Chapter 84: "Tao Sheng Yi" from Another World
Waiting for the right person... Outside the soup and noodle shop, Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes.
He looked through the steaming soup bowl on the table, emitting white vapor, and carefully examined the uninvited guest.
Make sure you've never seen it.
His body's instinct reminded him that the old man in front of him was no simple person, but he did not feel any hostility.
"May I ask your name, sir?"
Zhao Duan understood that there were many masters in the capital, and the officialdom was only a small part of the world.
Zhang Yan smiled and shook his head:
"I am not well-known, I am just an official in the Tianshi Mansion."
Tianshi Mansion!
Zhao Duan was stunned. This mysterious and sneaky Lao Deng was the sorcerer from the Tianshi Mansion?
As for the word "scattered officials", he had heard of it.
In the Tianshi Mansion, priests are divided into two categories:
One type is the "deacon priest", that is, responsible for the daily operation of the Tianshi Mansion and many practical affairs.
Another category is "sanguan", that is, priests who only focus on practice and do not hold any other duties.
The latter often have higher cultivation levels. Although they have no power, they have a high status. Jin Jian is considered a "casual official."
"I don't have much contact with the Tianshi Mansion, but I don't know why you are here, sir?" Zhao Duan was puzzled.
Zhang Yan looked at him with interest and said:
"I happened to hear Priest Zhu Dian mention that there was a warrior born with a powerful spirit in the capital. Coincidentally, the path I'm taking has very high requirements for the spirit, so I came to take a look."
It was indeed Jin Jian, who liked to hide and peek, and was also a big mouth... Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, and said with a strange look on his face:
"What do you mean, sir? You're not here to take in a disciple, are you?"
He used a teasing tone when saying the second half of the sentence.
But Zhang Yanyi just smiled and looked at him quietly.
"..." Zhao Duan's teasing expression gradually subsided, and his face became more and more strange:
"Are you serious, sir?"
Zhang Yan smiled and said, "I've found a good talent and want to recruit him. Isn't that right?"
No... This isn't a question of whether or not you should do it. You're blatantly poaching the royal family... And, how could you be so careless? Just hearing someone mention it, and they're here?
Zhao Duan was too tired to complain, and soon realized that this seemed to be the style of a "casual official".
As the "orthodox national religion", the Tianshi Temple has extremely strict admission requirements. It is okay for deacons and priests, but "casual officials" rarely accept disciples.
For example, the legendary "Zhang Tianshi" lived for hundreds of years, but only accepted six disciples.
The Shenlong Temple is similar.
Therefore, when they learn that a spiritual genius has been born somewhere, the priests of the Tianshi Mansion and the monks of the Shenlong Temple will compete to grab him.
It's like Tsinghua and Peking University competing for the top scorer in the college entrance examination...
The more powerful the monk is, the less he abides by the etiquette of the world and the more unconventional his style of behavior is.
"Thank you for your appreciation, old sir. However, I have already been enshrined in the royal family and have inherited the legacy of Emperor Taizu, the God of War." Zhao Duan declined politely.
Zhang Yanyi's domineering side:
"Great Ancestor Dayu has been dead for many years. What can he teach you? Wouldn't it be a hundred times better to become my disciple and receive my personal instruction than to contemplate some crappy painting?"
Oh shit… Zhao Duan almost broke out in a cold sweat. Are all the priests in the Tianshi Mansion so willful?
Dare to say anything?
Of course, he couldn't guess the true identity of the old man in front of him.
After all, that was too unbelievable. Zhang Tianshi was a god-like figure, and even the empress admired him highly.
He is the most powerful man in the world, whom even Yuan Li and Li Yanfu have never had the chance to see in person.
He is a land immortal who has rarely set foot on the human world since a hundred years ago.
Although he has his own unique confidence as a "time traveler", at least at the moment, he does not think that he is qualified to meet Zhang Tianshi.
What's more, why would Zhang Tianshi block someone in the middle of the night and ask to take him as his disciple?
I dare not even dream about it!
In his opinion, the old man in front of him probably did have some status and ability in the Tianshi Mansion, and could have a say with Jin Jian.
But it is too outrageous to accuse him of betraying the royal family based on just a few words.
"Old gentleman, be careful with your words!"
Zhao Duan glanced around, confirmed that the conversation was low enough, and said seriously:
"I am fortunate to have been favored by the Saint and have been led into the path of the Martial God. I am already very satisfied. Sir, please do not mention the matter of accepting a disciple again!"
Zhang Yan had a strange look in his eyes:
"Young man, don't be so quick to refuse. Why don't you ask which god I'm cultivating?"
“…Who?”
The old Taoist priest with a ruddy face and narrow eyes raised his finger, dipped it in the soup bowl in front of him, and wrote two neat words on the table.
"Heaven's Way?" Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows and asked:
"Is it the one that corresponds to the 'Buddha-honor' in Shenlong Temple?"
On the emperor's tower, while chatting with the empress, he learned some secrets indirectly.
Just like when you opened your third eye and observed the celestial phenomena at night, the vast blue sky above the Tianshi Mansion was the main deity of Taoism: Tiandao.
According to the Empress, the Heavenly Way and the World Honored One are two paths of cultivation that are no less effective than that of the "God of War".
"As far as I know, in the Tianshi Mansion, there are at least one priest who practices the way of heaven, if not a large number... Old sir, please don't take advantage of the juniors who don't understand." Zhao Duan said with disdain.
He felt that the old man was just making a big fuss and trying to fool him.
Zhang Yan smiled, but without explaining, he asked:
"Isn't Heaven's Way stronger than the God of War?"
How would I know... Zhao Duan shook his head and said casually:
"The Way of Heaven may be powerful, but unfortunately, I believe in the Way of Humanity."
He mainly wanted to find a reason to make this stubborn old man give up and stop bothering him.
Zhang Yanyi laughed: "You are so young, but you like to brag, as if you can distinguish between the way of heaven and the way of man."
Under normal circumstances, Zhao Duan would not debate with him.
But I was drunk tonight and still a little dizzy. I was unhappy with the lecture given to this strange old man, so I said casually:
"What's so confusing? In my opinion, the Way of Heaven is to reduce the excess and replenish the deficiency. The Way of Man is different. It reduces the deficiency to serve the excess. Who can have excess to serve the world? Only those who follow the Way."
This is a famous quote from Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching". Almost everyone knows the first two sentences, but the last sentence is not very famous.
In his previous life, when Zhao Duan was studying Chinese classics for his official career, he memorized Laozi's 5,000 words by heart.
At the moment, he was drunk and just said it casually without any calculation in his mind.
Unexpectedly, when it fell into the ears of the stubborn old man, he was stunned for a moment.
The Way of Heaven is to reduce the excess and replenish the deficiency... The Way of Man is to reduce the deficiency and serve the excess... To serve the world, only those who follow the Way...
Zhang Yan chewed for a while, then looked at the young man opposite him with a hint of surprise.
Given his level of attainment, he certainly wouldn't be surprised by this insight.
What surprised him was that such a concise and profound sentence came from the mouth of this drunken mortal playboy.
Things seem to be getting interesting.
Zhang Yan, who had always been interested in testing others, asked:
"Oh? Then, in your opinion, what is the 'Tao'?"
Zhao Duan recited casually:
"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name... Namelessness is the beginning of heaven and earth; name is the mother of all things. Therefore, always be free of desire in order to observe its wonders..."
Zhang Yan listened with great interest at first, but gradually, the old Taoist priest lost his laziness and casualness, and his narrow eyes slowly narrowed.
But Zhao Duan didn't recite it.
"Why don't you say anything?" Zhang Yanyi felt uncomfortable as if the chapter was interrupted.
Zhao Duan said as a matter of course: "That's all I think. That's all I have to say."
Zhang Yan thought about it and shook his head:
"What you said is too abstruse to be considered a true understanding. If you can condense it into one sentence, then you will understand it."
One sentence? Explain it in one sentence?
Zhao Duan snorted, and while still drunk, he imitated the old Taoist priest, raised a finger and dipped it in the sobering soup.
Leaning against the rotten wooden table, he wrote stroke by stroke in his clumsy handwriting:
"Daoshengyi..."
Just as he wrote these three words, there was suddenly lightning and thunder in the clouds above the capital.
“Boom!”
The hideous spider-web-like lightning tore through the dark night.
Then, with a crackling sound, raindrops as big as beans fell down in a disorderly manner.
One stroke, shocking.
…
I have something to do tomorrow, so the update may be late.
Thanks to Momoo for the 100-coin reward~
(End of this chapter)
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