Asking about longevity

After learning the new fireball surgery, Mo Hua focused on the formation.

A few days later, after Mo Hua mastered the counter-spirit formation, he went to ask Mr. Zhuang for advice. Mr. Zhuang thought for a moment, but suddenly asked:

"Hua'er, monks seek the way of heaven. Do you know what the way of heaven is?"

Mo Hua thought for a while and replied: "Is it immortal?"

"Eternal life is the result, not the way of heaven itself."

"Aren't immortality and attainment the same thing?" Mo Hua asked.

Mr. Zhuang looked at the ink painting and said seriously:

"A monk can live forever after attaining the Tao. Only by understanding the Tao and practicing the way of heaven can he finally live forever."

"If you don't understand the way of heaven and practice the laws of the great road, if you think about immortality, you are abandoning the fundamentals and chasing the inferiors, and you will inevitably go astray."

Mo Hua seemed to understand but still nodded and remembered Mr. Zhuang's words.

"Does the Five Elements count as the way of heaven?" Mo Hua thought for a while and asked again.

"Forget it." Mr. Zhuang said.

"In terms of the five elements..." Mo Hua continued to think, "Do the two rituals, the three talents, the four images, and the seven stars all count? Or are the ways of using spiritual consciousness, the physical body, and spiritual power all considered a kind of heavenly way?"

The ink painting is somewhat uncertain.

Mr. Zhuang nodded.

Mo Hua was startled, "In this case, wouldn't the avenue be too complicated..."

Mr. Zhuang said: "There are thousands of avenues, all-encompassing. Everything in this world, every grass, every tree, every flower, all conforms to the way of heaven."

Seeing that the ink painting was not very clear, Mr. Zhuang explained:

"The ancient monks looked up at the astronomy, looked down at the geography, observed the various conditions of all things in the world, and understood the laws of the movement of the power of heaven and earth. Only then did they create all the methods of cultivation such as Kung Fu, Taoism, and other methods, as well as all kinds of cultivation methods such as formations, pills, and talismans."

"Everything in the world follows the way of heaven, and the strength of monks also comes from the way of heaven."

Mo Hua thought about it carefully and said doubtfully:

"Everything in the world follows the way of heaven, but what about those who disobey the way of heaven? Are they following it or disobeying it?"

"The so-called disobeying the way of heaven is actually following the way of heaven."

Mr. Zhuang explained, "The Great Dao has birth and death. Those who follow the Heaven's Way follow the Heaven's Way of 'birth', and those who disobey the Heaven's Way follow the Heaven's Way of 'annihilation'."

Mo Hua suddenly understood something.

The way of heaven is divided into two rites, which judge and complement each other.

Existence and non-existence are interdependent, birth and death are interrelated, good and evil are interrelated, and good and evil follow each other.

Everything is Tao, and all human actions follow "Tao", but some "Taos" are endless, and some "Taos" can only bring about their own destruction.

Mo Hua thought about it again, but there was still something he didn't quite understand:

"If everything in the world follows the way of heaven, then what you see and hear is all the way. What kind of way will the monks seek?"

Mr. Zhuang said: "The Great Dao is all-encompassing. It can be all-encompassing. It also means chaos and complexity, good and evil, true and false, appearance and true nature."

“Human beings have eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, objects have colors, sounds, fragrances, and touch, and everything they see, hear, and know every day is intertwined with good and bad, and it is difficult to distinguish true from false. As time goes by, people will naturally indulge in falsehood and superficiality, and it is difficult to see the true nature of the great road.

Mo Hua's eyes brightened slightly, and then he said:

"Just like looking at a visualization picture, do you want to see through the appearance and get a glimpse of the true nature?"

Mr. Zhuang looked pleased and nodded slightly.

Mo Hua was a little confused again, "Then what is the true nature of the Dao?"

Mr. Zhuang said: "You have to think about this yourself. As long as you have not become an immortal, the Tao you know is not the essential Tao. Some are even flawed or even erroneous Tao."

Mr. Zhuang smiled again and said: "I have never become an immortal, so what I tell you must be wrong. The truth I know may only be a deeper appearance, not the ultimate avenue."

"I understand, sir." Mo Hua nodded, "Only when you understand something yourself can it be considered your own. Otherwise, no matter how much others say and how right they are, I won't be able to understand it if I don't understand it."

"So when seeking the way of heaven, you have to rely on yourself to understand it. Even if your understanding is superficial at first, as long as you keep thinking and comprehending, and eliminate the false and retain the true little by little, you will finally be able to see the true nature of the great way."

Mr. Zhuang nodded and said, "That's right."

Mo Hua smiled and said a little uncertainly: "Sir, I am just practicing Qi now, and I just want to understand the way of heaven. Isn't it a little early..."

Mr. Zhuang shook his head and said in a gentle voice:

"Practice begins with refining the Qi, and enlightenment also begins bit by bit. Step by step, from low to high, from weak to strong, from shallow to deep, only in the end can we shape our Taoist heart and truly understand the Tao."

"Just like when you look at the world, if you look down from a high position, you will be blinded by your own high position, and you will only see yourself. Only by looking at the bottom, looking at the common people in the world, and seeing the suffering of monks, can you see the most essential things in this world. .”

Mo Hua nodded, thoughtfully.

But after all, he is young and has limited experience. Although he roughly knows what Mr. Zhuang means, he has never seen the wider cultivation world outside Tongxian City, so his understanding is not deep enough.

Mr. Zhuang sighed slightly, "I didn't want to tell you these truths now. It's too early to tell you now..."

But if you don’t say it now, you may not have time to say it in the future…

Mo Hua was startled and understood what Mr. Zhuang meant. Then he nodded solemnly and said:

"Sir, I have remembered it all!"

Mr. Zhuang smiled slightly and said again:

"If you understand this principle, I can teach you how to use the counter-spirit formation."

Mo Hua was a little surprised, "Does the Rebellion Spirit Array have something to do with this?"

Mr. Zhuang said: "Monks seek the way of heaven, both at the level of Taoist mind and at the level of cultivation. If you want to seek the Tao, Taoist mind and cultivation are indispensable."

"What I said above is related to the Dao Heart. What I will teach you below is related to cultivation and formations. In other words, it is the essence of the Dao of Heaven at the spiritual level."

Mr. Zhuang's tone gradually softened, and his eyes gradually deepened.

Mo Hua's eyes were sharp, he sat upright and listened attentively.

Mr. Zhuang let out a breath and said slowly:

"The origin of heaven and earth is Qi. The first judgment of Hongmeng is the transformation of Qi, which gives rise to all things in the sky."

"The original Qi is called the Qi of Hongmeng. The Qi is chaotic and powerful. After countless years, the chaos is purified and becomes the vitality of all things."

"Among them, the purest and most concentrated one that can be refined and used by monks is spiritual energy. Spiritual energy contains the power of heaven. This power is called spiritual power."

"Although all kinds of martial arts and Taoist techniques in the world are different from metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, ice, etc., their root is the manifestation of spiritual power."

"Spells for spiritual cultivation, and even blood and strength for physical cultivation, look very different, but they are all manifestations of spiritual power."

Mo Hua suddenly realized:

"So the power of the five elements, as well as spells, blood, and strength are all appearances, and spiritual power is the source of these powers?"

Mr. Zhuang nodded, "Yes, all Taoism, whether it is magic or martial arts, is created by spiritual power."

"Is the formation the same?"

"The formation is the same."

Mo Hua thought for a moment and then understood.

The formation requires the formation eyes to provide spiritual power, and the spiritual power flows through the formation patterns, and finally forms a completely different power of the Five Elements formation.

"What will be different about the counter-spirit formation?" Mo Hua asked.

Mr. Zhuang paused and said slowly:

"Ordinary formations are the condensation and formation of spiritual power to form the power of the five elements. The reverse spirit formation is the reverse decomposition of spiritual power, producing a power of destruction that is purer and closer to the origin of the great avenue."

"The Great Dao arises and dies. When it gathers, it arises; when it is dissolved, it dies!"

"The counter-spirit formation contains the power of destruction of the great avenue! What it really solves is not the formation, but the more essential spiritual power within the formation!"