Li Mu obediently stretched out his hand, and then received a solid slap on the ruler.
Although it wasn't the first time Li Mu had been hit on the palm with this yellow wooden ruler, each time he was hit, his whole body would convulse in pain.
Elder Qingyun put away the ruler with satisfaction, and then continued, "There are many kinds of situations when it comes to having no distracting thoughts. The tranquility I just explained is mainly for cultivation. You mentioned controlling your sword with your mind when fighting others, which is actually quite easy to do."
"What should we do?" Li Mu pressed.
"Instinctive reaction!" Elder Qingyun uttered four words.
As soon as he finished speaking, he hit Li Mu on the head with the yellow wooden ruler.
Li Mu immediately tried to dodge to the side, but he couldn't avoid it and was still hit.
With a crisp snap, Li Mu felt a sharp pain all over his body, and his head was almost spinning.
"When you were hiding, did you think about how to hide? How to hide?" Elder Qingyun asked with a smile.
Li Mu shook his head. Dodging a beating is something that should be done naturally; why would he bother thinking about how to dodge? Wouldn't that be redundant?
"This is an instinctive reaction. If you can make sword control an instinctive reaction, you will naturally be able to control the sword with your mind without any distractions." After Elder Qingyun finished speaking, he disappeared from the stone platform.
The surrounding disciples all stood up to pay their respects, and then dispersed.
Lu Yutian, Wang Baoman, and Li Fenghua were about to go to the canteen with Li Mu when they saw Li Mu carrying a piglet, muttering to himself as he walked away into the distance.
"Instinctive reaction...a clear mind..."
The three of them moved closer and, hearing Li Mu repeat those eight words over and over, they exchanged a smile.
"Junior brother has stumbled into a dead end." Lu Yutian chuckled lewdly.
Wang Baoman sighed, “On the path of cultivation, it is common to get stuck in a rut. Perhaps at some moment, a flash of inspiration will occur, and one will suddenly realize the truth.”
“Then let’s not disturb him,” Li Fenghua said immediately.
Two months have passed in a flash, and it is already deep winter with the weather getting colder and colder.
At the Jade Peak Herb Garden, Li Mu and the piglet were busy working together. The two of them quickly cleared away the weeds, while Li Mu used his Spirit Nourishing Technique to cultivate all the spiritual herbs and flowers.
"Junior Brother Li Mu, dinner's ready..."
Green Fairy came over carrying a rice bucket.
As soon as she put the food bucket down, the piglet rushed over and crashed into it.
Green Fairy giggled, her silvery laughter instantly soothing to the ear.
But Li Mu is still cultivating spiritual herbs and flowers there.
"Junior Brother Li Mu?" Green Fairy called out.
Li Mu alternately cast the Spirit Gathering Technique with both hands, his face expressionless, muttering to himself, "Instinctive reaction... pure mind... what exactly is an instinctive reaction, and what is a pure mind..."
A series of grunting sounds came from behind. When Green Fairy turned around, she saw that the little pig had overturned the food bucket and was eating heartily.
"Junior Brother Li Mu, if you don't go over there soon, that pig will eat all your food!" Green Fairy patted Li Mu on the shoulder.
But Li Mu remained unmoved.
"Oh, this fool."
Green Fairy sighed, then returned to the rice bucket and watched the little piglet in front of her eat.
It can no longer be called a piglet, as it has grown a lot. Although it is not yet comparable to a fully grown spirit pig, it has become much fatter and more muscular.
Looking at the fat sow in front of her, Green Fairy laughed and said, "You're still going to eat? Aren't you afraid of getting fat and being slaughtered?"
The piglets didn't care at all and continued to eat voraciously, finishing all the food in the blink of an eye.
After finishing its meal, it glanced disdainfully at Green Fairy, snorted twice, and walked towards Li Mu.
"This pig is so infuriating!"
Green Fairy laughed and scolded, then picked up the rice bucket and walked outside.
In the afternoon, three women, Hong Xian'er, Cheng Xian'er, and Huang Xian'er, arrived. After Lü Xian'er told them about Li Mu's mentally challenged state, they came over out of curiosity to see what was going on.
Seeing Li Mu stiffly repeating the Spirit Gathering Technique while muttering those words, Hong Xian'er's expression suddenly changed.
"This is an epiphany..."
Upon hearing the word "sudden enlightenment," both Cheng Xian'er and Huang Xian'er showed expressions of surprise.
The concept of sudden enlightenment was first proposed by Buddhism and later spread to Taoism. Sudden enlightenment is a mysterious state in which a martial artist's mind is in a state of confusion, like an ignorant infant. However, once they understand what is in their heart, they can suddenly awaken to the truth.
"This little fool can have an epiphany? I've never had one!" Cheng Xian'er exclaimed in surprise.
Hong Xian'er listened to what Li Mu was muttering, and then smiled and said, "So what he comprehended was controlling the sword with his mind. Hmm... Maybe we were too smart. We easily understood what it meant to have a mind free of distractions, and our cultivation path went smoothly afterward, so we didn't have this kind of opportunity."
"So, being too smart is actually a bad thing?" Huang Xian'er said with a smile.
“That’s possible,” Hong Xian’er nodded.
Cheng Xian'er still had an incredulous expression on her face, while Hong Xian'er and Huang Xian'er stared at the dazed Li Mu in the distance, waiting for him to come to his senses.
"How long does it take for enlightenment to happen?" Cheng Xian'er asked.
"I don't know, maybe a few hours, maybe a few days," Hong Xian'er said.
A hoarse cry of a jay suddenly came from the tree, followed by the grunting of a pig.
The three women immediately looked in the direction of the sound and saw Li Mu's piglets struggling with a jay perched on a treetop.
The Siberian bird suddenly flapped its wings and flew towards the cliff of the Hundred Herbs Garden, and the piglet foolishly chased after it.
"careful!"
Hong Xian'er couldn't help but shout.
The three women were too far away to stop it in time. Just as the piglet was about to fall off the cliff, a flying sword suddenly shot over and pierced the soil in front of the piglet with a whoosh.
The piglet immediately stopped and looked back.
Li Mu got up from the ground, his face full of a simple, honest smile.
"So this is what it means to have a clear mind, so this is what it means to control the sword with your mind... I understand!"
Li Mu picked up the piglet, and without any extra movements, the flying sword stuck in the ground pulled itself out of the soil, flipped a few times in the air, and flew back to the sword box with a ding.
Hong Xian'er led Cheng Xian'er and Huang Xian'er over, and before they even got close, she gave a curtsy and said, "Congratulations, Junior Brother, on your enlightenment."
"Sudden enlightenment?"
Li Mu looked at Hong Xian'er and the other two with a completely bewildered expression.
"So this guy doesn't even know what enlightenment is," Cheng Xian'er said with a grin.
After Hong Xian'er explained, Li Mu realized that he had suddenly understood, but he didn't think it was anything magical.
More than any so-called epiphany, he was pleased with his mastery of controlling the sword with his mind.
It was time for Elder Qingyun to preach and impart the Dharma.
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