I stole divine power in Daxia

Chapter 455: Saints are like dreams, life is like chess

Deng’s house, night falls.

Although Deng Xuehu's family was poor, strictly speaking, his family situation was still above the average for the people of Daxia.

After all, Tianjing is a place of great virtue. As people from Tianjing, Deng's father and mother were willing to work hard, and they could earn a lot of money by setting up a breakfast stall like a noodle stall in the morning.

The reason why the Deng family did not send Deng Xuehu to a private school was because the eldest son of the Deng family was a good student and was confident that he could pass the examination and enter a Confucian school.

As an ordinary family, Deng's father and mother naturally wanted to invest all their resources in their eldest son first, and then wait for him to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar before bringing his younger brothers and sisters to succeed together.

Anyway, Deng Xuehu studied at home and could ask his elder brother if he didn't understand something. So after graduating from the cheapest Confucian enlightenment school, he used his brother's books to study on his own without spending money on a private school.

However, the opening of the Newsboy School gave Deng Xuehu a new way out. It allowed him, who had just graduated from the enlightenment class, to continue his studies for free and earn money to support his family, so he studied very hard.

The two brothers lived in a room with a strong, slightly pungent scent of ink. In addition to books, the brothers' self-built bookshelf was also filled with neatly stacked newspapers, with specific markings between each small compartment.

Since the emergence of the steam printing press and Zhou Tieyi lowered the price of printing, even if the various schools of thought wanted to have the same say in book knowledge as before, they were also affected by the technology and development of the newspaper industry and the prices of books dropped a lot. What's more, as a newspaper boy, Deng Xuehu naturally knew how to get cheap expired newspapers.

The oil lamp was on, and Deng Xuehu could hear the faint quarrel of his parents behind the next wall. He sighed softly and took out two newspapers from the box with the visualization notes.

In the early days of newspaper competition, the various schools of thought did not have Zhou Tieyi's brilliant ideas, but they also had ways to compete for readers. The simplest way was to print some basic methods of cultivation in newspapers.

In particular, a lot of basic health-preserving boxing classics and visualization methods were printed based on Taoism, Buddhism, and Military Science. Anyway, even if this knowledge was spread out, it would not cause any major chaos.

The two newspapers that Deng Xuehu took out were the Taoist "Daode Newspaper", which contained an "Essentials of Visualization". Although it was written simply and after practicing it, it only helped to make one more able to enter a state of tranquility, and it did not bring about many supernatural powers, but these two issues of the newspaper were undoubtedly selling well.

After taking out two newspapers and reading two paragraphs carefully, Deng Xuehu said to his brother who was reading by the light, "Brother, I'll use a piece of rice paper."

The best quality rice paper is still a valuable commodity, and Deng Xuehu used to get cheap paper from printing factories.

Deng Dalang actually didn't focus on studying today. He put down the book in his hand and looked at his brother, "You can use it..."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "The fortune teller came to our house again today and wanted to buy our yard for someone else."

The Deng family’s courtyard is very ordinary, but after Deng Xuehu became rich, there are always people who want to share in his joy, since they can afford the price anyway.

Deng Xuehu took the paper and said with a smile, "Haven't we discussed this before?"

He knew that his brother was implying that he didn't need to live so poorly. Even if he socialized in a normal way, as Zhou Tieyi's apprentice, Deng Xuehu had many ways to make money.

"Before we entered the school, we didn't know what the master's attitude was. It was right to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing situations. It was better to use one or two less pieces of rice paper than to leave a bad impression on the master."

Deng Xuehu cut the rice paper into four pieces, used only one of them himself, spread it out on the table, and then began to drip water and grind ink.

Deng Dalang asked, "So how did you upset Lord Zhou today?"

He was very puzzled, because according to his brother's character, he should not have made such an unwise mistake today. He should have been so cautious and prudent, so he should have learned whatever the master taught. How could there be a strange rumor that the master had evolved the four methods of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Military Science, but he had not learned any of them?
Deng Xuehu stopped grinding ink and said, "The world in the teacher's eyes is different from ours."

Deng Dalang nodded slightly, motioning Deng Xuehu to continue.

Deng Xuehu picked up the brush and soaked it with ink. "So if I want to be your apprentice, I must stop thinking like I did before. Otherwise, I will only see the lotus and not the bright moon."

After that, Deng Xuehu started to paint on the rice paper. With just a few strokes, a black and white lotus appeared on the paper. Deng Xuehu dipped the brush in water to make the ink lighter, and then a full moon appeared above the lotus.

Deng Dalang looked at the picture of moon and lotus on the rice paper and fell silent for a moment.

If lotus refers to the four methods of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and military, then Mingyue is above lotus, which is self-evident. He still underestimated his brother's ambition. He thought about it and finally did not continue asking.

After Deng Xuehu finished painting the picture of lotus and bright moon, he walked out of the door, raised his hand, and shone it under the milky white light of the crescent moon, leaving a shadow in his mind. Then he returned to the house and sat on his small bed to meditate.

The so-called visualization method is to use external objects to enter the body and refine the spirit through objects, so the visualized objects can move as the heart desires. During the practice, Deng Xuehu gradually discovered that instead of spending a long time to retain the impression of an external object, it is better to first print the spirit of the external object on the drawing paper. Although it is impossible to get the full picture, the focus of visualization itself is my heart and my spirit. External objects are just a support and a method of entering into tranquility. If you pay too much attention to the spirit of the external object and ignore the changes in my heart and my spirit, it would be a case of missing the forest for the trees.

Immersed in darkness, Deng Xuehu used the light of the crescent moon as white ink, and soon he drew a black and white lotus in his mind. Above the lotus, the shadow of the moon was faintly visible.

But compared to the lotus that was close to the real thing, the moon shadow was erratic and it was very likely to be annihilated in the next moment, taking Deng Xuehu out of the state of visualization. At this time, Deng Xuehu was not panicked, but just stabilized the lotus first, and then tried to outline the moon step by step.

Before I knew it, the surroundings had become completely quiet and I didn't know how much time had passed.

The next moment, the moon on the lotus in Deng Xuehu's heart shone brightly, illuminating all the darkness around him, making the dream become real and have a material sense.

Deng Xuehu immediately bowed to Yue Lun and said, "Please teach me the Dharma, Master."

In the bright moonlight, Zhou Tieyi stepped out and smiled at Deng Xuehu's spirit, "Why do you know how to seek the Dharma in a dream?"

Deng Xuehu answered honestly, "Today I saw four great ways to heaven but I didn't learn them, so I am a fool. Master said that the perfect Dharma door is only in a dream, so I am just a fool dreaming."

"good."

Zhou Tieyi nodded again and said, "But since you understand the truth about foolish dreams, then your teacher has no method to pass on to you." Deng Xuehu looked up at Zhou Tieyi in surprise. Shouldn't he teach him his unique skills and keep them secret at this time?

How come there is really no method that can be passed on to me?

Zhou Tieyi smiled and said, "You don't study the four disciplines of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and military science, so you must be as devoted to the holy way as I am. Let me ask you a question: is there a similar holy way in the world?"

Few people have thought about this question. Even the great figures of the third and second ranks are following the holy path left by their predecessors.

Deng Xuehu thought seriously for a moment, "The three saints of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism established themselves on the three paths. Master is praised as one of the three saints and now he is the person with the best chance of attaining enlightenment in the world. He has also walked his own path. There may be no two saints with the same path in the world."

Zhou Tieyi nodded again, reached out to grab Deng Xuehu's soul, placed it under his bright moon, and then controlled the dream, floating like a full moon, shining brightly in the dreams of the people of Tianjing.

"Your statement is that you know the fact but not the reason. I don't have any method to teach you, but I can still teach you the principle."

"Please give me some advice, Master."

Deng Xuehu probably understood what Zhou Tieyi meant. The method to follow the holy path is unique. Anyone who wants to follow this path must seek on his own. The more people learn from him, the less chances he has to attain enlightenment.

So even though Zhou Tieyi has thousands of wonderful methods, these are only Zhou Tieyi’s ways and cannot help others to attain enlightenment.

However, Zhou Tieyi, who has already embarked on the holy path, was able to talk about some of his experiences and observations in the process, which are the principles of the holy path.

"For those who follow the holy path, if they see the past and the future, then the past and the future exist; if they do not see the past and the future, then the past and the future do not exist."

"So the Buddhists have the saying of 'heaven is above heaven and earth, and I am the only one who is supreme', the Taoists have the saying of 'refining the void and merging with the Tao, and the unity of heaven and man', and the Confucians have the saying of 'establishing one's mind for heaven and one's destiny for the people'."

The huge full moon shuttled between dreams. In Deng Xuehu's eyes, the magnificent dreams flickered like bubbles, but they were attracted by the full moon and merged into the full moon, allowing these magnificent dreams to last forever in the full moon and connecting the people's spirits with the bright moon system.

Deng Xuehu had a very high level of comprehension and realized instantly that his teacher was perfecting Tianjing's Mingyue system while showing him that the world is like a dream.

He couldn't help but whisper, "Is it true that, as the Buddhists say, the world is like a dream?"

He used to know that saints were great and were people who could make decisions for the world, but he had never thought about how powerful the saints' supernatural powers were. Today, after hearing Zhou Tieyi mention it, he realized how great saints were.

When a thought moves, the whole world moves. As long as a sage can foresee the future, it will definitely happen in the future. If a sage does not foresee the future, he can even make the future non-existent.

This is beyond the methods, martial arts, talismans, and magical powers that mortals can understand. No wonder everyone in the world wants to become a saint. In front of a saint, all living beings are like characters in a dream. Their thoughts can easily change the dream and even ignore cause and effect and laws, just like what Zhou Tieyi is doing now.

It’s just that Zhou Tieyi can only do this in his dreams, but the saint can do this in reality.

Zhou Tieyi explained his understanding of the observer effect to Deng Xuehu in terms that the world could understand, and said with a smile, "Not entirely. Take the Buddhist theory for example. If the Buddha is in the state of nirvana, then the world is indeed a big dream to him. Whether all things are destroyed or grown, it cannot affect his state."

"But once saints enter the world, they influence the world and make it change like a dream. At the same time, they are also influenced in the dream, just like when you dream. Although everything in the dream comes from your heart, can you completely control your dream?"

“Even those who have practiced the most profound visualization methods either don’t dream, or once in a dream, they can only stay awake at all times. However, if they are not careful, the scenery in the dream will change drastically, or even get lost in the dream. So it is the same for saints who have entered the world, not to mention that there is more than one saint in the world.”

"What would happen to saints if they were lost in a dream?"

Deng Xuehu asked hurriedly. He knew that what his master said today, even if it was not a method of cultivation, had already encompassed the most fundamental secrets of cultivation. It was an untransmitted secret that would never be recorded in the scriptures of various sects.

"That is naturally a fall from the holy throne."

Zhou Tieyi said frankly that he had briefly experienced this state. Based on the dimensionality reduction of his own high-dimensional life and combined with Tian's father's holy power, he determined the situation of the great prosperity of the human race before the eight ancient gods attained enlightenment. But at the same time, he also completely entered this dream and fell from the saintly position.

So he probably understood that as long as a saint paid a sufficient price, that is, the price of falling from the sainthood, he could determine the short-term development of things. How much of the determination depended on how far the saint could foresee.

Similarly, Yan Renshi of the human race at that time probably also used a similar method to inherit the fire of the human race, but Yan Renshi was not even a saint, so the price he paid was his own life. At the same time, he also attracted his own self who traveled through the universe and came down as a higher-dimensional being to inherit the special fire of humanity that he left behind.

"Confucian saint, did the Buddha fall from the throne?"

"Yes."

Zhou Tieyi said in a positive tone, "The Confucian Sage determined that the human race could not practice the way of God for 500 years, which completely stabilized the trend of the human race, so he fell from the saintly position. As for the Buddha... he suppressed the Great Illusionary Lord and the Blood Sea Lord. I used to think that he died because of his serious injuries, but now it seems that he used the method of 'exchanging dreams for dreams' to pull the two into the dream together and fell from the saintly position."

"Master Taixuhuan, Lord of the Blood Sea?"

Deng Xuehu asked in confusion.

Zhou Tieyi smiled and told him the story of the Nine Ancient Gods, allowing Deng Xuehu to understand the origin of the so-called evil gods and how humanity flourished at the time, but he omitted the part that belonged to him.

After listening, Deng Xuehu connected the saints Zhou Tieyi told him about and asked, "Except for Dao Zun and the most mysterious ninth god, the Emperor of Heaven, the Earth Mother, the Phoenix Ancestor, the Azure Dragon, the Thunder God, and the Hades Emperor, their deaths were not just because the Five Emperors perished together with them. At least before they fell from the saintly position, they still had a chance to determine the direction of their future?!"

Deng Xuehu's voice was filled with surprise, because if his master's judgment was correct, then the so-called prosperous times of Daxia today were truly just a big dream. As long as the dreams foreseen by these nine ancient gods reached the critical point, the so-called prosperous times would vanish overnight. Ordinary mortals could not change this at all, because mortals were just in a dream.

"Yes." Zhou Tieyi sighed softly, "The subsequent drought caused the world to go from prosperity to chaos. I'm afraid it was the dream left by someone back then."

(End of this chapter)