Chapter 673: Observing the Tides and Altering the Flow

Cao Yun was silent for some time. It wasn't just because of Dian Mo's words. Honestly Cao Yun liked to have harsh discussions and debates with Dian Mo. Usually it was about array formations and more practical matters where they would both try to be better than the other. Such confrontations inspired great emulation. No, Cao Yun's problem was about himself. He simply wasn't sure how he could answer that question.

Emperor Weide had sacrificed many innocent people in order to get a chance to become a Sage. Most likely, Emperor Weide would argue that this was for the greater good of the Hongchen Kingdom. Cao Yun could already imagine how he would try to justify his terrible deeds. On the other hand, Cao Yun had been forced to compromise on several things. And even now, he was causing more chaos among the demon territories for his own means. Beforehand, when he knew close to nothing about demons, he would have had no problem at all. But after seeing the greater complexity among the demons, he had realized that not all of them were supporting the Empyrean Asura Theocracy.

Because of Cao Yun's actions, many innocent people might suffer and die. He was painfully aware of that. But he simply couldn't see any other course of actions. Inaction, too, would carry blood on his hands. No matter his path, there would be corpses at his feet. Many people would still suffer and die, but his entire people could be exterminated.

At the very least, Cao Yun could make sure that those who were responsible for this senseless violence were the first ones to pay for it. Besides, he had to know more. His desire to attack the Temple of Grace and Submission increased tenfold. After all, his conversation with Dian Mo had been a great motivation.

"Hey, boy, I'm sorry about my words."

Hearing Dian Mo apologize felt weird somehow. Thinking about it, Cao Yun had no memory of that every happening.

"You don't have to. Your words made me think. It's good to confront one's ideas with someone who pushes back against them. Being surrounded by sycophants or by terrified servants is much worse than exchanging harsh words. I will raid the Temple of Grace and Submission. I might need your help when it comes to deciphering their seals."

"Fine. Well, you're still too weak to work on those. But as soon as you're recovered, I'll be glad to play with you some more."

Cao Yun could tell that Dian Mo himself was still a bit weak as well. He was recovering but he still wasn't as strong as he had been before. That being said, he would be very useful for Cao Yun to practice his mastery of seals and array formations.

-

For several hours Hongyu flew in the direction given to her by Cao Yun. Finally she rested. Around her, she created a warmth that entered deep into Cao Yun's body. It was incredibly soothing and helped him recover a bit faster.

At last he was able to open his eyes. His strength was slowly coming back to him. And the very first thing he did was to examine Hongyu. After he was confident that she was perfectly fine, he turned toward himself. Thankfully he had no injury or wound that couldn't be healed. In a few days he would be completely fine. His biggest problem was simply fatigue and he could absorb enough Qi through his environment to recover. With the aid of several array formations on a few plates, Cao Yun could absorb all the energy he needed in record time even without using pills. Unfortunately, even the most perfect pills always had toxins so it was best to avoid taking them if there was another option.

For a few days Cao Yun meditated just to recover. Of course he also paid attention to his cultivation but everything was fine on that front. His Devouring Robber was under control partly thanks to Dian Mo who had helped. But it was still absorbing some Death Energy and Ghost Energy. Thanks to those, it was growing stronger and stronger. So long as it didn't become a threat, it was a great way to cultivate it faster.

Moreover, not having to worry about his asura cultivation, Cao Yun could focus on his Soul Embryo. Right now, he was practicing Impregnation of Soul. Its main goal was to give his Soul Embryo some of his personality and emotions. As it turned out, it was a very introspective work. There wasn't some grand secret to speed things up. In fact, even through Cleansed Asura's documents, Cao Yun didn't find anything incredible or mysterious. However, he had several books about it. Those were compilations of journals written by various great experts about their personal experience.

Reading through them, Cao Yun was very impressed. They didn't shy away from their struggles, both with the cultivation, but even with themselves. Apparently, this was the main reason why someone would fail. In order to fully impregnate one's Soul Embryo with one's own soul, it was necessary to expose everything. Many people simply couldn't accept their bare selves. Thankfully Cao Yun had realized that what he perceived as his self was in fact created by the interactions within his soul. But then he was left with a question that no one could answer, in any book he could read. If his perception of his self was created by those souls, then what was that he could call himself? Cao Yun saw himself as a form of observer while his thoughts and even his emotions were separate as though he was watching a play. But he was observing it then what was the 'he' in question? What was it?

No matter how much he tried to solve this question, he couldn't. Maybe even this 'he' was a creation of those interactions. But by its very nature Cao Yun couldn't even perceive it. Such questions were too profound to find a definitive answer. And indeed, Cao Yun read many journals but also philosophy treatises about that very point. Obviously, he had not been the first one to have such questions. But no one had found a great answer that could satisfy everyone.

Some philosophers saw the self as a form of eleventh soul. In fact, for many of those, the self was the true soul, or Witness Soul, while the ten souls were just derivation of itself. In other words, this self was the true and deepest nature of the person. But Cao Yun wasn't too convinced by those. Indeed, it went against his own experience and perception of those souls and of his self. The more he read about them, the more he thought those people were just trying to find an easy way out. They didn't have to think too deep about it and they could find a simple answer that would make them feel good. But such answers felt hollow to Cao Yun, like wrapping the unknown in silk just to avoid touching its raw edges. They had a strong identity. Some of them even concluded that this soul was eternal and could never change. All of that seemed ridiculous to Cao Yun who had worked with his soul, and the souls of others, for so long.

Some other philosophers thought that the souls were in fact the ones who were trying to cultivate themselves. This self one would perceive was just the byproducts of their reflection. In a sense, it was a mistake, an accident that shouldn't have happened. All this created pain and suffering for no reason and it was better for one to extinguish any notion of the self so they would return to a purer form of existence. One would only live by instincts and the souls would express themselves fully without the need of a self or an ego.

There were different variations of this idea. Some were less radical but there was always this idea that it was best not ask any question or to try to figure anything out. One should just let go and disappear in this flow. Just as a spectator would completely forget anything and be captivated by the play. If the spectator tried to think too much about the play, they would miss out on the emotions conveyed by the writer through the actors. But if the souls were the actors, who was the writer?

For most philosophers, it was the Dao itself. The souls were following the Dao, the natural way. So one had to surrender to it and all the hard questions would dissolve as the one truth would naturally express itself. This experience of the non-self could be interesting or even seducing but it wasn't what Cao Yun was looking for.

After reading a lot, Cao Yun found no answer to his question. But he did agree on one point, trying to force an answer was the worst thing he could do. No matter what the deepest nature of his self was, the fact was that he did feel it. This feeling was true enough for him at the moment. Just as morality was elusive, his own identity was too. Cao Yun didn't have some grand view of the world. Most of the philosophers he read were certain that they had the right way to see the world. Cao Yun was simply uncertain.

Thankfully not all those philosophers were absolute. In fact, Cao Yun became very impressed with Ran Wuzi. Clearly this name was a pen name. This Ran Wuzi had many doubts just like Cao Yun. He mainly talked about the Dao and the natural way. In a sense, he more or less came to the conclusion that one had to accept that there was no answer. But he also saw the propositions of certain philosophers as stupid. He presented the souls as the ocean, the sea of consciousness. Living was about swimming in that ocean not knowing where the current would push you. If you tried to fight the current, you would tire yourself to death. But if you completely relinquished any form of control, you would simply drown.

It was necessary to know when to apply control and when to relinquish it. But becoming a mindless puppet of one's souls was out of the question. If those souls were creating the self, it wasn't a mistake for Ran Wuzi. It was a necessary step. After all, if such a complex thing was useless, it would have not appeared in so many beings. Reading about this Ran Wuzi helped Cao Yun a lot. Even if he couldn't answer all his questions, it didn't mean he should stop. Maybe there wasn't a perfect answer, but there sure were bad answers.

On the matter of morality, it was difficult to know what was the right thing to do, but he could clearly tell many things that would be horrible. Exterminating every demon on the Piaolu planet was clearly a terrible way of saving the Hongchen Kingdom. Torturing to death innocent people to gain power was also very clearly a bad thing to do, to say the least. War could push people to make tough choices, but there were always red lines one knew not to cross.

Cao Yun particularly liked one of Ran Wuzi's treatises, 'Observing the Tides and Altering the Flow'. In it, there wasn't some answer one could just accept. It was full of reflections and discussions. In fact, Cao Yun felt as though he was reading a discussion between the very souls of Ran Wuzi. It was very insightful.

Sometimes, Ran Wuzi thought that the self was a way for the souls to resolve their conflicts. But then he thought that it had its own existence outside of those ten souls. At some point he even wondered if the self was not an emanation of the Dao itself. In that sense, it would embrace the Witness Soul idea. But each time, he found counter-arguments and changed his mind several times. Honestly, it was hard to read as many ideas were also presented with allegories and poetry. But Cao Yun was rather fond of poetry. And above all else, he liked that this author didn't know himself. There wasn't some grand revelation at the end. It was a journey of self-discovery by Ran Wuzi.

Cao Yun accepted that he would probably never have the perfect answer. Among the philosophers he had read, some had lived for millenniums without finding the answer after all. Even Cleansed Asura had failed to find an answer he could live with. On the other hand, those who had found an answer and clung to it weren't the kind of cultivators Cao Yun wanted to become.

Some had preached for the eradication of the self. Among those, some were monks and had become selfless in the right sense of the word while others had simply negated their self and the self of everyone else. It was possible to imagine a world in which every individuality was gone. But it was either because everything was one and thus compassion had to reign between everyone. Or it was because there was nothing in anyone, everyone was devoid of self so any atrocity could be committed. Nothing mattered in the end so there was no reason to care.

This was a very tough philosophical debate. But this gave Cao Yun a lot to think about. Later he would also discuss it with Dian Mo. After all, Dian Mo was a pure spirit. Technically he didn't have those ten souls. So it would be interesting and most likely insightful to talk about the self with him. Even if Cao Yun couldn't find an answer, he could maybe improve his understanding and maybe even get closer to the ability to produce a spirit within an array formation or a pill.

Finally, Cao Yun prepared his Soul Embryo. Since his ultimate goal was to merge his soul within his Soul Embryo, Cao Yun decided against doing what he had done with his Drop of Wrath. Instead of trying to copy his Five Aspects within the Soul Embryo, he would use his Five Aspects to make the Soul Embryo more receptive to them. Thus he lifted the Soul Embryo toward the Five Aspects floating above his Nine Soul Peaks.

Then, Cao Yun focused on each of the Five Aspects, retracing the strokes of each character while putting most of his intent within the Soul Embryo. He was observing how the Soul Embryo was reacting. The process was tedious at first. But just like with martial arts, Cao Yun was able to focus on any small difference and subtle change to keep engaged with it. In a sense, Cao Yun was observing how a newborn was reacting to the world. And it was always new and fascinating.