Zi Yang

  "Thank you, Daozhang, for clearing up our confusion. We almost failed to repay Xuan Yuan's painstaking efforts." Baili Kuangfeng suddenly came to a realization and bowed his head in gratitude towards Qingyangzi.

  "It's fine if you understand. Many people can't get what you have, so you should cherish it while you're in this fortunate situation. From now on, don't speak nonsense again and don't have any thoughts of leaving the mountain either. It's getting late, go back to your room and rest." Qingyangzi said with a wave of his hand.

  Baili Kuangfeng and Ye Xiangyao stood up from their seats after hearing the words, bowed, turned around and left. Qingyangzi also followed them to the door, but he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he stood with his back facing Mo Wen, seemingly lost in thought.

  Don't ask unclear whys, don't dare to stay or see off, can only stand quietly in the back and wait.

  After a long time, Qingyangzi slowly walked out of the door, leaving behind a sentence: "No one can transcend joy and anger; without joy and anger, there is no human nature."

  "See off Daozhang." Mo Wen didn't understand what he meant, but etiquette couldn't be abandoned. He hastily bowed and sent off Qingyangzi.

  After Qingyangzi left, don't ask, the door of the house was closed and moved to the table, blowing out the lamp, lying back on the bed, closing his eyes and thinking carefully. The words spoken by Qingyangzi before he left were not without meaning.

  At this time, the pain on his body had greatly alleviated, and he was able to focus on thinking. The previous sentence of Qingyangzi was not said to Baili Kuangfeng and Ye Xiaoyao, but only to himself. Moreover, Qingyangzi did not say the words clearly, and after careful consideration, it was only hinted at, which means that the profound meaning of this sentence cannot be widely known.

  After a while, Mo Tan slept soundly, and he understood the meaning of Qingyangzi's words. Xuan Yuanzi's ruthless treatment of the crowd was not only because he didn't seek repayment for his kindness but also because there was another reason that couldn't be told to outsiders. That was because he had missed flying ascension by just three days, a situation that wouldn't occur once in a thousand years or happen to one person out of ten thousand. If an orthodox Upper Clarity Daoist encountered such a situation, they would only blame themselves for lacking good fortune and being insufficiently enlightened. However, Xuan Yuanzi was a Buddhist who had converted to Daoism and had missed flying ascension by just a hair's breadth. In his heart, apart from regret, he probably also had some uncontrollable speculations, thinking that heaven was playing tricks on him and not protecting this half-Daoist. What is heaven? The ancestors are heaven; the seven people are the Upper Clarity disciples. Since he took it upon himself to transmit the Dao, the resentment hidden in his heart would uncontrollably be vented on the crowd's heads. Therefore, although he devoted himself to transmitting the Dao, he made the crowd suffer greatly. This is human nature, and no one can transcend it.

  All doubts in my mind have been dispelled. Don't ask how comfortable I am when I sleep. The clear and upright ones dare to face the darkness of human nature, without hiding or shielding themselves, facing each other calmly, seeking peace with a quiet heart. This is brightness, this is openness.

  When he woke up, the pain on his body had greatly reduced, and only some numbness remained in his meridians. He didn't ask for anything, washed his face, rinsed his mouth, sat cross-legged, recited scriptures, and did his morning exercises. After finishing his morning exercises, he pushed open the door and went out. It was already four o'clock, the sun rose in the east, and the weather was fine. He originally wanted to go to the dining hall to eat, but before he took a step, he heard the sound of laughter from the East Hall.

  Arriving at the East Temple gate, I found Ah Jiu holding a small urn with his left hand taking something from it, while Bai Li Kuang Feng and others were watching from the side.

  "It won't work, can't grasp it." After a moment, Ajiu shook his head and withdrew his hand.

  "Don't ask, you try it." Ye Xiao saw Mo Wu enter the hall and took the urn from Ajiu's hand and handed it to him.

  Mo Wen took the small pot and examined it carefully. The pot was about a foot tall, with a narrow mouth and a rounded body, and seemed to be a vessel for holding wine. However, instead of wine, the pot contained over a dozen white balls that were slightly smaller than pigeon eggs.

  "This was left to us by Xuan Yuan Zong Jiao, and we must use our left hand to take out all the pearls inside." Ajiu pointed to the wooden platform on the north side, where there were six more identical jars.

  Don't ask, but hearing the words felt interesting, so he stretched out his left hand to reach into the urn and grab those balls. Unexpectedly, those white balls were extremely slippery, if you grabbed too many, they would slip out of your hands, at most, you could only grasp six or seven, but when lifting up, because there was something in his hand, his left hand would get stuck in the urn mouth, unable to pull it out.

  "It's no use." Mo Wu didn't ask and put down the pearl in his hand, pulling out his left hand from the urn.

  "Nobody can pick up the pearls from the jar." Ye Xiao said.

  "Xuanyuan's leaving these things behind must have a profound meaning." Mo Xie handed the tray to Baili Kuangfeng.

  "What profound meaning?" Everyone's gaze focused on him.

  "It's still unclear at the moment." Mo Wen shook his head and said.

  "Here we go again." Everyone shook their heads in unison.

  "Perhaps it's for practicing the agility of our left hand's five fingers." Ah Jiu said.

  "Disciples of Taoist usually hold the duster in their left hand and the sword in their right hand, shouldn't they practice with their right hand? Why are they practicing with their left hand?" Liu Shaoying interrupted.

  "That's also true." Ba Li Kuang Feng nodded and said. Although Liu Shao Qing yelled for mercy loudly yesterday, which was very embarrassing, the crowd didn't look down on him. Firstly, the pain of colliding with the acupuncture points was unbearable for ordinary people, and everyone let out a miserable cry without exception. Secondly, the crowd had already known about Liu Shao Qing's character - someone who thinks of running away when encountering things, yelling for mercy wasn't surprising at all.

  "This method wasn't invented by Xuan Yuan Sect either, I've heard of it before." The silent Liu Song hesitated for a moment before speaking up.

  Everyone turned their heads to look at him, but Liu Song dodged and evaded, saying no more.

  "Speak up." Ba Li Kuang Feng urged impatiently.

  "It's definitely not like that." Liu Song shook his head repeatedly.

  "What's wrong?" Ye Xiao Yao saw that Liu Song was hesitating and frowned in impatience.

  "The mouth of this jar is very small, and you can't reach in to grab anything with your hand, only pinch with five fingers. After a thief enters the profession, he must practice this method. Once mastered, one can pinch people's jade pendants and snatch money bags." said Liu Sheng.

  Liu Song's words came out, and everyone frowned. Xuan Yuan Zhang Jiao was a Taoist, how could he possibly teach the Upper Clear Precepts to become thieves?

  "Never mind, never mind, don't think about it anymore. One person, one jar, just hold on to it." Baili Kuangfeng handed the jar in his hand to Ajiu, turned around and walked to the wooden platform, distributing the jars to the crowd. The seven people each held a jar and left the main hall.

  After finishing breakfast, everyone gathered together again to figure out how to take the pearls out of the jar at once. First, grasping was ruled out, and they could only use their five fingers to pinch. There were twelve pearls in total, and there were four gaps between the five fingers, so even if all the gaps were used, not that many pearls could be pinched, let alone the fact that the pearls were round and slippery, making it impossible for the fingers to grasp them.

  Everyone's task at this time is to practice the Qigong method, Xuan Yuanzi is not there, and no one else comes to disturb them. The seven people are exceptionally idle, but no one dares to slack off, racking their brains to try to take out the twelve beads from the altar. Before long, everyone discovers that there is only one feasible way, which is to use the four gaps between the five fingers to hold ten beads, and the remaining two beads are held in the palm of the hand.

  It's one thing to talk about it on paper, and another to actually do it. Even if everyone thinks of a way, it's hard to pinch those slippery pearls. Often, pinching this one makes that one fall, and pinching that one makes this one roll away. After several days of continuous practice, day and night, without rest, holding the jar tightly, the result is still not satisfactory. At most, he can only pinch four pearls, and if there are more, his five fingers cannot balance the force.

  After Xuan Yuanzi opened up the meridians for everyone, Mo Wen sensed that there was a strand of ethereal and elusive spiritual energy at his Dantian. This spiritual energy slowly ran through the Ren and Du channels every day, rotating forward before reversing direction, cycling once per day and night. Since he didn't know how to manipulate the spiritual energy, apart from having clear ears and eyes, it hadn't brought any other benefits.

  On the tenth evening, everyone gathered in the East Hall waiting for Xuan Yuanzi, all holding their boxes and frowning, none of the seven people could take out the twelve pearls from the box. After Xuan Yuanzi arrives, will he be angry? If he is angry, how will he treat everyone? All this is unpredictable, so these seven people are all nervous and tense, waiting for Xuan Yuanzi to arrive.

  At noon, Xuan Yuanzi reappeared.

  "Greetings, True Man Xuan Yuan." The crowd hastily stood up to pay their respects. In the Taoist sect, there were clear regulations for addressing each other, usually using the titles "Tao Master" or "Tao Fellow". Those who had achieved success in their cultivation and survived the heavenly tribulation were respectfully referred to as "True Men".

  "It's fine." Xuan Yuanzi didn't take the wine jug and cups with him when he left last time. He waved his hand, poured out the wine, and drank it all in one gulp.

  Xuanyuanzi drank wine and sat down, opening his mouth to say: "The spiritual energy that I left in your bodies previously is like the capital for doing business. Today, I will teach you the way to make a profit."

  "You, come forward." Xuan Yuanzi stretched out his hand and pointed at Baili Kuangfeng.

  Baili Kuangfeng's expression changed suddenly, and he felt a chill run down his spine. He had experienced Xuan Yuanzi's methods before, and now he was going to be the first to bear the brunt of it again. He really didn't know what Xuan Yuanzi had in store for him this time.

  Afraid or not, Baoli was forced to step forward and finally stood before Xuan Yuanzi with a hardened expression.

  "Take three steps back." Xuan Yuanzi rushed to the front of himself and waved his hand at Baili Kuangfeng. The latter was overjoyed as if he had been granted a great amnesty, and hastily retreated a big step.

  "With intention, guide the energy, lead the dragon out of the sea, circle above and coil below, repeat the cycle of heaven." said Xuan Yuanzi.

  Baili Kuangfeng was stunned, standing blankly and unclear. Xuan Yuanzi saw the situation and didn't bother with him either, pouring wine and drinking slowly.

  "Please enlighten me." Baili Fengyi spoke out of frustration.

  "What one thinks in one's heart is what one intends. With the mind guiding the spiritual energy in the Sea of Qi, it rises and circulates through the Heavenly Orbit." Xuan Yuanzi explained casually.

  Baili Kuangfeng heard the words but still didn't understand, awkwardly looking back at the crowd, and the crowd was also confused, so naturally no one could give him any hints.

  "The junior is dull and doesn't know how to express his feelings." After a moment, the hundred-mile wind bowed its head again.

  Xuanyuanzi heard this and suddenly glared, putting down his wine bowl and getting up to drag Baili Kuangfeng out of the hall, with everyone quickly following suit.

  Xuanyuanzi dragged the hundred-mile wind out of the East Hall, heading straight south. A row of houses appeared several dozen meters ahead, but Xuanyuanzi paid no attention and crashed into them with the hundred-mile wind, causing both parties to rebound from the impact.

  "The poor Taoist wants this house to collapse." As soon as Xuan Yuanzi's voice fell, the house in front of him suddenly collapsed with a loud noise, dust flying everywhere and wooden beams splintering.

  Everyone had never seen such a scene before, and they were all shocked with their eyes wide open and mouths agape.

  "Is it the mind that thinks, can control the spirit, and the spirit can control all things? As long as you dare to think, there is nothing that cannot be done. Do you understand?" Xuan Yuanzi waved his hand and scattered the smoke dust.

  Baili Kuangfeng was already frightened silly at this time, and upon hearing the words, he nodded repeatedly, then shook his head repeatedly after nodding.

  Xuanyuanzi's nose suddenly wrinkled, and Mo Xun hastily stepped forward to speak.

  "I understand..."