Chapter Thirty-Seven As Long as You Want

  Xiao Qiu thought, he wasn't going to pass out like San'er Xinyu Tao, so he woke up.

  This was not the ancient peak of Laozu, there was no giant stone on his head, nor was there a cliff behind him. Instead, he had Fangfang and Xiaocita in front of him, as well as Erlang Shen Xiuwei's silly smile and other young men from Yelin Town. He was lying on the kang in his own room in the lodge.

  "I..."

  As soon as Xia Qiu spoke a word, her companions rushed to speak out, "You really lifted the thousand-jin heavy stone?" "You didn't wake up for a whole day and really scared us to death." "What a pity, you didn't climb to the top of the mountain."

  Shen Hao spread his arms wide, as if shooing away chickens and ducks, and said to the crowd: "Alright, alright, Xiao Qiuge has just woken up, don't bother him anymore, let Fangfang talk to him alone, hurry up, all of you get out."

  "I still have something very important to say." Erliang Shen You stood still on the spot, unwilling to leave.

  Shen Hao pushed him towards the door, "Fang Fang will tell you."

  "But I want to tell Xia Qiu Ge myself." Er Liang Shen Xiuyi still wanted to stay, but was pushed and pulled by Shen Huan and his brother, and had no choice but to leave. Outside, he shouted, "Fang Fang, speak more clearly, if there's anything unclear, call me."

  Fang's face turned slightly red, and she stood there motionless.

  Xiao Qiu sat up from the kang, her whole body aching, her limbs feeling as if they had been disconnected and then reconnected again. She couldn't help but let out a soft hum.

  Fang Fang sat on the edge of the kang and asked with concern: "Where doesn't feel comfortable?"

  Xiao Qiu shook his head, feeling a bit dizzy and unclear in his thinking, but he didn't know where to start asking.

  Fang Fang withdrew her arms and smiled: "Mengdu arrived in time to hit the stone and bring us back to the mansion."

  Xiao Qiu had no impression at all, and tapped her forehead twice, "Did I faint?"

  "En, this is yesterday's matter, Mengdu Jiao said you're fine, just rest for two days."

  Xiao Qiu felt a bit down, but suddenly remembered something, "How did Mengdu appear? Could it be... could it be..."

  Fang Fang laughed even more brightly, habitually covering her mouth with her hand, "Shen Xiueran ran to the top of the mountain and won the reward, he has been guarding you all along, just wanting to tell you this in person."

  Xiao Qiu was stunned for a while, clenched her fists and pounded the kang heavily, "This stinky brat actually ran ahead of me!" After saying that, she burst out laughing, and her mind suddenly cleared up, "But how could he run so fast?"

  Because he was climbing and shouting that someone was in danger, Mengdu heard the voice and came down to check the situation, but Shen Xiuyi didn't know and continued running up, and finally reached the top of the peak.

  Xiao Qiu was truly happy for Er Lang Shen Youwei, but also felt a little disappointment. Everyone, including Xiao Qiu himself, had thought that he would be the first to reach the top.

  Fang Fang understood his concerns, "Everyone admires you, that heavy stone, Meng Du said it weighs six or seven hundred catties."

  "How did you and Xiao Qingtiao end up falling down the mountain cliff?" Xia Qiu recalled more scenes, as well as her doubts at that time.

  "We two walked to the point where we couldn't hold on anymore, Xiao Qingtao wanted to go down the mountain, I said let's climb ten more levels, just as we were discussing it, a rock rolled down from above, Xiao Qingtao tried to avoid it but accidentally fell off, I grabbed her hand and also fell off, if not for you..."

  Fang Fang thought about it and felt her heart racing too.

  "Xin Yu Tao." Xiao Qiu said with a scowl.

  "But he still lent a hand and helped rescue people in the end." Fangfang said uncertainly.

  "Because his goal was to force out the demon kind, he feared that if someone really died, he would be implicated himself. Remember? He said that Uncle Zu and a certain person from Pongshan were very familiar, even able to let him ascend to the Wanji Platform. Without asking, that person must be Zuo Liu Ying."

  Fang Fang couldn't think of a reason to refute and wasn't going to refute, softly saying: "Anyway, we don't have the demon species, no matter how evil he is, it's useless."

  Xiao Qiu lowered her head and looked at her own hands, "Why was I suddenly able to lift such a heavy stone, did Meng Du say anything about the reason?"

  Fang Fang shook her head, "Anyway, it has nothing to do with the demon clan."

  A cough sounded at the door, and Meng Yuanhou stood with his hands behind his back. His face didn't need to put on any stern expression to show enough intimidation.

  I want to have a few words with him.

  Fangfang gave Xiaqiu a look, her eyes full of support and encouragement, then she told the teacher to leave.

  Meng Yuanhou looked around the room, which was very simple. There was a kang bed, several sets of bedding and packages piled up in the corner, a table and chair by the window, and nothing on the table. "Practicing Taoism can't avoid being ascetic for a lifetime, are you still used to it?"

  "I used to often sleep in the horse stable, and the bedroom wasn't even as big as this corner of the room. Every winter, I would go hungry for half a year, so I don't think it's tough living here at all."

  Meng Yuanhou's smile was even more ferocious than his usual expression, "I forgot, not everyone is willing to give up their luxurious life to come to Pong Mountain. Hmm, it seems that you will get used to the life on Yangshen Peak very quickly."

  Xiao Qiu didn't make a sound, he knew that Meng Yuan Hou wasn't here to chat idly, and he also wanted to get an explanation from Du Jiao.

  "Speak out your doubts."

  Xiao Qiu gazed at her own hands again, they had lifted a huge stone of nearly hundreds of pounds yesterday, but now they were soft and limp on her knees, unable to even lift themselves up. "I don't understand... where did my strength come from?"

  "The emergence of a Dao root is extremely rare, and it's not necessarily the case that one person in ten thousand will produce a Dao root." Meng Yuanhou sat down on the edge of the kang, but his gaze didn't fall on Xiao Qiu. "However, a Dao root is not everything. When people are born, they have almost no difference in terms of strength and intelligence, even if some people are naturally exceptional, it's not enough to surpass all the other infants. But as the years go by, some people become stronger and smarter, while most fall behind. Why?"

  "Because...some people eat well, while others don't."

  "Hehe, this is one reason, but children from similar family backgrounds will also have differences in their future prospects."

  "Because," Xia Qiu thought for a moment, "some people want to live better, so they keep working hard, while others are easily satisfied and stop making an effort."

  "It's exactly this principle." Meng Yuanhou patted Xia Qiu's shoulder, his eyes still not turning around. "All things go against heaven and do their best, and in the end they will all follow heaven and perish. A small blade of grass must strive to break through the soil from the time it is a seed, absorbing the essence of heaven and earth throughout its life, finally withering, rotting, and returning to the mud. In terms of going against heaven, trees are higher than flowers and grass, **is higher than trees, humans are higher than **, and cultivators are higher than all living things."

  Meng Yuanhou didn't mention the demon, his voice gradually sinking, as if the listener in front of him was not just Xia Qiu alone, but hundreds and thousands of students. "Cultivating the Tao is like the 11,111 steps on Laozu Peak, from the moment you step onto the first step, you must confront your own nature. Some people don't even want to try, some taste it lightly and stop, some give up halfway, and some persist to the end. At the foot of the mountain, everyone's strength is about the same, no matter how good your Xia Qiu Autumn Stick Method is, you can't withstand the siege of three or two people. But you set a higher goal for yourself, you want to climb to the top of the peak, so you succeeded."

  "It's not me who succeeded, it's Shen Xiuyi." Xia Qiu corrected in a low voice, already vaguely understanding the meaning of what was being taught.

  "Shen Xiuyi was originally going to give up halfway, but he climbed all the way to the top to save someone, so he had this strength. Before that, he didn't bring it out because he didn't want to. On the road against heaven, he almost failed. Of course, no matter what, he succeeded, but more successful than him is you, lifting a giant rock is even more against heaven than climbing to the top."

  "Because I want to save people."

  "Because you think." Meng Yuanhou emphasized the word "think", "Everyone's Tao root is about the same, what makes the difference is that one 'thought', without a Tao root, lifting a giant stone is a foolish choice, you will be crushed into meat sauce, without a 'thought', the Tao root can't help either, you will still be crushed into meat sauce."

  "So Laozu Peak's ten-thousand-step staircase should be divided into three segments, the first segment to refine the body, the second segment to refine the mind, and the third segment to combine the heart and body." Xia Qiu said her own realization.

  Meng Yuanhou nodded and jumped down from the kang, "Get a good rest, but only for today. Tomorrow at dawn, even if you have to crawl, you must go out to practice."

  "Yes." Xia Qiu's mood was good enough to make him want to smile, and from start to finish, neither of them mentioned the "demon species", but he had already gotten an answer, more answers than he had anticipated.

  Meng Yuanhou walked outwards, and Xiao Qiu asked in pursuit: "The stones on top of Laozu Peak won't fall down casually, will they?"

  "No." Meng Yuanhou said firmly, turning to face Xiao Qiu, his voice becoming stern. "You should think about what you should be thinking about. This matter is left to others."

  "Yes." Xia Qiu reluctantly replied, he really wanted to ask: What's the background of Xin Youtao's uncle, that can make Pang Shan break the rules for him.

  They had just left, and Erlang Shen rushed in like a whirlwind, jumping onto the kang without even taking off his shoes. He took out the prizes and placed them in front of Xiao Qiu: "This is Golden Charms, it's really light, I think it weighs less than one or two taels. This is Silver Charms, surprisingly it's black, I thought it would be white. Now it's too bright outside to see its effect, at night I don't dare take it out, it shines so brightly it's scary. And this, Bai Rundan, the box is small enough, and the dan medicine is even smaller, about the size of a grain of rice. Meng Daojiao said not to rush to eat it, it's best to wait until your cultivation has stagnated before taking it, it will have an extraordinary effect."

  Xiao Qiu listened with a smile, full of curiosity about the Daoist treasure. He picked up the golden and silver pellets one after another, weighing them in his hand, and indeed they were very light. As for the Baoran Dan, it was like a grain of millet, shining yellow, so small that he didn't dare to touch it, fearing that if he lost his grip, he would never find it again.

  "By the way, there's a new disciple who arrived at our sect this morning."

  "Oh." Xia Qiu replied casually, as the official start time was getting closer and closer, almost all of the new disciples should have arrived.

  "There were five people in total, and their parents were all Taoist priests from Pong Mountain. Er Liang Shen Xiuyi was particularly excited today, 'It's really different, they all seem like...they just walked out of a painting. It's said that one of them had a spiritual root since birth. Everyone wants to be friends with them, but no one dares to speak up, they've just arrived and are a bit shy, not interacting with others."

  Xiao Qiu was slightly moved by what he said. It turned out that cultivators could also get married and have children, and he also wanted to take a look at these five naturally born Pongshan disciples.

  "Little Autumn, this is for you." Er Lang Shen Xiu pushed a small box containing a hundred moisturizing pellets towards Xiao Qiu.

  "This is yours..." Xia Qiu was startled.

  "No, if it weren't for you setting an example, I wouldn't have made it to the top. You lifted the giant stone and saved everyone, your contribution is the greatest, you should be the one rewarded." Shen Xiuyi said very seriously, "And in the future when we cultivate, I will follow behind you, if you walk far, I can only follow and walk a little further."

  Xiao Qiu covered the box and handed it to Shen Xiuyi, "We will all go very far, as long as you want."

  (Collection wanted Recommendation wanted)