Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 82 - 73: Goodbye Yu Hua

Chapter 82: Chapter 73: Goodbye Yu Hua

Along the way, a family surnamed Guo kindly offered Gu Wen shelter for the night. They had a young daughter of twenty who was about to be forcefully married to a butcher, with their wedding just a few days away. Gu Wen knew from the start they wanted something from him, but he also wanted to try his hand at emulating Lu Zhishen’s martial prowess in beating up the Western Gatekeeper.

Where there is great strength, there naturally has to be abundant energy.

Gu Wen went to the butcher’s home and learned that a bride price had been paid not just once. The girl’s father was a compulsive gambler, and the daughter had eloped with a scholar years before, only to be abandoned at the end. Despite the past grievances, the butcher sincerely sought to marry her.

Having understood the situation, Gu Wen returned as if he had accepted a quest from an online game. The prospective father-in-law was hesitant and indirect, while the girl covered her face, weeping as if she alone bore the suffering.

Gu Wen was no saint, and he was no Hee Huan; he couldn’t just marry the girl himself, right?

It’s better to teach someone to fish than to give them a fish, and sometimes it’s better not to help at all. The next day, Gu Wen left the household, heard of a tiger guarding treasure in the mountains, and turned in that direction. He killed the tiger and obtained ginseng aged with five more years of Heavenly Marrow.

[Heavenly Marrow for twenty-six years]

When Gu Wen emerged from the mountains, the butcher had already married the girl. Rumors of domestic abuse circulated, and when Gu Wen visited, he happened upon the woman poisoning the butcher, resulting in his death. She was then taken by the neighbors to the authorities.

The following day, the County Magistrate opened court, and Gu Wen, having changed his appearance, became the celebrated tiger-fighting hero invited to the proceedings. He only needed to change his hairstyle and wear a false beard to be hardly recognizable from the imperial portraits. Moreover, in these chaotic times, with frequent population movements, even refugees and bandits could enter the city to set up stalls; the government would ignore them if it could.

Unless he went up to the street and openly announced himself.

The woman confessed that the butcher hadn’t abused her; she merely felt that a butcher was unworthy of her.

Gu Wen heard the uproar from countless people crying for punishment. The woman was beaten so severely with the court’s rod that her flesh was torn and bleeding. Her father, Guo, had been beaten to death the previous day over gambling debts, and the butcher’s sixty-year-old mother wailed ceaselessly.

Another day passed, and the mother of the butcher hung herself.

Gu Wen, a mere bystander to it all, pondered over whom he should have saved as a would-be hero, possessing great physical strength yet powerless to use it.

It wasn’t that he had never seen human suffering, but it was the first time after he became capable of acting on his impulses. He discovered he was still powerless, as if everyone was beyond help.

The seemingly affectionate but actually malicious Miss Guo, the compulsively gambling Guo, the dead butcher, and his childless mother who hung herself.

Were they worth saving? Could he save them for a lifetime? Could he save them now?

"The world is like purgatory, human hearts like boiling oil, all beings suffer, all types are malevolent."

"I am still weak in this world, not as powerful as the Lord Emperor, nor as vigorously strong as other True Monarchs. Until I can turn the world upside down, I still need to bow to this chaotic world. It makes me uncomfortable, yet I must avoid it and preserve my sense of right."

"The truly strong should be able to contend with heaven and earth."

"The essence of a hero should be to wield his sword towards the heavens."

Gu Wen awoke as if from a dream, his Daoist heart growing clearer, his spirit stronger by a margin.

Upon internal reflection of the Yellow Dragon Spirit Image, the earth element at the center bears the weight of heaven and earth. When one comes to a revelation about its meaning, they can naturally advance a step further.

[To become complete by fifty years, yet achieving the Yellow Dragon Spirit Image in just twenty-five]

[Twenty-five years of Heavenly Marrow into the Yellow Dragon, the Yellow Dragon returns to its place, uniting one of the Four Spirits, with the remaining three yet to be gathered]

He strode away from the throng, leaving behind the insignificant lives of the town, a place too narrow for him to linger.

Stepping onto the muddy twilight path, a pale figure sat in a pavilion by the road. She seemed to have been waiting for a long time, yet she was merely tired from running.

An old donkey eyed the ordinary man in black, laden with a travel bag, who approached unassumingly step by step.

Yu Hua’s voice was soft as she asked, "How have you been lately? You seem to have changed a lot in just a few days."

"To rise ninety thousand miles, an ordinary person can oppose a myriad of troops."

Gu Wen smiled brightly, his eyes exuding an immense spirit charm, his Foundation Establishment at the Third Level fulfilled.

The old donkey’s eyes widened as it beheld the ordinary man before it, who seemed to merge with the image of that supreme prodigy who once dominated an era.

The Third Level Foundation Establishment could be understood, as even complete mastery of the first three levels wasn’t difficult, but the Five Elements Spirit Form so far had been achieved by only one person of the Sanqing Taoist Sect. It vaguely grasped Yu Hua’s fixation on Gu Wen, a prodigy comparable to that of the Three Pure Daoist.

Who wouldn’t be confused by this? If I had to choose, I too would fight with all my might!

Gu Wen took out a plain, gray jade pendant and gently handed it over to Yu Hua, saying,

"This outfit, now no one in the world can stop my idle wanderings."

That was the greatest difference from before, although he was wanted nationwide by the Daqian, he was now free.

The breeze lifted Yu Hua’s veil, and she asked with a joyful smile, "When did you first become the foremost among great talents, unparalleled on the local rankings?"

"Starting from today."

For the first time, Gu Wen responded to Yu Hua, precise and without hesitation.

"I need to take a trip to Luo River, I wonder if Fellow Daoist would like to come along?"

"If you invite me, of course, I’m willing."

-----------------

As evening approached, being cultivators, they did not fear the dark, but they still sought shelter in a Mountain God Temple.

There were countless ancient temples, among which Mountain God Temples were the most numerous, and the Mountain Gods came in a great variety of forms. The temple they found worshipped a hedgehog, also known as the White Immortal.

As soon as the two entered the temple, they could sense the hedgehog hiding in a corner, very spiritual, and could be considered a spirit beast.

Yu Hua offered a pill as the fee for lodging, and the hedgehog kowtowed repeatedly, then tried to acknowledge Yu Hua as its master, but was rejected. Turning its head, the hedgehog then tried to acknowledge Gu Wen, but before he could even consider whether to take it in, Yu Hua said, "You’re not worthy of him," causing the little hedgehog to lose its little treasures.

Unable to withstand the blow, the White Immortal vanished into the night.

Gu Wen thought about how he would be running around in the future and it wouldn’t be feasible to take this little creature along.

A flame was kindled in the Mountain God Temple, and Gu Wen and Yu Hua sat on the floor, nearly talking about everything under the heavens.

Gu Wen, who had been biding his time for five years, had just taken his revenge and needed someone to confide in, otherwise, it wouldn’t be satisfying enough.

Yu Hua didn’t talk much, just occasionally responding with a hum, but she was obviously enjoying herself.

She could sense that Gu Wen’s heart, once dead and stagnant as a dry well, was slowly filling up. Although his emotions still fluctuated little, at least he wasn’t facing her with high walls and barriers.

Humans have the seven emotions and six desires; it’s not natural for him to like oppressing himself— even ascetics aren’t born with a stern face.

If Gu Wen was born in the Sanqing Taoist Sect, he wouldn’t be as emotionally dry as a well now. He was only a hundred years old but was much more composed than many cultivators who were several hundred years old.

The old donkey at the side felt like an outsider, its ears drooping as it lay on the ground and rested with eyes closed.

They didn’t know how much time had passed before they finally talked about something that interested it.

"There is a Heavenly Spring Mountain in Luo River, on which there is a Spiritual Spring that belongs to Broken Sword Mountain. It can help you refine the Jade Pendant."

Yu Hua brought up the topic, and Gu Wen’s heart was moved. This was indeed his purpose, but she did not know about the existence of the imperial syrup.

He asked, "Does it really have such an effect?"

"Spiritual Medicines assist with Foundation Establishment, while earth springs nurture treasures, and the so-called treasures are the Taoist Soldiers you hold in your hands." Yu Hua informed him as she always did, without withholding anything, "This is also one of the two paths of the Immortal Land: the former is establishing the foundation, while the latter is establishing treasures."

"Some sects think that instead of cultivating a powerful individual, it’s better to create an unparalleled artifact that can be passed down for ten thousand years."

At this point, staying true to the ’Qi Sect’ traditions of the Yuqing Sect, Yu Hua snorted derisively, "Relying on external items, how trivial."

Suddenly, feeling the Jade Pendant stir, Gu Wen thought that Yu Hua sometimes had quite a sharp tongue, often accompanied by real damage.

He said, "I must trouble Fellow Daoist to make this trip with me."

"No trouble at all, I was planning to go there as well."

Yu Hua shook her head, the Immortality Pill autonomously seeking to gather the Five Elements, and Sword Washing Pond was the epitome of the Gold Extreme.

It might be beneficial to stop over there and find some roots.

"There’s one more thing about the guardian; since the jade pendant is a token, once you refine it, you’ll be entangled in causality. You should consider this carefully."