Faintly, Shen Yuan seemed to have grasped the true reason his identity as a Taoist had fallen to such a state, his expression becoming unavoidably complex.
But merely a moment later, Shen Yuan adjusted his mindset and no longer dwelled on these causes.
The Great Tao Manifestation was the foundation of the path Shen Yuan would follow in the future, and contemplating the boundless charm of Tao Achievement’s Great Seat to comprehend the Great Tao Manifestation was indeed the optimal solution, even at the present time.
If given another chance, he would still make the same choice.
Retaining Tao Achievement’s Great Seat might secure him a spot among the venerable Hundred Schools scholars during a flourishing era, but the benefits of doing so remained unknown.
Especially since Shen Yuan himself was not truly from the Highest Heaven and the other scholars were thought to be the incarnates of the Highest Heaven, whether Shen Yuan could suppress the Hundred Schools of Thought at their peak was debatable.
Being alone, on the other hand, meant having far fewer concerns.
With a tranquil mind, Shen Yuan’s gaze pierced through the carriage window to survey the world outside.
As the capital city of Qi State, Linzi was naturally incredibly prosperous, particularly Jixia Academy at the heart of Linzi City, whose influence even surpassed that of the Qi State King’s Imperial Palace.
Around Jixia Academy were the mansions of ministers and nobles, markets, and tower structures, with an endless stream of passersby revealing a semblance of the Luotian Realm’s flourishing Human Path era.
Yet if it were merely prosperity, Shen Yuan would not be overly surprised, as the Luotian Realm, no matter how prosperous, could not compare to the Great Yin Capital City that possessed hundreds of subsidiary worlds.
What truly surprised Shen Yuan was the crowd of people incessantly flowing on the streets.
He could distinctly sense that most of the pedestrians threading their way along the streets possessed extraordinary cultivation.
Qi Transformation Stage cultivators, dressed as commoners and servants, mingled among the crowd, and Qi-training cultivators were readily seen as common passersby.
Even those from the Divinity Transformation Realm, who could be revered in any corner of the Primal Chaos Realm, were reduced to the likes of tavern keepers and shop owners within this Linzi City.
This scene was unimaginable in any realm other than the Luotian Realm.
Because cultivation implied a struggle for resources, for Spirit Energy, and for the inheritance of cultivation methods.
The resources of a single world are limited; they can sustain several powerful sects, a prosperous human Imperial Dynasty, and peak-stage, unparalleled experts, but that is also all that can be sustained.
Permitting a large number of the lower-class populace to cultivate would mean a massive consumption of resources.
Especially as realms ascend, the exponentially-increasing resource consumption can reach a terrifyingly unsustainable level, enough to overwhelm an entire world.
In the Great Yin Capital City of the Primal Chaos Realm, with a population exceeding a hundred million, even just satisfying the resource demands for every individual to cultivate up to the Qi Transformation Stage would be enough to transform the bountiful lands of Jiu Province into a desolate wasteland drained of Spirit Energy.
It is because of this consideration that even in the supposedly cultivation-booming Primal Chaos Realm of Great Yin Imperial Dynasty, the cultivation methods are severely limited to the lower-class populace.
Most of the lower-class populace are confined to the Essence Refining Stage for their entire lives.
Yet in Linzi City, this norm is broken, with Qi Transformation and Qi-training cultivators being as common as Great Yin Imperial Dynasty.
And this is just Linzi City; according to the coachman, Linzi is but one of the capital cities of the seven states in the Luotian Realm.
The other six states might be slightly less remarkable, but the gap wouldn’t be too significant, at least they’d come close to Linzi in scale.
Even if all of Primal Chaos Realm were drained, it wouldn’t be enough to satisfy the resource needs of such a large population of cultivators.
With this realization, Shen Yuan immediately understood that the cultivators among the populace were not following a traditional cultivation system.
Their possession of such uncommon realms seemed largely tied to the innate rules of the Luotian Realm itself.
Within Shen Yuan’s eyes twinkled the constellations, and aided by the deduction of the Star Astrology Divine Power and the contribution from the Hundred Schools scholars’ Status Grid, he began to glimpse at the essence of it all.
While moving through the bustling streets, the cacophony of people’s conversations reached Shen Yuan’s ears.
After sifting through the disarray of information with Star Astrology and combining it with his knowledge of the Luotian Realm, he finally found the answer he was looking for.
The root of it all was the omnipresent Dao between heaven and earth.
This realm, opened up by the Supreme Tao Ancestor’s Supreme Path, is founded up the Supreme Path and permeates throughout heaven and earth.
The beings of the Luotian Realm are manifestations of the Dao, born of it, and thus their lives continually rise and fall within the Dao, every action subtly conforming to the Dao of Heaven and Earth.
For the beings of the Luotian Realm, even a lifetime of tilling the soil could accidentally lead to the comprehension of the Dao, penetrating the Profound mysteries of heaven and earth.
Relying solely on the enlightenment of the Dao to advance in cultivation naturally progresses at an extremely slow pace, and being trapped within the Refining Essence to Qi Transformation for an entire life is indeed normal.
Moreover, most beings have the realm without knowing how to harness the power of that realm.
Under these circumstances, the Hundred Schools of Thought came into being.
The Hundred Schools propagated books and ideas, actively contemplated the Dao, mastered their realms, allowing those in the Luotian Realm with a realm but no understanding of power to actually wield their realm’s power. Those with talent could even go further in seeking the Major Path’s true intent.
From then on, the entire Luotian Realm entered the era of the Hundred Schools.
Linzi, home to Jixia Academy, hosts a Dao impartation ceremony every month, and a similar practice is observed in the capitals of the other states beyond Linzi.
Amidst this environment, every being in Linzi City, influenced by their surroundings, came to know some of the legendary scriptures and, as their knowledge grew, naturally drew closer to the Dao, resulting in a situation where Qi Transformation cultivators are as common as dogs and Qi-training cultivators fill the streets.
Having elucidated the reasons behind this phenomenon, Shen Yuan inside the carriage couldn’t help but sigh, his eyes filled with awe for this wondrous world.
Merely the act of imparting the Dao created such a miraculous world, and the depth of the Supreme Tao Ancestor’s realm had gone beyond Shen Yuan’s comprehension.

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