Chapter 1 The Baobao Dao Ren

The Baobao Dao Ren scrutinized An Qisheng.

Born from the spiritual essence of supernatural powers, it was acutely aware of the terrifying nature of the Five-Colored Divine Light that had once astonished the ancient world.

The Great Zhou Dynasty's founding emperor possessed unparalleled talent, rarely matched even in ancient times. Such a figure was qualified to become a Buddha or a patriarch.

The Five-Colored Divine Light, deemed by him as the king of the ten greatest supernatural powers beneath the saints, was certainly extraordinary.

Even it, the Baobao Dao Ren itself, only received a "not bad" assessment from the emperor.

Supernatural powers of this caliber had become spiritually attuned to the world, capable of independently seeking out inheritors, and could not be mastered by just anyone.

However, its reason for wanting to see this Daoist was different.

"Calamity is at hand?"

An Qisheng smiled noncommittally, then glanced at the dark and silent starry sky, and said, "The one who cleaved the starry sky using the Sumeru Mustard Seed technique to hide corpses shouldn't be you, right?"

"The Sumeru Mustard Seed supernatural power doesn't suit me. Opening up a starry sky to accommodate the corpse of a Dao Lord is naturally not easy."

The Baobao Dao Ren's eyes flickered, "Aren't you curious about what I mean by 'calamity'?"

It was genuinely curious.

Although this Daoist possessed the Five-Colored Divine Light, his own cultivation was not particularly high, and he lacked the aura of a primordial spirit. Where did he get the confidence to be so calm?

He didn't even seem to feel fear or worry.

It had seen quite a few people since its birth as a spiritual essence, but it couldn't help but be surprised. The person before it was clearly not as powerful as it, yet it felt a hint of inscrutability in its heart.

"What does it matter if I know or not?"

An Qisheng's eyes opened and closed, his tone becoming even more indifferent, "It's just a matter of facing soldiers with shields and water with earth."

He still possessed the six desires and seven emotions; he would still feel fear and worry. But after experiencing so much in his dreams across various worlds,

ordinary things no longer stirred ripples in his heart.

Compared to the so-called calamity, he was more curious about the Baobao Dao Ren before him.

This spirit born from a supernatural power was far stronger than the obsession of the remnant soul of Fan Wuyi.

It was only three feet tall, shorter than Gongyang Yan by half a head, but its aura was not much weaker than the corpse beneath it, which spanned the starry sea.

It could even be said that it was the strongest presence he had encountered since coming to this world.

"Well said, 'facing soldiers with shields.'"

The Baobao Dao Ren picked up the wine pot and poured a cup for each of them, no longer playing coy, and said:

"I have seen quite a few people since my birth, but I still have a question in my heart, which I have pondered for tens of thousands of years without an answer. Can you enlighten me?"

Its voice was still high-pitched and grating, but its tone was much calmer, as if it harbored no malice at all.

An Qisheng took the cup but did not drink, simply nodding and saying, "I am willing to hear the details."

"The human heart, what is it? What are the so-called seven emotions and six desires of humans?"

The Baobao Dao Ren finished the wine in its cup, and a glint appeared in its clear eyes, as if it were lost in memories:

"I once knew a 'person' who came from a very poor background, and worked hard every day just to fill his stomach. He worked from sunrise to sunset, which was monotonous and dull, but although he was poor, he was still happy every day..."

Buzz~

Not far away, Gongyang Yan suddenly heard a subtle buzzing sound. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw that as the Baobao Dao Ren spoke, specks of light gathered in the surrounding void, spontaneously manifesting images.

The dome, the blue sky, the great sun, light, mountains, wilderness... all the way to a bustling little city.

Faintly, one could see a young man busy all day long, working hard and struggling.

"Later, this young man met a Daoist, who took pity on him and taught him a subtle method. After that, this young man indeed escaped his困顿, and three meals a day were no longer a problem..."

The Baobao Dao Ren slowly narrated, and the various scenes in front of it also changed accordingly. Except for the young man's face, which could not be seen, everything else was no different from reality.

At this point, the Baobao Dao Ren suddenly paused and looked at An Qisheng: "Your state of mind seems to be much higher than that of a Confucian scholar I saw back then. Obviously, you have seen a lot and know a lot. Do you know what happened to this young man later?"

"All day long, he toiled for hunger, and as soon as he was full, he thought of clothes. Once he had both clothes and food, he wanted a beautiful wife."

An Qisheng held the cup, without any confusion.

He possessed the ability to enter dreams, and had naturally seen too much of the human heart and desires.

As soon as the Baobao Dao Ren opened its mouth, he had already guessed what it wanted to say.

"Yes..."

The Baobao Dao Ren nodded: "With enough food and clothing, he wanted a beautiful wife and concubines, fertile fields and servants, and then he lamented the lack of official position and wealth..."

Speaking of this, the Baobao Dao Ren waved its hand, and the scene in front of it trembled violently, and then the light and shadows on it flowed, and many changes occurred.

An Qisheng looked over.

He saw that the young man, having obtained food and thought of clothing, already possessed tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, and traveled by boat and horse. Then he thought of official titles, and once he became a high-ranking official, he wanted a vast territory.

Various changes, until he sat in a grand hall, and then he thought of riding a crane to ascend to heaven...

The various scenes were lifelike, and no flaws or falsehoods could be seen in them. It seemed that there was really such a young man's life unfolding before the two of them.

The picture came to an end here.

"Do you know what words that young man left behind when he rode the dragon to ascend to heaven?"

The Baobao Dao Ren looked at An Qisheng, and without waiting for him to ask, it had already opened its mouth again: "He said, 'Once I hold the fruit of longevity, I want to discuss my status with the Emperor of Heaven!'"

He wanted to discuss his status with the Emperor of Heaven!

Gongyang Yan's heart was shaken when he heard this sentence. First, he was shocked by this person's earth-shattering wild ambition, and then he shook his head.

It was said that above the Six Heavens, there was an imperial court called the Imperial Heaven, which governed the heavens and possessed various lands. In legends and myths, it was an extremely powerful force.

Although there had never been a word left by the Lord of the Imperial Court, if it really existed, then it must be the most honorable existence in the world.

An Qisheng put down his cup and spoke, slightly curious: "Who is this person?"

The Baobao Dao Ren did not answer, but simply sighed slightly: "A small young man in a bitterly cold place, who sought clothing after getting food, until finally, he wanted to compete with Heaven for the throne...

What exactly is human desire? Is it just this young man? No, it should be said that all people are like this, right?"

The Baobao Dao Ren seemed to be asking An Qisheng, and also seemed to be asking itself: "What do you think?"

It couldn't figure it out, and couldn't understand it.

Born from spiritual essence, it could sit in one place for 30,000 years, or sleep for even longer. It never cared about the existence or absence of external things.

It really couldn't understand why a young man who originally only wanted to fill his stomach was so greedy.

"Human desires are endless, it's just that the heart is unmoved and moves according to circumstances."

An Qisheng took the wine cup himself and poured wine for each other, and he had some guesses about the identity of this young man in his heart.

"The heart is unmoved and moves according to circumstances..."

The Baobao Dao Ren chewed on this sentence, and after a long time, it released its brow and answered An Qisheng's question:

"This young man can be Xia Tai Zu Yu, can be Da Zhou Tai Zu 'Tang', can be the master of the Dao Palace, can be the old Buddha of Mount Sumeru, can also be all living beings..."

"For some people, if I don't have it, then no one in the world should have it. Human inferiority is the most among all races. You should understand this principle."

An Qisheng naturally understood what it was saying, but he still shook his head: "You are too biased."

"Only tens of thousands of years have passed since Kong Er spread his teachings, but today's descendants have already forgotten the past. What morality, etiquette, and bottom lines are just things that restrain mortals."

The Baobao Dao Ren deeply stared at An Qisheng and said lightly:

"Because of the existence of vision, supernatural powers, and immortal techniques, cultivators are like humans and ants compared to ordinary people, with a huge gap. But for some existences, cultivators are also ants.

I have been holding a corpse and imprisoning myself here for tens of thousands of years, how can it be without a reason?"

The Baobao Dao Ren shook its head slightly, but it didn't care to reveal its plight. It was not without a reason that it imprisoned itself here.

"All spirits have desires, not just humans? Even saints may not be truly without desires."

An Qisheng sighed in his heart.

Even a spirit born from human supernatural powers seemed to have a very poor impression of the human race, which really made him feel some emotion.

The Baobao Dao Ren didn't care and continued to say to itself:

"In the ancient years, there was a great power who said that only by understanding 'one heart' can one hope to transcend, but this human heart is more subtle and difficult to understand than all things in the world."

"You are neither human nor have a heart, so why bother with this?" An Qisheng held the wine cup and said lightly.

The Baobao Dao Ren asked back: "Since I was born from humans, how can I not care?"

An Qisheng looked directly at this Dao Ren: "What do you intend to do?"

"I have no ill intentions towards you. The Five-Colored Divine Light is incompatible with me, and I have no desire to covet it."

The Baobao Dao Ren did not hide anything and said frankly: "I invited you here only for my Dao Lord."

"Fan Wuyi?"

An Qisheng frowned slightly, his eyes swept across the giant corpse spanning the starry sea: "How did he die?"

The Baobao Dao Ren's request was not beyond An Qisheng's expectations.

Since entering this starry sky, he had already felt the state of this giant corpse, and could naturally sense that this giant corpse still had a trace of life.

But it was only a trace of life.

This was certainly due to the existence of this Sumeru Mustard Seed starry sky, but the more fundamental reason was that Fan Wuyi himself was too powerful.

But the harder it is to destroy a cultivator, the harder it is to reverse death once it has occurred.

When Fan Wuyi was at his peak, he had already achieved the Dharmakaya and become a Manifest Saint Celestial Immortal, which was already a four-star in the Dao Yitu system.

How easy would it be to intervene?

"Tens of thousands of years ago, the Dao Lord combined Buddha and Martial Arts, achieving Manifest Saint, and the two paths went hand in hand, even reaching the pinnacle of Celestial Immortal. He was extremely powerful and invincible, but he also planted a hidden danger. At first, it was not obvious, but by the time the Dao Lord discovered it, it was already too late."

The Baobao Dao Ren's eyes were dim, and its tone could not help but become lower:

"He developed two hearts."

"Two hearts?"

An Qisheng's heart moved, and he understood somewhat: "The remnant soul obsession outside before, was that your deliberate act?"

"People have all kinds of desires, and therefore a hundred kinds of thoughts. But if a cultivator cannot be single-minded, then there will be a great disaster. My Dao Lord entered the Fan family because he wanted to use the Buddhist Dharma to sever the desires of the martial arts, but unfortunately, it was too late. Later, the Dao Lord had no choice but to go to the Dao Palace Sumeru again, seeking a prophecy..."

The Baobao Dao Ren first nodded, and then looked at An Qisheng with a solemn and respectful expression:

"To break the two hearts, seek one heart!"