Enlightenment

  Lin Heng, who had just emerged from his hermitage and shocked the crowd, obediently returned to Zhongnan Mountain. This time, however, he didn't have to live in the depths of the mountains himself, but was instead taken into the Quanzhen Sect by Ma Yu.

  As a disciple of Quanzhen Sect's leader Ma Yu, Lin Heng attracted the attention of many people. However, Ma Yu did not accept him as an inner disciple, but rather as a secular disciple. As a result, Lin Heng was noticeable, yet would not be hated by others, especially by Yin Zhiping and Zhao Zhijing, two outstanding disciples who had emerged from outside. After all, he posed no threat to either of them.

  As for not being able to formally join the Quanzhen Sect, Lin Heng didn't feel any regret. After all, he wasn't planning on becoming a Taoist priest either, especially one who couldn't marry. However, regarding being brought back to the Quanzhen Sect by his master, Lin Heng had some complaints. He had just gone out and hadn't even properly made a name for himself yet, but now he was already back, which really annoyed him.

  Unfortunately, his words were useless here, and he had just joined Ma Yu's school, so naturally he had to listen to his master.

  Lin Heng sat in the room, respectfully bowed to Ma Yu, and then stood aside. Ma Yu looked at this, nodded his head in satisfaction, and said: "Heng Er, ordinary people who join my Quanzhen Sect usually start from scratch. However, you have brought your skills with you, and your foundation in martial arts is solid, so there's no need to redo the basics. But since our Quanzhen Sect is a Taoist sect, you still need to understand Taoist scriptures. From now on, except for learning martial arts with other fellow disciples, you can spend your free time reading Taoist scriptures in the library at the back of the mountain."

  "Yes!" Lin Heng nodded immediately. He didn't join the Quanzhen School on a whim, but after careful consideration, and the factor that led to this consideration was the Taoist classics in the Quanzhen School.

  For modern people, these classics may be of no use at all, but here, they are extremely valuable, especially the Wanshou Daozang, which is even considered a must-read. The reason, everyone knows, must be Huang Zongxi and the Nine Yin Scripture. Lin Hengxue has the Nine Yin Scripture, and he can roughly understand what's inside, but there are also some places that he can't understand.

  It was with these considerations in mind that he made the request to become a disciple of Ma Yuan. Now that Ma Yuan had spoken, he naturally agreed.

  Ma Yu looked at Lin Heng and nodded in approval. He was worried that Lin Heng would join Quanzhen because of his martial arts skills, but now he felt that Lin Heng was not bad. However, if he were to teach him the profound Quanzhen skills, it would still be impossible, after all, time reveals a person's heart, and he still needed to carefully consider Lin Heng.

  After bidding farewell to Ma Yun, Lin Heng immediately had a junior brother take him on a tour around the place. He first took a look at his living quarters, then went to the Scripture Pavilion in the back mountain to familiarize himself with the roads. Afterwards, he went to have dinner and rest.

  The next day, Lin Heng heard the bell ringing early in the morning and knew it was the sound of the morning lesson. He immediately went to Chongyang Palace. Here, all the disciples of Quanzhen Sect had arrived, but at this time, there were not many Quanzhen Sect disciples. Lin Heng took a closer look and saw that apart from the seven sons of Quanzhen in front, there were only about twenty or thirty people sitting below. Looking at this scale, the reputation of Quanzhen Sect as the first major sect was really undeserved. However, Lin Heng knew that being called the first major sect was just a joke. What was respected in the Jianghu world was strength. In those days, Wang Chongyang was the number one in the world, and his sect naturally became the first. Now that Wang Chongyang had passed away, Quanzhen Sect, although it had the seven sons of Quanzhen, could not be considered the first. It was just that people were used to calling them the first back then, so they continued to do so.

  By the time of the Condor Hero, the Quanzhen Sect had only a hint of being the first sect, but that was only in terms of numbers. In terms of martial arts, it had actually weakened further. At that time, only five of the Seven Sons of the Quanzhen Sect remained, with Ma Yu having died, and the Seven Stars Sword Formation could no longer be set up. They didn't even have the ability to exchange blows with top masters.

  Shaking his head, Lin Heng immediately sat behind Ma Yun. He secretly swept a glance at the crowd and saw that everyone had their eyes closed, silently reciting scriptures, so he did the same.

  The Quanzhen disciples recite the Tao Te Ching. The Tao Te Ching is absolutely sacred in the hearts of Taoist practitioners, but what this scripture teaches is probably not understood by many people.

  The moral classic Lin Heng also recited, only he came here for the first time and couldn't keep up with their rhythm at all. So after a while of reciting, he made mistakes and corrected them. Like this, he mumbled for an hour, then went to the outer square with everyone else to practice swordsmanship.

  Lin Heng was a newcomer and didn't understand the Quanzhen swordsmanship, so he could only practice his previous swordsmanship. Ma Yun saw this and thought it wasn't good, so she immediately came over to teach him the Quanzhen swordsmanship personally.

  The Quanzhen Swordsmanship has seven swords and seven styles, totaling forty-nine styles. This swordsmanship was comprehended by Wang Chongyang in the battlefield, and later after entering Taoism, it incorporated Taoist understanding, no longer as fierce as before, but rather with a subtle and nourishing meaning of Taoism. However, if you personally comprehend it, you will find that this swordsmanship contains killing intent in an invisible way, and is absolutely a top-notch swordsmanship.

  In Lin Heng's own understanding, this set of swordsmanship is not inferior to the Wuyue Swordsmanship he learned, and even compared to the Wu Liang Swordsmanship, it's not bad either. The only difference is probably just a shift in focus.

  Outside the Chongyang Palace, a dozen or so people were practicing the Quanzhen sword technique together, with grand momentum and a bit of flair. However, soon everyone dispersed in groups of three to five, some going back to work, others returning to their books, leaving only a few people behind to ask the Seven Masters of Quanzhen for instruction on sword techniques.

  Lin Heng did not stay behind, he went alone to the Hou Shan Cang Jing Ge to read Taoist scriptures.

  As for the Taoist scriptures, he really didn't have a deep understanding of them. Let's just talk about the Dao De Jing, everyone knows it, but how many people truly understand it? Lin Heng couldn't understand it either, but nowadays he has no choice but to study it. So he can only read and research one word at a time, asking questions when he doesn't understand something, and discussing what he does understand with his master to see if he's made any mistakes.

  His way of asking three questions in one sentence was annoying, but it showed a good learning attitude, which made Ma Yu very happy. It was precisely because of this that Ma Yu not only didn't get angry, but also took out a period of time every day to guide Lin Heng, and Lin Heng made rapid progress as a result. At this point, he was like a greedy sponge, endlessly absorbing Taoist knowledge.

  The more he watched, the deeper Lin Heng's understanding became. Gradually, he also summarized his own things, which he thought was the most core thing, that is, what is Tao.

  What is Tao?

  The answer to this question is probably different for everyone, because everyone has their own understanding. Let's not mention others, just take the example of Wang Chongyang and Zhou Botong, a pair of master brothers. From a martial arts perspective, Zhou Botong's way is about emptiness and softness, as represented by his creation, the Empty Mind Fist. Think about it, if Zhou Botong didn't have a very deep understanding himself, how could he possibly create the Empty Mind Fist?

  What about Wang Chongyang? This is not easy to say, but from Lin Heng's perspective, he thinks the core of Tao should be "beginning", which means starting point or source. In this regard, Xiantian Gong can explain some things. Lin Heng has never seen Xiantian Gong and does not understand it, but from its name you can know that this set of exercises should focus on the two words "Xiantian".

  What is congenital? For humans, it refers to something that exists from birth, literally "before heaven" or "before the sky", meaning before a child is born, while still in its mother's womb.

  Wang Chongyang named his martial art "Xiantian Gong", which should be the hope of cultivating to the state of returning to the origin, that is, the beginning of human beings.

  Of course, Lin Heng's view of Wang Chongyang may be one-sided, after all, he is not very familiar with this person, but this does not prevent him from sorting out his own understanding of the Tao. In modern terms, the Tao is actually just a rule. Birth, aging, illness and death are the Tao, flowers blooming and wilting are the Tao, thunder and rain are also the Tao... everything in nature can be attributed to the Tao, that is, the rules. At the same time, the birth of heaven and earth is also the Tao.

  So in Lin Heng's view, the Tao is like the sea, which can contain everything and be everything.

  His view is too broad, so broad that he can't elaborate on it carefully, because his statement is equivalent to not saying anything. Think about it, for a martial artist, one should walk out of their own way, but his view is just a vague view that anyone would say. What's the use of saying it if you don't summarize a detailed path?

  At first, Lin Heng took these to discuss with Ma Yun, but was scolded by him. Lin Heng thought about it and also felt that it wasn't right. However, later on, he thought of the Northern Profound Divine Technique from Tian Long, isn't that technique a manifestation of his own Dao?

  At the thought of this, Lin Heng put aside his thoughts of giving up and once again devoted himself wholeheartedly to learning and research. He summarized the Taoist scriptures and knowledge he had learned here, recalling various sayings from his past life. Gradually, he formed an idea.

  The primordial chaos separates into yin and yang, yin and yang give rise to the five elements, and the five elements transform into heaven and earth. This is Lin Heng's summary, which can be simply put as "one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things" from the Tao Te Ching.

  Before, Lin Heng couldn't understand this sentence at all, but now he somewhat understands it. Of course, this understanding isn't about the mythical content, but rather a summary of his own inner strength.

  Look, the human body can be heaven and earth, and the elixir field and sea of qi can also be heaven and earth. The heaven and earth of the human body's blood vessels can become all things, and all things return to one to form internal energy, gathering in the sea of qi. In this way, the unity of the sea of qi is achieved. Afterwards, with this unity, the connection between the human body's heaven and earth is unblocked, and all things are connected, causing the human body and all things to become the elixir field of all things. This follows the principle that one gives rise to two, two give rise to three, and three give rise to all things.

  Of course, this should be the normal understanding, that is, the understanding of most people. However, through the Northern Ming Shen Gong, Lin Heng also thought of another understanding, which is reverse thinking, that is, the idea of all things becoming three, three combining into two, and two returning to one.

  Do you think the North Mi God's work is like this? He absorbs internal energy, and internal energy comes from outside, passes through the meridians, and enters the dantian. Isn't this the process of all things returning to one?

  Moreover, in Lin Heng's view, the Northern Profound Divine Technique is not that simple. If it were just absorption, then it would be the Stellar Devouring Great Method, but it also has the Northern Profound True Qi. This is a type of true qi that can contain various types of true qi, even more formidable than the Easy Muscle Technique's true qi. It can be said that with the Northern Profound True Qi, no matter how you absorb others, you won't have to worry about the calamities brought by the Stellar Devouring Great Method. In this aspect, the Northern Profound Divine Technique once again exhibits the characteristic of "beginning", or the ultimate one.

  Thus, three to one, and one becomes three. This set of skills fully integrates two ideas and develops them to the extreme, it is also a divine skill that can embody Lin Heng's idea.

  Embracing everything is the embodiment of Lin Hengdao, and the North Ming Divine Art tells him that this idea can be realized. Unfortunately, he is not capable enough to understand how the North Ming Divine Art was created, otherwise, it might have been possible to create a technique that absorbs internal energy from others.

  At night, Lin Heng found his master again and said: "Master, I listened to you last time, went back and thought about it carefully. I found that my understanding was not wrong."

  Ma Yu listened to Lin Heng's words, his eyebrows furrowed. He said: "Your statement is naturally correct, the Tao is for all things, this point I also understand. It's just that, this is only a broad sense of meaning. Have you ever thought about your own Tao?"

  "My way? Isn't tolerating all things my way?" Lin Heng asked in surprise.

  Ma Yu shook his head and said, "Disciple, accommodating all things is not wrong, but have you ever thought about how to form this path of accommodating all things? You take accommodating all things as your own path, which is not a problem, but have you thought about the process? Each person's path has its own process, and your path is the simplest, yet also the most difficult. Because no one can accommodate all paths, let alone martial arts. This is also why I oppose you!"

  Lin Heng furrowed his brow, thinking silently in his heart.

  "That's right, I thought it was too simple. Embracing all things and natural laws is indeed the Tao, but these things are not just understood by myself, many people understand them, so how to achieve this process?"

  The Northern Profound Divine Technique was Lin Heng's faith, even if he felt frustrated at this time, he would not think that this road could not be walked through. It was just that creating the Northern Profound Divine Technique was too difficult for him, and he himself did not have the confidence, after all, the Northern Profound Divine Technique had always been his number one divine technique in his heart.

  What should I do then?

  Lin Heng pulled his collar and stood up impatiently. His actions seemed very rude, but Ma Yun didn't get angry, just a little worried that his apprentice would walk into a dead end. He said immediately: "Everyone has their own way, you chose to tolerate all things, this is not wrong, but have you thought about the process? At present, you shouldn't think whether this path is right or wrong, but rather how to achieve it."

  "Yes, I'm so stupid. Even if I couldn't create a technique like the Northern Profound Divine Technique, I should at least be able to come up with something like the Stellar Devouring Art..." Lin Heng smiled and clasped his fists in gratitude towards Ma Yu: "Disciple thanks Master for enlightening him."

  Ma Yu nodded, and Lin Heng bid farewell and left. This time he didn't go to the Scripture Pavilion, but returned to his own room, carefully thinking about the path he wanted to take.

  The Way and martial arts are inseparable. For a Taoist martial artist, their understanding of the Way is embodied in their martial skills. Lin Heng reads the Tao Te Ching to deepen his understanding of martial arts. Now, although he doesn't have that ability, having this heart has given him the motivation to move forward, hasn't it?

  In the house, Lin Heng waited for a night, and when he came out the next day, he had become refreshed. For one night, he didn't think for too long, because he knew that with his current abilities, it was impossible to do anything earth-shattering. What he needed to do now was not creation, but understanding, and the best way to understand was to learn.

  As for theoretical knowledge, Lin Heng has already learned a lot, so he needs to go out and experience various martial arts.

  So early in the morning, he found Ma Yun and told him about his idea of going out for a walk. Ma Yun knew that his disciple had been very promising over the past six months and had also gained an understanding of his character, so he nodded in agreement on the spot. Lin Heng hastily packed up and left Zhongnan Mountain, reappearing in the Jianghu world once again.

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