From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

The unity of benevolence and propriety lies in the unity of knowledge and action.

Jiang Liu's past experiences were precisely the practice of the principles in his heart, which is why his talent began to develop. His experiences reflected in them, directly forging his literary courage and refining his martial skills.

"good!"

The Master stroked his beard and smiled, “One last question: What is it that you seek?”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Liu sighed, then concealed the brilliance in his eyes, leaving only a gentle light. His voice was melodious as he calmly said, "Born by the riverbank, I eat the food of many families. I have seen the vast land of China, but the world is in chaos. Regardless of the gunfire and cannon fire, I merely stroll through my courtyard. Today, I have a day of leisure."

The master asked, "What do you seek?"

Thunder and lightning roar, bones pile up, a grand vow is made.

A single thought to save all living beings, a desire to overturn heaven and earth! Standing on the southern shore of West Lake, connecting the past and present, civilization must not be interrupted. Heaven, though compassionate, also ages; through vicissitudes, the righteous path remains in the world.

This poem is titled "Lang Tao Sha: A Single Thought".

What is the request?

It was nothing more than a single thought to save the common people.

The moment he finished speaking, Jiang Liu raised his hand to his right ear, pulled out an embroidery needle, and with a flick of his fingers, it grew longer in the wind, becoming as thick as a teacup and twelve feet long, with golden hoops at both ends and a section of black iron in the middle, on which were written the five large characters "Ruyi Jingu Bang" in the shape of dragon patterns and phoenix seal script.

With each breath, one cultivates a surge of righteous energy, which swirls around the staff, radiating rosy light and releasing auspicious energy.

Jiang Liu raised his Ruyi Cudgel high, aiming it at Confucius.

Why do this?

The reason is that Confucius's benevolence was ultimately limited, as it was used by the powerful and wealthy; while Jiang Liu was not a man of the Spring and Autumn period, and his benevolence was used for the benefit of the people.

As the saying goes:

To correct a wrong, one must go to extremes!

Therefore!

Even the old Confucian scholars, including Confucius, must be eradicated!

"No!"

Kong Yuru shouted.

"good!"

Confucius, however, remained calm and said, "My benevolence is insufficient to serve my purpose; I should perish."

With a single blow, the Master stepped forward to meet the attack, using his own golden, righteous energy to counter the multicolored righteous energy within the golden cudgel.

Although both possess a righteous spirit, Confucius's spirit is supremely strong and great, yet it is singular, possessing only a touch of gold; while Jiang Liu's spirit is not only supremely strong and great, but also multicolored, encompassing all things, possessing the truth of Tao, the principles of Zen, and the principle of self-discipline.

It is:

Sincerity is not merely a single red spot; it encompasses the three religions and accommodates all doctrines.

Only when the five colors disappear can righteousness truly flourish.

He had just cultivated a bit of righteous spirit, which had already been integrated into the river, but it had not yet reached its full potential. Even so, the sincerity of his heart and the breadth of his intentions surpassed even the Master's teachings of benevolence and propriety.

But then the Master's body disintegrated, returning to a righteous aura. It dispersed, leaving only six golden points of light that disappeared into the golden circlet, flowing with Jiang Liu's will and containing six pieces of information—a gift from the Master to Jiang Liu, containing six Confucian and Legalist supernatural powers:

Bright eyes and night vision: able to observe the laws and information of heaven and earth.

Hearing the sounds of nature: one can hear the rhythms of the natural universe.

The scent of books: one can smell the poetic and artistic atmosphere of the world.

Tongue blossoms like a lotus flower: capable of performing a dazzling array of musical melodies.

Untainted by worldly dust: One can untangle all the entanglements of the mortal world.

A perfect mirror reflects the essence of all things.

In fact, Jiang Liu has cultivated to the point of achieving Hunyuan Yiqi, enabling him to introspect freely, forge six of the eight aspects, and even achieve astral projection and a sixteen-foot golden body. He already possesses abilities comparable to these six Confucian schools.

However, these six supernatural powers were not merely icing on the cake for Jiang Liu, because they corresponded precisely to the six senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and thought.

All practitioners must purify their six senses, but this does not mean simply and brutally cutting off the six senses. Otherwise, it would be like Sun Wukong killing six thieves: it is easy to eliminate thieves in the mountains, but difficult to eliminate thieves in one's heart.

However, the practice of these six Confucian and Legalist supernatural powers can gradually enable one to clearly observe the existence of the six senses and to control them for one's own use.

This also leads to the following concept:

Purifying the six senses is not the same as eliminating the six senses.

To put it simply, the difference between a gentleman and a eunuch involves both physiological and psychological aspects.

With these six supernatural powers, combined with his innate ability—the Godhood Conferment—Jiang Liu could then hope to truly master the six senses for his own use.

"No! No, no! The righteous spirit of the Confucius family!"

Kong Yuru found it unbelievable.

Righteousness is supreme and unyielding; from ancient times to the present, no one can destroy it, simply because the righteous path still exists in the world, and the righteous path still exists, which is eternally indestructible!

But at this moment!

The noble spirit left by Confucius—

scattered.

There are only two possibilities.

First, the righteous path has been lost in the world, and chaos will continue forever.

Secondly, the river has already nurtured a brand new and righteous spirit!

The righteous spirit is unique. Even Mencius, the second sage, forged a literary courage, but he could not cultivate it. The righteous spirit is also the principle and path that all people follow and yearn for. It is also the spirit formed by the fusion of one's own thoughts and the thoughts of others!

It represents both the path of the self and the aspirations of all beings.

Therefore, even Mencius, given that the spirit of righteousness already exists, could not cultivate a second spirit of righteousness unless he broke away from Confucius's thought and opened up a new path for Confucianism—a path that is both his own and that of all beings!

And the right path—

In practice, there may be countless paths, allowing for diverse interpretations and debates, but ultimately, they all aim to bring beauty to the world—there is only one path.

now.

It was the righteous spirit nurtured by the river that replaced the righteous spirit of Confucius.

Just because—

The world has changed.

# Chapter 1072 Six Roots

Having cultivated the six supernatural powers of Confucianism and Legalism, Jiang Liu's understanding of the six senses has deepened, but he still does not abandon the six sense objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma.

These six sense objects can influence the stability of one's mind through the six senses, but isn't it through these experiences that one grows in life?

Spiritual practice is about using the mind to control the six senses and using the six sense objects to cultivate oneself, thereby purifying the six senses, freeing oneself from worries about the past and future, and simply experiencing everything in the world freely and doing what one wants to do as one pleases.

To establish a Confucian society to save the people...

He started a theatrical troupe to earn money through performances...

It's all just a thought.

And the so-called Tao—

It all comes down to this one thought!

When a single thought is completed, it naturally becomes perfect; then another thought arises, and so on, without end...

Ordinary people might feel tired or even worried.

But Jiang Liu is a practitioner of spiritual cultivation, and he maintains a sincere heart, so how could he be weary?

It's simply about enjoying the present moment while doing what he wants to do, nothing more.

The Great Dao of Limitless Emptiness lies within these ever-changing thoughts of birth and death!

But when the rosy glow faded and the flowers disappeared, Kong Yuru was troubled.

Without the spirit of righteousness, where will the Confucius family go?

Since ancient times, the Confucian family has been able to stand firm in the world, suppressing the Taoist and Buddhist sects, who could only be subservient to them and even mingle among the strange and eccentric. This is because their righteous spirit has endured, and neither the Taoist nor the Buddhist sects dare to act recklessly!

Although a new righteous spirit has been born alongside the sage today, it does not belong to the Confucius family, nor to the Confucian school.

It belongs to the Confucian Society!

Even more crucially, Confucius also agreed with Jiang Liu's Dao, which is to have two good things in one person: the highest good is like water, and the lowest good is like fire, which is the essence of "benevolence".

Can "benevolence" truly be adapted to the future regime of China?

Even now, Kong Yuru still hasn't realized that Jiang Liu's benevolence can be found not only in the imperial court, but also among ordinary people! It can be found in all those in the world who simply want to live!

politics?

That mainly refers to the things that the Gong faction needs to do in the future, while the benevolence of the Confucian Society is reflected in education, transportation, healthcare, literature, magic tricks... in construction, people's livelihood, science, and spiritual practice.

“Master Kong, the Confucian Society is a new Confucianism, not a tool for the powerful and wealthy, but a school for the common people.”

Jiang Liu reiterated the difference between the Confucianism of the Confucian Society and the Confucianism of the Confucian Religion: "The dazzling display of light and color just now was merely a magic trick to add some excitement. I am just a magician myself, so don't take it as some kind of miracle of a saint descending to earth."

These remarks were merely to avoid becoming a deity or saint descended to earth in the eyes of the people of Yuhang, and thus, to the point of becoming "Jiang Sheng" (a legendary figure associated with the river).

We must then intensify our efforts to demystify Qi cultivation and supernatural abilities.

"A single thought forges literary courage; with 'benevolence' at its core, one cultivates a righteous spirit..."

Even if the world doesn't recognize you as a saint!

Even if you yourself don't recognize the saint's name!

My family, the Kong family, acknowledges this!

After regaining his senses, Kong Yuru's eyes turned serious, and he said firmly, "The Confucianism of your Confucian Society is orthodox because you founded it!"

But my Confucianism is also orthodox!

Because it was founded by Confucius!