He had now reached the late stage Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul realm, only one step away from entering the Purple Mansion stage.
What he lacked was merely a World Origin Seed.
Now that the World Origin Seed was in hand, and hearing You Meng speak like this, Wu Tao naturally had to inquire clearly.
In fact, ever since Wu Tao's influence had reached a certain height, he had already begun to send his subordinates to gather information on how to break through to the Purple Mansion stage.
After discovering that it was necessary to possess a small world and obtain a World Origin Seed from it, Wu Tao began to search everywhere.
He hoped to obtain a World Origin Seed or a small world from within. However, both World Origin Seeds and small worlds were such precious items, how could they be obtained so easily?
One had to know that the World Origin Seed was crucial for Nascent Soul cultivators to break through to the Purple Mansion stage, which made it incredibly valuable.
It was said that even first-rate families with millions of years of inheritance would give everything for a World Origin Seed, yet even then they couldn't obtain it. Let alone Wu Tao, an outsider.
Most factions kept the inside information about World Origin Seeds a secret. Even though Wu Tao spent a great deal of effort sending his subordinates to collect it, he couldn't gather much…
Therefore, Wu Tao was not entirely clear about this matter. Since You Meng was willing to explain now, Wu Tao naturally seized the opportunity to ask.
"Heh heh, now it's time to tell you the secret of the World Origin Seed," You Meng said with a smile.
"The world we live in is a complete Great Thousand World, possessing complete rules. The Great Dao governs the fate of all living beings."
"A powerful individual is actually not a good thing for the entire world."
"Because absolute power concentrated in one body will inevitably cause certain damage to the world. This has nothing to do with good or evil, right or wrong; it is all out of instinct."
"Therefore, when a living being's power grows to a certain extent, or reaches the limit that heaven and earth can tolerate, they will be suppressed by heaven and earth."
"At this time, people discovered that entering the small worlds evolved from the Great Thousand World would not incur the suppression of heaven and earth."
"As for why there is no suppression from heaven and earth, there are various theories, and everyone has their own opinions. However, one theory is the most widely accepted."
"That theory is that small worlds are worlds that have just evolved. Heaven, earth, and the Great Dao are not yet complete, so there are loopholes to exploit."
"Later, people discovered that small worlds would automatically condense a World Origin Seed every tens of thousands of years."
"This World Origin Seed can help one evade the suppression of the Great Thousand World and acquire the power of laws from it."
"Using the characteristics of the World Origin Seed, Nascent Soul cultivators can seize this opportunity to comprehend the laws."
"Of course, this is the pleasant way of putting it. The unpleasant way of putting it is that Purple Mansion stage cultivators are extracting the power of laws from heaven and earth."
"Upon reaching the Purple Mansion stage, one is no longer cultivating with the help of the power of heaven and earth, but rather competing with heaven and earth for living space."
The power of laws comprehended by Purple Mansion stage cultivators is hidden within their bodies, within themselves, forming an inseparable whole. If one is harmed, the other is also harmed; if one flourishes, the other flourishes.
When the power of laws is first born, it is naturally very weak.
However, with diligent cultivation, the power of laws will gradually grow over time.
"During the Primordial, Ancient, and High Ancient eras, the reason why numerous powerful individuals emerged like bamboo shoots after rain..."
"Besides the fact that heaven and earth were newly opened and resources were most abundant, another important reason was that heaven and earth were not yet complete, and the Great Dao was flawed. Without the suppression of heaven and earth, all races could grow freely without any restrictions."
"Coupled with the fact that there were many small worlds at that time, there were naturally more World Origin Seeds. With more World Origin Seeds, there were naturally more top-tier powerhouses."
"The Primordial, Ancient, and High Ancient eras were the most suitable eras for nurturing strong individuals."
"After the three eras, in the current era, under the suppression of heaven and earth, it is not so easy for powerful individuals to be born."
"Furthermore, due to several devastating wars, many small worlds were destroyed. The immense value of the World Origin Seed can be imagined."
Hearing You Meng's explanation of so many secrets, Wu Tao's heart churned like turbulent seas, yet on the surface, he remained completely unfazed.
Sometimes, a mask is worn on one's face for too long. Even if one wants to take it off, they can't.
Even though Wu Tao knew that in front of the person he trusted most, he didn't need to put on such a facade, habit dictated that he still couldn't reveal his true self.
To gain something often means losing something else. In this world, nothing is perfect.
Some people call this growth, while others call it the most pathetic hypocrisy.
Wearing a mask in front of the person you trust most, isn't that hypocrisy? It is indeed hypocrisy.
Yet, people are not children, and they cannot avoid growing up forever. Everyone changes, it's just a matter of when.
Even if you don't want to change, powerful external forces will push you, forcing you to change.
The affairs of the world do not follow human will, and all things do not follow the heart!
Even if you are the protagonist of this world, and this world revolves around you, there are some things that even the protagonist can only watch helplessly.
Not to mention that there is only one protagonist; the destinies of the supporting characters are even more beyond their control.
…
After Wu Tao and You Meng finished discussing the World Origin Seed and some matters that needed to be handled recently, they leisurely sipped the finest spirit tea, savoring the bitter and fragrant taste that spread through their mouths.
Many people in the world enjoy the art of tea, but the most common are the elderly.
Why do the elderly like to drink tea? They are actually drinking the bitterness and fragrance within the tea.
The lifespan of ordinary people is at most a hundred years. A hundred years is long, and also not long.
So much happens within these hundred years. By the time an old person reaches sixty or seventy years old, they have already experienced too much hardship in this world.
After overcoming a hardship, there will definitely be gains, but besides the gains, there is more heartache.
Hardship, as the name suggests, is both bitter and difficult.
Even if one smiles broadly after enduring a bitter and difficult matter, it is actually a bitter smile.
Because no matter how much wisdom and benefit one gains from a hardship, one ultimately loses something in that hardship.
And what you lose is often what you least want to lose.
Moreover, for most hardships, you gain nothing but loss.
Tea is bitter, yet it carries a unique fragrance.
For some people, drinking tea is not about the tea itself, nor is it about tasting the tea.
While tasting tea, they reminisce about their past, things they would rather not recall. So many emotions – beauty, sorrow, happiness, despair – are hidden within.
For these people, tasting tea is not tasting tea; it is tasting everything that has happened in their past.
…
A mortal's life is already like this, let alone beings like Wu Tao and You Meng, whose lifespans far exceed those of mortals and who have experienced far more than ordinary people.
Silent stillness spread through the small pavilion, with only the faint aroma of tea lingering in the air, as if it were conveying something.
After a long while, You Meng broke the silence first.
You Meng raised her delicate eyebrows, parted her red lips, and said,
"You've known for a long time about your little disciple Ye Qingyi's feelings for you, haven't you?"
"Stop pretending. It's just the two of us here. Let's talk properly."
…
Hearing You Meng's words, Wu Tao let out a long sigh. He placed the teacup he had just picked up back on the table.
"Love, in Wu Tao's value system, does not occupy a particularly high proportion."
"Precisely because of this, Wu Tao has always appeared rather slow-witted when it comes to love and affection."
"But even if he was slow-witted, after more than a hundred years, how could Wu Tao not have noticed something amiss with his little disciple Ye Qingyi?"
Wu Tao's original plan was to handle the matter with cold indifference, suppress it for the time being, pretend he knew nothing, and thus prevent Ye Qingyi from ever having the chance to express her feelings.
In this way, as time slowly passed, time would smooth out the thread of affection his little disciple Ye Qingyi had for him…
Then, he would slowly find a suitable dao companion for his little disciple Ye Qingyi.
A girl is ultimately just a girl; a girl will eventually become a woman.
The thoughts of a woman are completely different from those of a girl.
Whether it's first love or unrequited love, even if it's beautiful and sweet, what of it? How many can truly walk hand in hand through life in the end…
Wu Tao, based on his experience in handling other matters, adopted a strategy of cold indifference. His calculations were quite shrewd, and he believed there were no problems.
However, he didn't know that emotions are different from other matters. You cannot handle emotions with the methods used for normal affairs.
In fact, all these mistakes stemmed from Wu Tao.
Wu Tao didn't understand women.
In other words, rather than not understanding women, it's more accurate to say that Wu Tao never put his mind to it.
Why do women like scumbags and dislike honest men?
Because honest men don't focus their minds on this aspect, they don't rack their brains to figure out what women truly like.
They don't understand that women are different from girls, and what a woman wants is different from what a girl wants.