After Zhang Yu read the manuscript in his hand, he picked up the rest of the manuscripts and flipped through them all.
He hadn't read wrongly before. What was mentioned in the manuscripts was indeed Xuanxiu's method of breaking through to the next realm.
Although there was no specific date on the manuscripts, he could feel that the earliest manuscripts were probably from more than a hundred years ago. Most of the manuscripts were from around seventy or eighty years ago. At that time, Xuanxiu's talents were emerging one after another. Several Xuanfa Xuan Zun had only achieved success at that time.
However, most of the methods in the manuscripts were unproven ideas that only existed on paper. Whether they could be realized or not was unknown. It seemed that the manuscripts' owner had sorted out and extracted them from other places.
Because he himself walked on this path and paid special attention to the cultivation of Taoism, in his opinion, most of these ideas were somewhat superficial. Even if he continued to walk on this path, there were still many problems that needed to be gradually perfected and solved.
However, it wasn't that there were no redeeming qualities in them. Some of the ideas of others had also opened up his mind, giving him a lot of new insights.
After all, Xuanxiu needed to constantly communicate with people of the same path in order to progress. All this time, he had been exploring by himself. Now that he saw these manuscripts, it was equivalent to communicating with these Xuanxiu across space, even if it was only one-sided.
However, he also had doubts here. These manuscripts should have been left behind by Xuanxiu. Even if Daoist Cao wasn't a descendant of Zhengqing, he should belong to the faction that was extremely hostile to Xuanxiu. Since he was committed to suppressing Xuanxiu, why did he leave these manuscripts behind?
He inferred two possibilities.
One was that these manuscripts might have been intended for someone in the future. As for who it was, it was impossible to figure out.
The other possibility was more likely that these people of Zhengqing's faction wanted to block Xuanxiu's path, so they also wanted to explore Xuanxiu's path.
If that was the case, this person was not only trying to kill off a talent, but he was also trying to cut off Xuanxiu's legacy.
However, these manuscripts had the same handwriting, so it was obvious that they weren't rubbings. They hadn't been carefully organized, so it was very likely that these things were Daoist Cao's private collection. Perhaps he hadn't given them to others yet.
If that was the case, it would be a fortunate thing.
He thought about it for a moment. These things were the fruits of the hard work of his predecessors. Even if he didn't complete the path in the end, it didn't necessarily mean that the path was wrong. It was very likely that he didn't have the ability to complete it. Therefore, he put these things away properly.
After putting these things away, he moved the letters in front of him. Then, he found that there were some documents that were related to him. They described in detail some of the dao techniques and divine abilities he had used in front of others, as well as his achievements in the past two years. They even included some of his experiences in the Qingyang Upper Continent.
These were probably collected scattered, so they weren't complete. However, piecing them together, he could still summarize some things.
There were some notes below the words. Judging from the handwriting, it was written by the same person as the manuscripts just now. It should have been written by Daoist Cao himself. It wrote in detail how to deal with him and where to start.
It was the first time that he had seen someone's evaluation of him so directly. Moreover, it was from the hands of an enemy. The analysis inside didn't contain any emotions. It was the most practical judgment.
When he looked at these, he had a feeling that he was looking at a very clear mirror. Even the slightest flaw could be reflected in it.
However, the notes weren't finished. Many things were incomplete. It seemed that Daoist Cao was still observing him, but he didn't have the opportunity to do so now.
He took the documents about himself and continued to flip through them. His eyes narrowed slightly. He found that almost all of the people recorded in these documents were Xuanxiu who had the potential to break through.
There were many cultivators whose names he had never heard of, but there were also some whom he was familiar with, such as Shi Yanxin, Liang Yi, Yao Zhenjun, and so on. Even Yu Ruiqing's account was there. Judging from the date, it should have been the people who participated in the encirclement and suppression of Lu Xuanhe that attracted the attention of these people.
He flipped through a little and found that there were more detailed records and analyses of the techniques and divine abilities of all the people here. The strengths and weaknesses of these people were listed one by one.
Because these involved the privacy of others, without the consent of these fellow daoists, he wouldn't read in depth. Therefore, after flipping through a little, he put away these records and prepared to find a suitable time to return them to the original owner.
On one hand, it was to remind them that there were enemies spying on them. On the other hand, enemies often saw through him more clearly than he did. He believed that these things were useful to them and didn't need to be destroyed.
After removing the records of Xuanxiu, all that was left were the letters that Daoist Cao had exchanged with others.
Although these letters didn't have a specific name and the handwriting was difficult to recognize, based on the content and clues that appeared on the paper, it was possible to find the person behind it if carefully investigated.
Daoist Cao didn't leave these things behind carelessly. Rather, it seemed that he deliberately kept them for self-protection because they involved a lot of secrets.
After carefully reading all the letters, he ordered Qing Shu to bring Daoist Cao's disciples over for questioning.
Most of these disciples only answered one question after another. Most of the time, they remained silent. It was clear that they were depressed and hadn't completely adjusted.
However, the young disciple named Liu Fang was very cooperative. Without needing him to ask, she took the initiative to explain many things. Moreover, she tried her best to remember some details.
He learned from these disciples that Cao Kang had been moving around the outer layer of the inner layer, mainly to deal with some of Xuanxiu's elites.
He had never come to Kui Mansion before because Yu Xuanzun was overseeing it. This Xuan Zun valued the younger generation of Xuanxiu greatly, so he didn't dare to come. It was only after Yu Xuanzun was dismissed that he brought people here.
Daoist Cao wasn't the only one who did this. There were a few true cultivators who secretly participated, but Liu Fang didn't know much. The one who followed Daoist Cao the longest was Chang 'er, but he had already been killed by him.
After questioning all the disciples, Zhang Yu ordered Qing Shu to leave. He sat alone in the main hall, looking at the blooming flowers in the courtyard.
Daoist Cao had started his activities more than a hundred years ago. Many of the Xuanxiu's elites had been harmed by him.
He usually didn't directly kill people, but used some sneaky methods to dampen the minds of the Xuanxiu's elites. Only when he encountered someone with a strong will and knew that ordinary methods were useless would he try to deal with them.
This generation's intentions were unusually sinister. Although it was difficult to find the upper realm of Xuanxiu, countless Xuanxiu were searching for it. Those outstanding figures were the most promising among them. Perhaps one day they would find a suitable path to walk on and benefit other Daoists. However, now that they were disturbed by this generation, some of them were killed.
However, he also understood that the root cause of this matter was that as the number of Xuanxiu increased day by day, more and more of them invaded or touched on some of the authority that originally belonged to true cultivators. However, the upper echelons of Xuanxiu didn't have enough power to protect these, which led to this situation.
His eyes flashed slightly. Although he still didn't have the ability to eradicate this generation, there were some things he could do.
He called out to the outside. After a short while, Xu Chengtong walked in from the outside. He bowed and said, "Patrol Protector, what are your orders?"
Zhang Yu said, "Deacon Xu, investigate a few things for me." He reached out and pushed, moving the letters between Daoist Cao and others to the front. "Try to find out where these letters came from and who sent them. Then come back and report to me."
Xu Chengtong walked forward and reached out to take it. He glanced at it a few times and said confidently, "Patrol Protector, leave it to me. I've done this kind of investigation often in the past. I'll definitely be able to find out the person behind these letters clearly."
Zhang Yu nodded slightly. After Xu Chengtong left, he threw out the jade token and set up a simple formation inside and outside the hall. Then, he straightened his body and adjusted his mind. After a short while, he entered into a meditative state.
A few days ago, he went into seclusion to pursue "all self". He didn't gain much as he still couldn't find the key to it. However, he was able to master the three steps summed up by the predecessors after trying them out. This time, he followed the steps as he entered a meditative state.
After a short while, he first felt that everything in the world had retreated, leaving him alone. Then, even he himself faded away.
If the traces of consciousness, mind, senses, and so on that originated from himself were deeply engraved on the white paper of the present world, then now these traces were slowly fading away in his meditative state.
However, if these traces were to fade away, then it would be completely denying his own existence. Even if his original body was still there, he would be a walking corpse. Therefore, he had to grasp the degree of this.
"Grasping self" must exist, just like the roots of a tree being firmly nailed there. Only then could it attract the additional self to come to him. Therefore, this step was only "withdrawing self to seek truth" and not "abandoning self to seek truth".
It was just that in the past, cultivators who cultivated according to this method often couldn't control the degree of this step well. If they overstepped it, they would lose self. If they didn't withdraw enough, then they wouldn't be able to enter the last step.
This was a test of a cultivator's qualitative cultivation. Without a certain level of attainment and cultivation, it was indeed impossible to reach this step, let alone meditating to comprehend and seek truth.
At this moment, as he entered a meditative state, the traces left in the world had almost faded away. However, there was still a trace of existence, barely maintaining his existence.
As he continued to meditate, some things gradually emerged. At this moment, he suddenly felt that there were two extremely clear additional selves beside him, and they resonated with him in some way. It was as though he only needed to call them gently and they would become one with him.
He opened his eyes and looked over. The two swords placed in front of him were the "Cicada Cry" and "Shocking Sky". At this moment, these two long swords were trembling slightly and emitting soft cries.
He looked at them for a moment. With a slight thought, the two flying swords suddenly turned into two dazzling flowing lights. Then, they jumped together and slashed toward him!
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