135: Chapter 135 Lu Mingyuan Takes the Stage

"What comes after the Heart as the Mysterious Pivot?"

This question echoed within Zixiao Palace.

It lingered for a long time.

Lu Mingyuan stood on the stage, looking at the people below.

Those people were also looking at him.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

Only those lights shone quietly.

He asked himself a question.

A question Daoist Songyun had carved onto a wall nine hundred years ago.

A question he had carried for nine hundred years, from Zhongnan Mountain to The Rift, and from The Rift to Zixiao Palace.

Now, he had to answer it himself.

He closed his eyes.

Before him, there was no darkness.

There was a road.

A long, long road that began at Zhongnan Mountain.

He saw himself walking on that road.

At seventeen, carrying a book chest, walking through the streets of Heyin City.

At eighteen, following Xuanweizi, walking along the mountain paths of Zhongnan Mountain.

At nineteen, leaving Zhongnan Mountain and heading toward Longhu Mountain.

At twenty, from Longhu Mountain to Wudang Mountain, from Wudang Mountain to Shaolin, from Shaolin to Yuelu, and from Yuelu to Mount Hua.

At twenty-one, from Mount Hua to Mount Buzhou, and from Mount Buzhou to The Rift.

At twenty-two, from The Rift to Zixiao Palace.

He had walked for five years.

He had walked tens of thousands of miles.

He had walked the path from a Mortal to a Golden Immortal.

He saw the people on the road.

Xuanweizi, Immortal Master Yu Shu, the Great Emperor Zhenwu, Daoist Qingxuan, Zen Master Huijue, Jingchen, Zhu Xi, those Confucian scholars, those warrior monks, those Loose Cultivators, and those generals.

And Tie Niu.

And those nameless people.

They were all on the road.

They were all watching him.

They were all waiting for him.

He opened his eyes.

Below the stage, those people were still watching him.

But this time, their gazes were different.

It wasn't scrutiny.

It wasn't doubt.

It wasn't curiosity.

It was waiting.

It was the kind of waiting where one has waited a long time and finally reaches the moment of speaking.

Lu Mingyuan took a deep breath.

Then, he spoke.

"Seniors, Fellow Daoists."

His voice was very soft.

But in Zixiao Palace, everyone heard him clearly.

"In these five rounds of Dao discussion, I have answered questions from five factions. The Chan Sect asked about the Heavenly Dao, and I answered that the heart is the gateway. The Jie Sect asked about the chance of survival, and I answered that as long as one stands, there is a way to live. Buddhism asked about emptiness and existence, and I answered that the heart receives them. The Ren Sect asked about non-action, and I answered that walking is the Dao. The Loose Immortals asked about carefree wandering, and I answered that doing without attachment is it."

He paused.

"But after answering so much, there is one question I have yet to answer."

He looked at the people below the stage.

"That question is the one I just asked myself—what comes after the Heart as the Mysterious Pivot?"

In Zixiao Palace, someone moved slightly.

It was Guangchengzi.

He looked at Lu Mingyuan, his gaze filled with something.

There was expectation.

The kind of look that said, 'You are finally going to answer this.'

Lu Mingyuan continued:

"Nine hundred years ago, Daoist Songyun carved this question onto the walls of Zixiao Palace. He realized that the heart is the pivot, but he did not know what followed."

He looked at the lights.

"I have also thought about it for a long time. From Zhongnan Mountain to The Rift, from The Rift to Zixiao Palace. From Qi Refining to Golden Immortal. From one person to a crowd of people."

He took a step forward.

"And then, I understood."

Below the stage, everyone watched him.

Waiting for him to speak the answer.

Lu Mingyuan said:

"After the Heart as the Mysterious Pivot—it is still the heart."

Silence filled Zixiao Palace.

Then, someone asked:

"Still the heart? What do you mean?"

It was Zhang Xuanqing.

The young man who had voiced his disagreement yesterday.

Lu Mingyuan looked at him.

"Heart as the Mysterious Pivot means the heart is the pivot of all laws. All laws arise from the heart, and all laws return to the heart. When the heart is still, all laws naturally return. When the heart moves, all laws naturally arise."

He paused.

"But after the Heart as the Mysterious Pivot? Where does the heart go?"

He looked at Zhang Xuanqing.

"The heart goes nowhere. The heart is still there, still in the position of the pivot. But that pivot is not dead; it is alive. It is not closed; it is open. It is not guarded; it is walking."

He took another step forward.

"Heart as the Mysterious Pivot is static. What follows is dynamic. When static, the heart is a door. When moving, the heart is the person walking."

He looked at everyone below the stage.

"I said before that the heart is a door. The door lets the Dao enter. But after the door enters? The door must become feet. It must walk. It must walk the path that the Dao entered from."

Guangchengzi stood up.

"You mean the heart is both the door and the feet?"

Lu Mingyuan nodded.

"Yes. The heart is both the door and the feet. The door lets the Dao in. The feet carry the Dao forward. The door and the feet are one and the same."

Guangchengzi fell silent for a moment.

Then, he asked:

"Then what about the Dao? What is the Dao?"

Lu Mingyuan said:

"The Dao is the road."

He looked at Guangchengzi.

"The heart is the door, the heart is the feet, and the Dao is the road. The door is open, the feet are on the road, and the road is beneath the feet. One step is one step. Two steps are two steps. Where you reach is the Dao."

He paused.

"But the Dao is not dead. The road is not dead. If you walk, the road exists. If you do not walk, the road still exists. But if you do not walk, the road is not yours. Only when you walk does the road become yours."

Guangchengzi looked at him for a very long time.

Then, he slowly sat down.

As he sat, he softly whispered a sentence.

The sentence was very quiet, yet everyone in Zixiao Palace heard it.

"All laws share the same source..."

Lu Mingyuan heard it.

He looked at Guangchengzi.

"Yes. All laws share the same source."

He took a step forward.

"In these five rounds of Dao discussion, the Chan Sect spoke of the Heavenly Dao, the Jie Sect of the chance of survival, Buddhism of emptiness and existence, the Ren Sect of non-action, and the Loose Immortals of carefree wandering. They sound different, but their source is one."

He looked at the people below the stage.

"What is the Heavenly Dao? It is the direction of the road. What is the chance of survival? It is the light on the road. What are emptiness and existence? They are the changes of the road. What is non-action? It is the way of walking. What is carefree wandering? It is the mood of walking."

He paused.

"Direction, light, change, method, and mood—they are all parts of walking. They are all things on the same road."

He looked at the people.

"Therefore, all laws share the same source. Where is that source? It is in the heart. The heart is the door that lets these laws enter. The heart is the feet that carry these laws forward. The heart is the road that brings these laws together."

Silence filled Zixiao Palace.

Then, someone stood up.

It was Jieyin.

He looked at Lu Mingyuan and pressed his palms together.

"All laws share the same source, each manifesting its own wonders. Young friend, this sentence is the logic of Buddhism, the logic of Daoism, the logic of Confucianism, and the logic of everything under heaven."

He paused.

"This humble monk has been enlightened."

He sat down.

Another person stood up.

It was Duobao.

He looked at Lu Mingyuan, tears shimmering in his eyes.

"Young friend, you just said the heart is the feet that carry the Dao forward. Those words made me think of my deceased Junior Brothers and Sisters of the Jie Sect."

He paused.

"They are dead. But their hearts are still walking. They walk through me. They walk through those who are still alive. They walk on the path of the Jie Sect."

He looked at Lu Mingyuan.

"You have let me know that they did not die in vain."

He gave a deep bow.

He sat down.

Another person stood up.

It was Xuandu.

He looked at Lu Mingyuan, his gaze as calm as water.

"Non-action yet nothing is left undone. You said just now that non-action is not using the 'self' to act, but letting the Dao act. But you also said the heart is the feet and must walk. Is walking not the 'self' acting?"

Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment.

"Walking is the 'self' acting. But who is the 'self'?"

He paused.

"If the 'self' is the small self, walking is action. If the 'self' is the great self, walking is non-action. Because the great self is the Dao. When the Dao walks, it is non-action."

Xuandu looked at him and smiled.

That smile was exactly like Laozi's.

"You understand."

He sat down.

Another person stood up.

It was Zhenyuanzi.

He looked at Lu Mingyuan, a light in his eyes.

"Young friend, you said just now that carefree wandering is doing without attachment. But can one walk without attachment?"

Lu Mingyuan said:

"While walking, there is no attachment. When finished walking, there is no attachment. But while walking, the heart is on the road. Does the heart being on the road count as attachment?"

He paused.

"I don't think so. Because the heart being on the road is natural. Just as feet being on the ground is natural. Natural things do not count as attachment."

Zhenyuanzi laughed.

"Well said—natural things do not count as attachment."

He sat down.

Another person stood up.

It was Zhu Xi.

He looked at Lu Mingyuan with a look of gratification.

"Young friend, you said the heart is the door, the heart is the feet, and the heart is the road. These words share the same meaning as 'Nothing exists outside the mind' and the 'unity of knowledge and action.'"

He paused.

"I have taught books all my life, and this is what I have taught. But hearing it from your mouth today feels more real than reading it from a book."

He looked at Lu Mingyuan.

"The younger generation is truly formidable."

He sat down.

One after another, people stood up to speak.

Someone said, "I have been enlightened."

Someone said, "I understand."

Someone said, "Thank you."

Someone said, "Keep walking."

Lu Mingyuan stood there, listening to those words.

He felt no pride.

No conceit.

He only felt—

So this is what walking is like.

So this is what it's like to reach this point.

So this is what it's like to be recognized by so many people.

He looked at those people, those lights, and those paths.

Then, he suddenly felt the tree in his Dantian growing.

It wasn't growing upward.

It was growing in all directions.

Growing branches, growing leaves, growing flowers, and growing roots.

The roots dug into the Chaos.

The branches reached into the Primordial World.

The leaves covered those people's heads.

The flowers bloomed in his heart.

Golden Immortal Late Stage.

He had achieved a Breakthrough.

In Zixiao Palace, those lights suddenly brightened for an instant.

Everyone felt it.

Everyone looked at him.

Looking at this young man who had broken through from the Middle Stage to the Late Stage of the Golden Immortal realm.

Looking at this young man who came from the Dharma-Ending Kalpa and had stood on the stage speaking for a long time.

Looking at this young man—whom they had begun to recognize.

Lu Mingyuan stood there, bathed in those lights.

He did not speak.

He only smiled.

Then, he said:

"Who else would like to ask?"

In Zixiao Palace, no one answered.

Only those lights shone quietly.

Shining was the answer.