37 What is a Heart?
Once upon a time, there was a bird.
This bird flew over the skies among the clouds until one day it met the moon.
It asked the moon, "What are you?"
The moon replied, "I am you."
The bird was confused and it flew away, a long time passed and it met the sun. It asked the sun, "What are you?"
The sun replied, "I am you."
The bird frowned and asked again, "How can you be me for I am not you..."
The sun chuckled and answered, "How can you know? If you seek the heart then you will see that I am you."
The bird asked again, "What is a Heart?"
The sun remained silent...
The bird flew to the ground and saw a snake, it asked the snake, "What is a Heart?"
The snake pondered and replied, "Heart is an illusion."
The bird flew away and saw a fish in a river, it asked the fish, "What is a Heart?"
The fish looked at the sea and said, "Heart is life as the sea is life."
The bird flew away and saw an ant, it landed and asked the ant, "What is a Heart?"
The ant replied without hesitation, "Heart is Action."
The bird flew away in confusion until one day it saw a fisherman in the sea. The man was old and wore a bamboo hat, his features unclear, and he had a double-bladed sword on his back.
The bird landed on the boat and asked, "What is a Heart?"
The man asked the bird, "What do you think?"
The bird replied, "The snake said it is an illusion, the fish said it is life, the ant said it is action. I know not which is true. I seek truth for in knowing I will know why and how I am the sun and moon."
The man laughed as he replied, "All are true for the heart is an illusion, you can't grasp it but you can feel it; It gives life for it is as the sea boundless; It is Action for without it there is no motion."
The bird was confused, it asked, "What is a Heart?"
The man said profoundly, "If you become my disciple, I will tell you."
The bird nodded in acceptance and the man chuckled as he pointed at the bird, "Here lies the heart. The Heart is Love; Love of family, love of friends, love of the world, love of the other..."
The bird seemed to grasp the meaning, it looked at the sun and moon and it asked again, "How am I one with the sun and moon?"
The man replied mysteriously, "Aren't we all one?"
The bird felt as if a great puzzle was laid before it, suddenly it remembered memories of a friend dying to protect it, it felt sadness, "If the heart is love, then why is life without love? Why is there so much cruelty and hatred?"
Before the man could respond, the bird continued as it remembered the death of a child without the opportunity to even take a breath, "If the heart is love, then why is Death without love? Why is there such sadness in separation?"
The bird continued immediately, "If by extension all is loveless, is not then the Heaven without love?"
The man frowned and remained silent. The bird transformed into a young man.
He blankly looked at the man but his gaze seemed to look at something else, "I see now... Life is Heartless... Death is Heartless... Heaven is Heartless... So My Dao must also be Heartless..."
The young man grew blurry as the world slowly disappeared, only the fisherman remained the same, he looked at the young man and muttered, "What is Dao? Is Dao truly without love? What is this great mystery?"
Ling Tian seemed to exit his trance as his eyes grew clear and yet, they seemed to be indifferent, 'Heavenly awakening is to awaken from the illusion to the truth, to see the path in order to tread upon it, to know that which cannot be unknown any more... I see now, there is no love in life, death or heaven. All wallow in sorrow and misery no matter the place, whether it be in life or death. Heaven does not love its creatures for it watches them suffer without care. Giving illusions of joy only to take them away in further pain...'
An immense feeling of hatred and indignation rose within him, 'I am not willing to live this cycle of suffering. If the heart is love and we have it, then why does Heaven not have a HEART! If one does not like something, one must change it.'
His eyes reflected his feelings as he stared at the sky of the dungeon, 'I will rule Life, I will overcome death, I will slay Heaven. That is my path... A Dao without heart/love for heaven. For what is heartless must be destroyed by the heartless. I will raze this heaven and from the ashes, shall rise a universe with heart/love.'
All beings in their nature loved heaven, some called it god, some creator, some other names. Ling Tian severed this innate love and submission to heaven and by doing so summoned something far greater... He did not want to submit or love a being that did not have a Heart/Love for him. Was Dao that simple, however?
Lightning raged in the world in rainbow colors, its loud sound echoing upon the lands and the oceans. The lightning converged and formed a dragon, the dragon's daunting roar split open the mountains and seas, it flew to the sky between the two crimson eyes.
The dragon vanished in the darkness as if it had never appeared, a sinister voice whispered in the world, its voice grand and incomprehensible and yet all knew what was being whispered, "The Dao is infinite. From the Dao came to be countless Dao."
Lightning converged again in a net and formed a structure in front of the darkness, the darkness began descending and was blocked by the net, it spoke again in a whisper, "Heaven is born of the Dao. Heaven is a Dao."
The net was devoured by the darkness, it fell toward the ground and submerged the world in absolute darkness. "Life is born of the Dao. Life is a Dao. The Dao is infinite and alive."
Ling Tian stretched his hand upward and endless darkness from every direction came to him, the whisper came for the last time, "You seek not the Dao. The Dao seeks you. All Dao is one Dao, All is born of Dao. Thus Dao seeks the Dao."
Ling Tian heard a notification in the system and felt oceans of Qi move around his body, he opened the Log and saw the notification.
[Dao of Primordial Heartless Devil Asura comprehended.]
[Dao of the Sword comprehended. The Path comprehended.]
Oceans of Qi condensed in his inner world and created many stars in the sky of his inner world. Each star was red-colored and sword-shaped and one could feel a terrifying pressure from them.
[Heavenly Awakening realm, Star-forming completed. (Need 100 Million Points for Moon-forming)]
The darkness in the world lasted for only a few seconds before suddenly it all vanished. Everything instantly returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
The group around Ling Tian who were confused about what was going on suddenly felt their hair stand on end as they turned and looked at Ling Tian.
He first checked his surroundings and didn't find Lian Qiu. Thinking the latter was dead and ashes he slowly floated up as his eyes glowed red in endless malice and hatred, darkness surrounded his body in a way that only his eyes were visible. His Qi was so evil and sinister that it seemed far worse than Dark Qi...
"Prepare to suffer."
Meanwhile, the entire realm was thrown into chaos especially the heavenly moon sect. Inside a grand hall, some elders rapidly argued with one another...
"A Grand Dao has descended upon the world! We must find the one who has summoned it."
"And then What? Lick his shoes? What use does it have to just find him? We must kill him."
"If he lives after we make enemies with him, the sect will be finished. We must approach this carefully..."
"I suggest we recruit him..."
Someone entered the hall, "A message from headquarters! Many envoys will descend from Blue Dream Immortal Realm!! It is believed the Dao was of Celestial Origin! The order says that we must find and make a furnace out of the one who summoned it to be consumed by the Grand sect master..."
The elders looked at one another as they grew pale, none of them had the slightest idea what was going to happen. Of course, the Dao was not of celestial origin, it was of a higher origin...
Many masters and cultivators broke through by simply hearing the whispers of the Grand Dao. The mere presence filled the world with Qi, even if the Dao was sinister, it was still a transcendent force and by its descent gave many opportunities.
