The Path of Seeking Truth, Questioning the Original Heart

The news that Xuanjizi had been led into the depths of the Academy and become Wanhua's First Disciple was like another stone cast upon a tranquil lake.

Among those seekers of the Dao still watching from the Academy's outskirts, or struggling to pass the "Willpower Forging Steps" and the "Heart Cleansing Pool," it stirred even greater ripples.

Hope became clearer still, and the road ahead no longer seemed quite so distant.

Yet not every being could pass as smoothly as Xuanjizi had, relying on a pure heart devoted to the Dao and an unyielding will.

The three trials of "Clear Heart, See Nature" established by Wanhua appeared simple, but in truth, they pointed straight at one's Original Heart, interrogating the deepest and most essential intentions of the soul.

For many beings long steeped in the cruel laws of the Primordial Era, whose thoughts had grown complicated or whose Dao Hearts had gathered dust, these three trials were no less agonizing than having their bones scraped and marrow carved out.

Elder Teng's "Benevolence" and "Obsession"

The Ancient Vine Spirit that had successfully passed the first two trials called himself Elder Teng. At this moment, he stood beside the Heart Cleansing Pool.

The clear pool water reflected his aged face, woven from countless vines.

As the water rippled, it revealed the course of his long life: from a single seed falling into a crack in the rocks and struggling to survive, to bathing in the essence of sun and moon and awakening his spiritual intelligence;

from silently guarding a stretch of mountain forest and nurturing weak creatures, to witnessing slaughter erupt all around him—the compassion and helplessness of being powerless to turn the tide...

Within the water, he saw his heart of "benevolence and kindness." It was his nature, and one of the sources of his strength.

But the pool also reflected a faint, almost imperceptible "obsession" buried deep within his heart.

Grief for the irretrievable peaceful years of the past, and helplessness before this reality where the strong devoured the weak—little by little, that helplessness had become an excessive yearning for strength.

It even concealed a seed of fanaticism: if he could gain sufficient power, he would spare no cost to forcibly create peace.

The pool water trembled faintly as his benevolent nature and that hidden obsession entwined and clashed.

Elder Teng's body shook, and his aged vines unconsciously tightened.

He realized that if he could not dissolve this obsession born of helplessness, then even if he entered the Academy, his path of Dao would eventually stray onto a crooked road. He might even betray the original intent of "benevolence."

He remained beside the pool for a long while without moving—not because he could not pass, but because he was engaged in an even more arduous inner struggle and choice.

He needed to truly understand that the power of benevolence came from the breadth and steadfastness of the heart, not from external coercion and force.

This step required even more courage and wisdom than passing the first two trials.

Yun Su's "Illusion" and "Truth"

Another who had passed the first two trials was the Cloud Spirit named Yun Su.

She stood before the Heart Cleansing Pool, but what the water reflected was a myriad of shifting scenes: at times, she became dazzling morning clouds; at others, dark storm clouds pressing down upon the city.

At times she dispersed into the formless void, and at others she gathered like a mountain. This reflected the nature of her cloud-born origin—ever-changing and impossible to grasp.

The pool water seemed to ask: beneath these endless transformations, what was your "true nature"?

Was it to disperse with the current, or to gather and scatter according to your origin? Or was it to find, amid this ever-changing flux, a Stillness and truth that belonged to you alone?

Yun Su was lost. By nature, she longed for freedom and ease, unbound by anything, yet that seemed to conflict with the "Order" and "principles" emphasized by the Confucian Dao.

She saw her own drifting, uncertain reflection in the pool and seemed to glimpse a future in which she could never truly integrate into the Academy's system.

Should she hold fast to her ever-changing nature and abandon this Opportunity? Or forcibly change herself to conform to some fixed "principle"?

Her form flickered in and out beside the pool, revealing the fierce struggle within her heart.

For her, this third trial—"beholding one's true nature"—was not about seeing some fixed "true self." Rather, it was about finding, within her ever-changing origin, a Dao unique to her as a cloud spirit—one that could put her heart at ease and coexist with the spirit of the Confucian Dao. It required profound comprehension and deep self-knowledge.

Yan Lie's "Hardness" and "Breaking"

Not every being could successfully pass the first two trials. A stone spirit calling himself Yan Lie radiated an aura of hardness and obstinacy.

Relying on the naturally formidable will of a stubborn stone, he had forcibly endured the mountain-like pressure of the Willpower Forging Steps and reached the platform.

Yet when he stood before the Heart Cleansing Pool, he encountered a problem.

Reflected in the water was a heart as hard as his true body, sharp-edged and unyielding—one that would rather break than bend.

This had originally been a virtue, a symbol of Resilience.

But beneath the pool's reflection, Yan Lie himself saw what lay behind that "hardness."

It was an almost rigid stubbornness, a dull inability to adapt to changes in the outside world, a closed-mindedness that admitted no differing voice.

The water of the Heart Cleansing Pool rippled faintly, as if reminding him: excessive hardness breaks easily. Though the Confucian Dao valued integrity, it also spoke of the "golden mean," of adaptability, of an ocean embracing a hundred rivers.

If he possessed only hardness, without tolerance or flexibility, then his path of Dao would surely be strewn with obstacles and easily broken.

Yan Lie glared at himself in the pool. That sharply defined reflection seemed to be mocking him.

With a furious roar, he tried to use his will to force the pool water to reveal the "true nature" he wanted. Instead, he only caused the water to surge violently.

A force of backlash struck him, shaking his Primordial Spirit unsteady and driving him back step after step. He nearly fell from the platform.

He had failed to pass.

It was not that his heart was corrupt, but that his nature had yet to be tempered and could not reach the state of balancing hardness with softness.

He could not truly align with the deeper essence of the Confucian Dao. He needed time to wear down those overly sharp edges and comprehend the wisdom that lay beyond strength.

Questioning and Choice

Similar scenes were playing out in different corners around the academy's perimeter. Some beings exposed their distracting thoughts before the "Dao Seeking Stele" and left in despondence;

Some fell upon the "Willpower Forging Steps," their resolve insufficient to support them on the path of seeking the Dao;

More, however, faced the deepest questioning and choice regarding their own nature before the "Heart Cleansing Pool."

These three trials of "Clear Heart, See Nature" were not merely an entrance threshold, but Wanhua's first "sermon" to these seekers of the Dao.

They forced these beings to stop, examine their hearts, distinguish their original intentions, and confront their weaknesses and obsessions.

Those who passed, like Xuanjizi, elevated their state of mind, and the path ahead suddenly opened wide;

Those who failed, like Yan Lie, would still gain something if they could learn from the experience, laying the foundation for opportunities that might come in the future;

And those like Elder Teng and Yun Su, who fell into contemplation before the trials and waged deeper struggles within themselves—their gains might prove more precious than simply passing the assessment.

The gates of Myriad Dao Academy were not easily entered, but this "Heart-Questioning Road" had already begun cleansing the souls of these Dao seekers.

Sowing the seeds of the Confucian Dao.

Whether they would ultimately enter the academy or not, all who came here and endured the questioning of these three trials had, to some extent, already seen the course of their fate quietly shift.

Deep within the academy, Wanhua watched it all in stillness.

He saw the unwillingness of the failures, the joy of the successful, and, more than that, the souls struggling, thinking, and trying to transcend themselves before the trials.

There was neither joy nor sorrow in his eyes, only a profound gleam that bore witness to the sparks of Civilization being kindled and flickering within individual hearts.

The road of seeking the Dao was long and far. Questioning one's Original Heart was merely the first step.