When Wu Long and Luo Mingyu were cultivating, profound waves spread from them as they both made major breakthroughs.

Luo Mingyu achieved the initial step on her way of creating her own Dao Path and her cultivation base made continuous breakthroughs to arrive at the 3rd level of the Revolving Qi Realm, giving her Extreme Yin Qi a boost that furthered Wu Long’s cultivation and allowing him to finally advance to the Qi Manifestation Realm, and even go past the gate of the realm to achieve 1st level.

Qi Manifestation Realm was a major achievement and a milestone in the life of every cultivator as Wu Long’s mortal needs would be partially alleviated, and his natural lifespan received the first increase to 500 years.

As he formed a root of longevity his appearance was now locked by his cultivation technique. Though there were still slight signs of youth in his appearance, since the growth in this age period was fast he was much more mature than when he started out on his journey.

His Soul Sea was now also partially unlocked, and he was finally free to use part of his Soul Power. He never really practiced attacking or manipulation since those were specialized techniques, and required the talent of Soul Cultivators to practice to a good degree. But his defense and subtle abilities like memory seals and related areas were trained to a high proficiency.

As they woke up, they cuddled in the bed for some more time, as Luo Mingyu was snuggling into his embrace, basking in the warmth and tenderness he held her with and he enjoyed the feeling of her soft naked body pressing against his.

“The path of the Dao I comprehended is Selfish Flawed World”

She started, and Wu Long looked at her intrigued.

“You see, as we were traveling we passed many people in misery, and many people in happiness, and even though you chose to interfere in some situations, you ignored most of it. When I asked you about it you told me that since you would not be there to help them always, and any help you make is just your whim that would ultimately not last beyond the point you could see.

Same with countries we passed on our way, we might change the situation now, but if we do not stay to ensure that the situation stays the same it will gradually change again for better or worse, and we have no control over it, so if we want to interfere, that is just our desire. It is okay to interfere as long as we acknowledge that what we are doing is not some greater good but our selfish wish to do something.

It does not mean that we can simply watch people in misery and feel nothing from it, it is just that our involvement is only limited to a single moment since our path is stretching far”

Wu Long nodded to Luo Mingyu’s analysis of his actions and words, from which she extrapolated the principles of her own comprehension of the Dao.

“What I ultimately understood is that the Dao will flow according to its profound way and govern the way of the world, people will live their lives regardless of whether I look at them or not, and even if I made an effort to create a peaceful life for a person at the moment I met them, once I went further on my journey they might meet misery again. It does not mean that any effort in helping people is futile, it is just that I now recognize it as a selfish desire, as well as a passing moment in time.

There is no constant perfection, and the world is constantly flawed, but this is what makes it beautiful as well, since constant perfection, however bad it sounds, is stale and bleak.

But we can still selfishly make changes to it and though they might not matter in the grand scheme of things it would satisfy our own desire”

She finished and Wu Long’s eyes flashed with profound light as his breakthrough was instantly consolidated. It was not comparable to her continuous breakthroughs to the next Major Realm, but her comprehension allowed him to instantly stabilize his new achievements which was a large leap for him.

“Congratulations on your breakthrough and the beginning of your own path of comprehension, Mingyu”

He kissed her on the forehead and she smiled in joy as she was now finally a true Dao Cultivator, who stepped on a path of the Dao, and not only that, but a pioneer who started her own path. It may coincide with other paths and have similar aspects, but it was still her path and its uniqueness would show as it progressed to higher levels of understanding.

Her path was in its embryonic state, and there was still a lot for her to comprehend and ponder on, as well as revise, but the most crucial initial step was taken, which meant that the road ahead would be much smoother.

—

After breakfast in the company of all his beauties, Wu Long sat in a room on the top of one of the ship towers, as Ye Ling sat closely by, attentively looking at him but her spiritual sense was spread out, and vigilantly surveyed the surroundings.

He sat in a lotus position and made hand seals as invisible and incorporeal Soul Power flowed into the Spiritual Qi that started to form a diagram in front of his face, which then shrank and imprinted onto his forehead. It flashed a little and then disappeared. ．

The seal placed on his memories was placed by a Soul Cultivator of this fractured world, and while it might be troublesome for other Soul Cultivators originating from here to deal with the specific lock of the one who placed the seal, it was completely trivial to Wu Long, so he unlocked the seal and without any damage released the memories that were trapped inside as they poured into his Soul Sea.

Memories filled his mind and as he went through them his eye opened up wide.

In them, he saw her, like he remembered her in his childhood. Much like in his previous life, there were no definite memories of childhood beyond the age of seven or eight when he was found and brought back to a new house. This time it was not a small martial family but a huge noble house, but his position was largely the same, he was brought up as a retainer. The young him and the young miss of the house he was brought into met as children, inexplicably bonding and being drawn to each other, and grew closer as they got older. The tender feelings his clueless versions held for her poured into Wu Long, mixing with his own.

Wu Long without his memories was still essentially himself, so there was no dissonance, much like Ye Ling, and he saw that the young miss’s personality and mannerisms also did not change a bit, meaning that she was still herself even without her memories. They met again, and fell in love again, not even suspecting that it was not the first time.

“…how is it?”

Ye Ling asked after some time, as she worriedly looked at him. She was not sure what those memories entailed, but once they theorized that they might contain clues about his first love, she was desperately wishing for a miracle.

He smiled and nodded at her, and a joyous light appeared in her eyes as she saw that smile.

“Yes, I found her, I found Wu Mengqi…”

———————–

End of Volume II: Original Heart