"A tree that stands out in the forest will surely be blown down by the wind. One who walks higher than others will surely be criticized."
"Failing to restrain one’s sharpness and maintain the way of moderation..."
"I seem to be able to foresee the fate awaiting Dayi."
Standing in the midst of a trampled and ruined farmland, Li Xudou, even though aware he was still in a dream, couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
Unlike the era of Celestial Emperor Hao, which left no written historical records.
Since the first Witch King of the Great Xia renounced immortality, the telling of past history and myths was no longer passed down orally.
By the time Li Boyang was born, a systematized and orderly civilization became mainstream.
During the first sixteen years of Li Xudou’s life, all he needed to do was learn knowledge, skills, history, morality, and how to understand the world.
Compared to the following hundred years in Li Xudou’s life.
Those sixteen years were not long, but undoubtedly laid the ideological foundation for his entire life.
For instance, when it comes to Dayi, if nothing unexpected happens, Li Xudou could even entirely predict the trajectory of his latter life.
Holding power without corresponding thoughts and understanding is destined only to become a blade or sword in others’ hands.
Moreover, Dayi never concealed his "weakness" — his identification and concern for his fellow humans.
Put in his shoes, Li Xudou believed that whether it was the Celestial Emperor or the Gods, there were ten thousand ways to easily manipulate this hero among humans.
As expected, Li Xudou witnessed the next two great feats of Dayi’s early life in this dream.
— Capturing Fengxi in the Sang Forest, and slaying the Xiu Snake in Dongting.
Fengxi was not an Evil God but a kind of gigantic wild boar, a true Fierce Beast.
Under the guidance of the Gods, it intruded into the largest human settlement at the time — Sang Forest.
Sang Forest, located in the heart of the Central Plains, was mainly engaged in farming and mulberry cultivation, producing nearly half of the crops of the human race at the time.
When Fengxi appeared here, trampling crops and destroying the mulberry forests.
The result was as expected, it almost led to the extinction of the human race at the time.
Thus Dayi stepped into the fray once more, using a glaive for close combat instead of a bow and arrow, stabbing Fengxi to death in the Sang Forest, allowing the humans of the Central Plains to farm again.
But this was far from enough, because even Dayi understood that Fengxi was not the main culprit of this disaster.
So Dayi pursued the matter all the way, eventually finding the Celestial God Xiu Snake.
The Xiu Snake was several thousand li long, coiled atop Dongting, its every move terrifying as a mountain quaking.
The most crucial point was that the identity of Xiu Snake was not simple.
It was an old relic surviving from the previous era, an affiliate minister who once fought under Emperor Hao to conquer the world.
As long as Xiu Snake didn’t openly rebel against the Celestial Emperor, even if it devoured an elephant a day or consumed a village a month, it would still be permitted by the Celestial Emperor.
In other words, Xiu Snake was a true Ancient God that could openly eat humans and perform human sacrifice.
No matter from which angle, Xiu Snake had no need to drive Fengxi to destroy the Sang Forest, nor did Dayi have the right to judge Xiu Snake.
Unfortunately, Dayi, blinded by anger at the time, could not think of so much.
In a fit of rage, Dayi first shot an arrow through Xiu Snake’s head, then pursued it for several years long.
That was thus far the most difficult battle Dayi had fought.
The battle between the two spread across a large part of the land, with gods and demons fearing everywhere they passed, and life becoming extinct.
In the end, Dayi proved superior, seizing the opportunity while Xiu Snake slept and breathed, he cleaved it in half with a huge axe, using its bones to construct the later renowned Baling.
"This playing of borrowing a knife to kill is truly clever..."
"How did he escape this deadlock next?"
Tightly gripping the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow in his hand.
Li Xudou stood atop the mountain range made from snake bones, with curiosity and inquiry unabashedly evident in his words.
Having killed a subordinate minister of the Celestial Emperor, moreover a deity with extremely high privileges.
Li Xudou didn’t need to think to know that Dayi had definitely committed a major taboo, one that not even the Celestial Emperor might be able to save him from.
Endowed with the wisdom from the future, Li Xudou could piece together this scheme aimed specifically at Xiu Snake and Dayi through minor details.
First, regarding Xiu Snake, it was the Paramount Minister to the Celestial Emperor, a strong presence infinitely close to a Great Celestial God.
Its death undoubtedly weakened the Celestial Emperor’s side.
It effectively strengthened the Gods’ influence against the Celestial Emperor.
Next, as for Dayi, he was the God of Judgment personally appointed by the Celestial Emperor, and the affection the Celestial Emperor had for him was evident.
Now having committed such a grave mistake, the Celestial Emperor, no matter how much he loved him, would have to punish him to set an example.
By that time, the Celestial Emperor would’ve essentially severed an arm of himself, and a mighty arm at that.
...........................
Li Xudou ultimately couldn’t see the subsequent unfolding of events.
Because the dream had already ended when Dayi slew the Xiu Snake.
Afterwards, as with the previous dreams, the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow somehow silently reappeared in Li Xudou’s hand once more.
"So you really want me to learn Dayi’s abilities?"
Looking down at the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow in his hand, what flashed through Li Xudou’s mind were the methods and abilities Dayi used to slay the five evils.
Li Xudou certainly knew that the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow repeatedly drawing him into dreams couldn’t merely be to witness Dayi’s life.
Dayi’s methods of battling Gods with a human body were the true purpose of the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow’s persistent dream invitations — it wished for him to inherit Dayi’s abilities.
To be honest, even for Li Xudou, who came from the future, it was hard to conceal his shock upon witnessing Dayi’s methods.
It was neither the innate divine power of Gods, nor the mysterious Taoist skills of Celestial Beings...
Dayi wasn’t even a Wizard, he was awe-inspiring, hunting Evil Gods with sheer strength and physique.
In his hand, even a simple wooden stick could exhibit incredible power.
With a glaive, he stabbed Fengxi to death; with a great axe, he slain the Xiu Snake...
These indisputable battle achievements are the ultimate manifestation of Dayi’s abilities.
Bear in mind, in Dayi’s time, there was no such thing as Magical Treasures.
He used nothing more than the most ordinary Mortal Artifacts, some of which might have been really made of wood.
Nonetheless, setting aside these, Dayi’s greatest strength was still his arrow technique.
It was an arrow technique almost akin to the Way.
Almost possessing the causal effect of "hitting the target if shot."
When shooting Dajiao, Dayi could forcibly drag the opponent down from the sky with his arrow technique, then slay them with a glaive.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Li Xudou saw in Dayi a concept his master had once mentioned — to enter the Way through skill, sanctifying the flesh.
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