Do you regret it?
This was Xiao Yu's first time meeting the legendary Young Master Gu Yi. What she had heard before was nothing more than that the Young Master was cold-hearted and aloof, possessing the talent to restore order to the world, and having an exceptionally handsome appearance. In her opinion, if it came to the appearance of men in the world, no one could surpass her master, Li Wujiu. It was probably because Gu Yi held a high position and wielded great power that countless people rushed to flatter him, and thus, even his appearance was praised.
But when she saw Gu Yi's appearance at that moment, although she was still worried about her master's life or death, she still gasped in shock.
Gu Yi's appearance at this moment could hardly be described as "handsome"; it could only be described as "eerie." Fortunately, she wasn't alone with Gu Yi; there was also a beautiful girl named A Qiu, whose eyes shone with anxiety, supporting Gu Yi. This added a touch of human emotion to the eerie scene, making her feel that this was still the human world.
Otherwise, with only one lamp illuminating the dimly lit room, and the man reclining on the ground before her with his snow-white hair and ruthless gray eyes, she would truly think she had stumbled into a bizarre and fantastical world of tales of the supernatural.
Xiao Yu then thought that even she, the eldest disciple of the Hidden Sect, reacted this way when she saw the current Young Master. How much more so would the hunter in the mountains have seen Gu Yi, who was dressed in tattered clothes and unable to speak, and must have regarded him as a monster.
Only his master was not afraid of him and even took him in and cared for him within the sect.
Xiao Yu hesitated before speaking, "Master and Young Master are truly... friends in adversity, confidants in life and death."
Gu Yi said indifferently, "Your master and I have a relationship that goes beyond personal friendship; it's a bond that spans generations. Do you know the origins of your Hidden Sect?"
As a disciple of the sect, how could I not know the origins of our sect? Xiao Yu said, "I once heard my master say that when Lao Tzu rode a green ox out of Hangu Pass, he left behind the five thousand words of the Tao Te Ching. The gatekeeper Yin Xi copied it into a book. Yin Xi practiced it and eventually achieved the Great Tao. He then retired to the mountains and forests and became the founding ancestor of our sect."
Gu Yi replied, “That’s right. Since the Warring States period, the Daoist lineage has been divided into two branches: the inner branch, which is your Hidden World Sect, emphasizing tranquility, inaction, and a carefree, otherworldly way of life. The outer branch, on the other hand, is my Ghost Valley, which has military strategies and tactics, emphasizing worldly cultivation for the sake of peace and stability. When the disciples of the outer branch travel in the world, they often accumulate the karma of killing and fighting, and inevitably encounter the calamities of war, or... things like what happened to me. In such cases, the disciples of the inner branch must step in to protect and rescue them, so that the lineage of the outer branch may continue.”
Only then did A Qiu realize that the bond between Li Wujiu and Gu Yi was not merely a personal relationship, but a promise made by their sects for generations. In other words, the disciples of Guigu were the outward face of Taoism, while the Hidden Sect was its true essence. The more high-profile and renowned the outward face, the more low-key and inactive the true essence should be. This is because the transformation of fortune and misfortune, the correspondence between adversity and prosperity, is the law of the world. If both are high-profile, then they will rise and fall together, leaving no seeds or vitality for the coming spring.
Gu Yi glanced at Xiao Yu at that moment.
A Qiu understood his meaning and recalled his rebuke of Xiao Yu: "You've turned the Hidden World Sect into this wretched state." She had been somewhat surprised at the time; Gu Yi was also a man who wielded power and managed the world. Logically, Xiao Yu's use of worldly methods to manage the Hidden World Sect, while deviating from the principles of tranquility and inaction, was ultimately not an act that would ruin the sect, and he shouldn't have been so harshly criticized. Only now did she understand why Gu Yi was so furious.
As an inner sect of Ghost Valley, the Hidden World Sect is essentially Gu Yi's second family, a powerful backer. However, its current actions openly place it above power and profit, subject to public scrutiny and judgment.
The immense power and benefits are like brocade and oil in a raging fire, and trying to control them is like playing with fire. No one can guarantee that every generation of hidden sects will have talents like Xiao Yu, whose family background and abilities are sufficient to walk this tightrope steadily.
The Xiao family, having withstood the trials of war and dynastic changes, is the epitome of aristocratic families' adeptness at maneuvering and adapting to changing circumstances. Many other once-powerful and dominant clans were wiped out in a single misstep, with no one capable of leading them to power.
Only now did Xiao Yu realize the relationship between Gu Yi and his sect, and he lowered his head in silence.
Gu Yi sighed, “Things change, and the younger generation has its own ideas. We can’t control them if they change course.” He sighed as he looked at Xiao Yu in front of him, then at A Qiu, and then thought of Xiao Chang’an far away in Jianzhang. He suddenly felt powerless to do anything about it.
Xiao Yu knew he had overstepped his bounds and dared not say more. A Qiu, however, had never seen Gu Yi utter such words before; his conversation truly made him seem like someone from the older generation. For some reason, she felt a pang of sadness and immediately changed the subject, asking, "Master, did you later return to the Hidden World Sect with Sect Leader Li?"
Gu Yi said, "Of course I went back. At that time, I had nowhere to go and was unclear about many things in the world. I had to rely on his protection and help to gradually adapt. The first thing he did for me was to refine the Divine Transformation Pill."
At that time, Gu Yi heard Li Wujiu introduce himself as the current sect leader of the Hidden World Sect. Although he didn't remember much about what happened before he entered the seclusion, he still remembered the connection between the Hidden World Sect and his sect. Moreover, when he entered the seclusion many years ago, he was protected by the Hidden World Sect at that time, and his seclusion place was also within the territory of the Hidden World Sect. This is why Li Wujiu was able to find him as soon as he came out of the seclusion.
He immediately felt relieved and followed Li Wujiu into the mountain. But he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "How come the Hidden World Sect has chosen a little kid as its sect leader this time?"
Li Wujiu seemed to know what he was thinking and smiled, "For those who cultivate the Dao, their appearance is a reflection of their inner state. If you don't believe me, look at your own face right now."
At that moment, Gu Yi was wading across a stream with him. Upon hearing his words, he immediately looked down at his reflection in the water. The sight shocked him so much that he lost all color in his face and stood frozen in the water, unable to move an inch.
He stared at the side of his face, where a few strands of silver hair, as white as snow, gently brushed against him.
He had completely lost sight of who he was.
Li Wujiu calmly said from behind him, "You have been in the life-and-death barrier for nearly a hundred years, cultivating this body beyond the realm of existence. This is something that no one before you has ever accomplished. If, as a result, your body or even your spirit undergoes some changes, that is normal. You just need to remember your intention in doing this. The physical body is just an external thing, so you don't need to care too much about it."
Gu Yi still feels grateful to this day. The first person he met after leaving seclusion was Li Wujiu.
Otherwise, it's highly likely that the first thing he would do upon emerging from seclusion would be to kill. The terrified, screaming hunter, in his helpless state at the time, would inevitably have died at his hands. Whether this would have had an extremely negative impact on him, whose mind was still forming and whose world was unstable, is hard to say.
When he entered the pass, he was practicing the method of preserving his physical form in the world, not the Dao. Therefore, breaking through the pass did not mean that he had comprehended life and death, or that his spiritual realm had undergone a qualitative breakthrough and he had become a saint. It only meant that his physical body had been preserved, while his spirit remained the same as when he entered, and perhaps even more confused and ignorant, since he had not thought about anything for so long.
His second blow was discovering that he had become this strange, neither-human-nor-demon creature.
As a man, he wouldn't particularly care about beauty or ugliness, but such a appearance would be considered a monster unacceptable to the world. If he were to walk in the world with this appearance, let alone fulfill his original ambitions and the mission of his sect, he would only be driven away by people out of fear if he tried to live as an ordinary person in the marketplace.
At least in the eyes of "humans," he was no longer one of them, and the hunter's utter terror was the best proof of that.
Li Wujiu's extremely calm yet timely words strangely calmed his mind immediately. Perhaps influenced by Li Wujiu, he suddenly felt from the bottom of his heart that this was not a big deal.
Only now did I realize that Li Wujiu's reaction was not normal. Although he was the sect leader of the Hidden World Sect and had long known that he was in seclusion in the forbidden area, entering the life-and-death barrier to cultivate an otherworldly body was something that no one had done in nearly a thousand years. And whether the one who finally broke through the barrier was human, demon, or monster, no one would actually know.
But Li Wujiu's cultivation and state of mind allowed him to see all things as existing within the natural order of Heaven, endlessly regenerating and transforming. Even if Gu Yi cultivated into a monster, he would only regard it as an accidental occurrence in the creation of Heaven and Earth, so his comfort was just that natural.
Although Li Wujiu himself did not find Gu Yi strange, he knew that his coming down the mountain in this way would attract attention. So, after about ten or fifteen days in Mingyue'ao, he gave Gu Yi a pill.
Gu Yi took it and saw that its shape was very ordinary, just like a common pill, but there was a faint purple light flowing inside, so he asked what it was.
Li Wujiu said slowly and deliberately, "These past few days I have read through all the sect's scriptures, but I have never seen any method for remedying problems if one goes wrong while cultivating the 'Body Beyond Transformation' technique. This is because in the past, few of our ancestors cultivated this technique, and even fewer succeeded in doing so. Therefore, the notes of our ancestors are of no use as a reference."
Gu Yi thought to himself, "This means that he is the only oddball in the history of Taoism, who has neither become an immortal nor can he be considered a complete human being."
Li Wujiu finally spoke earnestly: "As for why you were able to cultivate eternal youth, yet your hair and eyes changed color, do you remember what I said before? Appearance reflects state of mind. I suspect that there are still flaws in your state of mind. When you entered the pass back then, did you have any regrets, and did you no longer want to bear this mission of entering the game with your own body to relieve the suffering of war and displacement of the people of the world?"
Gu Yi thought for a moment, then said blankly, "I don't remember."
Li Wujiu said, "Although you have cultivated an indestructible body, your appearance clearly portrays a detached image that does not wish to return to the mortal world. From this, we can know that there must be two selves in your heart. One desires to pursue the Great Dao, save the people from suffering, and bring peace to the world—this is also the mission of your sect. But the other is probably indifferent and apathetic, with no feeling or desire for the turmoil of the world."
Gu Yi was confused by what he had said, so he picked up the pill in his hand, examined it carefully in the sunlight, and asked, "So?"
Li Wujiu sighed and said, "Therefore, based on my own speculation and using ancient methods, I refined this Divine Transformation Pill. Its function is to suppress and dissolve your other self, or rather, your other side. I estimate that after you take this, your cold and world-weary side will fade away, and you will return to your original form."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
