novelapdf Chapter 179 Just chisel it all!
Chapter 179 Just chisel it all!
wrong!
Sensing the changes within herself, Jiang Mu immediately realized that something was wrong.
I don't think I have such poor self-control, so why am I suddenly turning into a beast?
Mo Huaisu stood quietly amidst this raging sea of fire.
Her aloof and refined face remained completely unmoved. She merely glanced at Jiang Mu with a hint of surprise and said calmly:
This is the "Illusory Realm of Desire".
Clearly, the other party sensed my aura and prepared this specifically for someone like me who cultivates the path of abstinence.
If an ordinary cultivator were to mistakenly enter this realm, their mind would surely be corrupted by this lustful poison.
At best, it will cause the loss of vital energy and the complete loss of cultivation.
In severe cases, one's Dao heart will collapse, and one's soul will be burned to ashes by this lustful fire, never to be reborn.
As Mo Huaisu finished speaking, a charming and alluring female laugh drifted out from the floating red umbrella:
"Hehehe... I really didn't expect that."
The renowned Daoist sect leader, Mo Huaisu, actually stooped to such a low level, becoming a lackey of the Daqing court.
The woman's voice seemed to be everywhere.
It seemed as if the words were spoken simultaneously from every woman around them who was striking a pose.
Layer upon layer, with a captivating magic.
Mo Huaisu's gaze swept over the surrounding illusions, finally settling on the red umbrella, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"It seems that the portion of Yancheng's 'fortune' that you painstakingly stole has not yet been fully refined into your body."
Master Jiang, now that you have inherited the position of Guardian Envoy, it is up to you to protect the fortune of Yan City.
Go, and grasp that red umbrella.
Using your inherent Dharma essence as a guide, reclaim the fortune that belongs to this place.
"Little Jun, you mustn't be fooled by this seemingly respectable woman."
That alluring voice rang out again, carrying a hint of seduction and warning.
"This Sect Leader Mo is quite wicked. This 'Illusory Desire Realm' is connected to my destiny. She herself cultivates the path of ruthlessness and abstinence, and is most afraid of being tainted by such worldly desires."
So she herself didn't dare touch my magical artifact, but instead made you, a hot-blooded young man, the scapegoat.
They're just afraid I'll instill desires and inner demons in them.
You should know that for a cultivator, once a demon is planted in their heart, their foundation for cultivation will crumble like an anthill breaching a dam. At best, they will suffer a qi deviation; at worst, their soul will be scattered, leaving no chance of recovery.
Mo Huaisu listened to the other party's provocations but did not utter a single word in defense.
She simply held her whisk, like a peerless snow lotus blooming in the deepest hell, noble and aloof.
Clearly, she had given Jiang Mu the complete choice.
Jiang Mu hesitated.
Admittedly, he and Mo Huaisu are now on the same side.
However, the two had only known each other for less than half an hour, so there was no real friendship or trust between them.
Just as Yuan Qianfan and Aunt Shui reminded us.
The higher a person's level of cultivation, the less trustworthy they are.
What if, as that witch from the Red Umbrella Sect said, Mo Huaisu was using him as cannon fodder to test mines?
But after much hesitation, Jiang Mu finally decided to take action.
He is now the acting garrison commander of Yancheng.
If this other party absorbs Yancheng's fortune, how will he absorb the incense and prayer power here in the future?
Thinking of this, Jiang Mu strode forward and grabbed the umbrella handle.
"boom!"
The moment his palm touched the umbrella handle.
A vast and powerful aura, yet filled with decadent music, flowed down his arm and into his body like a flood.
Jiang Mu's brain was buzzing.
Immediately afterwards, he noticed that all the women in the surrounding sea of fire, who only knew how to pose seductively, were all giggling and crowding around him.
Even more alarming, as these women approached, their faces began to change.
In the end, they all turned into Mo Huaisu's face.
Dozens of naked "Mo Huaisu" figures, with various alluring expressions, swayed their hips in front of him.
The visual impact of this intertwined aloofness and unbridled behavior almost made Jiang Muxin explode.
"Do not look at what is improper, Amitabha Buddha, Infinite Heavenly Venerable..."
Jiang Mu closed her eyes, activated the "Cold Moon Ice Heart Technique" within her body, and desperately guarded the last shred of clarity in her spirit.
"Hehe, okay..."
Red Lotus's mocking laughter echoed.
"Sect Leader Mo, it seems this young man harbors rather disrespectful and presumptuous thoughts towards you, a pure and virtuous senior of the Daoist sect." Mo Huaisu said expressionlessly.
The distinct white and yin-yang Dao energy around him slowly rotated.
Any trace of her alluring pink aura that tries to approach her vanishes the moment it touches the yin-yang symbol.
The cool and pure atmosphere creates a strong sense of separation from this decadent and sensual realm.
"Sect Leader Mo, how about we make a bet?"
Red Lotus spoke softly.
"Although I have not yet fully refined the fortune of Yancheng, this place is, after all, my natal Daoist site."
He wanted to forcibly seize it with a mere, unformed Dharma form, but it wouldn't be that easy. The more fortune he absorbed, the stronger the backlash from this formation would become, inflicting a greater poison of desire upon him.
His deepest desires would be fully materialized here without reservation.
Honglian mocked:
"Don't you believe in the ascetic path of detachment from worldly desires?"
"Let's take a gamble and see if, faced with temptation, he will succumb to his most primal human nature and completely succumb, or be influenced by your dry and ascetic methods."
Mo Huaisu frowned her beautiful eyebrows.
His gaze swept lightly over Jiang Mu's flushed cheeks.
Immediately, a faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips, and she parted her lips slightly to utter a cool, detached word:
"it is good."
Having said that, Mo Huaisu flicked his whisk downwards.
The women surrounding Jiang Mu, all bearing the faces of Mo Huaisu, vanished as pink smoke.
But then, the dissipating pink smoke coalesced into a blurry humanoid phantom.
This humanoid phantom has formed a profound causal bond with Jiang Mu's subconscious at this moment.
It is a concrete reflection of Jiang Mu's inner desires.
Whether Jiang Mu ultimately chooses to succumb to the abyss of desire or uphold his Daoist principles, his truest thoughts will be revealed through this illusory human form.
She might become a woman devoid of any lust.
She might also transform into a seductive, alluring, and unrestrained beauty.
"Jiang Mu".
Mo Huaisu's ethereal voice reached deep into Jiang Mu's soul, carrying an irresistible majesty of the Great Dao:
"From this moment forward, I... require you to abstain from sexual activity!"
Abstinence?
On one side is the "Illusory Realm of Desire," which tempts people to degenerate and allows them to unleash their true nature and utterly sink into depravity.
On the other side was the supreme Daoist teaching of "guarding the black and knowing the white" imposed by the sect leader, instructing him to adhere to his original heart and absolutely abstain from desires.
Pulled between ice and fire, Jiang Mu at this moment has become a gamble she cannot control.
Caught between two completely opposite laws of the Dao, they were being torn apart.
As the aura of fortune emanating from the red umbrella flowed into his body, countless enchanting images flashed through Jiang Mu's mind like a revolving lantern. He recalled his entanglement with Shui Miaozheng.
I remembered Shui Miaozheng's voluptuous figure. I remembered the hazy blush at the corner of her eyes...
These images, combined with the path of depravity in the "Illusory Desire Underworld," made Jiang Mu feel restless all over.
It felt like countless ants were crawling inside my bone marrow.
A thought arose in my mind: "To hell with slaying demons and monsters, I just want to lie in the arms of a beautiful woman and live a life of pleasure and oblivion."
They were willing to sink into this endless abyss of desire.
However, just as he was about to lose his way, Mo Huaisu's clear and cold voice proclaiming "abstinence" struck him like a thunderbolt, instantly restoring a sliver of clarity to his mind.
The images of Shui Miaozheng and the rain in my mind seem to be covered by a layer of frost-colored filter.
Immediately afterwards, that fragrant, delicate body began to peel away and decay inch by inch in Jiang Mu's consciousness...
In the end, it turned into a withered, pink skeleton.
At the same time, a strong sense of disgust, almost physical discomfort, arose from the bottom of Jiang Mu's heart.
This feeling of disgust is not aversion to women.
It is not a rejection of romantic love between men and women.
Rather, it was as if they saw through the illusion beneath the surface, and the endless emptiness that followed the fleeting pleasure.
A kind of bland, tasteless experience, like chewing wax.
A sense of detachment that after a hundred years everything is just bones, what meaning do these physical pleasures have?
With the blessing of Mo Huaisu's Daoist teachings, Jiang Mu seemed to transform into an old monk who had been sitting in meditation for decades, and a profound feeling of seeing through the illusions of the world and achieving enlightenment arose in his heart.
Worldly desires are nothing but illusions, fleeting dreams.
Color is emptiness, and emptiness is color.
Beauty fades in the blink of an eye, youth is fleeting; only by pursuing the eternal and unchanging Great Way of Heaven and Earth can one attain true freedom and liberation.
All these temptations are like fleeting clouds to me, not worth mentioning!
As the thought of "abstinence" arose in Jiang Mu's mind, the blurry humanoid figure gradually became clearer.
It transformed into a woman wearing a wide Taoist robe, with a cold and aloof face, and without a trace of lust in her entire being.
His aloof and arrogant features bore a striking resemblance to those of Mo Huaisu.
"Hehehe... Sect Leader Mo, what a skillful method."
Honglian's charming laughter rang out again.
"However, can human nature be forcibly suppressed by a few mere verses of Taoist scripture?"
Sure enough, as more and more "auspicious energy" from the red umbrella was absorbed into the body.
The suppressed desire, like a spring that has hit rock bottom, erupted within Jiang Mu's body with even greater ferocity.
"Screw those pink skulls!"
"To hell with 'form is emptiness'!"
Jiang Mu's eyes turned bloodshot.
He suddenly realized that his earlier idea of being detached from worldly desires was simply anti-human.
Desire itself is an innate human instinct.
So-called natural law and human ethics are nothing more than shackles used by the weak to bind the strong.
If even the most primal desires must be forcibly suppressed, then what is the point of cultivating immortality and seeking eternal life?
Want to be a stone, pure and free from desires?
I'm just an ordinary person!
I just want to eat snow pebbles!
Lao Tzu's philosophy is based on the interplay of Yin and Yang!
Driven by this thought, the image of that woman, who was originally as aloof and ethereal as a fairy, instantly collapsed and was rebuilt.
Her Taoist robe tore apart inch by inch, turning into fluttering pieces of red gauze.
His cool gaze turned dreamy and glazed over.
As she twisted her slender, snake-like waist, she used her delicate, boneless hands to remove the last layer of thin gauze from her body... Mo Huaisu frowned as she watched Jiang Mu's true energy become turbid again and even begin to emit a decadent glow.
She sighed softly, seemingly somewhat disappointed.
Then, she raised her right hand, which was as flawless as a jade carving, and made a hand seal in front of her chest.
"Duh!"
With a soft shout from Mo Huaisu.
A pure white lotus, radiating a faint, serene glow, slowly rose from beneath Jiang Mu's feet.
He was lifted up on the lotus.
The cool, white lotus-shaped CD player dispelled the pink desires surrounding Jiang Mu.
Thus, Jiang Mu's thoughts took another 180-degree turn.
My mind is now filled with a serene, sage-like state of mind.
woman?
Ha, what's the point of women?
Once you take off your clothes, isn't it just that kind of structure?
A few seconds of shivering only brought endless fatigue and emptiness.
Instead of wasting energy on this boring exercise, we should study how to further enhance the power of the Blood Frenzy Blade, or think more about how to maximize the utilization of the Shadow Demon.
The laws governing the operation of all things in this world, the trajectory of falling stars—aren't they more profound and interesting than the friction of flesh and blood?
Beauty fades into dust, but the Great Way endures forever.
Ok.
Starting today, I will abstain from alcohol and sex!
Thus, under the temptation of this "illusory realm of desire" and the tranquility of the "white lotus Daoist charm," Jiang Mu's mental defenses were torn apart, plunging him into unprecedented chaos and conflict.
His consciousness began to blur and tear apart.
At times, he felt as if he were holding Shui Miaozheng tightly, entwined in the warmth of the tent.
At other times, he felt as if he were sitting alone under the glacier, his heart as still as water, without sorrow or joy.
Watching the snow fall and melt, one can understand the cycle of life and death in the universe.
Amidst this constant back-and-forth between ice and fire, Jiang Mu felt as if her soul was about to be torn into countless pieces.
He clutched his head in agony, letting out bursts of screams.
Just as his consciousness was about to collapse, everything suddenly went black.
The lava, the red umbrella, the woman, and even Mo Huaisu's aloof figure all receded like the tide in an instant.
When the line of sight refocuses.
Jiang Mu was astonished to find herself in a familiar place.
Petals fall in profusion, and the grass is lush and green.
A huge peach tree swayed gently in the breeze, scattering pink petals everywhere.
A unique, subtle fragrance permeated the air.
Beneath the falling peach blossoms, a graceful yet icy figure stood silently, hands clasped behind her back. The Purple Mansion Divine Realm!
Jiang Mu rubbed her still throbbing head, looking incredulous: "How...how did I end up here again?"
Since his death and subsequent resurrection using a substitute doll, he discovered that his connection with the Purple Mansion Divine Realm and the Cave Heaven Dao Mansion had been completely severed.
No matter how he tried, he couldn't reconnect.
Unexpectedly, in this extreme situation where I was almost going crazy, I inexplicably logged back in today.
"What happened?"
Shangguan Luoxue asked calmly.
She stood beneath the divine tree, surrounded by swirling purple snowflakes that made her icy, exquisitely beautiful face appear even more ethereal.
Jiang Mu's sudden "disappearance" last time really startled her.
She was especially shocked and filled with regret after receiving the urgent report from Yancheng that Jiang Mu was dead. She regretted whether she had been too aloof and reserved before.
If I had humbled myself earlier and engaged in the Yin-Yang cultivation of the "Purple Mansion Covenant" with this kid, perhaps my injuries would have healed long ago. Fortunately, not long after, news came that this kid had come back from the dead.
Shangguan Luoxue finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, she was no longer able to pull the other party into the Purple Mansion Divine Realm, which made her somewhat worried.
Unexpectedly, this kid has reappeared today.
"I don't know either."
Jiang Mu shook her head, equally puzzled.
At this moment, he could still feel two completely different energies clashing and fighting within his body.
The dual torment of fire and ice left his consciousness still stuck in the previous state.
Gazing at the stunningly beautiful woman before him, the impulse forcibly stirred up by the "Illusory Desire Realm" was like a wild beast breaking free from its cage, once again devouring his remaining rationality.
Jiang Mu strode forward and pulled Shangguan Luoxue into his arms.
"you!"
Shangguan Luoxue's delicate body trembled, and her purple eyes widened instantly.
Her instinct was to blast the other person away.
but……
When she placed her hands on Jiang Mu's chest, she hesitated.
The complex emotions I had felt over the past few days in response to the news of his death flashed through my mind.
Thinking of my previous regrets,
Thinking about how, if I hadn't been so reserved, perhaps things would have turned out differently...
A mix of emotions overwhelmed her, and Shangguan Luoxue finally let her hands fall to her sides without pushing the man away.
However, Shangguan Luoxue was, after all, a great cultivator of the twelfth realm.
After a brief moment of distraction, she immediately sensed something unusual about Jiang Mu.
"The aura of the Great Dao..."
Shangguan Luoxue's expression turned serious, a look of shock flashing in her purple eyes, "There's more than one!?"
She immediately deduced that in the real world, there were definitely two top experts with extremely high cultivation levels simultaneously brainwashing and forcibly instilling the Great Dao into Jiang Mu's soul.
"What's that kid doing out there right now?"
Shangguan Luoxue was puzzled.
Even within the divine realm, she was unable to perceive the true state of the outside world.
Looking at the man in her arms, who was suffering terribly, she hesitated for a moment, then softened her voice and whispered:
"Go to the Cave Heaven Dao Mansion. Otherwise, you will inevitably be forcibly implanted with a demon in your heart."
In the world of cultivation, everyone must forge their own unique path.
Jiang Mu's Great Dao has not yet truly taken shape. If he is too influenced by the true meaning of other people's Great Daos and forcibly imprinted with their mark, his cultivation path in this lifetime may be cut off.
Fortunately, this kid acquired ownership of her grotto-heaven Daoist abode.
As long as she hides in the Dao Palace, she can use her Dao Foundation to stabilize her own nature and isolate herself from all external interference from the Great Dao.
"..."
With her head buried in Shangguan Luoxue's front, Jiang Mu, who was pregnant at the time, let out a muffled groan.
Then, a thought struck him.
Swish!
The two figures disappeared beneath the peach blossom tree in the Purple Mansion Divine Realm.
The next second, they appeared tightly embracing each other in the icy, snow-covered, and pristine cave dwelling.
Jiang Mu felt a surge of clarity rushing to the top of her head.
The mind, which had been torn between lust and despair and was on the verge of exploding, immediately became much clearer.
At the same time, the two opposing theoretical ideas that were clashing wildly in his mind were also stripped away and presented to him more clearly and intuitively.
Is it choosing to completely succumb to the abyss of desire, indulging one's instincts?
Or should one choose to sever the seven emotions and six desires, and abide by the abstinence and righteousness that regards all things as straw dogs?
Jiang Mu gazed at the stunningly beautiful woman in his arms and couldn't help but take a deep breath:
"What the hell is the point of even choosing?!"
"Just chisel it out!"