The Great Way to Truth, Starting from Jiazi Laodao

Chapter 55: Great Advancement in Taoism, the Concept of Chongming Bird

The whole and round is Hunyuan.

The heaven and earth were created from a point.

This point is the circle, the origin.

The origin is the unity of yin and yang, sun and moon, day and night.

In other words, two in one is the origin, and the unity of two principles is perfection.

Just as light gives birth to darkness and darkness gives birth to light, the fusion of the two is Tai Chi.

Tai Chi gives birth to two opposites, and two opposites return to Tai Chi.

Tai Chi is round and primordial.

Ming is a point in the representation of Hunyuan. The character Ming is a kind of Hunyuan symbol, with true meaning flowing and principles intertwined. It is the carrier of Tai Chi composed of the sun and the moon.

……

The mountain wind was whistling, his clothes were fluttering, and on the top of the mountain, Xuanming was sitting cross-legged with a focused expression, oblivious to himself and the world.

There were clattering sounds, and the spiritual deer Changshou poked its head out. The dog approached stealthily, and when it was only three feet away from Xuanming, the peach wood sword hummed. The spiritual deer was frightened and stopped immediately. Its body stiffened, its eyes widened, and its expression was terrified. It didn't dare to get any closer.

Seeing that the peach wood sword was just a warning and there was no other movement, the spirit deer bent its limbs and lay down on the ground, its nose flaring, its neck slightly raised, and it inhaled the mysterious aura emanating from Xuanming. Its mouth raised, its eyes narrowed, its face full of obsession and intoxication, its tail shaking rapidly involuntarily, and a comfortable snoring sound coming from its throat.

Click!

The ground cracked and grass and trees broke through the ground.

In the three-foot-high land of Xuanming, young seedlings stretch their branches, twist their bodies, and grow wildly.

The wild grass is waist-high and the mountain flowers are gorgeous, attracting butterflies and bees flying in.

After entering the edge of the three-foot land, they all trembled all over, forgot about collecting nectar, and slept in the stamens, with a comfortable posture, peaceful and harmonious, silently being baptized by the mysterious energy.

There was a sound of flying through the air, and a swallow came chasing a butterfly. Just as it was about to take a bite, its eyes suddenly widened, and it folded its wings and landed on the head of the spirit deer, shaking its body comfortably and squinting its eyes.

Click!

A seed that fell from a swallow's feather landed on the ground, quickly took root and sprouted, then grew branches and trunks, grew leaves, and became lush and green.

There was a rustling sound of footsteps, and a young Taoist priest with fair skin and a lively temperament came over, holding a chick in her left hand and a wooden food box in her right hand. It was Changning.

A little chick broke out of its shell early this morning, and was covered with fiery red fur when it was born. The most important thing is that its mother, Shi Jin, is her baby. She has always been a pure and innocent bird, and she is also the best at laying eggs. She wants to know which bastard has laid Shi Jin!

The most important thing is: it smells so good that just smelling it makes her drool.

Changning came to deliver food and asked his uncle to take a look. The old man was highly accomplished, knowledgeable, and also raised a deer. Maybe he could find out what the problem was and see if he could expand the breeding. Killing the chicken to get the eggs is not as good as a long-term plan.

Unexpectedly, after waiting for a quarter of an hour, her master still hadn't returned. To prevent the food from getting cold, she had to go up the mountain herself.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived, I saw the scene of grass and trees growing wildly, withering into seeds, and then growing grass and trees again from seeds. My master was sitting cross-legged among them, appearing and disappearing, like a god in charge of life. Changning was in awe.

She walked lightly and approached slowly.

When he was three feet away, the sound of a sword reached his ears. Chang Ning immediately stopped, put down the food box, sat on the ground, closed his eyes and practiced. The little chicken that was sleeping soundly in his arms turned over, found a comfortable position, and continued to sleep.

---

Time slips away like sand through fingers.

On the top of the mountain, Xuanming's figure remained motionless.

From the rising sun to the setting sun.

From the bright moon rising in the east to the waning moon setting in the west.

It was not until the next day, when a hint of pale sky appeared in the horizon, that he slowly woke up. As his eyes opened and closed, Tai Chi flowed in his pupils, evolving mysterious principles that lasted for a moment.

The moment the Taoist image disappeared, the three-foot strange phenomenon around him disappeared. Xuanming raised his hand, and a pear seed fell into his hand.

All other flowers and plants are illusions; only this seed is real. If it experiences a few more changes of fate, it may be able to transform into a spiritual seed.

Putting away the seeds, Xuanming looked into the distance at the rising sun that was struggling to break through the horizon and jump out of the vast sea of clouds, his thoughts surging.

This time, he not only thoroughly digested what he had gained from the last discussion, but also brought forth new ideas and comprehended a little bit of the true meaning of Hunyuan.

Even though he only understood the basics of Hunyuan, it still allowed him to make great progress, far surpassing the average Xiantian Zhenren.

Changningzi woke up first.

Seeing the white-haired Taoist admiring the sunrise, he immediately stood up and walked over to salute: "Changning greets Uncle Master, thank you for the gift of fortune."

Xuanming waved his hand and said, "I didn't give it to you. You got it by your own luck. If you want to thank someone, thank yourself."

Chang Ning smiled sweetly. Knowing the character of this senior, she did not dwell on this matter. She took out the chicken that was sleeping soundly in her arms and asked puzzledly: "Uncle Master, do you think this chicken has mutated?" Xuan Ming was embarrassed: "Although I raise deer, I raise them roughly. I know very little about the way of spiritual beasts, let alone spiritual birds. You asked the wrong person."

Seeing Chang Ning still staring at him, Xuan Ming reached out and took it, saying, "I am just taking a look, I may not be able to find the problem, don't hold out too much hope."

Chang Ning nodded: "Disciple understands."

Xuanming probed into the chicken's body with his spiritual sense, and when he opened his eyes again, he had a strange look in his eyes. He handed the chicken over and said to Changning with a look of eagerness:

"Congratulations, nephew! It seems that after Junior Brother Xuankong comes back, Huoyun Peak and Su Nu Peak should visit more often."

Chang Ning understood instantly, and said through gritted teeth: "Master Uncle means... those spiritual cranes."

Xuanming nodded and explained, "This is the offspring of the Shuiyun Spirit Crane and the Qingmu Spirit Chicken.

Water creates wood, and the spiritual chicken was nourished by the water, and the power of the wood element became stronger. It also absorbed a bit of the power of the morning sun when laying eggs, so wood created fire, and it mutated into this special turkey.

Offspring from cross-species reproduction like this will have a hard time surviving the test of life and death, and will most likely die in the shell. This chicken has survived this test, so it has great potential. Don't be greedy, cultivate it carefully, and it may become your mount in the future."

After hearing this, Changning felt mixed emotions of joy and anger.

The good news is that this chicken has great potential.

What made me angry was that my ten kilograms of food were wasted.

Looking around Floating Cloud Mountain, only Uncle Xuankong raised the Water Cloud Crane. The ten-pound crane that she had treasured for many years was broken just like that, and even the baby was born.

Don't let her know which unscrupulous crane it is, otherwise, it will definitely go back to Sunv Peak to become a breeding crane, multiply and spread out until it dies.

The sound of deer calls was heard, and the spirit deer Changshou woke up and jumped around Xuanming happily, and the atmosphere suddenly became relaxed.

Stroking his beard and smiling, Xuanming stood up and took Changning down the mountain. Behind them was a spirit deer wandering around, sometimes sniffing flowers and sneezing, and sometimes eating grass with disgust.

Swallows were circling overhead, followed by two butterflies and two bees. It seemed that they recognized the spirit deer as their leader and attached themselves to Xuanming, so he did not drive them away.

There are countless butterflies, bees, and flocks of swallows in Floating Cloud Mountain. His aura is concentrated in a three-foot area. If they can meet him once in a million, it means they are destined to meet him.

Before you pay attention to them, you can let them stay or go as you please, but once you have made plans for them, you can no longer leave them at will.

When he went to the temple, Changningzi said goodbye.

Before leaving, he glanced at the chicken still sleeping in her arms, and Xuanming said, "This chick is of the fire element, and has the power of the rising sun in its body. You might as well take it with you when you collect the purple energy of the rising sun every day, and feed it some fire elemental spiritual materials. It may have miraculous effects in the long run."

"Disciple will remember the master's teachings!"

Looking at Changning leaving Zangdao Peak, Xuanming had a deep gaze. When he checked the chicken just now, he found that the power of the morning sun was concentrated in its eyes. This reminded him of a legendary divine bird in his previous life: Chongming!

If properly cultivated, it may not be impossible for the divine bird to reproduce its glory in this world.

---

Contemplating insights, reading scriptures to gain enlightenment, observing the heaven and earth... Xuanming practiced with great concentration and never slacked off because of his great progress. He still maintained a busy but orderly, well-paced practice rhythm.

With his personal example, the Taoist priests of all sizes who stayed behind in the Qiuzhen Temple became less impetuous and more steady. The third generation of Taoist priests studied the mysteries of the Tao, the fourth generation of Taoist priests recited scriptures and practiced swordsmanship. There were constant figures in front of the Sword Cliff, and Floating Cloud Mountain had an even more tranquil Taoist atmosphere.

In the Qiuzhen Temple, people on the mountain concentrate on practicing Taoism.

In Hutian Palace, people from the mountain are competing with all their might.

Thousands of cylindrical platforms rise from the ground, arranged from high to low, forming a Bagua pattern.

This is a protective platform with a formation engraved on it. At first, they are at the same height, and the contestants are divided into two teams to compete in protective skills on it.

After the first competition, the loser will be eliminated and the winner will stay on the stage, and the platform under his feet will be raised.

After the drawing of lots is over on the second day, the stage will move closer to the opponent. The loser will fall off the stage, while the winner will raise the stage higher.

In the end, the Eight Trigrams are transformed into Four Symbols, and the Four Symbols are transformed into Two Principles, which will determine the final Tai Chi Daotai and select the winner.

The preliminary round, semi-final, semi-final and final will take half a month in total.

In the stands, Xuanxu felt like he was bathed in a spring breeze.

All ten disciples of Qiuzhen Temple entered the semi-finals and made it into the top 5,000. Because the disciples with lower rankings relied on Bagua swordsmanship to defeat their opponents, Xuanxu felt more grateful to his senior brother who opened up the sword cliff.

How fortunate we are to have Senior Brother Xuanming in Qiuzhen Temple!
Time flies, and seven days have passed in a flash.

During this period, five disciples from Qiuzhen Temple entered the semi-finals, and three were eliminated before the finals.

Currently only Chang'anzi and Changqingzi are left.

Today is the final day.

(End of this chapter)