Under One Person: Please Call Me Golden Flash

Chapter 387 Ten Years of Hard Work

Time flows quietly through Longhu Mountain amidst the changing seasons and the ever-changing clouds.

Several months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhao Zhen's courtyard is still the same courtyard, only the vegetable plots are more tidy, and there is an old plum tree that he planted himself in the corner of the yard, with gnarled branches and a faint fragrance in the winter.

His coarse cloth clothes were washed until they were faded. Compared to when he stepped down ten years ago, his face had lost some of the deliberately suppressed majesty and gained more of the peace and vicissitudes of being immersed in the mountains and fields. His eyes, however, were more profound and clear, like an ancient pool that had been settling for thousands of years.

Several months ago, during a snowy journey, Zhang Zhiwei's advice, "It's better to guide than to block, and better to transform than to suppress," completely changed the direction of Zhao Zhen's fight against the Three Corpses.

He no longer insisted on forcibly suppressing every ripple in his heart, and no longer regarded the three corpses as "external enemies" that had to be driven away.

Observe.

This became the core of his practice over the past few months.

Early in the morning, Zhao Zhen was still working in the yard, hoeing the ground, watering, and pruning the plum branches.

Every movement was slow and focused, yet the mind was like a bright mirror, clearly reflecting the exertion of the arm muscles, the scent of the earth, the trajectory of the falling water droplets, and... every moment of the arising and ceasing of thoughts.

When a slight sense of annoyance arises from trivial matters, he doesn't resist it, but rather "watches" it.

See how it is triggered by external factors, how it stirs up ripples in the lake of the heart, and how it gradually loses its power due to one's own lack of following and judgment, eventually dissipating like a bubble.

When attachment to a certain cultivation method or past gains and losses arises, he simply "observes" how it tries to entangle his mind and how it dissolves like morning dew meeting the sun after he understands its illusory nature.

Greed has greatly diminished after relinquishing power, but when it occasionally flashes forth due to the poverty of the mountains or the unconscious recollection of past glories, it is also included in the scope of this "contemplation".

Over the past decade or so, the three corpses within his body have not remained dormant.

Like lurking undercurrents, they always surge and counterattack when Zhao Zhen's mind relaxes slightly or when he is moved by the scenery, trying to amplify his emotions and cause his true qi to go out of control.

In the early years, this backlash was still intense, causing him to sweat profusely while meditating and nearly lose his breath while practicing.

On one occasion, by a mountain stream, a hidden anger stirred his true qi, shattering a millstone-sized boulder beside him, startling the disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion.

But each time, Zhao Zhen stood firmly at the center of the storm thanks to her increasingly profound "insight".

He regarded each instance of the Three Corpses' agitation as a precious opportunity to "refine his heart".

He did not confront them, but instead used his purest mind to "see" their true nature.

It is no longer a blurry and hideous evil shape, but rather a fragment of the mind that is not fully illuminated in the deepest part of oneself, a distorted projection of "ego" in a specific situation.

Zhao Zhen no longer regards it as a "demon" that must be eliminated, but rather as a "knot" that needs to be untied on his own path of cultivation.

Accept, then transcend.

After a decade of refinement, Zhao Zhen's aura has become increasingly reserved and profound. His every move is devoid of any worldly airs, yet he subtly blends into the entire landscape of Longhu Mountain.

The three streams of black energy that occupied the heart meridian, the sea of ​​qi, and the dantian, although not completely disappeared, had become extremely thin and transparent.

Like a candle flickering in the wind, the entanglement and inseparable connection between it and Zhao Zhen's innate Qi has greatly diminished, almost to the point of a weak symbiotic state.

Their source of power is being dissolved and transformed by Zhao Zhen's increasingly perfect "contemplation" mind.

On this day, the north wind howled, and the leaden clouds hung low, foreshadowing a long-awaited heavy snowfall. Zhang Zhiwei arrived at the courtyard and looked at Zhao Zhen, who was sitting quietly under the plum tree. Sensing the harmonious and unhindered aura emanating from him, which seemed to resonate with the heavens and earth, a look of understanding and satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

"Old Zhao, it's about time."

Zhang Zhiwei's voice was not loud, but it had a peculiar penetrating power, as if it had struck a long-silent bell.

Zhao Zhen slowly opened her eyes, her gaze devoid of sorrow or joy, as calm as the deepest night sky.

He didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly.

"After ten years of observing the mind, the time is ripe. These three corpses are already at their limit, only needing the last bit of catalyst to make them completely manifest and vanish into thin air."

Zhang Zhiwei stroked his beard and looked up at the gloomy sky.

"Today, the chilling aura of heaven and earth is at its peak, perfectly matching the cold, yin nature of the three corpses within you. I will borrow the power of heaven and earth to give you one last helping hand!"

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Zhiwei made a hand seal, and his body suddenly burst forth with dazzling golden light!

The next instant, a majestic and unstoppable aura soared into the sky. It was not an attack, but a kind of "initiator" and "furnace" of utmost yang and righteousness!
This force was not directed at Zhao Zhen, but it was like a spark thrown into boiling oil, instantly igniting the three corpses that had been dormant within Zhao Zhen for a long time and had only a last bit of stubborn essence left!

"Ugh!"

Zhao Zhen's body jolted violently!
It wasn't pain, but an extreme conflict that had been building up for ten years and was finally ignited!
The three points of the heart meridian, the sea of ​​qi, and the dantian palace, three streams of black qi that had been condensed to the extreme and were almost transformed into the pure "source of evil thoughts" suddenly burst out!

This time, they were no longer in blurry miniature form, but transformed into three hideous faces that vaguely resembled Zhao Zhen's appearance, yet were filled with endless greed, violent anger, and stubborn obsession!

They let out a silent shriek and frantically pounced on Zhao Zhen's body, trying to drag him into the abyss of desire and madness!
Ten years of reflection have shaped my inner mirror.

Faced with this final counterattack, Zhao Zhen's mind was clearer and more stable than ever before.

He did not get angry, did not resist, and did not even try to "see".

He simply exists, like an unchanging rock, enduring the crashing waves.

Like the boundless void, it encompasses the birth and death of stars.

The three hideous faces lunged at his "mind mirror," but what was reflected in the mirror was no longer their distorted forms, but their most primal and vulnerable "fragments of thought" that had not been illuminated.

The greedy aspect reflects the illusion of an obsession with "control".

An angry expression reflects an overreaction to "disobedience".

The obsession reflects a vain pursuit of "power" and "answers".

Under Zhao Zhen's perfect and unobstructed "observation" that sees through to the essence, the final origin of these three corpses was like thin ice exposed to the scorching sun.

"Disperse."

There was no earth-shattering noise, no dazzling spectacle.

Zhao Zhen simply uttered this single word calmly in his heart, as if brushing dust off his clothes.

As the mantra, which contained the fruits of ten years of contemplation and condensed supreme mental strength, fell, the three ferocious, roaring faces suddenly froze!

(End of this chapter)