130: Chapter 130 Expounding the Teachings and Establishing Words
Master Zhu sat down.
Inside Zixiao Palace, a brief silence.
Then, the old man in purple Daoist robes—Guangchengzi—spoke again.
This time, he wasn't asking.
He was lecturing.
"Young friend answered Master Zhu's question. Now, it's time to hear what I have to say."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan, his gaze as calm as a deep pool.
"Just now you asked me who told me the Dao. I said, my teacher taught it. You then said, the Dao doesn't fall from the sky; people discover it and pass it down."
He paused.
"Those words are both right and wrong."
Lu Mingyuan cupped his hands.
"Please enlighten me, Senior."
Guangchengzi said:
"The Dao indeed requires people to discover it and pass it down. But what is it that people discover and pass down? It is the traces of the Heavenly Dao, the projection of order, the laws governing the operation of all things."
He took a step forward.
"The Heavenly Dao is beyond the human heart. Beyond all things. Beyond Chaos. It has always been there, neither born nor destroyed, neither increasing nor decreasing. When people discover it, it is there. When people don't discover it, it is still there."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"So, is the heart before the Dao? No. The heart merely follows behind the Dao, chasing after it. If one catches up and comprehends, that is attaining the Dao. If one doesn't catch up and gets lost, that is losing the Dao."
Inside Zixiao Palace, many people nodded.
Those Elucidation Sect Disciples in purple Daoist robes nodded the most vigorously.
Guangchengzi continued:
"Since the establishment of my Elucidation Sect, we have preached 'conforming to Heaven and responding to humanity.' Conforming to Heaven is to conform to the Heavenly Dao. Responding to humanity is to guide all living beings. The Heavenly Dao is above, and all living beings are below. The Heavenly Dao is the root, and all living beings are the leaves. Only when the root is deep can the leaves flourish. If the Heavenly Dao is unclear, what can living beings rely on?"
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Young friend, you just said that the heart is a door. I ask you—can a door be larger than heaven and earth?"
Lu Mingyuan stood there, listening to Guangchengzi's words.
He didn't rush to answer.
He was thinking.
Thinking about Guangchengzi's words: "The Heavenly Dao is beyond the human heart."
Thinking about the Elucidation Sect's "conforming to Heaven and responding to humanity."
Thinking about those people in purple Daoist robes, their gazes, their Dao.
Then, he spoke.
"Senior Guangchengzi, you are right. A door indeed cannot be larger than heaven and earth."
Guangchengzi nodded.
"Then you—"
Lu Mingyuan interrupted him.
"But a door can let heaven and earth enter."
Guangchengzi was startled.
Lu Mingyuan said:
"No matter how vast heaven and earth are, if they cannot enter the door, they have nothing to do with the people inside the house. No matter how lofty the Heavenly Dao is, if it cannot enter the heart, it has nothing to do with the Dao Cultivator."
He looked at Guangchengzi.
"Senior, I ask you a question—the Dao you have comprehended after so many years of cultivation, is it the entirety of the Heavenly Dao, or just a part of it?"
Guangchengzi fell silent.
Lu Mingyuan said:
"The Heavenly Dao is boundless. But the human heart has boundaries. What a person can use of their heart is only this one part of the heart. A person can use this part of the heart to connect with a corner of the Heavenly Dao. If it connects, that is comprehension. If it doesn't connect, that is being lost."
He took a step forward.
"Conforming to Heaven and responding to humanity, one conforms to the Heavenly Dao, but how does one conform? One conforms with the heart. One responds to all living beings, but how does one respond? One responds with the heart."
He looked at Guangchengzi.
"The heart is not the master of the Dao. The heart is the channel of the Dao. The channel may not be large, but without a channel, the Dao cannot enter."
Guangchengzi looked at him for a very long time.
Then, he asked:
"Then is the heart active or passive?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"Both."
Guangchengzi raised an eyebrow.
"Both?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"The heart is passive, because only when the Dao is upon the heart can the heart receive the Dao. If the Dao doesn't come, what can the heart receive?"
He paused.
"But the heart is also active. Because when the Dao comes, whether to receive it or not is the heart's business. How to proceed after receiving it is also the heart's business."
He looked at Guangchengzi.
"It's like walking. The road is there, but whether to walk or not is a person's business. Which road to take, how to walk, and where to go are all a person's business."
Guangchengzi fell silent.
Lu Mingyuan said:
"Therefore, conforming to Heaven and responding to humanity is not about letting people lie on the ground and be trampled by Heaven. It is about people standing up and using the path given by Heaven to walk their own path."
He looked at those people in purple Daoist robes.
"I understand the Dao of your Elucidation Sect. Order, rules, Legacy, all are good. But if there is only order without heart, then order is dead. If there are only rules without emotion, then rules are cold."
He withdrew his gaze and looked at Guangchengzi.
"Senior, you just said that the Heavenly Dao is beyond the human heart. I believe that. But I also believe that the Heavenly Dao must enter the human heart to be alive."
Inside Zixiao Palace, there was a profound silence.
Those people in purple Daoist robes, some frowned, some pondered, some nodded slightly.
Guangchengzi stood there, motionless.
Like a stone statue.
Then, he suddenly smiled.
That smile was different from his previous solemnity.
There was something in that smile.
Relief.
Acknowledgement.
That 'so that's how it is' kind of feeling.
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Young friend, you remind me of someone."
Lu Mingyuan asked:
"Who?"
Guangchengzi said:
"Daoist Songyun."
Lu Mingyuan's heart trembled.
Guangchengzi continued:
"Nine hundred years ago, he was here and said similar words. He said, 'The heart is the pivot.' He said, 'The Dao is within the pivot.' He said, 'If the pivot does not move, the Dao returns on its own.'"
He paused.
"But he left after saying that. He didn't answer what came after."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Can you answer?"
Lu Mingyuan was silent for a moment.
"I don't know."
Guangchengzi asked:
"Don't know?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"But I am walking. Walking until the day I can answer."
Guangchengzi looked at him for a very long time.
Then, he suddenly bowed deeply.
"I have learned much."
He turned and walked back to his seat, sitting down.
As he sat, the light emanating from him was brighter than before.
Inside Zixiao Palace, discussions resumed.
Someone whispered:
"Guangchengzi actually conceded?"
Someone said:
"This kid has some tricks up his sleeve."
Someone said:
"It's only the first round, there are many more to come."
Lu Mingyuan stood there, listening to the discussions.
He didn't feel happy.
Nor did he feel relaxed.
He knew this was just the beginning.
The Elucidation Sect had asked, but there were still the Interception Sect, Buddhism, the Human Sect, and the Loose Immortals.
Round after round, he had to pass.
Challenge after challenge, he had to overcome.
He looked at the people below the stage.
Those people in various colored clothes were all looking at him.
Some were admiring, some defiant, some curious, some waiting to see him make a fool of himself.
His gaze swept over those people.
Swept over Guangchengzi, swept over Master Zhu, swept over the old monk in golden kasaya, swept over the old general in white armor, swept over the Loose Cultivators in tattered Daoist robes.
Finally, his gaze landed on one person.
That person was seated in the front on the left.
Wearing a cyan Daoist robe, embroidered with sword patterns.
His face was very young.
But his eyes were very old.
So old that they seemed to have witnessed countless births and deaths.
He looked at Lu Mingyuan and suddenly smiled.
That smile was very faint.
Faint like a sword's gleam.
Yuanshi Tianzun's voice rang out.
"First round, complete."
He stood below the stage, looking at Lu Mingyuan.
There was something in his gaze.
That complex look of an elder looking at a Junior.
"Second round, Interception Sect's turn to ask."
He looked at the person in the cyan Daoist robe with sword patterns.
"Duobao, you go."
Duobao stood up.
He was the Interception Sect's Senior Brother, the chief Disciple of the Sect Master Tongtian, the one who was rolled away by Laozi with the Wind-Fire Futon during the Investiture of the Gods Calamity.
He walked to the edge of the stage, looking up at Lu Mingyuan on stage.
"Young friend, please."
Lu Mingyuan cupped his hands.
"Please."
Duobao did not go onto the stage.
He just stood below the stage, looking up at Lu Mingyuan.
"My question is different from Guangchengzi's."
He said.
"Guangchengzi asked about the Heavenly Dao; I ask about—vitality."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"The Interception Sect preaches 'intercepting a sliver of vitality.' Heaven and Earth are not benevolent; they treat all things as straw dogs. The Heavenly Dao doesn't care whether people live or die; people must find their own way to survive."
He paused.
"Can your heart find a way to survive?"
Inside Zixiao Palace, everyone looked at Lu Mingyuan.
Waiting for him to answer.
Waiting to see how this young man would respond to the Interception Sect's question.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, observed by those gazes.
He wasn't flustered.
He just thought for a moment.
Then, he spoke.
"Senior Duobao, I will answer you."
He took a step forward.
"Can the heart find a way to survive? Yes."
He looked at Duobao.
"Because I have walked from a path of survival."