However, Fang Jian had only taken a few dozen steps when he heard Fei Yan's loud shout from behind him, followed by the sound of Lengshuang's iron whip breaking through the air.
Fang Jian simply raised his hand and grabbed it. With a "snap" sound, he caught the Lengshuang Iron Whip in his hand. Then he pulled it hard, and with a "swish" sound, the Lengshuang Iron Whip flew out of Fei Yan's hand.
The entire iron whip was taken away by Fang Jian, which made Fei Yan stunned and said in shock: "You don't use any magic weapon, you are not a cultivator in the Yangshen realm at all!"
Fang Jian coiled the frost iron whip in his hand, then threw it to Fei Yan and said, "Does it matter whether he is a cultivator in the Yangshen realm?"
The frost iron whip fell into Fei Yan's arms. Fei Yan grabbed it with both hands, but found that all the magic power on it had disappeared, wiped out by a more powerful force.
Fei Yan raised his head and said to Fang Jian, "You're clearly not a Yang Shen realm cultivator, so why are you pretending to be one? Are you pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger?"
Fang Jian chuckled and looked at Fei Yan and asked, "Are you a tiger?"
Fei Yan was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I'm not."
Fang Jian said, "Regardless of whether I pretended to be a pig to eat a tiger or not, since you are not a tiger, you should not be so overbearing. The purpose of cultivation is to achieve immortality, not to be brave and aggressive."
"Having said this, goodbye." Fang Jian bowed to Fei Yan, then turned and left again.
Fei Yan's right hand held the Lengshuang Iron Whip tightly. In her mind, Fang Jian had already walked more than ten feet away. At this moment, she suddenly called out, "Wait a moment."
Fang Jian paused again and turned to look at Fei Yan. Fei Yan then quickly stepped forward and asked, "I'd like to ask for your insights on the path of cultivation."
Fang Jian laughed and said, "Just now you wanted to fight me to the death, but now you want to ask me for advice. Why have you changed so much?"
Fei Yan said: "Because I can't beat you now, and your logic makes sense."
Fang Jian said: "You said some nice nonsense. Well, time is running out, so let's discuss it here."
Fei Yan nodded, then said, "My name is Fei Yan, what's yours?"
"Fang Da." Fang Jian said.
Fei Yan asked, "Fang Daoist, what do you think the purpose of cultivation is?"
Fang Jian asked, "What did you think before? Or, in other words, what was the purpose of your previous contact with the Way of Cultivation?"
Fei Yan said, "My mother taught me the Dao, and then I cultivated to the Dao. My father didn't like me because I had poor aptitude, so my mother told me that only if I practiced hard and became strong would my father look at me differently."
Fang Jian immediately commented sharply, "It seems your mother is an unrighteous person."
Fei Yan's expression changed, and he immediately raised his hand holding the iron whip, "You are not allowed to insult my mother."
Fang Jian said, "You are wrong. I did not insult your mother. Your mother is indeed an unrighteous person. And unrighteous means that she has not mastered the principles of cultivation."
Fei Yan's expression softened slightly, and he said, "Then tell me, how did my mother fail to grasp the principles of cultivation? She was the one who taught me all my Daoist techniques, so how can you say she didn't grasp the principles of cultivation?"
Fang Jian said, "Just because she taught you the Dao doesn't mean she's mastered the principles of cultivation. She wants you to practice hard to become powerful, so your father will look upon you with new eyes. This is a misguided approach in itself. You're practicing for the sake of others' approval, not for self-improvement and understanding the mysteries of heaven and earth. In my opinion, a person's cultivation should be divided into three levels."
Fei Yan asked, "Which three grades?"
Fang Jian said, "Low-quality practitioners cultivate for the sake of others. Middle-quality practitioners cultivate for themselves."
Hearing Fang Jian stop, Fei Yan hurriedly asked, "What about the top-grade cultivators? What do they cultivate for?"
Fang Jian shook his head and said, "I don't know either, because I'm not a top-tier cultivator. At best, I can only be considered a mid-tier cultivator."
Fei Yan said, "Perhaps, the top-grade cultivators cultivate for the sake of sentient beings in the three realms?"
Fang Jian said, "This is a possibility, but it's not comprehensive, because the Way of Heaven isn't limited to just the sentient beings of the Three Realms. The Great Way is even more magnificent and vast. The so-called sentient beings of the Three Realms are only one or two thousandths of the Great Way."
"Why is it one or two in three thousand?" Fei Yan asked again.
Fang Jian said, "Because there are three thousand great ways."
Fei Yan seemed to understand something, but she quickly added, "But you said that low-grade practitioners practice for the sake of others. This leads to two interpretations. One is like me, practicing for the sake of gaining others' approval and attention, and the other is practicing to save and help others. These two are completely different 'for the sake of others'. Could it be that both of them are low-grade practitioners?"
Fang Jian nodded and said, "Yes, you can draw inferences from one example, which shows that your understanding is not low. You just have poor aptitude for cultivation. However, the quality of aptitude is not everything. Comprehension is the most important thing."
Fang Jian continued, "When I say 'cultivating for oneself,' I'm not referring to a narrow, 'selfish' practice. This 'for oneself' encompasses all 'good' pursuits, such as improving one's morality, realm, magical power, knowledge, and so on. Therefore, when someone diligently cultivates to improve their morality, realm, magical power, and knowledge, they are a cultivator of the middle quality. And what you're saying about cultivating to help others is also included within the definition of a cultivator of the middle quality."
"For a mid-level cultivator, when he improves in all aspects, it will be natural for him to save all living beings and conceal evil and promote good," said Fang Jian.
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