"Imperceptible refinement"

  The corners of his mouth curled up in a smile, and he even seemed to be somewhat smugly pleased with himself, but upon hearing Bai Ye's words, he suddenly froze: How did this old man discover the power within me so quickly?!

  He was shocked, but little did he know that Laozi was even more shocked!

  The method of cultivation is only four words, but it is the basic condition for every living being to attain the Tao and become an immortal, and to set foot on the path of seeking the Tao. Its importance goes without saying!

  The primordial spirits were born early and had some unique characteristics, so they received the blessings of heaven and earth. From birth, they had a set of cultivation methods passed down in their divine souls. Some individuals with deep good fortune, such as the dragon, phoenix, and qilin, had higher-level cultivation methods that corresponded to their innate abilities, which were not comparable to ordinary people. The Three Pure Ones transformed from Pangu's primordial spirit were even more advanced, directly inherited from Pangu himself, truly enviable by others!

  The old man and these living beings are different in nature, so they don't need to find the cultivation method by themselves. They only need to comprehend what is already there - but this doesn't mean they don't know about the difficulties of low-level living beings!

  Low-level spirits do not have a tradition of passing on cultivation methods, and naturally they can't even take the first step in starting to cultivate! Unless someone is willing to set up an altar and preach the way, spreading the teachings far and wide, it's almost impossible for them to gain any understanding! This is why Hongjun Daozu's preaching in the vast wilderness had such a huge impact back then - the majority of spirits who hadn't taken that first step were lost and bewildered!

  From this, we can also see the difficulty of understanding the method of cultivation - if it were simple, everyone would be able to understand it, why struggle so hard!

  But now I've discovered that this young soul, who's only been alive for about ten years, has actually figured out a way to cultivate on his own!

  Nüwa created humans for only ten years, and Laozi was very clear that these human tribes knew some ambiguous basic information. Nüwa would not leave behind any cultivation methods; Moreover, the cultivation method of this person in front of him is extremely rough and simple. Even a random transformation into a small demon's cultivation method is better than this! It can be said that it doesn't count as anything! This kind of crude cultivation method will definitely not be taught by any Taoist friend - it must be something this person came up with on their own!

  This made Laozi extremely surprised!

  "Humans actually have such insight..."

  The old master pondered in his heart and thought about what he had done in the past few sleepless nights. His heart moved, and he suddenly opened his mouth to say: "The Way that can be told is not the eternal Way."

  Bai Ye was taken aback, somewhat bewildered, and didn't know what Laozi's sudden sentence meant: "Xian Chang, what did you say?"

  "It's nothing." The old man said, closing his eyes again, with a look of being lost in thought. Bai Ye saw the situation and had no choice but to put the food aside and turn around to leave.

  Just three steps away, Bai Ye suddenly stiffened all over, unable to move, his mouth wide open, as if he could swallow three fists in one gulp!

  "Dao De Jing! Laozi just said Dao De Jing! That's the first sentence of Dao De Jing!"

  "The way that can be told is not the eternal Way; the name that can be named is not the eternal Name." This is indeed the opening sentence of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

  "What does this mean? Is he trying to teach me the Tao Te Ching? Is he going to take me as his apprentice? No, that can't be it, if so, he would have said so directly! What kind of identity is he, why bother playing dumb riddles with me?"

  "But it's not that simple, why is he reciting the 'Tao Te Ching'? This is Laozi's true teachings, he absolutely wouldn't casually pass on the 'Tao Te Ching' to others! Especially now that he hasn't established his teachings and hasn't taken in disciples, this is a true teaching that only Man Honghuang alone possesses!"

  Bai Ye thought left and right, but not only couldn't guess Lao Zi's intention, instead became more and more bewildered.

  "…I give up! Don't want to think about it anymore!"

  A curse, and Baili abandoned his futile efforts - this was obvious, as a weakling, he was at a disadvantage in terms of both strength and status, and could only passively accept things. No matter what the old man thought or planned, he could only be the one to bear it.

  "But it shouldn't be a bad thing. I'm just a lowly 1st-class citizen, how could I possibly catch his eye!"

  He smiled wryly and was about to leave when a system message suddenly appeared.

  [System Message: You've heard the words of the old master, and your comprehension has improved slightly in the mode of enlightenment. Your cultivation speed has increased imperceptibly. The current cultivation speed is contemptible.]

  Unexpected! A happy unexpected!

  But having listened to the first sentence of the Tao Te Ching, actually increased his cultivation speed?

  Although the system evaluation says it's a micro-increase that can't be put into words, this is just the effect of the first sentence and six characters of the Tao Te Ching! The Tao Te Ching has more than 5,000 characters in total. If you listen to the whole thing, how much should your cultivation speed increase?! At that time, it's impossible for the cultivation speed to still be "contemptible"!

  "If I finish listening to the entire Tao Te Ching, the system won't prompt me that I've become a saint, right... Forget it, if the Tao Te Ching had this effect, Xuān would have become a saint long ago!"

  "But if I can make some progress just by listening to the Tao Te Ching... Although I may not be able to recite it from memory, a few lines shouldn't be a problem! If I recite them to myself..."

  Taking a deep breath, White Night rummaged through the depths of her memory and recited those blurry words with a serious tone.

  "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The Nameless is the origin of heaven and earth; the Named is the mother of all things."

  Reciting two long sentences in a row, Bai Ye held her breath and waited for the system message.

  Unfortunately, there is no news at all.

  He puckered his lips and continued to recite: "Thus the constant void enables us to see the hidden wonders; The constant being enables us to see the boundaries. These two are the same in source but different in name, both called mysteries, mystery within mystery, the gate of all wonders..."

  This time he didn't stop, reciting all that he could remember in one go, even skipping a few sentences that he had already forgotten, trying his best to recall. Until he couldn't say any more, he stopped and looked at the system message box.

  No response.

  "It's true, only when Laozi himself reads out the Tao Te Ching is it effective. Even if I myself say it in a flowery way, it won't have any use!"

  Actually, this result was already anticipated by Bai Ye. After all, if reciting the "Tao Te Ching" can increase his cultivation speed, then it's natural that "Journey to the West", "Lotus Sutra", and "Diamond Sutra" would also work! In that case, if Bai Ye were to recite all the classics he remembered, how much would his cultivation speed increase?

  If from the game's point of view, this is a bug! It shouldn't exist!

  It's obvious that this game system in the vast wilderness is very comprehensive and doesn't allow for this bug to exist.

  "Alas!" He let out a sigh, and Bai Ye felt somewhat disheartened. Although he had already made some guesses, now that he saw such results, he couldn't help but feel regretful.

  "Never mind. Isn't there a saying that goes like this? Cultivation relies on persistence, taking shortcuts is not the right way."

  Anyway, today I got some benefits from Laozi. As long as I continue, one day I'll hear the complete Tao Te Ching from him!

  "The plan is correct, now it just needs time to be executed."

  Many gains have solidified White Night's confidence in continuing to execute his predetermined plan, he has decided that even if it consumes the time used for daily tasks, he will still dig out good things from Laozi!

  "Lao Tzu, you sage, I've got my eye on you!"