I Arrived At Wizard World While Cultivating Immortality Chapter 673: Discourse on the Dao

As these thoughts flashed through Jie Ming’s mind, his hands did not stop moving, though his actions suddenly became much gentler. The replica only hesitated slightly in response to Jie Ming’s words before continuing its attack.

The replica activated the Great Void Step at full power, leaving long afterimages trailing between the mirror surfaces.

However, the replica’s energy level was ultimately insufficient. Every time Jie Ming’s true body appeared behind it, the replica would always be half a beat slower to turn around. With identical knowledge and skills on both sides, the disparity in raw power allowed Jie Ming to handle the replica with exceptional ease—far simpler than dealing with other Catastrophe Grade Stranges.

While countering the replica’s attacks, Jie Ming even had the leisure to block all the aftershocks.

After easily crushing the replica’s resistance once more, Jie Ming raised his right hand with fingers spread. A miniature formation appeared in his palm. Its light shone around the replica as blue rune lines emerged from the void, forming a spiderweb-like net that enveloped the replica at the center. This was not a sealing formation, but a simple binding array.

The replica sensed the change in Jie Ming’s intent. The expression of hatred on its face—identical to Jie Ming’s—grew even more twisted.

Its body moved rapidly around Jie Ming. The mirrors on both sides of the corridor shattered automatically as it passed, their razor-sharp fragments spinning through the air toward Jie Ming.

Jie Ming ignored the fragments. The empowered glass shards slid across his skin without leaving even a white mark. His hands moved rhythmically in the air, releasing streams of binding runes from his fingertips that wove an airtight net within the narrow space of the maze.

The moment it was caught in the net, the replica struggled violently. Trigram Fire Annihilation Divine Light shot wildly in all directions, blasting apart all the remaining mirrors in the maze.

The fragments danced through the air, each one reflecting the images of Jie Ming and the replica. Countless mirrored figures rotated, overlapped, and intersected, turning the entire space into a shattered kaleidoscope.

Yet faced with such an attack, Jie Ming still had the leisure to block every beam of Trigram Fire Annihilation Divine Light!

A golden light shone on Jie Ming’s forehead as the Fate Subsystem pushed an important piece of data to the forefront of his consciousness: the replica’s expression had changed. Sure enough, after a dozen or so seconds, the replica’s struggling weakened.

The twisted, ferocious hatred on its face receded like a tide, revealing the same calm expression as Jie Ming’s beneath. Its eyes shifted from wide and hostile to slightly narrowed with irritation.

It looked at the golden binding runes on its body, then at Jie Ming standing before it. Its lips moved, but no words came out. Jie Ming was also looking at it.

The two stood face to face amid the ruins of shattered mirrors. The air was filled with the scent of glass dust and residual energy.

The replica’s breathing gradually calmed from its earlier rapid pace. Jie Ming withdrew his hands from their net-weaving posture and let them hang at his sides.

Silence lasted for several seconds.

Then both of them smiled at the same time, sharing a knowing smile.

No explanation was needed. With completely identical knowledge reserves and ways of thinking, they had both realized the situation at the same moment. It was the effect of the body forging method.

The replica also possessed the body forging method. Although its level was lower than the original, its adaptive evolution could still rapidly generate “resistance.” This naturally included resistance to the state of “consciousness distortion imposed by a Strange.”

The moment it was created, the replica had been implanted with the obsession of “intense hatred toward the original body,” but the body forging method disregarded this and forcibly evolved corresponding resistance.

Jie Ming raised his hand and made a sweeping motion in the void. The binding runes detached from the replica’s body and dispersed like snowflakes in midair. The replica flexed its wrists and shoulders, then sat down cross-legged in front of him.

Jie Ming also sat down cross-legged opposite it.

The two faced each other with a floor of broken glass and dust between them.

“Can you leave this place?” Jie Ming asked directly.

The replica shook its head.

Its voice was identical to Jie Ming’s, except for a slight stiffness: “I exist by relying on the power of this Strange city and the unique laws of this world. Leaving the city, my structure would collapse within seconds. Leaving this world, I could not even maintain the most basic energy circulation. I can only remain here.”

Jie Ming nodded. His expression showed little change, but a faint, almost imperceptible trace of regret appeared in his eyes.

“In your present condition, can it be said you’ve attained Dao Integration?”

The replica tilted its head, observing its own digits, clenching them into fists then releasing them.

A fleeting moment of semi-transparency flickered across its fingers as they clenched, an indicator of its unstable existence.

Its form was in a perpetual state of drawing sustenance from the city’s Strange energy to maintain itself.

“More or less,” the replica responded, raising its gaze. “However, I can only be considered to have achieved plane-level Dao Integration. This is distinct from the Dao Integration you seek. The disparity between plane-level and world-level Dao Integration is likely more apparent to you than to me. Nevertheless…”

It inclined its head slightly, a soft smile gracing its lips. “My journey can serve as a valuable reference for you.”

Jie Ming’s eyes lit up. This outcome surpassed his initial expectations.

His primary objective was to study the characteristics of beings governed by Strange laws, but a living Dao Integration reference had materialized directly before him.

“If you were to depart from this place,” Jie Ming inquired from a different perspective, “what do you estimate the risk of Dao deviation would be for you?”

A sigh escaped the replica.

Though subtle, the sigh caused the surrounding atmosphere to subtly vibrate.

“Despite sharing equivalent knowledge, distinctions remain. Total power, mastery over laws, the completeness of a life form…” It raised a digit, indicating its chest where the core of its dharma form true body resided, albeit with a much fainter luminescence than Jie Ming’s own.

“My core lacks sufficient stability. Should I attempt Dao Integration, the likelihood of deviation would surpass ninety percent.”

Jie Ming’s brow furrowed slightly, but the replica’s subsequent declaration eased his concern.

“You need not fret, however. Given your current cultivation, bolstered by the Mortal Dust Qi channeled through the Incense Fire Divine Dao and the collective faith of all beings, your success probability for Dao Integration should exceed ninety-five percent,” the replica elaborated.

“Your research concerning Stranges has proven exceptionally beneficial. When combined with the insights from the professor’s notebook and your own elaborations upon them… these elements have precisely filled the final voids in your path toward Dao Integration. Without them, your success rate would likely hover around seventy percent.”

Jie Ming remained in quiet contemplation for two seconds before uttering a single, decisive word.

“Excellent.”

The replica opposite him offered a slight nod, then extended a hand, tracing a line across the ground separating them.

“Then let us commence,” the replica’s voice shifted to a steady, formal cadence, akin to an instructor beginning a lesson. “I shall start with the fundamental essence of Dao Integration.”

Jie Ming adjusted his posture, settling into a cross-legged position, his hands resting upon his knees with palms turned upwards.

The replica’s voice resonated within the enclosed environment.

Its tone was even, and its delivery paced moderately, mirroring the exact manner in which Jie Ming had instructed Eric within the confines of the bookstore.

“The core principle of Dao Integration is not melding, but affirmation. Your connection to the world’s laws isn't about two separate entities merging to form something new. Instead, it’s about recognizing that you were intrinsically the same entity from the outset. You don’t need to ‘become’ a part of the laws; your sole requirement is to ‘perceive’ that you already are. The inherent danger in traditional immortal cultivation paths originates from their attempt to achieve ‘confirmation’ via ‘merging.’ This represents a logical fallacy: you endeavor to merge into something to which you’ve always belonged. The process itself implicitly validates the misconception that you are ‘separate from it.’ The more vigorously you attempt to merge, the more you reinforce the belief that ‘I am not a part of it,’ thereby making it easier for the laws to perceive you as an external entity. Dao deviation isn’t the laws rejecting you; rather, it is your own self-denial.”

Jie Ming lowered his head in thought, grasping the concept swiftly. “Then, is it necessary to completely relinquish one’s self?”

“That course of action would prove unfeasible. The most critical aspect of Dao Integration is the inability to entirely forget that you are currently undergoing the process of Dao Integration, lest you also be assimilated… The efficacy of the Incense Fire Divine Dao lies in its capacity to serve as a reminder, even during moments of complete self-forgetfulness. The strength of collective faith doesn’t stem from its power as a spiritual shield, but rather from its function as the ultimate failsafe…”

The replica’s words continued to reverberate through the dilapidated mirror palace. Jie Ming’s consciousness followed its pronouncements, exploring novel avenues within the established framework of his knowledge.

Their exchange evolved into a dynamic dialogue, rendering the passage of time utterly irrelevant.

Within the mirror palace, the concepts of day and night ceased to exist, replaced solely by an infinite array of reflections cast by the countless mirrors.

These silent reflections bore witness to the two identical figures seated on the ground, face to face, eyes closed, lips moving in rapid succession. Though their voices were subdued, their speech was remarkably swift, resembling two high-speed computers exchanging data.

Outside, the intensity of the energy fluctuations escalated relentlessly.