Exploring Immortality Cultivation
Chapter 458 - 211: Research on the Principles of Divine Tao

Divine Tao, the way of the ignorant, profits oneself by exploiting the hearts of the common people. It is evil, the enemy of the Human Dao.

This is how the Immortal Alliance defines the Divine Tao.

However, few knew that in the beginning of beginnings, during the tribal days of the Human Clan, it was the Divine Tao cultivation method that gave the Human Clan the strength to rise.

Thanks to their powerful brains, humans innately possessed spirit sense, with life and mind in harmony. However, it was precisely because the brain had replaced the soul as the organ of thought that humans, unlike the Demon Clan, could not simply "think" to strengthen their souls, achieve Spirit Awakening, and during this process, discover ways to absorb Spiritual Energy and perform Qi Storage. The earliest humans cautiously worshipped Heaven and Earth and revered their heroes. The heroes revered by their tribes also gained a little bit of strength beyond the scale of mortals. These tribal heroes, fueled by the collective thoughts of the people, gradually grew stronger, eventually becoming immortal spirits after death, protecting the Human Clan. Ordinary humans, in an effort to develop the ability to communicate with these ancestral spirits, gradually developed the most primitive shamanic methods like sacrifice, ceremonies, and witchcraft.

This was the origin of the Human Clan's Divine Tao.

At the same time, humans began to study the Demon Clan's Qi Storage cultivation methods, accumulating knowledge of Spiritual Energy and combining the primitive Divine Tao and totem worship to tap into Incense Fire Power and began exploring ways to strengthen the body.

Indeed, the emergence of Divine Tao meant that more people equated to greater strength, and the Human Clan recognized the importance of community. Thus, on this planet where personal martial prowess was supreme, 'civilization,' a collective concept, evolved. It was also because of the emergence of Divine Tao that the Human Clan could proliferate the initial settlements in Shenzhou, a land plagued by the Great Demon.

Then, history took a significant deviation.

"About 80,000 years ago, suddenly," said Chen Feng. "The Ancient Method Immortal Path swiftly took form, and the Divine Tao also experienced a burst of growth, moving beyond the primitive nature worship and totem worship, entering the period of Deity Worship."

This period is known as "Immortal Transmission."

It was as if overnight civilization accelerated into the cultivation world. The Ancient Method Immortal Path moved beyond the initial stages of Guiding Skill and Qi Cultivation Skill, entering the mature era of Qi Cultivation, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation. Divine Tao also moved past totems and Heaven and Earth as objects of worship, with people consciously creating gods. Even Demon Path and Ghost Path appeared at this time.

All this happened abruptly. From primitive worship to the Divine Court, from eating breath for Nourishing Life to the sublimation of Longevity, the process was instantaneous, and the Immortal Alliance's antiquities department has yet to find any evidence of an intermediate cultivation method's existence.

It was as if an Immortal had transmitted these laws.

The first Human Emperor "Yuan" regarded the Immortal as the Emperor Master, slaughtered in all directions, unified the Human Clan, and forged the first Immortal Path Imperial Dynasty "Great Yan." After achieving his goal, the Human Emperor ascended, with the Immortal Emperor Master returning to Immortal Heaven.

However, this historical record has its doubts. Ironically enough, the Ancient Method Practitioners, who claim to uphold the orthodoxy of the Human Clan and represent the eternal law, do not place much emphasis on history. In their view, history is just a convenient tool, whereas modern cultivators constantly look to the past, hoping to Seek Dao from it. Over 80,000 years, too much historical material has been lost, especially the segment about the Human Emperor and Emperor Master, without a reliable historical record or physical evidence.

For example, the abode of the Immortal, "The Capital below the Emperor," Kunlun Immortal City. During the 60,000 years since the Middle Ages, desperate Ancient Method Practitioners driven by resource issues have franticly searched for this abode, in hopes of obtaining some unknown heritage from the Immortal. However, for 60,000 years, every inch of Kunlun Mountain has been explored, but no trace of the Capital below the Emperor has been found.

Wang Qi looked towards Zhen Chan. Zhen Chan confirmed that indeed, such a thing had happened. During the End of Law Era, cultivators were crazily searching for ancient relics, and Sects like Heavenly Book Tower made reviewing ancient texts and surveying the world part of their cultivation, with Tomb Raiding as a sideline.

It was only because successive Ascension Practitioners revealed the existence of Immortal Heaven that the Cultivators of Shenzhou continued to steadfastly believe in this legend.

"Ahem, ahem." Chen Feng lightly coughed twice. "Sorry, sorry, got a bit carried away teaching. The mystery of the 'Immortal Transmission' isn't our focus here."

Wang Qi, who had never been a master but now still a Demon Master, nodded in understanding, "Hanging out with kids too long can indeed lead to that."

"Cough cough, the reason I'm telling you about the origins of the Divine Tao is to help you understand the principles behind it."

Spiritual Energy is a peculiar physical quantity that trends toward complexity and orderly systems, or negative entropy. Human consciousness is a negative entropy system composed of Spirit Sense "information," which is why human thoughts can directly command Spiritual Energy.

What's more fascinating is that Spiritual Energy, when influenced by thoughts, undergoes subtle changes in its intrinsic form, making it more easily transformed into Mana.

This is the earliest form of Divine Tao, gathering the thoughts of many to transform into special Mana, Divine Power, and to achieve a heroic spirit.

Wang Qi said, "This is the principle of the Divine Tao... Aggregating the wishes of all beings into one's own Mana, while at the same time the Spiritual Power eigenvalue arising from people's wishes defines the nature of Divine Spirit's strength."

But... what in the world is this Destruction of the World Divine Power of the Hongyuan Sect? Are there really so many people in Shenzhou praying for the destruction of the world? Has the Immortal Alliance become so despised?

Seeing Wang Qi's confusion, Chen Feng emphasized, "This is the original Divine Tao, specifically referring to before the 'Immortal Transmission.' After the Immortals started transmitting methods, things changed drastically. The Divine Tao learned some new tricks, and its principles went through earth-shaking changes."

"Earth-shaking? Don't tell me they no longer need Incense Fire."

Chen Feng retorted, "What is the principle of practicing Cultivation for Longevity?"

Wang Qi scratched his head, "This principle is very complex, if you ask me why..." He remembered what Ai Qinglan had said about the mysteries of the Physical Body and Life Span and answered, "By establishing a new system within oneself, amplifying the complexity of one's life system, and maintaining negative entropy."

Chen Feng nodded, "Not bad, you get it—this is indeed the principle of Longevity. The original Divine Tao was just a force to accelerate the gathering of Spiritual Energy, basically equivalent to skipping meditation and the process of converting Spiritual Energy; the system still had to be built by the Cultivator."

"But the Divine Tao is different. It turns belief into a System—Religion. Establishing a doctrine becomes part of the Divine Tao Cultivation! External Storage System, Great Sect forever thriving, Divine Spirits forever strong, Incense Fire never extinguishing, Divine Spirits undying."

Wang Qi interrupted urgently, "Hold on, hold on... Can anyone tell me how a belief becomes a system?"

Chen Feng called over Chen Youjia who had just finished his late-night snack, "Youjia, do something to Wang Qi, anything goes, just see it as for the Seeking Dao."

"Oh," Chen Youjia responded indifferently, then reached out and snapped a flick on Wang Qi's forehead.

Wang Qi exclaimed angrily, "What are you doing?"

"He told me to do it," Chen Youjia calmly passed the blame to Chen Feng. Chen Feng laughed, "Calm down, calm down. Look here, Youjia hit you, you want revenge, then Youjia retaliates, then you hit back. The two of you are two parts where 'attack-retaliate' is the 'order' connecting you, and this is the simplest form of a system."

Wang Qi's face darkened, "Are you subtly suggesting the idea of 'all methods desire a Daoist couple,' even if the other party is also 'all methods'?"

Chen Feng's expression remained unchanged as he continued, "However, such a simple system cannot absorb any Spiritual Energy. The system known as 'Religion' has a complexity and order of magnitude much higher than you two..."

(To be continued. If you like this book, welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)