The day was planned in the morning. The sun slowly rose from the eastern horizon. Birds were chirping in the garden. The breeze blew, but the waves were still.
Inside the room, Ying Wei sat cross-legged on the bed. His five hearts were facing the sky, and internal energy was flowing through his eight extraordinary meridians, circulating them.
After a long time, Ying Wei opened his eyes. A bright light flashed in his eyes. Although the glimmer of light in that instant could not reach the realm of emptiness, it could still feel a trace of logic.
"Carrying the soul of the camp and embracing one, can there be no separation? Can you be as gentle as a baby?"
"Can there be no flaws in removing Xuanlan? To love the people and govern the country, can we do nothing?"
"When the Heavenly Gate opens, can it be a female? How can you be ignorant if you understand the four?"
"To be born and raised, to be born without possessing, to act without relying on, to grow without slaughtering, this is Xuande!”
Ying Wei recited a chapter of the Tao Te Ching loudly and felt his inner breath gradually approaching the Dao.
"Phew-"
Ying Wei let out a breath of turbid air and stood up from the bed. He tidied up his brocade Confucian robes and stood in front of the window, admiring the flowers blooming and falling in front of the courtyard.
The contents of the Tao Te Ching sounded like a cultivation method, but in fact, it was indeed a cultivation method.
However, this article didn't tell you how to use internal energy to walk through the eight extraordinary meridians. Instead, it pointed directly at the meaning of the great Dao of Xuande.
What this scripture taught people was the sequence of how to cultivate virtue into Dao.
Although it was called the Tao Te Ching in later generations, after reading the original text in this pre-Qin era, Ying Wei felt that this philosophical work of Lao Tzu should be called the Tao Te Ching.
The 'Virtue' chapter was in front, and the 'Dao' chapter was behind. One had to cultivate Virtue first before becoming Dao.
"Laozi is worthy of being the ancestor of Daoism. He has influenced countless schools of thought. The Tao Te Ching has already described the highest cultivation method.”
Ying Wei sighed.
Coming to this pre-Qin period where martial arts existed, Ying Wei naturally wanted to become an expert.
If one wanted to become an expert, practicing internal energy was an inevitable process.
However, many of the profound inner force cultivation methods were the secrets of the Mohist, Confucian, and Daoist schools.
And the various sects were also very precious, so it was very difficult to learn the core techniques of these sects.
However, ever since Ying Wei became Xun Zi's disciple, he had naturally come into contact with the internal cultivation methods of the Confucians.
Humans had eight extraordinary meridians, but the eight extraordinary meridians in the human body would not define which meridians were 'Dao' and which meridians were 'Confucian'.
Therefore, the profound Dharmakayas of various sects were actually the same. They were all the experiences of their predecessors who had summed up countless practices. There was no difference between them.
Naturally, these experiences became the secrets of the various sects.
The reason why these cultivation methods were divided into different categories such as 'Confucian',' Dao','Mohism' and so on was mainly because of the understanding of the person who practiced internal energy.
The people of the scholarly faction studied those scholarly classics every day, so the internal strength they cultivated naturally had the 'meaning' of the scholarly faction.
Daoists read and comprehended Daoist scriptures every day, and the internal strength they cultivated was close to Dao.
Therefore, even though Ying Wei practiced the inner force of Confucianism, his thoughts were based on using Dao to control Confucianism and Legalism. Therefore, the inner force he cultivated was closer to Taoism.
Ying Wei's temperament was more like a Confucian scholar, but when he used his martial arts, people would definitely suspect that he was actually a disciple of the Daoist 'Heaven Sect' or the 'Human Sect'.
This kind of internal cultivation method was not martial arts at all, but rather a little fantastical.
However, when he thought about how the Yin-Yang School could play with things like the Yin-Yang Art, it didn't seem like a big deal to be a little fantastical.
Every morning, he would recite 'Dao De' and practice internal energy. This had become a good habit that Ying Wei had developed over the years.
Especially after practicing internal energy in the morning, his mind would be clear and his mind would be sharp. With such benefits, Ying Wei naturally studied hard.
The Hundred Schools of Philosophy didn't have anyone who could make everyone submit to them, so there wasn't any division of realms in this era.
Especially since the foundation of the Hundred Schools of Thought was in the way of thinking and governing the country. Martial arts were just an external 'technique'. If one pursued martial arts and gave up on thinking, they would be at a disadvantage.
The so-called martial arts were actually used for protection.
However, although there was no detailed division of realms in this period, Laozi's scripture almost pointed out the order and purpose of a person's cultivation.
'With the soul in the camp, can there be no separation? Can you concentrate on qi and make it soft like a baby?
The meaning of this sentence was the unity of spirit and body. By gathering essence and qi, one could be like a baby.
According to Ying Wei's understanding, it was actually refining the essence, cultivating the qi, and nourishing the spirit to reach the Connate Realm.
'Can there be no flaws in removing Xuanlan? To love the people and govern the country, can we do nothing?
The meaning of this sentence was to cleanse the soul and make the state of mind calm, so that there would be no flaws.
If you love the people and govern the country, you can conform to nature.
According to the understanding of martial arts, after achieving the Connate Realm, one had to start cultivating one's state of mind so that one's mind would be free of distracting thoughts and thus perfect.
When one's state of mind was flawless, they would be able to comprehend their own 'Dao', which was the law of nature.
'When the Heavenly Gate opens, can it become a female? If you understand the four, how can you be ignorant?"
This meant that after comprehending one's own Dao, one would be able to open the Heaven Gate and thus rule the Dao that belonged to oneself.
It was the realm of 'grandness' when one completely comprehended one's own thoughts and concepts, regardless of whether it was Confucianism, Mohism, or Daoism.
After comprehending one's own Dao, one would be able to understand all laws. From then on, one would completely abide by the laws of nature and be omniscient. One would truly become one with the world and finally become Xuande.
Therefore, through this chapter of the Tao Te Ching, Ying Wei forcefully defined the realm of this world as:
'Postliminary,''Innate,''Heart Cleansing,''Dao Comprehension,''Heavenly Gate,''Unity,' and 'Profound Virtue'.
In this world, those who only trained their bodies and learned some martial arts were at the Postnatal realm.
As long as one could obtain the orthodox internal energy cultivation method, they could cultivate to the Xiantian realm after hard work and become a swordsman who could go up and down.
After that, he would strengthen his own ideals, cleanse his soul, and train his state of mind. This was the 'Heart Cleansing'.
Then, after his mind was clear, he would have to comprehend his own Dao path, which was to comprehend the Dao.
The two realms of Heart Cleansing and Dao Comprehension weren't difficult for the Hundred Schools of Philosophy, especially for large sects like Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Yinyang.
The Confucians read the classics, while the Daoists studied the Daoist scriptures. These were all processes of cleansing the heart.
As for comprehending the Dao, it was even simpler. As long as you acknowledged yourself as a disciple of the scholarly faction or the Mohist faction, and practiced the ideals of the scholarly faction or the Mohist faction, this would be comprehending the Dao, forcefully turning the path of Confucianism and Mohism into your own Dao.
After that, the Heaven's Gate was to practice one's own Dao to the extreme, and there were very few people who could do this. Only a few people in the Hundred Schools could reach this realm.
After all, most people only knew how it was, but they didn't know why. Even if they read the Confucian classics every day, could they really understand the true essence of Confucianism?
The vast majority of people were just imitating the classics and did not know why they did it.
The final integration of Heaven and man was to use one's own Dao to comprehend the Dao of the Hundred Schools of Thought. Those who could do this were even rarer.
In the entire scholarly faction, only Xun Zi had reached this level. With the core of the scholarly faction, he had comprehended part of the principles of the Legalism. Otherwise, how could Xun Zi have taught two Legalists?
As for the last 'Xuande',' To be born and raised, to be born and not have, to do and not rely on, to grow and not slaughter 'was a little too fantastical. Anyway, in Ying Wei's opinion, no one in this world should be able to reach this realm for the time being.
As for the current Ying Wei, he was only at the Heart Cleansing Realm and was currently comprehending the Dao.
To the other disciples, this was the easiest realm. However, to Ying Wei, this was the most difficult.
This was because what Ying Wei had learned was completely different from the Confucianism, Taoism, and Dharma of this era.
The ancient people of the Pre-Qin era were quite naive in this aspect. Once they recognized a concept, they would do their best to implement it. Moreover, there were predecessors who planted trees, so it was naturally easy to achieve this realm.
In this era where Confucianism had yet to be improved, Legalism had yet to be absorbed, and the techniques of Huang Lao had yet to be practiced by dynasties, Ying Wei's Dao was too new.
Therefore, to Ying Wei, this realm was the most difficult.
However, Ying Wei believed that as long as he could meet with his brother Ying Zheng and tell him his idea of governing the country, he would be able to understand his own Dao, practice it, and thus 'enlighten'.
After that, Ying Wei would need to accumulate experience through practice and turn his ideas into reality before he could reach the Heaven's Gate.
In the later stages of 'Unification,' this was the most difficult realm for the 'simple' people of the pre-Qin period. Most people would never be able to reach it in their entire lives.
The Confucians would never acknowledge the Mohists, and Han Fei, a Legalist, was even more against the Confucians.
However, for a modern person like Ying Wei, this realm was the simplest. As long as he reached the Heavenly Gate, he would directly cross this realm and become one with the world.
This was because his path had been aimed at this path from the very beginning.
Especially the people of this era, they hid their knowledge too tightly. Each and every one of them swept away their own treasures, making it even more impossible for them to cultivate the integration of Heaven and man.
As a modern man, Ying Wei wanted everyone to be like a dragon if he could!
This was the difference between him and the vast majority of people in this era. The scale of the situation exceeded the limitations of the era!
"The amount of qi in this world can only determine whether one can fight for a long time. However, true strength lies in one's comprehension of the realm.”
"This isn't Wuxia at all. It's a little fantastical!”
"I can't take shortcuts in martial arts, but I can hope for a bright future.”
"Hundred Schools of Philosophy, Hundred Schools of Philosophy, why do I have to learn from one school? Can't I become one of the philosophers?”
Ying Wei was high-spirited and optimistic about his future.
However, his expression quickly fell. These were things in the future. Now, he had to solve the real problem first. How could he avoid the assassination of the Startling Salamander?
Ying Wei knew that since Xuan Jian gave him the information, it also proved that the Startling Salamander was not far away.
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