Chapter 50 – Debating the Dao Outside Town

In the Postnatal realm, one tempers the heart. In the Prenatal realm, one communes between Heaven and Man, thereby touching the Dao.

Thereafter, the Three Thousand Great Daos and the countless Minor Daos unfold. The Great Daos include the Dao of Cause and Effect, the Dao of Fate, and the Dao of Reincarnation. Even the Minor Daos can be an unyielding will that persists until death. By cultivation system, the higher classifications are the Immortal Dao, the Divine Dao, the Demon Dao, the Ghost Dao, the Beast Dao, the Buddhist Dao, and the Human Dao, while below those lie the Martial Dao, the Dharma Dao, the Sword Dao, and many others.

The forms of cultivating the Dao differ greatly, yet the realm one pursues remains the same from beginning to end. The Dao Realms are: Foundation Establishment, Transcendence of the Mortal, life and Death, the Nine Layers of Divine Ability, Spirit Mirror, Return to Void, and Ten Thousand Tribulations. Beyond that, the mysteries cannot be glimpsed.

This detailed guide to the basics of cultivation was truly nothing more than common knowledge of the cultivation world. It said not half a word about how to advance from the Postnatal realm to the Prenatal realm, how to establish one’s foundation, or how to break through the life and Death Realm.

Zhan Changfeng understood completely. Some things are treasured and passed down only through personal lineage.

She hadn’t had great expectations for it either. Her main purpose was simply to fill in the gaps in her understanding of the cultivation world.

The Nine-Cycle Rebirth Art was divided into nine layers. Only after completing one layer would she receive information on the next. Although it would describe how to advance in cultivation, it offered her little reference on matters of common knowledge. This manual happened to remedy that shortcoming.

Her current method of cultivation was, in some ways, rather unusual.

According to the book, the Martial Dao and the Dharma Dao were the two most fundamental paths. The Sword Dao, the Blade Dao, the Music Dao, and the Talisman Dao all branched out from these two.

The Martial Dao lineage cleaves open the Qi Sea and primarily cultivates strength. The Dharma Dao lineage cleaves open the Purple Mansion and primarily cultivates dharmic power. Yet the “Nine-Cycle” cultivates the bones, speaking of deathlessness and indestructibility, while “Rebirth” cultivates the soul and emphasizes soul arts — it seemed to possess aspects of both the Martial and Dharma paths.

Zhan Changfeng disliked feeling her way across a river stone by stone, because once she went in the wrong direction, she could face utter ruin. That kind of blind fumbling was the most foolish approach of all.

She had heard that Cangyun Ravine had many cultivation institutions. If that were the case, she would either visit the finest Martial Cultivation Academy to observe the Martial Dao, or the finest Dharma Cultivation Academy to observe the Dharma Dao. Of course, if there was a place that could resolve her physical body’s problems, that place would be her first choice.

Zhan Changfeng was halfway through the book when one person could no longer restrain themselves and edged closer.

“Little Daoist, what book are you reading?”

Zhan Changfeng showed him the title. The person’s eyes lit up — a detailed guide to cultivation basics, no less. One look and it was clear this was related to cultivation.

“Little Daoist, I am originally from Yangjia Village in Liu’an County, Liaozhou. My surname is Yang, given name Ci’an, the sixth child in my family. From a young age I labored over the books of the sages, but the world today is difficult — it is no age of clarity and order. My family fell on hard times, and I drifted from place to place. Thinking only of the grace of my parents, I clung to life. Fortunately, a great master gave me guidance, and I traveled west, waiting here for two years and eight months! I wish to find the Great Dao, to right the wrongs of this world. I beg the little Daoist to point me toward the path!”

Yang Ci’an wore a tattered set of clothes. His words were impassioned, his spittle flying freely, his face flushed red. “Little Daoist—”

The next second he looked as though he might burst into tears.

Zhan Changfeng silently lowered the book she had been holding in front of her face and pointed at the axe on the ground. “Go chop down five trees.”

Yang Ci’an looked hesitant and uncertain. “Can the little Daoist teach me immortal arts?”

“A young man who doesn’t even know the Dao yet dares to dream of immortal arts.” Zhan Changfeng shook her head. “You may go.”

Yang Ci’an started, and quickly admitted his error. “It is all my fault for reaching beyond my grasp. Please, Daoist, do not hold it against me!”

“Go chop down ten trees, and I will let you look at the book in my hand.”

“. . .” The price had gone up?

Yang Ci’an consoled himself that this was a test of his perseverance. He had nothing to lose anyway — he had already waited two years. What did it matter to go chop a few trees? Perhaps he truly would attain the Dao and ascend to immortality.

He picked up the axe and trotted off into the forest.

The others watching saw there was a chance, and people immediately came forward to inquire.

“Go chop down five trees.”

“Go dig a pit in the open ground to the south — fifty feet square and half a foot deep.”

“You go dig as well.”

“Go chisel ten loads of rubble.”

“Who knows whether this is real or not — why are you all rushing to do things? At the very least wait until the first person comes back and see what he actually gets.” A man with upward-slanting eyes watched from a distance, muttering to himself.

“Hmph. One brute and one child, waving around a children’s book to swindle people in broad daylight.”

The slant-eyed man turned to look at the speaker. This person wore a blue Daoist robe, carried a longsword on his back, and had the appearance of a young man with regular features, radiating righteous dignity.

As mentioned before, outside the town there were also cultivators who could not afford the inn. They were well aware of what Zhan Changfeng held in her hands — they simply felt it wasn’t their place to interfere. But the moment they saw the young man, the gazes they turned toward Zhan Changfeng filled with a measure of sympathy.

“Isn’t that Yan Weishan — the renowned demon-slayer of the northwest?”

“I’ve long heard he won’t tolerate a single grain of sand in his eyes. Looks like he’s going to intervene this time.”

“Hey, he’s walking over!”

Yan Weishan didn’t even glance at Zhan Changfeng. He turned to question the Coachman: “How can you instigate a child to conduct deception here? Leave at once, and I will spare you this once!”

“Oh, what’s happening? Is this a fraud?”

“So they’re swindlers!”

“. . .” Instigate?

Who could he instigate?

The Coachman, far from angered, broke into a smile. “Where did this young fellow come from? Stop spreading baseless slander.”

Zhan Changfeng had been watching the spectacle with great interest, but seeing Yan Weishan’s hand move toward his sword hilt, clearly on the verge of striking at the first sign of disagreement, she spoke in a calm and gentle tone: “In what way have I deceived anyone? Please explain carefully, and let everyone here judge. That way I may be thoroughly convinced. Otherwise, your behavior of casually throwing mud at others is something I find difficult to forgive.”

The moment she opened her mouth, though her words were amiable, the bearing of one who stands above others flowed out of her unconsciously. And so each word she spoke carried a solemn and grave weight, as though every syllable were a decree.

The clamoring crowd quieted down. Unable to firmly doubt this person who seemed so open and upright, they turned to question Yan Weishan instead. “That’s right — tell us what evidence you have!”

Yan Weishan had initially assumed that a small child could not have come up with such a scheme on her own, and that the adult beside her must have been coaching her. But hearing her speak now, he couldn’t help taking a closer look at her. His eyes unexpectedly held a hint of disappointment and contempt. “Did you not use this book to put them to work for you?”

“And so?”

“That is enough!” Yan Weishan declared with righteous conviction. “You have committed two wrongs. First wrong: resorting to tricks and shortcuts. Second wrong: recklessly exploiting the yearning for the Dao in ordinary people’s hearts!”

Zhan Changfeng didn’t quite follow his logic, and she countered: “Does this book contain cultivation knowledge?”

This child was truly arguing back stubbornly. It cost him nothing to answer “yes.”

“It does!”

“Does it explain the basic methods of sensing qi?”

“It does!”

“Then for an ordinary person who knows nothing, is it not a precious treasure giving them access to this world?”

Yan Weishan remained unmoved. “Although this book is an introductory text for the cultivation path, it is still something belonging to us cultivators. How can you give it to ordinary people who have no predestined connection to it through such a frivolous method? I see no respect from you for the path of cultivation.”

Zhan Changfeng, while modeling his way of thinking and gleaning something of the cognitive habits of certain cultivators, rebutted him unhurriedly: “And yet it is merely a book I bought from a bookshop for seven spirit pearls.”

Yan Weishan’s brow furrowed. He recalled how solemnly his master had passed this very book to him when he was young. “Seven spirit pearls is also seventy thousand silver. Do you think it was coincidence that you obtained it? Do you know how much hardship an ordinary person must endure to gather seventy thousand silver? That hardship is precisely the cause that leads them to obtain this book and touch the gateway to cultivation.”

This line of reasoning was quite interesting — and equally quite tiresome. “You want hardship?”

Zhan Changfeng closed the book, her phoenix eyes narrowing slightly. “I have them earn the chance to view this book through their labor and perseverance. Is that not hardship?”

“When they ultimately complete my requirements and obtain the book, is that not predestined connection?”

She immediately followed with another counter: “I use what is mine to obtain what I desire; they use their ability to obtain the stepping stone that knocks on the gate of the Dao. Who here has resorted to tricks and shortcuts?”

“I don’t quite understand your way of thinking.”

The ordinary people didn’t quite understand either. For them, it was enough to hear Yan Weishan acknowledge that the book was genuinely useful. They now turned to blame Yan Weishan instead for being a busybody who had interfered with their pursuit of the immortal path.

Yan Weishan sighed. “How can you not see it? If you want to build a house to live in, yet you don’t lift a finger yourself and instead lure others to do it for you, that offers no benefit whatsoever to your own cultivation.”

As a side note: the pen name I had in mind was Dao Yu, but it had already been registered — laughing and crying at the same time. I couldn’t bear to let it go, so I set it as the fan title instead. The “Yu” in the little skit at the front of earlier chapters comes from this. The Dao does not make fools of people — people make fools of themselves.

(End of Chapter)