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

Qi Fei was right.

Ignorance and deception have always found a market.

It was the same in my past life, and it is the same in this life.

Those supernatural and mysterious things, those deliberately mystifying claims, will always have people who believe in them, and will always have people who follow them.

Some people have even fabricated the saying "the end of science is metaphysics," which has been widely discussed and regarded as gospel.

The person who said this understands neither science nor metaphysics.

What is the essence of science? It is doubt, verification, and the constant process of overturning and rebuilding.

What we think is right today may be overturned tomorrow. What we think is truth today may be false the day after tomorrow.

Science never tells you "this is the final answer," it only says "this is the most reasonable explanation so far."

How could something like this ultimately be considered "metaphysics"?

What then is "metaphysics"?

It's just a black box of experience.

I don't know why this works, but it just works.

It's like not knowing why an airplane can fly, but as long as you make the wings into that shape, it can fly.

Why do so many people believe in "gods" or "metaphysics"?

Because thinking about the real world is too painful.

Clarity and wisdom are never sources of happiness. They only push people into an abyss, an endless, dark abyss.

Too many questions have no answers.

Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?

Is the world I see real, or just a shadow cast by a larger world?

Was my life a choice I made, or was it already written by something?

There is no answer to any of the questions.

The more you think, the more painful it becomes. The more clear-headed you are, the more lost you feel. In the end, you'll sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of these problems, unable to find a way out or anything to rely on.

As a result, many people choose not to think.

Believe in whatever you want, and leave all these critical issues to that "something".

Entrust it to God, entrust it to Buddha, entrust it to Heaven, entrust it to fate.

Anyway, the answer is there; you don't need to think about it, you don't need to ponder it, and you don't need to hurt yourself.

This achieves what is called "peace of mind," and one's thoughts become clear.

Fanatical believers have no doubts, because they entrust all their doubts to God. Wise thinkers, on the other hand, are full of questions, because every answer brings more questions.

This is why clarity brings pain, but pain can also bring new results.

For example, freedom.

"Freedom?" Tong Daoren asked in astonishment.

"Yes! Freedom!" Qi Fei said, "Once you're sober, you can feel that you've been 'restrained' and 'enslaved'."

He thought of the two-headed pythons he had encountered before. They clearly didn't want to eat people, and they would regret it every time they ate someone, but they still couldn't control themselves the next time.

Because it's instinct.

It is something etched in their blood, etched in their bodies, that drives them—something more powerful than their "self."

You know perfectly well what is right, but you can't choose.

I clearly have a self, yet I cannot be the master of my own self.

I know it, but I still can't do it.

Qi Fei continued, "Only by recognizing 'enslavement' can we break free from it and gain freedom."

"At that time, you will be free from the control of your body's instincts and hormones, free from the control of your own underlying logic, and you will not have to do some 'enslavement' behaviors that you don't want to do but have to do."

"Instead...making choices that truly belong to oneself based on one's own ideals and rationality."

Be true to yourself!

"It can also be called, great freedom!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Butterfly Prince stared blankly at Qi Fei, as if he were looking at a complete stranger.

He had never heard these words before, and he only half understood them, but for some reason he felt... they seemed very impressive.

He recognized each word—freedom, his true self, instinct, and underlying logic—but when put together, he couldn't understand them.

But even though he couldn't understand it, he inexplicably felt... that it seemed very impressive.

Tong Daoren didn't look at his disciple; he just stared at Qi Fei, slightly lost in thought.

In a daze, he felt as if he saw his master from back then.

"The real self..."

He repeated it to himself.

"What freedom!" he said, his voice tinged with emotion. "What freedom!"

After saying that, he stood up and walked upstairs without waiting for Qi Fei's reaction.

The Butterfly Prince was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed.

"Master, Master!" he called after him. "What's wrong? You seem rather listless."

The young Taoist priest didn't turn around, but said as he walked, "Disciple, did you understand what he just said?"

The Butterfly Prince scratched his head: "Although I don't understand it, it sounds very impressive."

The Taoist priest paused for a moment, then suddenly chuckled.

The laughter carried a hint of self-deprecation and a touch of wistfulness.

"So there really are geniuses in cultivation in this world," he said. "When I was his age, I was still studying women... cough cough..."

He coughed twice, subtly changing the subject: "Still trapped by romantic relationships. But now, some people have already understood 'great freedom'."

He shook his head.

"The younger generation is truly formidable! They are indeed formidable!"

As Butterfly Prince listened, his face gradually fell.

"Master," he pouted, his voice full of grievance, "you really do want to take him as your disciple."

The Taoist Master Tong glanced back at him and scoffed, "Take him in, my foot! His cultivation level is higher than mine, what could I possibly teach him?"

He chuckled to himself, "If I had possessed that level of skill back then, I wouldn't have almost failed to complete the tribulation stage."

He stopped in front of the door and looked back towards the stairwell.

"Hey, freedom..." he murmured, "So that's how it is. It really... makes everything clear to me. I've been learning like a baby all my life, and I'm still just a clueless kid."

He pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"I'm going to meditate. Nothing else, don't call me."

"Bang."

The door closed.

The Butterfly Prince stood outside the door, pursed his lips, and turned to go downstairs.

Inside the house, the young Taoist, who had just entered a meditative state, suddenly heard a crying sound coming from afar.

The cries were piercing and mournful, like countless people wailing, or like a chilling wind sweeping through a deep valley. Interspersed within the cries were sharp sword cries, the clang of metal clashing, piercing straight to the heavens.

"Master! Master!"

He heard Butterfly Prince knocking on the door outside.

"Something's happened in Nanshan!"

Inside the room, Tong Daoren suddenly opened his eyes.

He flashed and was already outside the inn.

The street was already full of people, all looking up in the same direction.

Nanshan!

The mountain, which is usually hidden in the clouds and mist, is now clearly visible.

A sword aura shot into the sky!

The sword energy was as thick as an ancient tree, piercing straight into the sky, its height unknown, perhaps several hundred feet.

Even more remarkably, the sword energy was arranged in layers of red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, from bottom to top, like a rainbow stretching across the sky.

Seven-colored light flowed, dyeing the entire Nanshan Mountain in a dreamlike and enchanting way.

The sword's aura soared into the sky, visible for miles around.