National Division

Chapter 3 Conspicuous Bag

Liangyi Hall

As the Taoist bell rang continuously, the abbot of Qingyang Temple, Daoist Heshou, accompanied by several disciples and young disciples, emerged from behind a carved wooden screen and sat down on the high platform.

Shen Xian looked at the abbot of Qingyang Temple. He saw that the abbot was dressed in a blue linen Taoist robe, with a pine hairpin on his gray and white Taoist bun. He had a thin face, strange eyebrows, and slightly gray temples. He looked like a Taoist master.

Could this person really have some skills?

He didn't know if the Daoist arts existed in this world, but he knew that there were many martial artists who were highly skilled, and he was afraid that the abbot also possessed some internal energy.

Could he be the innate martial artist that Uncle Li mentioned?
"We have met our teacher," the disciples below called out.

The abbot of Qingyang Temple, Daoist Heshou, nodded and gently shook a whisk in his hand, the sound like the clinking of metal and stone, passionate and deep yet with a touch of etherealness: "Open your textbooks, review first, and recite the articles. Today we will continue with Zhuangzi's 'Free and Easy Wandering' and 'Zhuang Zhou's Dream of a Butterfly'."

When Master Heshou gave his lectures, the master of the subject would post the lecture topics on a notice board in advance so that the students could preview them.

Shen Xian opened the "Free and Easy Wandering" book she had folded the night before and began to read its contents. A line of delicate and elegant plum blossom calligraphy caught her eye.

Just then, a commotion arose outside: "Let me in! Let me in!"

"Who is making a fuss outside?" Crane Guardian Daoist raised his two thin, pine-like eyebrows, his expression unchanged, his voice not loud, and there was no anger hidden in him.

Even though the Taoist priest was a little far from the hall, he had already heard the call of the Crane Guardian Taoist. He quickly entered the hall, bowed to the Crane Guardian Taoist, and said, "Master, please forgive me. Liu Yu brought two hundred-year-old ginseng plants, which he had hidden in his book box. He insisted on bringing them into the hall. At first, the steward of the front hall did not find them and argued with him."

Crane Guardian said in a calm tone, "As I said before, anything unrelated to studies is not allowed to be brought into the hall."

A moment later, a young man dressed in coarse cloth entered the hall, his face showing a hint of cleverness and a smile.

Shen Xian frowned, looked at the person, and thought to himself, "This conspicuous bag, could it be a bribe in public?"

Hmm, perhaps this guy thinks he can win the abbot's favor.

When you treat others with courtesy, you must ask for something.

For a moment, he had no idea what Liu Yu was after.

Or rather, they didn't care about these things at all in the past.

Should we ask Pei Shen about this later?
As Shen Xian spoke, he turned to look at Pei Shen and found that Pei Shen's refined face also revealed a playful expression.

A short while later, Liu Yu stepped into the hall, carrying two gift boxes in his arms, and said, "Teacher, I have prepared two ginseng roots and would like to borrow your alchemy room."

Although it was called alchemy, the two ginseng roots could actually be used to make quite a few pills. Liu Yu would only take a few pills and offer the rest to the temple.

Shen Xian glanced at Liu Yu and thought to himself, "This person is still the same as I remember him, incredibly stupid."

Or perhaps this action was intended as a public display of power.

Liu Yu reminded him of someone—"My County Magistrate Father"?
At this moment, Crane Guardian Daoist frowned almost imperceptibly, as if displeased.

However, Crane Guardian had seen many similar things.

At this moment, the Taoist priest in charge of the lesson scolded, "If you are refining pills, just hand it over to the steward of the pill room. There is no need to make a fuss here. This is the place where the teacher teaches, a quiet place. Do not be disrespectful."

Liu Yu was about to argue further when a familiar voice came from the head of the table: "Take your seat."

Just then, the Taoist bell began to ring, "clang clang clang..." The distant and resonant sound of the bell spread throughout the entire Qingyang Temple.

Liu Yu had no choice but to reluctantly hand the ginseng gift box to the Taoist priest standing beside him.

Well, he's achieved his goal anyway.

As Liu Yu spoke, he sat down behind the long table, his face showing an arrogant expression.

At this moment, the abbot of Qingyang Temple, who was at the head of the table, began to expound on the inner chapters of Zhuangzi.

At this moment, Shen Xian sat down at the lower end of the table, and as the abbot of Qingyang Temple recounted his experiences, he confirmed what he had learned in his previous life.

When I studied this article in my previous life, I actually learned it very superficially, because I focused on the annotations and the strange and bizarre anecdotes Zhuangzi used, without rising to the level of discussion on subject, object, and existentialism.

Crane Guardian Daoist, on the other hand, uses the philosophical Daoist way of thinking to explain Zhuangzi's thoughts.

"As I mentioned the other day, I have a few questions. Why did the sage choose the meaning of 'wandering freely'?"

At this moment, all the students in the temple dared not utter a sound, for fear of being called out by the abbot.

“Gu Mian, you speak,” said Crane Guardian Daoist.

At this moment, a thin, unkempt young man with an outstanding demeanor stood up, but was pressed down by Daoist Crane Guard, who said, "The sage speaks of freedom, which is to seek it beyond heaven and earth, without relying on external things."

Crane Guardian nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "Pei Shen, you answer."

Pei Shen said, "True freedom and ease do not rely on external things, but ride on the righteous energy of heaven and earth and control the distinctions of the six energies to roam the boundless. Even if there are distinctions of small and large, it is still difficult to be called free and easy."

Crane Guardian Taoist patiently guided him: "Then how can one attain freedom?"

Pei Shen thought for a while, but ultimately couldn't come up with a better way to put it, so he could only quote the text: "The perfect man has no self, the divine man has no merit, and the sage has no name."

Crane Guardian smiled and shook his head: "It's inevitable to be too generalized."

Upon hearing this, Pei Shen felt somewhat annoyed that his performance had not been perfect, but he did not show it on his face at all.

Master He Shou selected a few more students.

Crane Guardian nodded and said, "The meaning of 'free and easy' in Taoism is to mean being carefree and at ease."

He was clearly not satisfied with the answers given by his disciples.

At this moment, Shen Xian tilted his head, looking at the book "Free and Easy Wandering" in his mind, recalling the explanation in his previous life. Just then, Shen Xian was startled.

What is this?
Within the spiritual platform, a compass, radiating both black and white energy, was slowly rotating, emitting a brilliant light. Tadpole-shaped golden characters on the compass meandered and emanated an infinitely mysterious aura.

As he mentally sensed it, detailed information about his body gradually surfaced in Shen Xian's mind.

Name: Shen Xian

Age: fifteen

Place of origin: Guhe County, Anzhou, Dajing
Root bone: mortal body

Technique: The Third Level of the Azure Sea Waves Technique
Realm: Acquired Level Three

Martial arts: Wall climbing, Bagua sword technique, Mizongquan (Lost Track Fist), Iron Chain Sword, Dongxuanzi Thirty-Six Forms
Magical artifact: None
"No, these do seem to be my information, but the 'Thirty-Six Forms of Dongxuanzi' is pure slander and baseless accusation!" Shen Xian felt a strange sensation; it had a bit of a game panel feel to it.

"There are still mortal bodies? Mortal bodies?"

At this moment, Shen Xian pondered for a while but couldn't figure out what was going on. He just felt a sense of awe and shock from the millstone in his mind.

"What is this thing? A cheat system?" Shen Xian frowned and tried calling out "system", but there was no response for a long time.

Just then, the Crane Guardian Daoist, who was giving a lecture, turned his gaze to Shen Xian, whose brows were furrowing and relaxing, and asked, "Shen Xian, do you have any profound insights?"

Shen Xian was searching for treasures among the spiritual artifacts when he heard this. He quickly stood up and said, "Master, um, teacher, please forgive my ignorance, I really don't know."

This is a way of dodging and responding whenever one's own behavior is mentioned, based on memories of past actions.

Crane Guardian asked again, "If you don't know, why did you frown so much just now?"

At this moment, Liu Yu, who hadn't had a chance to speak earlier, spoke up first: "Teacher, Shen Xian must be daydreaming."

Shen Xian glanced at Liu Yu, his gaze becoming somewhat indifferent.

This is why he disliked Liu Yu so much, because every time Liu Yu made a fool of himself, he would try to regain some psychological balance by taking it out on him.

Seeing that Daoist He Shou seemed completely unaware of the abnormality in his mind just now, Shen Xian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I have some understanding of the meaning of what you just said about the carefree wandering, but there are also many things I don't understand. It's inevitable that joy and anxiety are welling up in my heart at the same time."

In fact, he wouldn't dare say that he had a deeper understanding of Taoist classics than an old Taoist who had been immersed in the Taoist canon for many years, but he could still say a few words about it.

The main purpose of this statement was to demonstrate to the abbot that he had been a good student who had been listening attentively.

Crane Guardian Daoist gently shook the whisk in his hand, looked Shen Xian up and down, and thought to himself, "The way of the warrior must have entered the acquired realm."

Clearly, Crane Guardian Daoist was well aware of the situation of the disciples in the temple.

"Since you have some insights, why not share them with us?"

Liu Yu looked at Shen Xian with a mocking gaze, thinking to herself, "We're all classmates, who doesn't know who? What insights could he possibly gain? He'll just make a fool of himself later."

In fact, Shen Xian had made quite a few jokes in class in the past.

Pei Shen, who was not far away, turned his head and looked at Shen Xian with great interest.

Gu Mian, sitting in the front row, looked at Shen Xian with a leisurely air. This good student from Qingyang Temple was handsome and dignified.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Shen Xian spoke: "The so-called carefree life is to follow the natural way, to be without expectation, and to break free from ego."

"No waiting, no attachment?" Crane Guardian murmured softly, his delicate eyebrows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

(End of this chapter)