Qin Shi: I went astray in the Heavenly Sect

Chapter 16 A Dream Through a Thousand Autumns, Enlightenment Through Everlasting Green
Intending to seek enlightenment at Changqing, I suddenly heard the sound of the night tide rising from the vast sea.

There are dreams in this world, and one can sleep for a hundred years; this is called "Yellow Millet".

When Chen Xiuyuan woke up, he was stunned by the scene in front of him. He remembered that he had already joined the Heavenly Sect and should be in his own courtyard at this moment, but the scene in front of him was not similar to his memory at all.

"What is this place?"

As soon as the thought arose, it seemed as if the heavens and earth responded, and an indescribable yet mysterious feeling welled up in his heart.

He raised his head and looked around carefully. He saw that among the mountains, the clouds and mist rose and fell. He was standing on a mountaintop. Standing here and looking down, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride.

Chen Xiuyuan frowned. He had never seen such a magnificent scene before, so why had he come to this place?

Looking down, the mountains stretch for thousands of miles, with the wind blowing and the vast expanse of them creating a picturesque scene.

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west; the mountains remain the same, the rivers and mountains remain the same, and the wind remains the same.

As the seasons turned and the days came one after another, a question arose in his mind: what was he doing?
The wind keeps its promise, the flowers never fail, year after year, we will never disappoint.

Spring passed quietly, and summer came with the chirping of cicadas. He was still here, but at this moment, a realization dawned on him: he was not himself, but someone else. He was here to look down on this world from that person's perspective and experience what that person had gone through.

And so his heart quietly calmed down. Summer came to an end with the arrival of autumn wind, and then dogwood was planted all over the mountain. Spring went and autumn came, and the four seasons began to turn.

Winter, the last of the four seasons, also comes to an end as new buds sprout from the branches.

So this gaze extends further, from a day to a ten-day period, then to a month, to a season, and then to a year.

Time seems to have played a joke here. The mountains remain unchanged, lush and green. That gaze sees the clouds and mist dissipate in the mountains, and witnesses the vicissitudes of life.

He didn't know how many years had passed, but he remembered that the cicadas had chirped thirty-six times. When he looked back, the green hills were still there.

"Evergreen~~"

A voice rang out, sending a shiver down his spine.

The voice carried the vicissitudes of time, yet also seemed to hold a deep affection for life.

The sunset is infinitely good, just near dusk.

In his eyes, the greenery on the mountains seemed to merge into one, full of vitality.

Then, a pine tree on the mountaintop magnified in his eyes, and time seemed to flow backward, from the time when the pine tree was young, as the years etched the first ring of its growth.

Then, day after day, year after year, this pine tree grew without stopping. Unlike flowers, which bloom in seasons and are destined to wither after blooming.

But the pine tree seems to never wither; its green hue adorns the four seasons and colors the mountains. It seems tireless and never stops, like the river of time, flowing endlessly.

"Evergreen~~"

Another voice rang out, but this time, it was more passionate, as if life itself was plucking the strings of destiny.

It is said that a person's life is as fleeting as a blade of grass in autumn. But in this cycle of life, it is not just as fleeting as a blade of grass in autumn.

From budding to lush greenery, and finally to the withering of leaves, it is just a period of time in a tree's long life.

Humans live only once, at most a hundred years, at least a few decades. People are constantly growing, from youth to middle age, and finally to old age. Time is cruel to people. But the green hills are still green hills, and the green pines are still green pines. They seem to have changed, but they also seem to have remained the same.

Thus, life seems to take on a different meaning at this moment; through it, one can almost see that river that exists in the darkness, flowing through the years and recording everything.

"Evergreen~~"

The voice was like heavenly music, yet also like a lion's roar. Chen Xiuyuan was suddenly jolted awake, as if he had been enlightened.

A hint of understanding appeared in his eyes. He stretched out his hand and looked up.

The palms were etched with the lines of time; these were not my own hands, but those of an elderly person.

He raised his hand to shield his eyes from the approaching sunlight, his gaze gradually focusing until it landed on a pine tree. The pine stood proudly, swaying in the wind, its green color seemingly untouched by the passage of time.

"Time flows on, yet life endures forever; I never imagined the meaning of 'everlasting' would be like this~~"

Outside, the internal energy within Chen Xiuyuan's body, which had previously subsided, began to stir again.

And this time, without any prompting, it spontaneously began to cycle along the route of the Evergreen Exercise. Chen Xiuyuan, who was fast asleep, suddenly exuded a very unique artistic conception.

On the back of Mount Taiyi, Bei Mingzi suddenly opened his eyes, a look of surprise and doubt appearing deep in his eyes.

"This is."

He flashed away from his own courtyard and, following the aura he sensed, arrived at Chen Xiuyuan's courtyard.

"This is the essence of evergreen."

Generally speaking, it takes several years, or even decades, to immerse oneself in a particular martial art before one can comprehend its essence. This is a phenomenon that only occurs when a martial art is cultivated to its deepest level.

As for the Evergreen Skill, as the introductory skill of the Heavenly Sect, its power is mediocre. After practicing it for a few years, the disciples would switch to other skills. Few people could persevere, let alone cultivate it to the point of mastery.

But tonight, he witnessed an unbelievable scene.

Some people practiced the Evergreen Technique and actually achieved a state of profound understanding.

He didn't even know what to say to his newly accepted disciple.

This level of comprehension can no longer be described as genius; it's more like a prodigy.

Inside the room, Chen Xiuyuan was still fast asleep. The internal energy in his eight extraordinary meridians was increasing at an exaggerated speed. If he only had three or five strands of internal energy when he first started practicing, it had already become a small stream in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Only when the meridians could no longer bear the strain did the Evergreen Skill quiet down again. Outside the house, Bei Mingzi shook his head and then sighed softly.

"Such talent, is it a blessing or a curse for our Heavenly Sect?"

The night was enchanting. Sometime later, the candlelight in the room had gone out, and Chen Xiuyuan continued to snore. A porcelain pillow mark flashed across the back of his left hand.

In the past, someone dreamt of wealth and glory under a mulberry tree and attained enlightenment. Today, a child sees the future in a dream and achieves enlightenment in a single day.

Beyond Mount Taiyi, history continued to unfold according to its predetermined course. The conflicts between the six kingdoms did not cease. Some laughed, some wept, some were angry, and some were sad. The trickling streams converged into the songs of this era.

A young scholar stood at the end of an ancient road through the yellow sand, a question rising in his mind: Is there some unseen force that can change everything in the world?
(End of this chapter)