In pursuing the Dao, diminish daily

Faced with Ancestor Hollow Space's veiled invitation, Shi Feiyang rejected it inwardly without a second thought.

Even with Geng Peng, it was only because Shi Feiyang admired his Twelve Heavens Restriction Arts of Size, and because Geng Peng had protected him at every turn—even risking his life despite grievous wounds to rescue him from danger and bring him to Unfixed Island—that Shi Feiyang finally called him Master on his deathbed.

Had the Heavenly Book inside the Jade Casket not remained impossible to retrieve, and had he not wanted to study the Chiyou Threefold Scripture, he would not even have sought out Geng Kun.

Admittedly, Ancestor Hollow Space's current strength was something he could only gaze up at, but he still did not want him as his master, much less his grandmaster.

He explained to Ancestor Hollow Space that he was only taking temporary refuge here and still intended to go to Great Roc Bay in the Eastern Sea, then made a point of thanking him for taking him in.

As a grandmaster of his generation, Ancestor Hollow Space naturally would not force the matter when he saw that Shi Feiyang had no intention of taking a master and joining his school. After offering a few more cautions, he returned to his palace, though he felt some regret. When those wondrous strains from the Immortal Realm rang out, every beast on Xiuqiong Plain lay low. Apart from me, all were entranced and limp. Though this Black Dragon was inside his cave, how formidable that immortal music was—it pierced mountains and penetrated stone. Yet he remained lucid. His innate gifts are truly rare.

Geng Peng had taken no disciples for hundreds of years after that crushing disappointment. Yet this time he took in this Black Dragon, then risked his life to bring him here before dying. Clearly, there is something extraordinary about him. I had hoped to take him as a grand-disciple and bring him along to hear the immortal music. Unfortunately, he lacks the fortune. Beasts fall short of humans in innate gifts, and their blessed affinities fall far shorter still. So be it. It seems I alone can enjoy that immortal music.

He returned to the immortal estate beneath the island. To avoid missing the next performance, he simply stayed away from his bedchamber and sat meditating before the Earthfrost Bell.

He had many conjectures about the immortal music ringing from the Earthfrost Bell. Perhaps some grand banquet is being held in heaven, and the Heavenly Emperor has ordered immortal maidens to play. If so, I must treasure it all the more. Once the banquet ends, the music should stop, and I will never hear it again. They say a year on earth is a day in heaven. If their banquet lasts three days, I can listen for three years. That would at least give my ears something of a feast.

Or could a predecessor who once ascended from this immortal estate be playing freely in heaven? I only wonder whether he is doing it deliberately or unwittingly...

Several days later, the bell rang again: Shi Feiyang was practicing the Dongling Zither once more.

Shi Feiyang's main pursuits remained cultivating his two inner cores and contemplating the three hundred and sixty Golden Seal Heavenly Talismans. Those two were his fundamental studies. In his spare time, he cultivated various spells and practiced with the magical treasures in his possession.

He also let the three little beings out of the Jade Casket. Keeping them shut inside its space all the time would not do.

Mo Zhui was as lively as ever, while Moxiang remained just as simple-minded. The newcomer, Mo Ying, was rather mischievous and quirky. Purple all over, he was shorter and plumper than Mo Zhui, with unmistakable baby fat on his cheeks and belly.

They watched beside him as he cultivated, so he taught them to identify the All-Heavens Star Chart and the Sun and Moon Courses. All three studied with great diligence.

Only the Dongling Zither proved unbearable whenever he played it, but Shi Feiyang taught them to persevere. "Earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows nature. Regard yourselves as part of nature and follow its course, that you may comprehend the Heavenly Dao."

By the end of a piece, all three lay limp on the ground. Shi Feiyang picked them up one by one and examined them. They were indeed unharmed.

Mo Zhui and Mo Ying both felt weak all over and terribly uncomfortable. Moxiang alone found it deeply enjoyable, exclaiming how comfortable it felt and asking to hear more.

Shi Feiyang played new pieces, and only after several attempts did he understand. The three were spirits born from plants, and thus were said to be closest to the Precelestial state. Mo Ying in particular had taken form most recently, and his breath of Precelestial qi had not yet been completely severed, so he was closest to the Dao.

This was the meaning of the saying: "One whose virtue is abundant is like a newborn Son."

Yet among the three, the one with the most abundant virtue, the one truly closest to the Dao, was Moxiang, who had always seemed simple-minded and a few wits short. Moxiang had scarcely been tainted by Postcelestial influences, harbored no cunning thoughts or schemes, and remained wholly pure.

Thus, when the zither sounded, Mo Zhui, who had taken form earliest, suffered most, followed by Mo Ying, while Moxiang actually enjoyed it.

Through the three little beings, he too was coming to understand the key to entering the Dao. He taught the other two to learn from Moxiang, strip away their Postcelestial thoughts, and return to their Precelestial origins.

This was the principle behind the saying: "In pursuing learning, increase daily; in pursuing the Dao, diminish daily."

He and the three little beings learned from one another in the cave and continued to improve. His understanding of nature's Dao grew ever deeper, and the zither music he played reached ever loftier realms. Ancestor Hollow Space, keeping watch beside the Earthfrost Bell, felt profound Great Possession in every performance and racked his brains trying to fathom it. Yet its meaning eluded him, leaving him so frantic that he could almost have clawed at his ears, scratched his cheeks, and split the Earthfrost Bell open.

Nearly half a year passed in this fashion. One day, Ancestor Hollow Space was listening to "Rapid Music of the Cloud Palace" before the Earthfrost Bell, wholly absorbed, when he suddenly noticed that his second disciple, Zheng Yuan Gui, was letting his mind wander.

Like everyone else, Zheng Yuan Gui sat perfectly upright on his meditation cushion, but inwardly he was not clearing his mind, calming his breath, and harmonizing body and spirit as instructed. Instead, his thoughts strayed elsewhere, leaving the Gods without a master. Amid the bell's music, his qi and blood were soon stirred throughout his body. Though the bell's tones held no aggression, they still set all his channels boiling. The blood vessels between his heart and brain throbbed violently with the notes, and during those particular "dong, dong, dong" beats, Ancestor Hollow Space could even hear his heartbeat!

The other disciples might also fail to keep the Gods from wandering, but under Ancestor Hollow Space's instruction, they all regarded this music as immortal melodies from heaven and listened with reverence. Even if the music swept them along, they would at worst become entranced and limp, with no harmful consequences.

Zheng Yuan Gui, however, harbored hostility. He even cursed the immortal playing the music, wishing for their early demise so that the disciples would no longer be confined here every day to listen to this damned music. He did not enjoy it, yet was forced to listen, leaving him vexed and agitated. Signs of cultivation deviation had begun to appear.

The music of earth was like wind and water, like mountains and rivers. Following it revealed one landscape; resisting it revealed quite another.

Ancestor Hollow Space saw that this second disciple was truly mud that would never stick to a wall. If he stood by and did nothing, Zheng Yuan Gui was certain to suffer cultivation deviation. At best, his entire body would stiffen; at worst, he would burst into flame and burn himself to death. With no other choice, he spoke. "You lazy, useless wretch! You are unworthy of hearing these wondrous immortal melodies. Get out!"

He swept his sleeve, and a current of true qi enveloped Zheng Yuan Gui, lifting him off the ground and sending him tumbling straight out through the immortal estate's main entrance.

Zheng Yuan Gui landed in a thoroughly sorry state, but his mind cleared. Convinced that his master was looking down on him yet again, he turned and left, seething with resentment.

When Ancestor Hollow Space spoke, he had used an immortal art to jolt Zheng Yuan Gui's Gods awake, condensing his voice into a single thread and sending it into Zheng Yuan Gui's ears. No one else could hear it, but to Zheng Yuan Gui, wave after wave of sound poured straight into his brain like a surging tide.

The Earthfrost Bell also caught these sound waves, setting the Dongling Zither resonating in response!

Shi Feiyang was engrossed in playing "Rapid Music of the Cloud Palace" when the strings suddenly jolted, releasing a person's voice. "You lazy, useless wretch! You are unworthy of hearing these wondrous immortal melodies. Get out!"

He froze, his head swimming with questions. Who's speaking? Calling me lazy and useless? Unworthy of hearing immortal music? Telling me to get out? Go where?