The Eight Deities understand that once you understand "I", you will not ask the question "What am I?"
Now Xu Xiaoshou didn't answer, but kicked the ball back. He couldn't tell a clear reason.
And if it's ambiguous, it's better not to say it.
After thinking about it for a while, Ba Zunzhen decided to start elsewhere to solve this problem, both for Xu Xiaoshou and himself.
Just as he never needs others to give him the answer, in most cases, he discusses the Tao just because he thinks that someone with the same frequency may accidentally give an "enlightenment", or he may explain it clearly through his own writing.
:
"I left the village when I was fourteen. I experienced family destruction, loss of meaning in life, aimlessness, and confusion in the world, trying to find a new life."
"I regained my old dreams one after another, went to Beijing to take the exam, traveled all the way through mountains and rivers, swam through great rivers and mountains, and finally met Wen Ting, Ning Honghong, and wedded Jinlan."
"I have changed here and entered the world of spiritual refining."
Xu Xiaoshou was slightly startled.
He hasn't heard Bazun Shu tell his past stories yet.
I only know that Lao Ba had a past relationship with Wen Ting and Ning Honghong, and their relationship was much better than ordinary friends.
"Do you know my path clearly..."
Kong Yuhen murmured silently, but after hearing the sound, his eyes brought more memories, but he couldn't remember anything.
On the other hand, he was twirling the wooden door pendant in his hand, looking a little anxious and absent-minded.
"I was born with a photographic memory and an excellent understanding. I read a lot of books when I was young and learned a lot of principles. Although I don't show it to others, I know that I have a stubborn temperament, my eyes are higher than my head, and I often look down on my peers."
"Wen Ting is one of the few people who can follow my thinking."
"Following him, Ning Honghong and I gradually entered the spirit refining world. On the way, he taught us ancient swordsmanship. Ning Honghong... is also the storyteller, and likes the one in the red dress."
Bazun said wisely and pulled away from his memories, glanced across the tea table, and took care of Xu Xiaoshou and Kong Yuhen.
This is not necessary.
Xu Xiaoshou had heard of Ning Honghong for a long time, and he continued to listen to the eight masters describing "I":
"Wen Ting practiced ancient swordsmanship and wanted to teach us how to protect ourselves by ourselves, but as far as Ning Honghong is concerned, what he taught is like a book from heaven, and every word cannot be understood."
"For me, I always understand everything that is said, understand every point, always draw inferences from one instance, and have superior opinions - I have always been like this, no matter what I learn, I am very quick, and Wen Ting suffered from this for a long time."
"Even if he followed him to the sword tomb to read the "Sword Classic", Wen Ting said that he had seven "Sword Classics" and could be called the greatest swordsman in the world."
"I read the entire text without feeling it was obscure. I understood three thousand ways of swordsmanship, eighteen swordsmanships, and nine swordsmanships. I was also able to find flaws in the words of three or five sentences of the Sword Scripture and make annotations."
Ba Zunxun narrowed his eyes and said in a funny tone: "Wen Ting was very angry at that time. He said that I had defiled the "Sword Book" and wanted to beat me. I used ancient sword skills to fight back. From then on, he can no longer beat me.
.”
After hearing this, Xu Xiaoshou bared his teeth and rolled his eyes secretly.
If someone boasted like this, he would slap him away, but if Bazun knew...
Judging from the achievements he has made so far, the various legends he has left in the spirit refining world, and his past behavior that he never boasted about.
His words were probably quite conservative.
Wen Ting followed him and taught him the sword. In the end, it was by no means as simple as "suffering for a long time". He was struck to the point of doubting that he had lived his life more than once.
"After reading "The Book of Swords", I felt something. I once asked Wen Ting such a question..." Ba Zunxun put down the wine glass in his hand.
Xu Xiaoshou looked up with empty regret, everyone was curious: "What's the problem?"
The Eight Lords know the way well: "For hundreds of years in the world of mortals, you have experienced seven emotions and six desires, tasted the sweet and sour, bitter and spicy, and finally returned to the loess; you have been refining your soul for thousands of years, fighting for the great road, trying to transcend the world, but you can't avoid the death of the body and the disappearance of the Tao. What are the similarities and differences between the two?"
"
Gujin Wangyou Tower suddenly felt a little quiet.
Xu Xiaoshou looked at each other with anger and did not answer.
The eight saints are familiar with asking and answering: "Mortals rarely fight, what they fight for is not strong, they rarely involve life and death, and they are in all the worlds. No matter how long they live, they are helpful for cultivating the Tao. In the spirit world, the jungle is the law of the jungle, and the cultivators are all barbaric beasts."
Primitive behavior, but still wants to open up spiritual wisdom and seize fortune..."
He shook his head: "Dao Gang is the opposite!"
Xu Xiaoshou took a breath of cold air.
If you think about it carefully, it seems that this is really the case.
Even Rao Yaoyao, who is high above the clouds, used the insights he used to cultivate the Red Dust Sword. It was the life experience of emperors, nobles, and poor people in the mortal world to enter the Tao, realize the Tao, and achieve the Tao.
This Tao, in essence, is just like the wise words of the Eight Deities, it is basically the opposite!
"But the road has always been like this."
"The cause of the Great Dao and the current result of the separation of the mortal world and the spiritual world have been the same for millions of years. How can it be said to be 'anti'?"
Bazun Shu tapped the rim of the cup with his fingers, frowned slightly, and said calmly:
"So I thought, this is not the principle of Tao, but the way people sink into Tao."
"In other words, people have not discerned their true self, so the Tao plays the role of 'I' and is trapped in the Tao."
He tapped his fingers hard on the table of the tea table, which shocked people's hearts. The sound was not loud, but it was deafening:
"Understand the self clearly, then understand the Tao, practice the Tao, play the Tao, and be free and at ease - this is the sequence of 'cultivation', and it is beyond the reach of ordinary people."
The ancient and modern Wangyou Tower has become so quiet that you can hear a pin drop.
Kong Yuhen clearly listened to it, his eyes were a little straight, he even forgot to turn around the wooden door pendant in his hand, and opened his mouth blankly, speechless.
Xu Xiaoshou also felt slightly numb after hearing this. He couldn't help but change the subject: "How old were you at that time?"
Ba Zun was stunned for a moment: "Seventeen or eight years old?"
hiss!
Is this the fattest pig?
What was I doing when I was seventeen or eighteen, as if I was in a hospital bed?
What is the seventeen or eighteen-year-old famous ancestor doing in his fallen body? Oh, it seems that he has just entered the Tiansang Ling Palace and is bleeding from his head due to a sword called Baiyun Youyou!
Geniuses always have amazing insights...
Xu Xiaoshou quickly suppressed his mood swings.
Well, these eight masters are actually just like that. A monster will always come up with similar ideas for thousands of years, and you can think of them.
After thinking about it, whether it can be done is another matter!
"so what?"
Xu Xiaoshou asked: "What do you want to express, that you are great?"
Bazun shook his head and nodded again: "At that time, I was very quiet and didn't care about Wen Ting. Later, when he introduced me to Mr. You, I didn't bother to say anything."
"But I am a stubborn person. I have firmly established my Tao. I will not change it for the mainstream, nor will I be moved by external things. I focused on this and began to practice."
Has it really started?
Xu Xiaoshou's mouth twitched: "How do you start?"
"Cultivation of the Tao is nothing more than studying things and using them to enter the Tao."
"Just like Cenjou spent half his life chopping wood and realizing the Tao day and night, I enter the Tao with a sword and know nothing but evil and killing without moving forward."
"Cultivating oneself means cultivating oneself. To put it bluntly, it means discerning oneself clearly."
"Later, it was proved that my idea was not wrong. Maybe it was really 'accurate'..."
Ba Zun made a comment about the future before returning to the past and said: "Distinguish me first and then practice the Tao. This is right - but the Tao often teases people, and my idea is too naive. In fact, I don't have that much time.
If we go this way, we can only adopt a two-pronged approach, cultivating the Tao at the same time and discerning me at the same time, taking each step to see what I am."
He sighed: "The truth is fulfilled, I still don't know who I am, so I will be trapped for another thirty years."
Only thirty years!
What do you want to do, old man?
To truly discern meaning, we need to enter the time dilemma, trapped for ten epochs, let alone discerning me?
"In the past thirty years, haven't you been cultivating the Sword Self? The Sword Self is equal to the discipline of the Self and the discernment of the Self?" Xu Xiaoshou felt that the "Sword Self" was the key point. What Bazun wanted to express, from what he said above,
It's not that simple.
"good."
The Eight Masters first agreed, and then said:
"But in fact, I have been practicing swordsmanship for more than thirty years. After reading the "Sword Classic" at the Sword Tomb that year and thinking about it, I started."
"In Kuileihan's God Punishment Tribulation, I realized that the thought of the sword is the introduction. From the thought of the sword to the sword, I am the process. Everything is the transformation of the castle in the air and the illusory 'Tao' into reality, just like the 'skill' of the haunting yin."
It’s just a process and a means.”
It was said that the words were in the language of the Holy Spirit Continent, and when combined together, Xu Xiaoshou was a little unable to understand it.
He started with the details: "So over the past few decades, how have you cultivated the 'sword self', or identified the 'self'?"
Jianwo is not only an improvement in sword reading, but also a means for Bazun to realize his thoughts at that time.
Xu Xiaoshou understood this.
What he is curious about now is what Sword Wo's intention is.
Swordsman is clearly behind Sword Demon, and even his name seems a little suspicious of plagiarism. Now it seems that everything did not happen suddenly, but was planned in advance?
Bazun smiled wisely and did not answer directly, but said: "You know Shen Yi, right?"
nonsense!
But what does this have to do with God?
"Do you still know about Gu Wu?"
It’s also nonsense!
I also practice ancient martial arts, okay?
Check out the correct version one by one!
I even cultivated to the point of giving up the four things, giving up the body, giving up the spirit, giving up the mind, giving up the self...huh?
Xu Xiaoshou's eyes suddenly trembled, and his scalp was slightly numb, "I..."
He is too sensitive now about the word "I".
Ba Zunzhen didn't notice Xu Xiaoshou's subtle reaction, and recalled with a face:
"God and I have known each other very early. Although we met before the Ten-Zun Seat War, our first contact and battle were actually much earlier, as early as when we visited the Dragon Cave."
"The early gods were also bounty hunters. Before they got close to Xiang Yaoyao, they exhausted their resources to cultivate ancient martial arts and lived a very hard life. As long as there was a mission, they would do any dirty or tiring work."
"He accepted a mission and went to the Dragon Cave to pull dragon tendons and make bow strings for a certain Taixu descendant. I happened to be visiting the Dragon Cave during that period."
Ba Zunzhen's tone was very calm and he spoke very slowly.
At this critical moment, he showed some talent for telling stories, giving people the feeling of narrating:
"The Dragon Cave is known as the Seven Forbidden City. Although the times are a bit declining now, there are still many secret places inside."
"The two of us bumped into each other in the 'Consciousness Forbidden Zone'. This was caused by the death of the ancient Tongxuan Jade Dragon. It can create a high-law consciousness space - the White Dragon of the Holy Palace, and half of it has the bloodline of the Tongxuan Jade Dragon."
"In the restricted area of mystical consciousness, those who are willing to do so can break through the shackles and reach beyond the laws of transcendental transformation. Although only the mind can reach it and not the body and soul, it can be regarded as a first-class creation."
"God and I also met each other, and each could feel that the way the other cultivated was extraordinary. They were so happy to see each other that they were hunting, and without saying a word, they started fighting."
"God also opens from the nine palaces, the eight gates, the seven constellations, to the six realms. He can't do anything to me. He also enters the mind from the body to the spirit, until he enters the land of high laws in the restricted area of delusion."
"If it were normal, if he opened four houses in the five realms, he would definitely die, but in the restricted area of mysterious consciousness, his mind can penetrate the mysteries without any side effects."
"For the first time, I saw the 'She-wo' among the four houses."
There was a strange expression on Bazun's face, a little fascinated and a little excited, as if he had verified the feasibility of his own ideas on others. It is rare to see him behave like this:
"Everything else, I can't resist the tyranny of the ultimate ancient martial artist."
"I can't even find where God is, where I am... in my mind... well, in other words, where is the 'I' who is God?"
"But I can feel the shadow of the fist everywhere, punching to the flesh, almost shattering my 'I'."
"I was beaten awake."
He paused and stared into the void in front of him.
There seemed to be countless fist shadows of gods coming from the void, making him dizzy, but he did not sink because of it:
"If I were ordinary in the five realms, with my realm at that time, I would definitely die if I opened the Mysterious Sword with my sword. The forbidden area of mysterious consciousness can penetrate the Mysterious, and I can actually have a glimpse of the scenery behind the Mysterious Gate in advance..."
At this point, Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.
Although I have never seen it with my own eyes, I can only imagine what it was like when gods fight.
The restricted area of mystery gives the two of them an opportunity to vent without any reservations and to the extreme. It will be very exciting to fight.
"My sword opens up the mysteries, and it also connects to 'me'. The nine great swordsmanship makes it so superb that it's like an immortal guiding the way. I was even surprised."
"Now that I think about it, most of what I gained at that time has been forgotten, and the gods have also forgotten about it. Although they understand 'I' but don't understand 'I', they still can't do anything to me."
"Gu Wu, you are really domineering!"
He sighed again, then changed the topic, and the void was like flint, and invisible waves suddenly appeared:
"God has also opened up to the three realms of ancient martial arts!"
"If it is said that the 'nine palaces, eight gates, seven constellations and six paths' are skills, their appearance is tangible, then 'four homes, three realms, two rituals and one statue' are Dharma, and their appearance is invisible."
"Three realms, cutting off, separating, and destroying, are extremely meaningless and are not a human art. Even if I open the mysterious door with my sword, I have never seen such a method before and have no experience in confrontation, so I was beaten and retreated."
"But I have read "The Book of Swords" and realized how vast the avenue is. After all, Jiankai Xuanmiaomen is based on the most solid foundation of swordsmanship, Gulouying, the sword god, but Shenyi Guwu has struggled all the way.
, no one gave any advice.”
"If I retreat further, I won't be defeated. I just want to be stable."
"As soon as I am stable, God becomes anxious."
"He is such a temperament. He couldn't accept a draw and stopped. Seeing that the Three Realms couldn't defeat me, he forced Liangyi."
The eight masters shook their heads and laughed: "The gods were young at that time, and the three realms were not stable, let alone the two rituals?"
"I am lucky enough to get a glimpse of the ancient martial arts Liangyi."
"If the Three Realms are the ultimate meaning, then Liangyi is the best, elevating the 'Shen Yi' of ancient martial arts and the 'self' of Shen Yi to unparalleled heights."
"With just one glance, I was at my wits end and knew I was bound to lose."
"I never thought that after watching that glance, Shen Yi himself failed to activate his two rituals, exploded into nothing, was backfired by his own power, blasted out of the forbidden zone of confusion, almost lost himself, and died on the spot."
"I am stable. Stability is the most important thing."
"I still maintain my mystical skills in swordsmanship, and took advantage of the situation to gain a piece of his 'self' in the past, thus protecting the life of this strong-tempered and domineering guy."
"The war situation has come to an end."
Bazun came back to his senses, placed the wine glass on the left, took a drop of the wine in the glass and put it on the tea table.
Then he raised his eyes and looked at Xu Xiaoshou, pointed at the "cup" and "wine", and said with a slight smile:
"This is the 'two rituals'."
"The two rituals are black and white, right and wrong, yin and yang, right and wrong. They are in opposition to each other and support each other. They are distinct and interdependent. They can be divided or combined. They are divided into two. They are derived from the three realms, four realms, and even the last six or seven.
Eighty-nine techniques, combined into one, can reach the ultimate level. This is the concept of ancient martial arts."
"The two rituals are like the front and the back of the mysterious door, like whether a cultivator is enlightened or not, that is, the sword of the ancient sword cultivator and me. This is what I feel when I observe the two rituals."
"Thus, the concept of 'Sword Self' came into being."
The eight masters wiped their hands on the tea table, and the small drop of wine evaporated.
He tapped the wine glass with his fingertips again, and with a move of swordsmanship, the wine glass was like a sword, placed in the void, suspended high, and became extremely ethereal, illusory, and out of reach.
"At this time, Sword I only exists in the conceptual stage."
"I tried to find a way to put the 'wine cup' and 'wine in the cup' out of the world, but to no avail."
"My practice of Taoism began with ancient swordsmanship, and I must have been trapped in the ancient swordsmanship. I was guided by the gods and the two rituals. After I gained some enlightenment, I wanted to transcend, but got lost in it."
The eight statues knew how to use their fingers as human legs, and walked slowly step after step on the tea table:
"Traveling is difficult, but enlightenment is even harder."
"I always insist on my ideas, but I suffer from the inability to put my concepts into practice. All the ethereal methods are just smoke in the clouds and meaningless."
"Until..."
After a pause, the eight little figures transformed into two familiar fingers stopped their steps and lit the tea table repeatedly, making a clicking sound.
He smiled, with emotion on his face, as if he had broken through the iron shoes and found nothing, and found it without any effort:
"The Five Realms are really full of talented people, and there are countless capable people."
"Until the battle of the ten thrones, I met another genius..."