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

Thus, Qi Fei became an eccentric figure in the Jade Bridge Sword Sect.

He always liked to ask people strange questions, each one more inexplicable than the last, which could drive people crazy with annoyance.

That day, Qi Fei stopped another senior brother.

That senior brother's surname was Li. He entered the sect fifty years earlier than Qi Fei and his cultivation had reached the Golden Core stage. Among his fellow disciples, he was considered steady and reliable.

But looking at Qi Fei's sincere face, he felt a sense of unease. Why was he being stopped by this guy?

"Senior brother," Qi Fei said, "when we cultivate, we never discuss the things themselves, we just practice directly. Won't that cause any problems?"

Senior Brother Li was taken aback for a moment: "What's the problem?"

"For example," Qi Fei pointed to a stone by the roadside, "what is this stone?"

Senior Brother Li glanced at the stone, then at Qi Fei, and felt that this question was simply not something a cultivator should ask.

"A stone is just a stone."

"But the statement 'a stone is just a stone' is meaningless," Qi Fei said. "What exactly is it? What is it made of? And how are all things in the universe composed?"

Senior Brother Li didn't know how to answer. He had cultivated for nearly a hundred years and could split a mountain in two with a single sword strike, but he had never thought about what a stone was.

"And another thing," Qi Fei continued, "do we call it 'Stone' because it is a stone, or because we call it a stone? If someone had given it a different name, would it no longer be a stone?"

Senior Brother Li's brows furrowed into a knot.

"A stone is a stone," he said. "Whatever you call it, it's a stone."

"What if one day everyone starts calling stones 'pigs'?" Qi Fei asked. "Will the 'pig' still a pig? Or will the stone become a pig, and the pig become something else entirely?"

Senior Brother Li felt his head starting to hurt.

What the hell is this?!

"Why do you care about these things?" he said, his tone already tinged with impatience. "What do stones or pigs have to do with cultivation? You should meditate properly, practice your sword properly, and raise your cultivation level. That's more important than anything else."

"But isn't cultivation about understanding this world?" Qi Fei pressed. "If you don't even understand the things in this world, how can you understand it? How can you know what you're cultivating?"

Senior Brother Li took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

"A pig is a pig," he suppressed a hint of irritation, striving to maintain the composure of a Golden Core cultivator. "A stone is a stone. Knowing they are pigs and stones is enough. Why worry about everything else?"

Qi Fei said, "What if one day, the pig isn't a pig anymore, and the stone isn't a stone anymore?"

"Back then, we knew nothing but that the things we used to call 'pigs' and 'stones' had changed. But we didn't even know what they used to be, so how could we know they had changed?"

Senior Brother Li stood there, looking at Qi Fei's serious face, and then turned and left.

"Those who don't cultivate themselves properly are ignorant."

Gradually, Qi Fei's reputation worsened.

No one wanted to talk to him, no one wanted to sit with him, and no one wanted to answer his questions.

"That person is coming again, hurry up and get out of here."

"What is he going to ask next? Is a stone a pig? Is a pig a stone?"

"Ignore him, the more you pay attention to him, the more he'll get worked up."

Qi Fei sat alone in the corner, holding his rice bowl, listening to the whispers and silently eating his rice.

The food was cold, and the rice was hard, but he ate quickly and cleanly. After finishing, he put down his bowl and chopsticks, walked to the stone steps outside the hall, and sat down to continue thinking about his problem.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded behind me.

It's Master.

He stood on the stone steps, his plain white Taoist robe billowing slightly in the evening breeze. He held neither a sword nor a whisk, simply standing there, looking down at Qi Fei.

The expression on his face wasn't anger or disappointment, but something more complex and indescribable.

"What are you doing?" the master asked.

Qi Fei stood up and dusted off his robes.

"This disciple did not cause any trouble."

"Then what kind of person are you, spouting nonsense all day long and causing unrest among your fellow disciples?"

Qi Fei remained silent for a while. He looked into his master's eyes, eyes that held mountains, seas, and white clouds, but none of them held him.

He suddenly remembered a story and told it to him.

"Master, once upon a time, there were some blind men who wanted to know what an elephant looked like."

The master remained expressionless and did not interrupt him.

"They touched the elephant," Qi Fei said. "Those who touched its legs said it was like a pillar; those who touched its tail said it was like a rope; those who touched its belly said it was like a wall; and those who touched its tusks said it was like a stick."

"They started arguing, each thinking they were right and the other was wrong."

"They don't know that they've only touched a part of it. They also don't know that there are people in this world who aren't blind and can see the whole elephant."

A gust of wind blew by, making the copper bells under the eaves ring out.

Qi Fei continued, "What are we cultivating now?"

"If we cannot understand the world and establish a reasonable worldview, then what about the so-called Qi Induction, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Primordial Spirit, Divided Spirit, Mahayana, and Ascension—the so-called realms—are they merely a leg, a tail, or a wall of an elephant?"

He looked at his master with a frank gaze: "We don't even understand the whole world right now, so is it really the right thing to just plunge headlong into cultivation?"

"Please enlighten me, Master!"

The wind suddenly picked up, making their robes flutter loudly.

The master did not speak. His face was hidden in the shadow of the eaves, so his expression was not visible.

Qi Fei stood at the bottom of the stone steps, looking up, waiting.

Suddenly, the master spoke, his voice tinged with coldness: "You've only been cultivating for a few years, yet you dare question the path your predecessors have taken? How can you possibly become an immortal like this?"

Have you ever cultivated to become an immortal? Do you know what an immortal is like?

"The path to immortality is right here, yet you don't cultivate diligently but instead cause trouble everywhere. How can this continue?"

Qi Fei said, "Although I don't know what cultivating immortality is like, I do know that it's definitely not something you can just do in a muddled way!"

The master snorted coldly: "Among all the cultivators on this mountain, you're the only one who thinks it's wrong? In the Cloud Bridge Sword Sect, everyone cultivates immortality this way. Only you think it's wrong."

"Have you considered that perhaps there's something wrong with you?"

The entire Jade Bridge Sword Sect is like this, except for Qi Fei. Is there something wrong with Qi Fei, or is there something wrong with the Jade Bridge Sword Sect, which once had an immortal?

"You're wrong!" Qi Fei nodded. "I'm right!"

"Because I believe that spiritual practice is about cultivating the Tao, exploring the Great Tao, and I am not afraid of being questioned!"

"Cultivating immortality isn't about following a set routine, meditating, or any other method that simply involves accumulating spiritual energy to become an immortal!"

"That's not right!"

The master suddenly flicked his sleeve and swung it at Qi Fei's face.

"How dare you! Don't you want to cultivate immortality anymore? Don't you want to become an immortal?"

The sleeve swept across his face, carrying a chilling, undeniable force. If that sleeve had landed squarely, he would have been sent rolling at least seven or eight feet away.

But Qi Fei's hand lit up.

"I want to cultivate immortality, but I love truth even more!"

The desire for knowledge is human nature; there is no one who does not seek knowledge!

The practitioner before us, instead of seeking knowledge, stifles questions; that is not a normal person!

It wasn't even human!

"Distinguish the shadow!"