In the name of supernatural powers

Chapter 59 Teaching
Hunyuan.

Lu Zhao emerged from the mire of his spirit and arrived at a small Taoist temple standing amidst chaos.

The old Taoist priest sat cross-legged with his eyes closed as always, while Lu Zhao waited outside the door.

He was curious about what kind of cultivation the old Taoist priest, this kind of immortal, usually practiced.
According to what Lu Zhao knew, only a very small number of powerful individuals who reached the Martial Marquis level were able to maintain their daily life development, because they had already seen the end of their potential.

How far a person can go seems to be predetermined. Once a certain point in life's vitality is reached, all growth will cease.

No matter how many life supplements I take or how rigorous the training I undergo, I cannot make any further progress.

In academic terms, this is called the upper limit of life.

If a person can still exercise, even if it only increases by 0.001 per day, it means that he has not yet reached his limit. Perhaps he only needs a certain opportunity to soar to great heights.

If an old Taoist priest at this level is still practicing, does that mean he can go even further?
Having already achieved immortality, is it possible to go even further?

I wonder how much of my teacher's skills I will be able to learn in the future.

About half an hour has passed.

The old Taoist priest slowly opened his eyes and said, "Come in, what's the matter today?"

Lu Zhao entered the Taoist temple, first bowing and making a gesture of respect, his movements much more practiced than the first time.

Although the old Taoist priest kept saying he wasn't bound by worldly etiquette, Lu Zhao didn't really believe that the other person liked people who were disrespectful.

He sat down on the meditation cushion and recounted his recent spiritual practice.

"Disciple, I have gained some insights into the visualization method, but I am unsure whether they are true."

The old Taoist priest looked surprised, but quickly calmed down.

"Doubt is the beginning of thought and the start of learning. Tell me about it."

Lu Zhao said, "Disciple feels that focusing the mind on the five senses is not the same as focusing on the physical senses."

The old Taoist priest nodded slightly, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

Learning the form but not the meaning will have been a waste of more than a hundred years.

Meaning is a very mysterious thing. Some people study for decades and still can't even grasp the basics, while others may understand it after studying for just a few days.

His student is very talented, so it's normal for him to be quick to grasp things. If he didn't even have this much talent, how could he be his disciple?

Moreover, the methods one creates oneself are definitely better than those of famous sects.

"How many levels have you grasped?"

"Smell, taste, touch."

Lu Zhao replied, "Taste is my sense of the existence of food, smell is my sense of time, and touch is my sense of the existence of others."

The old Taoist priest did not deny it, but asked, "Then what are sight and hearing?"

Lu Zhao replied, "Hearing is the ability to discern people's hearts. I can use my visualization skills to detect subtle emotional fluctuations in some people."

Although he wasn't mind-reading, Lu Zhao couldn't hide whether he was nervous or not.

For example, Lin Zhiyan has excellent control over her facial expressions and rarely reveals her personal emotions. Even when she does, it's because she wants others to see her emotions.

This is just an appearance.

However, Lu Zhao was able to judge her mental state from multiple perspectives through visualization techniques.

And vision...

Lu Zhao pondered for a moment, then fell into deep thought.

What is vision? It is clearly the most straightforward sense, yet it seems to be shrouded in a layer of fog.

If you can see it, do you still need mental power to perceive it?

Lu Zhao frankly admitted, "The students are stupid and know nothing about vision."

The old Taoist priest smiled slightly, feeling a sense of relief.

This kid at least has areas where he doesn't know how.

He was genuinely worried that if anyone could learn any method he was given, what would be the point of him being a teacher? How would he then accept disciples?

He suggested, "Modern elegant language has been simplified; you might as well think about what the five senses were like in the past."

Lu Zhao understood immediately, his thoughts moving as fast as lightning.

Form, sound, smell, taste, touch.

Vision is form, referring to shape and form, including all shapes and orientations such as long, square, flat, round, etc.

"Is form the world I see?"

“Good.” The old Taoist nodded and further explained: “Zhuangzi said, ‘Without that, there is no me; without me, there is nothing to take.’”

Without the external world, there would be no "I"; vision is the means to recognize the external world.

So how exactly do we recognize it?
Lu Zhao then recalled his teacher's descriptions of the most revered sages in history, whose enlightenment processes all involved studying and elucidating the world.

So the answer is simple. At least for Lu Zhao, the answer to the Dao is like a fallen leaf on a stream.

He could not have it all, but he could easily scoop up a piece of it.

"To know the world and to change it, that is hearing and seeing."

"..."

The old Taoist priest gazed at it for a long time, expressing his heartfelt admiration.

A genius, truly a genius.

Lu Zhao was no longer contemplating the five senses, but rather cultivating his Dao heart, just like those supreme sages throughout history.

He said slowly, "When the spirit departs, one dies; when the spirit remains, one lives. This is the key to the unity of the five senses."

Sometimes it's not that he wants to be a riddle, but that going too deep into the subject can actually harm Lu Zhao.

If the spirit departs, one dies; if the spirit remains, one lives.

Stay true to yourself?

Lu Zhao was able to keep up with the old Taoist priest's pace, and could at least understand some of what he was saying.

As my thoughts wandered, a ruler struck me, hitting me squarely on the forehead.

Snapped!
The pain that struck his consciousness made him grimace.

The old Taoist priest, holding a ruler, said, "Haste makes waste. You seem very anxious, but what has happened to you in this world?"

As Lu Zhao recovered, the pain distracted him and did indeed make him relax slightly.

He asked, "Teacher, besides cultivation, there are other things I don't understand."

The old Taoist priest said, "A teacher is one who imparts knowledge, instructs in skills, and resolves doubts. Resolving doubts is not limited by whether one has cultivated oneself or not."

Lu Zhao then recounted what he had recently discovered.

Previously, the old Taoist priest had already learned about Lu Zhao's situation and had even given him the nickname "Lu Gangfeng".

Aside from his spiritual practice, the old Taoist priest loved to chat with him about modern times, which would then extend into history.

After listening, the old Taoist priest saw through it all: "You want to get involved in the struggle between the Lin and Chen families, but you don't want to side with either of them."

"At the same time, you want to take advantage of the situation to get promoted, and you want a way to snatch chestnuts from the fire."

Although he had been a disciple for less than a month, he had a very clear understanding of his disciple, Lu Zhao.

Lu Zhao cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Please enlighten me, teacher."

"Learning from history, we see that the same things happen throughout history."

The old Taoist priest countered, "Who do you think was the most loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, Hai Rui or Yan Song?"

Hai Rui and Yan Song?
Without hesitation, Lu Zhao replied, "Naturally, it's Hai Rui."

The old Taoist priest then asked, "Wasn't Yan Song one of them?"

"..."

Lu Zhao opened his mouth slightly, then thought for a moment.

If a teacher were to ask who is beneficial to the world and good to the people, the answer would undoubtedly be Hai Rui.

However, the qualifier is "a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty," which means it needs to be considered from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, or even from the perspective of the Jiajing Emperor.

He said, "From Jiajing's perspective, Yan Song can be considered a loyal minister."

"Isn't it the Ming Dynasty?"

"The Ming Dynasty was not established by one person, nor was the bureaucratic system supported by Jiajing alone, so it doesn't count. If we really want to talk about it, the faults of the Jiajing era were Jiajing's fault, not Hai Rui and Yan Song's."

Lu Zhaochang spoke his mind freely, saying bluntly, "If you ask me, Jiajing was the biggest pest of the Ming Dynasty."

"..."

The old Taoist priest tilted his head slightly, glanced at Lu Zhao, and struck him directly with the ruler in his hand.

Snapped!
"Teacher, did I say something wrong?"

"To be correct or incorrect, one can still be corrected; this is the authority of a teacher."

(End of this chapter)