Start practicing from Mr. Fox

Chapter 37: People's Rumors and Evil Stories
Ride the wind when you leave, and ride the wind when you return.

Soon it landed on the open space next to Senior Huai.

"You're back."

Senior Huai said slowly.

"I'm really sorry to trouble you, Mr. Chen, regarding Baojiejun's matter."

"It's not really a problem, it's just..."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and looked at Senior Huai.

"He shouldn't be able to hear us talking like this, right?"

"Are you talking about Baojie-kun?"

"Exactly."

"Of course I can't hear it."

"Then how could you, Senior Huai, talk to me from such a distance?"

Senior Huai laughed heartily.

"Having lived long enough, one must have some special abilities. You may not be able to tell from my appearance, but my roots have already spread all over Xiantai Mountain. I've also become friends with the plants and trees. If I just take a little thought and attach it to them, I can talk to you."

"Other monsters also know this ability, and they will ask me to pass on messages when they have something to say on the mountain."

"Senior Huai is indeed very capable!"

Chen Ji sighed.

He had previously thought that Senior Huai's aura was extending to Lord Baojie, but he didn't expect that it was actually his real self who came.

Moreover, this ability is very convenient. If I live on Xiantai Mountain in the future, I can ask Senior Huai to find foxes and other monsters.

"Naturally."

The leaves on the trees rustled as Senior Huai asked what Chen Ji had not finished saying.

"It would be better to talk to Mr. Su together."

Chen Ji said.

"That's easy. I'll just inform him."

Not seeing any movement from Senior Huai, Mr. Su emerged from the ground, stood in Senior Huai's shadow, yawned, and looked listless.

"Didn't Mr. Chen go down the mountain? How did he return?"

"That happened the day before yesterday. I've already returned. Mr. Su, you've forgotten it again."

Senior Huai spoke slowly.

"Is that so?"

Mr. Su stood there in silence for a moment.

"I seem to have that impression, but I really can't remember it clearly. It seems my memory has become more serious recently."

"Mr. Su, you have to be careful when trying this. If the ghost dies again, there will be no way for it to come back."

Senior Huai said slowly.

"Huh? Can ghosts die? Can they come back?"

The old abbot also said something like this. I forgot to ask before, but now is the time to ask.

Chen Ji was confused, but did not ask immediately. He waited for Senior Huai to continue explaining.

"Mr. Chen wants to talk about Baojie Jun."

"Oh, it's him."

Mr. Su did not forget about this and nodded.

"how?"

"I have received a poem from Mr. Chen. I have broken through and can continue my cultivation."

"He Shi? So amazing."

Mr. Su looked at Chen Ji with surprise.

Senior Huai then recited it once and explained the strange phenomena that appeared on Lord Baojie.

Mr. Su floated in the air for a long time before he spoke.

"It's a really good poem. I've also written a few poems for Baojie Jun before, but unfortunately the results weren't very good. Mr. Chen's talent is indeed far superior to mine."

"There are many poems about bamboo, but Mr. Chen's poem has an artistic conception and atmosphere that cannot be compared with ordinary poems."

"The phoenix will not roost unless it is a phoenix tree, will not drink unless it is a sweet spring, and will not eat unless it is bamboo rice. The bamboo depicted by Mr. Chen can show the dragon form, which is a perfect complement to the phoenix."

"The latter sentence is even more wonderful. It's clearly just a simple description, but it's as if you've witnessed the height and grandeur of the bamboo with your own eyes. It's truly no ordinary bamboo monster."

"Bamboo Dragon, Bamboo Dragon...it's a metaphor for Candle Dragon, the mountain god of Zhongshan. According to legend, he represents the day with his eyes open and the night with his eyes closed."

"No wonder this poem allowed Lord Baojie to achieve a breakthrough. With such talent, I'm afraid all the bamboo monsters in the world will find a direction for their cultivation..."

Mr. Su sighed.

Chen Ji opened his mouth, not expecting these lines of poetry to have such a great effect.

After a while, he lowered his head to express his shame.

"I only thought of this poem when I saw a dragon-like bamboo joint on Baojiejun's body. It's not that amazing."

"This kind of modesty actually embodies the demeanor of a gentleman who is modest and humble."

"Mr. Su, you are overpraising me."

Chen Ji quickly waved his hand and changed the subject, asking what he wanted to ask.

"But Lord Baojie's cultivation is like this, so does that mean he has fallen behind?"

"How to say it?"

A ghost and a demon asked seriously.

Chen Ji thought about it.

"As you said, Lord Baojie needs talent to cultivate, but he himself does not have enough talent, so he can only rely on the talent of others and their poems and articles."

"Isn't this kind of practice nothing more than castles in the air, a mirage?"

"To put it bluntly, if you lose your source of talent in the future, wouldn't Baojie Jun be completely unable to cultivate?"

"So that's the problem."

The demon and the ghost nodded in realization and laughed again.

"What Mr. Chen said is indeed what should be done, but it is only what should be done."

"Why?"

“Can people succeed in everything they do?”

"Of course not."

"So the demons are like this too."

Senior Huai said lightly.

"Practicing is not easy. Among millions of birds, beasts, and plants, perhaps only one can embark on the practice."

“Not to mention those who can achieve the Great Dao by escaping the Three Calamities and Six Tribulations, it’s like a fox escaping the dog’s calamity, and very few plants and trees can avoid the calamity of being cut down.”

"Under such circumstances, being able to practice cultivation is already a desire of many demons."

"Mr. Chen's idea is certainly a good one, but many monsters just happened to become monsters. They just want to live longer. If they can't survive, they will just accept their fate. They don't think about cultivating for the future."

"Baojie Jun's cultivation was accidental. His distress was simply because he was different from us and could not continue to cultivate, so he sought talent."

"If he really wants to practice seriously in the future, he might take the initiative to find ways to gain talent. That will be his own business then."

After Senior Huai finished speaking, Mr. Su also nodded.

"That's true. It was only after I became a ghost that I realized that demons do think differently from humans. People like foxes are different from other demons. I forgot to tell you that."

Chen Ji was silent, feeling a sense of emotion. Most people embarked on a spiritual journey, even risking their lives to fight for that elusive chance of immortality.

But I didn't expect the monster to be so free and easy.

If you look at it this way.

Foxes need to take exams to practice cultivation, which really makes them more like humans. People like Baojie Jun are the standard demon practitioners.

However, he was inferior in using human nature to speculate on the behavior of monsters.

"When it comes to demonic matters, how can there be any distinction between superior and inferior? Mr. Chen's far-reaching plan for the sake of the emperor is the behavior of a true gentleman. I will tell the demons about this. I will certainly treat you with even greater respect when I see you in the future."

“Exactly!”

"Mr. Chen, please don't refuse."

The demon and the ghost made their decision.

Mr. Su spoke again.

"Actually, if Lord Baojie wants to become a Confucian cultivator, besides cultivating his own talents and hiring others to write poems and essays, there is another way."

"Oh? Mr. Su, please go ahead."

Chen Ji asked curiously.

This can also be considered a method of cultivation. Even if you cannot practice it yourself, the more you listen to it, the better.

Mr. Su looked at Chen Ji with a smile.

"Do you know where the most talented people are in this world?"

"Talent?"

Chen Ji pondered for a moment, then looked around a few places before answering tentatively.

"But Confucius Temple?"

"..."

Mr. Su's expression froze, and he stammered, unable to say anything else.

"How? Isn't that right?"

"That's right, it's too right!"

Mr. Su sighed.

"I thought you would mention places like academies and schools, but I didn't expect you to mention the place with the most talent in the world. This is not a place that Baojiejun can go!"

"go?"

Chen Ji was stunned when he heard this, and seemed to understand what method Mr. Su was talking about.

"Academies and schools are filled with talent. If Lord Baojie could be planted there, he could refine his talent day and night, absorbing the essence of the sun and the moon. He would be able to cultivate faster than ordinary demons. Is that right?"

"Mr. Chen is indeed smart, that's exactly what he is."

Mr. Su laughed.

Chen Ji also understood why Mr. Su felt helpless when he heard the name Confucius Temple.

The ancestor of all the literati in the world and the ancestral home of Confucianism, how could a wild bamboo cultivator like Baojiejun be able to enter such a place.

I'm afraid it may only be possible if one day I become a bamboo dragon monster that can rival the phoenix.

But this was a long time ago.

It is indeed not easy for Mr. Su to come up with this idea.

What else to say.

Mr. Su waved his hand.

"I've been trying a new cultivation method recently. My soul is unstable and I can't go out for too long during the day. Let me recuperate for a while and then we can talk to you at night."

After saying this, he disappeared without a trace, leaving only Chen Ji and Senior Huai standing there.

"Mr. Chen, would you like to give the lecture now?"

Senior Huai asked.

"No rush, I still have some questions I want to ask Senior Huai."

"You said."

"The old abbot of Qingfeng Temple has told you that ghosts can come back after they die. I don't understand."

"You said this."

Senior Huai spoke slowly.

"It's said in the underworld that when humans die, they become ghosts. When ghosts die, they become genies. When genies die, they become xi. When xi die, they become yi..."

“It seems there is more to come, but for ordinary people, reaching the stage of Li is already nothingness, not to mention the stage of Xiyi.”

"Ghosts can cultivate into ghost immortals, and even take over other people's bodies and be reborn. But when they become ghosts, they disappear completely, so there are such remarks."

"It's still early for you. You don't need to understand this yet."

"I've only heard it a few times and am a little curious."

Chen Ji thought about it and realized that this was the reincarnation of a cultivator, so he asked Senior Huai again.

"Is there any way to escape from death?"

"Also."

Senior Huai nodded.

"Legend has it that if one cultivates to become a true immortal, their lifespan will be as long as the heavens and the earth, and they can escape the cycle of reincarnation."

"This is a bit difficult, is there anything easier?"

"If you have great merits or good deeds in your life, you may have a chance to be recorded in the underworld and become a judge in the underworld after death, thus transcending the cycle of life and death. However, this is not easy."

Senior Huai added.

"Why?"

Senior Huai looked at Chen Ji with a big laugh.

"When people are alive, many positions can only be vacated after the previous incumbent dies. Does this not happen after becoming a ghost? Besides, it's even harder for ghosts in the underworld to die, so it's even harder than in the human world."

"I see."

Senior Huai continued to ask with a smile.

"Mr. Chen, you've only been practicing Taoism for less than ten years. How can you ask about matters of life and death? It seems a little too early."

"If one has not yet achieved immortality, one must naturally consider matters of life and death."

Chen Ji said seriously.

I even thought that next time Lu Pan invited me, I could ask the people in the underworld what they thought about this matter.

"You...are truly different from other practitioners."

Senior Huai shook his head again.

By this time, the foxes had almost all arrived. They surrounded Senior Huai, saluted Chen Ji, and asked anxiously.

"Hello, Mr. Chen. Are you going to take the test today?"

Chen Ji looked at the foxes, his eyes filled with excitement and panic, thinking about what Mr. Su and Senior Huai had just said.

A demon should behave like a demon. Even when taking an exam, he shouldn't be suppressed like this.

So he smiled and shook his head.

"Forget it, let's take a day off today."

The foxes were extremely surprised and immediately bowed to thank Chen Ji before dispersing.

The shadows of the trees swayed, and only a few foxes that were close to Chen Ji were still waiting with their paws clenched.

"Sir, we have some questions."

(End of this chapter)