You've only been cultivating for a few years, and you're already talking about cultivating

Chapter 120 Wu Mengsheng

"Why are you clapping?" the blind man asked, standing up.

Qi Fei remained seated, his hand still raised, clapping twice before lowering it, and said, "Your music has reached a high level. Would you mind coming over for a chat?"

Upon hearing this, the other guests in the hall changed their expressions from indescribable to "Are you kidding me?"

No, with which ear can you possibly "appreciate" such an awful piece of music?

The blind man didn't move. He held his zither, facing Qi Fei's direction, and said, "Did you understand?"

"I understand," Qi Fei said.

He did understand.

Those noisy, harsh, and fluctuating piano notes sound like noise at first, and still sound like noise upon repeated listening, but as you listen, you begin to hear something else.

The blind man wasn't playing music; he was speaking through the sounds of his instrument.

He used constantly changing tones to tell the audience: no matter what sound is like, it is still sound.

Sound itself is neither unpleasant nor pleasant, neither noble nor lowly, neither "should be" nor "shouldn't be".

Whether something sounds unpleasant or pleasant, it's because people hear it; it's the human ear that discerns, and the human heart that judges.

It is "humans" who divide sounds into different grades; it is "humans" who label sounds.

Just as with sound, so it is with everything else.

Humans see all things, name them, and define them; only then do we have mountains, water, sky, earth, flowers, birds, fish, and so on.

insect.

But those names are not the things themselves, and those definitions are not the essence of things. Names are given by people; things are themselves.

In particular, the fact that sound can cause various discomforts in people demonstrates that sound can bypass human cognition and directly affect human instincts.

Thus, one enters the Tao through sound. It is not about playing the piano as well as possible to enter the Tao, but about using sound as a tool to understand "name" and "reality" and to perceive the real world.

This is Qi Fei's reflection after listening to it.

"Good," the blind man uttered a single word.

He carried his zither, walked down from the stage, and came to Qi Fei. He sat down and placed the zither horizontally on the table.

"Wu Mengsheng of the Da hope Sword Sect."

Ordinary people are not qualified to know his sect and name, but since Qi Fei understood it, he was qualified.

Qi Fei was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. He hadn't expected Wu Mengsheng to be a sword cultivator!

"The greatest sound is silent?" Qi Fei couldn't help but ask, "The Great Silence Sword Sect?"

Wu Mengsheng nodded slightly, without explaining.

Qi Fei also introduced himself: "The loyalist of the Himalayas, Luffy."

Wu Mengsheng showed no reaction upon hearing the name. He didn't care what the other person's name was, where they came from, or who their teacher was.

There was only one thing he cared about: the person in front of him understood his playing.

The sea is easy to cross, but a true friend is hard to find.

"Where are you going, fellow Daoist? I'm heading south of the South China Sea," he said, "to duel with someone."

"Oh? I'm also going to the south of the South China Sea." Qi Fei became interested. "Whom did Fellow Daoist Wu spar with? Could you tell me?"

Wu Mengsheng shook his head, his tone indifferent: "It's not convenient to discuss sect matters."

This is an internal matter of his sect, and it is indeed inconvenient for everyone to know.

Qi Fei nodded, not pressing further, and said, "In that case, I was presumptuous. Is this not Fellow Daoist Wu's first time visiting the south of the South China Sea?"

"Twenty years ago," Wu Mengsheng said, "I went there once with my master."

"How is the area south of the South China Sea different from the lands of Fujian, Yue, and Yan?"

Wu Mengsheng was silent for a moment, as if recalling events from twenty years ago. Then he turned his face towards the hall.

His lips twitched slightly, revealing a cold smile.

"There's not much difference," he said. "The customs are slightly different. But there are just as many ordinary people."

He was referring to the pseudo-Buddhist monks in the hall.

Those people were sitting in twos and threes, some drinking tea, some chatting, and some rubbing their temples that were aching from the sound of the piano.

They are unaware that they are being called "mediocre," and even if they were, they wouldn't care.

Mediocre people never think of themselves as mediocre.

The superior man, when he hears of the Way, diligently practices it; the average man, when he hears of the Way, is half-convinced and half-doubtful; the inferior man, when he hears of the Way, laughs loudly at it.

The people in the hall were obsessed with false teachings and ostentatious displays, treating the "immortal master" as a business and spiritual practice as a transaction.

The great path is right before their eyes, yet they don't look at it, don't try it. What are they if not mediocre people?

This sentence reveals a hint of the sharpness of a sword cultivator.

He is indeed a sword cultivator.

Since meeting Xu Long, Qi Fei has understood the prevailing atmosphere in the cultivation world.

He wasn't surprised, angry, or even disappointed. That's just how the world is; some seek enlightenment, some seek wealth, some seek power, and some seek peace of mind.

Everyone has their own way of living.

He picked up the teapot, poured himself and Wu Mengsheng a cup of tea, and said, "I wonder if Fellow Daoist Wu has ever heard of the Floating Mountain Sword Sect?"

Wu Mengsheng's body suddenly tensed up.

He exuded a sharp, almost piercing aura, and a hint of wariness appeared on his expressionless face.

"Are you from the Great Form Sword Sect?" he asked, his voice carrying a chilling undertone. "Or the Great Fool Sword Sect?"

Qi Fei looked at him, bewildered: "What are you talking about, Fellow Daoist Wu? I am a loyalist of the Himalayas, not some great fool or a great idiot."

The greatest sound is silent, the greatest form is formless, the greatest truth is simple, and the greatest wisdom appears as foolishness.

These sword sects, using these words in their names, seem to be related. But Qi Fei truly didn't know what Wu Mengsheng meant by "Da Xing" and "Da Yu."

He had never even heard of it.

Although Wu Mengsheng was blind, his face was always pointed at Qi Fei, as if he could see Qi Fei.

He sensed that Qi Fei's aura was open and honest, neither lying nor testing him. The sharp aura around him slowly receded.

"I'm sorry," he said, his tone tinged with apology, "I overreacted. I thought you were a fellow Daoist—"

He didn't finish speaking, but the meaning was conveyed.

He thought Qi Fei had intentionally come to contact him, that he was sent by a rival sect to test him.

But then he thought, if he really came to test him, why would he start by mentioning the Floating Mountain Sword Sect?

Qi Fei didn't mind and asked again, "May I ask where you heard of the Floating Mountain Sword Sect?"

"Where did you learn about the Floating Mountain Sword Sect, fellow Daoist?" Wu Mengsheng asked. "It's a sword sect from a thousand years ago, located south of the South China Sea, and very few people know about it."

"I saw it in a fragment of a book from before," Qi Fei answered without hesitation. "It says that a thousand years ago, there was a Fushan Sword Sect south of the South China Sea."

Wu Mengsheng nodded and said, "Yes, it existed a thousand years ago. But it doesn't exist now."

2

Qi Fei was stunned.

He never expected that the Fushan Sword Sect would be gone.

The sword sect that used the "sword" to explain cultivation realms to him, and that could teach the "Dao Ming Sword" on the stone wall, is gone?

"How could this be?"

Wu Mengsheng said, "That was the great battle between cultivators a thousand years ago. Fellow Daoist, didn't your sect tell you?"

Damn it, I need to have a master/disciple!

Qi Fei thought to himself.