Chapter 2011: Dao Ancestor

"Intention..."

Xu Xiaoshou manifested Limitless Silence, pouring power into Dao Qiongcang while meticulously comprehending the direction of "his intention," which was entirely contrary to "my intention."

The method of achieving enlightenment through the River of Memories, as taught by Dao Qiongcang, naturally contained his understanding. Though he didn't say much, it seemed to hint at the "other side of memory." Previously, Xu Xiaoshou had little understanding of the "other side of memory," but now, upon tasting it, he began to see ways to glimpse more.

Without hesitation, he unfurled the Plate of Intention beneath his feet. When only this Great Dao Plate was activated, his comprehension of Intention was instantly stirred, slowly advancing forward. Xu Xiaoshou silently entered the Void-Dao Transformation state, embarking on the path of proving the River of Intention.

"Intention within me, materialized as consciousness.""Intention from me, externalized as thought."

Xu Xiaoshou was already intimately familiar with these understandings concerning intention. His consciousness, his spirit, his thoughts, his emotions... all could be consolidated into the Dao of Intention, which formed the rudimentary shape of a person as a "human" and symbolized "spiritual intelligence." The externalization of intention, in the Dao of Spirit Refinement, manifested as spiritual thoughts, capable of "scanning" a wider range, seeing, hearing, and knowing people, events, and things as one desired. For Xu Xiaoshou, most forms of this externalization were "perception."

And all of this was ego-centric, radiating outwards, and drawing everything perceived back to the self. From a single point, it spread outwards, returning upon contact with any gain, like a flower bud opening and closing. In this process, one obtains what is desired—this is the "self," where "my" sharp edges are fully revealed!

"Intention in his body..."

Upon reaching the pinnacle of the Dao of Intention in this direction, Xu Xiaoshou had indeed gained numerous insights. In stark contrast to the previous understanding, it blurred the point of self, allowing for equal and parallel communication with the intentions of all living beings in the world. This was equivalent to simultaneously receiving all information transmitted to "me" from countless points. The "me" in "he-me" blended with the light and dust, without any sharp edges.

Under such circumstances, a single misstep would naturally lead to getting lost, like Shi Zu. However, if one could still adhere to their original heart and not be blurred by the impurities of "he-me," then the "self" would be tempered and strengthened at all times. Simultaneously, through the "he-me" intentions accepted by the "self," the lines radiating from those individual points, when converged, could manifest as countless "intention" images, forming the River of Intention.

The "flower bud" was a person's diagram of intention. The "River of Intention" was the summation of the flower buds of all people. This did not mean that the "flower bud" was weak and the "River of Intention" was strong. Instead, it should be understood that when one is focused on combat and the self, they operate in the "flower bud" mode, making purely subjective decisions. When focused on comprehension, planning, and strategizing, the existence of the "River of Intention" could provide more assistance than the "flower bud" mode.

"It's not a matter of choosing one over the other, but rather, as long as I can control it, I can have both."

His Void-Dao Transformation comprehension advanced steadily. So fair and impartial, Xu Xiaoshou could tell after a moment's thought that what he was gaining now should not lead him to extremism. If it were 90% Transcendent Dao Transformation, he might still fall into extremes, believing he had to abandon the "flower bud" to gain the "River of Intention," or enter another way of thinking.

But Xu Xiaoshou's Intention Dao was at 99, infinitely close to perfection, and he was confident in entering the Void-Dao Transformation state. The reality was that it allowed him to further advance in the Dao of Intention, giving him a sudden sense of enlightenment. Clearly, only that "1" remained.

"The final push!"

Subconsciously, Xu Xiaoshou himself felt this way. His comprehension was fully sufficient. The method of manifesting the River of Intention did not lie in further comprehension but in a change of thought state. And, whether to release the slight adherence to his mind, accept the intentions of the world's people, while having the certainty of never getting lost.

If not now, when would the Dao be complete? Without any hesitation, Xu Xiaoshou's mental string relaxed, blurring his self outwards and simultaneously accepting the intentions of the people of the Sacred God Continent and the Apricot Realm within his reach.

"Since they're here, let them come!"

"Whoosh..."

The sound of flowing water in his ears grew from faint to strong, from intermittent to melodious, echoing with the clear chime of complete Dao. Dao Qiongcang watched as Xu Xiaoshou simply closed his eyes, and in but a moment, the Dao diagram beneath his feet faded and dimmed. In its place was an incredibly vague, winding long river, flowing from the distant sky, passing beneath his feet, and flowing towards another nameless land of Dao arts.

Unity of Heaven and Man! Initially, the river was indistinct, then it materialized. Before long, the Great Dao River completely materialized, its Dao韵 transforming into springs, and the intentions of the world's people into stone clusters and images. All aspects of the mortal world were reflected upon the River of Intention. Emotions, desires, greed, joy, anger, sorrow... all kinds of consciousness, stripped of embellishment, were reflected in their true essence by the Great Dao River.

Each consciousness successfully contacted Xu Xiaoshou, bringing him visible spiritual tempering and a transformation in the strength of his consciousness. The intentions of this world were fully manifested. The River of Intention completed its manifestation of width, and beneath it, undercurrents surged, occasionally bringing to the surface some obsessions and consciousnesses that did not belong to this era. Again, initially indistinct, but within moments, they materialized with incredible realism.

"Intentions of a Myriad Eras!"

Dao Qiongcang was greatly startled. What kind of talent did Xu Xiaoshou possess? With just a single pointer, not only did the River of Intention gain width, but its depth was also achieved so quickly? Compared to Shi Zu's River of Time, his River of Intention was no less impressive. In fact, as time passed, in some sense, his River of Intention somehow appeared even more complete than Shi Zu's, his own, and even Yao Zu's twin rivers of Dao?

Like a river. Like a great river. In a trance, it was as if he saw an endless ocean of consciousness.

"Perfect and flawless!"

Dao Qiongcang was deeply shocked. He had almost never used such an evaluation to describe any Dao cultivated by any genius he had seen in this world. This included Ba Zun'an's "Sword Me," which, in Dao Qiongcang's view, still had areas needing improvement and refinement, though they only required time to hone. Xu Xiaoshou... it seemed as though he had single-mindedly cultivated his understanding of Intention Dao for hundreds of millions of years! Yet, his bone age was only twenty. Even if he had been extraordinary in his previous life and cultivated the Samsara aspect, the sum of his lives couldn't possibly make him understand Samsara better than Yao Zu, or lead to a more perfect Dao, could it?

Observing Xu Xiaoshou's enlightenment at close range further solidified one of Dao Qiongcang's previous conjectures: Xu Xiaoshou's success was definitely not solely due to his personal character; there must have been external forces, such as "time," assisting him. The secret discussed that night on Green Mountain, which neither Xu nor Dao explicitly explained, Dao Qiongcang was now eighty to ninety percent certain that Xu Xiaoshou was essentially half of Ming Zu. His greatest ability was to deepen others' impressions of his own name and directly gain nourishment from it, either through sensationalism or by stirring emotions. This greatly accelerated his growth process.

As for whether there were other aids besides "fame"... Absolutely! Dao Qiongcang could even analyze details to find incredibly obvious, yet completely overlooked, evidence. He was the person on the entire continent who paid the most attention to Xu Xiaoshou! Any change in Xu Xiaoshou, Dao Qiongcang secretly recorded and meticulously studied "why" and "how."

The most obvious change was... Xu Xiaoshou's Intention Dao Transcendent Dao Transformation was clearly completed in the Divine Ruins. His Intention Dao pinnacle was reached in just half a year, without any side effects. So, observing his growth path, and analyzing the forces that could cause drastic changes in Intention Dao comprehension, the only conclusion was: "This must involve the power of Shi Zu from the Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower."

It wasn't over yet! Why did Xu Xiaoshou comprehend the Dao of Intention? Was it a coincidence that, just before the Ancestral God War, he suddenly seemed to catch wind of something, abandoning the Dao of Sword, the Dao of Fame, and the many strange powers within himself, specifically choosing the Dao of Intention—the Dao most capable of helping one discern the self—and embarking on the most correct path?

Absolutely not a coincidence! Ba Zun'an, after so many years, hadn't been able to embark on such a rapid growth path, so he clearly couldn't have given Xu Xiaoshou such guidance. And as for the one most capable of helping people cultivate "self," Dao Qiongcang now knew there was also "Nuo," and it was highly probable that Nuo had sought out Demon, Medicine, Scourge, and other Ancestors. So, was it a coincidence that Nuo sought out Xu Xiaoshou as well? It could be a coincidence, but it could also be a certainty!

"Whew!"

Dao Qiongcang exhaled deeply, his thoughts racing. His consciousness was severed into two halves: one remained in Yao Zu's body, while the other observed Xu Xiaoshou's enlightenment at the crossroads. Dao Qiongcang used Xu Xiaoshou's power to maintain the Great Severance Art, while simultaneously observing and analyzing Xu Xiaoshou himself. For him, clearly analyzing Xu Xiaoshou, verifying whether this person would ultimately pose a threat to him, and how he himself should proceed to avoid colliding with those people's blades, all while using "him" to observe "me" to help himself break through the final layer of memory barriers, achieve omniscience, and perfect the Dao of Memory—these four matters all took precedence over possessing Yao Zu.

And when he deeply gazed at the surging River of Intention before him, and then in his mind, recalled Xu Xiaoshou's brief yet extraordinary life, from his rise in the Heavenly Sang Spiritual Palace to his current near-Ancestral God status... An absurd and bold deduction uncontrollably leaped out from his mind:

"Since Shi Zu created the River of Time, he must have returned to zero. Since Ming Zu is immortal through the ages, he must also have returned to zero. Why did Shi Zu get lost? Why did Ming Zu fall?""Let's assume they encountered a 'difficulty.'""Why does Nuo Zu help people cultivate 'self,' even continuously seeking out Demon, Medicine, and Scourge, or even every one of the Ten Ancestors, including the second generation?""Let's assume he is searching for a solution to the 'difficulty.'"

Dao Qiongcang's thoughts raced. When faced with a life-or-death crisis, he instead leveraged this calm to enter a "sudden enlightenment" level of deductive reasoning: "This 'difficulty' might be the same, or different, or even many different ones across different time periods on the River of Time. In any case, external forces combined to compel the three Zero-Return Ancestral Gods—Shi, Ming, and Nuo—to band together for warmth."

"And so, Ming contributed power that can accelerate early growth, Shi contributed power that can accelerate later Dao comprehension, and Nuo was responsible for finding people, ranging from Ancestral Gods down to mortals, but specifically those with a certain character recognized by them, mortals capable of rapidly growing into Zero-Return Ancestral Gods..."

No. Dao Qiongcang keenly caught a misconception. Nuo had never sought out mortals, only Ancestral Gods. Even if Nuo sought out Xu Xiaoshou after he emerged from the Divine Ruins and helped him cultivate intention and self, Xu Xiaoshou was no longer a mortal at that point.

"Ming is looking for someone?""Shi is also looking for someone?"

These were minor details that Dao Qiongcang had no time to ponder. Having reached the conclusion that "they are looking for someone," he continued: "The Ancestral Gods Shi, Ming, and Nuo found all rejected them." "That's normal. If I were a Sealed Ancestor and they came looking for me, my first reaction would be that something's wrong."

"So, Xu Xiaoshou's appearance, as I predicted, is both a coincidence and a certainty—he is the 'perfect Dao seed' chosen after all previous candidates were eliminated."

The waters of the River of Intention surged, roaring like a flood. Dao Qiongcang's thoughts, reaching this point, also broke through like shattered stone, cascading for a thousand li.

"Therefore, Xu Xiaoshou, who was consistently at the bottom of the rankings in the Heavenly Sang Spiritual Palace's Competition of the Winds and Clouds, died during his last period of intense closed-door cultivation.""In his place is a 'newcomer,' one whom Ming immersed in samsara, yet who, with the power of samsara, entered this body.""So, Xu Xiaoshou is not Ming Zu's inheritor. If he were, he would inevitably follow Ming Zu's path, whether actively or passively. But he clearly shows some resistance to purely following Ming's path.""Therefore, Xu Xiaoshou's predecessor, the one who was consistently at the bottom of the rankings in the Competition of the Winds and Clouds, should be the fallen Ming Zu inheritor, or even Ming Zu's avatar, Ming Zu's true self!"

At this step, everything else fell into place. This included why Xu Xiaoshou's progress was so swift, and why Ba Zun'an, who cultivated fame, held Xu Xiaoshou in such high regard. Of course, it also included why Demon, Medicine, and Scourge's attitudes towards Xu Xiaoshou seemed to be that they wanted to be friends but couldn't, wanted to be enemies but couldn't, ultimately either giving up and trying to ally, or being completely outmaneuvered by Xu Xiaoshou to the point of ignoring him.

"Someone who is practicing subjective self-awareness, while also having Shi, Ming, and Nuo as facilitators behind him, attempting to cultivate someone with a high enough ceiling to help those guys solve their 'difficulties'..." Dao Qiongcang murmured to himself.

He didn't know if this was right or wrong. But he guessed it was probably very close. If the deduction was wrong, though unlikely, it didn't matter; it wouldn't prevent Dao Qiongcang from truly allying with Xu Xiaoshou to jointly resist Demon and Medicine.

Yao Zu, Dao Qiongcang was confident in handling. Demon Zu, however, was someone even he hadn't been able to discern many hidden cards from so far. But looking at the Sacred Palace Great Array, the one Xu Xiaoshou replicated, and considering that Dao Qiongcang secretly sneaked back after Saint Mountain Gui Zhe was blown up but couldn't find the source crystal...

"Counting the half-piece in the Sacred Palace, Sheng Zu has probably revived, most likely using the Purple Pet from the Divine Spirit lineage to reincarnate.""Shen wasn't able to kill even one of Demon Zu's body, spirit, or intention paths. The power of the Three Realms was exhausted, but fortunately, it should have gravely wounded him.""However, all things considered, with Demon Zu not dead, Sheng and Demon returning to zero is already inevitable..."

Dao Qiongcang counted on his fingers, standing at the crossroads, feeling that he had grasped the situation in the Five Regions and the Ancestral Gods' thoughts by a significant margin. This was useless. Armchair strategizing led to the most tragic deaths. What was Dao Qiongcang afraid of? He was most afraid of Demon and Medicine joining forces and carving out a new heavenly realm to rule. Thus, when one side encountered difficulty, the other would inevitably intervene, and if it developed according to this worst-case scenario...

"If Xu Xiaoshou can't help me block Demon Zu, then my back will be exposed, and in the end, we will all die.""But before that, I must suppress Yao Zu, cripple him, at least to the point where Demon Zu must intervene to help Yao.""So, how can I directly devour Yao Zu's twin rivers and turn the tide, while Demon and Medicine mistakenly believe they still have a glimmer of hope, or even that they can seize my Dao of Memory?"

Gurgle!

The pure power of Limitless Silence surged into his body. The Great Severance Art was close to forming but not yet complete. Dao Qiongcang, hanging by a thread between life and death, was still calculating not the present, but the ultimate outcome. If he died now, he was dead. If he lived now, but couldn't survive in the end, it would be better to die now.

"Whoosh!"

The River of Memories also surged forth. With a thought, Dao Qiongcang split off a wisp of himself and sank into the River of Memories, where he saw Bai Zhou, the Second Generation, and other secrets sealed within.

"Second Generation," he approached, looking at the figure remarkably similar to himself.

"Third Generation," the figure also looked over, seeming to sense something. "You haven't brought some bad news, have you?"

"I have the 'key'."

"Oh?" The Second Generation raised an eyebrow, meaningfully saying, "You should know, if you fail, then I have bet wrongly. Between you and Dao Peipei, I chose you. That is why you became the Third Generation, and he could only remain the Fourth. If you fail, he will take your place as the Third Generation, for his wisdom is not inferior to yours."

Dao Qiongcang spread his hands, a smile playing on his lips: "But I have never activated you. Isn't this precisely proof that you bet correctly? I am stronger than any previous 'Third Generation,' including the one who left his imprint in Demon Zu's stone hall... As for Dao Peipei, the Fourth Generation, he can only ever be the Fourth Generation; he cannot ascend."

"You are very confident."

"Indeed." Dao Qiongcang nodded seriously. "I wish to awaken the power of the 'First Generation'."

"Are you ready?"

"If what you told me about Shi, Ming, and Nuo is not mistaken, I believe I have deduced enough 'truths' and obtained this 'key.' I am capable of inheriting the most complete and most cruel 'memory,' and I am qualified to replace the 'First Generation' and live a new life." Dao Qiongcang added, "And you, you don't have to live forever in this eternal darkness."

The Second Generation fell silent, and after a long while, said, "Every Third Generation has said similar words to me at such a time..." He paused, then continued, "And each time, I was the one who personally cut them down." He looked at Dao Qiongcang with a hint of reluctance, but his eyes held a sense of farewell.

Dao Qiongcang smiled, utterly confident: "But I am the strongest Third Generation you have ever seen, and the one with the most hope of success, aren't I?"

The Second Generation remained silent. On this point, there was no dispute. This generation's Third Generation had almost perfectly inherited the strengths of every previous generation, cultivating wisdom, calculation, reaction, foresight, and so on to the extreme, even with their combat power restricted. He could easily perceive and bypass Ancestral God formations, and when in difficulty, he knew how to borrow others' power to solve his own immediate problems. He perfectly met the requirements for inheriting the complete Dao of Memory and was qualified for him to be served.

"Then let's try it."

The Second Generation turned and walked into the darkness below. Dao Qiongcang nodded with a faint smile, stepping towards the source of memory. Both stopped simultaneously after ten steps, turning to look at each other, with the Second Generation now below and the Third Generation above.

"Bang!"

The Second Generation, like a sword-wielding guard, knelt on one knee, lowering his head.

"Om!"

Dao Qiongcang's face was fanatical, and he raised his hands. Instantly, the entire eternally dark memory world completely lit up. Behind him, the Sea of Memories was reflected, with countless faces floating above it—all of them avatars planted in the Five Domains of this world or other planes of the Great Thousand World.

The Second Generation was in front, kneeling on one knee. The Third Generation was in the center, hands raised high. The Fourth and Fifth Generations were behind, using him as their reliance.

Dao Qiongcang abruptly lifted his head, gazing at the enormous white cocoon hanging above the Sea of Memories.

"Thump-thump!""Thump-thump!""Thump-thump..."

When it was illuminated, a heavy heartbeat, like a hammer striking a drum, resounded in this world. Each beat was like a thunderous roar, directly striking everyone sealed in the River of Memories. Bai Zhou's consciousness was muddled. In a trance, he looked up and saw the horrifying scene beneath the vast white world in the distance. Thousands of Dao Qiongcangs were behind, with one Dao Qiongcang in front. The Dao Qiongcang in the center, like the leader of the entire world, raised his hands high, fanatically proclaiming the Dao chant:

"Controlling all heavenly secrets, transforming all laws.""Absolving sins and changing destiny, Dao Ancestor descends!"

Boom—

Bai Zhou felt as if struck by lightning. He saw the giant cocoon suspended in the air burst forth with ten thousand beams of white light, as if torn open by swords, revealing inside... a giant Dao Qiongcang!

Boom—

The memory world violently shook. The giant Dao Qiongcang within the cocoon peeled away bit by bit, transforming into a rich, waterfall-like cascade of white light that fell, perfectly covering the Dao Qiongcang in the center below. The Third Generation Dao Qiongcang, with his hands raised high, chin slightly lifted, eyes closed, and face filled with intoxication, ascended inch by inch, bathing in the Dao韵 glow. The memory world rumbled and crumbled. All the Fourth and Fifth Generation Dao Qiongcangs behind him knelt on both knees, hands raised high, in a posture of a great god's descent. Echoing the Second Generation Dao Qiongcang in the very front, they respectfully and collectively shouted, their voices like thunder:

"Welcome the descent of Dao Ancestor!!!"