Under One Person: The Seeker of the Dao in the Lü Family

Chapter 295 Nathan Island and the Divine Tree, the Mantis and the Oriole

"In the end, one wrong step led to another, and now there's no turning back."

Qu Tong stroked the cracks on half of her face, where flashes of lightning and flames could be seen. The marks left by the Three Calamities spread more and more widely and deeply across her body, almost covering her inside and out.

"Living beings come from the beginning and rely on the differentiation of life and nature; therefore, if life and nature exist, then living beings have not perished."

She looked up at Ruan Feng, who was lying unconscious on the ground not far away, and a smile appeared on her cold and stiff face.

"Although we only have Senior Ruan Feng now, that's enough."

As the meaningful words fell, the cloaked figures brought by Qu Tong lifted Ruan Feng and placed him in front of Qu Tong, who was sitting cross-legged.

"thump!"

The large and stout Ruan Feng resembled a mountain of flesh, with a vigorous life force bursting forth from within. Under the catalysis of this life force, the wounds he sustained in the fight with the cloaked man had long since healed, and his flesh and skin were snow-white and delicate, as if he had been reborn.

"The Six Treasures Immortal Thief gathers all things acquired after birth to refine and nourish the innate source, but the dragon soars too high and regrets itself. Without the foundation of earth virtue and without the coordination of the clear source of the river, the fire that is ultimately created is not the Great Sage of Heart Fire, but the Heavenly Peng of Kidney Water."

"Desires ran rampant, like the Milky Way bursting its banks, and even the kidney-water spirit of Tianpeng transformed into an ugly pig demon."

Qu Tong uttered incomprehensible and profound words. Looking at the ugly Ruan Feng in front of her, she felt increasingly regretful. "Senior Ruan Feng, your mistake was that you came from a rogue cultivator background and your foundation was not deep."

"In that case, let us use the path you took as a mistake to help this junior achieve his goal."

She suppressed the complex expression of regret on her face, her eyes turning cold and ruthless again. Red and blue flames emanated from her hands as she pressed them down towards Ruan Feng on the ground.

"boom!"

The moment the blazing flames touched Ruan Feng's body, it was like a raging fire meeting dry tinder, unleashing a violent roar. The two reacted violently, and the dazzling flames spread out, enveloping Ruan Feng and Qu Tong.

Red and blue flames flowed continuously from Qu Tong's hands. Under the scorching heat of these flames, she calmly observed the strange changes without the slightest panic.

In the hazy, shimmering flames, Qu Tong and Ruan Feng's figures gradually blurred as they were scorched. The various components of their lives seemed to be constantly melted and forged in this great fire.

The vague concept of life and death gradually became clearer and purer as the flames burned. When the two figures completely disappeared into the flames, a mysterious feeling slowly emerged with the surging waves of fire.

The cloaked figures surrounding the flames showed no surprise at this, simply standing still like puppets awaiting instructions.

"Cultivation Furnace, come here!"

Amidst the surging flames, a voice, indistinguishable between male and female, echoed through the leaping fire waves. The command was incoherent and jumbled, yet instantly recognizable.

A cloaked figure standing directly in front of the flames pulled down his hood, revealing the face of a middle-aged man. He gazed at the flames with a devout yet blank expression, holding a brass box in his hands.

No, rather than a box, the object was more like a miniature bronze furnace.

This bronze furnace has no legs or lid, seemingly a single, seamless piece, yet the openwork patterns on it shimmer and flicker, like the ever-burning flames within the furnace, wave after wave, melting the unknown things within.

"Cultivation Furnace, come here!"

The chaotic command was proclaimed once more, and the middle-aged man, without hesitation, threw the bronze furnace in his hand into the flames, as if adding more fuel to the raging fire.

"boom!"

As the bronze furnace merged with the flames, the already blazing fire intensified, and the surging waves of fire roared once more, sending the surrounding cloaked figures flying several steps.

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

The flames, accompanied by a fierce wind, raged and swept in all directions, stirring up dust and rocks, and causing the trees in the surrounding jungle to rustle.

Amidst the flying sand and swirling dust, a deep and orderly sound slowly arose, like the sound of bells and drums being struck. Moreover, the sound grew louder and louder, finally resembling a rumbling thunderclap, suppressing all the strange movements in the jungle.

Amidst the surging, leaping flames, red and blue light intertwined and evolved, obscuring any figure or shape, as if Qu Tong, Ruan Feng, and the bronze furnace thrown in had all vanished into nothingness.

But that mysterious feeling grew ever purer and stronger, like the original essence obtained after all things have been reversed and refined.

This primordial energy flowed within the red and blue flames, separating and reuniting, reuniting and separating again. The red and blue flames intertwined and smelted within it, ultimately polishing this energy to a smooth and refined state.

"Hahaha, what does it matter if I make one mistake after another? I can regain my life and return to my original state. Although I have no physical form to rely on, I can only be a ghost for ten thousand years."

"But I still managed to do it."

When this aura became completely flawless, Qu Tong's voice rang out from it, but this time her voice was no longer peaceful and calm, but rather somewhat sinister and mad.

"Everyone, let us contribute our strength to the highest realm of cultivation."

Suddenly, from the undulating flames, streaks of fire emerged, carrying red and blue light, and swept towards the cloaked figures around them.

Faced with the flames' demands, these cloaked figures did not resist. Instead, they willingly stepped into the fire dragon's encirclement, merging with the bright and dazzling flames.

In an instant, waves of fire swept through the secluded and remote forest, and the white skeletons on the ground turned into nothingness in the swirling flames, becoming burning firewood.

As these firewood pieces are continuously smelted, the primordial energy flowing within the flames grows stronger, pushing the profound and transcendent aura to its peak.

"Whoosh!"

Almost at the same time that aura reached its peak, dense roots and branches suddenly sprouted from the ground. These roots and branches grew rapidly, surrounding the enormous flame, seemingly trying to trap it within, adopting the posture of a hunter.

For the divine tree, which was severely damaged by the Samadhi True Fire, Qu Tong, who has now returned to her innate state and has no physical form to rely on, is a great tonic and should not be missed.

"Finally, the divine tree has arrived."

The raging flames vaguely transformed into her face, her features exactly the same as hers. She looked at the surrounding branches that were about to form a cage that blotted out the sun, and instead of resisting the hunter who had suddenly appeared, she laughed meaningfully twice.

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind; Divine Tree, you came in such a hurry, but how could you know that the ending was already decided?"

This cage, woven from the roots of the sacred tree, resembled a net stretching from the deepest part of the earth, instantly blocking out almost all sunlight and leaving only darkness inside.

Qu Tong, made of flames, looked up at the sky and, with the last ray of sunlight about to be obscured, saw the slight changes in the divine tree—scars she was extremely familiar with.

"That's... Samadhi Fire?"

Although her eyes were made of flames, Qu Tong's gaze still revealed a clear sense of apprehension and fear, but in an instant she laughed.

"Hahaha, you've come at the perfect time! It'll be a good opportunity to test whether you, little Lu Zu, can handle the entire Nathan Island!"

The cage tightened, completely imprisoning Qu Tong, who was like prey, within it, and her maniacal laughter disappeared into the moving roots of the divine tree.

"Shuashuashua——"

These roots slowly contracted, and the cage, which initially blocked out the sky, gradually compressed. The branches grew wildly around the cage to reinforce it, slowly bringing the prey inside into the earth.

The cage changed smoothly and quickly. The red and blue flames that Qu Tong had transformed into seemed to offer no resistance, allowing the divine tree to hunt and suppress them. The blazing flames slowly disappeared into the airtight cage without leaving a trace.

Deep in the jungle, the enormous cage gradually disappeared from the ground, and the intricate branches and roots, like earthworms, burrowed back into the soil.

As these roots and branches moved, a faint red and blue light pattern spread through the branches. The red and blue light pattern blended into the texture of the branches, as if it were a natural harmony, without the slightest sense of incongruity.

But an inexplicable energy flowed along these patterns throughout the branches, as if a plague had taken hold, parasitizing these branches and spreading further and further afield.

"Boom boom boom..."

The sound of the soil being stirred gradually faded away, and the mutated branches had completely disappeared from this land.

The once barren and primeval jungle became even more desolate, as if all vitality had been completely plundered, leaving not a trace.

That inexplicable aura not only eroded the branches of the divine tree, but also permeated the land, and through the land, infected all the uncivilized creatures on the island.

"Shh..."

A gentle breeze blew by, sounding like the hoarse lamentations of fallen leaves and decaying wood, but no one heard these sounds, and no one here could understand them.

This unknown anomaly spread rapidly throughout the entire Nathan Island along the special veins buried deep underground—the roots of the divine tree.

Nathan Island exists because of the sacred tree, which was born from witchcraft. After thousands of years of growth and worship, the sacred tree, with its extensive root system, has separated itself from the form of a tree and attached itself to Nathan Island.

In other words, Nathan Island and the Divine Tree have long since merged into one entity; the Divine Tree is Nathan Island, and Nathan Island is the Divine Tree.

This way of existence ensures that the sacred tree will not be easily destroyed. For trees, as long as a little bit of root system remains, there will be a foundation for regeneration.

In terms of conventional methods, given the sheer size of Nathan Island, there are almost no normal means to completely destroy the divine tree. However, since it is a product born from witchcraft and mystical arts, it must naturally be broken using witchcraft and mystical arts as well.

"Do you understand? This is called fighting fire with fire. In the West, it's called using magic to defeat magic."

On the company's fleet heading to Nathan Island, Lü Qian, carrying a whisk and a wooden sword, sat cross-legged on the deck.

A group of employees in company uniforms sat around him, all looking at him with questioning expressions.

Lu Qian straightened his expression, looking every bit the wise master, and explained the principles: "No matter how strange and varied the techniques are, the underlying principles and theories are almost identical. Therefore, cultivation should not be sought externally, but rather internally."

"Zhuge Qing, what questions do you have?"

"What exactly is the interpretation of Xiao Lüzu's [Feng Hou Qi Men]?"

Upon hearing Lü Qian call his name, Zhuge Qing didn't hesitate at all and frankly voiced the question he had been pondering.

After the failure of the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony, his inner demons began to rise, and he sought out Wang Ye as in the original story. But unfortunately, the Wang Ye of today is no longer the mountain hermit who made a mistake in cultivating the Feng Hou Qi Men and was indecisive. Instead, he is a true Taoist.

Cultivation is nothing more than self-cultivation and spiritual cultivation. Wang Ye has already found his own path and his own way to attain it.

Under the tutelage of the three eccentric elders in the back mountain and Lü Qian, Wang Ye, with his Seventy-Two Transformations after the Wind, was so powerful that no one could keep him or force him unless an old monster appeared. This suited his trouble-averse, lazy, and natural nature.

In this version, Wang Ye easily outwits Zhuge Qing, who is beginning to develop inner demons and doubts the legacy of Zhuge Liang, but he almost manages to ruin the character.

In Wang Ye's current view, Dao Ye hasn't even managed to save himself, so how could he have the time to save others? He's just a pretentious and affected young master from a wealthy family.

The Daoist Ancestor said that there is no way to escape calamity except through self-reflection. My cultivation is still far from sufficient, so it's best not to worry about what others are going through.

However, Zhuge Qing was, after all, a direct descendant of the Zhuge family. Fearing trouble, Wang Ye simply pushed Zhuge Qing to Ma Xianhong, who had come to his door.

Using one problem to solve another, Wang Yeche finally relaxed after resolving both problems at once, since he knew he wouldn't be held responsible for the consequences anyway.

May the Heavenly Venerable grant you boundless blessings. Today is a good day to sleep. Go to the back mountain and take a nap.

And so, Zhuge Qing, this unenlightened troublemaker, eventually found his way to Lü Qian.

Now that Lü Qian is about to ascend to immortality, he doesn't mind enlightening a few fools and helping him accumulate merit.

This also explains why he is now, on a whim, explaining the principles of cultivation to the laborers that these companies have kidnapped from Biyou Village.

Lu Qian looked at Zhuge Qing, who had a normal expression, and through his narrowed eyes, he saw the complicated and confused thoughts in his heart. He then smiled and spoke.

"If you want to know the mystery of [Feng Hou Qi Men], it can be summed up in one sentence: to be clear about one's own mind and follow the will of Heaven, to do things against Heaven with a body that is in accordance with Heaven. It is not much different from your family's [Wu Hou Qi Men] in essence."

"But......"

"See, you're in a hurry again."

Lu Qian shrugged and flicked his whisk, revealing a mysterious formation on the deck. The four plates on it slowly rotated as time passed.

"Although the great principles of heaven and earth are interconnected, people are different. Each person's own path is unique. When this path combines with the principles of heaven and earth, all kinds of magical arts and techniques in the world are born."

"Techniques are used to convey principles, and laws are used to elucidate principles."

"For every practitioner, practicing techniques and skills is also a form of cultivating the Tao, only it is a form of cultivating the Tao of the predecessors."

"The Feng Hou Qi Men contains the way of our predecessors, which is a carefree existence independent of the world. The Wu Hou Qi Men also contains the way of our predecessors, which is the way of Zhuge Liang."

"Now, Zhuge Qing, looking at this Qimen formation, can you tell me, in the [Wuhou Qimen], what is the Dao of Zhuge Liang?"

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It's finished, thank you everyone!