158: The sudden enlightenment of a menial servant and the idea that "the Tao is in excrement and urine."

While numerous high-level factions were spinning their wheels in a new form of "deliberately seeking detachment," desperately chasing the elusive "Cloud Court True Meaning," someone in the most inconspicuous corner of Cloud Court inadvertently touched upon that seemingly unreachable threshold.

This person was not some Holy Land Leader, nor a gifted Disciple, but the lowest-ranking menial worker at the "All-Heavens Friendly Exchange Center" on the outskirts of Cloud Court, named Shi Tiezhu.

He was originally a Mortal who had fled famine in a low-martial arts Small World. Due to Destiny, he was saved by the patrolling Disciples of the Cloud Court outer perimeter. Seeing that he was honest and strong, they let him stay to do rough work like sweeping floors and moving miscellaneous items.

Shi Tiezhu had no education and understood nothing of profound Dao techniques; he only knew that Cloud Court was his place of livelihood, and the wages provided enough for his mother back home to be well-fed and clothed.

Therefore, he worked exceptionally hard and cherished his job immensely. The area he was responsible for cleaning included a stone plaza outside the Exchange Center and several gravel paths.

Ever since the trend of "learning the detachment of Cloud Court" swept across various regions, Cultivators from all walks of life came to the Exchange Center to "seek wisdom" or "vent their grievances" in an endless stream.

Most of these people were burdened with worries, either struggling with failed attempts at imitation or anxious about the development of their own planes. As they walked, sat, or slept, they would unconsciously leave their complex thoughts and dissipated energy in the environment.

In particular, the various kinds of spiritual soil on the soles of their boots, the fragments of Medicinal Pills dropped from their bodies, and even the Spiritual Qi containing Impurities that they occasionally coughed up... all fell into the area Shi Tiezhu was responsible for cleaning.

These energy residues and material particles from different planes, with distinct attributes and even conflicting natures, mixed together to form an extremely complex and unstable "pollution."

The previous menial worker responsible for this area (who was also a low-level Cultivator) complained incessantly, needing to use his own meager magical power to carefully guide and purify it. It was time-consuming and laborious, and it was often not cleaned thoroughly.

But Shi Tiezhu was different. He did not understand cultivation, and he had no magical power. He only knew that where it was dirty, it had to be swept clean; where there were things that did not belong, they had to be cleared away.

He used the clumsiest method: carefully observing where there were color differences or foreign objects, and then using a special large broom (issued by Cloud Court, containing weak Chaos Qi), he swept, stroke by stroke, with extreme seriousness and extreme focus.

He had no distracting thoughts; his only thought was "sweep the floor clean." Under this extreme focus, his sweeping motion inadvertently aligned with a certain rhythm of "combing" and "returning to place."

When his broom, containing weak Chaos Qi, swept over those complex and chaotic energy residues, they were unexpectedly soothed and decomposed by an invisible force, eventually turning into the most basic particles, either merging into the docile Chaos Qi that truly belonged to this place in the gaps of the stone slabs, or being taken away by the broom to a designated "garbage disposal point" (usually taken to be buried as fertilizer).

The ground he cleaned did not become sparkling or overflowing with Spiritual Qi, but rather recovered a most essential "cleanliness" and "evenness," as if it were always meant to be this way, without anything superfluous. This cleanliness carried a sense that made one's mind feel at peace.

At first, no one noticed this obscure menial worker. Until one day, an Elder from a Holy Land known for the "Dao of Purity and Clarity," while arguing with someone outside the Exchange Center about "what is nature" until he was red in the face and agitated, inadvertently walked into the area Shi Tiezhu had just cleaned.

Stepping onto the flat and clean stone slab, the Elder only felt a surge of indescribable peaceful aura pouring in from the soles of his feet, instantly smoothing out the agitation and chaotic thoughts in his heart. A certain crux he had been agonizing over suddenly became clear in this sudden tranquility!

The Elder was shocked. He carefully inspected the stone slab under his feet, but only felt the purest "cleanliness," without any trace of a Formation or energy.

He looked up and happened to see Shi Tiezhu carrying his broom, walking toward the next area to be cleaned. That focused and peaceful figure formed a sharp contrast with the Cultivators around him who were deliberately creating an atmosphere of "detachment" while being anxious inside.

The Elder seemed to have gained some insight. He did not make a scene, just silently noted Shi Tiezhu's appearance and working hours. Afterward, whenever he felt uneasy, he would come here to wander and experience that strange peace brought by the most ordinary work.

Paper cannot wrap fire. Soon, the miraculous nature of Shi Tiezhu and his cleaning area spread in a small circle. Some did not believe it and went to experience it personally, and all were amazed.

Even a System Manufacturers consultant, "Euclid," secretly scanned it with instruments. The feedback data showed that the information entropy of that area was surprisingly low, and the rules presented a rare state of "harmonious stability."

The news eventually reached the ears of Long Qianyuan.

"What? That menial worker named Shi Tiezhu? The ground he sweeps has a calming effect?" Long Qianyuan's first reaction was that it was absurd, so he went to experience it himself.

Standing on the plaza that Shi Tiezhu had just cleaned, Long Qianyuan closed his eyes and felt it carefully. Indeed, an indescribable sense of peace enveloped his whole body, as if all disturbances were isolated outside. This was not some profound Dao technique, but more like a peace brought by "order" itself.

He found Shi Tiezhu, who was seriously wiping a corridor pillar, and asked curiously: "Tiezhu, when you sweep the floor, what are you thinking about?"

Seeing it was Director Long, Shi Tiezhu quickly put down his rag and scratched his head honestly: "Replying to Director, I'm not thinking of anything, just wanting to finish the work quickly and get the floor clean."

"And you didn't think about how to use magical power? Or comprehend any Dao Rhyme?"

"Magical power? I don't know how. What is Dao Rhyme?" Shi Tiezhu looked blank.

Long Qianyuan looked at his eyes, which were pure and without a trace of Impurities, and fell silent. He thought of what his Revered Master often said about "Dao follows nature," thought of the various factions that were struggling to imitate it without success, and then looked at this Mortal menial worker before him who had inadvertently touched the threshold of "combing rules" just because he "wanted to sweep the floor clean." He felt deeply moved.

He patted Shi Tiezhu on the shoulder: "Keep up the good work. In the future, your 'environmental maintenance fee' subsidy for this area will be doubled."

Shi Tiezhu was instantly overjoyed: "Thank you, Director! I will definitely sweep the floor even cleaner!"

Long Qianyuan returned to the Star Gazing Hall and told Yun Feng about Shi Tiezhu's matter as an interesting story.

Yun Feng was changing the water for the Pond (although the Pond water essentially did not need to be changed). Hearing this, his movements paused, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly:

"Zhuangzi says: 'The Dao is in the excrement.' Sweeping and cleaning the courtyard is also a great Dao. All living beings seek the Dao far away, but it is better to seek it before one's eyes and do one's duty well."

He scooped up a ladle of water and slowly poured it into the Pond, watching the ripples spread.

"If the heart is clean, the ground is clean. If the ground is clean, the heart is at peace. That is all."

Long Qianyuan savored this sentence carefully, then looked at the factions outside who were still tangled in "imitating the form," and suddenly felt they were a bit ridiculous and a bit pitiful.

He did not publicize Shi Tiezhu's matter, just tacitly allowed the small-scale word-of-mouth. Gradually, a new "way of cultivation" began to become popular on the outskirts of Cloud Court—not to sit in meditation to comprehend the Dao, nor to observe koi fish, but to try to be like Shi Tiezhu in work and labor, with extreme focus, doing every little thing at hand well.

The effect was not necessarily immediate, but the overall atmosphere on the outskirts of Cloud Court did indeed, unknowingly, have an extra sense of stability and steadiness.

And the menial worker Shi Tiezhu, who had caused the small ripple, still carried his large broom every day, sweeping his area with undivided attention, occasionally revealing an honest and satisfied smile because of the increased subsidy given by Director Long.

To him, the Dao was not far from people; it was right between this one sweep and one brush.