Shen Lian suddenly had an understanding that Taiwei Pavilion was the foundation of Qingxuan. It contained Qingxuan's exploration of Tao from generation to generation and various cultivation experiences. This was the greatest treasure of being a Taoist sect.
No wonder this Grand Master would always stay in Taiwei Pavilion.
According to the information he learned after he took over as head teacher, when Zhang Ruoxu took over as head teacher, Qingxuan had three immortal immortals, which was not a small number. As for the other teachers who had achieved immortality in the past ten thousand years, most of them failed. Survive the three great tribulations and return to the reincarnation of heaven and earth.
Only a handful of them finally escaped from the universe, cut off their ties to this world, and found freedom.
The old Taoist priest who Shen Lian had mistakenly thought was the elder of the sect was still on the first floor of Taiwei Pavilion. The wrinkles on his forehead were like runes, or like the traces left silently by the years.
Time flies by, and the power of time cannot be easily resisted by any force.
But Shen Lian knew clearly that the wrinkles on the old Taoist priest's body were not simply carved by time, but had another layer of reason.
In front of Taiwei Pavilion, there is relaxing and soft grass. Once you step into the pavilion, you will see the hard floor.
Although the grass is soft, it is regenerated every year. Although the floor is solid, it is gradually decaying. This is just because in the Immortal Sect, the rate of decay is not fast, but surprisingly slow.
The old Taoist priest was drowsy, but he opened his eyes when Shen Lian entered the pavilion.
This glance made Shen Lian unable to move his eyes away.
He suddenly realized that he was no longer in Taiwei Pavilion, but had turned into an ugly caterpillar, lying on the leaves, gnawing on the tender green leaves. This leaf was soft and watery, which made him feel very comfortable eating.
Every time he bites a leaf, he obtains its juice and leaf flesh, which are digested into the energy he needs, allowing him to grow day by day. Of course, relying on leaves for a living is not a safe and secure life. There are many others of the same kind around him who died in the end due to wind and rain, natural enemies, or infection with some germs.
If limbs are left behind, they fall into the soil and eventually turn into nutrients, which are absorbed again by the extended roots of the tree to which they are attached, giving rise to new branches and leaves.
Shen Lian watched all this silently. He was relatively lucky. He escaped many disasters and lived for a long time. Of course, this so-called long time was compared to the rest of his kind.
In essence, there is not much difference between him and the mayfly that lives and dies, or the indescribable summer insect.
In fact, he has never seen winter or snow.
As he grew up day by day, he seemed to have forgotten many things. As Shen Lian's memory, it was like the experience that overwhelmed the fragile brain of the caterpillar was gradually being rejected.
Gradually, all he had left was his instinct for life, which he continued to eat leaves to maintain his life.
Until a certain moment, he gradually felt that his body became heavy and his limbs were weak. He also found that some of the same kind were lying quietly on a certain branch, no longer moving, and white threads began to spit out of their mouths, making those white threads wrap around them. Own.
This also happened to Shen Lian. The white silk was composed of the leaves he had eaten in the past and some special structures in his body.
He suddenly remembered an idiom, tie yourself up in a cocoon. But at this time, he had forgotten his personal memory and no longer understood what this meant.
More and more white threads wrapped around the caterpillar's body, and finally he seemed to fall into a silent and dark state. He couldn't hear a sound and couldn't move.
Unable to breathe, there was no way to find new food to replenish energy.
If he continues like this, he will die soon. He didn't know much about the meaning of death, but just thinking about 'death' filled his heart with terror.
That kind of terror could drive him crazy.
There is great terror between life and death, and after great terror there is great freedom. The first half of the sentence was said by a certain sage, and the second half is his heart's expectation.
The more he faced death, the more things came to his mind, including memories of being a human being, memories of being a fish swimming in the river, memories of birds in the sky, and memories of being an animal kept in captivity by humans.
All these were like white threads outside his body, surrounding him.
He didn't understand, but he knew.
It was like an electric spark passing through his mind, and he was already confused. There is only one belief in his heart that will never disappear, that is, he must live, and only by living can he have everything.
This survival instinct runs through his life.
He was squirming hard, because that unyielding desire seemed to produce unspeakable changes. His body began to change, and there was more inexplicable potential. The cocoon made of white silk was not unbreakable. As long as he tore the white silk open, You will be reborn and free.
Driven by instinct, he tried his best.
Just as he was making all his efforts to break out of his cocoon, the world in front of him changed again, and he was still in Taiwei Pavilion.
His eyes were slightly confused, but then he quickly regained his clarity.
But deep down in my heart, I always have unfulfilled intentions, which is the regret of not being able to emerge from the cocoon and become a butterfly.
"Are you a caterpillar, or are you Shen Lian?" A clear voice sounded in Taiwei Pavilion.
It turns out that the old Taoist priest can talk. He had been silent before. Shen Lian thought he was practicing silent meditation or something like that.
Shen Lian pondered slightly and said, "Neither Caterpillar nor Shen Lian is 'me'."
The old Taoist priest asked again: "What are the white threads spit out by the caterpillars?"
Shen Lian said: "It is the embodiment of illusion."
The old Taoist priest laughed and said: "You are no better than a caterpillar now. If you go out, you will only be beaten to death. When you can 'trap yourself' in a cocoon, come and ask me for advice."
He did not clarify whether Shen Lian's answer was right or wrong. After speaking, he closed his eyes and stopped talking. He was like a silent stone statue. If Shen Lian didn't look at him, it would be difficult for him to notice his presence.
No, the old Taoist priest is more silent than the stone statue. If Shen Lian closes his eyes, he can feel the changes in the air flow between heaven and earth, and thus know the special position of the stone statue.
But when he didn't look at the old Taoist priest, it was as if he really didn't exist in the world.
This kind of state is not comparable to that of a caterpillar. Even when it breaks out of its cocoon, it is far from being able to reach this state.
Shen Lian knew that the old Taoist priest had been in Qingxuan, but why didn't he stop Yanxu in the first place, or maybe he couldn't stop it for other reasons.
When doubts arose, Shen Lian did not ask, because he knew that if the old Taoist priest was willing to talk, he would definitely tell him. But when the old Taoist priest asked him to "trap himself in a cocoon", the meaning of asking him for advice was already clear, don't ask him before.
Shen Lian understood that the so-called "creating a cocoon to bind oneself" actually meant "being entangled in illusions". At that time, he was truly qualified to cut through illusions and attack the path of the Earth Immortal.
Continue walking to the inside of Taiwei Pavilion. There is no ladder directly to the second floor of Taiwei Pavilion, but as long as you have the conditions to go to the second floor, you can naturally go in.
——
ps. Thank you to the 588 reward of "Tearing the Chest and Politeness" and the emperor of "Thinking of Gensokyo" for the reward