Chapter 35: The Heavenly Dao Is Not Eternal!

Swallowing down the comment that almost escaped his lips, Lu Yan found that He Dongsheng’s answer had at least resolved one of his doubts.

The storage pouch he had obtained from Shopkeeper Chu was definitely related to the Red Lotus Devil Sect. This further confirmed for Lu Yan that he must never casually expose the pouch to others.

After rummaging through the book pile for a while, He Dongsheng pulled out a dust-covered volume with bold characters on the cover: Tales of the Devilish Beauties of the Demonic Path.

“Ahem! This book may have come through… questionable channels, and its contents are a bit risqué, but it was indeed written by a real disciple of the Joyous Union Sect.

“If you overlook the copious dual cultivation plots, it actually contains very detailed information on the origins of the major demonic sects and the types of spells they specialize in. Fellow Daoist Lu, if you’re interested, it could serve as a useful reference.

“Just bear in mind that the book is quite old, so some of the information might be outdated or inaccurate. Be sure to sift through it critically.”

Lu Yan accepted the book and flipped through it briefly—only to realize it was basically a cultivation-themed smut novel.

While the content was… skewed, it was still somewhat informative.

After bidding farewell to He Dongsheng, Lu Yan went straight to a talisman shop.

Previously, he had over a hundred spirit stones in his storage pouch. But after beginning cultivation, making purchases in the Apocalyptic Version, and buying Compendium of First-Rank Spells after returning to the Immortal Cultivation Version, his spirit stone reserves were nearly depleted.

He still needed to rent a cultivation cave soon, so Lu Yan decided to sell most of his talismans to exchange for spirit stones.

Soon, he sold dozens of lower-grade first-rank talismans, five middle-grade, and one upper-grade talisman for a total of ninety spirit stones. He kept only a few commonly used talismans and some ungraded ones that weren’t worth selling.

For Lu Yan, offensive combat primarily relied on the Hundred Soul Banner. Talismans were more of a stopgap when he lacked spells. Now that he had the Compendium of First-Rank Spells, talismans were no longer essential.

As for the mid-grade flying sword magic artifact, Lu Yan did consider selling it—but he worried that it might still bear some mark of the Red Lotus Devil Sect, so he decided to hold off on dealing with it for now.

Crossing the market street, Lu Yan arrived at the cave residence rental area. Only a single middle-aged man in a Daoist robe lazily slouched behind a desk.

“How do I rent a cave residence?”

The man glanced up and sized Lu Yan up.

“Lower-grade cave, one spirit stone per month. Middle-grade, two per month. Upper-grade caves aren’t open to the public—only those above the late Qi Refining stage and members of the market can rent them.”

“I’ll take a middle-grade cave for three months.”

Lu Yan handed over six spirit stones.

“Qi Refining Stage Three renting a middle-grade cave? That’s rare.”
The man handed him a palm-sized array plate and casually warned:
“A word of advice—until you reach mid-stage Qi Refining, try not to leave your cave too often. And definitely don’t leave the market.”

Lu Yan gave the man a surprised look. He didn’t seem particularly friendly, but his reminder was genuinely kind.

It was true—Qi Refining early-stage cultivators renting a middle-grade cave was quite eye-catching. It could easily attract unwanted attention.

Still, Lu Yan would only be staying in this version for three months. He didn’t need to worry too much.

He thanked the man and followed the array plate’s guidance toward the cave residences.

The caves were carved into the mountainside, and the closer he got to the valley, the denser the spiritual energy became.

Once he found his assigned cave, Lu Yan activated the array plate with his spiritual energy. An array lit up at the entrance, forming a barrier to block outsiders.

The cave’s interior had simple but defined rooms. The middle-grade residence even came with beast pens and a pill refining chamber. The spiritual energy inside was even richer than in the Apocalyptic Version. Definitely worth the price.

Settling into the cave, Lu Yan first took out the three books he had acquired that day.

He set aside the Compendium of First-Rank Spells for now and picked up Tales of the Devilish Beauties of the Demonic Path.

Ignoring the numerous dual cultivation scenes and obscure references to “yin-yang harmonization,” Lu Yan soon discovered that the book was essentially a cultivation romance novel about a seductive woman from the Joyous Union Sect taming arrogant demonic prodigies and cold, righteous Daoist heartthrobs.

Its sheer audacity and variety put even the most notorious adult web novels to shame.

But as He Dongsheng had said, it did contain useful information on many demonic sects, including the Red Lotus Devil Sect.

According to the book, the Red Lotus Devil Sect rose rapidly after the Great War between Righteous and Demonic Sects. It had been founded by a powerful demonic cultivator known as the Red Lotus Demon Lord.

Normally, after founding a sect, most cultivators would make a point of highlighting their orthodox lineage. Some could even trace their teachings back to ancient times.

But the Red Lotus Devil Sect remained extremely secretive about its origins. Even the book’s author admitted they had no idea where its doctrines truly came from.

“Considering the sect rose after the fall of the Dao Virtue Sect during the war…
And the exclusive spell of the Red Lotus Karmic Fire Scripture, the Red Lotus Karmic Fire, can refine merit into Xuanhuang Merit Flame…

“Could it be that the Red Lotus Devil Sect’s lineage actually comes from the Dao Virtue Sect? That the Red Lotus Demon Lord secretly stole their teachings during the demonic siege and used them to establish his own sect?”

As the thought surfaced, Lu Yan’s mind suddenly cleared.

It was only speculation, but his instincts told him this might very well be the truth behind the Red Lotus Karmic Fire Scripture.

“In that case, I might not need to go to the Red Lotus Devil Sect to seek the rest of the scripture,” Lu Yan mused.

He set aside Tales of the Devilish Beauties of the Demonic Path and reached for the Compendium of First-Rank Spells, ready to start studying its contents.

But just as his hand moved, his gaze drifted instead to On the Dao of Heaven.

“There’s no rush for spell comprehension. Since I got this for free anyway, I might as well see what this so-called On the Dao of Heaven is all about.”

Opening the book, the first line that greeted his eyes was—

“The Heavenly Dao is not eternal!”

Lu Yan’s gaze immediately sharpened.

In this world, all cultivators believed that the Heavenly Dao was eternal—unchanging and absolute. To claim otherwise was nothing short of heresy.

But in the eyes of someone who had experienced multiple version updates… this statement took on an entirely different meaning.

“How interesting.”

With a faint smile, Lu Yan began reading the so-called fake ancient text.

Yet the further he read, the more that smile disappeared.

The entire book centered on the author’s personal theory: that the Heavenly Dao was not eternal but subtly shifting and changing in imperceptible ways.

Yet from within the Heavenly Dao, no one could perceive those changes—nor could they defy it. They could only follow it blindly.

Even those who ascended to immortality were merely striving to align themselves more perfectly with the Dao. But this pursuit, the author argued, was flawed.

The closer one came to the Dao, the more one became bound by it—unable to see its impermanence.

At the end of the book, the author wrote with a tone of regret, presenting a final, daring hypothesis:

“All things in this world passively conform to the changes of the Heavenly Dao.
But if an Unchanging One could break free of these constraints—
Then perhaps they could influence the evolution of the Dao itself, replacing Heaven with Man!”

In that instant, Lu Yan felt as if he had been struck by lightning. A wild, reckless idea began to take root in his mind.

“Version fluctuation value!”

(End of Chapter)