"Lesser methods..."
Qi WuHuo froze. The old man had described immortals of every kind and rank, beginning with what Qi WuHuo knew as [cultivating only one's nature, not one's life], then moving on to the many senior brothers and sisters they had encountered along the way. He had gone on to speak of the many Mountain Gods far away on He Lian Mountain, and from these familiar figures to Senior Disciple Sister Yu Miao—even to the realm she might reach if she broke through.
Then he had spoken of the many Emperors and Celestial Venerables in the heavens, and the Buddhas of the West.
He had begun with unhurried ease, but by the end his words had become vast and surging, boundless and magnificent.
And yet all that had earned was a single assessment from the old man: a lesser method.
Just four words, and already countless waves surged through the young man's heart.
The old man did not continue. Sitting beneath the two pines, he raised a hand to stroke his beard and asked with a smile, "Though it is called a lesser method, it can already let you grow old with heaven and earth while you remain young, and let you endure the destruction of sun and moon without perishing. You could call yourself an Emperor, a Buddha, or a Celestial Venerable, and no one could find fault with you. That much is genuine."
"Then, WuHuo, what do you think would make an upper method?"
Everything Qi WuHuo had seen and understood along the way stirred within him. The young Daoist answered:
"Set your heart on one thing and seek the Great Dao. Have no distracting thoughts, and let no external thing stain your Daoist heart."
"Within, cultivate diligently until your true spirit is pure. Without, see every