Beast Tamer Ascension

Vol 4 Chapter 15: The Dao

Regarding the Ghost Bride’s situation, Lin Jing and the Thunder Dragon Ancestor only paused for a moment before regaining their composure—their minds were especially resilient.

So what if it was a romance between two female cultivators? It wasn’t a big deal.

After all, compared to intermarriages between ancient demon clans and the human race, compared to the Beast Taming Sect’s Sect Master and Senior Brother Ouyang Hao falling in love with a beast-shaped demon beast, at least the Ghost Bride’s was within the same species.

“Thank you for bringing the marriage certificate.”

The Ghost Bride emerged from her river of memories: “According to the contract, I will be sealed by him for one year and lend my power for his use.”

“However, our strength differs greatly—even if I willingly cooperate, with his current abilities, I doubt he can truly control my power.”

“After all, even I couldn’t perfectly control this power at first.”

The reason the Ghost Bride was now so powerful wasn’t because she had been extremely strong in life, but because of her special physique and the fact that she had died on an ancient battlefield. Her ghostly body had absorbed the power of countless war dead over a long period.

Although she had now retrieved some memories through an item from her past life and regained control over the ghost body’s dominant consciousness, fully consolidating that power would still take time.

The Ghost Bride could not guarantee that the power she lent would be something Lin Jing could fully command.

“There is still time.”

The coachman-like Thunder Dragon Ancestor spoke: “There’s still half a year. During this time, let His Highness the Holy Son study your Dao and familiarize himself with your power.”

“My Dao…” The Ghost Bride was confused.

As an old ancestor of a clan, the Thunder Dragon Ancestor had seen much. He began to explain to the Ghost Bride.

“You were born through a twist of fate, so you probably don’t know much about the path of cultivation. In that case, allow this old man to enlighten you!”

“No need to go over the early stages of cultivation—let’s talk about Nascent Soul, Void Mystical, and Dao-Seeking stages…”

“The path of Nascent Soul is the process of becoming a deity of heaven and earth, cultivating the forces of the world. With a single thought, one can overturn the heavens.”

“Progressing from Nascent Soul to Void Mystical means, on this foundation, mastering the power of space and opening an inner space within one’s body.”

“Void Mystical cultivators then refine that inner space with the heavenly and earthly power cultivated during Nascent Soul, shaping it into the image that best suits them—simulating the creation of a world. That is the Void Mystical path.”

“The life-and-death battles of Void Mystical are clashes of these inner world domains, competing to see whose spatial domain is stronger!”

“But that only covers the early and middle stages of Void Mystical. In the later stage, as the domain becomes complete, the cultivator must pursue a higher result—finding their own Dao. That Dao is like the soul or will of a world, a rule granted to their Void Mystical domain.”

“A Void Mystical cultivator’s consciousness becomes the Dao, acting as the Heavenly Dao of their inner world. Only by accomplishing this can one achieve Great Perfection of the Void Mystical stage.”

“This process is also called Merging with the Dao. So the Void Mystical stage can broadly be divided into two phases: Void Refining and Dao Merging.”

“The Void Refining phase is the process of opening an internal space, refining the void, and perfecting the spatial domain.”

“The Dao Merging phase is when the cultivator’s own consciousness transforms into the will of the Dao and integrates into the Void Mystical world, simulating the Heavenly Dao.”

“Your talent is excellent. Merely recovering your memories has already formed the rudiments of your Dao. Just now, you used the Dao of Obsession to suppress those residual consciousnesses within your body that tried to seize control.”

“In searching for your husband… or wife… whoever it is, that obsession allowed you to transform from a human to a ghost, and from an incomplete form to a dominant, full-bodied ghost cultivator. So this Dao is the foundation of everything you are now.”

“And if he succeeds in merging with the Dao someday and completely masters the Dao of Obsession, then as long as that obsession persists, he will continue to exist. Even if only a trace of soul remains, he could return from death through flame.”

“This… is Dao.”

“As for the Dao-Seeking realm, it’s still too early for you. But ultimately, it means using your own Dao to oppose others’ Daos and even the Heavenly Dao. If your Dao does not collapse during that process and defeats the other Daos, then your own power will only grow stronger. The so-called Dao-Seeking is the process of testing whether your Dao is strong enough.”

“When your Dao is tempered to perfection and breaks through the rules of the lower realms, you will reach the so-called Ascension Realm.”

The Ghost Bride mused, “So my Dao is the Dao of Obsession?”

“Exactly, the Dao of Obsession derived from emotion! Some enter the Dao through love, others through severing emotions. Emotion is one of the more common paths to enter the Dao.” The Thunder Dragon Ancestor nodded.

“So, senior, what you mean is that I should also try to learn her Dao. But how do I learn it? Also, the Dao of Obsession might not be compatible with my own Dao. If I study it, will it affect my future cultivation?” Lin Jing voiced his doubt.

The Thunder Dragon Ancestor said: “For every cultivator, the path of cultivation is filled with countless choices. Each choice could become a Dao. There’s no rule that says every cultivator can only have one Dao.”

“For instance, I’ve merged with three different Daos, chosen three different paths. But unfortunately, none of those Daos were strong or suitable enough to let me break through Void Control and enter the Dao-Seeking realm.”

“In the end, my Daos weren’t powerful or compatible enough. I couldn’t even take the first step of Dao-Seeking.”

“So, understanding the Dao of Obsession deeply won’t affect your future. It’s like temporarily learning a spell. Right now, His Highness the Holy Son is still at a low level of cultivation and hasn’t found his own Dao. But once he enters Void Mystical, he will already have countless Daos to choose from. At that time, choosing the one he finds most compatible to merge with is what matters most.”

“After all, choosing the wrong one is like taking the wrong path—it could waste countless years and still lead to failure at Dao-Seeking. Those who fail to break through are mostly the ones who picked a Dao that didn’t suit them.”

“In short, gaining insight into the Dao of Obsession now doesn’t mean you must merge with it in the future. It’s just to better fuse with the Ghost Bride’s power for the time being.”

Lin Jing nodded. Indeed, merging with the Dao at the Void Mystical stage was still far away for him.

He had only cultivated to the Core Formation stage. He didn’t even have a concept of his own Dao yet.

This Dao wasn’t about Sword Dao, Beast Taming Dao, or Illusion Dao—it referred to the cultivator’s original intention, the thing that supported them all the way to the peak.

Lin Jing thought for a moment. At present, he was likely still in the “seeking Dao” phase. He had yet to find a Dao that truly belonged to him. If he reached the Void Mystical stage without finding it, he might forever be stuck at the early or middle stages of that realm, unable to move forward.

“What will my Dao be?”