No abstraction, no cultivation

Chapter 11: The Nanhua Sutra is too abstract

"Like singing while beating a drum?" Xu Shun said.

When Zhuangzi's wife died, he beat a basin and sang.

He was also sad about his wife's death, but then he thought about the essence of life, which is from nothing to something, and from something to nothing, just like the cycle of the four seasons.

Crying is an act that does not understand the way of heaven and destiny, so he chose to compose songs to express his understanding and acceptance of life.

It sounds like Yan Kaiyan is similar.

"I didn't expect that you have read the "Nanhua Jing." Taoist Lan looked at Xu Shun with a high opinion of him.

His disciple has actually seen this.

"The Nanhua Sutra is too abstract, so you'd better read less of it." Taoist Lan advised again.

No, you are so abstract!

How dare you say that the "Nanhua Jing" is abstract!

You expose your breasts all day long and yet you criticize others!
Xu Shun complained in his heart, but said, "I think it's okay!"

"Zhuangzi" has fantastic imagination, ingenious conception, vast and unrestrained writing style, magnificent and bizarre, and otherworldly meaning.

Xu Shun, who read it for the first time many years ago, couldn't help but sigh.

Awesome!
It's so arrogant!

"While beating the drum and singing, Master Nanhua realized the cycle of life and understood life, and was no longer sad." Lan Daoist continued:

"And what about his relationship with his wife?"

"What?" Xu Shun was stunned.

"His wife had been with him for so many years. Now that she is gone, he should be sad about the relationship, not the death of her life."

"Humans are not plants or trees, how can they be heartless?"

"Singing and beating a basin is too cruel." Lan Daoist said sadly: "Daoyou Baili and I have known each other for hundreds of years. When we were young, we subdued demons and dug holes for each other."

"Now, he walks away peacefully and laughing."

"I am happy for him and sad for myself."

"In such a big world, I have lost another bad friend!" Lan Daoren's voice was slightly choked when he said the last part.

Xu Shun thought of what Lan Daoren had said before: "I don't know how to enjoy life, nor do I know how to hate death; I am not happy to be born, and I don't refuse to die; I leave without any restraint, and come back freely."

However, Lan Daoren had no joy in living, nor did he hate death.

He was just being sentimental.

Immortals are also human beings. They have friends and cherish friendships.

Otherwise, there will be no friends, no relatives and no lovers in this world.

The whole world is full of betrayal and killing. What is the meaning of immortality?

Dealing with people can be annoying, but dealing with close friends who have the same temper as you can only be fun.

Xu Shun was the same in his previous life.

I just arrived in a strange city to work hard. In the city, I have no friends, no lover, and no family.

Every day I just go to get off work and go home, go to work and go home. I feel like I’m not alive.

Instead, it is like a machine that goes to work to earn money, an animal in society that only knows how to eat, drink, sleep and work.

Fortunately, Xu Shun was able to get through those numb days by keeping in touch with a few good friends online.

Imagine if you became an immortal, you would meditate and cultivate yourself every day.

Living in loneliness for a long time is no less than being in prison.

At that time, the only difference between becoming an immortal and going to jail was life imprisonment and a fixed term.

That's not cultivating immortality, that's building a prison.

"Master, don't you still have me as your disciple?" Xu Shun comforted.

Taoist Lan quickly adjusted his mood, looked at Xu Shun, and said with a smile: "My disciple, you must practice well, and don't let your master die before he gets old!" Xu Shun discovered that Taoist Lan had a characteristic during their contact during this period.

It means adjusting your mood very quickly.

He would be happy, worried, and sad, but he would always adjust quickly.

Emotions don't affect him for long.

His heart is like a bright pearl, and his emotions are like the wind entwining around the pearl. Not only does it not affect the pearl, but it adds color to it.

Is this a cultivator in the Mahayana realm?

What’s the point of having black-haired people sending off old-haired people?

Obviously, they were all sent by white-haired people...

Xu Shun looked at the enviable amount of shiny black hair on Lan Daoren’s fat head, and thought that if he didn’t become an immortal, it would be the case that the young would send the old off!

"Don't worry, Master! I will definitely go to the Immortal Realm to find you!" Xu Shun said boldly, "By the way, I will punch the Grand Master and make him recite the nagging "The Sutra of Infinite Merit and Blessings for Saving Saints and Sages" by himself!"

"Hahaha~" Lan Daoren laughed, "Impossible!"

"Why not?" Xu Shun said unconvincedly, "If one year doesn't work, then one hundred years. If one hundred years doesn't work, then one thousand years."

"If one thousand years is not enough, then ten thousand years will do!"

"One day, I will definitely defeat the Grandmaster."

Lan Daoist looked at Xu Shun with satisfaction. He laughed and said, "I said it's impossible because I had defeated the ancestor before you came to the fairyland!"

"..."

Xu Shun couldn't help but give a thumbs up and said, "Master is the best at bragging!"

"Of course! Who made me your master?" Taoist Lan patted his belly and took the lead to change direction.

The master and the disciple continued walking forward, talking and laughing.

They were heading north to return to the sect, and now they were heading east to attend the banquet.

Because it was a temporary diversion, the paths in the mountains were overgrown with weeds and were not even roads.

It's very difficult to walk.

Xu Shun walked for about half a day and was sweating profusely.

He looked back and saw the winding mountain road, like a giant python shuttling through the mountains.

Fortunately, he has some cultivation now, otherwise he would not be able to climb here.

Speaking of which, he traveled to this world in a mountain village.

I became a disciple and followed Taoist Lan, wandering around in the mountains.

Mountains are everywhere, and mountains are everywhere. But Xu Shun, who grew up in the plains in his previous life, went from liking mountains to hating them.

Climbing mountains is really tiring. When can I reach the thousand-mile plains of my previous life?
"Disciple, your master is waiting for you in front!" Taoist Lan was as tall as a bird. In just two or three steps, he jumped to a cliff that was several dozen meters high and nearly ninety degrees.

“Fuck… we have to climb this too!” Xu Shun looked at the cliff, which was covered with weeds, rocks, and potholes.

I'm not going to climb halfway up and then slip and fall to my death.

Xu Shun was very hesitant.

"It's just a small hill. Is it difficult for me to tear the master's purple-talented disciple apart with my bare hands?" Taoist Lan said sarcastically as he stood on the hillside.

"Master, you are a cultivator in the Mahayana stage, why don't you just lift me up with your hand?" Xu Shun had never tried climbing before.

He looked at the cliff with some fear.

Even though he knew that Lando might not let himself fall to his death.

Taoist Lan looked down at Xu Shun at the foot of the cliff and said, "I can help you today and tomorrow."

"When the master ascends, who can help you?"

"Without the accumulation of small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles. Without the accumulation of small streams, one cannot form a river or sea! Cultivation is like a mountain road, you have to take it step by step!"

(End of this chapter)