The officials were very pleased that the Emperor had returned to the right path, but the Daoists were far from satisfied.
Even Zhang Liuzhen could not help saying to Pan Yun, "The world misunderstands us cultivators far too deeply."
"Cultivating truth, cultivating truth—we cultivate our true selves. We seek the Great Dao and investigate the true essence of this world."
Pan Yun asked, "Isn't the ultimate goal immortality?"
Zhang Liuzhen choked, then said, "But they make us sound far too vulgar. Immortality is not for the sake of pleasure."
After a pause, he muttered softly, "I have always believed that we should not take immortality as our goal, but the attainment of the Great Dao. Immortality is merely a byproduct of attaining the Dao."
Pan Yun said, "Go publicize it that way. Within three years, the number of cultivators will surely fall to freezing point. That would also comply with the Imperial Court's policy of curbing the number of monks and Daoists."
Zhang Liuzhen: ...
"Forget it. Let us discuss something else," Zhang Liuzhen said. "I plan to travel around and give lectures, teaching everyone the key principles of cultivating the mental method."
Pan Yun said, "Go to the military. The mental method cannot be opened to the common people for now."
Pan Yun introduced him to Yu Qian, the Minister of War.
Yu Qian warmly welcomed Zhang Liuzhen's arrival.
Ever since the military had begun cultivating Zhang Liuzhen's mental method, combining it with saber techniques, spear techniques, and military formations, their power had increased tremendously.
In the previous Northern Expedition, the carefully selected vanguard had made outstanding contributions.
For this reason, the military had begun widely promoting his mental method. It had even started spreading among children from military households who had not yet entered service. Now, the Ministry