Dao Models Itself after Nature

Young Master Cao wasn’t entirely sure whether he could ever truly attain absolute freedom in this lifetime.

Maybe he could.

Maybe he couldn’t.

But… it didn’t really matter.

Even now, whether he could unbox a prize and draw the Elixir of Longevity wasn’t as important as he once thought.

Who knew if immortality was even a good thing?

And who could say that living just a few short decades was necessarily a bad thing?

No one could say for sure.

Nor could anyone fully grasp it.

What truly mattered was whether, during the time you were alive, you had truly let go—or rather, achieved freedom.

Once you were free, external possessions no longer held weight.

And when they no longer held weight, you naturally let them go.

Of course,

this wasn’t just about superficial material things, because very few people actually disliked money.

Even Young Master Cao, who had attained some measure of freedom now,

couldn’t claim to be indifferent to wealth.

Money…

was, of course, a good thing.

What he didn’t care about was letting money become a shackle on his heart.

This was where the real cultivation came in.

Some people, when it came to these shackles, might strive to train their hearts to disregard money entirely—believing that was true freedom, true detachment.

Others might interpret the shackles differently—thinking that earning more money would eventually make it so abundant that they’d no longer care, and thus be free.

Then there were those who believed they absolutely had to keep making money—that only then could they feel at ease, free from mental restraints, and that not earning would torment them…

So,

everyone had their own path.

There was no right or wrong.

……

Over the past decade,

Cao Cheng had gained profound insights into the concepts of “letting go” and “freedom.”

Some things couldn’t be understood at face value.

The more superficial the interpretation, the shallower the understanding.

Take the phrase “letting go,” for example.

At face value, it meant to release, to loosen one’s grip.

But looking deeper, you had to first pick something up and hold it tightly before you could let it go—otherwise, what were you even releasing?

And beyond that… there were countless paths to choose from.

Letting go wasn’t the goal.

The goal was clarity.

Take Young Master Cao now—he reflected on himself three times a day and had reached that clarity.

He no longer blamed the system either.

The system had its own struggles, right?

On top of that, Cao Cheng was still making vast sums of money, amassing enormous amounts of emotional value.

But,

he no longer obsessed over emotional value the way he used to, no longer calculated every move based on how to earn more of it.

That had felt like being an oxen to emotions.

A slave to sentiment.

Looking back, that kind of life hadn’t been a happy one.

……

“Mmm~~~”

Taking a bite of the meat-stuffed flatbread, Young Master Cao instantly raised a thumbs-up. “Damn, this is good, my friend.”

The mustachioed vendor in a small cap chuckled, flipping a handful of lamb skewers on the grill. “You want it spicy?”

“Yeah, medium heat.”

“You got it.”

Cao Cheng turned and carried another bag of goods back to the car parked not far away.

The Western Region’s Twin Beauties were too popular.

Especially here in the Western Regions.

If they showed up in a crowded market, they’d be swarmed in minutes.

So,

Young Master Cao took it upon himself to do the shopping.

Granted, he was also recognizable, but after disappearing from the public eye for so many years, he rarely made headlines anymore.

The chances of being recognized were much slimmer.

Especially in these parts—most folks here probably didn’t care much about who the richest man was.

To put it bluntly, how many ordinary people in real life even knew what Bill Gates looked like?

How many could pick out Warren Buffett in a crowd?

And how many barbecue vendors would recognize Lei Jun on sight?

Not a chance.

Besides,

Young Master Cao was wearing a face mask.

He’d only pulled it down to take a bite of the flatbread before covering up again.

If someone still recognized him like that?

That’d be downright bizarre.

……

After delivering the food to the car,

the Twin Beauties were overjoyed.

Even if the meal was simple, it mattered who brought it, right?

Watching Young Master Cao bustling back and forth for them, they couldn’t have been happier.

Sometimes, happiness really was this simple.

The old Young Master Cao…

would’ve just lounged around, acting all carefree and relaxed.

But the current Young Master Cao seemed more natural, more at ease,

better able to blend into any environment.

This was what they called: the Dao follows nature!

Water was the same—it changed according to its surroundings.

There was no fixed state.

And if there was, it was probably just an act.

“I’ll go grab the lamb skewers… You two stay in the car and eat. Oh, by the way, want some lamb… ahem ‘special parts’? The vendor said they’re top-tier stuff.” Cao Cheng grinned.

The Twin Beauties rolled their eyes.

They knew the local delicacies were different here.

Unlike inland,

where “lamb treasures” referred to a certain pair of orbs,

and kidneys were just kidneys—

not the same thing at all.

Here, it was a whole different cut.

Some places served it sliced into segments on skewers,

while others offered the whole thing.

Young Master Cao was curious to try.

……

A moment later,

Cao Cheng returned with a few hefty skewers.

“Whoa—”

He whistled. “This big? Must be from a damn stallion.”

“……” The barbecue vendor blinked, baffled but impressed.

Cao Cheng smirked. “This ain’t from a human, is it?”

“No, no, heavens no!” The vendor waved his hands frantically.

After some pointless banter, Cao Cheng’s focus shifted entirely to the… nutritional value.

Honestly,

if he was gonna live so long,

he might as well try everything at least once.

Otherwise, what was the point?

Still,

he paid first before taking his haul back to the car.

No way was he eating this out in the open.

Come on.

Young Master Cao was still a billionaire—he had some dignity to uphold.

If someone snapped a pic of him mid-bite with his mask off,

he could already imagine the headlines:

SHOCKING! After a Decade in Seclusion, the Richest Man’s First Public Act Is… Eating D on the Streets!

……

“So, how is it?”

Chewy.

Like beef tendon?

Or cartilage?

Definitely tough and rubbery.

And hard.

The flavor wasn’t bad—at least Young Master Cao could stomach it.

Mainly, it was about the novelty.

Whether it was placebo or not, after a few skewers, he did feel a certain… vigor.

Good thing he had two people to help him unwind later.

Otherwise, the pent-up energy would’ve made sleep impossible.

Then again,

the effects weren’t that exaggerated—it was mostly psychological since it was his first time.

Plus, he’d eaten some genuinely potent stuff earlier.

This was the Western Regions, after all.

The land of rare and exotic treasures.

Cao Cheng had picked up a few along the way and paired them with tonight’s “delicacy,” resulting in an overwhelming surge of heat.

Hence the legendary outcome.

……

……

That night,

the RV kept rocking in the campsite.

The next day,

they didn’t wake up till noon—

mostly because Cao Decheng’s call startled them awake.

They’d promised to pick him up from the airport.

And completely forgotten.

Ugh.

What a mess!

Definitely couldn’t indulge like this again.

Young Master Cao was fine, but those two nearly didn’t survive.