Whether or not to stay in the mortal world is actually related to the path of spiritual practice.
What's the reason here?
Master asked Xu Zhiqiong: "Do you know that a second-level cultivator should have a star palace?"
Xing Gong must know about it. Xu Zhiqiong has been to Xing Palace and also knows the importance of Xing Palace to Xing Guan. Taibu has devoted countless efforts to build a star palace.
The master raised his eyebrows seductively and said with a smile: "Zhi Qiong, do you want the Star Palace?"
Xu Zhiqiong nodded and expressed that he wanted it very much.
"That's right," the master said with a satisfied smile, "as long as you leave the mortal world, polish yourself in the star palace, be infiltrated by the aura of the star palace, and accumulate some years with your talent, you will naturally become a star.
"
As long as you leave the mortal world and stay in the star palace, you can naturally become a star.
This route is perfect!
But Xu Zhiqiong has a question: "Where does the Star Palace come from?"
The master smiled and said, "That's easy to say. Just take a look at how many rooms there are in this Xingxing Corridor."
How many houses are there?
"Master, do you mean...one room and one star palace?" Xu Zhiqiong was very shocked.
Master raised his eyebrows again, very tempting.
Taibu risked his life for a star palace.
Master, there are too many star palaces to count!
This is too luxurious!
Is this old guy tricking me?
Xu Zhiqiong thought for a moment, shook his head and said: "Master, I have been to this place called Star Palace. It is a very big place, bigger than the palace. It is not comparable to a single room."
This is no joke. Xu Zhiqiong only visited a small part of Nie Xing's Star Palace, but its area was much larger than the Daqing Hall of the Imperial Palace.
Xu Zhiqiong has also been to Taibu's Star Palace. Every time he goes, Taibu will find a new cave, and it is never the same.
Jiuniang's inn didn't look big, but Xu Zhiqiong checked it out. With his speed, he couldn't reach the end of the walk.
The area of the Star Palace is not small.
But looking at the Xingxiu Corridor, not to mention other rooms, just talking about the master's main hall, there are only two rooms one inside and one outside. How can this be compared with the Star Palace?
The master smiled and said: "Do you think the Star Palace here is small? Come with me!"
Master took Xu Zhiqiong to the bedroom.
Xu Zhiqiong was no stranger to this bedroom. He had painted many plum blossoms for his master here.
The master waved his hand, and a secret door suddenly opened on the wall.
Master took Xu Zhiqiong into the secret door. Behind the secret door was a magnificent hall.
Xu Zhiqiong looked across the hall, exhausted his eyes, and saw a dark shadow.
He looked up at the dome of the main hall. The dome was only an outline, shrouded in layers of mist.
There are layers of stairs on the surrounding walls, and every dozen or so steps there is a long corridor.
Doors are neatly arranged on the corridor. Because the distance is obscured by shadows and fog, Xu Zhiqiong does not know how many rooms there are in this hall.
Master asked: "Zhi Qiong, do you still feel young?"
"Master's main hall is naturally not small, but other places..."
The master's eyes became more ambiguous: "Other places are about the same size as the main hall. There are several star palaces, which are even bigger than the main hall.
You have been to Xingyuan Palace and Xingwei Palace before, you choose one from them, if you don't like either of them, I will take you to look elsewhere."
Master is so generous today!
Xu Zhiqiong said with joy on his face: "Let's go to the Shenyin Hall and have a look!"
"Crazy disciple!" Master yelled, "I can't do it in the Shenyin Hall!"
Xu Zhiqiong also knew that the Shenyin Palace was not good, but he really didn't want to stay in the Star Palace all the time.
"If I choose the Star Palace here, can I still go to the mortal world?"
"If it's a Taoist place, such as the Tomb Zaifu, the Rewarding Division, the Punishing Division, the Zhonglang Courtyard, and the Yilang Courtyard, you can still go there, but you can no longer go to other places."
You can only go to Daomen.
But Xu Zhiqiong couldn't accept this.
"If you practice like this, you will have to stay in the star palace for many years."
"It depends on your understanding. It can take as little as seventy or eighty years, or as long as three to five hundred years. You are very talented. In thirty to fifty years, you may be able to cultivate the stars."
Xu Zhiqiong shook his head repeatedly: "Master, I really can't let go of this mortal world."
The master sighed, took Xu Zhiqiong back to the front hall, and said in silence for a long time: "If you really can't let go of the mortal world, there is a way to practice, but other paths are not so open."
"Master, please tell me."
"You can bring a dead star palace back to the starry sky in the mortal world. During this period, you must slowly get in touch with the star palace and infiltrate each other, which can also help you become a star. However, you should know how difficult it is to practice.
.”
Isn't this the same road as Taibu?
It is indeed a bit more difficult.
"Where can I find the dead star palace?"
The master said: "In the first place of the Taoist Gate, punish evildoers."
Xu Zhiqiong said with a smile: "Isn't this the Qiancheng Punishment Division?"
Master nodded and said: "The end of the Thousand Chariots of Punishing Evil Division is the Division of Rewarding Good People, the end of the Division of Rewarding Good is the Tomb Zaifu, and the end of the Tomb Zaifu is the Star Palace. With your current cultivation level, it is not difficult to find the Star Palace and rebuild the Star Palace.
, it’s just a matter of money, you are good at making money, so you don’t need my guidance on this matter.”
"The money is easy to talk about." Xu Zhiqiong nodded repeatedly, "If you practice like this, can you go to the mortal world?"
"You can go to the Tao Sect. Outside the Tao Sect, you must have special means and rituals before you can go there. You are not allowed to interfere with anything in the world."
Nothing in this world can be interfered with.
In other words, you can only go there to take a look?
Just like Taifu, no longer involved in anything in the mortal world?
"How long is the training period?"
"Decades, hundreds of years, it all depends on your understanding."
It's the same as the first path.
Xu Zhiqiong shook his head and said: "This is inappropriate."
Master lowered his face and said, "Why is it inappropriate?"
Xu Zhiqiong said: "Disciple, there are still many unfinished things in this mortal world, and I want to finish these things."
"Are these things more important than promotion to the stars?"
"If you don't interfere in anything, but you can't even fulfill your duties as a Taoist sect, then what kind of judge is that?"
The master frowned and remained silent for a while.
Xu Zhiqiong knew that Master was displeased, but judging from Master's expression, there must be another way to practice.
After pondering for a while, the master really spoke.
"There is another way. You can go to the mortal world and intervene in mortal affairs."
Xu Zhiqiong happily said after hearing this: "What are the restrictions?"
I guess it's something like not being able to kill people.
Xu Zhiqiong has ways to deal with such restrictions.
Master shook his head and said: "There is no limit."
"really?"
The master sighed: "Look at the master of the Taoist sect. He often wanders around the mortal world, but what restrictions has he received?"
Xu Zhiqiong said happily: "Then this disciple has chosen this path!"
The master sighed: "Zhiqiong, don't regret it. If you choose this path, there will be no ready-made star palace waiting for you to rebuild it. You must find a suitable place in the mortal world to rebuild a star palace!"
"
Rebuilding a star palace?
What is the principle of star palace?
Is this too difficult?
"The so-called suitable place refers to..."
The master shook his head and said: "Whether it is suitable or not, you have to explore by yourself."
Not even a standard?
Xu Zhiqiong asked in astonishment: "Where is this suitable place?"
"You have to find it yourself. I only have a general direction. It should be in Fanxiao Kingdom."
In the Fanxiao Kingdom?
"How big is the territory of Fanxiao Kingdom?"
"Equal to Xuan Guo."
Xu Zhiqiong's eyes widened and he said: "A place as big as Xuan Kingdom, but let the disciples explore it by themselves?"
This is harder than finding a needle in a haystack!
When looking for a needle in a haystack, at least I know what the needle looks like, and I still have the possibility of fishing it out.
Now I don’t know what the right place looks like, so where can I go?
"Master, this is a bit..."
The master looked at Xu Zhiqiong and said: "Why don't you choose one of the many star palaces in my Star Gallery? If you had chosen one, how could there be such chaos?"
Xu Zhiqiong was silent for a long time and said: "Forget it, this is the way to go. I will rebuild the Star Palace myself."
The master closed his eyes and sighed for a long time: "I am a stubborn person, I didn't expect you to be more stubborn than me!
There is one more thing that I need to explain to you first. After you build the star palace, whether it can fit with you and whether it can fly into the starry sky depends on your creation. This has nothing to do with your practice."
Well?
"Does polishing with the Star Palace count as cultivation?"
"It doesn't matter," the master said with a serious expression, "If you practice in the mortal world, you must accumulate merits on your own in exchange for your cultivation."
"It's easy to talk about merit!" Xu Zhiqiong is very confident in this process.
The master shook his head and said: "Second-grade meritorious deeds are not as simple as removing sinful karma. You have to practice according to the way of judging life and death."
Xu Zhiqiong puffed up his chest and said, "This disciple has always abided by the law of life and death."
The master shook his head and said: "When it comes to killing, you are unambiguous. When it comes to resurrecting, you don't have the ability. When have you ever resurrected the dead?"
Xu Zhiqiong was startled, and then said in surprise: "You have such ability after reaching the second level?"
"Yes!" Master nodded, "But the method requires you to realize it yourself."
Self-realization?
How to self-enlighten the means of resurrecting the dead?
"Master, this is what's wrong with you. I've been promoted to the second level. Why don't you teach me the second level skills, but still let me realize myself?"
The master sighed: "The second-level Taoist skill is called the reciprocation of life and death. Everyone has different methods. My method and my senior brother's are different. It depends on the path of cultivation and talent. I really can't teach it to you as a teacher."
Xu Zhiqiong pondered for a while and said: "If I choose a star palace here, practice in the star palace day and night, and ignore ordinary things, can I learn the art of resurrecting the dead?"
Xu Zhiqiong's idea is to wait until he has learned the second-level skills before returning to the mortal world and rebuilding the Star Palace.
The master pondered for a long time and said: "You still need to realize it yourself."
Wouldn't it be more difficult to achieve self-realization while squatting in this star palace without contact with outsiders?
Master knew what Xu Zhiqiong was thinking: "If you are willing to give up the mortal world, even if you cannot learn second-level skills, you can still be promoted to the stars, but you will not have to suffer between life and death.
Zhiqiong, listen to my words, the decision of life and death is not as easy as you think."
It's really not easy.
I don’t even have the means to bring the dead back to life, but what about the judgment of life and death?
That's all, I only care about killing and not caring about life.
"Master, how much merit do you have to accumulate before you can be promoted to the second rank?"
"There is no fixed number," the master said helplessly. "The number of the verdict does not count, but the reason for the verdict depends on one's understanding."
It is also the understanding, which cannot be explained clearly.
"Zhiqiong, this is the most difficult road to walk, so you have to be careful!" the master warned.
Xu Zhiqiong picked up the wine glass on the table, took a sip, and saluted the master: "Master, I have made up my mind, and I will never let go of this mortal world no matter what."
The master was puzzled: "Why are you so stubborn?"
"This disciple can't let go of that smoke and fire." When he said these words, Xu Zhiqiong looked calm and firm.
The master stared at Xu Zhiqiong for a long time and sighed helplessly: "Master, I would like to remind you that the judgment of life and death must be fair and reciprocal. If you kill someone who deserves to be killed, you will also give birth to someone who deserves to be alive.
If life and death are not equal, or if the decision is wrong, you will be severely punished.
In the mortal world, you have violated many Taoist rules, and my master can help you cover up the past. Now that you are above the mortal world, if you violate the rules, the master cannot help you.
Zhi Qiong, if you can't survive in the mortal world, come to Xingxiu Corridor to find me as my teacher, and I will leave the Star Palace to you."