, she realized that these emotions were not everything in life.

Her feelings were insignificant compared to the lives of all the followers of the White Lotus Sect.

Bai Lingmiao turned and walked towards the entrance of the White Lotus chapel, “Second Deity, let’s go.”

“Where to?”

Bai Lingmiao sensed the emotions of half the city and slowly said, “Too many people and too many lives depend on us. We can’t just think of ourselves.

“We need to find a way to prevent more people from losing their families. The feeling of losing loved ones is very painful. I don’t want my past experiences to happen to others.”

The Second Deity replied, “Alright then. At least you’re not conflicted anymore. If that brat Lu Xiucai can do it, surely we can too.”

***

In the kitchen, stones were constantly boiling in a pot of water. A man with a white cloth wrapped around his head earnestly added firewood to the stove.

Hu Biao followed his routine and poked the stones in the pot with chopsticks. His expression turned very excited. The stones had actually softened from boiling!

Sir Arrogant Stone had said that once the stones were boiled soft, eating them would cure all diseases and even lead to Immortality.

“Father! Father!” Hu Biao rushed out with the ceramic pot filled with soft stones.

As soon as he ran out the door, he saw his senior coming towards him with a pot.

Hu Biao quickly pretended to be calm, carrying the softened stones home.

As they passed each other, Hu Biao’s senior suddenly raised the pot and smashed it towards Hu Biao’s ceramic pot.

The ceramic jar broke, and the stones tumbled onto the ground, bouncing softly. His senior watched on dumbfoundedly.

“You! You actually boiled it soft! It’s real!”

The Dharma Sect members peeked out from the eaves, windows, and behind wooden doors. They all watched the stones on the ground with shock and desire.

Hu Biao immediately reached out to grab the soft stone and stuff it into his mouth.

However, a flying stone hit his head and caused blood to stream down. The stone in his hand fell to the ground.

“Grab it!” Someone shouted, causing all the Dharma Sect members present to charge at Hu Biao.

The once close members turned against each other for this opportunity to become immortal, and they fought brutally in the narrow alley.

The soft stone kept changing hands. Even if someone swallowed it, others would cut open their belly to retrieve the stone and swallow it themselves.

After some time, the alley was completely covered in blood and corpses. Only two severely injured people remained and stared at each other. Hu Biao was one of them.

He swayed and muttered to himself, “It’s mine... it was supposed to be mine...”

Li Huowang was currently standing on the eaves and watching the carnage below. Stones couldn’t be boiled soft. This was all part of Li Huowang’s plan.

Li Huowang smiled as the last man eagerly swallowed the stone. He didn’t achieve immortality and instead revealed a look of despair.

Tricking people felt really good, especially when it came to his enemies.

Li Huowang nodded with satisfaction as he felt the False Qi flow into him. He jumped down and kicked the man’s head, causing it to explode.

Li Huowang finally understood why the Sitting Oblivion Dao liked to deceive so many people at once. Even the tiniest amount of False Qi from deceiving mortals could accumulate significantly.

Some experts of the Sitting Oblivion Dao liked to set up schemes that, when well-maintained, provided a continuous flow of False Qi akin to a spring.

The schemes could be complex or simple, sometimes needing only a rumor. The genital shrinkage scam he encountered a few years ago was such an example by the Sitting Oblivion Dao.

As he felt the increasing False Qi within him, Li Huowang realized the importance of shifting his mindset.

In the past, he often couldn’t distinguish between the truth and falsehood. After many deceits, he finally sensed the true difference between what was real and fake.

The Sitting Oblivion Dao often lost their genuine emotions through their deceit, which made them believe everything was fake—morals, family, friends, and even themselves.

If everything was fake, then one could naturally act without any restraint.

Cultivating 'Truth' but not 'Lies' would lead one to easily go crazy. On the other hand, cultivating 'Lies' but not 'Truth' would have the same effect.