He said slowly: "Although this boy has a natural spiritual root, he still has relatives living in the world. He has some concerns and his earthly ties have not yet been resolved."
"Oh? Then go and get his relatives... and help him cut off all worldly ties?" Taoist Qingzhuo continued.
"That's too deliberate. It would be best if he could pass this test on his own." Taoist Qingyi looked at the half-grown child in front of him:
"Disciple, listen carefully."
"It was your parents' choice to send you out of town, not your own choice."
"Originally, this stage is actually too early for immortal cultivators... But since you have a natural spiritual root, how can you be the same as an ordinary cultivator? I will test you in advance for this stage, and you can choose for yourself."
Two old Taoist priests and a child stood on the clouds, overlooking the lonely city below.
The isolated city had just experienced a war, and some soldiers had died on the battlefield. The morale in the city was low, and occasional cries could be heard from a few households.
I only heard a Taoist monk smiling and saying, "The world is bitter and turbid. There are five doors to suffering for mortals: the door of suffering in the heart caused by name and color, the door of suffering in the spirit caused by name and love, the door of suffering in the form caused by name and greed, the door of suffering in the spirit caused by name and beauty, and the door of suffering in the soul caused by name and body."
"Lust, love, greed, competition, and the body all arise from the distracting thoughts of ordinary people."
"When one reaches a certain level of spiritual practice, one must abandon all feelings and desires, and cut off worldly ties, before one can embark on the path of immortality and attain enlightenment."
"If you don't kill the three corpses and get rid of your obsessions... Even if you gain immortality, you will still have to suffer the five sufferings. Why bother?"
At this point, Taoist Qingyi asked the half-grown child in front of him:
"My disciple, guess how old I am now?"
"Eighty?" the boy guessed.
"I have lived for more than a thousand years." Taoist Qingyi smiled faintly.
"A man in his thirties or forties might burst into tears when he thinks of the beautiful woman he could not get, but an old man in his eighties would only feel a little nostalgic when he thinks of her again."
"As an old Taoist priest for a thousand years, how do you think I would feel when I think of the beautiful woman I could never get in the mortal world?"
The smile on Taoist Qingyi's face gradually faded, and he became solemn:
"This is to cut off obsession and abandon desire."
“If you don’t kill the three corpses and get rid of obsessions, if you don’t give up emotions and desires and sever worldly ties, and if you can’t transcend the five sufferings of the world, then no matter how high your immortal realm is, you will never be able to achieve enlightenment.”
"In order to practice cultivation, do we have to get rid of obsessions?" the child asked, looking up.
"Oh, there is another fork in the road." Taoist Qingyi smiled slightly and looked at Taoist Qingzhuo next to him:
"Qingzhuo, do you remember the mortal general who fled this desert in a hurry a few years ago? I think his surname was Wu?"
"Hmm? Is that true?" Taoist Qingzhuo didn't care:
"Brother Qingyi, why do you remember the affairs of a mortal so clearly?"
"That mortal was a martial artist. I let him go because he had gone astray. His obsession was too strong and he would never amount to anything." Taoist Qingyi said calmly.
"The immortal way has continued from ancient times to the present day, and the inheritance has never been broken."
"Martial arts are just a self-defense trick for ordinary people in the mortal world, and they are not worthy of being in a noble place. They have no immortal forerunners, and there is no way forward, so even if they go astray, they don't even know it."
Taoist Qingyi sneered:
"If you want to achieve the Tao, you must be free of emotions and desires, cut off all obsessions, and only have a pure heart of Tao."
"But the mortal warrior surnamed Wu took the opposite path. Instead of cutting off his obsession, he allowed it to grow. A mortal cannot control such an extremely strong obsession. This is like walking on the edge of an abyss. It is only a matter of time before he falls into it."
"It's just that the ignorant are fearless." Taoist Qingzhuo was not interested in the topics of mortals. He just said a few perfunctory words and then let the topic go.
Having said this, Taoist Qingyi suddenly turned his head and looked at the half-grown child, his face as solemn as a mountain:
"In this world, the immortal path is the great path, and cultivating immortality is the general trend."
"You are born with a natural spiritual root, which is extraordinary. As long as you give up all your emotions and desires, you can enter the immortal sect and achieve enlightenment."
"If you go against the will of the times and are content to be ordinary, not only will you not be able to achieve immortality, you will also suffer all the hardships of the world in this world."
"Follow the will and you will be immortal, go against the will and you will be ordinary."
“One cannot deceive his own heart.”
"So, which path do you want to take?"
The voice of Taoist Qingyi was like the sound of a huge bell, resounding in Qiao Mu's ears.
His mind gradually became confused, and at this moment he seemed to have really become Daozhen himself, experiencing an old event from his childhood.
At this moment, too many images and too many sounds appeared in front of his eyes and in his ears.
There was a coffin lying sideways in the house, the bewildered face of Gu's mother, and Gu's father's repeated instructions... All the memories from childhood to adulthood emerged in his mind, and too many voices echoed in his ears.
"Why do you force me to..."
"Why do you force me..." The half-grown child seemed to be in a very painful decision. He clenched his fists and his nails dug deeply into the palms of his hands.
But no matter how hard he used his hands, no matter how he tried to restrain himself... he couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth curl up slowly.
"I really can't hold it anymore." The child couldn't help laughing:
"That's it?"
The half-grown child looked up at the sky, and the expression on his face turned indifferent.
He originally wanted to see what Daozhen was up to, but this turned out to be the case.
"That's right. He's just a young man under 60 years old. It's normal for him to have this."
"You expect to put me in the same situation as you, understand the choices you've made, look at my choices, and then you can feel at ease?"
Qiao Mu just smiled and looked up.
"It's so funny. Even if I really made the same choice as you, it only means that I'm a bad person. I'm a bad person, so what does it have to do with whether you are a bad person or not?"
The half-grown child's eyes were as sharp as a sword at this moment. He stared directly at the Taoist Qingyi in front of him, and an illusory sword light seemed to flash in the void in front of him.
laugh!
The figure of Taoist Qingyi blurred and twisted for a moment, then turned into the face of Daozhen.
He was a little dazed by the sudden impact of the sword technique. He held his forehead with one hand, his palm trembling slightly. For the first time, his usually calm expression showed a wave of emotion.
Chapter 255: Achieving the Tao (5k
When Qiao Mu performed the sword technique, Daozhen's true appearance appeared.
The Heart Demon Mirror placed in the center of the illusion array quietly cracked into tiny cracks.
The illusion has not been completely broken yet. At this moment, Qiao Mu is still in the sky above the lonely city deep in the desert. However, Dao Zhen in front of him has finally recovered from the sudden mental shock.
Qiumu, who still looked like a child, took a deep breath, clenched his fists and rushed forward, his steps as fast as the wind.
But as he rushed forward, the scenery around him quickly flew forward.
Qiao Mu was clearly rushing forward, but his vision was falling from the clouds back into the lonely city below, and he was actually getting farther and farther away from the truth.
“You are so arrogant. Don’t be so proud. I was just not careful for a moment and my true identity was discovered... It doesn’t mean the outcome is decided.” Daozhen took a deep breath and calmed his emotions.
This was not the script he wanted to see.
The Qiao family is known for valuing righteousness over life and death, and what Daozhen wants to do is not just to let the Qiao family immerse themselves in his past memories.
The truth becomes clearer as the debate goes on. After the story of the inner demon and illusion is over, what he wants to do is, as a cultivator with natural spiritual roots, to have another argument with the Qiao family about principles and ideas.
In this way, his spiritual aspirations will be one step closer to perfection and freedom from worries.
But for some unknown reason, this warrior from the Qiao family saw through the illusion he had carefully arranged in advance, and almost caused him to fail.
If the Heart Demon Mirror was not a treasure bestowed upon him by Elder Qingyi, it would have been extraordinary in itself and would have been able to protect its master even if he suddenly encountered a mental shock.
Daozhen, who was hit by the sword technique at close range, was afraid that he would not be able to escape Qiaomu's fight.
"Why can you stay awake even in the illusion?" Daozhen increased the distance between them, and his expression returned to his usual calmness.
However, the hand that was supporting his forehead was still trembling slightly, and it was obvious that the sword technique had not left him unscathed.
"Because your illusion is too fake." Qiao Mu said casually.
He actually had no intention of talking much with Daozhen, but immortal cultivators had many methods, and he had only used the "Eye Sword Technique" to successfully hit Daozhen, while his fist missed.
This illusion has another mystery that he has not yet completely broken through. Even as he was talking, he was thinking about countermeasures.
"You don't understand the old soldiers of Lone City led by Li Changge, so you can't create a real illusion." Qiao Mu said lightly:
Qiao Mu looked around. At this moment, he had fallen from the sky and landed in the military camp of Gucheng. He looked at the illusions of the old soldiers of Dayan who were still training in the military camp and had not yet aged.
"There are indeed heroes in this world who sacrifice themselves for others and die for others. Even selfish people cannot deny that there have always been such fools in this world."
"You don't understand, so you can't imagine how Brother Li Changshi would answer. Even if you make up an answer, it would be insincere and untrue..."
In fact, it is normal not to understand.
The reason why heroes are called heroes by the world is that they are extremely rare.
"I don't understand." Daozhen nodded in agreement, then asked in confusion:
"You understand, then?"
"If it were you, the Qiao family, what choice would you make?"
They were enemies fighting each other just now, and Daozhen even killed a member of the Qiao family with his own hands.
But at this moment, there was no murderous intent on Dao Zhen's face. There was only a hint of curiosity in his eyes, or something close to a desire for knowledge.
He really didn't understand, but he was indeed expecting Qiumu to give him an answer
This reaction made Qiao Mu's eyes twitch.
"It's not surprising that a child in his early teens doesn't understand what the old soldiers are doing."
In fact, Qiumu has really thought about this issue carefully.
When he first spent eighty years in a dream and was forced to question his conscience and find an answer to support himself... the first thing he thought of was to copy the answers of the old soldiers such as Hai Siyuan.
The sages and martyrs who came before us and the soldiers who protected our country were indeed very noble and sublime. There are indeed such true heroes in this world.
Qiumu thought about copying the answers, but failed.
Because people cannot deceive their own hearts.
During these long years, what he needed was an answer from the heart.
This answer doesn’t have to be so lofty or so grand.
It is enough to say high-sounding words to outsiders. If you close the door and ask yourself honestly, there is no need for such nice words.
"The old soldiers are concerned about Dayan and have great justice in their hearts, but I am not." Qiao Mu walked forward step by step, trying to get closer to Daozhen who was far away in the horizon.
This was the answer he had gotten in his heart more than a hundred years ago.
His determination is indeed not as lofty as those of the old soldiers in the lonely city in the past, and there is no need to force it to be lofty.
In fact, this is also the answer given by the former Sword Exiled Immortal.
The exiled swordsman had been living in an isolated city for thirty years, watching with cold eyes as the old soldiers gradually withered away, and he did not understand their actions and feelings.
And when the lonely city was about to be destroyed in the final battle, when he saw his brother Lu Yanbei was about to die, he saw clearly into his own heart.
Qiao Mu's answer made Dao Zhen obviously a little surprised.
The Qiao family, who were thought to be famous for valuing righteousness over life and death, actually gave such an answer. Is this also a collapse of their character
"As for your question about my choice... haven't I already made my choice?"
The true choice of Tao is to follow the flow and become an immortal, and go against the flow and become a mortal.
And Qiumu also has his choices.
The simplest option is to hide until you are invincible and then come out. The fastest option is to become a demon. Even if you want fame and fortune, there is still the option of maximizing your profits by brushing your points.
The easiest way is always to take the tailwind, but he just doesn't want to take it.
While speaking, Qiumu also closed his eyes.
As he closed his eyes, his vision naturally became dark, and there was no longer any sight of the lonely city around him.
It is naturally impossible to break the illusion created by Daozhen by simply closing your eyes.
But Qiao Mu is no longer an ordinary person. Even with his eyes closed, he has the intuition of a first-level spiritual cultivator.
The vision is obscured and the other five senses are also disordered, making it difficult to identify the true body of Tao in the illusion.