Chapter 299 - 298: The Dao Fruit of Three Rebirths (2) [Bonus]

"However, the more Dao Fruits a cultivator forms, the more difficult it becomes to maintain them. Each fruit represents an independent body of comprehension. They require sufficient spiritual foundations, a stable Primordial Spirit, and an understanding of how their respective principles interact. If the cultivator’s comprehension is incomplete, the fruits may interfere with one another. If the foundation cannot support them, the strain can cause the fruits to crack, destroying years of cultivation in a single moment!"

He looked at Lin Yuan.

"Many cultivators spend their entire lives trying to form a second Dao Fruit after successfully forming the first. Some never succeed. Others become so obsessed with accumulating fruits that they neglect the depth of their comprehension. They end up with several incomplete fruits, each weaker than a single perfected one."

Ku Ming folded his hands together.

"Remember this, Almsgiver Lin. Ten thousand shallow understandings cannot compare to one profound realization. The Great Dao does not reward a cultivator merely for gathering more branches. It rewards those who understand how the branches grow from the same root."

Lin Yuan nodded slowly.

The principle was simple, but its implications were profound.

A cultivator who mastered ten different techniques might possess an impressive arsenal. However, if those techniques relied on ten unrelated principles, the cultivator would have to divide his attention among them. Their combined power would not necessarily exceed that of someone who had mastered a single Dao to its deepest level.

But if the ten principles shared a common origin, and the cultivator could unify them without losing their individual characteristics, the result might be entirely different.

His Ten Thousand Ways Return to One Heart Sutra immediately came to mind.

The cultivation technique had never encouraged him to collect powers indiscriminately. Instead, it had repeatedly guided him toward the relationship between the myriad ways and their common origin.

At the time, he had believed that the technique was primarily concerned with cultivating different forms of energy and returning them to a unified foundation.

Now, more than ever, he began to suspect that its implications extended far beyond that.

"Ku Ming, you said that a Dao Fruit is a crystallization of comprehension. Does it have to represent a single Dao? Or can a cultivator condense a fruit from the intersection of multiple Daos?"

For the first time, Ku Ming’s expression changed noticeably.

His golden eyes narrowed.

"The intersection of multiple Daos?"

"Yes."

Lin Yuan raised his hand. A faint strand of golden-purple lightning appeared between his fingers, accompanied by a delicate mist of rain. The lightning did not explode, and the rain did not fall. Both remained suspended in the air, revolving around one another in a slow, harmonious cycle.

A moment later, a third fluctuation emerged.

It was neither thunder nor rain.

It carried a strange sensation of birth, death, and renewal, as though the boundary between the beginning and the end of existence had suddenly become blurred.

The three fluctuations converged, forming a tiny, tri-colored vortex.

Ku Ming stared at it.

His serene expression vanished completely.

"Three principles..."

The monk’s voice was barely audible.

He could sense the Dao of Thunder within the golden-purple lightning. He could also feel the Dao of Rain, which carried both the power to nourish life and the potential to conceal destruction. But the third principle was far more difficult to describe. It contained the traces of an endless cycle, where death did not necessarily signify an ending, and creation was not always the beginning of something entirely new.

The three principles were distinct, yet they did not repel one another.

They were connected by a deeper relationship.

Ku Ming’s divine sense instinctively withdrew, and his heart began to tremble.

He had encountered countless geniuses throughout his long cultivation journey. Some possessed extraordinary bloodlines, others had awakened ancient physiques, and a select few had been born with an affinity for the Origin. Yet, he had never encountered a cultivator whose Dao Intent contained such a strange and profound intersection.

"Almsgiver Lin, what is the name of this Dao?"

"Three Rebirths within the Thunder Rain Dao."

Lin Yuan closed his fingers, causing the tri-colored vortex to disappear.

"It is a Merged Dao formed through the intersection of the Dao of Thunder, the Dao of Rain, and the Dao of Three Rebirths. I have been cultivating it because I discovered something peculiar. Whenever these three principles intersect at a sufficiently profound level, I can faintly touch the Origin."

He looked directly at Ku Ming.

"It is not a complete understanding of the Origin, nor can I claim authority over it. But even that faint connection has allowed me to accomplish things that should have been impossible at my current cultivation level. I believe that if I continue along this path, I may eventually uncover something far more profound than the individual Daos themselves."

For several breaths, Ku Ming remained silent.

Then, he slowly exhaled.

"Amitabha Buddha. The world is vast, and the Great Dao is immeasurable. It seems this poor monk has been fortunate enough to encounter another path that challenges the boundaries of conventional cultivation."

He looked toward the violet sky above the Sacred Grounds.

"Most cultivators believe that the road to greatness lies in walking farther than others along a single path. The swordsman sharpens his sword, the thunder cultivator tempers his lightning, and the reincarnation cultivator searches for the secrets of life and death. Each believes that the deeper he walks, the closer he approaches the ultimate truth."

Ku Ming lowered his gaze toward Lin Yuan.

"But there is another possibility. What if the paths that appear separate are merely different expressions of a deeper principle? What if the river, the rain, and the ocean are not three unrelated things, but different manifestations of the same water?"

A faint smile appeared on the monk’s face.

"Perhaps the greatest cultivator is not the one who walks the longest road, but the one who discovers that every road eventually leads to the same origin."

Lin Yuan’s pupils contracted slightly.

The words struck a familiar chord within his Dao Heart.

The Ten Thousand Ways Return to One Heart Sutra!

The technique had taught him to perceive the relationships between different forms of energy, laws, and principles. His Merged Dao had emerged from that understanding and his encounter with the monk inside the mountain and rivers painting. Thunder and Rain were not merely two powers he had combined to increase his combat strength. Through their intersection with the Dao of Three Rebirths, he had discovered a faint connection to the Origin itself.

That connection was precisely why he had chosen to cultivate a Merged Dao rather than focus exclusively on a single principle.

A cultivator could spend thousands of years perfecting the Dao of Thunder and still remain confined to the boundaries of thunder. But by exploring the relationship between thunder, rain, and the cycle of rebirth, Lin Yuan had found a path that allowed him to touch something deeper.

The Origin was not another element to be added to his cultivation.

It was the source from which the myriad principles emerged.

"Then tell me," Lin Yuan said, his voice growing more serious. "Can I form a Dao Fruit using my Merged Dao?"