Ning Que recalled the feeling in the dream seriously and said, "In my dream, those continuous but rhythmic breaths finally became something substantial. They gathered together and enveloped my body. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hold those things that were lighter than water. I could only watch them slip through my fingers."
Lyu Qingchen suppressed his excitement and asked in a low voice, "How big was the range you felt in the dream? No, I should say, what was it like? A basin of water? A stream? Or a small pond? "
Ning Que raised his head and answered blankly, "It was like … a sea."
Lyu Qingchen's body stiffened slightly and then he fell back to the soft cushion. After a long silence, he laughed at himself with a tired smile and murmured, "Yes, how could it be?"
Ning Que had guessed from his expression that things were not as he had imagined, but he still asked, "Mr. Lyu, is this the Initial State you mentioned? Is what I felt the Breath of Heaven and Earth? "
Lyu Qingchen patted his shoulder to comfort him and said bitterly, "The Initial State is the Initial Awareness State. I told you a few days ago that the cultivator's psyche is released from the Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow and begins to understand the existence of the Breath of Heaven and Earth. In other words, this is the first moment when a secular person opens his eyes and sees a whole new world."
"The first world he sees determines the future of this cultivator. Because what he sees and what he feels is the projection of the primal energies of all things in the world on his mind. And the purer, the stronger, and more compact this cultivator's meditation will be, the greater the range of the primal energies he can feel."
The old man looked at Ning Que quietly and said, "Cultivators with poor aptitudes can only feel the Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Initial Awareness State, and the projection in their soul is just a basin of water. Cultivators with better aptitudes can feel the Qi of Heaven and Earth in a wider range, and the projection is just a small pond. If he can feel a stream or even a lake … then he will become a respected Grand Cultivator in the future."
Ning Que frowned and wanted to say something, but was stopped by the old man.
The old man continued, "There are very few people who have reached the peak of the Knowing Destiny State. Among them, Liu Bai, the Sage of Sword from the South Jin Kingdom is the most talented. He entered the Initial State when he was less than six years old. As soon as he entered the Initial State, he saw an endless yellow river! This was a true genius! This is why he was able to dominate the south with his Yellow River Sword Will, and is now regarded by all the cultivators in the world as the person most likely to break through the Five States! "
If seeing a yellow river was the most powerful cultivator in the world, then what about seeing an ocean? Ning Que was silent for a long time. Although he had many secrets, he had never thought of himself as a genius, not to mention a genius who was more abnormal than the universally recognized geniuses. However, he was still a little … unwilling.
"Maybe this sounds a little arrogant, a little unreasonable, or … narcissistic."
He chose his words carefully, lowered his head and said slowly, "Is it possible that I'm really stronger than the Sword Sage of South Jin Kingdom … It's just because I've been meditating for so many years that I can feel a wider range when I entered the Initial Awareness State?"
"What's wider than a raging river? I don't know, but I'm sure it's not the boundless ocean, because they are two completely different concepts. "
Lyu Qingchen looked at Ning Que, who was lowering his head, and sighed softly. He said, "Kid, do you know what the ocean represents when you enter the Initial Awareness State? It represents the Qi of Heaven and Earth of the whole world. "
"No one can see everything in that new world the moment they open their eyes. That's because it's impossible. Even the legendary saints can't do it."
He patted the young lad's slightly stiff shoulder again, and comforted him with a smile, "Although it's just a dream, it's not a bad dream."
Ning Que left in silence.
He had always been indifferent to cultivation. If it weren't for Lyu Qingchen's advice these days, which made him have some unnecessary thoughts, his mood would probably be much better now. As the saying goes, if there was no hope, there would naturally be no disappointment. If there was despair at the beginning, then there would be no hope at the beginning at all.
The little handmaiden Sangsang brought the basin of hot water in front of him, deftly wrung the towel, and then covered his tired face with the slightly hot and steaming towel. She asked curiously, "Young master, what did you ask tonight?"
Ning Que's voice came out from under the hot towel, as if it had been moistened by the steaming water. It hummed in a low voice, "I went to tell Old Lyu that I have a little secret that I won't tell you. But since I told you, should you tell me that you have already seen through my little secret, and then bow down to me, a talented cultivation genius?"
Sangsang kept repeating these words in her mind, and then she felt a little dizzy, and hurriedly rubbed her eyebrows. She pulled off the towel from Ning Que's face and rubbed it twice in the water. Then she twisted her waist and splashed the water out of the carriage. She said, "Young master, it seems that you have become more of an idiot this time."
Indeed, he looked like an idiot. Ning Que turned around and looked at the stars above the field through the window. His palm subconsciously touched his cheeks to touch those tiny freckles that could not be touched at all. He murmured in a low voice, "So what if I can play with the flying sword? I can play with the Xuanyuan Sword, but can you guys? "
Sangsang could not help but shake her head when she heard that he was talking nonsense that she did not understand.
Ning Que sat up and took out the worn-out Article on the Response of the Tao. He did not open it, but silently stared at the cover for a long time, as if he was trying to find out what secrets were hidden in it.
"Bring the basin over." His voice was much calmer now.
He lit the match and moved it to a corner of the book. After a while, the old yellow book began to burn. He gently loosened his fingers, letting the Article on the Response of the Tao, which had accompanied him for many years, fall into the brass basin and burn faster and faster.
Sangsang looked at this scene in surprise.
Ning Que watched as the pages of the book curled and turned black in the flames, and then suddenly burst into flames and finally turned into layers of ashes. He tightened his right hand on the window and felt a little empty in his heart. It was as if a friend who had accompanied him for many years had gone far away and would never come back. It was also as if the dream of his youth had disappeared like a bubble.
"Am I very useless?" he asked.
Sangsang shook her head.
Ning Que smiled and said, "No one is better at archery than me, and no one is fiercer than me with a knife. People of my age have not killed as many people as I have. I'm not useless. I'm a woodcutter of Shubi Lake. It's just that I can't do acrobatics with flying swords. If there's a chance in the future, I'll kill some f * cking Grand Cultivators like how I killed the Horse Gang. "
Sangsang tightened her lips and nodded with a smile.
This was not self-comfort after giving up, but Ning Que's firm recognition. Those brave bodyguards at the entrance of Northern Mountain Road had almost defeated a Great Sword Master, so why couldn't he? There was no truly invincible person in this world. Those Unworldly Sublime Beings were still human beings, so he could defeat them.
In that world, in this world, there were many people who found that they were actually very weak and could not fulfill their dreams. They would feel lost, miserable, inferior or even autistic. Then many people would immerse themselves in this kind of pain or the illusion of success. They would lock themselves in the cage of their hearts and keep struggling, hoping to return to the past.
When they found that they could not write the new Dream in the Brothel, one of the Four Great Masterpieces that could be hidden in the deep mountains and passed down for thousands of years, they locked themselves in the village for 30 years, drinking porridge every day and using their left hand as a red sleeve. Did they think that they were Cao Xueqin?
Ning Que had never been such a person. If he could not be Cao Xueqin, he would be Jin Yong. If he could not be an emperor, he would be a calligrapher. If he could not be a general, he would be a Grand Secretary. If he could not be a cultivator, so what?
Those who walked on the road to the end were not wrong. Although the people around them would suffer, they might even succeed in the end. However, those who had the determination to choose a new road immediately might be more worthy of respect.
Life was a good guy. It took more courage to ask him to turn back than to ask him to keep walking.
…
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