Taoist Zhanyuan looked at Zhang Yan for a moment before withdrawing his gaze. After a moment of silence, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "The way to seek oneself is to destroy oneself and live toward death."
Zhang Yan's mind shook slightly when he heard this, and he felt as if he'd opened some sort of door. For a time, countless comprehensions surged out from his heart, but there was still a faint barrier that came into contact with the True Dao, but he was unable to break through in the end.
Taoist Zhanyuan quickly revealed the truth. "The so-called destruction of oneself is to destroy the stubbornness. The so-called stubbornness is the mark of existence in the world, the mark of the Great Way. You, me, and all things in the world are the same.
"The marks of living beings in the world are unconscious of life and death. They exist together with heaven and earth. If we cannot transcend, it is just like the river of the world under our feet. We can wave our hands and summon them. The reincarnation, life, and death are all controlled by our hearts. When we open our eyes, thousands of things will happen. "
Zhang Yan nodded slowly. If there is existence, there is Tao. If there is Tao, there is permanence. If there is permanence, there is change. If there is change, there is life. In the world, the rise and fall of heaven and earth, and even life and death, become the future and the past. Isn't this the stubbornness of heaven and earth?
At this moment, Taoist Zhanyuan continued, "The marks of all things in the world are permanent, neither growing nor disappearing. The stubbornness of our Spirit Refinement is immortal, and external disasters are difficult to erase. It has its own spirituality. If you succeed, it will succeed. If you change, it will also change. However, after transcending the world, it will be difficult to merge again."
Zhang Yan immediately understood what he meant. His stubbornness was originally the mark of his existence in the world, but after he jumped into the world, the mark of his existence in the world disappeared. However, because the mighty figure of Spirit Refinement still existed, the mark did not actually disappear. Instead, it continued to exist in another way.
However, the change of the two sides was equivalent to missing each other, which would eventually bring obstacles to each other.
It was like two parallel lines, one and the same, divided into Yin and Yang. Originally, you were me, and I was you. Although they did not intersect, they were still in the same place. However, after he refined his Spirit, Yin and Yang were separated. Only these slight deviations caused both sides to deviate. One day, they would meet. At that time, a violent collision would occur.
He pondered for a moment and said, "When I was observing the Dao, I didn't notice such a change. Does Fellow Daoist have anything to say about it?"
Taoist Zhanyuan said, "You don't feel it now because your cultivation hasn't reached that stage yet. However, as your cultivation improves, you will have to face it sooner or later. But if you don't admire the Great Way, then you won't have to worry about it."
Zhang Yan instantly understood. This was just like how a Spirit Refinement Almighty cultivator would be far away from the real world after breaking through. However, one was far away while the other was near. As his cultivation level increased, he would get closer and closer to the real world. In the end, he would see it. Unless he stopped pursuing the Grand Dao and stopped improving his cultivation, then he would naturally not encounter such danger.
Thinking of this, he asked again, "According to what you said, if we don't pass this test, our cultivation will be obstructed. Then how do those who seek help from the outside pass?"
Taoist Zhanyuan said, "If you seek help from the outside, you can only observe the essence of creation and use the Great Way to understand yourself. Then, you can bypass the obstacle of understanding the real world and resolve the stubbornness step by step. When the Dharma and Logos are clear, this disaster will be eliminated. But if you fail to suppress it, the stubbornness will suddenly change, and everything will disappear."
Zhang Yan couldn't help but ponder. According to Taoist Zhanyuan, those who seek help from the outside actually didn't eliminate the stubbornness. Instead, they chose to bypass it for the time being and pursue the Great Way. After comprehending it, they would go back and resolve the stubbornness bit by bit. However, this method wasn't very safe. It was equivalent to crossing a dangerous mountain and a cliff. One wrong step and they would fall.
Those who seek help from the outside actually wanted to cut off this obstacle in one go. Then, there would be no such obstacle in the future cultivation, and the future path would be smooth.
From his point of view, he was willing to solve the problem at the very beginning. If the stubbornness wasn't subdued as soon as possible, it would leave a flaw in your cultivation. Even if you could subdue it yourself, your opponent might take advantage of it.
He asked, "If I want to walk the path of seeking help from the outside, do you have any advice?"
Taoist Zhanyuan revealed a smile and said, "You should know that once you walk this path, there is no turning back."
Zhang Yan smiled and said, "My words are in the hands of my friend, but it is up to me to take the path."
Taoist Zhanyuan paused for a moment and then said, "Because the stubbornness is you, it can obtain all the magical powers and Dao techniques that you know. It also understands what you are thinking in your heart. When the day comes that the path is completed, it will be born from your spirit and come to find you. It will be extremely difficult to kill it, so you should be careful."
As soon as Zhang Yan heard this, he knew that the stubbornness was actually him. The only difference was that he had a magic weapon in his hand, while the stubbornness didn't. In other words, the stubbornness was only him and didn't have any external objects.
But there was still a problem here, because the two were originally one. If he could use the treasure, then the stubbornness could also use it.
Unless he couldn't use the treasure as he wished. But because the stubbornness was born from the spirit, if the magic weapon couldn't be hidden in the spirit, then it probably wouldn't be reflected in the spirit. Therefore, this advantage might not be useful.
He thought for a moment and asked, "What will happen if I don't pass the obstacle of understanding the truth?"
Taoist Zhanyuan was silent for a moment and then said in a deep voice, "If you don't pass the obstacle, you will still be you, but you will also not be you."
His words were unclear, but Zhang Yan could understand it. Cultivating the spirit wouldn't die. At most, it would only lead to eternal silence. But if you failed to kill the stubbornness, you would be replaced by the stubbornness. In other words, the external side of you would die, but the real side of you would still exist.
It didn't look like there was any difference, but there was actually a difference. It was just like how a living being in this world reincarnated. My past self is dead, and only my present self is still around. But to my past self, I am no longer me.
What was even more frightening was that because the true self didn't change, those who knew you wouldn't be able to see that you had been replaced.
Taoist Zhanyuan said in a deep voice, "This isn't the most dangerous thing. If the two sides are entangled, and there is no clear winner or loser, then we will never meet again."
If the Cultivating Spirit didn't kill the stubbornness, nor was it replaced by the stubbornness, then it might disappear forever. Because the stubbornness and the self were originally one, there was no difference in magic power or cultivation. Usually, it was difficult to see who was superior. In addition, the magic power of the Cultivating Spirit was endless. This entanglement was likely to last forever, which was equivalent to eternal silence. In fact, this kind of situation was the easiest to see.
Seeing that Zhang Yan was thinking, Taoist Zhanyuan pondered for a moment and reminded him, "If you want to seek your own Dao, then you need to be wary of those who seek outside. Don't leak the fact that you want to seek your own Dao."
Hearing this, Zhang Yan was slightly surprised. Then, as if he had thought of something, his eyes flickered slightly.
Taoist Zhanyuan said, "Do you think that there is no conflict between those who seek inside and those who seek outside? Since I don't want to take the fragment of the essence of good fortune, you don't have to look for me?"
Zhang Yan looked at him and said, "There must be some inside story."
Taoist Zhanyuan sighed and said, "You should know that some of my peers have taken a different path from me, so it is inevitable that they will be biased. They think that in order to pursue their own Dao, they only need to focus on themselves and don't need to care about anything else. However, when living beings are born in this world, there are people, there are me, there are heaven and earth, and even if they jump into the long river of the world, there will still be people with the same Dao. If they only ask themselves, then everything else is not important. If they go one step further, then they will be enemies with everyone except me."
Zhang Yan nodded. Just Now, he had already thought of this. Why was it like what Taoist Zhanyuan said? That was because some self-seeking people thought that they could pursue the Dao if they didn't get in their way. But how could they not get in their way? Outsiders wouldn't stop coming just because you didn't provoke them. Moreover, it was inevitable that the Cultivating Spirit would fight against each other.
Therefore, the only thing they could do was to expel all those who could affect them into eternal silence. Then, everything would be quiet, and then they could pursue the Dao without any obstacles.
Because this generation had a very clear goal and killed off their obsessions, their Taoist Heart became purer, and their cultivation was likely to be more advanced than those who followed the same Dao.
Moreover, they didn't think that what they were doing was wrong, and they would take it for granted that it was part of their path of cultivation. They wouldn't even let go of those who were pursuing the same Dao. Therefore, this generation was actually extremely dangerous.
From the standpoint of those who sought outside, who knew if they would do the same thing if they sought the same Dao? It was better to eliminate the source as soon as possible. He couldn't help but ask, "Does such a person exist today?"
Taoist Zhanyuan nodded slowly and confirmed the existence of such a person, but he didn't say what this person was called or where he was. He looked at Zhang Yan and said, "After hearing all this, do you still want to pursue the Dao of self-seeking?"
Zhang Yan smiled indifferently and said, "As a cultivator, I am only afraid that there is no way forward, so why would I be afraid of the dangerous Dao?"
Taoist Zhanyuan was slightly shocked. He looked at him for a moment and said with emotion, "What you said is correct! “
Zhang Yan looked at him and asked again, "Since you know about these Daos and I, what is it that you want?"
Taoist Zhanyuan said, "It's not the right time yet for me to tell you what I want. I will tell you when the time is right." Then, he cupped his hands and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you today. Let's say goodbye now. We'll talk again in the future."
When he finished speaking, he waved his sleeves and his magic power slowly went away. Soon, it became faintly discernible and then disappeared. It was unknown whether it was because of a magic treasure or his own cultivation.
Zhang Yan waited for this person to leave and began to think. From Zhanyuan's words, it seemed that the powerful cultivators of the Spirit Refinement Realm were divided into different camps, and the relationship between them was not harmonious.
Taoist Zhanyuan didn't say why he came this time because he was waiting for him to choose the Dao of self-seeking.
But in his opinion, seeking outside and seeking the Dao of self-seeking was just a line drawn deliberately by people. When he sought the Dao of self-seeking, there was no harm in comprehending the essence of creation. The difference between the internal and external was just the manifestation of different principles. If he didn't take one, it would be like giving up a Dao for no reason. Now that there was a Dao, there was a reason for it. If he could understand everything, that would be the right path of the Dao!
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