Li Qiye and the monarch strolled through the city because Matriarch Yu still needed time so they weren't in a hurry.
“Young noble, where shall we go?” She asked while accompanying him everywhere.
“There's nothing too special at Discover. Hmm, the twelve scales can be considered one. Okay, since we are here, let's go so you can see it.” Li Qiye smiled and said.
“The twelve scales. I have heard of it but never in person. Rumor has it that the scales can judge someone's potential. The higher the step, the greater the future.”
“It's only a point of reference.” Li Qiye answered: “It's not completely accurate. Of course, it is still very significant because each step is a test for someone's learning capability, determination, and dao heart.”
“Life is always surprising so it's not like success is guaranteed after walking up the steps. You can try if you want.” Li Qiye shook his head and smiled before glancing at her: “With your dao heart and talents, reaching the tenth step isn't a problem. Eleven might be hard, no chance for the twelfth.”
The monarch didn't find this surprising. She calmly smiled: “I'll just be an idler in my own domain, no chance of competing against the heroes of the world and especially not the wise sages.”
She spoke as a matter of fact without arrogance or a hint of inferiority.
“You can do whatever, let's go.” Li Qiye led the way.
Nevertheless, the monarch still became interested: “If you go up the scales, how many can you go? I think all twelve shouldn't be a problem.”
Though she has never climbed it herself, many people have said that only supreme geniuses in history could reach the twelfth step.
Li Qiye smiled leisurely: “Just twelve? No, if I were to do it, I'll reach the top.”
“The top?!” Her pretty eyes widened in response: “Well, I heard the twelve scales are under the restriction of the grand dao. Rumor has it that only an emperor with the Heaven's Will that has broken all dao shackles can easily climb the twelve steps. Otherwise, even the strongest wouldn't be able to. Even our Ancestor Gu Zun has only reached the twelfth.”
It wasn't due to her lack of confidence in him. Keep in mind that their Ancestor Gu Zun was an exceedingly rare genius yet he only made it to the twelfth step.
“In a way, it has nothing to do with cultivation, just your perception, determination, and dao heart. If you are keen enough, you will be able to hear the note within the step and lessen the pressure. Of course, it's fine if your perception is no good. With a stronger determination and an unyielding dao heart, you can still move forward.”
Li Qiye smiled and shook his head: “The note of the step attacks your mind, not your cultivation. This is the key. So for me, no need to understand it. Just my unchanging dao heart can let me climb without any resistance.”
“The dao heart.” She said softly. Ever since she followed him, he has mentioned the dao heart several times. As a top expert, she understood how important it was. However, he seemed to emphasize it more than anyone else.
“This is where I'm different from the others. You think I'm exaggerating and placing too much of an emphasis on the dao heart?” He noticed her demeanor.
“Well…” She didn't know how to answer. Of course, she felt that his logic was reasonable but he had too much of an attachment towards the dao heart.
Li Qiye smiled: “All along, many sects and experts, when choosing their disciples, look at talents then comprehension with the dao heart last. In fact, this belief has wasted many talents.”
He continued on leisurely: “Look, there have been so many incredible geniuses in history but very few could become emperors. We'll talk about the ten eonic geniuses, how many of them made it to the throne? Just three.”
“As you can see, even the ten greatest couldn't all become emperors, let alone the others in spite of the quantity. The majority of them died on this path. Why is that?” Li Qiye pointed at his heart: “There's one problem, their easily shaken dao heart. For geniuses, everything happened too easy for them so they couldn't handle failure or temptation.”
“Is that really so?” She couldn't help asking.
“We'll keep it recent with Immortal Emperor Ta Kong. After his ascension, people sang songs of his talents. That's just flattery. In fact, the young emperor was only above average at best. He wasn't as gifted compared to Cleansing Incense's Mu Shaodi, the Stone Medicine World's Stone Dragon God, or even his strongest general, Xiao Qingtian. But the last one smiling was him. Do you know why?” Li Qiye stared seriously at her.
“His dao heart.” She replied.
“That's right.” Li Qiye continued on: “You might know the answer but not the actual reasons. For Mu Shaodi, his talents were excellent with a record of three wins and three losses against the emperor. But this was his unbecoming. He thought that he could take a shortcut in cultivation. After losing to the emperor, he couldn't resist the temptation of taking the easy way out by using an external force. This eventually led to the near-destruction of Cleansing Incense.”
“For the Stone Dragon God, he was quite haughty at a young age and chased Immortal Emperor Ta Kong out of Stone Medicine like a dog losing its master. He was quite imperious until losing three times in a row to the emperor later on. With that, he was completely frightened and didn't dare to come out again. His dao heart tasted fear.”
With that, he paused for a second: “And Xiao Qingtian, he has an amazing affinity with the saber, a natural born user. His saber seemed to have its own life in his hand. Unfortunately, the emperor's shadow engulfed him and he couldn't break out of his own shackles, being only one step away from success. This is due to a weak dao heart.”
“Then what about the emperor?” She asked. In fact, she was very interested in his past since this was her progenitor's enemy.
“Immortal Emperor Ta Kong had countless ups and downs in his life. So many people have defeated him including Mu Shaodi, Stone Dragon God, and Meng Zhentian. Nevertheless, he never drowned in despair or faltered before losing continuously. He rose again and again while learning from each loss. Because of this, he was the last one smiling due to his unshakable dao heart.”
“Thus, remember, each emperor is extraordinary and amazing in their own way.” Li Qiye meaningfully preached.
“So, dao heart first then the rest like talents. For ages now, how many geniuses have actually cultivated the Eternal Physique successfully? None, with the exception of a little girl with an unwavering dao heart for millions of years. Her pure heart allowed for her to create a unique miracle!”
“The dao heart is first.” She murmured to herself.
“Geniuses are in abundance but not those with immovable dao heart. That's why it is much more important than talents when wanting to train a future emperor. This is the reason why your Heaven Suppression's Gu Zun can't become an emperor. His talents are even more amazing with people listing him as one of the ten eonic geniuses.” He looked at her and said.
“Why?” She had to ask. People believed that her Ancestor Gu Zun was one of the most gifted beings in the world. Some disciples from the sect actually claimed that he was the greatest of all. Big shots from the older generation said that he was definitely top ten.
However, even such a talented man didn't become emperor in the end. This made her very curious!