Eighty-Seven, Illusory Array Refines the Mind

  Laozi, after passing through the Heavenly Gate, returned to the palace and sat down. A young boy brought him tea water. This young boy was a white crane from Mount Kunlun that Yuanshi had transformed into a boy to take care of daily affairs in the Jade Void Palace after he attained enlightenment.

  Yuanshi took a sip of tea and looked at Xun Daozi, saying: "Since the great teachings have been established, this Taoist tradition must be passed down. You tell me, what are your thoughts?"

  "Master, I think the method of testing one's heart and nature is excellent. As long as one's heart and nature are firm and sincere, and they bow to the master's teachings, they should achieve something under the master's guidance. With the master's presence and the 'Pangu Flag' stabilizing the teachings, there's no need to worry about the dispersal of the great teaching's energy. However, I think it's also important for the disciples under the master to have a sense of belonging to the great teaching, so that they can truly take pride in the teaching and be willing to make sacrifices for it. This should help gather more energy. If the disciples lose their sense of belonging and cohesion, it will ultimately lead to external distractions and the dispersal of the great teaching's energy. I don't know if my words are correct or not, please point out any mistakes, Master."

  Yuanshi nodded after listening and said: "What you said is not bad. The master wants to hand over this great teaching to you, how do you feel?"

  Xun Daozi flipped over and fell to the ground: "Master, your disciple's virtue is shallow and not enough to convince the crowd. This great teaching must be managed by Master, and your disciple will serve Master and assist Master wholeheartedly in promoting the Taoist tradition. For Master to gather energy and plan for merits, to achieve the Great Way of Mixed Origin as soon as possible, and enjoy the great freedom."

  Yuanshi stretched out his hand, lifted the void, and picked up Xun Daozi. He opened his mouth and said: "Master knows your sincerity, this great teaching, you will take care of it for Master. Any cause and effect, Master will bear it for you. You can rest assured to do it. Tomorrow, Master will set up a law array at the mountain gate, those who want to enter my sect must pass the test of the law array, only those who can pass can enter my door and learn my Taoist teachings."

  The Three Pure Ones verified the Dao and became saints, establishing a Daoist temple in the vast wilderness, which instantly triggered a wave of excitement in the vast wilderness.

  Many of the great masters went away with envy, and some went to the Taoist temple to congratulate him, but they all stayed for a short while before leaving, and returned to ponder and verify the principles of the Tao.

  For many cultivators in the vast wilderness, this is a rare opportunity to worship under the saint and cultivate. Especially for those cultivators who do not have much cultivation heritage, it is even more a gospel of cultivation.

  Then, many cultivators from the Primordial Chaos went to the Three Pure Ones' Daoist temple to become disciples and learn the Dao. Among them was Ling Xiao Shan's Daoist, Ruo Deng, who had once listened to the Dao in the Zi Xuan Palace.

  At this moment, Xun Daozi didn't care who came to Mount Kunlun to pay homage, he himself ran into the Yuan Shi's law array in front of the mountain gate. Wanting to personally experience the power of this heart-testing law array.

  In the law array, Xun Daozi was like a mad demon, with a ferocious expression and red eyes, but he was experiencing a spiritual tempering. Let's see if he can finally come out of it.

  From the moment Xun Daozi stepped into the law array, it was as if he had returned to his previous life, once again experiencing his own life and death, experiencing that warmth, sorrow, trouble, pain...

  These experiences have been relived, and the state of mind has not changed much. Although there are some feelings, they can also be let go of. Having lived through life and death, having experienced both, I now have a sense of detachment from life and death.

  The scene that followed, however, was not peaceful for Xun Daozi. Death had not ended everything. His own death had caused his elderly mother immense grief, aging her tens of years in just one day, leaving no sparkle in her eyes, and making her seem like she had lost her soul, wandering aimlessly. His wife buried him with a heavy heart, shouldering the burden of supporting their family alone, while their child lost its smile, was ridiculed by classmates for being fatherless, frequently bullied, and could only secretly wipe away tears in the corner of the classroom.

  Seeking the way in the void, this heartstring is plucked, one's own death brings to this family not only the sorrow of a loved one passing away, but also the turbulent emotions that arise from an otherwise emotionless cultivation.

  Two years later, the old mother who lost her son passed away in grief, muttering to herself as she took her last breath: "I'm going to see my son soon..."

  The wife and daughter reburied the old lady, and with their already taciturn daughter, they struggled to live a hard life. Finally, under the repeated persuasion of kind-hearted people, they set up a new home.

  The Xuan Daozi thought he could finally be at ease, but another storm was brewing. The man his wife had married was a lazy good-for-nothing, and she had to work hard outside the home to make ends meet. His originally lovely daughter was often beaten and scolded at home, going to school every day with injuries all over her body, never smiling on her face. In class, she would silently hide in the corner, not drawing attention to herself, without any friends. When school let out, she would hesitate to go home, wandering aimlessly on the streets with her backpack until nightfall before reluctantly heading back to that cold and unloving home.

  After returning home, the tired mother hastily ate dinner and went to sleep without even asking about her daughter's studies. The daughter hid in her own room, not even daring to turn on the light, shrinking into a corner, tightly hugging her arms, silently sobbing.

  Gradually, the daughter's grades declined, and she often stopped going to school, wandering in the wild. The school repeatedly asked parents to talk, but the busy wife never had time to discipline her, and the man only scolded and intimidated her again and again.

  In the end, the child ran away, with a pair of bewildered eyes, wandering the streets, occasionally squatting in a corner at night, but softly calling out: "Dad! Dad......"

  The seeker's heart in the void is shattered, his eyes are about to split open, but he can't move, the rage in his chest is like a volcanic eruption, with an impulse to destroy this world.

  In the formation in front of the Kunlun Mountains, Xun Daozi was like a mad demon, his face bright red, his hair disheveled, and he let out a series of angry roars. The violent aura emanating from his body crashed against the formation, but was firmly suppressed by it. At this moment, inside Xun Daozi's body, the two elixirs in his dantian and danzhong were rotating wildly, driving his entire body's spiritual energy to surge like a raging river; his mind was like a stormy sea, with waves crashing against the shore.

  Xun Daozi was like a madman on the run, unable to let go, unable to release, only wanting to break through the sky and earth, and tightly hold that slender and small figure in his arms. The surging energy was firmly tied down, and the anger in his heart was like layer upon layer of rolling magma under pressure.

  Just as the flames of anger and the turbulent aura were about to engulf Xun Daozi, the "Heart Cleansing Dust" in his mind, which had been calm and unmoving despite the turmoil, stirred. With a flash of blue light, the raging waves in his mind instantly subsided, restoring peace; in his Dantian, the law wheel that had been spinning wildly also slowed down, rotating slowly as it normally did.

  Xun Daozi came back to his senses, drenched in cold sweat. He had fallen into that illusion and couldn't extricate himself; it was clearly the deep-seated worry within his own heart; it was his eternal pain. Could he forget? Could he let go? He asked himself repeatedly, questioning himself repeatedly.

  "How can I forget? How can I put it down? I'll just bring this unforgettable, unputdownable heartache to the vast wilderness and see what the world can do to me?"

  With this sigh, I suddenly felt a lot lighter. But then, out of nowhere, a thought popped up in my mind - if I could somehow mysteriously cross over to this desolate land, couldn't I also cross back? Maybe one day when my Dao is high enough and my divine powers are strong enough, I'll really be able to go back and take a look. Everything is possible, isn't it? Xun Daozi's cultivation has gained another motivation, and his mental state has cleared away an obstacle.

  Xun Daozi got up and walked towards the depths of the Fa formation.

  With this step, the scene changed, and the experiences in the vast wilderness came flooding back: endless loneliness, solitary caution, the care of mentors, the warmth of being with Su Xin, the straightforwardness of the Wu tribe's Han son, one after another, one after another, passing before Xun Daozi's eyes. It also brought up waves of warmth in Xun Daozi's heart.

  Before long, the scene changed and the devastating witch calamity broke out. The human race was slaughtered without reason, and the entire wilderness was filled with mournful cries. Everywhere were humans who had been brutally killed, and one by one, the demons and witches wielded their weapons, laughing maniacally as they pounced on the fleeing humans. Men, women, children, and the elderly fell before Zhen Daozi's eyes, their desperate gazes still fixed on him as they hit the ground. Their eyes seemed to be asking why he didn't save them. But Zhen Daozi was unable to move at all, forced to watch helplessly as they fell, his heart filled with endless sorrow.

  The scene changed again, and the two tribes of witches were pushed by invisible hands into a cruel slaughter. The figures that had been with Xun Daozi before, one by one, threw themselves into the doomed battle like moths to flames. In their final moments, they turned back to look at Xun Daozi, leaving behind a vivid smile.

  The scene changed again, and the Wanxian Lai Chao's sect was actually brought by his master Yuanshi and Shibo Laozi to welcome the Western Bliss, under the siege of Zhunti, it collapsed, leaving only Tongtian sitting alone in the Purple Mansion. At the moment when Hongjun Daozu left, Tongtian looked at Xun Daozi, as if asking: Why?

  Next, the master and apprentice became enemies, and the disciples of the Primordial Teaching left one after another to join the Western religion. Zhunti looked up at the sky and laughed wildly. A rift grew between Yuanshi and Xun Daozi, and Yuanshi hid in the Jade Clear Heaven's Miro Palace outside the Thirty-Three Heavens, never to emerge again. The teaching was torn apart and disappeared from the world.

  Further down, the pure heart cultivates the emotionless way, the body leaves, leaving behind the lonely and bitter seeker of the Way in Seeking-the-Way Mountain slowly savoring endless emptiness and loneliness.

  Xun Daozi stood there, the scenes unfolding before his eyes. His once peaceful state of mind was no longer calm, but his body's internal circulation continued to operate on its own. However, in Xun Daozi's sea of consciousness, it seemed as though he had lost all vitality, and a dull, lifeless energy permeated the air. Having witnessed those scenes where he was powerless to intervene, Xun Daozi began to question his own cultivation: What is the point of cultivating? No matter how high my attainment, I still cannot change what is destined to happen or not happen. Why do I continue to cultivate in vain?

  Xun Daozi fell into bitter self-reproach, and in his self-reproach, he repeatedly questioned himself, interrogated himself, and tortured himself.

  In this repeated inquiry, interrogation, and torture, the eyes of the Daoist gradually became clear and bright, finally shining like stars and moons, without a speck of dust. A low, solemn voice emerged from his mouth: "I fulfill my duty, follow my heart; cultivate the Way, cultivate my heart; the Great Way is solitary, only my heart; whether in adversity or prosperity, all are within the Way; my Way is my heart, my heart is my Way; my one Way is based on my heart; the Great Way is flawless, only I have a dispute!" This voice rose from low to high, piercing through the Yuanshi Law Array and resonating throughout Kunlun.

  At this moment, Xun Daozi has thoroughly awakened from that withered state, and what he saw was just an illusion. Everything is up to oneself to strive for. The Heavenly Way still leaves a thread of life, and one should hold on to their original heart and cultivate themselves. Why bother with worries?

  At this moment, Xun Daozi's mind was transparent and his spirit platform was clear. The purple air swirls in the sea of consciousness suddenly turned faster than usual.

  Xun Daozi suddenly seemed to have an epiphany, and immediately sat cross-legged in the Dharma array, physically realizing that sudden insight.

  For Xunzi, having experienced being human in his past life, he has always had a softness in his heart that the cultivators of the Primordial Chaos do not have. This softness may be an obstacle on his path to enlightenment, but it can also be a driving force for him. Once he understands his true nature, this softness transforms into strength, and he takes another step forward on the grand road.

  In the Jade Void Palace, Yuanshi sat upright on a cloud couch, stroking his whiskers and smiling.

  PS: Thanks for the reward from friends who have been supporting me! Appreciate your long-term support!