Beneath the Plum Tree, I Saw a Youth Discussing the Dao with an Old Man

A carriage came to a slow stop on the main road.

The other travelers nearby saw the emblem on the carriage and all hurriedly moved aside.

Even those who rode in lavish carriages decorated with fine silks, driven by fiercely domineering coachmen who cracked their whips, changed color at the sight of this carriage and hastily retreated, letting the plain carriage pass. The coachman driving it sat bolt upright and thanked them politely.

The others hurriedly returned the courtesy.

Only after the carriage had gone did they finally breathe a little easier.

There was no other reason.

The beasts pulling the carriage were no ordinary animals.

This was the direct line of the Cui Clan from Qinghe County.

Ahead of the road lay a stretch of mountains, wreathed in clouds. By the time the carriage stopped, a white-haired Daoist was already waiting before the mountain. Smiling, he clasped his hands and said, "Are you the young lady of the Qinghe Cui Clan? I've been waiting for you for some time."

A clear voice came from inside the carriage. "Sorry for making you wait here, Daoist."

"This junior truly feels ashamed."

A moment later, someone stepped down from the carriage: a young girl of about fourteen, with a pair of sword-straight brows and eyes clear as autumn waters. Her features were already exceptionally beautiful, and her bearing even more heroic. Yet her straight brows made her seem a little too stern, and the red mark between them, the loose hair at her temples, and the long sword in her hand added two or three measures of Killing Intent to her radiant gaze.

She was like a sword immortal fallen into the Mortal World.

Two more people followed her off the carriage: a red-clad young girl with her hair hanging in twin buns, lively and mischievous, and an elegant young man.

The young girl with the red mark between her brows presented a calling card and bowed. Her voice rang out clearly:

"Cui Yuanzhen of the Cui Clan has come to pay her respects at the mountain gate."

The old Daoist returned her greeting with a smile.

Seeing that the girl was only fourteen, yet her vital essence, vital energy, and Primordial Spirit were already in excellent condition, he couldn't help but feel it a pity that she had been born with such Killing Intent. Though her talent was peerless, she would likely face many tribulations on the path of cultivation. He gathered his thoughts, stroked his beard, and smiled.

"I've long heard that the Cui Clan's youngest daughter is exceptionally gifted, like an immortal descended to earth. Seeing you today, I find the rumors true."

"You flatter me, Daoist."

The girl gave a brisk bow, then turned and pointed to the young man. "This is my cousin."

"This is Su Yue'er, daughter of Mr. Su Shengyuan. She came up the mountain with me today."

The old Daoist smiled. "The Cui Clan has indeed produced many talented descendants."

"I've heard of Young Master Su as well. He's a worthy man."

"Please, both of you."

Su Yue'er asked in surprise, "You know my father?"

The old Daoist laughed.

"Back when your father was your age, he asked me that very same question."

Ignoring Su Yue'er's astonishment, he turned aside and calmly swept his sleeve.

The clouds behind him had been drifting and billowing, but the scene suddenly rippled in layers, as though a great curtain had been flung open—

Towering mountains rose before them, and immortal cranes flew through the sky.

A magnificent vista unfolded before their eyes.

"Please, all three of you."

Cui Yuanzhen's eyes lit up. She looked up at the towering mountain gate and its couplet, then, with one hand on her sword, recited aloud.

"The Dao runs through yin and yang; the Three Realms commune with the spirit, the earth's hidden veins."

"Clouds stretch across Mount Tai; ten thousand mountains bow to pay homage to the Heavenly Venerable."

"What a grand spirit!"

The old Daoist laughed. With a sweep of his sleeve, clouds surged beneath their feet and lifted the three of them into the air.

Unhurriedly, they rode the clouds straight into the mountains.

The Daoist sects of the world all honored their leader with the title of "Zong."

Clouds and rosy light drifted through this place, filling the peaks. Spiritual jade fungi grew everywhere, while rare beasts and fine birds roamed nearby. Immortal cranes beat their wings through the Cloud Heavens, and spiritual deer chased one another among the grasses. Any ordinary person who entered would forget their worries.

It was truly the foremost of the world's Blessed Lands, a place that nurtured all living things and offered insight into the Dao.

Those without the fortune to enter could not set foot in this Daoist sect. Even ordinary disciples had to cultivate below the mountain gate. Only after refining Primordial Prenatal Qi could they enter. Once they reached the level of a True Person in the Mortal World, they could claim the use of a mountain peak, establish their own school, gather disciples, and pass down the lineage they had created.

As the old Daoist rode the clouds, he introduced the mountain gate to the three of them.

Su Yue'er gazed around, her eyes shining. "Immortal elder, are you a True Person?"

The old Daoist chuckled. "I'm no True Person. You may simply call me Daoist."

Su Yue'er nodded. She looked around at the beautiful scenery and thought how wonderful it was to leave that little town during the New Year festivities and see the world beyond. If she hadn't, how could she have witnessed such scenery? And that was without even mentioning the chance to meet someone like Cui Yuanzhen.

The youngest daughter of the Cui Clan, one of the Five Clans and Seven Sects, had invited them to take part in the Daoist sect's trial as well.

It seemed to be an illusion called [Heart Refining], testing them with wine, lust, wealth, and anger.

Unfortunately, Su Yue'er had failed to see through wealth.

The spirited young man who had gone to the town to meet them had already failed at the word "wine."

Wine did not simply mean drinking; it also meant extravagant indulgence.

Wealth did not simply mean gold and silver; it also meant all the world's splendor.

As for the beautiful Cui Clan young lady, who seemed almost like an immortal, she had calmly faced wine, lust, wealth, and anger for the time it took an incense stick to burn without wavering in her Daoist heart. Then she rose and cut apart the jade token used in the trial with a single stroke of her sword. The Daoist had been overjoyed, declaring her one of their own and immediately accepting her into the sect. That was why she had been allowed to come here and pay her respects at the mountain.

The two of them, however, had no right to enter the mountain gate. They could only accompany Cui Yuanzhen here, and couldn't help feeling regretful.

"What a pity, what a pity... It's simply too difficult."

The old Daoist stroked his beard and smiled. "That was only a simple Heart Refining trial."

"If you can't even see through an illusion, then what would you do if someone truly offered you a thousand taels of gold and dozens of carriages? Or introduced you to a match of the highest standing and promised you a life of perfect happiness? And what if someone offered you hundreds or thousands of years of life? Could you let those things go?"

"If you couldn't see through them, couldn't let them go..."

"Then one day, when your life was about to end, if another method existed that could extend it by harming all living beings..."

"You would surely be unable to let go."

"Then you would be unfit to receive the true dharma, unfit to receive the true Dao."

Su Yue'er asked, "Can anyone truly let all that go?"

The old Daoist smiled. "Perhaps."

Su Yue'er thought for a moment, then asked curiously, "Then what's the hardest Heart Refining trial of all?"

The old man thought it over, then shook his head.

"I've never heard of the greatest or most difficult trial, though the Daoist Canon does mention one kind."

"It seems to make a person experience an entire lifetime."

"Many people have sunk into it and never been able to escape."

Su Yue'er said,

"That sounds far too difficult."

Thinking of how she hadn't even made it through a single illusory dream, she felt frightened just imagining a dream that lasted an entire lifetime.

Without thinking, she shrank her neck back.

The old Daoist rode the clouds and brought them to one of the mountain peaks. The range was lofty and the scenery beautiful. Cui Yuanzhen was admiring the view when she suddenly looked up and spotted the tallest peak in the very center, far in the distance. Curious, she asked, "Senior, why does that peak seem to have no lineage?"

The old Daoist looked up and stroked his beard with a sigh. "That's Heaven Pillar Peak."

"Our sect has seventy-two peaks, and Heaven Pillar Peak stands at their very head. It corresponds to the Three Heavens and overlooks ten thousand li, watching the sun and moon rise and set. Though the sect has passed down its teachings for thousands of years, Heaven Pillar Peak has never had a single lineage. I've heard there's nothing on it but an ordinary Daoist temple."

No spirit beasts, and no disciples.

Only one Daoist, seated in meditation within.

Even the chief elders of the various schools, the True Persons of the Mortal World, had no chance to set foot on that mountain.

People came and went to cultivate. Some climbed the mountain without ever hearing the Daoist's name, and never saw his face even before they died. It was as though there were no such person on Heaven Pillar Peak.

"Who is he?"

"Hahaha, that's a good question. I'd like to know too."

"Perhaps he's an immortal?"

The old man sighed with a smile. "I came to the mountain at your age, and two hundred years have passed since then."

"That peak is still the same."

"Perhaps it'll still be the same when my life comes to an end."

"Come, come. Let's leave that aside. I'll take you to meet the True Person who leads my lineage."

The old Daoist took them to pay their respects to the True Person. That person had an ethereal bearing, dignified and composed. Cui Yuanzhen's expression grew solemn as she prepared to bow, but then she saw the True Person's expression freeze. He raised his eyes slightly. In the void, clouds drifted, and the faint, clear sound of a jade chime rang out. The True Person's expression changed abruptly. "You three wait here. I have something to attend to. I must go!"

Before the words had even left his mouth, the True Person transformed into a streak of light and flew away.

Everyone was stunned. They looked outside and saw thick, golden clouds stretching across the sky as streaks of light soared away—some riding clouds, others astride immortal cranes—all rushing straight toward the highest peak, Heaven Pillar Peak. The sight was dazzling. The old Daoist seemed to realize something. His eyes widened as he stepped forward. "Th-this... Could it be..."

Cui Yuanzhen asked, "Has that Daoist emerged from seclusion?"

Su Yue'er and the young man from the Cui Clan exclaimed, "I wonder what could be important enough to summon them all."

The many True Persons gathered before the plain Daoist temple atop Heaven Pillar Peak.

The Daoist, whose age was beyond reckoning, had stepped out of the temple.

He held a sheet of paper in his hand, fresh ink bearing a poem.

He was looking down at it.

The True Persons stood before him with utmost respect.

No one knew how long had passed before the Daoist, who had meditated there for a thousand years, lowered the sheet of white paper in his hand and suddenly spoke.

"I was meditating just now, neither dreaming nor awake, when I seemed to see a scene and was jolted out of my meditation."

The True Persons were curious.

When Daoists meditated, they severed the four gates and gathered in their Primordial Spirits.

What could possibly be important enough to wake this man from his meditation?

Someone stepped forward and asked,

"Senior, may I ask what you saw?"

The Daoist placed the white paper on the table. After a long silence, he lowered his gaze toward the world below and recalled the aura he had sensed while meditating. He had already mastered this part of the world. The vast world below—could there truly be someone capable of approaching so near without his noticing? If that young man hadn't deliberately revealed his aura, he would never have sensed him...

He remembered the young man's smiling eyes, the old man stroking his beard, and plum blossoms in bloom. It had all seemed like an illusion, yet the white paper left behind was undeniably real.

He clearly possessed such means, and yet he had revealed his aura.

Far too deliberately.

Could he have been warning me not to meditate here, that solitary cultivation was meaningless?

"An immortal strokes my crown; I tie my hair and receive longevity..."

Could these lines be a claim to being an immortal?

His thoughts stirred, and only after a long while did he speak, his voice carrying a complex trace of emotion.

"Beneath the plum tree, I saw a youth discussing the Dao with an old man."

"That was all."