"A question suddenly occurred to me."
In the silence, Ling Xiao suddenly frowned and said, "Since Junior Brother has successfully found the Dao, doesn't that mean he has already entered the 'paving the way' stage? But..."
Shi Dingyan and the others were taken aback, but then they realized what Ling Xiao was talking about.
Once the road is cleared, it means...
We've stepped into the mountains and seas!
However, Shen Qian was still a novice martial artist, and his physical body was far from being able to bear the "Dao".
Doesn't that become a contradiction?
“I don’t think I’ve reached that point yet,” Shen Qian shook his head.
"How so?" Ling Xiao raised an eyebrow.
"Although I was able to step onto that path, there was an immense resistance that prevented me from taking a second step. I just felt like I couldn't hold on any longer after standing there for so long."
This is not a lie.
He can easily see the path, easily walk onto it, and even easily retreat from it.
But ultimately, his level of understanding was insufficient.
He cannot bear the weight of the "Tao".
Shen Qian could understand this point; ultimately, it was because he hadn't cultivated for long enough.
"That explains it." Shi Dingyan and the others suddenly realized and unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, at least it wasn't truly a case of instant success...
That's not right!
Is this something to be thankful for?
Thinking that Shen Qiancai, a mere novice martial artist, had completed the quest for knowledge and the search for the Dao in a single day, traversing a path that others might not be able to complete in twenty years, the group lost their enthusiasm once again.
"What joy is there in living, what sorrow in dying? Beasts and beasts always disturb my heart. This world is ultimately meaningless. Better to return, better to return..."
Wu Jun murmured, her figure drifting away like wisps of smoke.
The front of his face is a bit dark.
...Fourth Senior Brother, wait a minute! Who is the beast? Explain yourself before you leave!
"I went to a bar for a bit, and suddenly I felt like having a drink."
Ling Xiao disappeared after he finished speaking.
Shen Qian swallowed back the question, "Should we go together?"
Shi Dingyan turned around and picked up the book.
"...Third Senior Brother, you don't have to do this too, do you?" Shen Qian grumbled after a moment of hesitation.
"Oh, I'm fine. If you want to stay here, feel free to do so."
Shi Dingyan smiled faintly and continued reading, but his face was full of an expression that said, "I'm really inconvenient."
Before sinking down, he glanced one last time at Liu Changqing, who was still somewhat dazed, and abandoned the idea of waking him up.
He doesn't know about others, but if Old Liu gets annoyed with him, he might actually find a reason to beat him up.
They'll probably call it... increasing stress resistance.
So Shen Qian could only silently leave the seventeenth floor.
But before leaving, Shen asked one last question.
"Third Senior Brother, can you see the end of your own path?"
"What do you mean?" Shi Dingyan was taken aback.
“It means exactly what it says.” Shen Qian thought for a moment and described, “Isn’t it said that before embarking on a path, no one knows what the end of the path is? Like the Dao image of Li Huo, it is just a direction, but not a definite end…”
"I understand what you mean." Shi Dingyan suddenly realized. "You mean whether, when I'm on the path, I can clearly understand whether my path is viable or not, right?"
After Shen Qian nodded, Shi Dingyan couldn't help but chuckle.
"That's impossible!"
"The path is discovered step by step. Even the top kings and nobles may not have expected to become kings and nobles. They have to go through countless hardships and difficulties along the way."
"If I had to describe it, when we stand on the 'Tao,' and look further into the distance, all we can see is mist..."
...
He returned to his ninety-ninth floor, locked himself in his cultivation room, and finally let out a long breath, his eyes filled with contemplation.
He told Shi Dingyan and the others the truth today, but...
That's only part of the truth.
Even now, recalling the scene he saw in the AFK log, Shen Qian still finds it unbelievable.
Yes, even he himself couldn't quite understand it.
It's true that he succeeded in finding the Dao, and it's also true that the Dao is the Dao of Li Huo.
But there are two facts that were not mentioned before the sinking.
First, the path of fire was merely the first path Shen Qianxun sought.
Secondly, his path... has no so-called fog.
Shen Qian didn't know how the system did it, but he was shocked to discover that there were far too many paths he could take.
So many...that it left him bewildered.
At that time, Shen Qian stood beneath the sea of Dao and looked up, seeing "Dao" in all directions.
The specific number is... 217.
These are the numbers in the AFK (away from keyboard) log.
Moreover, before sinking, one could sense that if time were not running out, the system could have explored even more paths.
The most terrifying thing is that every road is straight up to the sky, with no forks in the road.
According to Shi Dingyan and others, a road without forks is a solitary road, and taking such a road is not a good thing.
But for every path the system finds, the end is clearly visible.
For example, the Path of Departing Fire, which corresponds to the Seven Absolute Spirit Flames, requires only that Chen Qian follow the path without any thought or obstacles. He can easily reach the end and touch the highest realm by simply letting time grind through him.
Simply put, with the same starting point and destination, others are building and repairing the road as they go, not knowing when the road will be completed, and there is always the possibility of getting lost along the way.
But before sinking, they were walking on a road that had already been completed.
The last question that Shen Qian asked Shi Dingyan made him realize a fact.
It seems... only his path, or rather the path the system helped him find, is like this.
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