Chapter 70

"Third Question, since your natural lifespan is nearing its end, why don't you ask the Sect Master for an external elixir? At least it can extend your life by three hundred years." The young Daoist said solemnly.

"Once the elixir is formed, there is no regret. Even if there is an external elixir, it only prolongs a foolish life for a while. It's better to enter the cycle of rebirth early." Third Question Daoist replied coldly.

"Is there really a cycle of rebirth in this world? I only seek this life, not the next." The young Daoist brushed off his clothes and walked out leisurely.

A patch of moonlight shone in, cold and serene, landing right at Third Question Daoist's feet.

The moonlight seemed like sand, continuously gathering, and finally formed a human shape, which was none other than Third Question Daoist, with every detail of his clothing and patterns vividly lifelike.

The Daoist closed the door, and the moonlight dissipated, leaving the room dim and quiet.

Speaking of the soul's ability to leave the body, gather and condense, and absorb moonlight to the point of being indistinguishable from a living person, it was far more powerful than Shen Lian's soul.

Shen Lian could also absorb the strange forces of heaven and earth, such as moonlight, to form a human shape, but it could not last long and was hard to achieve such a solid and substantial effect.

However, in terms of the realm of the soul, the two were essentially the same.

Of course, Shen Lian could not see what was happening here.

As the primordial energy gathered in his body, Shen Lian's soul power meticulously observed the changes in his body caused by the primordial energy entering.

That feeling was like a person who had been walking in the desert for a long time, extremely thirsty, suddenly encountering an oasis, finding a water source, and replenishing the moisture in their body.

The mystery of primordial energy was not just that. When Shen Lian's soul power penetrated the primordial energy, he suddenly entered a very strange realm.

Not all the primordial energy remained in the body; some still leaked out.

Shen Lian's soul power was attached to it and also went outside the body.

Unlike the countless times his soul power had escaped before, the world he perceived this time was not the same as what he saw with his eyes.

Perhaps the primordial energy in the bamboo hut here was ten or a hundred times thicker than any place he had been to, like looking through a magnifying glass, he saw scenes he had never seen before.

This strange feeling made him realize that besides primordial energy, there were eight other eternal and unchanging forces that constituted the entire world.

It was hard to describe, but it felt like he was swimming in an endless sky one moment and landing on solid ground the next.

He saw the land rise, forming mountains, and the wind and rain arising; he heard the thunder in the nine heavens, the heavy rain flooding the land, gradually forming lakes and seas, and the dense forests on the land, which later caught fire.

He suddenly thought of the I Ching, the eight trigrams representing heaven, earth, mountain, marsh, water, fire, wind, and thunder.

The eight different forces, connected by primordial energy, constantly transformed, forming the real material world.

As for the principles of this transformation, he completely did not understand.

He was even less able to control these eight forces.

The primordial energy that came out of his body re-integrated into the primordial energy of heaven and earth, and his soul power, no longer wrapped, returned to his usual perception.

Shen Lian's heart moved, and the threads of moonlight leaking through the window were absorbed by his soul power that had just escaped.

The moonlight continuously condensed, finally forming a flickering flame.

His soul power did not have the usual feeling of being quickly consumed.

Swinging gently, it came to his face. Shen Lian opened his eyes, slowly blew out the flame, and the thread of soul power returned to his body, feeling a bit more solid compared to the original soul power.

******

The next morning, Lu Sheng came early to knock on Shen Lian's door.

After a night's rest, he seemed to have regained his energy.

Walking leisurely in the long corridor, Lu Sheng said, "Brother Shen, can you already live without food?"

Shen Lian replied, "I'm still a bit short of that. But Brother Lu, you stayed in the Heart-Questioning Path for so long without eating, so you must have reached the realm of abstaining from grains, right?"

Lu Sheng, though seemingly carefree, was not a simple person. The Heart-Questioning Path was difficult for those with strong souls and firm minds like Shen Lian, but it was not easy for others. Knowing it was fake, they might not be able to come out.

"Brother Shen might not know, but I am not like you, who have practiced inner energy since childhood. I studied the Four Books and Five Classics from a young age. I passed the provincial examination at twelve and went to the imperial examination at seventeen last year. On the way, I stayed at an inn. If not for that encounter, I might have already passed the imperial examination." Lu Sheng's expression was a bit strange when he mentioned this.

"I wonder what experience made Brother Lu have the heart to seek the Dao." Shen Lian's expression was calm, and he asked casually.

"At that time, I was very tired from the journey, so I decided to stay at the inn. The inn was famous for its millet porridge, which I had heard about for a long time. I ordered a bowl and found a table to wait. I was very sleepy, so the Daoist took out a small porcelain pillow for me to sleep on. I placed the porcelain pillow on the table and immediately fell asleep. I immediately entered a dream and had a wonderful dream of enjoying all the glory and wealth of life. When I woke up, the millet porridge was not yet cooked.

"To be honest, I was young and famous, and I was striving for fame and wealth. But after that dream, I found it all tasteless.

"Suddenly, I had the heart to seek the Dao and find the truth, to see if this world is also just a dream."

Lu Sheng seemed to have been holding this in his heart for a long time, and it felt very refreshing to speak about it.

Shen Lian smiled inwardly, thinking of a news story from his previous life about a student who read a novel. The protagonist had a dream of immortality in his youth and decided to seek the Dao, leaving home to find a master at a nearby Daoist temple, only to be returned to his parents by the Daoist, who got a beating.

Lu Sheng looked strong, but he was not very old. He had traveled thousands of miles to seek the Dao at Qingxuan, and he wondered if his parents knew.

Since Lu Sheng could pass the provincial examination at a young age, he must have received a good education. In this world, the possibility of a poor family producing a top scholar was extremely low. After all, the imperial examination system had been in place for a long time, and the education of ordinary families' children could not compare to that of wealthy families. In terms of solving problems, wealthy people could hire famous teachers to personally guide them, which was not possible for ordinary families.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think of himself. Leaving the Shen family to seek immortality and the Dao was also extremely irresponsible, like the pot calling the kettle black.

Seeing Shen Lian smile, Lu Sheng asked, "Why are you smiling, Brother Shen?"

"I was just thinking, with all the mountains and rivers you've crossed, won't your family be worried?" Shen Lian reined in his smile and said slowly.

"I plan to achieve Dao in ten years. If this is not a dream, I will help my parents achieve immortality. I left a detailed letter explaining the situation, and they will understand." Lu Sheng said very seriously.

"This junior brother is quite confident. Achieving Dao in ten years, even the reincarnated bodies of Buddha or the Daoist Patriarch couldn't achieve such rapid progress." A young Daoist leaned against the railing on one side of the corridor, arms crossed, looking at the two of them and smiling.

PS: Thank you for the generous rewards from Kuang Ai Xian Fu (588), Yi Ye Jiang Shan, Bu Zhi Dao, Da Da De Mantou, and Qian Xu Zi.

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