Cultivating Oneself Alone

The other side of the painting?

Li Qi couldn't help but glance back.

In other words, the back of the painting was blocking the view of the Huliang, preventing others from entering?

Why is that?

"Senior, do you mean that no one is allowed to come to Huliang now?" Li Qi asked.

"It's not that we don't allow it, it's just that too many people come, it's annoying. We'll put up a cover and let them pass through on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and prohibit them on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. This way, we'll cut off half of the unlucky ones, and with fewer people, everyone can sit down. Otherwise, the whole place will be packed, and the aftermath of a fight might even kill a few people, which would be difficult to handle." The old Daoist waved his hand and said casually.

"Unlucky guy... In other words, the one who was stopped?" Li Qi was somewhat surprised.

"If you're blocked, then you're blocked. It's just bad luck. It's not like I didn't leave you any chance. If you can't come, it means you're not destined to meet. But you two, you managed to pass through the paper and into the painting. That's something. How did you do that?" the old Daoist asked with a smile.

It was truly unbelievable that Li Qi and his group were able to pass through the barrier set up by the third-rank official without even realizing it, and even enter the other party's painting.

"Senior just said that we were unlucky and lacked the right fate. I guess the reason we were able to get in is because our fate has arrived," Li Qi replied.

This answer surprised the old Daoist priest.

He then burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! Indeed, indeed. Since you've made it in, it must be fate. Absolutely wonderful, absolutely wonderful. I am Lu Jian, and I have greeted you two young friends. Since we are destined to meet, how about we travel together?"

Facing a senior who was probably of the third rank, Li Qi certainly couldn't say anything disobedient, so he said, "Then I will respectfully comply. Please, Senior Lu Jian, go ahead."

"There's no need to address me as 'senior.' Since you two young friends are destined to meet, then we are friends. Just call me by my name. If you feel that's disrespectful, then call me 'brother'!" The Daoist named Lu Jian was quite carefree. With a flick of his Daoist Daoist Robe, he left the thatched hut.

Li Qi pulled Shen Shuibi along and quickly followed. Although the Old Ma could not change its size, it carefully twisted its body, not daring to touch anything bad, and squeezed out of the door of the thatched hut little by little.

As soon as he stepped out of the thatched hut, Old Ma felt the effect of the Dragon Suppressing Formation disappear, so he quickly shrunk into a mudfish and hid inside Li Qi's collar.

Huliang is such a dangerous place!

There's even Dragon Suppressing Formation! Why would they put Dragon Suppressing Formation inside a house?!

Li Qi did know the answer to this question.

Li Qi also felt his cultivation stagnation while he was in the room, and even Shen Shuibi felt the same way.

That thatched hut was not Dragon Suppressing Formation, but All-Things Suppressing Formation! Including but not limited to dragons.

Anything that enters will be slowed down. If one's cultivation level is too low, then one will be like Old Ma, with all Divine Ability imprisoned, unable even to change size.

As Old Ma trembled, Li Qi followed Lu Jian outside.

What comes into view is the real Huliang.

Well...

Isn't the real Huliang just a deserted island?

However, there are quite a lot of people on this deserted island: Daoist priests, Daoist disciples, monsters, various Demon Dragon from the East Sea, Shaman, monks, practitioners of Human Path kinds of arts and crafts, martial artists, Reason Way practitioners, and so on and so forth, many, many people.

Looking around, there must be at least a million!

With so many people, no wonder Lu Jian wanted to allow passage on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but prohibit it on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. If this isn't controlled, Huliang might really be packed with people, and even Penglai might be crammed with people. If a fight breaks out, I reckon no one from the Daoist sect will be willing to help clean up the aftermath. It might even kill two people.

As for the scenery of Huliang... it is indeed very beautiful, but to put it bluntly, it's just good mountains, good water, and good scenery, much better than ordinary places, and it also has that unique cinematic filter effect of 'Daoist' places, but...

That's all there is to it.

How good can ordinary landscapes be? Compared to places like those in Human Path, where even the sewer pavers are made of Law Treasure, the sense of awe is simply too weak.

Moreover, the Heaven and Earth Great Source is quite ordinary, unlike the place where one can feel the immense pressure of heaven and Wushen Mountain and all sorts of monsters, poisonous insects and other creatures that are born there at any time.

Huliang, one of the three islands, is really quite ordinary...

However, after leaving the thatched hut, Li Qi had gained a deep understanding of the methods of the high-ranking Daoist masters, so he felt awe and was not too disappointed.

Just as Li Qi once said to Liu Shenzhi—

Whether it's magnificent, terrifying, solemn, or simple, it's just a decorating style and doesn't represent the essence.

This is probably just the style of decoration in Huliang, so it's not surprising. It's just that the decoration is a bit simple. It's like everyone else has laid floor tiles, painted walls, and applied grout, but only the doorway is still a bare shell.

It's not that a bare-bones apartment is uninhabitable, it's just a bit too shabby.

But these Daoist priests probably don't care.

For example, the thatched hut we just saw was a real thatched hut, not some Law Treasure palace disguised as a thatched hut. It was just a shabby thing made of thatched roof. Old Ma didn't dare to mess with it, for fear of breaking it apart and causing the real treasures to fall to the ground.

Therefore, the shape of the Huliang is understandable.

Once outside, Shen Shuibi became quieter. There were too many people, and her social anxiety kicked in. She hid behind Li Qi, almost reverting to her original form.

Li Qi, on the other hand, looked quite interested and asked Lu Jian familiarly, "Brother Lu, how does this Huliang go to Penglai?"

"You're going to Penglai? Over there, it's a self-service immortal Immortal Path. Each flash means someone has left." Lu Jian pointed to a mountain on the other side, which was constantly flashing with light.

"Just leave it there like that?" Li Qi, somewhat surprised.

"What else? It won't break, and it's quite convenient," Lu Jian said with a smile.

"Who... who built this? The Golden Platform of the Tang Kingdom was built with the combined efforts of the entire nation, which is why every major city has Golden Platform. Was the Huliang also built with the combined efforts of everyone?" Li Qi asked with some curiosity.

I'm genuinely curious.

Whether it's Human Path or Shaman Path, there's a clear central principle that can mobilize everyone's strength and concentrate resources to get things done.

However, the Daoist sect was so loosely organized that it was outrageous. It was clear that Penglai could not command its other branches. For example, Shen Shuibi's Mount Luofu had absolutely no connection with Penglai. They didn't even know each other. When Mount Luofu suffered a disaster, Penglai didn't even lift an eyelid.

In this situation, without concerted efforts, who built the Immortal Path to Huliang?

"Definitely not. If it were me, I would usually go to the Human Path and use their Golden Platform to travel. However, a True Immortal said that if others have it, I should have it too, so he built this Immortal Path. There's only one of its kind, and he doesn't take responsibility for its maintenance." Lu Jian replied, "But it is indeed very useful, so the maintenance work has been handed over to those who need to use it. If you use it in the future, remember to take responsibility for repairing it and paying attention to its capabilities. After all, you're responsible for maintaining it yourself, understand?"

"Of course, I understand." Li Qi nodded.

Indeed, it perfectly matches the image of the Daoist sect.

Use it yourself, clean it up yourself.

Do what you want to do yourself, and bear the consequences yourself.

No one will control you or restrict you; everyone can do what they want and make their own friends.

The Ninth Blessed Land went to practice martial arts, the Seventh Cave Heaven Mount Luofu closed its doors to cultivate in seclusion, the Talisman Sect leaned towards the Divine Path, the founder of the Maoshan Sect even possessed the blood of a true dragon and had already become a true dragon, and was also very close to the East Sea, the Outer Elixir Sect members were almost as close as family to the Reason Way, and the Manifest World Faction went to the Human Path to become Crimson and Purple Nobles.

Everyone does their own thing, and apart from their ultimate goal of "immortality and carefree living," they have absolutely nothing in common and don't even know each other.

They truly embodied the principle of "I'll fix my own things, it's none of your business."

Li Qi continued posting, and Lu Jian replied with a smile, giving Li Qi directions and telling him some interesting anecdotes that happened in Huliang.

Li Qi wanted to say a few more words to his new acquaintance, Lu Jian, but the other party seemed to have lost interest. It was as if the previous connection was a consumable, and it had been used up. Before he knew it, Li Qi suddenly realized that the other party had disappeared.

It wasn't a sudden disappearance, but rather like chatting on a social media app. Everyone was having a great time, but after a while, his profile picture turned gray.

On the dirt road through the mountains, Li Qi scratched his head and said somewhat uncertainly, "Uh... did I upset him?"

With no one else around, Shen Shuibi finally had the courage to speak. She took Li Qi's hand and said, "Perhaps this is what they mean by going with high spirits and leaving when the interest wanes. They became interested because they saw us, but now that their interest has disappeared, they naturally left."

"How... dashing!" Li Qi shook his head. "It really has the style of a Daoist." He sighed.

As he was thinking this, Li Qi suddenly had a jolt.

Wait, isn't this very dangerous?

He immediately looked at Shen Shuibi and said worriedly, "If the people of the Daoist sect are really like this, won't you one day leave me 'out of interest'?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Shuibi pinched Li Qi and said angrily, "We are merely acquaintances with Senior Lu Jian, but you and I have shared life and death and Dao Path together. And now you're telling me this?"

Seemingly not satisfied with just pinching him, she leaned over and bit Li Qi's shoulder, leaving a tooth mark.

Then it shrunk back to its original form, becoming a rabbit wearing a skirt, constantly emitting runes, with its two ears covering its eyes, and no longer paying attention to Li Qi.

Li Qi held the rabbit in his arms and tried to comfort her, but she kept her ears drooping and refused to speak again.

Old Ma couldn't help but chuckle under his collar, but his laughter was a bit too loud and Li Qi heard it, so he was dragged out and beaten.

You little brat, if I can't beat a rabbit, I can at least beat you!

Amidst all the playful bickering, the group finally arrived at the 'Immortal Path'.

Li Qi had always been called Huliang, but now he realized that this way of traveling in Daoism was called the Immortal Path, which sounded quite nice.

He held Shen Shuibi in his arms, observing the operation of the Immortal Path from the side, watching one traveler after another head towards the Immortal Path to their destination.

Li Qi watched for a full Chen, and Old Ma even fell asleep on his shoulder. He really couldn't understand why Li Qi was so idle, watching people come and go at the station entrance.

But Li Qi saw many things that made him think deeply.

He discovered that there were no restrictions on activating the Immortal Path; anyone could go. However, one needed to consciously replenish the consumed energy and worn-out equipment.

It's okay if you don't make up the difference, it doesn't matter, nobody cares.

Moreover, through his observation, no one really cares; everyone is too busy to care whether you are self-aware or not.

Strangely enough, although there was no one supervising, Li Qi found that almost everyone completed the task on their own initiative.

Li Qi previously thought that the Daoist sect was a loose organization that only cared about its own well-being, so he felt that it was somewhat inappropriate.

After all, everyone knows that concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks is the best approach. With everyone supervising each other and through institutional and public regulation, a positive social cycle can be built.

Li Qi viewed the Daoist mindset of "I am the greatest under heaven," "I can do whatever I want and nobody can stop me," and "I'm cultivating my immortality, you can go away" as quite irresponsible. He also believed that the loose organizational structure of Daoism was a consequence of this mentality.

However, upon further observation, he discovered that simply remaining aloof from worldly affairs was not so simple.

The main reason is that these Daoist practitioners truly achieved 'cultivating their own virtue'.

What does it mean to "cultivate one's own virtue"?

Goodness means perfection. To cultivate oneself in solitude means to improve oneself quietly on one's own. Although it may involve being isolated from the world, the essence is to improve oneself.

Everyone is so far apart and distant from each other, but because of 'taking care of oneself,' a special balance is maintained.

This reminded Li Qi of a saying he had heard before, which was also said by a Daoist elder.

The saying is, "If I were to lose even a hair's breadth to benefit the world, I would not give it; if I were to have the whole world to offer to me, I would not take it. If everyone refrained from losing even a hair's breadth and did not seek to benefit the world, the world would be at peace."

I wouldn't pluck a single hair from my head to benefit the world, but I also wouldn't accept the whole world's possessions if given to me.

I just need to do my best.

When everyone does their best and reaches the point of "giving everything to oneself without taking anything in return," then no one will take advantage of anyone else. Just like this Immortal Path to Immortal Path, no one will think of taking advantage of it.

They live within earshot of each other, yet never visit each other until death, each minding their own business and quietly improving themselves.

Even though we are far apart, if everyone does their own thing, we can still build a peaceful and harmonious society.

Li Qi seemed to be deep in thought, feeling as if he had grasped something. If everyone does not harm the world, it seems that... this kind of "self-preservation" is not without its merits.

After standing for more than a Chen, Li Qi nodded slightly and said softly, "When one's true nature is undisturbed, one is unattached to worldly affairs, neither going nor coming, this is what is called 'cultivation of truth.' If one can attain this, one can indeed see its 'truth.'"

After speaking, he strode forward and initiated the Immortal Path.