chapter 399

In the middle of the lake, nine figures surrounded Little Grief and sat cross-legged. They were the Great Daoist Master Xuan Du of Ren School, Li Changshou, Guang Chengzi, Perfected Taiyi, and Perfected Yu Ding of Chan School, Daoist Duobao of Jie School, Goddess Jin Ling, Zhao Gongming, and Fairy Yun Xiao. The nine experts of the Dao Sect and the nine core disciples of the Dao Sect were gathered in the Eighteen Levels of Hell of the Netherworld. They were less than ten feet away from the incarnations of the seven emotions of the Lady of Earth. They were focused on experiencing and feeling… The Great Daoist Master’s voice echoed in their ears.

“If you want to fight the power of the seven emotions, you have to experience what that power is.”

“It is not a mystical ability or a spell. It is a resonance with one’s own emotions. We have to fight against the emotions of sadness and master the method to resist the power of the seven emotions. For example, when facing Little Grief, we should try our best to think about some happy things to offset the negative emotions in our hearts.

If he feels that he can’t hold on any longer, he will retreat. The further he is away from Little Grief, the less affected he will be… Hence… Before the scene of the disciples of the Nine Saints sitting around him could last long, Perfected Taiyi burst out laughing. Tears glistened in the corners of his eyes. He hurriedly turned around and fled into the distance. As he cried, he laughed loudly. He no longer looked like an expert. Daoist Duobao sighed and said, “I never expected Junior Brother Taiyi to be such a sentimental person.”

Guang Chengzi immediately smiled and remained silent. He felt a little awkward. The other eight could continue to persevere. Perfected Yu Ding, who came with Perfected Taiyi, did not react at all. He only seemed to be meditating quietly at the side. Little Grief lay on the ground and sighed. Her tears flowed down uncontrollably as she muttered softly, “My incarnation is so pitiful. It’s already so tragic, but I still have to be used as a whetstone and surrounded by others…

This is probably the fate of our incarnations. The existence is both fake and an extension that should not exist. You guys surrounded me and were thinking about how to get rid of me. I even felt a little ridiculous joy because of this liveliness and being missed by others… It’s even more pathetic…”

“Ah, I really can’t do that!” Daoist Duobao stood up and bowed to Little Grief before turning around and flying into the distance. “I can deal with the other seven emotions, but I can’t stand this! She’s too pitiful!”

“Ah, the only person who feels that I’m pitiful has left.”

Little Grief revealed a sad smile and tapped her fingers on the Lake of Tears. “What is there to be happy about?” The Goddess of Golden Spirit stood up and turned around to walk away. When she walked far away, she only sighed and raised her hand to wipe away the tears at the corners of her eyes. “I’m the same as Eldest Senior Brother.”

Three more deaths.

Li Changshou looked at Fairy Yun Xiao beside him with concern. When he saw that Yun Xiao’s Dao runes and emotions were stable, he felt a little more at ease. Half a day later, the remaining six people stood up and bowed to Xiao Ai. They went to the edge of the Lake of Tears with the three immortals who had left previously and held their first “Save the Lady of Earth” meeting The Great Daoist Master said, “Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters, do you have a clear concept of the power of the seven emotions?”

The immortals nodded.

Guang Chengzi said warmly, “The seven emotions and six desires of living beings are unavoidable. We have cultivated for many years, and we are the same. However, we usually don’t show it. The incarnation of the seven emotions of the Lady of Earth did not originate from her own seven emotions. Instead, it was an incomplete seven emotions that all living beings had abandoned before they experienced reincarnation. Its power was far from what mystical abilities could compare to. We have to have the heart to contain the seven emotions. Only then can we truly convert the seven emotions.”

“Eldest Senior Brother’s words make sense.” Perfected Taiyi folded his arms and nodded, expressing his approval. His tone changed. “However, after thinking about it carefully, I don’t think he said anything.” Guang Chengzi glared at Perfected Taiyi, who rolled his eyes calmly. “Then tell me.” Guang Chengzi casually took out a huge seal and held it in his hand. He said calmly, “What should we do exactly?”

Perfected Taiyi looked solemn and said seriously, “I’ve just experienced it again… Eldest Senior Brother is right! I have to be tolerant and love him!”

“Don’t joke around.” Great Daoist Master Xuan Du smiled and said, “Junior Brothers and Sisters, do you still need to experience it for a while?”

The immortals shook their heads. They already knew how to resist the power of the seven emotions.

The Great Daoist Master said, “Previously, Changgeng and I entered the Six Paths of Reincarnation and fought with Evil. Ahem, under my cover, Changgeng successfully contacted the Lady of Earth through the incarnation of desire…”

“Oh?”

Zhao Gongming’s eyes lit up. He looked at Li Changshou and smiled. “Coincidentally, my second sister is here too. Changgeng, can you tell me more about this in detail?”

Fairy Yun Xiao hurriedly said, “Brother, don’t do that. We’re discussing serious matters.”

“It’s fine.” Li Changshou smiled and agreed. He took out a scroll and used his immortal power to give it to the male immortals.

Li Changshou stopped smiling and said seriously, “The incarnation of desire has thousands of transformations. To different Qi Refinement cultivators, she can be very strong or very weak. Unlike Little Grief, the incarnation of desire will take the initiative to stir up the desire in our hearts. This desire can be due to cultivation level, power, and the desire to obtain the respect of others. As long as she takes advantage of it, her Dao heart will be filled with desire and she will go crazy.

After I survived her attacks several times, she also revealed a powerful ability—the desire to transform into a living being and directly interfere with our Dao hearts. Fortunately, when she dealt with me, she transformed into lust. I happened to have some Dharma artifacts that could calm my Dao heart… They are these paintings. Everyone, take them with you. If you are affected by the incarnation of desire during the battle, you can take them out to take a look.”

The male immortals were filled with curiosity. They each opened a scroll and studied it carefully. The entire white world of the tear lake could be heard…

Suddenly, someone coughed dryly. A few male immortals turned their heads and looked at Li Changshou with complicated expressions. Zhao Gongming took out a Sea-Calming Divine Pearl and squeezed it at his eyes. He spat out two small water arrows.

Daoist Duobao chuckled and rolled his eyes. He seemed to have thought of something.

The Goddess of Golden Light curiously looked at the treasure map in Zhao Gongming’s hand. There was a strange expression on her face. She looked at Li Changshou’s current appearance and muttered, “Junior Brother, could it be that you took a look at your masterpieces before meeting Junior Sister Yun Xiao?”

Li Changshou smiled and said, “This is just for self-defense. Why should I be wary of Fairy Yun Xiao?”

Yun Xiao pursed her lips and chuckled. She did not speak.

Perfected Taiyi smiled and sighed. “No wonder the disciples of the Dao Sect are inferior to you now. The Water God is extraordinary.” Li Changshou smiled and did not say anything. He took the opportunity to lead the conversation and slowly said, “After I found the Lady of Earth, I chatted with her for a long time.

The seniors should already know how the Seven Emotions incarnation came about and why it was born. I won’t say anything else. I’ll tell you how to deal with it. According to the Lady of Earth’s guidance, to solve the problem of the Seven Emotions incarnation, there needs to be a process of guidance and explosion.

The Seven Emotions cannot be suppressed and can only be guided. That process required the incarnations of the seven emotions to descend into the world. They would affect and restrain each other, achieving a stable state like the seven emotions of an ordinary person. Then, we will let the Lady of Earth return from the Seven Emotions incarnation to complete the rescue mission.”

He paused and gave the experts some time to think. Daoist Duobao pondered for a while. “Must I make the incarnations of the seven emotions appear at the same time and achieve the balance of the seven emotions? This is a little difficult…”

Li Changshou nodded and concluded, “There are a total of four steps to this process. The first step is to bring Little Grief back to the Six Paths of Reincarnation. The second step is to release the Seven Emotions incarnations of the Lady of Earth. The third step is to adjust the power of the Seven Emotions incarnation. The fourth step is to save the Lady of Earth.” Goddess Jinling frowned and said, “Then, what about Little Grief?”

Li Changshou remained silent for a while.

“Aren’t you known as the most intelligent disciple of Ren School?” Jin Ling looked like she could not bear to see that happen. “Why didn’t you save her?”

“I can but I didn’t.”

Li Changshou sent a voice transmission. “They are originally a part of the Lady of Earth. However, they have different personalities and have independent Dao hearts. You and I are not involved. I wonder how painful it is for your Dao heart to be severed. Isn’t the main body of the Seven Emotions incarnation the Lady of Earth?”

Goddess Jinling wanted to say something but hesitated. Her Dao realm was not low. At that moment, she was only affected by her grief. She naturally understood that what Li Changshou said was true.

Li Changshou looked at Yun Xiao and quickly looked away. “We need to confirm the division of labor in the third step. I will make a detailed plan later. At this moment, among the seven emotions, Little Grief is the strongest, followed by evil, and desire which is ranked third. There is then fear and anger, followed by love and joy. After all, when living beings die, they seldom have the thought of being happy. Therefore, there were not many who left their love and joy to the Lady of Earth…

The offensive power of evil and anger is the strongest. However, we have to weaken the power of evil and increase the power of anger. That would ease evil and allow the anger to strengthen quickly. I’ve fought with my Eldest Senior Brother before. Next, I’ll let him deal with it. Senior Brothers and Sisters, what do you think?” The Great Daoist Master smiled and nodded. The immortals nodded.

Li Changshou continued, “There’s a problem now. Who can make the incarnation of anger angrier in the shortest time possible?” The immortals pondered for a while, and the eight gazes looked over…

The handsome Perfected Taiyi was dressed in a red robe.

The corners of Perfected Taiyi’s mouth twitched slightly. He took out a mirror and looked at himself. “In this day and age, all male immortals with true personalities are targeted like this! Alright, I’ll deal with the incarnation of anger!”

“That’s appropriate.” Li Changshou squinted and smiled. “After all, the overall strength of the incarnation of anger is not very strong.” Perfected Taiyi scolded him with a smile, “Changgeng, you! Come to my Qianyuan Mountain for a drink when you have time!”

“Definitely.” Li Changshou agreed and continued to discuss the candidates with the immortals. Not long after, the name list was finalized. Zhao Gongming was in charge of dealing with the incarnation of fear. Perfected Yu Ding took the initiative to deal with the incarnation of desire.

The Goddess of Golden Spirit had the lowest difficulty dealing with the incarnation of love and the incarnation of joy. Li Changshou and Fairy Yun Xiao worked together to deal with the incarnation of sorrow, which was the most infectious.

Guang Chengzi and Daoist Duobao were in charge of the fire rescue team and were in charge of providing timely support.

Li Changshou reminded, “This is not purely a battle. For example, the incarnation of joy. The goal is to make her happier. There are other arrangements for the incarnation of love. This is not a special love between a man and a woman. The love of the world is included… Senior Brother Guang Chengzi, there’s something here that requires the help of the Immortal Sect of Chan School.”

Li Changshou took out a jade token and handed it to Guang Chengzi. After reading it, Guang Chengzi nodded and promised to make arrangements later.

It was similar to the arrangements made by Jie School.

Fairy Yun Xiao asked softly, “How can we make Little Grief more cheerful?”

The Great Daoist Master smiled and said, “Changgeng, go and demonstrate to Junior Sister Yun Xiao. You can consider it as a form of demonstration for everyone.”

“Yes, Senior Brother.”

Li Changshou stood up and bowed to his senior brothers and sisters. Then, he rode a cloud towards the lake.

“Ah…”

A sigh and a murmur came from afar.

“Poor me. I still have to be used as a demonstration… How can I make up for the sadness?”

Li Changshou landed on the cloud and said warmly, “Fellow Daoist, you are not me, how would you know that I don’t know that you’re suffering?” Little Grief replied weakly, “Is there a need to understand each other? Does anyone really want to understand each other? They’re just pretending to understand each other to get a response. Aren’t you tired?”

Li Changshou was rendered speechless.

He could not win. Under such circumstances, no matter what reason he had, there would be more reasons to suppress him.

Then, he would change his perspective. Li Changshou sat in front of her calmly and took out a book from his chest pocket. He held the book in his hand and read it. From time to time, he would smile and put the book down to laugh.

The immortals from the Dao Sect looked enlightened. They had probably caught the essence of it. It would distract the other party and arouse their curiosity! Unfortunately, Little Grief only cried silently and ignored Li Changshou’s situation. Li Changshou continued to read his book. He did not feel that there was any danger of him overturning the situation…

After a while, the Little Grief opened her eyes. Her eyes were filled with tears and helplessness. “Must you mock me here? You have your happiness and I have my sorrow. Can’t you laugh somewhere else?”

Li Changshou closed the book and asked in confusion, “Fellow Daoist, what is there to be sad about?”

“Life is fake. You shouldn’t have given birth. Is it not worth being sad about?”

“Then, what is real?” Li Changshou asked warmly, “You previously said that everything originated from the living beings’ perception of the outside world. All the prosperity is fake. Everything is meaningless. However, who was the one who defined these meanings? Is it you? Or did other living beings give you such a concept? Now that we’re talking here, aren’t you real?”

Little Grief muttered, “But my existence needs to be erased. It needs to be corrected. It’s still fake.”

“Don’t you want to experience other emotions before being corrected?”

“Is there a point?” Little Grief asked in a sorrowful voice. “Can’t I just disappear like this?” Li Changshou continued warmly, “It might be meaningless to you, but it’s very meaningful to the living being who gave birth to you and needs your help. Even if it is a little sorrow that occupied her heart, isn’t it still her? You, who had been hiding here and did not dare to go out because you were afraid of hurting others, are ultimately just the same living being as the person who carried all the suffering and still wanted to help others. It’s the same gentleness.” Little Grief’s lips trembled as she cried, “What can I help her with? I’m just a useless person who only knows sorrow and despair!” “Come, how about this? Let’s make a simple game. It might help you.”

Li Changshou extended his right hand to Little Grief. “Just take it that you can work hard to sit up for her?”

“It’s meaningless…”

“Then you can lie down. Look.”

Golden spots of light appeared on Li Changshou’s right hand. Every spot of light contained the image of Li Changshou laughing while reading the book. “This is a form of happiness for me. You should also share the same sorrow as me.”

Little Grief’s fingers trembled. A light blue ball of light slowly flew over and circled in Li Changshou’s palm.

Li Changshou closed his eyes and activated his Dharma spell. He rubbed the two light balls into a ball. The two-colored beams of light chased each other and turned into Taiji before returning to Chaos. Little Grief tilted her head and watched. Although she felt a very mysterious Dao rune, she did not know what it meant…

Soon, Li Changshou took out a pearl and injected the Taiji ball into it. Then, he covered it with a black cloth. “Little Grief, tell me. Is this joy or sadness? You should be able to understand the Dao of Yin and Yang that I revealed just now.”

“No… It’s the chaos of emotions…”

“The Chaos is constantly evolving, but the direction of its evolution is uncertain. I can tell you clearly that the emotions inside have been fixed. The Chaos gave birth to Yin and Yang. The two most basic emotions are sorrow and joy. Therefore, there’s a 50% chance that it’s sorrow, and a 50% chance that it’s joy, right?”

“Yes, that seems to be the case.”

“If you don’t remove this black cloth, sorrow and joy can be considered to exist at the same time, right?”

“You can say that…”

Little Grief tilted her head. The immortals of the Dao Sect in the distance also tilted their heads and gradually became confused. Li Changshou smiled and said, “Therefore, sorrow and joy have already overlapped. As long as you don’t remove this cloth, the two can exist at the same time. Then look forward. You might be able to see in the next moment and in the next two hours, but what about further? If time is long enough, and you can’t foresee the distance, will the emotions there be chaotic? In the chaos of emotions, sorrow and joy existed at the same time. It was not confirmed yet. Only when you arrive there would your emotions collapse in one direction. 50% is sadness, 50% is joy, right?”

“No, what you said is all nonsense.” Little Grief shook her head. “I can’t live that long. Everything I have is set.”

“Then tell me.” Li Changshou shook the ball under the black cloth. “Is it definitely sadness?”

Xiao Ai was stunned.

Li Changshou smiled and squinted. “Look down.” Little Grief subconsciously looked down and saw that she had unknowingly propped herself up and was sitting diagonally. The strap of her black dress was gently sliding down her shoulders…

Li Changshou stood up and placed the pearl wrapped in black cloth in front of Little Grief.

“Sadness is not the meaning of your existence. You should feel the sorrow of living beings.” Then, Li Changshou turned around and rode a cloud towards the immortals of the Dao Sect.

Little Grief looked at the treasure ball that was wrapped in black cloth. She slowly sat up and reached out with her small hand. However, when she was about to touch the black cloth, she retracted her hand again and again. The sorrow that filled the lake of tears had become much thinner.

“Hey, Senior Brother Xuan Du.” Zhao Gongming moved closer to the Great Daoist Master Xuan Du and muttered, “What realm is Changgeng at now?”

“I don’t know.” The Great Daoist Master looked at his hands, and the two light balls in his hands slowly rotated.

Zhao Gongming smiled and said, “Senior Brother Xuan Du, what are you doing?”

“Learn from me. I’ll fight with the little evil woman later.” The Great Daoist Master crushed the ball of light and smiled calmly. He was already confident. The essence of Taiji was simple. Of course, he was familiar with it!