Old Arts Are Not Old

The previous chapter should have been about Xu Fu; it was a typo and was corrected at the time.

Wang Xuan, looking puzzled, interrupted Old Chen, asking questions when he didn't understand.

"Old Chen, something's not right. Could it be that you're going to convert to Buddhism because you learned the Bodhisattva Fist from that Ghost Monk? How come you have the title of an ancient Buddha in your cultivation level?"

Old Chen shook his head and said, "The Buddhist path is too deep. People readily abandon their physical bodies. I'm really scared. I can learn their physical techniques, such as the Bodhisattva Fist, but I dare not switch to their fundamental teachings. I'm afraid I might not be able to resist burning myself into Sarira in the future."

Qing Mu was speechless, realizing that his master was indeed very cautious.

After explaining, Old Chen glanced at Wang Xuan and said, "You actually made that kind of connection when you mentioned the lamp. You can't do that. You need to read more books related to the Old Arts path and enrich your knowledge."

Wang Xuan wanted to punch his old colleague. Was he seriously showing contempt for him?

Old Chen earnestly advised him to read more Daoist Canon and browse through books on Old Arts in his spare time, as it would benefit him.

Wang Xuan endured it; there was nothing he could do. He couldn't force Old Chen to comply, so he not only had to remain silent but also humbly listen to his classification of realms applicable to both ancient and modern times.

Old Chen explained, "Lighting the lamp means lighting the lamp in your heart. The light of the spirit illuminates the night sky of immortality, allowing us to see the dark road ahead and recognize our direction."

Wang Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "Let me start from the beginning. What is the state of the mist, and have I reached that level?"

Old Chen was surprised and said, "Didn't I say last time that if we divide it by Go ranks, I've just become a professional player, while you guys are still honing your skills as amateur players?"

At this moment, not only did Wang Xuan feel looked down upon, but Qing Mu also felt like he was being attacked indiscriminately.

"The mist refers to the state of one's body when a newly enlightened practitioner looks inward and sees parts of their internal condition as if shrouded in a hazy mist," Old Chen explained.

He noticed their unfriendly gazes and said, "Are you trying to get me to categorize 'amateur chess players'? Let me put it simply: below Grandmaster, Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, and if you break through that, you'll be a 'professional chess player,' which means a true practitioner in the realm of Old Arts."

At this moment, even Qing Mu wanted to hit his master! Those words weren't very hurtful, but they were extremely insulting.

The Grandmaster level has become a transitional unit, with those who haven't reached it being uniformly referred to as below the Grandmaster level. If this gets out to the outside world, I bet everyone will want to kill Old Chen!

"Alright, you can continue!" Wang Xuan didn't want to listen to his pontificating. He needed to work hard to improve himself so he could give Old Chen a good beating later.

Old Chen nodded and said, "I am currently in the fog stage. At first glance, my body is completely dark, and I cannot see the surrounding scenery."

Wang Xuan sighed, "Old Chen has now truly stepped into the mysterious realm of the Old Arts. This is a qualitative change. He has begun to come into contact with terrifying and powerful supernatural beings!"

"Remember, the fog is not a figment of my imagination, but a real sight I have seen. This is based on my experience. If you ever suddenly find yourself at this level, do not be afraid or hesitant. If you see a glimmer of light in the fog, just follow it."

The so-called "point of light" refers to the spiritual realm.

Old Chen smiled and said, "In the past, I triggered the state of touch many times. Although it was a pity that I couldn't enter the Inner Scenery Realm, my spirit underwent a qualitative change and eventually formed a spiritual domain. For me, after consolidating it and calming down and accumulating for a while, I can directly ignite the lamp!"

The second level of the Old Arts realm, "Lighting the Lamp," requires a sufficiently deep accumulation of spiritual energy to have any hope of success. However, it doesn't truly ignite the spirit, but rather refines the spiritual realm, condensing it until it hangs like a lamp under the originally dim night sky of immortality, illuminating one's path and pointing the way forward.

"Are these all real scenes I saw when I looked inward?" Wang Xuan asked.

Old Chen nodded, then spoke of the third level, saying, "Although I haven't entered the Lantern Burning Domain yet, I can vaguely sense the path beyond it. Combining this with the Old Arts and secret scenes recorded in the Daoist Canon and Pre-Qin Bamboo Slips, I understand what the third level is like. That is 'Life Land.' Don't underestimate or ignore this domain; it concerns your future. Both Pre-Qin Daoist practitioners and Daoist school valued this place immensely. It can nourish life and is the place where vitality originates."

He himself has not yet reached the level of "Destiny Earth," so he can only give a general overview based on the records in the book, but cannot specifically demonstrate the process of reaching it.

"The fourth level is herb gathering," Old Chen quickly stated, indicating the next stage.

"After entering this field of herb gathering, do you start to need to use herbs for cultivation?" Wang Xuan asked.

As a result, Ancestor Wang was "beaten" again!

Old Chen glanced at him and said, "When you're at work, I see you secretly reading the Daoist Canon every day. Where are you looking? Didn't you see the term 'herb gathering'? It's a process that Daoist school value very much."

"Old Chen, you've been spying on me every day!"

Old Chen spoke with righteous indignation, saying, "As a leader, I've already been lenient enough by not calling you out or deducting your salary when I saw you neglecting your duties at work. How can you slander your old leader like this?"

Wang Xuan was speechless. He wanted to say, "Isn't that just a nursing home?"

"Gathering herbs refers to gathering the precious medicines within one's own body to enhance oneself. When entering this field, one must master the timing of gathering herbs and never be careless. I will send you two books later so you can study them carefully. This kind of thing has always been kept secret and passed down orally from master to disciple, with very few secrets recorded on paper."

What Old Chen said was true; the secret to gathering medicinal herbs is extremely rare, especially precious and valuable.

"Of course, you are practicing the Root Method on the Pre-Qin Bamboo Slips, so your foundation is solid enough. It doesn't matter if you don't have any secrets; you can just use what I'm giving you as a reference."

Wang Xuan nodded, then continued to ask questions.

Old Chen said, "That's about it. Let's talk about these four levels for now. People should be low-key and take things one step at a time."

"You haven't figured out the road ahead yet, have you?" Wang Xuan asked suspiciously.

Old Chen nodded calmly and said, "The levels I mentioned are universally applicable to all paths, without any problems or hidden dangers. But I have some concerns about the levels beyond that."

He further added, "After completing these four realms, whether you want to transform medicine into a golden elixir, follow the lofty path of ultimate emptiness and stillness in early Daoist school, or continue the brilliant path of the Pre-Qin Daoist practitioners, it's all perfectly fine; you can continue on that path!"

Old Chen stood with his hands behind his back, looking calm and collected. In a sense, the path he had gleaned from ancient texts was indeed very safe.

Throughout history, people of all walks of life cannot avoid these four levels.

"I don't know if it's a coincidence, but after consulting a lot of ancient books, I found some clues and discovered that these four realms, which apply to all paths in ancient and modern times, may also be vaguely related to those secret paths."

Old Chen whispered, revealing a startling discovery: these were not things directly written on paper, but rather things he had gleaned from some coded language.

"Let's leave aside the level of the mist. The lamp is the lamp of the heart illuminating the way forward, which may be related to 'finding the way'. As for the Destiny Land, it is said that the first person among the Pre-Qin Daoist practitioners to enter the Inner Scenery Realm was likely triggered by stepping into the Destiny Land. As for the field of herb gathering, if one can obtain heavenly herbs to nourish oneself in the future, it will be even more terrifying and powerful."

Wang Xuan was surprised, Qing Mu was also stunned. Old Chen actually found these things in those ancient books. These realms are indeed very particular.

"However, ordinary people shouldn't even think about it. Even geniuses shouldn't have much hope. Only extremely special or abnormal people might occasionally succeed." After saying that, Old Chen glanced at Wang Xuan. After all, Ancestor Wang was a bit special, as he could now enter the Inner Scenery Realm on his own.

Wang Xuan felt like he had been scolded, and he glared at Old Chen.

They talked about these things for a long time.

Finally Old Chen's eyes gleamed as he said, "As for the road ahead, it requires us to put it into practice and be courageous in pioneering new paths. The most brilliant era of the Old Arts has not yet arrived; it awaits our rise!"

This time, Qing Mu didn't despise his master in his heart. He suddenly felt that Old Chen really had some ideas.

Wang Xuan pondered for a moment, then said with a sense of realization, "Old Arts are not old!"

"That's right, it's New Arts but not really new!" Old Chen nodded in response.

"What do you mean?" Wang Xuan looked up. He had never really understood the New Arts in deep space and had never had any full exposure to them.

Old Chen sneered, "This New Arts is a huge trap. Sooner or later, some people will be ripped off and left with nothing but bones!"

Then he turned to Qing Mu and said, "You can learn New Arts, but you can't get completely absorbed in them. You need to learn them by comparing them with the Old Arts."

Qing Mu was surprised. Old Chen used to support him in pursuing New Arts, but now his attitude had changed.

"I used to think that your Old Arts path coming to an end, so I let you try the New Arts path. But now you have Ancestor Wang by your side, right? Find an opportunity to go into the Inner Scenery Realm once or twice more, and I estimate that it will pave the way for you. Besides, you will soon have Chen Randeng by your side, so it's fine not to take the New Arts path. At most, you can just learn from it!" Old Chen was quite confident.

Wang Xuan and Qing Mu both looked at him, wanting to hear his further explanation.

Old Chen did indeed have something to say. He sighed softly, "I was also recently shocked by what happened in the Inner Scenery Realm. Comparing the two, I feel that the New Arts is not so simple!"

Then he asked, "Do you know where the New Arts came from?"

Wang Xuan said, "Didn't they say that Super Material was discovered in some mysterious place, and that they eventually developed New Arts based on it?"

"They think they can research something like that? They're really good at embellishing themselves. The truth is, they just dug it out of the ground!"

Old Chen became extremely serious and said, "Don't you have any doubts? There are quite a few of those New Arts, which seem to be the methods that people who have mastered ancient Old Arts can manifest. It's really unusual that those people in the New Arts Domain start with these almost magical things. Of course, the power of the two is not comparable."

Wang Xuan nodded; the New Arts was indeed somewhat strange.

Old Chen said, "The New Arts aren't new at all; they're all dug out of the ground. Who knows how many years ago they were buried? Maybe we'll dig up something even more amazing in the future. But I'm increasingly convinced that this might be a huge pitfall. I suspect that someone deliberately left this as a benefit, waiting for later generations to come and explore it in depth."

Wang Xuan asked in surprise, "This method sounds rather sophisticated and familiar. Why do I feel that it's somewhat similar to the Inner Scenery Realm left behind by those who have ascended to immortality?"

Old Chen nodded solemnly and said, "I also experienced what happened in the Inner Scenery Realm. I vaguely felt that the methods were similar, which is why I felt uneasy and suspicious."

"I think the ancients were all too cunning. They all deserve to be beaten up. Once they are found, they should be buried or burned!" Wang Xuan blurted out.

He quickly glanced at the Jade Box containing charred bone fragments not far away and added, "Only Sword Immortal who does not harm future generations, is kind-hearted, and is exceptionally beautiful deserves respect and is destined to live on forever!"

"So, who knows what kind of terrible trouble those people in the New Arts Domain will eventually cause!" Old Chen sighed.

Wang Xuan asked with some doubt, "Could it be that the Transcendent Immortals entered deep space earlier than modern people with Super Battleship?"

In addition, he thought about the Female Daoist practitioner's desire to keep him in the Old Earth for three years. Could it be that she discovered something after entering deep space?