Chapter 1408: Great Man of Virtue

In~ out~ in~ out~

The plants grew lushly before wilting again in the blink of an eye, just like a poem: The wild grasses on the plains wilt and flourish with each passing year.

Whenever he breathed in and out, they seemed to go through this process.

The cycle of life and death, the alternation between wilting and flourishing.

The two colours of fresh green and withered yellow constantly spread out beside him. Every single plant became even more lush, even surpassing their original state, gathering the spiritual qi in the Hundred Herbs garden. They were unbelievably exuberant.

Even the spiritual herbs became brimming with vigour. The golden-leaved bodhi tree behind him had changed its leaves, spreading its branches and thriving and growing towards the sky.

"This is... the qilin!?"

The nine-coloured deer was stunned. It was rumoured that wherever the qilin went, the plants would become extraordinarily lush. Even when it landed in a desert, the place would turn into an oasis very quickly. If it inhabited an area over long periods of time, then the regular plants could even be converted into spiritual herbs. It was the symbol of life. However, he clearly only possessed a shred of the qilin's bloodline, so how could he cause a phenomenon like this?

Ruan Yaozhu stopped worrying and smiled. "Looks like I've found the right person to take care of the Hundred Herbs garden."

The qilin was an extremely rare beast of compassion and benevolence. The past masters of the Hundred Herbs garden all wanted one in the Hundred Herbs garden. What they wanted even more was a qilin to themselves. That was the mount most suited to cultivators of the Heavenly Tome of Nature. They could sense the path of nature from the qilin.

Suddenly, she recalled his joke and could not help but redden, glancing at the nine-coloured deer. She was still very satisfied with this "mount".

"H- he's definitely a curse!" the nine-coloured deer cried out.

Just earlier, she had been thinking about how she should chase him out of the Hundred Herbs garden. Now, he had given her another reason why he definitely could not leave the Hundred Herbs garden. The heavens were basically unreasonable to her.

Li Qingshan inhaled and exhaled the vigour in the surroundings. Qilins never harmed even a blade of grass. They only fed off it.

The Yin Demon gradually withered and shrank like a plant. He allowed the demonic thoughts to flow through his heart freely, neither suppressing them nor becoming lost in them. That was just the instincts that all creatures in the world possessed. Even the idea of destroying himself was merely a part of the cycle of nature, so why did he have to care about feeling uneasy and being in a hurry to destroy himself?

The qilin was a beast of benevolence and compassion, not because it was born without any wicked thoughts, but because it could not be moved by them.

It nurtured all the living things in the world, yet it did not compete with them. It supported them without trying to possess them, it did so without thinking it was superior to them and it aided them without trying to control them. That was called virtue.

TL: This is from chapter 10 of the Dao De Jing.

This was the Qilin Transformation's first ability, Cycle of Life and Growth.

Just as he had expected, the innate ability had no power in battle at all. As a battle fanatic, he should not have cared too much about this ability, but now, this ability seemed to be extremely suited to his job in the Hundred Herbs garden.

Even though he had no interest in tending to plants, it was an additional resource available to him apart from spiritual qi. He could absorb the brimming vigour in the surroundings to nurture his body and mind, which was greatly beneficial to his cultivation.

Most importantly, he did not seem to have to worry too much about cultivation deviation anymore. The ability's effects on inner demons was basically astoundingly good.

In a short moment, the Yin Demon had already calmed down. It even smiled peacefully and gently, as if it had instantly changed its ways and achieved enlightenment.

All in the world has a concept of beauty. Herein lies ugliness. All recognize a concept of good. Herein lies evil.

TL: This is from chapter 2 of the Dao De Jing.

The good and the wicked were both thoughts. They were chosen by the mind, which led to the distinction of buddhas and demons. No matter how great your spiritual achievements were, your demons were always stronger. No matter how powerful the spirit turtle was, it could only suppress it. The only way out was to let go and use the path of nature to mediate it.

Understanding this, Li Qingshan could not help but say in praise, "Wondrous, truly wondrous!"

However, to a warrior, any power could be converted into battle prowess. He could play around with the path of nature every now and then, but the part that mattered still came down to one word—fight! If he could not fight and defeat powerful opponents, then it was all nonsense.

He immediately had a way to convert it into battle prowess. With a chuckle, he circulated the Heavenly Tome of Liberty again.

Obsessive thoughts, malicious thoughts, obscene thoughts, wicked thoughts, demonic thoughts... He had plenty of bad stuff like them. Since they were beneficial to practising the Heavenly Tome of Liberty, he roused them all.

Without any surprise, he "successfully" suffered from cultivation deviation again very soon. The Yin Demon became even more twisted and vicious.

"Endless Cycle of Life and Growth."

He was already prepared, immediately using his ability to subjugate the Yin Demon.

When the Yin Demon settled down, Li Qingshan went again. The Heavenly Tome of Liberty always possessed the advantage of advancing very quickly. Through this use of "extreme sports", his cultivation obviously advanced drastically.

Originally, it was like skating around on thin ice, like crossing a valley on a tightrope, but now, it had become running along the ground, with a clear, wide path right in front of him. This was the wondrous use of abilities. They could either subdue external demons, or they could subdue inner demons. In short, they definitely would not be useless.

The small world was still a place of chaos. The Yin Demon had already been completely subdued by him, such that he could control it freely now.

If he could constantly repeat the cycle, Li Qingshan could even cast aside the Nine Transformations of the Demonic and Divine and reach Human Sovereign through the Heavenly Tome of Liberty.

Unfortunately, demonic thoughts were actually consumables. He discovered very soon that he could not develop even a hint of a demonic thought anymore. Those emotions of greed, lust, and the desire to destroy himself had all vanished.

It was not difficult for someone to do something bad in their lives, but could they constantly do bad things for their entire lives?

Li Qingshan exhaled and felt exhausted, except his mind was extremely peaceful and harmonious. He found the world to be so wonderful, the living creatures to be so adorable, and his desires to be so insignificant. He basically had the urge to become a monk at this point.

Ah, speaking of monks, I wonder how Unraging is doing? It's been so long since I saw Xiao An, Xiaoming, and Yanying. I really do miss them. Hopefully, they're safe and sound.

The "great man of virtue" Li Qingshan leaned on his arm and thought gently like that.

Before long, he used his thoughts to produce new clones to replace his old ones. Every single one of them beamed with smiles, treating all the cultivators in the Hundred Treasures garden as gently as a day in spring. They ran around doing great deeds and never claimed credit for their work, leaving everyone very touched by his actions.

With how sincere his gaze was and how gentle his smile was, no one could say he was posing around. Even the stubborn ones were touched by his sincerity, wholeheartedly believing in him now.

No matter how they looked at him, he was better than Shen Yushu. When some of the female cultivators saw his smile, they basically became skittish like a fawn inside.

Only at that moment did Li Qingshan truly realise the concept of "winning people over by virtue". The only pity was even the last few ungrateful bastards had been won over by him, greeting him with "senior brother" as soon as they saw him, preventing him from developing any demonic thoughts.

It was not like he could destroy Ruan Yaozhu's place and intentionally cause problems in the Hundred Treasures garden. Instead, he regularly used the qilin's ability to help the plants grow.

The Hundred Herbs garden achieved unparalleled harmony, one for all, all of one. Everything was peaceful and stable.

One day, during his nap at noon, he suddenly shivered and woke up in worry. If this continues, wouldn't I become a good person!?

But in the blink of an eye, the worry melded away in the noon sun, turning into a bright smile.

But during the past few days, he did not see Ruan Yaozhu again. Is she still angry with me? But there's nothing I can do about it.

At this moment, the nine-coloured deer flew over and landed in front of Li Qingshan. She glanced up and down, left and right, studying him closely. She never imagined that Li Qingshan would change in such a thorough manner. In the beginning, she thought it was all an act, but after all this time, he actually showed no openings at all.

It was all thanks to his hard work that Ruan Yaozhu could completely relax and cultivate peacefully in the dwelling. She used this opportunity to come out and have a conversation with this man.

Li Qingshan praised her. "You're so beautiful!" She was indeed an extremely elegant creature, and she seemed to fit the aesthetics of the qilin extremely well.

Those four words halted everything that the nine-coloured deer had prepared to say. All of her hairs stood on end. The feeling was so strange, yet his gaze just happened to be so sincere. It actually left her feeling happy for some reason, even a little enchanted.

She thought, Oh no, this kid knows some wicked techniques! I can't fall for his tricks!

That obviously was not some wicked technique. Instead, it was primarily due to the attraction of all living creatures towards the qilin, particularly with her that was extremely close and attached to life. The Yin Demon had played a role unintentionally too, bewitching her slightly.

"Li Qingshan, I have something to say to you!"

"Can I touch your fur?" There was not the slightest wicked thought in Li Qingshan's eyes. He was like a body artist, only with the purest appreciation of beauty.

"You can go and die!" The nine-coloured deer roared furiously, and Li Qingshan was sent flying by the antlers that were beautiful like coral. His eyes narrowed as his battle instincts awakened immediately. His fury burned like fire as his murderousness blew like wind!

Hmm? This seems like a good opportunity to build up demonic thoughts. Perfect timing!

As a result, he spread his arms and walked towards the nine-coloured deer with his chest held high. "Come then, as long as it makes you happy!"