Bai Sui found the old man's words fascinating. After all, this was a case of the Conscious Spirit stepping aside and the Primordial Spirit taking charge.
He had heard that any of the myriad arts in the world could lead to the Dao, but this was the first time Bai Sui had witnessed an example like the one before him.
"However, I couldn't maintain that state for long back then. A single shift in my thoughts, and I naturally slipped out of it.
"But having experienced it showed me the path I should take in the future, so I continued to pursue it.
"Not only that, I also set out on a journey, fighting all along the way, hoping to enter that state again.
"On the other hand, I also wanted to find like-minded people and exchange ideas with them.
"Unfortunately, I fought my way across the entire Land of Iron without finding anyone like me. There were times when I was put in danger, but it was usually because my opponent had the advantage of numbers or some innate divine power. As I grew more skilled at entering the State of Entry, however, those advantages became ineffective.
"Oh, right. I call entering that state the State of Entry. When I enter it, my strength doesn't increase, but I bring it to its absolute limit, without wasting even the slightest bit. My skills also reach their peak, and I can even predict my opponent's movements.
"With the State of Entry in all its might, I swept through every school in the Land of Iron and read the records kept by various schools. I found descriptions of this state in some of them, though each school called it something different and described it in its own way."
As the old man spoke of the past, there was none of the domineering air his words might have suggested. It was as if he were talking about someone else entirely. His eyes were calm and reserved, revealing nothing out of the ordinary.
If Bai Sui hadn't examined the man before and learned that his body was exceptionally strong—in particular, his heart, which was as powerful as a high-pressure pump—he might have thought little of him. The old man was like an unruptured volcano, ready to erupt at full force whenever the need arose.
"After searching the Land of Iron to no avail, I turned my attention to the entire Ninja World. But shortly after leaving the Land of Iron, I ran into a wall in the Land of Earth. The shinobi there could fly.
"When I first left the Land of Iron, I went to the Land of Waterfall. One of the clan chiefs there could release a kind of thread from his body that was difficult to cut. It was a bit troublesome to deal with, but with the State of Entry boosting me, I handled him easily.
"Perhaps that drew the shinobi's ire. I had barely entered the Land of Earth when some fellow set his sights on me.
"I'm certain he hadn't entered that state, because his ninjutsu had obvious flaws. But he could fly, and I couldn't catch him if he ran. In the end, he drove me back to the Land of Iron.
"After resting and recovering there for a while, I set out again.
"This time, I went in a different direction, heading south straight into the Land of Fire. There, I fought the Uchiha Clan.
"They had the legendary Cursed Eye. They say anyone who meets their gaze falls into an illusion.
"But after I entered the State of Entry, even their powerful genjutsu stopped working on me. After all, in that state, I no longer used my eyes to observe the world."
Bai Sui knew about this. It was similar to how he perceived things through his Primordial Spirit: whenever he wished, he could observe himself from a third-person perspective.
"But their clan didn't rely on genjutsu alone. They also had powerful Fire Release Ninjutsu. Their clan chief set an entire sea of flames ablaze with a wave of his hand.
"I searched for weaknesses in his ninjutsu and cut it down with the long blade in my hand, keeping the flames from reaching me.
"But the long blade I carried was just an ordinary weapon. After withstanding only a few attacks, it was already scorching hot. I knew it wouldn't last much longer, so after a feint, I ran into the woods and escaped.
"After that, I wandered the Ninja World for a long time. I won some fights and lost others, but one thing became clear to me: none of them had entered the State of Entry. Their strength came from their power, not their state of being.
"And you're the first person I've seen enter the State of Entry in all this time. Though it looks like you don't specialize in martial arts, I imagine you've experienced that state all the same. Could you tell this old man about it?"
Bai Sui knew the old man had likely discovered it after entering his Divine Sense Domain. After all, Bai Sui himself had only noticed something was amiss when the old man entered the range of his divine sense.
"Gladly. You're also the first person I've met who has entered the Dao through martial arts, so I'll tell you about it."
The old man had found Bai Sui on a mountain road. They had been talking there the entire time, seated on rocks by the roadside.
The Land of Iron lay in the northern part of the Ninja World, where the weather was cold. It was still autumn, yet snowflakes were already drifting down from the sky.
The snowflakes vanished without a trace as they fell within the domain.
Feeling how unusual the domain was, the old man grew all the more eager to hear what Bai Sui would say next.
"How should I put it? We have to start with the body's 'Three Treasures.'
"People have the 'Three Treasures': essence, qi, and spirit.
"Essence can be understood as the substances that make up the body. Of course, it can be divided into prenatal essence and postnatal essence.
"Prenatal essence is the generative essence inherited from one's parents. It serves as the 'root of life' throughout the body's activities. But prenatal essence needs a constant supply of material to keep it from being depleted and to let it perform its functions. That material is postnatal essence.
"Postnatal essence comes from the nutrients in food, also known as the refined essence of food and water. A constant supply of nutrients is necessary to sustain the body's life activities.
"Qi is the driving force behind life's activities. It can also be understood as a kind of energy. Every life activity in the body—the breath, the metabolism of food and water, the distribution of nutrients, the circulation of blood, the flow and moistening of bodily fluids, and the resistance to external evils—depends on the function of qi transformation.
"Spirit is the highest commander of all life activities, including the mind, will, perception, and movement. It, too, is divided into prenatal and postnatal forms.
"The prenatal spirit is the Primordial Spirit, while the postnatal spirit is the Conscious Spirit. 'Primordial' means fundamental, original, and at the root of things. The Primordial Spirit is the innate spirit received before birth. It is fundamentally different from the postnatal Conscious Spirit, which gradually develops after birth as the mind responds to external things, and from the spirit of desire.
'The Primordial Spirit is free of thought and worry, naturally empty and numinous; the Conscious Spirit thinks and frets, numinous but not empty.'"
The old man was delighted when he heard this. He immediately realized that the Primordial Spirit described here matched his own experience of entering the State of Entry. Deeply impressed by the accuracy of Bai Sui's words, he also began to grasp the principles behind this coherent system of thought.
"The Primordial Spirit is the innate nature, also called the 'Primordial Nature' or 'True Nature.' Because it is not a spirit of thought and deliberation, it appears like an infant—unaware and unknowing, yet still possessing sensation and a lively, responsive state.
"When a person enters meditation, they dwell in a state of calm and emptiness. Their breathing becomes slow and faint, as if present and yet absent. They have no thoughts or worries, feel as if they are floating toward immortality, and exist in a hazy, indistinct state. This is the manifestation of the Primordial Spirit.
"It is said: 'The Primordial Spirit is the intention within the heart, alive and vibrant in the midst of neither movement nor stillness.' Another saying goes: 'When inner thoughts do not arise and outer thoughts do not enter, and one is master of oneself alone, that is called the Primordial Spirit.'..."