A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 659 The deeper you delve, the more solid your penetration becomes.

Chu Wushang walked leisurely to the bamboo grove, threw his sickle aside, and swung his axe at the base of a bamboo stalk as thick as an arm.

As Chu Wushang rhythmically swung his axe, the sound of banging echoed through the bamboo forest.

Duan Rong stood there and watched for a while. Chu Wushang was chopping bamboo purely with muscle power, and he didn't even use any of the power generation techniques in martial arts. He was just like an old farmer chopping bamboo.

Chu Wushang turned his head and looked at Duan Rong, saying, "What are you standing there for? Since you're already here, help me chop some bamboo strips."

Duan Rong then took his sickle and axe and walked toward another bamboo stalk not far away.

Chu Wushang said, "If I do it this way, the bamboo strips split by martial arts techniques will be too neat, and I'm not used to it."

"Understood," Duan Rong replied, then gripped the axe and chopped at the base of the bamboo stalk beside him.

Chu Wushang glanced at it, gave a satisfied hum, and said, "Not bad, you seem to be getting things done."

Duan Rong chopped at the bamboo with his axe, one strike after another, while pondering Chu Wushang's various ways of doing things.

When he first met Chu Wushang, he was dressed as an old farmer.

Moreover, the thatched hut he lived in was the kind of thatched hut that rural farmers in the mountains had.

Even his current act of cutting down bamboo seems to embody the identity of an old farmer.

Perhaps this is all related to the medium through which he comprehended the truth?
Thinking of this, Duan Rong couldn't help but glance at Chu Wushang, who was bending over and chopping bamboo in front of him. Just then, Chu Wushang's bamboo fell towards the bamboo forest with a snap. Chu Wushang used the back of his axe to strike it, and with a thud, he knocked the bamboo out of the bamboo forest.

The bamboo, with its lush foliage, fell to the ground with a whoosh. Chu Wushang put down his axe, picked up a sickle from the ground, and walked over.

He stepped on the bamboo and used his sickle to chop off the thin branches one by one. Just then, Duan Rong also heard a crack, and the bamboo he had chopped fell to the ground.

Duan Rong imitated Chu Wushang and began to chop off the thin branches.

After splitting the thin branches, all that was left was a bare green bamboo tube, which they then began to split into strips using sickles.

As the two worked, Duan Rong tossed a green bamboo strip into a pile of bamboo strips nearby and suddenly said, "Mr. Chu, why do you always live such a peasant-like life?"

Chu Wushang chuckled upon hearing this and said, "Looking at me like this, you think I'm a roughneck, right?"

Duan Rong did not answer, but simply smiled.

Chu Wushang retorted, "Let me tell you, kid, I also come from a wealthy family. I'm proficient in everything from music and chess to calligraphy, painting, dog racing, and cockfighting."

"Is that so?" Duan Rong asked. "Then why has your temperament changed so drastically, becoming so frugal?"

Chu Wushang said, "Once you find your own medium, you will gradually understand. The ancestor told you about his experience of breaking through to the next level, right?"

Duan Rong, unaware of why Chu Wushang suddenly brought up the old ancestor's talk about breaking through the ginseng, replied, "He did."

Chu Wushang said, "Our ancestor spent fifteen years as a hunter in the deep mountains. Do you know why?"

Duan Rong's eyes flickered, as if he had thought of something.

Chu Wushang continued, "Actually, cultivation is a way of life. You must completely integrate the medium through which you seek enlightenment into your life so that there will be no barrier when you try to comprehend it. Do you understand what a barrier is?"

As Chu Wushang spoke, he turned to look at Duan Rong, who was standing there, looking as if he understood but didn't.

Chu Wushang clicked his tongue and said, "For example, if I don't live the life of an old farmer, I can't naturally get into the zone when I'm weaving baskets every day."

Duan Rong's eyes flickered, and he said, "We must immerse ourselves in the entirety of life to understand the medium."

Chu Wushang said, "That's pretty much the idea. When I first decided on the medium, I was just splitting bamboo strips and weaving baskets. Gradually, I felt something was off, so I started to completely change my lifestyle. It was as if this medium had completely permeated my life."

“The medium permeates life, spreading out completely…” Duan Rong repeated Chu Wushang’s words, a look of sudden realization flashing in his eyes.

After saying that, Chu Wushang bent down and continued splitting bamboo strips.

Next, Duan Rong appeared to be splitting bamboo strips, but he was actually pondering Chu Wushang's words from earlier, and gradually began to understand their meaning.

Fish swim at the bottom of the pool, camels traverse the desert; every living thing exists in its own environment.

The same applies to media; a medium is only alive when the environment exists.

If the environment is not present, the medium is dead, and a dead medium cannot be understood.

If one tries to understand the process of splitting bamboo strips and weaving baskets through the lifestyle of a wealthy young master, it's like draining the water and putting a fish into the desert; the fish will surely dry up and die.

Chu Wushang realized this, which is why he changed his lifestyle and became a farmer for hundreds of years. He supported himself in this way of life.

The two men cut down a total of four bamboo stalks and each split a bundle of bamboo strips.

He tied the bundle of bamboo strips together with thin bamboo strips, carried it on his back, and left the bamboo forest.

As soon as the two reached the rugged path, Duan Rong noticed that Chu Wushang had once again become engrossed in walking...

Only when they reached the back of the thatched hut did Chu Wushang finally let out a long sigh and emerge from his focused state of meditation.

Understanding the medium is actually very tiring, because it requires complete mental focus and is difficult to enter a state of concentration. The mind is constantly being exhausted as one tries to find that state...

Seeing that Chu Wushang was in a state of deep concentration, Duan Rong asked, "Mr. Chu, are you also trying to comprehend the medium of walking while carrying bamboo strips?"

As Chu Wushang walked forward, he said, "I first determined the medium for weaving bamboo baskets, and through contemplation, I gradually came to understand the medium of walking."

The two walked around the thatched hut. Chu Wushang placed the bundle of bamboo strips on his back against the wall, looked at Duan Rong, and said, "That path leads to the bamboo forest where the bamboo strips are split. Because of this, I always feel that the two mediums are connected."

As Chu Wushang spoke, his eyes suddenly became profound. "And walking on that road with the bamboo strips on my back, at that moment, I felt as if I was comprehending two mediums. Or to put it another way, I was comprehending the connection between the two mediums."

"The connection between the two media!?" Duan Rong's face showed a look of astonishment; he had never thought about this question before.

Chu Wushang glanced at Duan Rong, smiled faintly, and said, "There's no need to think too deeply about this question, unless you also begin to comprehend the two mediums in the future."

Duan Rong's eyes flickered, and he said, "How about we try to comprehend the two mediums?"

Chu Wushang said, "Who knows? Even the Ancestor didn't explicitly say whether it's good or bad. Perhaps I'll only have the answer to this question when I break through to the next level."

As Chu Wushang spoke, he walked into the kitchen, scooped two bowls of water from a black pottery bowl, and handed one to Duan Rong.

After the two finished drinking the two bowls of water, Chu Wushang sat down in front of the thatched hut and began weaving baskets.

Duan Rong sat there, observing intently.

As night fell and the day passed, Chu Wushang still hadn't gotten into the zone.

In the pitch-black night, both were exhausted. Chu Wushang greeted Duan Rong and then went back to the inner room to sleep.

Duan Rong did not sleep, but stood there, looking at the dense forest in the distance, waiting for the bright moon to rise from the forest.

"Is the moon truly my medium?"

An occasional occurrence doesn't count; only repeated experiences can provide a medium for enlightenment.

Before long, a half-moon peeked out from the dense forest.

Duan Rong then flew onto the rooftop, hovering there like a ghost, staring at the rising moon.

Who first saw the moon by the woods? In what year did the moon first shine on people?
Duan Rong did not sleep that night. After the bright moon had fully risen from the dense forest, he sat cross-legged facing the direction of the moon.

He didn't know how to comprehend it if the moon was the medium. The only thing he could think of was the word "gazing".

The relationship between the bright moon and living beings is simply one of gazing.
That night, Duan Rong gazed at the moon, but until dawn, the moon remained the moon, and he remained himself; the word "gazing" did not seem to connect them.

The faint light of dawn filled the mountains and forests; the moon had already disappeared.

Duan Rong was still sitting cross-legged on the roof, facing the place where the moon had disappeared. That night, apart from being covered in dew, he had gained nothing.

As Chu Wushang began weaving baskets in front of the thatched hut, Duan Rong's mind stirred, and the power of the laws surged around him. A mist of water rose from where he sat cross-legged, instantly drying the cold dew that had soaked his clothes.

Duan Rong flew down from the roof and sat down not far from Chu Wushang.

Chu Wushang glanced at him and said, "Studying the moon all night?"

Duan Rong gave a soft "hmm".

Chu Wushang said, "This is called investigating things."

"Investigating things?!" Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat.

Chu Wushang said, "That's right. You've already started cultivating. You've been investigating things on your own all night, haven't you felt anything?"

Duan Rong suddenly understood. So that's what I was investigating things for.

Our ancestor spoke of investigating things. By investigating things, one can determine one's own medium. He gazed at the moon all night; wasn't that investigating things?
It just didn't output anything.

Duan Rong laughed and said, "I didn't feel anything, nothing came out."

Chu Wushang sneered and said, "You think identifying a medium is so easy? Everyone has to travel thousands of miles, endure hardships, and only find it by chance. Chu Qiushan has been investigating for a hundred years. A hundred years of investigation, and he has gained nothing. You think you can get results in one night!"

Duan Rong's expression froze for a moment, then he said, "Sir, you are right."

Seeing that Duan Rong had changed his attitude, Chu Wushang stopped talking and focused on weaving bamboo baskets.

Another day passed, and the two sat motionless in front of the thatched hut, watching the setting sun cast long shadows of them.

As dusk approached, the light of day began to dim.

Duan Rong thought it would be another fruitless day, and he looked up at the sky. But at that moment, Chu Wushang's entire demeanor suddenly changed.

Chu Wushang's shoulders and body remained motionless, only his hands were weaving bamboo strips. But in that instant, Chu Wushang's entire demeanor underwent a strange change.

As for what had changed, Duan Rong couldn't quite put his finger on it. He could only clearly sense that Chu Wushang had changed.

As dusk fell, Duan Rong's gaze suddenly sharpened.

His thoughts and gaze immediately caught Chu Wushang's calloused hands as he fiddled with the bamboo strips; the rhythm of those hands was completely different now.

When Chu Wushang was weaving baskets, his fingers moved very steadily.

But now his nimble fingers, manipulating the bamboo strips, began to move at varying speeds, unpredictable and ever-changing. Yet, within these variations in speed, there was a strange sense of stability, much like the wings of a bee, flapping rapidly but remaining stable in a certain state.

It was a dynamic, ever-changing stability. A stability more solid than Chu Wushang's original stability.

Duan Rong knew that this was not something Chu Wushang could do. At this moment, Chu Wushang had entered a state of deep contemplation, a state of profound awareness.

In this state, he seemed to have entered a state of deepening the power of the laws.

Duan Rong stared intently at Chu Wushang, afraid of missing any detail.

But after only a few breaths, Chu Wushang's fingers, which had been moving slowly and nimbly, suddenly returned to their previous stable state. Chu Wushang let out a long sigh and froze for a moment.

"Each time I enter, it's like a dragonfly skimming the water, a fleeting moment."

Duan Rong was also surprised. The time was too short. He looked at Chu Wushang and said, "Mr. Chu, the time it takes to get into the zone when weaving bamboo strips is only about one-third of the time it takes to get into the zone when walking that road."

“That’s right,” Chu Wushang said. “It’s always been like this.”

Duan Rong's eyes flickered. He had always thought that bamboo weaving was Chu Wushang's primary medium for enlightenment, and that Chu Wushang had spent more time on this medium. But now it seemed that this might not be the case.

Duan Rong said, "I always thought that weaving bamboo strips was Mr. Chu's primary medium."

Chu Wushang glanced at Duan Rong and immediately understood his thoughts, then said, "That's true."

Duan Rong asked in astonishment, "Since weaving bamboo strips is the primary medium, why is it that the time to get into the zone is so much shorter than on that road?"

Chu Wushang said, "The time is indeed much shorter, but the depth of the two states of entry is different. Weaving bamboo strips is a deeper state of entry."

Duan Rong's eyelids twitched. He then realized that when Chu Wushang entered his meditative state, his entire demeanor had suddenly changed. The change in demeanor was far more dramatic than the change he had made while walking on the street.

As Chu Wushang said, he entered a deeper state of mind when he was studying how to weave bamboo strips.

The depth of one's engagement with a state of mind is clearly more important than the duration. Because the deeper one delves, the more solid one's understanding becomes.

For the next ten days or so, Duan Rong stayed with Chu Wushang, living an extremely boring life. During the day, he would observe Chu Wushang's comprehension of the medium, and at night he would sit alone on the roof gazing at the moon.

After observing the moon for ten days, he was almost certain that the moon was no longer his medium.

Even if it is a medium, if it cannot be sensed even once every ten days, it is a useless medium that cannot be comprehended.

Ten days later, Duan Rong had already decided to leave. During those ten days, he had seen Chu Wushang enter a state of deep meditation on walking twice and on bamboo weaving three times.

His mission here is basically complete.

He originally said he would stay here for two days, but he ended up staying for more than ten days, and Chu Wushang did not send him away. Duan Rong was very grateful for this.

(End of this chapter)