To understand the cultivator world, one had to understand the hierarchy that existed within it. The terms higher and lower realms were a representation of this hierarchy. There wasn’t a clear definition of higher and lower realms, they were more of generally agreed-upon descriptions for certain realms based on numerous qualifications, but one of these qualifications was connections.

The higher realms, or the divine realms as they were known to some people, were all very well mapped and contested for. These were the realms rich in cultivation resources and any sect that wanted to be known across the multiverse could be found there. The lower realms, however, were different. They weren’t all equal. They ranged in definition, from practically qi-less universes to realms bubbling with power, just on the cusp of being a higher realm.

Sects needed resources, and the higher realms, while they were the best of the best, were constantly being milked. There wasn’t a single qi-filled asteroid that floated outside of some sect or clan’s jurisdiction, so if the sects wanted to grow, they had to gather their resources elsewhere. And that’s where the hierarchy came in.

The higher realms were numerous but the lower realms were infinite, so no sect could actively hope to scour these lesser universes for power without spreading themselves thin. So what most of them did was set up what I like to call "resource pipelines." Resource pipelines were ways sects in the higher realms would use to harvest power and resources that appeared in the lower realms.

Now that could be anything from creating sects in the lower realms that would report directly to them, or going down there themselves and taking whatever object or person attracted their interest. Either way, they managed to set up some form of communication with people in the lower sects, and those lower sects were rewarded handsomely for reporting anything that was too much for them to the higher powers.

These pipelines also functioned as information pipelines as well. The lower sects would receive some of the larger news happening out in the great multiverse and the higher sects would listen to any strange happenings that were going on in the lower ones.

I sighed and leaned back into my rocking chair. Risks and faults and fumbles, there were a few of those in this plan, and I didn’t like that. The array was the first risk. I had made a living being, not a robot. Peace wasn’t just some vague state of conditions it had to reach to achieve freedom. It would know what peace was in a human sense, but still. Many other things could go wrong, but I accounted for all of that and constantly kept track of everything around me.

No, the biggest risk was me. Living this long puts a lot of things into perspective, one of these things was chance. If you live long enough, anything with only a one-in-a-million chance of happening is almost guaranteed to happen. Another thing you noticed was change. Given enough time, people change.

That was one of the reasons that cultivators chased the Dao so much. People wavered and changed, but the Dao didn’t. It always stayed the same, and it was the one thing most cultivators would hang on to for the rest of their eternal lives.

I didn’t have that. I was an anomaly to be fair, but pursuing arrays oftentimes cut you off from being able to study or understand anything else, and it wasn’t due to a lack of time either. Eternity was a long time to pursue something, but Daos didn’t work like that.

Daos required focus. When you choose a Dao, it couldn’t be too general. You couldn’t pursue something like the Dao of all things or the Dao of reality. If you did, you’d never progress in your understanding of the subject. Those things were too vague and undefined. That was why no one pursued the Dao of arrays, it was just too general for anyone actually to bother with.

And that was fine, that was a sacrifice I had to accept to pursue this path, but it also caused me many problems along the way, and this was one of them. A Dao wasn’t just a subject to study but a lifestyle. It required the whole of you in ways that normal knowledge couldn’t compare to, and slowly, you’d grow to reflect that. If your Dao was the spear, then you’d become the spear, if your Dao was the ocean then you’d become the ocean.

That was why you saw so many sword-swinging maniacs couldn’t think of anything else aside from violence and strength. It was the reason why cultivators were the way they were. Cultivators needed Dao and resources, but resources always ran out and one had to fight to gather and protect them. So cultivators would choose a Dao that could help them better gather their resources, like the Dao of the blade, or the Dao of war. And those Dao themselves would go on to encourage taking from others and strength.

I sighed. Of course, if things worked out here then maybe I could pick up a Dao and dedicate my life to it. Something small and precious that would require me to stay here and tether my life with this peace I’ve been building.

I got out of my rocking chair and headed outside to the front of the house. The girls lived in the upper stories, but I slept downstairs right next to the kitchen. That was also something that I had to get used to. Sleeping. I didn’t need to do it but it was so nice to just doze off that I found myself closing my eyes once a night out of habit.

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I took a walk through the place, silently observing the setting sun. The girls were down by the river washing their clothes. It had taken some time for them to get used to this lifestyle, but they had adapted well to a mortal’s life. They were laughing and talking amongst themselves, things that I rarely saw them do in front of me. I had given them books to read and stories to enjoy over their time here, and I think that had some positive impact, though I wouldn’t really know.

"Don’t mind me, girls. Just passing through," I said as I walked past them. A few of them stiffened up and bowed toward me as I walked by.

I kept walking upstream. I liked walking. I particularly liked walking without any qi or spiritual senses floating about. No one thought about it it, but it was hard to feel things as an immortal. You were comfortable everywhere and nothing could truly scratch or tire you. It was amazing at first, but I find that I missed hard work and draining my body of energy. I missed that tiresome feeling of a long day and the sense of accomplishment that came with it.

But you didn’t struggle as an immortal, and that was the reason most of them were willing to chase the Dao and fight to the death over random treasures. For people, to struggle was to have a purpose, and cultivators were no different. So they would choose a struggle that they would never truly finish, to chase the Dao, to know all, and to become The Absolute God. It gave them a purpose, one that they would never truly reach. And because of that purpose, they would have the strength to push on for eternity or their death.

"So what was there left for a cultivator who abandons all that?" I asked out loud.

I was still walking through the forest and I had spent about an hour or so in contemplation. I sighed, walking to an empty clearing in the woods. There was a herd of deer there silently grazing on the grass. I walked among them and sat down at the center of the clearing, crossing my legs in a meditative pose.

The herd hadn’t heard me. I took care to not disturb them and the surrounding area with my presence. I was familiar with the herd. I’d come here often to think or to relax among them, and they came here because it was a safe grazing area.

My mind went back to thinking. I needed something to hold onto, something to build myself around for the rest of my existence. Arrays had been my passion for most of my life, and I had mastered that better than anybody else in all of reality. I was the best array master there was and maybe I could pursue them to a higher degree. Maybe I could make arrays that had connections so strong and components so potent that it would redefine the definitions of arrays as a whole, but as much as I loved arrays, I didn’t know if that was enough to keep going.

I listened. The deer were silently munching on the grass with a few of them raising their heads to observe the surroundings for predators. I smiled. They never got hunted here. Back when I first settled down, this was the spot I originally planned to build my house on. I changed my mind later on, but I laid out some of the defense arrays and made the area entirely non-violent. It had become a little haven for the deer and many other creatures that lived throughout the forest. In nature, you were either constantly trying to kill something or to avoid being killed, and this place was free from all that.

I watched the deer for quite some time. I didn’t really remember for how long, I just sat there and watched. Hours must have gone by as I sat there and something started to tickle the back of my brain, something strong. It wasn’t the deer, and it wasn’t the array, but there was something there. Something both familiar and foreign at the same time.

I closed my eyes and inhaled. The cold crisp air filled my lungs as I relaxed into a meditative pose.

I had touched upon some Daos and Laws during my life. It was necessary to understand them for my work with arrays. And even though those fledgling ideas sat in my heart, they had never been the guiding forces in my life. I knew enough of the sword Dao to make sword arrays and I knew enough of the illusion Dao to make illusion arrays, but I didn’t practice them.

Still, I recognized this feeling. This was the familiar and almost euphoric experience of a Dao. Which was strange, because I hadn’t been seeking a Dao at all. I hadn’t taken to practicing any set of beliefs, and I wasn’t trying to reach the heavens anymore, so there was no reason to find one here.

And even now I still didn’t know what this Dao was. It was something new to me, something I’d never really experienced before. Most Daos worth practicing were powerful, domineering even, but this one was quiet and gentle, almost unnoticeable.

"What are you?" I asked out loud.

The deer, having finally noticed me among them, all looked at me with fear in their eyes. I expected them to scatter and the first sight of a possible predator, but they didn’t. They just stared for a minute, confused by what they were seeing. After a momentary showdown, one of the does slowly lowered her head and brought it down to a bush. One by one, all the other deers followed through, each of them turning back to their food and ignoring my existence.

"What?" I mumbled, slightly confused.

This was the Dao. It was surrounding me and filling my presence with its presence, moving into me. I could’ve fought back and refused its gift, but suddenly I understood. I knew what this was, and I had been seeking it this whole time.

I laughed. The deer didn’t move, but some of them raised their head and looked at me rather curiously. I had seen many Daos in my life. I had fought against many of them as well. I had seen the Dao of Flames, the Dao of Strength, Power, Blade, Sun, Light, Devil, Demon, Warrior, Saint, I had seen it all.

But never had I known there to be a Dao of Peace.