Chapter 1292: when one person attains the Dao, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven (3))

The scene slowly shifted as another elderly man with a stern face joined them, and the conversation grew lively. From there it moved to a foggy gorge, where a cicada lashed out at Yang Qing in desperation, only for all her attacks to be effortlessly neutralized. The image then changed again, to a clash between gold and white-silver threads and a dark fog shaped like a sea urchin. The exchange was swift and fluid, ending with the threads’ decisive victory.

The scene blurred into clouds, and within that cloudiness appeared radiant golden writing: Come to Hebei, Yunnan Province, Velvet Orchid Teahouse if you want your disciple.

As the words faded, Hebei unfolded before him in splendor, the scenes shuffling through all that Yang Qing had witnessed and experienced since setting foot there.

When the final scene played, his internal palace realm rumbled—the ocean churned, the sun and moon shone in harmony above, and the green flame forest at its center swayed as colorful lights gathered and whirled. Then, with a soft burst like a bubble, they washed across everything within, baptizing it in radiance and breathing new life into the realm.

Just as a river could have pebbles in one part and precious gems in another, or be murky at one end and crystal clear at the other, it was still the same river. What it carried, how it flowed, or how it appeared did not change its nature. It remained a river with many facets, and wasn’t life much the same?

Guilt may have driven him to begin this journey, but it was not the architect of what his path would be, nor of how he would experience and respond to it. Like the river with pebbles in one stretch and treasures in another, his guilt was only a part of him, not the whole. He still had other components, other stages within him, which this journey slowly brought to the surface.

Was he nervous, even a little worried about it all and how things could potentially end in this journey? Yes, most definitely. How could he not when he knew how ruthless the world he lived in was? And yet, at the same time, he was excited by it. Renewed by it. Transformed by it. Each surprising experience the journey offered only left him more curious and eager to see what lay ahead, even if hesitation and wariness still lingered within him.

“I am me. Simple, yet complicated. Magnanimous, yet petty. Generous, yet selfish. Lazy, yet endeavoring. Easygoing, yet hard-nosed. Chained, yet free.

I am me, and my life is mine alone to live.”

His voice was soft, yet the words carried a weight that seemed to echo through the air. With that final affirmation, the last lingering thread of his heart demon shattered completely. From it, a flood of energy gently burst forth, subtle yet boundless, like a spring of life flowing freely, baptizing everything around it with a pure aura of life.

Saplings and grasses surged upward, growing lusher and denser. Flowers bloomed in radiant colors, releasing fragrances that carried the essence of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Trees stretched taller and sturdier, while those on the verge of decay shed their withered bark and renewed themselves. Even the earth itself showed its excitement as the fresh smell of wet earth rose into the air.

In that instant, the untouched beauty of nature awakened around Yang Qing.

Bolin, Haishi, and Wenling all froze as a warm current filled with the aura of life swept into their bodies and souls, renewing and restoring them from within.

Bolin in particular felt the regenerative side of his ability swell as if it had been waiting for this very moment. That current gave him the final push he had long sought, and equilibrium was instantly achieved. The energies within him at last reached perfect balance.

Seizing the moment, Bolin immediately began meditating, pushing for a breakthrough to the eleventh stage of the Core Formation realm. The moment he started, it didn’t even take a minute before the barrier gave way, as smoothly as snow melting under sunlight.

He was so taken aback by how easily it happened that he broke from his meditation to examine himself, needing confirmation that he had truly advanced. His small frame was now filled with power that hadn’t been there before, yet even as the evidence stood before him, he still found it hard to believe.

Only after a moment did he finally accept the truth. With renewed determination, he hurriedly returned to meditation, aiming for the twelfth stage. The vast, gentle current flowing through his body, filling it with boundless energy, urged him onward, gently reassuring him that it was possible; he should seize the moment and make that jump.

He wasn’t the only one affected. Haishi, whose body was still burdened by large reserves of undigested energy from the countless spiritual plants and treasures she had consumed over the years, and didn’t process them properly, one of which was the primordial dew Feng Xin had fed her, felt the warm current from Yang Qing coursing through her. Wherever it passed, her body seemed to unclog, lightening while simultaneously strengthening.

Unbeknownst to her, as that current worked through her body, her frame began shrinking in size, and a hazy mirage slowly enveloped her form.

As for Wenling, while she outwardly showed the least change, in truth, she was likely to reap the greatest harvest of them all. Yang Qing’s warm current fed her insights rich with the mysteries and profound truths of the Grand Dao. And these were not just any truths and mysteries—these were truths tied to someone whose Dao was connected to two Supreme Daos: life, and yin and yang.

Even just a mere taste of them was enough to greatly part the fog on her path to the Palace Realm, making it smoother than ever. However long it might have taken her to reach that stage, the time had now been greatly shortened if she made the most of those insights, and her chances of a successful breakthrough would be all the higher because of it.

The saying was true: when one person attains the Dao, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

Yet even then, Yang Qing was still the greatest beneficiary of them all. He had just broken through to the fourth stage of the Palace Realm, officially reaching the peak of the early stage. And with it, he was that much closer to his grandest dream—becoming a slacker judge.

Yes, he was enjoying his wandering and adventuring phase for now, but he hadn’t forgotten his two noble missions in life: to one day slack off without fear, and to rub it mercilessly in Old Lei’s face. Step by step, realm by realm, he was slowly getting there.