The two distinct internal forces in his body absorbed a large amount of blood and heat from outside, and were originally in a state of chaos and turmoil. If he was not careful, he would explode and die.
But now, in this wonderful, selfless state of mind, they have gradually calmed down, and started to flow on their own in a mysterious state of "you in me and I in you".
What is Tao? What is Demon
He had forgotten about it at this moment.
Just as there is yang in yin and yin in yang in the Tai Chi diagram, the two internal forces began to gradually blend in his body.
This kind of mysterious state is something he cannot achieve under normal circumstances. As long as he still has the distinction between Tao and Demon in his heart, no matter how he tries, they will ultimately be in opposition to each other.
Even if they can promote each other, it is improvement in the process of confrontation.
But now, he is pure and unobstructed, following the laws of nature. He has neither thoughts of Taoism nor evil, and does not distinguish between the two. He has reached a mysterious state of "returning to nature."
These two obviously completely different internal forces were actually slowly merging together.
Shi Hao strolled in the maple forest, looking at the volcanic leaves and admiring the leisurely white clouds. Sometimes he stepped to a high place and looked at the sky, earth and mountains. He felt that the world was vast and the universe was in his hands. It was an indescribable enjoyment.
After passing the maple forest, we came to a river. Opposite was a steep cliff and behind was a continuous old forest.
He picked a branch, rubbed the bark into a thin rope, tied it to the branch, sat cross-legged by the river, and threw the thin rope into the river ahead.
A strange thing happened at this moment. The thin rope was like willow catkins in the wind, light and floating, but it actually went straight forward and fell into the water. The end of the rope naturally sank into the river, as if it was the ultimate truth of heaven and earth.
He was humming a song while fishing by the river.
The fish at the bottom of the river swam back and forth, and felt very happy to see the "fishing line" without bait or hook.
On the shore, he looked at the fish swimming around and felt very happy.
There is no fish in his heart, but there is fish in the water. There is no him in the fish's heart, but he is on the shore.
I don’t know whether he is fishing or the fish is fishing him
The sun gradually moved to the zenith, and the warm sunlight fell straight down, creating a condensed light on the water surface, as if fish were jumping on the river.
Behind him, an old man slowly walked out of the forest.
The old man had a hunched back, wore brown cloth, and had an ordinary iron sword on his waist that was bought with a few taels of silver at most.
He coughed sharply in the mountain breeze, and when he caught his breath, he looked up at the young man who was sitting cross-legged by the river fishing.
At this moment, the old man had a strange feeling, as if the young man and the fishing rod in his hand had become one with the world and the mountains and rivers.
It was as if this young man was supposed to be there, and had always been there from ancient times to the present.
The old man in brown clothes slowly walked over and sat down next to the young man, looking at the "fish line" falling into the water. He asked, "Is there no hook on this line?"
The young man said, "No hook!"
The old man asked, "No hook, no bait?"
The young man said, "There is no hook or bait!"
The old man smiled in amusement and said, "Without a hook or bait, you are not fishing. So what are you doing?"
The young man said: "I am practicing Taoism!"
The old man thought for a moment and said, "I have heard of cultivating Taoism and cultivating demons, but what is cultivating the true self?"
The young man smiled and said, "Haven't you heard: It's a pity that all things are just empty names. Only by recognizing them can you escape from life and death; wisdom is like the moon in the sky, but the Tao is like ice in the water. Turn back the Guan Zhen and see through the emptiness, and everything will be clear; lack of practice and loss of merit are all false, and it is difficult to achieve the Tao through the fire of the alchemy furnace?"
The old man said: "Since 'lack of practice and loss of merit are all false, and it is difficult to achieve the Tao through refining in the furnace', then what is true
The young man said: "After the Nine Revolutions, there is no elixir. After the spell is cast, there is no demon. After the pearls are not flowing, there is no lead. The great way has always been natural!"
The old man lowered his head in deep thought. After a long while, he nodded and said, "I've learned your lesson!"
The old man sat cross-legged on the grass, watching the young man fishing.
The mountain breeze gradually died down, and the midday sun reduced the coolness in the mountains a lot.
The young man asked, "Old man, why are you here?"
The old man raised his head and looked at the leisurely white clouds: "I came here to fight."
The young man turned his head and looked at him. After a while, he sighed and said, "Why do I feel that you are here to wait for death, old man?"
The old man smiled and said, "That's about it! I have done almost everything I can and should do in my lifetime. I am old, injured and disabled a long time ago. From now on, it will be the world of the young.
"It's a pity that I didn't get to see China's restoration, the people's stability, and the world's peace. But I believe that this day will come eventually."
The young man continued to look at him, then nodded: "Old man, you are a good man!" At this moment, he was free, calm and natural, so he said whatever he thought.
As they were talking, a small boat came slowly up from upstream.
A middle-aged man was standing on the boat. He was wearing a straw raincoat, had short dense hair, eyes as bright as lightning, and an iron sword on his waist.
The boat floated to the center of the lake in front of them. The man turned his feet lightly, and the boat shifted sideways, so that the middle-aged man on the boat faced the old man.
The river water was rolling, and the small boat was floating in the middle of the river, as if it was tied by an invisible iron chain and no longer rushed downstream.
The middle-aged man looked at the old man and said in a deep voice: "You arrived earlier!" His voice was low and powerful, with a powerful force that seemed to penetrate the void.
The old man's voice was hoarse: "I have finished explaining everything that needs to be explained. I have a rare leisure time today, so I came a little early."
The middle-aged man looked at the young man fishing next to him and asked, "Who is this?"
The old man said, "There is a young man who is practicing Taoism here. When I came, he was already sitting here."
The middle-aged man said, "I've heard of cultivating Taoism and cultivating demons! What is cultivating the truth?"
The old man said, "He said, 'When the Nine Revolutions are completed, no elixir is needed; when the curse is used to control the water, no demon leader is needed; when the pearls are not flowing, no lead is needed; the great way has always been natural.'"
The middle-aged man lowered his head in thought. After a while, he said in a deep voice, "That makes sense!" He paused and said, "Since he got here first, should you and I move?"
The young man who was fishing put away his fishing rod.
He wrapped the thin fishing line made of tree bark around the fishing rod, and placed it horizontally on his thighs, saying with a smile: "It's okay! Although I got here first, this piece of mountain and river is not mine. You just do your thing, I'll just watch and I won't say anything!"
Chapter 181 Born a Hero, Died a Good Name
The old man nodded and said, "Thank you!" Then he looked at the middle-aged man in the middle of the river.
The middle-aged man with short dense hair stood proudly and said, "Although it is a sword duel, you were injured by Lie Zunyi eight years ago, and your injury must not have healed yet. If we were to compete now, you are already ill and your skills are not as good as mine, so my victory would be unfair."
The old man asked, "What do you want?"
The man said: "I will only compete with you in sword skills!"
The old man slowly let out a breath, continued to sit cross-legged, and said, "Thank you!"
The mountain breeze blew, as if startling the water surface.
The old man and the man faced each other across the water, both of them motionless.
The old man seemed to have taken root there. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, as if he was meditating. Only the iron sword at his waist made a buzzing sound.
The middle-aged man stood with his hands behind his back on a small boat. As the boat rose and fell on the water, his body rose and fell with it.
For miles around, forest birds were startled and wild animals turned their heads to look, then fled in fear.
Gradually, the space seemed to begin to distort, and the place where the old man was sitting seemed to be affected by the river surface and began to rise and fall.
But it seemed as if a powerful sword energy suddenly pressed down, and the surface of the river became as smooth as a mirror.
At this moment, Shi Hao was also sitting cross-legged, seemingly resting with his eyes closed.
But he "witnessed" the sword fight between the two men with his own eyes!
To leave the form and knowledge behind and become one with the Tao is called "sitting and forgetting"!
Those who sit and forget, forget both themselves and the world, and become one with the Tao!
At this moment, he maintained a wonderful state of integration with the heaven and earth. He was a bystander, and just a bystander.
He saw the invisible and formless sword moves colliding between the two people, one move after another, one style after another, and unknowingly distorted the space, as if leaving the world, exploding with brilliant fireworks in the infinite universe.
If it were the original him, he would definitely be shocked by this sword fight between top masters.
But on the other hand, he was originally trapped in his heart, trapped in me, and unable to witness this battle of sword intent that transcends form and leaves no trace in the world.
Only at this moment, he was detached from himself, from the universe and from the heavens, and watched this peerless sword fight with the mentality of an absolute spectator.
He didn't know what was high quality, medium quality, or low quality, nor did he know who these two people were.
But only because of this, he could maintain an absolutely detached state of mind at this moment and see all their sword moves.
The old man's sword intent opened and closed greatly, carrying a kind of compassion to save the world.
This is the sword drawn to save the world. It is simple and unpretentious. Who else but me can wield it to be the first in the world
The sword on the opposite side had a different kind of sword intent, domineering and ruthless, yet clear and unobstructed, with a powerful momentum that wanted to destroy anyone who stood in the way of his sword.
In the blink of an eye, there are thousands of killing moves, each of which is unique and never repeated.
The young man's mind was as clear as a mirror as he watched this invisible and intangible sword fight without any fluctuation. Neither of them drew their swords, but the sword intent that soared into the sky and the sword energy that penetrated into the void were everywhere.
There was nothing else between heaven and earth except those dancing invisible swords showing their brilliant brilliance.
This was a battle that was enough to shock the whole world, but it was not fought between heaven and earth.
Ten thousand swords rang out at once, the heaven and earth were destroyed, and the sword intent of both sides turned into endless sword moves, which were mighty and powerful, fighting against each other.
Each of these swords has surpassed the imagination of countless swordsmen in the martial arts world. It is like the stars that illuminate the heaven and earth gathering together and exploding in an instant. The magnificence of it is simply unbelievable.
Finally, he saw the old man's sword energy gathered into a stream and whistled towards the opposite side.
The sword intent from the opposite side struck down like thunder, looking down on the world and sweeping across the world.
As the sword energy exploded as if the entire universe was exploding, a ray of light flashed in front of the old man, and then everything returned to calm.
The old man was still sitting cross-legged. Opposite him, the middle-aged man was paddling in a small boat, swaying with the current.
The old man sighed slowly: "I lost!"
The middle-aged man did not show any joy on his face. He just said calmly: "Last time, you beat me with a sword. This time, I beat you with a move. In these years, you have been busy with trivial matters. Although you use compassion as a sword, you have not made any progress in the way of the sword itself."
The old man shook his head and said, "Although I am called the Sword King, thirty years ago, when I was your age, I was not as good as you now in terms of skills or swordsmanship. Your future achievements will definitely surpass mine."
The middle-aged man didn't say much, but just looked at the young man next to the old man and asked, "Who are you?"
The young man tilted his face, as if he was thinking very hard. After a while, he finally remembered: "Shi Hao! My name is Shi Hao!"
"So you are Shi Hao!" the middle-aged man said slowly, "You have a powerful enemy, and he is waiting for you on the road ahead."
After he finished speaking, he turned around, and the boat spun with him, going against the current and sliding upstream on its own.
The Qinling Mountains are high and the river is winding. After a while, the small boat turned the bend and disappeared.
Shi Hao turned to look at the old man beside him.
The old man raised his head and looked at the mountain on the opposite cliff. On the top of the mountain, the autumn leaves had fallen and were floating down from the cliff. The mountain wind blew down, and the dead leaves were flying everywhere on the river.
The old man sighed and said, "Alas! I'm old... I'm really old!"
Shi Hao pondered for a while and said, "Where should I send you, Senior?"
The old man smiled and said, "You don't have to go anywhere! I am already running out of energy, and I have already told everyone about my future affairs before coming here. I chose this place to fight swords on purpose, hoping to die in a place where no one knows."
"I just didn't expect that at this last moment, I would still have you, my little brother, to accompany me. For me, I am also very satisfied. If you don't abandon me, bury me in the forest and erect an empty tombstone without even carving my name on it."
Shi Hao nodded and suddenly said, "Although there is no need to engrave a name on the stele, the name of Senior Zhao has been engraved in everyone's heart. Thousands of years later, there will definitely be people who remember the name of Senior Zhao."
The old man smiled with relief and said, "I don't need anyone to remember me. I just hope that the beautiful mountains and rivers of China will no longer be trampled by the barbarians, and that the people of China will all be healthy. I have held the sword all my life only for this. If one day the barbarians are driven out and the mountains and rivers are restored, please come to my grave and tell me something."
The mountain wind gradually rose, and the leaves swirled. Shi Hao looked at the turbulent river and said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, senior, that day will not be far away!"
After saying this, he sat there quietly, looking at the water.
His eyes seemed to penetrate the turbulent river surface, looking at the fish hiding deep at the bottom of the river to avoid the cold wind.
He was looking at the fish, and the fish seemed to be looking at him too.
He smiled and said, "Don't look at me like that. Although I yearn for the great way, I am still me after all!"
He sighed, turned around, picked up the old man's gradually cooling body, and stepped into the forest.
He pulled out the iron sword from the old man's waist... It was really just an ordinary sword that could be made in any village with a blacksmith for a few taels of silver.
He dug a deep pit with his sword, put the old man's body in, and buried the old man.
He came to a stone and chopped it with the iron sword. After a few slashes, he carved out a stone tablet.
He erected the stone tablet on the grave and looked at the blank tablet.