Poor Taoist Qiu Chuji

Chapter 380 Breaking the Stubborn Stone is Wukong

The father and daughter had their first disagreement, but neither of them pursued it further.

After all, although they are father and daughter, they have been separated for many years and lack sufficient familiarity and understanding between them. Under such circumstances, rashly engaging in more intense discussions could easily shatter the already somewhat superficial father-daughter relationship.

The silence extinguished the initial joy of their reunion, gradually giving rise to more awkwardness and distance.

This awkwardness and distance, on the contrary, stemmed from Lin Daiyu's own abilities and energy.

If she were still just a young lady from an official family, raised in seclusion in a grand mansion, with all her honor and disgrace stemming from her father, then this awkwardness and distance would never have occurred.

She wouldn't even have such thoughts or ideas.

Ultimately, it's because Lin Daiyu broke free from the constraints of women being subordinate and gained independent value, thus giving her the power to make choices.

As for Lin Ruhai, he had been through many ups and downs in his official career and had a keen eye for people.

From the moment Lin Daiyu entered the study, he had been observing her. Combining this with some news and rumors he had heard recently, he already had a general idea of ​​who his daughter was at this moment. He certainly did not think that he could make everything go smoothly by using his patriarchal authority to force her.

The so-called "finding a husband" was actually just something he used to test Lin Daiyu's feelings.

After all, although he was relatively open-minded, he could not really let his daughter wander the world.

Unless it is a truly humane and extraordinary world that dwells in the clouds, the martial arts world will always be the lowest of the low. This is not prejudice, but a fact.

Even in the original Legend of the Condor Heroes world, where top masters possessed the ability to assassinate the king and kill the emperor, the martial arts world was still not valued because the power of an individual was too weak in the face of a collective.

Of course, things are definitely different now!
The world of Legend of the Condor Heroes, where Qiu Chuji lived, had its energy level ceiling raised, resulting in a massive explosion of primordial energy. In a few years, the martial arts world and the imperial court would no longer be clearly separated.

Rather, it is like the world of Fengyun, where the martial arts world is the imperial court, and the imperial court is the martial arts world.

Only those with the strongest fists can hold high positions, because individual power is enough to completely surpass that of the collective.

In any case, the reunion of Lin Daiyu and Lin Ruhai as father and daughter signifies that their conflict with the salt merchants has entered a new phase.

In other words, Yang Guangde and the small salt merchants on the same route as him, along with some of the trade routes for smuggled salt, were all completely lost.

Consequently, the countless households affected will be swept up in a wave of worldly turmoil.

If the salt merchants wanted to maintain their profits, they had to cut their losses immediately.

At the same time, they had to decide whether to go all out to kill Lin Ruhai and his daughter, or to leverage their connections in the capital to send Lin Ruhai away.

Replace him with a new salt inspector.

The newly appointed person may not necessarily be one of their own, but no matter what position they hold, they need a few years to fully familiarize themselves with the environment.

From this perspective, it should be enough for the salt merchants to recover their losses.

As for killing Lin Ruhai, that would be turning against the emperor, giving the emperor a reason to take drastic measures in Yangzhou and Jiangnan.

In the original timeline, Lin Ruhai died in office. Although he died of illness, the reason could not be kept secret from those who were interested.

Therefore, the emperor targeted the Zhen family as a starting point, beginning to cut into the retired emperor's purse strings.

After that, the Zhen family's attempt to find a pretext to visit Grandmother Jia in the capital can be seen as a sign that they sensed danger and began to contact some old relatives and connections in an attempt to ease tensions and seek assistance.

As for the claim that the Jia family and the Zhen family have always had a close kinship, that is unlikely.

After all, counting from Grandmother Jia down, which of the masters of the Jia family could be directly related to the Zhen family by blood?

If you count them this way, it's been three generations. How can they still be considered close relatives?
When the Zhen family comes to visit, it's not a visit to relatives, but rather a request for their help.

The fact that Lin Ruhai is still alive this time gives the emperor one less excuse to launch an attack.

It is said that the current emperor is "harsh and ungrateful," and this is precisely where his harshness lies.

Although Lin Ruhai was not selected as the third-ranked scholar after the emperor ascended the throne, and theoretically belonged to the former officials of the retired emperor, he had worked diligently in Yangzhou over the years, contributing to the prosperity of the country.

Now that Lin Ruhai is reluctant to betray his old in-laws and offer his pledge of allegiance, and to completely 'change allegiance', the emperor ignores his merits and wants to force him to his death in office, and then use his death as a pretext to launch an attack. Isn't that cruel?
It's possible that even if the salt merchants hadn't killed Lin Ruhai, the emperor would have arranged for secret agents to frame him.

Although such an action seems petty.

But not every emperor possessed such a grand and imposing spirit.

There are far too many petty and narrow-minded emperors!
Of course, how the situation developed afterward, whether Lin Ruhai lived or died, and what became of him... in theory, had nothing to do with Qiu Chuji anymore.

Because he encountered his own big trouble.

After he helped Lin Daiyu stir up this huge storm, changing the fate of Lin Ruhai and many salt merchants, and having some influence on the future situation of the world.

The primordial energy of the mortal world slowly swept in, and under its influence, the Heaven-Mending Stone was refined even faster.

However, while inside the Heaven-Mending Stone, surrounded by abundant Creation Qi, Qiu Chuji found himself in an awkward situation where he could neither practice nor absorb any more Qi.

Only then did he realize that even though the physical body he had reshaped by combining the Qi of Creation with his previous five-colored golden lotus root body was already a top-tier divine body in all the heavens and myriad realms, it still had a theoretical upper limit.

This upper limit does not refer to the upper limit of Qiu Chuji's cultivation, nor to the upper limit of his capacity to contain 'Qi'.

Rather, it represents the upper limit of Qiu Chuji's cognition and understanding of the physical body's strength, solidity, power, rules, and so on, essentially achieved through the accumulation of the Qi of Creation.

Although this upper limit is distant, ethereal, and empty, and is something Qiu Chuji has not yet truly touched, he has already completed the foundational accumulation under this understanding when building a new physical body.

The wonders of creation are fully displayed at this moment.

From minor tasks like restoring energy, replenishing blood, and repairing the soul, to major tasks like containing stars, black holes, and the universe, theoretically, Qiu Chuji's newly formed body could serve as the stage and blueprint for realizing all of this.

With this physical body, Qiu Chuji indeed had a smooth path on the road to physical sainthood.

His body will no longer be a cage that restricts or limits him, but a huge boost.

But... the Qi of Creation continues to permeate, filling the space within the Heaven-Mending Stone, growing ever more abundant, seemingly impossible to truly exhaust completely.

Without continuing to consume it, the solidity and thickness of the Heaven-Mending Stone could not be truly reduced. Qiu Chuji could only be trapped in the Heaven-Mending Stone like amber, waiting for an opportunity to arrive after years of accumulation, hoping for another stroke of good fortune to favor him.

"No wonder it is called a 'stubborn rock,' endowed with infinite wonders as if it had none."

"What the hell is this mysterious theory of relativity?" Qiu Chuji sat cross-legged in the Heaven-Mending Stone, trying to cultivate true qi. However, even though all the true qi was transformed into the Five Elements Creation True Qi, the total amount of true qi within the Heaven-Mending Stone remained unchanged with each breath. He used the Qi of Creation to simulate all things, but all things are creation itself, still forming their own cycle.

"I am merging with creation, and creation is merging with me. I have become part of the Stone that mends the sky, so how can I break it?" Qiu Chuji followed the originally designed path to the end, only to find that the high wall at the end was actually formed by himself.

There are only two ways to break this embarrassing cycle.

Either Qiu Chuji completely abandons creation, returns to his true self, and then waits for a separation and division... This requires not only the determination to give up, but also an opportunity.

If he had made that choice, it would have meant that Qiu Chuji had wasted a tremendous opportunity and a period of time, only gaining some experience in the process.

Of course, this experience itself did have some benefit for his future cultivation, but it was too hidden and might not be useful, so it could be said to have no benefit at all.

Or perhaps Qiu Chuji created a new 'hole' out of thin air, without any reason or cause, within this mending stone, leaking out all the excess creative energy and breaking the balance here.

The wall of self no longer isolates the inside from the outside, but instead breaks through the stubborn rock.

But how is this possible?
The Stone that Patches Up the Sky is the embodiment of creation. Although it is not the complete creation itself, it is a crystallized manifestation of the Way of Creation.

The fact that a hole would appear out of nowhere among such a rare and precious stone as the Heaven-Mending Stone is itself a manifestation of the wonders of creation.

It seems that the Monkey King was able to break through the stubborn rock because of some extraordinary stroke of luck; otherwise, even if he had achieved countless more renownes on Flower Fruit Mountain, he might not have been able to break through the rock.

"No wonder that monk and the Taoist priest did not directly refine the Heaven-Mending Stone, but instead had Shenying Attendant take it into the mortal world, attempting to soften it on its own by using the dust of the mortal world, and then use Jia Baoyu's hand to guide the Spirit Jade to be born."

"They were so out of control simply because they dared not get too close to the Sky-Mending Stone."

"Boundless creation is also boundless burden."

"If the foundation isn't strong enough, it simply can't withstand this benefit." Qiu Chuji tried to open a small world to wrap the Sky-Mending Stone.

If he could bring the Heaven-Mending Stone into the small world, then he might be able to use his status as a 'Primordial Demon God' within the small world to simulate a 'creation of heaven and earth' within the Heaven-Mending Stone.

But it's impossible!
Although the Heaven-Mending Stone does not possess a complete and specific spirit, it is a treasure of the same level as the Jade Void Bell, which cannot contain or integrate it into its entirety.

Qiu Chuji then wanted to forge another sword technique, severing a part of his own primordial spirit and projecting it onto the Heaven-Mending Stone to travel outside and search for other methods.

This was originally the path that Qiu Chuji thought he could take directly. He had planned it out in advance. Once a portion of the Heaven-Mending Stone was refined, he would project a part of his primordial spirit outwards to facilitate movement.

But once the refining progress bar was full, they realized they had been tricked!
Completeness became a flaw.

Unable to seek help from outside, Qiu Chuji could only turn inward.

He first shut down his five senses, letting the memories swirl in his mind. Every piece of his past knowledge of the world was carefully magnified in his perception, and in this flowing torrent of memories, he tried his best to search for all possibilities.

He knew that "to break through the stubborn rock, one must understand emptiness," but he had no direction on how to understand this emptiness.

The emptiness spoken of in Buddhism cannot correspond to, let alone be unified with, the emptiness he needs to attain now.

Qiu Chuji further etherealized his primordial spirit.

The primordial spirit no longer coalesces into a unified entity, but is scattered throughout every cell of the physical body, filling each cell with a god.

As a result, each cell seemed to be enlightened, and they all had their own ideas.

Qiu Chuji dispersed into a cloud of mist within the Heaven-Mending Stone, and this mist was blown into the living beings he had created.

Thus, the originally numb and dull creatures gained true souls and began to think and reflect.

Time accelerates under the impetus of creation.

One hundred years, one thousand years, ten thousand years.

When the spark of civilization was ignited, the first person began to ponder the meaning of "I".

As this thought spread, Qiu Chuji's primordial spirit awakened among many living beings, and in a slow process of contemplation, gradually condensed into the consciousness of 'I'.

This can be considered an invisible benefit of his primordial spirit overcoming the tribulation of lightning and cultivating into a Yang God.

The baptism of heaven and earth has made his primordial spirit more substantial than that of ordinary primordial spirits, which further facilitates attraction and bonding between them.

This unique perspective allowed Qiu Chuji to experience the wonders of the 'Great Luo' ahead of time.

That is a more macroscopic contradiction and unity.

First, it must be acknowledged that the thoughts of many beings cannot be completely aligned, even if all these beings are 'me'.

However, it must be acknowledged that some things are unified among all living beings.

For example, survival, and reproduction.

The so-called immortality and indestructibility of the Great Luo is precisely because it has mastered the unity within difference and the standard within asymmetry.

Thus, 'I' am embedded in infinite possibilities, and within those infinite possibilities, I maintain a unified direction and coherence.

To put it simply, even if the "I" who is a Great Luo is destroyed by accident, within that unity and continuity, among countless "I"s, there will still be another "I" who will embark on the same path, eventually stand at the peak again, and naturally inherit everything.

As for whether the 'I' at that time was still the same 'I' before, that depends on how you understand and think about it.

Even from the perspective of an ordinary person, is the me of ten years ago and the me of ten years later necessarily the same me?
Ten years ago, I was simple, honest, and kind, full of trust and expectations for humanity. Ten years later, I am complicated, ruthless, and greasy, full of negative perceptions and insights about life.

So, are these two "I"s two different people, or the same person?

If there are two people, where should they cut?
If it were just one person, how could they achieve unity?

Qiu Chuji couldn't figure out this problem, but he found a way to consume a lot of his creation energy, opened the 'hole' that belonged to him, and realized what emptiness was.

Give away everything I have!

This is emptiness!

Thus, Qiu Chuji's primordial spirit connected with all living beings, and various martial arts and cultivation methods appeared in the minds of many beings, opening up the path of cultivation for them and providing them with infinite possibilities... even the possibility of replacing him and becoming the 'true self' above all living beings.

(End of this chapter)