Mutated Tao

“They cultivate ‘Truth’?” An epiphany struck Li Huowang, and he pondered deeply over the strange yet familiar term. He had read about what Zhuge Yuan was talking about in novels, but he knew that those novels were far from the truth.

If the Sitting Oblivion Dao is cultivating ‘Lies,' and the Strayed Ones are cultivating ‘Truth,' they're most likely each other's archenemies. That is indeed going to explain why they hate the Strayed Ones so much.

Li Huowang felt like the events he had gone through finally made sense. However, he had more burning questions rather than answered questions.

“Wait, wait, wait. Give me a moment to think about this, Senior Zhuge,” Li Huowang said. Then, he closed his eyes to focus on recalling everything he had gone through.

Zhuge Yuan stared at Li Huowang, waiting patiently. Eventually, he put the Go board away and retrieved the utensils he had used to make tea.

Zhuge Yuan was soon finished brewing another pot of tea.

Li Huowang finally opened his eyes just then and asked, “Senior Zhuge, I don’t think that’s right. If the Sitting Oblivion Dao truly cultivates ‘Lies,’ it would explain why they want to turn something real into something fake.

"However, if Strayed Ones like me can cultivate ‘Truth,’ doesn’t that mean that we can turn nothing into something out of thin air? I don’t have any powers like that!”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course! Ever since I became a Strayed One, except for the illusions that I can’t seem to get rid of, the only other power I got was the illusion projection!” Li Huowang exclaimed; he sounded very certain when it came to himself.

Li Huowang had been living in this bizarre world for more than a year now, so he had experienced many bizarre things, acquiring bizarre powers in the process. However, he had never obtained any powers related to the cultivation of ‘Truth.'

If he had such a powerful power, he wouldn't have struggled so much. Li Huowang pondered deeply. He had to be extremely sure about anything capable of changing his life. In other words, he couldn't easily trust the words of other people.

“Senior Zhuge, are you sure that Strayed Ones can cultivate ‘Truth’? Is there really a cultivation method that will allow us to do so?”

Zhuge Yuan pondered over it before answering, “I've read it in a book, but I'm not sure whether it's real or not. Based on my observations of the Sitting Oblivion Dao members, however, I’m certain that it’s true.

"Plus, are you sure you’ve never experienced changing reality itself? As far as I know, anything can happen to the Strayed Ones. Perhaps you've done it before, but you simply failed to notice it. Why don’t you try telling me everything that has happened to you so far? Perhaps I can point out what you might’ve overlooked.”

Li Huowang thought about it hard and long before nodding. He decided to trust Zhuge Yuan. Zhuge Yuan already knew that he was a Strayed One, so he didn't really have anything to hide.

“Alright, let me tell you everything that has happened to me from the very beginning. Let's start from when I was in Zephyr Temple. I met an evil cultivator named Dan Yangzi. He was illiterate, but he somehow obtained a sacred text that made him yearn for immortality to the point of…”

Beneath the elegant bamboo eaves, Li Huowang slowly recounted his experience over the past year.

Li Huowang had experienced a lot and thought he would be speaking for a very long time. He even thought that he would talk overnight, but Zhuge Yuan stopped him when he was talking about the Benevolent Nunnery.

“Junior Li, look at this. Is this the pill recipe you told your master, Dan Yangzi, to eat?” Zhuge Yuan said, handing over a piece of paper filled with text.

Li Huowang couldn't appreciate calligraphy, but he could appreciate Zhuge Yuan’s neat handwriting. The pill recipe he had given to Dan Yangzi was recorded on it, while the cultivation method to become an Immortal was written below the recipe.

Li Huowang looked at it and nodded. “Yep. This is it. What about it?”

Zhuge Yuan’s calm voice rose a bit as he replied, “What do you mean, 'what about it?' Your pill recipe is like how you play Go—it's extremely messy. You really thought your recipe would help your master become a half Immortal?”

“Yeah, but I'm curious as well. Why did Dan Yangzi become—” Li Huowang stopped mid-sentence, and his eyes widened upon realizing something. “Are you saying that I used my power as a Strayed One to help Dan Yangzi ascend? No way. I hated him to the core, so I couldn't have helped him!” Li Huowang affirmed.

“However, Dan Yangzi still ascended. Junior Li, I want you to think about it. What was in your stomach at the time?”

“My stomach? Half of Dan Yangzi’s face—” Li Huowang came to a halt mid-sentence, discovering the missing puzzle piece to complete the puzzle.

Zhuge Yuan nodded and took the words out of Li Huowang's mouth. “That's right. Even though he only had half a face, he was still alive! His flesh was within your stomach. He had used his obsession to become an Immortal and your powers to ascend!”

Li Huowang blanked out. Every single burning question in his mind was answered at once. He had never thought that he was the reason behind Dan Yangzi's ascension to immortality.

“See, what did I say? " Zhuge Yuan said, "A third party can easily spot something wrong within the narrative. Your master used a very crude method to do so, and he ended up becoming that abomination. However, he still became a half Immortal.

"Even if you don’t quite understand it right now, I'm sure you're smart enough to know that he had used your powers to become a half Immortal. In other words, the Strayed Ones can indeed transform lies into the truth."

Li Huowang had no idea what to say in the face of the truth. As a Strayed One, he knew he had a strange power, but he truly didn't expect that he would be so clueless about it.

Wait! Aside from when I had inadvertently helped Dan Yangzi become a half Immortal, have I ever used this power unconsciously?

Li Huowang tried hard to recall anything strange from his experiences, but he had no idea which was real, and which was born from his power.

What's real? Li Huowang pondered.

Zhuge Yuan unfurled his fan and said, "Aside from your pursuit of Bei Feng for that method, I'm sure you have other plans, right?"

Li Huowang nodded seriously. “Thank you for your help, Senior Zhuge! Your words have allowed me to see that I have one more path to choose. However, how should I cultivate the ‘Truth’? How should I take control of my primordial breath?”

“Hmm…” Zhuge Yuan wasn’t sure as well. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you with that. All I know about it was from a book, and I can't really remember the details because it's been so long…"

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