?


    "What should I do? What should I concentrate on first? If I don''t concentrate then I would lose out on these inspirations. These are like fleeting thoughts. Which should I focus on first?"


    "Argh! If I concentrate on one thing, I feel like I would forget the line of thought in another thing. This is maddening! I don''t want to lose anything. I don''t know when I would get so many inspirations like this again…"


    "No, no, no. I can''t underestimate formations. With a single defensive formation, I can withstand a lot more power, a single offensive formation can allow my strength to rise to a higher level. I can''t give up on this…"


    "Pills! Pills! Pills! Even a newbie like me knows an alchemist earns a lot. This is the best way to earn a lot of money. With money, why should I be afraid of not being able to increase my strength? Oh my! Can these herbs be linked in such a way? All of them contain vitality, if I canbine them…"


    "What! Howe no one tried this out before? If this is realized, the sharpness of a sword can be increased multiple times. And the durability… damn it, why haven''t any weaponsmith realized this until now? Are they all morons…"


    "Earth! Boundless! It can suppress anything! It can contain anything! Isn''t the suppression effect really simr to that lonely mountain image I need to visualize? Should I give this a go…"


    "Howe I feel the sword to be so profound? Isn''t it just a weapon? Why can I feel so many things from it?"


    "Is there a ce where the wind can''t go? Being formless it has an innate advantage in being agile, isn''t it? Moreover, can wind be used for assassination? There seems to be great potential here…"


    "What? Windspeed can be used like this? I can evenbine it with my Swordcut to create a domain in this manner. This really looks ingenious. I can''t give up on this…"


    "No, no, my thoughts on pill refining are fading. All those money, damn it! I need to concentrate. I shouldn''t ck off…"


    "Hmmm, what did I think about here… Argh… didn''t the formation act in this way? No, no, it doesn''t seem right. Something feels off. What did I miss? What did I miss? I feel that if I try harder that I can almost grasp this thought. This is so elusive…"


    Duncan was like a madman trying to grab everything. The Initial Enlightenment affected him deeply and he felt like he was obtaining an understanding of a lot of things. He felt that if he put a little more effort he would be able to push forward and get a clear idea.


    In fact, this was an illusion that was created by Duncan''s subconsciousness. It wasn''t necessarily wrong. The Initial Enlightenment doesn''t give out misleading paths. But, rather the effort needed to be spent was where the illusiony.


    If one gets carried away and tried to gain insight on all the things, then they would be doomed to pursue their line of thought for a long time. And each line of thought they gained enlightenment on needs them to spend countless hours to gain clear insight. And this duration was determined by a person''s talent in that particr aspect.


    For example, if someone is talented in alchemy, they can easily obtain benefits by focusing on the line of thoughts aboutbining spirit herbs and making pills. Likewise, if one has talent in say, Earth Dao, they can easily obtain a lot of benefits if they concentrated on the Dao of the Earth and its intricacies.


    No one is talented in everything.


    By trying to grasp insights into everything, a cultivator would be mediocre in everything. This would also dy their progress in cultivation. So, whenever someone enters into the Spirit Sea realm, their masters and seniors who cared about them will advise them to focus on the enlightenment obtained in the aspect they are talented in.


    This is the advantage of being in a sect or a faction. It was mostly loose cultivators who would be caught up trying to grasp everything. Even if they didn''t make the best out of it, sect members would adviseter to focus on one thing alone and steer people to the right path.


    But, the moment after the Initial Enlightenment was when all kinds of insights would be bursting inside a cultivator''s head. Only a cultivator can restrain himself at that critical moment. No external help can be avable at that moment.


    That is why, Initial Enlightenment is considered to be a test of dao heart. One''s dao heart determines their determination to pursue a particr dao. Those with stable dao heart will make the best out of Initial Enlightenment. And in turn, it will make their path toward dao a lot easier.


    Duncan had no one guiding him in such a way for various reasons. His master wasn''t anywhere near him when he broke through to the Spirit Sea realm. The only Senior Brother he had a good rtionship with didn''t care enough to let him know about it. Thus, Duncan was currently in such a predicament.


    Just as Duncan was about to waste that precious moment, he suddenly felt his heart throb echo in his head in a resounding manner. The echo was both forceful and carried a certain kind of innate weight to it.


    "Eh, what''s this? Is thising from my heart? The ck Heart. It is like how it was described in the <ughter Demon Sutra>…"


    Duncan was immediately mesmerized as he focused on his heart. He felt strange as all kinds of insights began appearing in his mind. These lines of thought were already in his head. But, at this moment, they were brought to the forefront.


    At that moment, Duncan''s attention was entirely focused on his ck heart and <ughter Demon Sutra>. He fell into a trance as he startedprehending the deeper meanings of his cultivation techniques.


    Each heart throb was like a gong echoing in his mind. As time passed, Duncan began to peek into the mysteries of the ck heart as well. At Duncan''s level, he couldn''t understand anything profound. Even then, scratching the surface was enough for him to understand a few things that had puzzled him for a long time.


    Meanwhile, his <ughter Demon Sutra> was also beginning to evolve slowly as Duncan''s understanding of the technique deepened in this state. Duncan''s eyes began to turn blood red as he lost himself in the mysteries of his cultivation technique and the ck heart that was in his body.


    Thump!


    THump!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    THUmp!


    THUMp!


    THUMP!


    THUMP!


    THUMP!


    Duncan felt his blood boil as the sound of his heartbeat began to pound in his head. His eyes turned red and a reddish aura began to envelop him. The aura was slightly tainted with ck color at the edges, but unlike the previous time, the aura seemed to emanate from deep within his body.


    Instead of enveloping him as usual, this time the aura seemed to emanate from him. There was a qualitative change in the aura. And as usual, Duncan was unaware of the existence of the aura or the change that has taken ce in it.


    He was fully engrossed inprehending the line of thought that has emerged in his mind. As heprehended further and followed the line of thought in his mind, time seemed to pass by rapidly. Duncan was totally unaware of the passage of time. In fact, Duncan was unaware of anything that was happening outside.


    His entire being was currently pursuing the line of thought that has emerged in his mind.


    "ughter…"


    "ughter…"


    "ughter…"


    "So, this is the truth about ughter…"


    "It isn''t mindless. Only the truly inept see ughter as mindless. Those who understand even a little bit about it know the truth behind it."


    "ughter isn''t about killing indiscriminately."


    "ughter is about domination. ughter is about being ferocious. ughter is about wading in a pool of blood. ughter is about waging war with the world. ughter is about showing your rage. ughter is about sating your thirst for revenge."


    "In this wild world, the ughter Dao is the true personification of the strong eating the weak. Humans ughter chickens because they are stronger than them. Demonic beasts ughter mortals because they are stronger than mortals. Likewise, in front of a ughterer, all opposition is moot."


    "In this world, might makes right. What better Dao can truly showcase the reality of the world than the ughter Dao?"


    "ughter is a dao that epasses killing, suppression, blood, war, ferociousness, and a lot more."


    "Heh, why didn''t I think of this before? I have used my martial techniques toprehend the concept of Windspeed and Swordcut. If I can do that, why can''t I use my cultivation technique toprehend the concept of ughter."


    "ughter isn''t just a concept. It is a major dao. I can feel the boundlessness and magnitude of it. I can feel its wildness and rebelliousness. I can feel its madness and righteousness. It is just like earth, fire, water, lightning, wind, and other major daos. There are a lot of concepts that could be integrated into it."


    "ughter can epass a lot of things. Revenge, Rage, Ferociousness, Domination, Suppression, Killing, Blood, War, and a lot more. These all could be further cultivated into the ughter Dao. These concepts can be integrated further as they progress."


    "Or even better, can ughter be a stand-alone concept…"


    "ughter… ughter… ughter…"


    *****


    A/N: Check out my other stories and let me know your thoughts...


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