Chapter Thirty: Asking About the Tao (Seeking Bookmarks and Recommendations)

  After an unknown period of time, Mao Feifei's strength was insufficient and he fainted to the ground. Shi Dong, on the other hand, looked spirited and full of energy.

  The old scholar suddenly stopped reciting and turned his head to ask Shi Dong: "Younger brother, how much of it have you memorized?"

  Shi Dong stood up and replied respectfully: "Got it, Fourth Master."

  "Oh? You've memorized everything? Then recite it back." The old scholar's face showed a hint of playfulness.

  "Yes!" Shi Dong calmed down and recited loudly: "The Master said: Learning cannot be stopped. The color of the indigo plant is taken from the blue plant, but it is bluer than the blue plant; ice is made from water, but it is colder than water..."

  In the middle, there was no delay, after a cup of tea, it stopped and looked at each other.

  "Well, it's really hard for you to have memorized this article 'On Encouraging Learning' with not a single mistake after I recited it only three times." The old scholar was quite pleased and nodded his head, then asked: "How much of the meaning did you understand?"

  Shi Dong's face turned red with embarrassment, and he shook his head, saying: "I don't read much, I basically didn't understand the meaning of it all, more or less...more or less it was all memorized."

  "The other party was shocked: 'Strong memory? Then what books have you read?'"

  Shi Dong felt even more embarrassed and stuttered: "In total... there were only two books, one was 'Mai Lun Zhuan Sha Shen Gong', the other was... 'Nine Months to Break Through the Refining Qi Period First Layer'."

  "Oh? One is the Demon Slaying Sect's manual, what's the other book?" The old scholar was greatly surprised, as he had read many books but had never heard of it.

  Shi Dong felt even more embarrassed, took out that small booklet, threw it up with both hands, and then roughly explained to him.

  The old scholar read the pages carefully, and after finishing, he handed it back to Shi Dong, looking at him strangely and saying: "You little brother are indeed clever, able to recite 'On Learning' from memory with just these two books as a foundation, and even understand its meaning. Heh... I don't believe it, I'm afraid you're just bragging? Tell me, what does 'The gentleman says: learning cannot be stopped. Indigo, taken from the blue plant but bluer than the plant; ice, made from water but colder than water' mean?"

  "A gentleman should be like Fourth Brother, who is well-read and says, 'Learning cannot stop. Indigo is extracted from blue grass, but its color is deeper than that of the grass; ice is formed by water condensing, yet it is colder than water.' Therefore, learning has no bounds, as long as one maintains a humble attitude towards learning, even those who come later can surpass their predecessors."

  The old academic's eyes flashed with a stern expression, and he pointed to the stone and shouted: "What nonsense! What kind of later generation can surpass their predecessors? The blue comes from the indigo plant but is bluer than the indigo; ice is made from water but is colder than water. It means that there are people outside of people, and you new disciples must maintain a cautious and humble attitude towards learning, and must not be arrogant or rude!"

  "Yes, yes, Fourth Master taught well, it's all because this young one is ignorant and unlearned, no, completely uneducated, that he misunderstood the meaning. Please don't blame him, Fourth Master." Shi Dong hastily cupped his hands, feeling uneasy in his heart.

  He was originally a young man who left home to work in a teahouse, and although he had never read a complete book before joining the Mo Dao Gate, he understood the principles of the world quite well from listening to the storytellers in the teahouse.

  The Master said, "Is it not a pleasure, having learned something, to try it out? Others may have said this before, but I heard it from the book. The words 'Blue comes from the indigo plant but is bluer than the plant; ice is made of water but is colder than water' really struck me when I first read them.

  It's strange to say, but once he focused his mind and devoted himself to it, the word-by-word impact on his heartstrings was no longer a burden. It seemed that with each heartbeat and breath, a kind of understanding of the principles of the world flowed into his blood, making his entire spirit refreshed, as if he had understood many truths.

  So, Mao Feifei was increasingly resistant and struggled until he fainted; while he opened his heart to listen to the old scholar's teachings, and instead felt refreshed and invigorated.

  Overjoyed, he plucked up the courage to interpret, but unexpectedly touched the old scholar's sore spot, and couldn't help feeling deeply regretful. He thought to himself that he didn't even have half a drop of ink in his belly, yet he dared to wield a big axe in front of Lu Ban, wouldn't this make Fourth Brother laugh his teeth off?

  The old scholar had a tantrum, stroked his beard, and looked at Shi Dong with his head tilted, saying: "Hmmm, your humble attitude is in line with the principles of 'Encouraging Learning'." With a wave of his hand, the door to the hidden book pavilion creaked open, "Come in and choose your magic technique!"

  Shi Dong stood there with his hands clasped behind his back, not moving forward. He thought to himself: "There's no hurry to learn magic spells, this 'Exhortation to Study' seems very important, even the Fourth Master is reciting it repeatedly. If I don't ask him to explain it thoroughly, won't I be returning empty-handed from the Treasure Mountain?"

  He immediately saluted the old scholar with a bow and said: "Fourth brother, I ask you, 'The greatest virtue is to transform the Tao, the longest blessing is to have no disaster.' What is the 'Tao'? If having no disaster is a blessing, then we cultivators, who struggle with heaven, earth, and man, are we not seeking trouble for ourselves? 'A gentleman's life is not different from others, but he makes good use of things.' How do you interpret this? Do strange creatures like 'Meng Que', 'She Gan', deep-sea dragons, and divine spirits really exist?"

  A series of questions were raised, all hitting the key points. The old scholar's eyes sparkled with anger as he shouted at Shi Dong: "Hmph! You're just a beginner in the first layer of Qi refinement, young and inexperienced, with shallow cultivation. How dare you ask about the Way? Disaster and fortune are interdependent; for those who are weak, avoiding disaster is fortunate, while for those who are strong, killing disaster and seizing fortune is fortunate. Can you understand that? As for 'A gentleman's life is not different from others, but he is good at borrowing from things', what does it have to do with your cultivation in the Demonic Evil Sect?

  "Phoenix", "Shooting Gan", even the deep pool dragon, Hong Meng to Ling... Haha... You are just a small named disciple, your appetite is too big, wait until you practice to my level before coming to ask me!"

  Sweat poured out instantly, the old scholar's gaze seemed to press down like a mountain, just like his master's gaze before. A burst of pride rose in his heart, and he proudly said: "Young and shallow learning, superficial cultivation, forcing oneself to ask about the Tao, is it not self-deception? Isn't this the way of diligent learning and seeking knowledge? Doesn't brother's words go against the principles of this chapter 'Encouraging Learning'?"

  The old scholar Zhang opened his mouth, his face changed color, and he was refuted by Shi Dong, leaving him speechless for a moment.

  Shi Dong cupped his hands together in a salute, "If I have offended you, please forgive me, Big Brother. But Shi Dong's heart is sincere in asking the way, and he still hopes that Big Brother will point out one or two things."

  "Haha! Alright, alright, Shi Dong!" The old scholar laughed loudly and floated down from the second floor, changing his expression to a humble one. He bowed his hands in respect: "Just now, I was being arrogant. This isn't the right mindset for asking about the Tao. I apologize to you, Shi Dong. As for what the Tao is, it's up to each individual to understand - those who are benevolent see benevolence, and those who are wise see wisdom. I'm not qualified to explain it to you, so why don't you come in and read some books to explore it yourself?"

  "Thank you, Fourth Brother." Shi Dong cupped his hands in gratitude, but suddenly had a thought and wondered: "Could it be that this Fourth Brother was intentionally arranged by Master to guide the new disciple? Why did others who met him not have such trouble, yet I'm so peculiar? Looking at his appearance, could it be that I've passed again?"

  It suddenly occurred to him that the old scholar had said, "Disaster and fortune are interdependent. If one is weak, avoiding disaster is fortunate, but if one is strong, killing disaster and seizing fortune is fortunate." He deeply agreed with this and felt that no one could predict whether something would bring disaster or fortune. Since he had already decided to make a name for himself in the Demonic Sect, he couldn't be timid and could only go all out!

  Mao Feifei, who had fainted, was immediately awakened and led by the old scholar into the library.

  Looking inward, I couldn't help but feel dizzy and see the jade slips neatly arranged on the bookshelves, with hundreds of thousands of them. What could be the content of so many jade slips?