Xu Le picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of braised pork, and put it in his mouth. With a gentle bite, the meat juice burst out, and the taste was delicious, exactly the same as he remembered. It was still that same taste, the taste that Xu Le longed for.
Snap!
The chopsticks fell to the ground, and two streams of hot tears rolled down Xu Le's cheeks and dripped onto the table.
When the old dean saw Xu Le crying, he quickly came over, patted Xu Le's back, and comforted him, "What's wrong? Is it not tasty? I'll make it again."
Xu Le grabbed the old dean's hand and whispered, "Is it all fake?"
The old headmaster, still with a kind expression, smiled and comforted her, "Silly child, what are you thinking? Stay here and live with Grandpa. Grandpa will always be with you!"
Xu Le wiped away his tears and said dejectedly, "I remember everything now. This is just a fake world constructed based on my memories. The twelve zodiac animals, the light sphere, and the other Xu Le were all my subconscious..."
The old dean's smile slowly faded. After a moment of silence, he asked in a low voice, "When did you find out?"
Xu Le's expression gradually calmed down. Looking at the old dean he had constructed from his own memories, he calmly said, "The other Xu Le told me six words before: 'It's all fake.' I started to have doubts then, but I completely believed it when I ate your braised pork."
After all these years, what you made tastes exactly like the meat I remember from my childhood. The meat I remember was just embellished because there were so few good things to eat when I was young. The real meat made by the old dean was actually just so-so, but it tasted delicious because it contained his love for us.
Your braised pork tastes great, even better than mine, but it lacks any emotion. It's just a reconstruction based on my memory, all form and no spirit.
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Chapter 109: The Path of the Dao (Bonus chapter for the leader of Guangling Guantao)
The old dean laughed heartily, his aged face regaining its kind smile. He said, "So, what are you going to do with me? Do you want to kill the old dean who raised you? Although I am not the real person, I was born based on your memories, so in a sense, I am not fake. Can you bear to do it? Hahaha..."
Xu Le silently watched the old dean laugh heartily, observing his confident demeanor, when the power of the chicken talisman activated. The kitchen knife, drawn by gravity, shot towards the old dean.
"Have they made their move?!"
The old dean looked down at the cleaver piercing his chest, glanced with satisfaction at Xu Le sitting in the chair, and slowly collapsed, lying on the ground lifeless.
Xu Le silently stood up, looking at the old man on the ground. A trace of sorrow flashed in his eyes, but then his expression returned to complete rationality, without the slightest emotional fluctuation. Xu Le lowered his head and looked at the old man on the ground, saying softly, "Grandpa Director, thank you for taking care of me all these years, but no one can become an obstacle on my path, whether you are real or not. So, I'm sorry!"
The Dao Heart, which was originally covered in cracks, exploded, and a sliver of divine light shone from it. A more crystal-clear Dao Heart appeared where the original Dao Heart had been, and it was much stronger than before, surrounded by seven-colored divine light.
At this moment, Xu Le's aura began to strengthen.
The world before my eyes began to shatter and collapse, like a piece of broken glass; the false world slowly disappeared.
This time, Xu Le's Dao heart was tempered, and he overcame his last weakness. Now, there is no one or nothing in this world that can become his obstacle.
Xu Le has broken through a limit. His spirit has successfully broken through to the Refining Spirit realm. Previously, he relied on the power of talismans to obtain the peak power of the Refining Spirit realm, but it was not something he obtained through his own cultivation. Now, seeing through the demonic barrier and advancing to the Refining Spirit realm is an unexpected joy.
However, Xu Le is not yet a true Refined God. Before reaching the conceptual level, each stage of advancement requires a large amount of resources to consolidate his realm. Breaking through in battle is simply nonsense. Peerless experts no longer need external things, so they only need to comprehend their own Dao to advance. But before reaching that legendary realm, each stage requires a large amount of energy to propel them forward. After all, energy is conserved and cannot be created out of thin air.
Therefore, Xu Le has only reached the spiritual realm. He only needs resources to advance and consolidate it to reach the perfect Refining Spirit realm. At that time, his inner world will also begin a new round of changes. According to the Daoist scriptures, a treasure will be born in the inner world of a Qi cultivator at the Refining Spirit realm. What it is depends on the potential of the individual's inner world. The greater the potential, the stronger the treasure; the lower the potential, the weaker the treasure.
However, according to the examples recorded in the Daoist scriptures, most of them were just ordinary plants or ordinary treasures, without any supernatural powers. As for Jing Hongzi's treasure, it should be that stone tablet, which has a suppressive effect, used to suppress the will of the evil god. Among a group of losers, he is considered a high-value individual. Xu Le was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of treasure would appear, after all, the potential of his inner world was beyond imagination, and the treasures born from it would definitely not be bad.
"It's time to get out of here. These guys have been squeezed dry!"
Xu Le opened his eyes, and a flying rock was already right in front of him, only five millimeters away from his eyes. If left unattended, his eyes, being the most vulnerable part of his body, would inevitably suffer severe damage. Although Xu Le had the blessing of the dog talisman that granted him super-fast regeneration, he didn't want to experience that kind of pain.
"Twelve Labors Formation!"
Upon seeing Xu Le awaken, Gao Ning immediately activated the Twelve Labors Formation that had been set up. A strange, light red light illuminated a radius of 100 meters. Gao Ning manipulated the Twelve Extraordinary Meridians, alternating between positive and negative, attempting to cause Xu Le's mental breakdown in this way.
Xu Le closed his eyes tightly, using his mental power to form a barrier that shattered the pebbles into dust. His internal organs began to tremble incessantly with Gao Ning's fluctuations, and an unnamed fire rose in his heart, beginning to disturb Xu Le's mind.
Xu Le smiled, glanced at Gao Ning with disdain, and said, "It might have worked on me before, but now..."
An invisible ripple emanated from Xu Le's seven-colored Dao Heart, spreading throughout his body and easily suppressing Gao Ning's Qi, dispelling all its influence. Now that Xu Le's Dao Heart was complete, this emotional fluctuation could no longer shake his mind. In other words, apart from their own strength, the techniques of the Four Madmen of Quanxing were no longer effective against Xu Le.
Xu Le's purpose in this trip was to use them as whetstones to shatter his immature Dao heart. After all, without destruction there can be no construction. Now his Dao heart is seven-colored and infinitely bright.
Before choosing this world, Xu Le had thought about how the Four Madmen of Quanxing would temper people's hearts. He never expected that he would gain so much by using the illusion as a tempering method. Even if he didn't gain anything else from this trip, it would still be worthwhile. After all, the three essential elements of cultivation are perseverance, opportunity, and talent. Talent is the least important, opportunity is slightly more important, and perseverance is the most important. Without a heart that seeks the Dao, one cannot become a true strongman.
Xu Le's seven-colored Dao Heart shattered these emotional fluctuations, and at the same time, ripples spread out of his body, shattering the Twelve Labor Emotions Array underground.
"Pfft!"
Gao Ning's mental control of the Twelve Labors Formation was suddenly shattered by Xu Le, causing a powerful backlash that made him cough up a mouthful of blood.
Gao Ning circulated his qi to regulate his breathing, and for the first time, a ferocious expression appeared on his usually benevolent face, like that of Maitreya Buddha. He said hatefully, "Everyone, retreat quickly! Our techniques are ineffective against this guy!"
After saying that, Gao Ning turned around and jumped back, darting through the woods like a monkey. The other three also set off immediately. Xia He began to run away, and Dou Mei carried Shen Chong on her back and also began to run away.
"You think you can escape? The tragedy of the weak lies in their ignorance!" Xu Le watched them begin to retreat, a disdainful sneer appearing on his lips. He stretched out his palm in the direction they had gone and whispered, "Black Hole!"
A tremendous gravitational force emerged from the palms of his hands, and a powerful suction began to tear at the object and pull him into Xu Le's palms.
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the forest, and the branches began to bend under the enormous suction, snapping in half and flying backward toward Xu Le.
Just as the branch was about to hit Xu Le, a huge hole suddenly opened in front of him. Inside the hole, a beautiful world could be clearly seen on the other side. The branch was sucked into the hole without causing the slightest ripple.
But the suction didn't stop. Countless dust particles were swept into the sky, and a large number of small animals, plants, and trees were sucked away by the enormous suction force generated by Xu Le. Wherever it went, it left a large blank space, like a locust swarm passing through. It was even more ruthless than locusts, since locusts only eat plants, while Xu Le didn't even spare the soil.
Before the four members of Quanxing had escaped far, a huge suction force pulled them from behind. Dou Mei couldn't react in time, and Shen Chong on her back was sucked into the cave. The three of them struggled to hold on under this huge suction force, but everything they could pull on was sucked away, and even a layer of the ground was scraped off, leaving only the exposed rocks struggling to hold on, making a "creaking" and loosening sound.
"Help me!"
Xia He was the first to give up and was swept away by the hurricane caused by the enormous gravity, blowing into the hole in front of Xu Le. Dou Mei followed suit, and even the obese Gao Ning only lasted a few minutes before his center of gravity shifted, causing him to lose his balance and be swept away.
Xu Le took the four people into his inner world, where four Heavenly Dao Chains bound them tightly, sealing off their Qi. He then entrusted them to the shadow warrior for safekeeping, since no matter how strong they were, they couldn't cause any trouble in his inner world.