CHAPTER 1204: CHAPTER 51: THE HEART OF ETERNAL STRIFE (4/3)

——The Nature Master!

Without any extra suspicion, at the instant when his ability to think recovered, Yu Feng understood in his heart that the young boy who was teaching was the Nature Master being discussed, guarded, watched, and wondered about by all the Heaven’s Chosen attending the grand feast, An Jing!

"Look, this is the Scarlet Fruit."

But An Jing paid no mind. He casually took out a fruit, crimson and lustrous, which clearly contained immense Life Spirit Qi, making all life forms instinctively focus on it, revealing their desire: "It’s brimming with Spirit Qi, consuming it can strengthen your Blood Qi and internal organs, extending life and enhancing vitality. Naturally, you desire it, wanting to consume it."

"And now..."

With five fingers closing, in just an instant, the Scarlet Fruit turned into a red mist in An Jing’s palm, and he softly said: "Now, you want to ’breathe’."

With a casual wave, the red mist spread toward the many present life forms, prompting many of them to take deep breaths, yearning to absorb more of the Scarlet Fruit’s Spirit Qi, making him slightly shake his head.

"Sunlight and dew, gourmet delicacies, nourish you, making you joyfully yearn for them, but ultimately it’s merely a bodily instinct."

"Joy from external things, sadness from external things, where does your ’self’ reside? Is it the brain and soul issuing commands, or the body responding to these commands and reacting to external matters?"

"Or perhaps, deeper still, beyond the body, brain, and even soul, is there a non-false, non-real, ’true essence’?"

An Jing’s gaze swept through the true spirits present, not offering explanations but continuously questioning: "In a bright mirror, seeing the reflection, only then do you know your appearance. Feeling your hair and skin, only then do you sense your body. But if there is no mirror and no tactile sensation, can you still be sure that you are yourself?"

"The present Dragon God has entrusted me to give you a lecture. I know that you are the most gifted true spirits among the myriad beings of the Nine Seas. You transform from mundane bodies into dragons, immensely familiar with your bodies—yet, when they decay and rot, when their aura weakens, as you once again touch your cold and stiff faces, do you not feel doubt?"

"Whose body is this?"

At this point, An Jing’s voice suddenly carried a cold edge: "Do not wait until that moment to doubt!"

"All familiarity, all desire, are illusions! The true self is hidden beneath the layers of bodily and soulful instincts, imprisoned by the cage endowed by heaven and earth!"

"My Feather Transformation Dao is the path of transcending for true shedding, the way to break the shackles!"

He slowly rose to his feet like the booming of mountains, standing upright. An Jing raised his hand, pointing to the high sky, to the earth, to the Qi Sea and its myriad beings, finally pointing to himself: "This is the eternal battlefield! It is not a battle against heaven, not a battle against earth, nor against myriad beings! This battle is against ’oneself’!"

"To conquer the innate joys buried deep within your flesh and blood and soul, the instincts that make you reliant on external things, to conquer the instincts that bring joy and sorrow because of external matters, to question from breathing, ask yourself, why breathe? Why exhale? Exhaling what? Inhaling what? What does this breathing bring and what does it consume?"

"Is it possible to optimize it, modify it, or even... discard it?"

"The same goes for eating, the same goes for joy, each of your desires needs to be scrutinized, needs self-questioning; without this, you cannot find yourself, you will not obtain the answer of ’true self’!"

An Jing’s words, like a heavy hammer, made Yu Feng find it hard to breathe—neither the Furnace Drying Skill nor the ancient Immortal Path, nor the Embracing the Void’s Martial Arts, have ever been this resolutely insane!

And the young Martial Artist’s voice, still like a great bell, resonated in the ears of the myriad beings of the Sky Island: "Bit by bit, breath by breath, all is a battlefield! Analyze, understand, overcome, and reconstruct these desires, subdue these innate instincts, take back your body from the heavens and earth, and remake it as a creation of your will, as a part of your true self!"

"The Feather Transformation Dao seems to be the external path skill of self-crafting an external shell—to replace oneself—this indeed is both appearance and reality."

"But this eternal battling heart, is the true intention of my Dao!"

"When you can breathe without relying on external air, eat without needing external things, and feel no joy or anger because of external circumstances, then within, a Cave Heaven will naturally form!"

"This Cave Heaven is not that Cave Heaven, it is created after cutting off external seeking, conquering the self, reconstructed by absolute sovereign will, as your unique ’inner realm’!"

"At this point, you are Heaven’s Will, Heaven’s Will is you, not relying on external seeking, Divine Skills are self-sufficient! This is the Feather Transformation Cave Heaven Skill..."

"It is also my Feather Transformation Dao, the path to attaining the True Person!"

Feather Transformation Dao.

At this moment, Yu Feng finally understood that what An Jing created was not any other kind of Martial Arts, nor another kind of Cultivation Technique.

This Nature Master created a whole new path that stands alongside the Immortal Path and Martial Arts!

The Immortal Path redefines itself, Martial Arts rebirths itself, and the Feather Transformation Dao... rediscovers itself!

"Go back and think about these questions well, if you truly have some comprehension, in the future you may visit the East Sea Jingjiang Mansion, where I left a legacy sufficient to guide you."

With a wave of his hand, An Jing’s figure suddenly disappeared, while the many dragon-blood beings who had been listening so intently let out a long sigh of regret, but gradually dispersed, returning to the infinite Heavenly Sea that encircles the Ancestral Dragon Hall.

Only Yu Feng stood dazedly still, not for lack of wanting to leave, but because of a feeling making him realize that he should... stay.

"Hmm..."

Unbeknownst to him, Yu Feng suddenly found himself on that small island, and a figure manifested from the Great Void—it was An Jing.

It was this peculiar Great Void Transference that made Yu Feng feel a sense of familiarity. He raised his head in astonishment and looked at the young Martial Artist sitting on the green stone next to him: "Wait, this feeling... could it be the person adding the Cosmic Light transformation over at the Heaven Sea Dragon Gate?!"

"It’s me."

An Jing casually replied: "The Dragon God said, since so many Heaven’s Chosen came because of me, let me give it a try; after all, I owe the Ancestral Dragon Hall a favor from eating their food, so why not test you all."

"But..." Yu Feng murmured: "Isn’t it said that only the Four Seasons Celestial Dragon..."

"It’s not only the Celestial Dragon that can grasp the Cosmic Light Divine Power."

An Jing lowered his gaze, thoughtfully examining Yu Feng, then calmly said: "From the Great Wilderness Realm?"

"Ah?"

Struck by further astonishment as if thunderstruck, Yu Feng, who was planning to respectfully salute this Nature Master, found himself dumbfounded, never expecting his most essential and deeply hidden secret to be revealed just like that.

An Jing waved his hand, indicating that his dazed demeanor wasn’t necessary: "Alright, there’s nothing to be surprised about, probably the Evil Suppression Sword Intent brought you here or was a test by the Great Wilderness Heavenly Dao itself... it’s nothing major."

"You’re not bad, although you daydream a lot, it seems you’ve actually grasped a bit of the true intent of the Feather Transformation Dao... If you encounter trouble in the Zhaolin Realm later, you can come find me."