"What's all this about avoiding taboos? It's just a Daoist title, nothing to get worked up about."
Gu Qingfeng poured himself a cup of wine, speaking in a casual, indifferent tone. "I've lived this long, and it's always been others who had to avoid taboos around me. I've never had to avoid anyone else's."
Old Huang and Lei Lie exchanged a stunned glance, unsure how to respond. They were both inwardly puzzled: what kind of person would dare utter such arrogant words?
"This... Fellow Daoist Chixiao..." Lei Lie tried addressing Gu Qingfeng, but the name 'Chixiao' felt awkward and unnatural to say. It was like someone calling themselves the Tathagata Buddha—even if the other party didn't mind, he felt too embarrassed to say it out loud. It just felt strange. "I think... I'll just call you Fellow Daoist Gu. It rolls off the tongue easier."
Gu Qingfeng shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, normally I shouldn't pry into your private affairs on our first meeting, but... if I don't ask, my heart feels like it's being scratched by a cat's claws—it's unbearably itchy."
"What private matters do you want to ask about?"
"Fellow Daoist Gu, earlier outside, I saw you just wave your hand lightly, and that demon beast turned to dust. But you don't seem to have any cultivation base or destiny... and... you don't seem to be aligned with any Great Dao either."
"What kind of talk is that? How am I not within a Great Dao?"
"Look, you're neither an Immortal nor a Buddha, nor are you from the ranks of demons, ghosts, or monsters. You seem... just like a mundane mortal."
"What? The Human Dao isn't a Great Dao?"
Gu Qingfeng's voice carried over, and Lei Lie's heart skipped a beat as he realized his mistake. He hurriedly explained, "Fellow Daoist Gu, that's not what I meant. I just... I just..." He stammered for a while without getting anywhere. Old Huang, standing beside him, stepped in to clarify: "Fellow Daoist Gu, please don't misunderstand. The Human Dao is certainly a Great Dao. It's just that in this vast, boundless Great Wilderness, we mostly encounter Immortals, Buddhas, demons, ghosts, and monsters... so... many people have forgotten that the Human Dao is also one of the Great Daos."
"Yes, yes, exactly!" Lei Lie nodded vigorously. "That's what I meant. In the Great Wilderness, even when we meet cultivators, they usually have some level of cultivation. Someone like you, Fellow Daoist Gu, who seems to have neither cultivation nor destiny, is extremely rare. That's why I'm curious about what kind of person you really are."
After saying this, Lei Lie quickly added, "Of course, I know this involves privacy. If it's inconvenient for you, Fellow Daoist Gu, just pretend I never asked. Please don't take it to heart."
"To be honest, it's not so much a matter of privacy or not... but... as for what kind of person I am... well... that's a bit hard to explain."
Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin, pondered for a moment, then looked at Lei Lie and Old Huang with a smile. "What do you two think I look like?"
Old Huang stared at Gu Qingfeng, his brow furrowed. Lei Lie also examined him carefully from head to toe. Seeing Gu Qingfeng's smiling, silent expression, he recalled the speculation he and Old Huang had made earlier outside. He cautiously asked, "You couldn't possibly be... a Worthy One, could you?"
"A Worthy One?" Gu Qingfeng nodded. "That's right. I am indeed a Worthy One. Worthy One Chixiao, at your service!"
"Heavens above! You really are a Worthy One!" Lei Lie was utterly shocked, frozen in place.
Seeing Gu Qingfeng personally confirm his identity as a Worthy One, Old Huang dared not be negligent. He immediately stood up, cupped his hands in salute, and said, "So you are the legendary Worthy One! I have been gravely disrespectful. This humble one, Cang He, pays his respects to Worthy One Chixiao!"
Immediately after, Lei Lie and his group of brothers also stood up, cupping their hands in salute. "We juniors pay our respects to Worthy One Chixiao!"
"What's with all the saluting? Why so much formality? The fact that we can sit together today is fate. There's no need for distinctions like senior or junior, Worthy One or unworthy one. As the Buddhists say, all living beings are equal! Come on, let's drink!"
After learning that Gu Qingfeng was the legendary Worthy One, everyone present seemed to grow somewhat reserved. Despite Gu Qingfeng repeatedly emphasizing that there was no need for such formality, they remained stiff and uneasy. Even Old Huang and the usually bold and unrestrained Lei Lie no longer dared to drink as freely and recklessly as before.
Drinking is all about the atmosphere. Seeing everyone so constrained, Gu Qingfeng quickly lost interest.
Moreover, he had been traveling continuously through the Great Wilderness for a long time, leaving both his body and spirit utterly exhausted. After a round of drinks, drowsiness began to wash over him. Gu Qingfeng bid them farewell and went off alone to sleep.
Only after Gu Qingfeng had left did Lei Lie let out a sigh of relief. "I never expected him to really be a Worthy One! This is the first time in my life I've ever met one."
Old Huang also nodded. He had cultivated for nearly a hundred thousand years and had only heard rumors about Worthy Ones. This was likewise his first time meeting a living one.
"Brother Lei, what exactly is a Worthy One?" asked one of Lei Lie's younger brothers.
"What is a Worthy One?" Lei Lie scratched his head. Regarding Worthy Ones, he had only heard rumors that they were all immensely powerful. But as for what exactly a Worthy One was, he wasn't too clear either. He asked, "Old Huang, you're experienced and knowledgeable. Tell us, what exactly is a Worthy One? What kind of existence are they?"
"If we're talking about what a Worthy One is... that's a rather long story." Old Huang stroked the beard on his chin. "We have to start from a very, very long time ago, when the Human Dao fell into decline."
"The decline of the Human Dao?" Lei Lie was puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"
"Do you know why the Human Dao declined?"
"I'm not sure about that." Lei Lie said, "I've heard people say that the Human Dao has always been a subordinate Dao of the Immortal Dao. Otherwise, why can mortals cultivate to become Immortals?"
"Mundane mortals can not only cultivate to become Immortals, but they can also become Demons or Buddhas."
Lei Lie still didn't understand. "That's true, but what does that have to do with Worthy Ones?"
"This old man also heard this from some senior predecessors. They said that a very, very long time ago, the Immortal Dao, the Monster Dao, the Buddha Dao, and even the Heavenly Dao, in order to develop their respective Daos, continuously suppressed the rise of the Human Dao. Because in ancient times, whether it was the Immortal Dao, the Monster Dao, or the Buddha Dao, their power as Daos was very weak. Especially the Immortal Dao—its ambitions have always been great, and it has always wanted to replace the Heavenly Dao as the leader of the Great Daos. Therefore, the Immortal Dao needed a strong Human Dao as a foundation to develop its own Immortal Dao influence. That's why the Immortal Dao preached to all living beings across the myriad realms, guiding them in cultivation. As long as they achieved the right fruit, they could enter the Immortal Dao." Old Huang sighed slowly. "The Immortal Dao's ability to dominate heaven and earth in the Present-Ancient Era also relies on this strong Human Dao foundation. The fact that Immortals can spread across the myriad realms is also because of this."