Confucianism says that a gentleman makes friends but does not form cliques, yet most intellectuals form factions for personal gain.
Confucianism speaks of loyalty, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust. Yet when foreign enemies attack, the first to defect to the enemy are the Confucians. The ones betraying trust and abandoning their wives and children are also intellectuals.
"The core real utility of Confucianism is that the nobles hold the shackles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust, putting these shackles on the common people to make them dogma for the masses. Meanwhile, ’I’ leap out from outside the dogma; when everyone else adheres, but I do not, I can seize the opportunity to gain benefits. This is the way of kings, the core of Confucianism." Zhang Chen stroked the scripture of Chen Sanliang, only now realizing how precious these Confucian teachings truly were.
"Chen Sanliang is remarkable, but he is doomed never to develop completely. He is undermining the very foundation of the powerful and noble. The aristocracy uses Confucianism as a dogma to educate the ignorant world, then turns it into shackles to seize advantages. And Chen Sanliang is starting a Heart Learning; isn’t that overturning the table? He is aiming to discard the tool the nobles use to unite the world. How could the nobility possibly give him the chance to emerge? This fellow has betrayed his class and will likely meet a bad end in the future," Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
If he were the one enjoying the benefits, he certainly wouldn’t let Chen Sanliang rise either.
As Zhang Chen pondered these studies, at that moment, the noblewoman in a bright red robe walked into the courtyard again and entered the small building.
Zhang Chen hurriedly put down the book in his hand and respectfully bowed to the noblewoman.
The noblewoman glanced at Chengyu boiling medicine, then at Zhang Chen and the book, showing a curious expression: "You can read?"
"I’m just looking at it for fun," Zhang Chen hastily explained, refusing to admit he could read.
He had roughly understood the noble’s attitude in this world towards ordinary people reading and writing, and to avoid trouble, he chose to deny his literacy altogether.
Xie Lingyun looked at Zhang Chen with a pair of eyes, an expression of pity in her gaze: "This child is indeed crazy, mentally unstable. Who else would watch a book they can’t read with such interest?"
Zhang Chen found Xie Lingyun’s look strange, sensing something was off, but he couldn’t figure out exactly what.
"I wonder what instructions the noble has for coming here?" Zhang Chen respectfully asked Xie Lingyun.
"There’s no specific instruction; I just guided you in Martial Dao practice this morning and thought I’d see if you made any progress this afternoon." Xie Lingyun said nonchalantly.
Could she say she was here to find the mysterious light?
Unfortunately, Xie Lingyun was destined to return without success. Since Zhang Chen had sensed something wrong, how could he continue to let the Golden Light be retained?
Xie Lingyun looked at Zhang Chen: "Go and practice the True Dragon Form; I’ll guide you and see if there are any oversights."
Zhang Chen felt speechless; asking a man cultivating immortality to practice martial arts every day—isn’t that too presumptuous?
But the matter of cultivating immortality was secret, and he couldn’t explain it to Xie Lingyun, so he could only squeeze out a smile and go to the courtyard to practice martial arts, executing the True Dragon Form.
After completing the practice, Zhang Chen turned to look at Xie Lingyun, awaiting her guidance. But who knew that Xie Lingyun was standing in the corner of the courtyard, staring at the elm tree in a daze: "The most outstanding thing in this whole courtyard is this big elm tree, it must have lived for a hundred years. If there’s something mysterious, it should be this elm tree."
Zhang Chen walked to Xie Lingyun’s back, looking at her back view, baffled. Wasn’t she here to guide his Martial Dao practice? Why was she focused on that elm tree? What was so interesting about it? Due to the drought, the tree’s leaves had all fallen off, what is there to see?
"Master, I have finished practicing; please correct me," Zhang Chen respectfully bowed to Xie Lingyun’s back.
Xie Lingyun returned to her senses upon hearing this and glanced at Zhang Chen.
She hadn’t watched Zhang Chen practice martial arts; she came here to find the mysterious light, and guiding Zhang Chen was just a convenient excuse.
Upon hearing Zhang Chen’s words, Xie Lingyun made up a story: "Not bad, good practice, keep working hard. You go and practice, I’m thinking about something, don’t disturb me."
Zhang Chen glanced at the noblewoman in front of him, sensing something was off from her perfunctory tone but unable to pinpoint it, so he continued practicing martial arts.
At that moment, Xiaodouding’s herbal medicine finished brewing, and he brought the medicine bowl to Zhang Chen: "Junior brother, quickly drink this bowl of medicine, I guarantee it will help you practice Ming Jin soon and utilize the power of your meridians fully."
"Really?" Zhang Chen responded indifferently, showing no interest. He had no desire to drink the medicine, but faced with Chengyu’s earnest gaze, he gulped down the concoction in one go, then wiped the soot from Xiaodouding’s face: "Why does this medicine taste more bitter than before? It’s much more bitter than the first time I drank it."
"Good medicine tastes bitter to cure illness; to prevent you from becoming resistant, of course I had to increase its potency," Xiaodouding reasoned, lying without blushing.
Zhang Chen didn’t think much of it and practiced for a while. At that point, sleepiness hit him, making his brain foggy. Unable to bear it, he went straight into the house and slept soundly.
Zhang Chen slept for three hours, waking up as twilight approached, finding Xiaodouding nowhere to be seen while the noblewoman still stood under the big elm, pondering some difficult problem.
"Strange," Zhang Chen muttered again.
At that moment, a bell rang through the mountains, startling the noblewoman from her thoughts. She looked at the sky and said, "Have I been standing here this long?"
"Would you like some tea?" Zhang Chen approached and asked Xie Lingyun.
"No need; I should head back for dinner." Upon saying this, Xie Lingyun seemed to remember something, pulled incense from her sleeve, and handed it to Zhang Chen: "I made this incense myself; light one before bedtime to calm your soul and nourish your spirit, it will be very beneficial for you. Don’t forget to light one each night before you sleep."
The incense was a replica she made while working on a calming incense formula. Its effect was not even one percent of the real thing, so it was not particularly precious.
The kindness in giving Zhang Chen incense was merely because she pitied this young Daoist, suffering from madness without realizing it. Just like when she was initially attacked by the Celestial Demon, she too didn’t know, thinking it was her mind that had problems. But as her cultivation level increased, doubts arose in her heart, eventually discovering that wretched demon.
After speaking, Xie Lingyun turned and left, leaving Zhang Chen standing in the courtyard with incense in hand, feeling somewhat baffled.
"Since when were nobles so courteous? This lady is nice, utterly free from the pompous air of nobility, looking down on me because of my humble background. She’s someone worth dealing with!" Zhang Chen watched Xie Lingyun’s departing figure, muttering to himself.
At night
Zhang Chen lit the incense and once again delved into the Meditation Realm.
Meditation Realm excavation, sitting, practicing Qi, it seemed to have become Zhang Chen’s daily routine; apart from casual chats with Xie Lingyun, life seemed to have calmed down.
Of course, beyond that, Zhang Chen found himself increasingly tired each day. Sometimes during meditation or Qi cultivation, he would even fall asleep.
Time flew, and on one deep night, within the Meditation Realm, Zhang Chen and the Fox Spirit were excavating in the Meditation Realm. Suddenly, a shout from the Fox Spirit startled him: "I found something! There’s actually an underground chamber here. Zhang Chen, come down quickly; there’s actually a spring in this Spiritual World, how is this possible?"
Fox Fairy Nannan exclaimed and then suddenly dived in.
"Did we find it?" Zhang Chen was also thrilled. After digging day and night for seven or eight days, they finally broke through the underground soil and reached the spring.
In sight was a stone chamber entirely crafted from jade. The room wasn’t large, only about thirty square meters, and at the center was a small pool, about three meters wide. Within it, a spring gurgled, but its water color was abnormal—a yellowish hue, somewhat repulsive, thick, and bringing bad associations to mind.
"Why don’t you come down?" Fox Fairy Nannan called out. Seeing Zhang Chen still crouched outside without moving, she turned to ask in surprise. Logically, with creation at hand, wouldn’t Zhang Chen be rushing down to seize and enjoy it himself?