129: Chapter 129: The Discourse Begins
In the center of Zixiao Palace, a raised platform had appeared at some unknown time.
The platform was not large, measuring three zhang square and about five chi tall. Its surface was made of bluish-gray stone, completely plain and unadorned, as simple as a large rock casually hauled from the mountains.
Yet everyone knew it was no ordinary stone.
It was Chaos stone.
It was among the first things to solidify when Chaos first parted.
An existence older than any treasure from the Primordial Era.
Lu Mingyuan stood below the platform, looking up at it.
On the platform, there was no one.
Below it, seats were already filled.
Cultivators in various-colored attire were seated around the platform in some unknown order. In the innermost circle were those with the deepest auras—the elderly man in purple Daoist robes, the old monk in golden kasaya, the aged scholar in blue Confucian attire, the old general in white armor, and those few Loose Cultivators whose depths were unfathomable.
They sat there like five mountains.
Five mountains pressing down within Zixiao Palace.
Further out, more people.
Zhang Xuanqing sat in a forward position on the left side. Seeing Lu Mingyuan look over, he nodded at him.
The gaze no longer held yesterday's defiance.
Only anticipation.
Anticipation of seeing how he would die—or perhaps, anticipation of seeing how he would live.
Suddenly, all light dimmed for an instant.
Then, a person appeared on the platform.
The man wore dark, profound-colored Daoist robes embroidered with the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and plants. His hair was tied high, secured with a jade hairpin. His face appeared to be in his forties, but his eyes were as deep as Chaos.
He simply stood there on the platform, looking at everyone below.
No one spoke.
Even breathing grew faint.
The man spoke.
"Today's discourse on the Dao shall be presided over by me."
His voice was not loud, yet it was clear in everyone's ears.
Looking at the man, Lu Mingyuan suddenly recalled a figure.
Yuanshi Tianzun.
Patriarch of the Chan School.
One of the Three Purities.
The one who, during the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, personally sent countless Disciples to the investiture of the gods.
The one in legend who valued order and rules above all.
Yuanshi Tianzun's gaze swept down from the platform.
It swept over those in the inner circle, over those in the outer circle, and finally, settled on Lu Mingyuan.
"You, come up to the platform."
Lu Mingyuan took a deep breath.
He stepped forward, walking toward the platform.
Reaching the platform's edge, he stopped.
The platform was only five chi tall.
But standing at its edge, he suddenly felt those five chi were taller than fifty thousand zhang.
Because Yuanshi Tianzun stood upon it.
Because three thousand listeners sat below.
Because what he had to say upon it were the most important words of his life.
He lifted his foot, placing it on the platform's surface.
At that moment, he felt countless gazes like countless mountains pressing down upon him.
He did not stop.
His other foot also stepped up.
He stood upon the platform.
Stood before Yuanshi Tianzun.
Stood before three thousand listeners.
Stood in the center of Zixiao Palace.
Yuanshi Tianzun looked at him, his gaze as calm as a stagnant pool.
"Do you know what is being discussed today?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"Yes. Discussing the Dao."
Yuanshi Tianzun asked:
"Whose Dao is being discussed?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"My Dao."
Yuanshi Tianzun asked again:
"What is your Dao?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"The heart is the Mysterious Pivot of all methods."
Yuanshi Tianzun fell silent for a moment.
Then, he turned, looking at those below.
"Did you all hear?"
Below, no one spoke.
Yuanshi Tianzun said:
"Today's discourse on the Dao discusses these seven words—'The heart is the Mysterious Pivot of all methods.'"
He paused.
"There is only one rule: He speaks, you ask. You ask, he answers. If he cannot answer, he loses. If he answers, you lose."
Below, someone asked:
"What happens if one loses? What happens if one wins?"
Yuanshi Tianzun said:
"If he loses, he rolls out of here and is never allowed to mention these seven words again. If he wins—"
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"If he wins, his Dao shall stand within Zixiao Palace."
Below, a profound silence fell.
Then, someone laughed.
It was the old monk in the golden kasaya.
"Interesting. This old monk has lived so long, yet has never seen a discourse on the Dao like this."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Young friend, have you truly thought this through? If you lose, you lose everything."
Lu Mingyuan looked at him.
"I have thought it through."
The old monk asked:
"Are you not afraid?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"I am afraid. But there are some things one must do even when afraid."
The old monk smiled.
That smile was like sunlight upon snow.
"Good. This old monk shall ask you the first question."
Yuanshi Tianzun raised his hand.
"Not so fast."
He looked below.
"Before the discourse begins, there is one matter to clarify."
Everyone looked at him.
Yuanshi Tianzun said:
"Today's discourse discusses 'The heart is the Mysterious Pivot of all methods.' Yet these words were not spoken by him alone."
He paused.
"Nine hundred years ago, a person came to Zixiao Palace. He also spoke similar words."
Below, some were visibly moved.
Someone murmured softly:
"Daoist Songyun."
Yuanshi Tianzun nodded.
"Correct. Daoist Songyun. He comprehended 'the heart is the pivot' and inscribed it upon Zixiao Palace's wall. Yet he could not answer what 'comes after.'"
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Can you answer it?"
Lu Mingyuan fell silent for a moment.
"I do not know."
Yuanshi Tianzun asked:
"You do not know, yet dare to come?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"Because I do not know, I must come. If I knew, there would be no need to come."
Yuanshi Tianzun looked at him for a long time.
Then, he suddenly smiled.
That smile was different from his younger brother Taishang Laojun's smile.
Taishang Laojun's smile was gentle, like spring breeze.
Yuanshi Tianzun's smile was cold, like winter sunlight.
Yet within that coldness, there was something.
There was acknowledgment.
There was that sense of "you are somewhat interesting."
Yuanshi Tianzun turned and walked down the platform.
Reaching the edge, he stopped.
"The first question shall be posed by the Chan School."
He looked at the elderly man in purple Daoist robes.
"Guangchengzi, you shall do it."
Guangchengzi stood up.
He was the leader of the Chan School's Twelve Golden Immortals, the teacher of the Yellow Emperor, and one of Yuanshi Tianzun's most valued Disciples.
He walked to the platform's edge, looking at Lu Mingyuan.
"Young friend, I shall begin."
Lu Mingyuan cupped his hands in salute.
"Please."
Guangchengzi did not ascend the platform.
He stood below, looking up at Lu Mingyuan on the platform.
"My question is simple."
He said.
"The Heavenly Dao has order, all things have rules. This is an eternal truth since Pangu separated heaven and earth. Yet your saying 'The heart is the Mysterious Pivot of all methods' places the heart before the Dao. The heart comes first, the Dao follows. The heart is the master, the Dao the follower."
He paused.
"I ask you—why should the heart come before the Dao?"
Within Zixiao Palace, a profound silence fell.
Everyone looked at Lu Mingyuan.
Waiting for his answer.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, watched by those gazes.
He recalled what Yuanshi Tianzun had just said—
"Because I do not know, I must come. If I knew, there would be no need to come."
He took a deep breath.
Then, he spoke.
"Senior Guangchengzi, I ask you a question."
Guangchengzi nodded.
"Ask."
Lu Mingyuan said:
"Who told you about the Dao?"
Guangchengzi was taken aback.
"What do you mean?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"You just said the Heavenly Dao has order, all things have rules. Who told you this truth?"
Guangchengzi said:
"Naturally, my teacher taught me."
Lu Mingyuan asked:
"And who told your teacher?"
Guangchengzi fell silent.
Lu Mingyuan said:
"The Dao did not fall from the heavens. It was discovered by people. Spoken by people. Passed down by people."
He looked at Guangchengzi.
"But by what means do people discover the Dao? How can they speak of the Dao? How can they pass it down?"
He paused.
"By the heart."
Guangchengzi frowned.
"Are you saying without the heart, there is no Dao?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
"No. The Dao has always been there. But if no one uses their heart to discover it, it remains there forever, unknown."
He looked at those below.
"Like Chaos. Chaos has always been there. But if Pangu had not separated it, it would forever remain Chaos, without heaven and earth, without all things, without us."
He withdrew his gaze, looking at Guangchengzi.
"The heart is not the master of the Dao. The heart is the discoverer of the Dao. The inheritor of the Dao. The Dao's—key."
Guangchengzi fell silent.
For a very long time.
Then, he suddenly smiled.
"What a fine key."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Yet you still have not answered my question—why should the heart come before the Dao?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"Because the heart can see the Dao. But the Dao cannot see the heart."
He pointed to his own eyes.
"These eyes can see heaven and earth. But heaven and earth cannot see these eyes. If these eyes go blind, heaven and earth remain. But without these eyes, heaven and earth are nothing to me."
He looked at Guangchengzi.
"The heart comes before the Dao not because the heart is greater than the Dao. It is because the heart is the door through which the Dao enters this world."
Within Zixiao Palace, a profound silence fell.
Then, someone lightly applauded.
It was the aged scholar in blue Confucian attire.
He looked at Lu Mingyuan, light in his gaze.
"What a fine 'heart is the door.'"
He stood up.
"This old man, Zhu Xi, wishes to ask you a second question."
Lu Mingyuan's heart trembled.
Zhu Xi.
Both Yuelu Academy and White Deer Grotto Academy held his relics.
The author of the record of near reflection he had read.
The master of the osmanthus tree planted by Zhu Xi's own hand that he had paid respects to.
He bowed deeply.
"Master Zhu, please speak."
Zhu Xi nodded.
"You say the heart is the door. Then what lies beyond the door?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment.
"Beyond the door is a path."
Zhu Xi asked:
"What kind of path?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"A path to walk. A path of cultivation. The path from Mortal to transcendence."
Zhu Xi asked again:
"Where does that path lead?"
Lu Mingyuan fell silent for a moment.
Then, he smiled.
"Master Zhu, I cannot answer that question."
Zhu Xi raised an eyebrow.
"Cannot answer?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"Because I have not finished walking that path. I can only tell you where I have walked. I cannot tell you where it leads."
He looked at Zhu Xi.
"But I know one thing—as long as one keeps walking, one will see. Walk one step, see one step. Walk two steps, see two steps. Walk to the end, and you will see the end."
Zhu Xi looked at him for a very long time.
Then, Zhu Xi smiled.
That smile was different from the smiles of the scholars he had seen.
Within that smile was consolation.
That consolation of "the younger generation is to be feared."
"Good. This old man shall wait to see the day you reach the end."
He sat down.
Lu Mingyuan stood on the platform, looking at those below.
Guangchengzi had asked.
Zhu Xi had asked.
Many more waited to ask.
Those monks in golden kasayas, those generals in white armor, those Loose Cultivators in tattered Daoist robes, and that Zhang Xuanqing who had spoken of defiance yesterday.
They all looked at him.
Waiting for his answers.
Waiting to see how long he could answer.
Waiting to see when he would be unable to answer.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, suddenly recalling something.
When on Zhongnan Mountain, Xuanweizi had said—
"Cultivation is walking a path. Walk the path beneath your feet well, and you will naturally know how to walk thereafter."
He was now walking that path.
Upon this platform in Zixiao Palace, before three thousand listeners, walking his own path.
He did not know how long this path was.
Did not know how much longer he must walk.
Did not know if he could reach the end.
But he knew one thing—
He was walking.
Using his own heart, walking his own path.
Using his own mouth, speaking his own Dao.
He looked at those below, took a deep breath.
"Who else wishes to ask?"
Within Zixiao Palace, countless hands rose.
He smiled.
"One at a time."
The discourse on the Dao officially began.