Taiyi Dao Fruit-Chapter 1361 - 103:

"So, you want to rely solely on your own strength to step into the First Grade?"

"Why not," Jiang Li said calmly.

He actually had quite a few choices for his First Grade Dao Fruit. Besides the Three Pure Dao Fruit, the Dao Fruit of Emperor Xi also matched perfectly with Jiang Li.

Emperor Xi is now sealed by Jiang Li, and if he truly wishes to covet the Fuxi Dao Fruit, it's not an impossible task.

However, Jiang Li initially abandoned the Three Pure Dao Artifact because he didn't want to be influenced by the original owner of the Dao Fruit. Choosing the Fuxi Dao Fruit now would be retracing his old path, wouldn't it?

Accommodating the Three Pure Dao Fruit carries risks, and accepting the Fuxi Dao Fruit is likewise risky. The Three Pure Dao Fruit belongs to the Heavenly Dao, while the Three Emperors Dao Fruit belongs to the Human Path. The Human Path might not be as vast as the Heavenly Dao, but the risks are just as significant.

Even though Jiang Li possesses the Divine Skills of the Primordial Human, standing at the origin of the Human Path's current, he doesn't dare to completely disregard the Human Path.

Moreover, because Jiang Li has already accommodated the Green Emperor Dao Fruit and the Emperor Yan Dao Fruit, there is an even greater possibility of being influenced by the Fuxi Dao Fruit.

Not to mention, if Emperor Xi added something to his Dao Fruit, allowing Jiang Li to attain Saintly Virtue after accommodating it, Jiang Li might find himself in a tight spot.

After being a person without virtue for so many years, Jiang Li doesn't want to be shackled by morality.

Emperor Xi clearly understood Jiang Li's thoughts, and he wasn't underestimating him; rather—

"The Dao Fruit cultivation system allows cultivators to still have hope even in the Five Turbid Evil World, and if one can transition from fake to real, there's a possibility of catching up with those great masters before the End of Dharma. However, success in the Dao Fruit also means downfall in the Dao Fruit."

The voice of Emperor Xi came slowly, "To accommodate a Dao Fruit is to bear the cause and effect of others. The more you accommodate, the more cause and effect you carry. These causes and effects become a ladder for progress but ultimately become a shackle for further progress. Dao Fruit Practitioners who have never condensed their own Dao Fruit, even strong like you, cannot do it, because you've carried too many causes and effects."

"In quantitative terms, if you only have your own cause and effect, you only need yourself to break through the bottleneck. Each cause and effect is equivalent to carrying another person through a breakthrough. You now bear eight Dao Fruits, which means that if you want to break through, the difficulty has increased at least eightfold."

"To step into the Heavenly Venerate Realm is inherently difficult. Even the Jade Emperor chose to rely on the breakthrough of my Dao Fruit. Your breakthrough difficulty far exceeds his, making it almost impossible to succeed solely on your own strength."

The addition of the word "almost" is because Emperor Xi never believed in predestination.

The Yi Dao he created is fundamentally the Dao of change, emphasizing Da Yan 50, Heavenly Destiny Forty-nine, disappearing its one, and nothing in the world being predestined. Therefore, he politely added "almost". For others, they would directly tell Jiang Li it's impossible.

However, this also allowed Jiang Li to understand the key to the Heavenly Venerate Realm.

"From your words, the key to the Heavenly Venerate Realm lies above cause and effect."

After hearing Emperor Xi's words, Jiang Li felt he should give this most ancient Emperor some respect, so he used "you" to politely address him, allowing him to continue speaking.

"Indeed," Emperor Xi also chose not to be enigmatic and said, "The so-called Heavenly Venerate Realm began with the Three Pure Ones. They are the supreme innate beings, born as Heavenly Venerates, standing at the pinnacle. Heavenly is supreme, Venerable is noble, and being a Heavenly Venerate means being as respected as the heavens, coexisting with the Dao, touching cause and effect without contamination. Worldly causes and effects cannot affect a Heavenly Venerate, only the causes and effects of heaven and earth connect to them. This is because Heavenly Venerates are themselves born with heaven and earth, making the cause and effect tied to their roots, difficult to remove."

"It's precisely because they only carry the cause and effect of heaven and earth that the Three Pure Ones conceived of transcendence beyond Heavenly Venerates. The so-called transcendence is to transcend heaven and earth, detach from all causes, and be unaffected by all consequences. No longer being as respected as heaven, but standing above it."

In other words, to become a Heavenly Venerate, one must first transcend one's own cause and effect.

Transcending one's own cause and effect may not necessarily make one a Heavenly Venerate, but a Heavenly Venerate must certainly not be tainted by worldly cause and effect. This untouchability is not about avoiding contact but that even when touched, it cannot cling to them, unable to adhere to a Heavenly Venerate.

Like Amitabha, who is revered by countless followers, yet remains unaffected by them. Even if all the followers perished, it would not harm Amitabha, while other Buddhas would be different. Once all the followers died, the very foundation of the Buddha's Pure Land would be considered destroyed.

Jiang Li carefully considered Emperor Xi's words and understood his meaning.

The key to transcending one's own cause and effect lies in the term "own." "Own" refers to an individual's cause and effect, whereas Dao Fruit System practitioners generally integrate the cause and effect of others, making transcendence require additional "person" strength.

The difficulty is unrelated to the amount of cause and effect tied to the Dao Fruit but related to its type.

This calculation suggests that lower four grades Dao Fruit Practitioners still have the possibility of condensing their own Dao Fruit, as they, although accommodating external causes and effects, generally have mass-produced Dao Fruits that do not possess uniqueness.

Jiang Li faces significant difficulties. All of his Dao Fruits are unique, and he even completed all except the Green Emperor Dao Fruit.

In front of him, it's like eight gates are firmly blocking his path.

Nevertheless, not being able to open the doors is not certain.

If unable to push open each gate by one's own strength, then perhaps one could use external force. For instance—find a Universal Key, open up these eight gates, and naturally enter the world beyond them.