Volume One, Chapter 50: I Understand! I Finally Understand!
They were truly the pillars that upheld the Gu family.
At this moment, all the ancestral elders’ gazes were fixed unwaveringly—and even with a hint of reverence—on the young man stretching in the light screen before them.
Silence permeated the entire ancestral hall.
Yet their divine wills were communicating frantically, at speeds beyond the speed of light.
“Did you see that? The Patriarch’s gesture just now, flicking those ants!” The most hot-tempered Martial Ancestor’s divine will boomed like a great bell, shaking the entire space. “That seemingly casual flick was imbued with the supreme truth of ‘bringing order from chaos’ and ‘reestablishing the natural order’! Those ants represent the ‘parasites’ that were purged before! The Patriarch is signaling that he is about to personally rectify this increasingly chaotic universe!”
“Nay, nay.” The Literary Ancestor, holding a scroll, shook his head gently. His divine will was as gentle and precious as jade but carried undeniable wisdom. “Martial Ancestor, you see only the form but not the essence. The Patriarch’s act is an evolution of the ‘myriad forms of life.’ Though small, ants possess all their organs. Their carrying, pathfinding, and nest-building embody the way of survival. Observing ants is observing the origin of the Dao, a return to simplicity and purity! This indicates that the Patriarch’s realm has reached the transcendence of ‘Dao follows nature.’ We all must deeply contemplate this!”
“Hmph, men always overthink.” The Punishing Ancestor, cloaked in a mantle of stars, spoke coldly like a blade. “In my opinion, the Patriarch is simply bored. We, as his descendants, should be trying to entertain the Old Ancestor instead of endlessly debating here. What kind of conduct is that?”
“Punishing Ancestor speaks reasonably!” Another elder who appeared the youngest but whose aura was equally unfathomable nodded in agreement. “The Patriarch’s earlier enlightenment of the teacup shows he has an interest in creation. Should we gather the strangest ‘dead objects’ from all the heavens and worlds and present them to the Patriarch for his amusement?”
“Excellent suggestion! I have a ‘stubborn stone’ left over from the dawn of chaos, indestructible and soulless—perfect for the Patriarch’s practice!”
“I have a withered branch from the World Tree to offer!”
“I…”
A group of ancient beings whose mere stomp could shake the heavens and worlds now clamored like children vying to impress a parent, chattering excitedly.
Each tried to decipher earth-shattering meaning from Gu Changsheng’s slightest gesture.
At that moment, Gu Changsheng in the light screen furrowed his brow.
Suddenly, all the elders’ divine communications ceased.
The ancestral hall fell so silent that even a pin dropping could be heard.
They saw the Patriarch’s gaze pass over the courtyard, over the flowers and grass, finally settling precisely on the black dog’s… doghouse.
“It’s the ‘Heavenly Seal of the Myriad Worlds’!” The Literary Ancestor’s divine will trembled with excitement.
This family’s highest heirloom, entrusted to the Patriarch by Fubo without consultation, had always been their focus.
Now, the Patriarch was finally acknowledging it!
“Is the Patriarch going to wield the Heavenly Seal?” The Martial Ancestor’s voice brimmed with anticipation. “Is he about to issue the very first decree of the Patriarch?”
“Quick! Look! The Patriarch’s expression! It’s displeased! Authoritative!”
“He must be dissatisfied with the current chaotic state of the heavens and worlds! He will use the Heavenly Seal to reshape heaven and earth!”
All the elders held their breath.
They seemed to already witness the majestic scene of the Patriarch lifting the Heavenly Seal, issuing an unparalleled edict that spreads throughout the universe’s eight directions, compelling all living beings to bow, gods and demons alike submitting.
This would be the most glorious moment recorded in the history of the Gu family—no, in the annals of the entire universe!
They would be the witnesses!
In the light screen, Gu Changsheng squinted his eyes, disturbed by the glare.
Finally unable to bear it, he called out into the courtyard.
His voice transmitted clearly and precisely, without omission, to every ancestral elder’s ears.
“Fubo!”
“Old servant here.”
“That doghouse is shining like a spotlight, so blinding.”
“…”
“Find a rag or something to cover it. No, wait, covering it would take up space.”
Gu Changsheng paused, then devised what he thought was a brilliant solution.
Pointing at the treasure formed from the fusion of the Heavenly Seal of the Myriad Worlds and the Epoch Tombstone—an artifact capable of driving any immortal king mad—he issued his first command since awakening, aimed at this object, in a tone of disdain as if dealing with garbage:
“I see there’s space under the doghouse. Stuff it in there, place it at the very bottom, and use it as bedding for the little black dog. So it won’t feel uncomfortable.”
…
“Bedding…?”
…
A deathly silence.
The Gu family ancestral hall was engulfed in an absolute, eerie, suffocating silence.
The flames rising from the Martial Ancestor extinguished.
The judgment brush in the Literary Ancestor’s hand froze.
The cold killing aura of the Punishing Ancestor dissipated.
The dozen or so ancient elders who had witnessed countless epochs, the birth and death of universes, regarded gods and demons as mere ants—all their divine wills collectively crashed.
Their minds, or rather their Dao-composed cognitive cores, went blank.
The Heavenly Seal of the Myriad Worlds.
What was that?
It was the Gu family’s heirloom for billions of years, symbolizing the highest authority of the clan!
The divine artifact that granted its wielder command over all Gu family forces and control over the primal forces of all heavens and worlds!
It was a sacred treasure the elders could only admire, never touch!
Yet now, the Patriarch’s first decree upon awakening was…
To stuff it under a doghouse.
To use it as…
bedding.
Because…
it was too blinding.
“I… I didn’t hear that wrong, did I?” One elder’s divine will flickered like a candle in the wind.
“Bedding…” another mechanical repeated the words, as if a crack appeared in his Dao heart.
The Literary Ancestor suddenly snapped back to reality. The scroll in his hand trembled violently, the countless scriptures flickering chaotically.
His eyes erupted with unprecedented, dazzling brilliance, his divine will filled with the fervor and excitement of sudden enlightenment:
“I understand now! I finally understand!”
“This is the Patriarch’s true profound meaning!”
“Look! What is the Heavenly Seal of the Myriad Worlds? Power! Status! Restraint! It is the ultimate coveted by all living beings in the heavens and worlds! But in the Patriarch’s eyes, what is it? Blinding trash! Mere rubbish fit only to line a doghouse!”
“This is a realm! A true ‘detachment’ realm that regards power as nothing, the myriad worlds as dust!”
“The Patriarch is not issuing an order; he is ‘teaching the Dao’! Using the simplest, most direct way to tell us unworthy descendants—not to cling to external things, not to indulge in power. The true ‘Dao’ lies in the heart!”
“The so-called ‘Heavenly Heart’ means ‘true heart’! Placing the Heavenly Seal under the doghouse means ‘Dao resides in humility.’ Those high above are not necessarily noble; those lowly are not necessarily base! What a resounding, soul-stirring supreme truth!”
The Literary Ancestor’s impassioned, visionary analysis jolted all the crashed elders awake as if struck by lightning.
Indeed!
So this is how it is!
Every action of the Patriarch truly carried depths beyond their imagination!
“So it is! How foolish we were! How foolish!” The Martial Ancestor slapped his thigh, his old face flushed red with shame.
“The Patriarch’s intentions were painstaking! We nearly betrayed his teachings!”