Chapter 60: Follow Your Heart

It seemed that having resolved a potential trouble, George felt like a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart. The most obvious sign of this mental relief was that George slept much more soundly that night than he had the day before.

“Jade Pool spontaneously transforms into a golden body, births nine buds, emits light, and brilliant rays fly up to the High Court. The Left Sun, the Right Moon, the Morning Star of the Eastern Dipper, and the Dipper is called Changyu. In the south, the Qi Star bestows fortune and longevity, and the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper grant eternal life. Ziwei presides over…” As George chanted with his Divine Soul, the image of Doumu Yuanjun he visualized within his Spirit Platform became increasingly clear and vivid. More importantly, it seemed to appear more spiritual. If the image of Doumu Yuanjun George had visualized before was like a clay statue in a temple, the one now was like a jade statue meticulously carved by a Master.

Someone once said that from the perspective of the multiverse, Doumu Yuanjun represents rules and laws on one level. The most obvious example is the laws of the sun and moon’s movement in the scriptures, which are the “manifestation of the core essence of universal laws.” This was quite different from the Great One, even though they were somewhat familiar.

If “Doumu Yuanjun” refers to the common laws of everything running smoothly within a stable world, much like classical physics represented by gravity, then “The Great One” is the fundamental law of material existence, similar to quantum physics that George was still exploring but had not yet fully unveiled before he traveled through time. The former is the foundation for understanding the world, while the latter is truly the key to touching the essence of the world.

Therefore, George’s initial choice directly anchored the “Visualization Method of The Great One.” Although this path was difficult to walk, it was indeed a grand road to heaven. It allows a person’s Soul to unconsciously align with the Great Dao, while also making their understanding of the world itself much deeper. Under such a premise, when an individual’s understanding of rules is in place, their Divine Soul will also improve accordingly. While the possibility of sudden enlightenment cannot be ruled out, George, who did not believe he had the protagonist’s halo, had to rely on steady, painstaking effort all the way.

However, the benefits of this were quite obvious. It meant that within the same realm, one could not be affected by external mental attacks. Moreover, one could cast any spell with minimal consumption and complete control. Otherwise, George would not have succeeded in the first use of the Primordial Qi Great Grappling. Furthermore, even if cultivation failed and one switched to other methods halfway, there would be no problem at all. This is because it is the beginning of the Great Dao, while other methods are just extensions of the Dao. There could never be any incompatibility issues at the root.

Unfortunately, the Visualization Method that he had finally made some small progress in after years of cultivation collapsed due to George’s own reasons in order to survive. As the saying goes, one can calculate the Heavenly Dao perfectly, but one cannot calculate human hearts.

Now, George was preparing to cultivate the “Visualization Method of Doumu Yuanjun” more deeply. The root reason was the path George himself had chosen. “Follow your heart without crossing the boundaries.” This was the path George had chosen. It meant keeping desires under one’s own control, while not being swayed by desires. There is not just one way for the soul to evolve. For ordinary people lacking background who aspire to become Knights, the Knight virtues, perfected over thousands of years of inheritance, could be said to be the best choice.

However, for families with inheritance, that was not the only choice. Even those based on virtues had quite a few variations. For example, the path Hiren took, “The Heart of a Child,” was one of them. George only knew the general idea of the paths taken by the other Squires around him, except for Hiren. He would not go around prying into such secrets unless the person involved spoke up. But he could be sure that there was no pure path of vice, which made George feel very relieved.

Daoist Master Guibian once said that from the perspective of the practitioner, the “Visualization Method of Doumu Yuanjun” represents the “total source of mental activity.” The scriptures say she gave birth to the stars in the sky. In fact, in Taoist language, ‘star’ means ‘heart’. And the movement of each ‘star’ refers to each mental trajectory, which is the thinking pattern and mental activity pattern.

But the mental trajectories and thinking patterns of ordinary people are only partial, like the stars in a small area of the sky that cannot cover the vast expanse. However, one must know that everyone’s mind inherently has a potential, which is the “potential to develop various mental trajectories and thinking patterns.” But human thinking patterns are very easily influenced by external factors, so different people have different mental trajectories and thinking patterns. Regardless of which one, they all gradually develop from this mental potential, just with different biases.

So, what is meant by “Doumu Yuanjun controlling all the stars in the heavens to shift the countless stars in the sky” is using this mental potential to reverse the current partial thinking patterns and mental trajectories. The main function of the “Visualization Method of Doumu Yuanjun” is to trigger this innate potential that everyone possesses but few realize, to transform one’s own mind. After the mind changes, the body and fate will also slowly change as a result.

Once this method is truly cultivated to completion, the internal trajectories will be fully open and unobstructed, not limited by any single way of thinking. This is what “Doumu Yuanjun controlling all the stars in the heavens and shifting the countless stars in the sky” means, making mental trajectories fully open and able to change at will. When behavior also changes at will, changing behavior leads to changing fate. As the saying goes, the way of the sage moves with the world. Being able to change at will makes it easier to adapt to external changes and stay away from human disasters.

For cultivators whose thinking trajectories are finally fully open, there is not only a straight line representing the path they follow, but also countless intersecting lines and various curved lines connecting them. These are the scenery and decorations on both sides of the road. When the mind is fully open, one can see what ordinary people cannot see and sense what ordinary people cannot sense. At this time, the internal trajectory is perfect and unobstructed, coming as close as possible to one’s “true life.” While facing desires directly, one can use them freely without being confused or tempted by external things. This is how one can truly achieve “following one’s heart without crossing the boundaries” in a real sense.

Therefore, the reason George initially chose the “Visualization Method of Doumu Yuanjun” was not only to quickly recover his Divine Soul. More importantly, it fit his own path and could help him walk further and smoother.

Watching this visualization becoming increasingly solid and lively, George couldn’t help but say in his mind: “It looks like I can start preparing for condensing the Nine Emperors within fifteen days.”

The Nine Emperors’ Dao bodies born from Doumu are the Nine Stars of the Northern Dipper: First is the Heaven Emperor, second is Ziwei, third is Tanlang, fourth is Jumen, fifth is Lucun, sixth is Wenqu, seventh is Lianzhen, eighth is Wuchu, and ninth is Break Army. Condensing the Nine Emperors means selecting them one by one to visualize as an auxiliary to “Doumu Yuanjun” controlling the stars appearing in the Spirit Platform. But which star god to choose first, George had not yet made the final decision.

“It seems like every one is very useful, so it’s really hard to choose for the moment.” George, having withdrawn from the visualization, sighed with such a feeling.

Looking out the window, he saw that the sun had already risen quite high. Remembering his appointment with the High Priest of the Temple of the Lord of Justice today, George called out to a small door behind a tapestry in the room: “Ilena, quickly help me get ready for washing.”

“Yes, Young Master, it will be ready right away.” Ilena’s answer came from behind the tapestry.