Seeing the Eight Calamities and Learning of the Five Grades of Immortal Realms: Upper, Middle, and Lower

When Qi WuHuo turned and left, the Sea of Flowers behind him gradually closed, like a door shutting. As it closed, the place where immortals of the Mortal World cultivated vanished from his senses. Qi WuHuo walked up to the old man and handed him the jade slip. The old man showed no great sadness or disappointment, remaining as gentle and serene as ever.

He let his disciples choose their own paths.

Such vast gentleness and compassion were too boundless, too immense; to an onlooker, they came close to seeming heartless.

The old man brushed his palm over the jade slip. The two characters Yu Miao faded from it, but he did not shatter the slip this time. Instead, he handed it to Qi WuHuo. This choice differed from that of Senior Brother Jade Yang. He said gently, "Come see her again in five hundred years, and ask her the same question."

"See how she answers."

Qi WuHuo pondered. So long as one kept seeking the Dao, one could wait?

The old man turned and walked away with Qi WuHuo. This time, he did not ask what the boy thought. The old and the young walked slowly along the road outside Yu Miao's secluded abode. Flowers bloomed on either side, their fragrance rich and heavy. They had grown as tall as the boy's waist. As they walked, butterflies danced around them and settled on the boy's shoulder.

After a long silence, the boy asked, "Teacher, is that what Dao companions are like?"

The old man shook his head and smiled gently. "Of course not."

"My Daoist sect's teachings have been passed down in many forms, and its lineages have branched out. Over time, many different explanations have spread. But just as people misunderstand essence, energy, and spirit, they misunderstand the