Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

Upon hearing this, the Left Gate Master muttered to himself, "Going with the flow can avoid the disaster of Ji Suan, while going against the flow can bring the merit of Huiyuan."

"Could it be that my life's cultivation, seemingly going against the grain, is actually just going with the flow?"

"What is sincerity? What is humanity?"

As Zuo Ruotong murmured to herself, her eyes momentarily glazed over, as images from decades ago flashed before her eyes.

At that time, he had just entered the sect and was about the same age as Lu Jin when he joined the sect. His master was teaching him what sincerity meant.

Master said: "Sincerity means trustworthiness, which means being truthful and not deceiving yourself. One should be like the rising and setting of the sun and moon, the changing of the four seasons, and the natural laws, without any disguise."

He and several newly initiated disciples sat below, listening intently, nodding their heads like chickens pecking at rice.

The master also said: "Sincerity is the way of Heaven. The way of Heaven has no room for maneuver. People must follow the law one hundred percent."

"When practicing, one must be sincere, focused, and in harmony with the unity of knowledge and action. When eating, one should eat; when drinking, one should drink; when practicing, one should practice. One should not give rise to any distracting thoughts."

"In interpersonal interactions, sincerity should be the guiding principle. One should keep one's word and be trustworthy, building mutual trust rather than concealing information."

"We must also have the sincerity to reflect on ourselves, examine ourselves every day, and discover our mistakes through self-examination three times a day, so as to avoid hindering progress due to complacency."

……

That day, his master said a lot, and he remembered it all.

He continued to do so after that.

Like the alternation of the sun and moon, and the rotation of the four seasons, he has practiced self-cultivation for decades without wavering. He examines himself three times a day, is strict with himself and lenient with others, and has never slackened in the slightest.

He had always believed that he had been sincere, and he had always asked his disciples to be sincere, but now he hesitated.

"What is sincerity? What is humanity... What is sincerity..." he murmured to himself. In that instant, his heart was in turmoil, and his thoughts were in disarray.

Zhang Zhiwei looked at the Left Gate Master in front of him. The Left Gate Master's current state was definitely not right. He had the feeling of being repeatedly torn apart by the Twelve Labors Formation.

At this moment, if he harbors ill intentions and misguides him, it might even cause the Left Sect Master to suffer a qi deviation, wasting decades of cultivation.

For some reason, Zhang Zhiwei turned his head to look at the memorial tablet of Master Sun in the Zixiao Palace of Wudang, and then at his master, and couldn't help but think to himself.

Back then, when Master Sun came knocking on our door, was this how Master misled Master Sun for many years?

But he quickly collected his thoughts, looked at Zuo Ruotong, and said:

"Master Zuo, being too sincere is actually a form of insincerity."

Zuo Ruotong was startled and asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Zhiwei said, "Sincerity is indeed a good thing, but apart from the Sanyi Sect, which other sect uses it as a benchmark for entry?"

"To put it bluntly, you people from the Sanyi Sect, including Lu Mang, are all too particular about rules."

Zuo Ruotong said, "Isn't it a good thing to treat oneself as a saint and follow the rules?"

"And what kind of person is a saint?" Zhang Zhiwei said, "Ji Gong drank wine, ate meat, and swindled people. Wasn't he a saint?"

"To be too concerned about sincerity is to confine oneself to a self-imposed prison. Rules are only for beginners to settle their minds."

"Master Zuo, at your level, you should transcend this path."

"Break free from this path..." Zuo Ruotong murmured to himself.

Zhang Zhiwei nodded: "Yes! Your sincerity is your constraint; you need to break free from it."

“Your Sanyi Patriarch was a disciple of Wang Yangming, the Sage of the Mind. His Way of Sincerity should originate from the philosophy of mind.”

"Wang Yangming's sincerity is an idealistic sincerity, also known as conscience. He once said: 'The essence of sincerity is conscience.'"

"I don't have a deep understanding of the philosophy of mind, but I do know that Wang Yangming once said that the seven emotions should flow naturally and be used as a means of conscience, just like watching a waterfall, where the raging waves are also the ultimate sincerity of heaven and earth."

"It means that forcibly adhering to dogma and suppressing one's emotions and desires, such as forcing oneself not to have angry thoughts or murderous thoughts, is not being sincere."

Wang Yangming called this kind of person "withered wood and dead ashes".

“Withered wood and dead ashes…” Zuo Ruotong began to reflect on whether her behavior met this condition.

Zhang Zhiwei continued, "Li Muxuan and I talked about it. He said that Ghost Hand King took him away in front of you back then."

"You also mentioned that time when you seemed to be furious, even harboring murderous intent towards Wang Yaozu. He was frightened, but he also realized that you cared about him."

"That's why he severed ties with you in front of you and became Ghost Hand King's apprentice. He did this to spite you and get you to persuade him to take him as your disciple."

After pondering for a moment, the Left Gate Master said, "In this matter, I was indeed dishonest. I also wanted to take him in, and I knew what he was thinking at the time. I also knew how to get things back on track, but I couldn't bring myself to do it, and this has bothered me for a long time."

Zhang Zhiwei said, "Actually, what I'm concerned about isn't that, but the first point: you were furious, you wanted to kill Wang Yaozu, this was your subconscious instinctive reaction in this matter."

"But because of your rules, you restrained yourself and suppressed this murderous intent. In fact, suppressing this murderous intent even caused your mind to become chaotic."

"That's why, in the subsequent events, he couldn't see that he actually wanted to keep Li Muxuan, and instead did something against his conscience, letting Wang Yaozu take Li Muxuan away."

"This is actually a sign of dishonesty. One lie often requires many more to cover it up."

"You lied to your own murderous heart, and then used a whole bunch of lies to cover it up."

"It is this moment of going against one's conscience that may sow the seeds of an immeasurable chain reaction later on."

Zuo Ruotong didn't say anything. It was indeed true. After that incident, a lot of trouble happened.

Actually, he can handle most of the troubles from the outside world.

But the psychological impact is the greatest.

After this incident, he became extra careful in accepting apprentices, believing that he had learned his lesson.

But according to Zhiwei, isn't this also a major regression in one's state of mind?

Zhang Zhiwei continued, "If it were me, I would give Wang Yaozu a chance to get lost. If he hesitated even slightly, I would kill him."

Left Gate Master was taken aback. He sensed the murderous intent in Zhang Zhiwei's words, pure, clean, and casual, as if he were just picking up a pair of chopsticks while eating.

Is human life so insignificant...? Zuo Ruotong pondered for a moment. He thought back and realized that if he could kill someone without any remorse, as his friend Zhiwei had said, there would indeed be fewer worries. After all, who would be bothered by picking up a pair of chopsticks while eating?
Zhang Zhiwei said, "Of course, this is just my opinion."

"Killing is the basis of my sincerity, it is my conscience."

"I'm not saying that killing is the solution."

“Actually, using this example is not appropriate. The correct way to put it is…” Zhang Zhiwei paused and continued, “If you see a child fall into a well and feel an immediate urge to save him, an instinctive reaction without any calculation, this is the natural expression of conscience, that is, the manifestation of ‘sincerity’.”

"And any thoughts that arise after this are actually delusions, the influence that objective heaven and earth exert on you, and they must be reversed."

"In general, my answer to what it means to be a person and what it means to be honest is that when you see a rainbow reflected in the dew on the spider web on the window at the first light of dawn, and you exclaim 'How beautiful!' without thinking, that moment of selfless and vivid emotion is the essence of 'honesty'."

Upon hearing this, Master Zuo was greatly shocked. He sincerely said, "Young friend Zhiwei, your level of understanding is truly admirable!"

“This is nothing,” Zhang Zhiwei said. “In fact, many principles are the same. In this respect, Confucian scholars who like classical Chinese and Taoist priests who like to mystify are not as direct as monks.”

"Just as Zen Master Linji said, 'This mountain monk has no other way but to go inward and outward, and kill whatever you encounter. Kill the Buddha, kill the patriarch, kill the Arhat, kill your parents, kill your relatives, and only then can you be liberated, free from attachment to things, and achieve complete freedom.'"

"Master Zuo, you should understand what I mean."

Zuo Ruotong nodded: "I understand. You used saving a child as a metaphor for killing, and the monk's killing of gods and Buddhas as a metaphor for breaking free from delusions, but..."

He paused, then said, "Is it really possible to do that? If one could truly do whatever one pleases, wouldn't that be the essence of self-cultivation?"

“That’s right, it’s Quanxing!” Zhang Zhiwei said. “In the end, isn’t the Sanyi Sect’s journey from the void to the divine just Quanxing? Think carefully about the concept of Quanxing and then make a comparison.”

After pondering for a moment, Zuo Ruotong suddenly realized:

"I understand now, to preserve one's true nature and emotions! What is true nature and emotions?"

"At the beginning of life, a person is born with a temperament, whether good or evil, which is their true nature."

"The Quanxing sect believes that it would not do anything that benefits the world even if it were to pluck a single hair, nor would it do anything that would harm the world even if it were to take a single hair."

"Not giving up a single hair, not taking a single penny—this is letting go of all the temptations of this vast world!"

"My philosophy of Trinity is to reverse the process and return to the primordial Qi, which is the state of primordial Qi before a person is born."

"And isn't this state precisely about being untouched by all the temptations of this world?"

"Young friend Zhiwei, I understand now! I finally get it!"

The Left Gate Master, his face beaming with excitement, couldn't help but whisper a shout.

The two engaged in a lengthy discussion, but their presence disrupted the surrounding environment, preventing others from hearing their exact words. However, based on the Left Gate Master's expression, they were able to glean some insights.

"Master Zuo is known for never showing his emotions, so why would he show such an expression?"

"For someone as skilled in cultivation as Master Zuo to lose his composure, it must be something that happens during his cultivation. I'm afraid he benefited greatly from his discussion with the Little Celestial Master!"

"If someone like Master Zuo can still receive guidance from the Little Celestial Master, how high must the Little Celestial Master's level be?"

"It's definitely not just three or four stories high. The nickname 'Little Celestial Master's Humanoid Opportunity' is truly well-deserved!"

"It's a pity that we didn't have the opportunity to receive his guidance, otherwise we would definitely have been able to make further progress."

"I have an idea. Didn't the Little Celestial Master create the Heavenly Tong Church? If we could join this church, would we be able to get guidance from the Little Celestial Master?"

"There should be a chance!"

……

At the table, Lu Jin looked at the excited Master Zuo and nudged Li Muxuan with his elbow: "Junior brother, what's Master doing...?"

Li Muxuan lowered his voice and said, "For Senior Brother to act like this, it must be about the matter of reversing life. Before coming to Wudang, Master must have encountered some difficulties in his cultivation. Now it seems that he may have solved them with Senior Brother Zhang's help."

"Master has encountered difficulties in his cultivation?!" Lu Jin asked, puzzled. "I didn't even know, how do you know about this?"

Li Muxuan said irritably, "You haven't been to Longhu Mountain lately, and you've been cultivating on the mountain every day. Haven't you noticed that your master has been going into seclusion more often? Frequent seclusion must mean he's encountered some difficulties."

Lu Jin suddenly realized what was going on and immediately praised Li Muxuan for his thoughtfulness.

On the other side, Master Zuo's smile vanished:

"I now understand the unity of knowledge and action, but how to put it into practice is another question."

"I'm alright, though I wouldn't dare say I'm completely infallible in this path. But I'm confident I can constantly perceive the subtle thoughts in my mind from the inside out and sever the root of selfish desires."

"But how can we ensure that our disciples won't go astray like the Quanxing demons?!"

This is what Master Zuo is worried about right now.

Previously, the disciples of the Three Ones did not go astray because he restrained them with rules and taught them with principles.

But if we let them preserve their true nature and regard external rules as demonic obstacles, wouldn't that be going down the old path of Quanxing?
“That is indeed a problem,” Zhang Zhiwei nodded. “The current Quanxing is not Quanxing; it would be more appropriate to change it to Hedonism. But how do we distinguish between Hedonism and Quanxing…”

Zhang Zhiwei paused for a moment, then continued, "First, you need to take in a disciple who is kind-hearted by nature. If he is bloodthirsty by nature, then killing is his true nature."

Just like Lu Zhishen in Water Margin.

At this moment, Zhang Zhiwei noticed that Zuo Ruotong was looking at him:

"Master Zuo, why are you looking at me? I can't very well kill you."

"Would I, a monk, be so fond of killing?!"

"Although I have killed countless lives, I have never been fond of killing, so I must stop the killing!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Master Zuo nodded. "You're not good at killing, you're good at stopping killing. Continue!"

He silently added in his mind, "Using killing to stop killing is also a way of stopping killing!"

Zhang Zhiwei continued, "The reason why Quanxing became a hedonistic society is that they can't distinguish or understand what they want; their thinking has been affected."

"To put it simply, people have two sets of thinking."

"A set of thoughts that belong entirely to oneself and are controlled by oneself—this is one's true nature."

"There is another set of thoughts that are mistakenly believed to belong to oneself, but are actually just the thoughts themselves."

"In short, the former can be completely controlled by oneself. This mindset is one's own thinking and judgment about oneself and the external world. This is sincerity of heart."

"The latter is something that one cannot control, or even is controlled by. This way of thinking is born under the influence of the objective world. It is the manipulation of oneself by the external world, and it is what the reverse cultivation aims to reverse."

"This kind of thinking can be big or small. If it's small, you can get rid of it simply by calming down. If it's big, it may be difficult to find a solution if you don't reach a certain level of understanding."

Upon hearing this, the Left Sect Master was puzzled: "Why is there no solution? Isn't this mindset born from desires influenced by the objective world? Wouldn't it be easier to gradually resolve it by distancing oneself from desires, cultivating in seclusion, and purifying the mind?" (End of Chapter)