When Kings Do Not Meet

Yu Tunzhou said seriously, "Senior, do you mean that if I comprehend this visualization diagram, I'll have a chance to join the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple?"

Zhang Qingtong shook his head. "I'm not certain. After all, no one from the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple has appeared yet. But since this visualization diagram has come into your hands, there must be something to it."

Xie Linchuan interjected helplessly, "Wait a moment. Without an inheritance of True Intention, isn't the visualization diagram completely useless? How is he supposed to comprehend it?"

The core of a visualization diagram lay in its inheritance of True Intention.

Without the guidance of an inheritance of True Intention, how could one shape the Primordial Spirit Inner Form?

Without guidance, an ordinary person could not even sense the Primordial Spirit, much less shape its Primordial Spirit Inner Form.

"Not necessarily," Zhang Qingtong said slowly. "If he can master entering meditation and study the diagram closely, there's still a sliver of hope that he can gather its fragmented True Intention."

Xie Linchuan could not help sighing.

Visualization diagrams were meant to open up one's Inner Form and provide a shortcut to entering meditation. What his grandmartial uncle was saying was completely...

He suddenly looked at Yu Tunzhou, his eyes shining. "How has your cultivation been going these past few days?"

Yu Tunzhou knew what he meant and nodded lightly. His tone was calm but carried a measure of certainty as he said:

"I've mastered Entering Meditative Concentration Through Stillness."

At that moment, even Zhang Qingtong could not help nodding in appreciation.

"Not bad."

"How exactly did you manage to enter meditation on your own?" Xie Linchuan pressed, unable to wait.

Yu Tunzhou had prepared his answer. "Focus, seek truth, and ultimately achieve fulfillment of the mind."

"Focus, seek truth... fulfillment?"

Xie Linchuan murmured, lost in thought.

Focus presumably meant letting nothing distract the mind, keeping both body and mind still.

Seeking truth...

He suddenly recalled his grandmartial uncle's assessment of Yu Tunzhou.

Could it refer to the Daoist method of arduous cultivation, comprehending the Dao and probing its mysteries, polishing away the dust of worldly thoughts?

Then what about achieving fulfillment at the end?

"What is fulfillment?"

"Once you accomplish the first two steps, fulfillment is merely something you gain along the way," Yu Tunzhou said earnestly. "The most fundamental key is to focus on doing every single thing you can do, with nothing distracting your mind. Through that, you see your truest self. Seeing your true self is also a kind of fulfillment."

Seeing that Xie Linchuan's brow was still tightly furrowed, Yu Tunzhou put it another way.

"Brother Xie, what is it you truly want?"

"What do I want?" Xie Linchuan opened his mouth, only to find that, for the moment, he could not put it into words.

He wanted to become Evergreen Mountain's immortal seed of the current generation.

He wanted to return to his clan bearing that title, stand before her memorial tablet, and tell her that he, Xie Linchuan, could rise above the rest through his own efforts and stand at the very pinnacle of this mortal world!

He also wanted to break through the External Scenery realm, attain a Dharma Aspect, become an expert on the Heaven Ranking, and become the greatest under heaven!

There were simply too many things he wanted. He could never finish naming them all.

Yu Tunzhou said softly, "If you feel you could never finish naming everything you want, then those are probably just your desires, not what your heart truly seeks."

"Many people spend their entire lives without ever understanding what they truly want."

"I think truly entering meditation means seeing through the mists of illusion and beholding your own true heart, thereby attaining complete fulfillment of the mind, with nothing weighing on it."

If he had another chance...

Yu Tunzhou would still refuse to accept that Human Emperor's will.

Xie Linchuan had sunk into thought.

Zhang Qingtong suddenly spoke.

"The arrivals for this Dao Contention in the town are nearly at an end. They'll finish tomorrow at the latest, so your opponents are almost all in place."

"In the Luofu Dao Contention, no one has ever been able to stand against everyone else alone. Keep that in mind."

Yu Tunzhou's expression turned solemn. "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Zhang."

Zhang Qingtong nodded. "Study that visualization diagram often over the next few days and gather as much of the True Intention remaining in it as you can. Before long, I fear even those remnants will have faded away."

Yu Tunzhou looked at Xie Linchuan, about to say something.

Zhang Qingtong shook his head. "Your words gave him some insight. Don't disturb him. I've temporarily cut him off from the outside world."

Yu Tunzhou nodded. Seeing that it was late and night was about to fall, he recalled the old Daoist's warning and hurriedly took his leave.

Zhang Qingtong told him not to linger outside and watched the young man depart.

When he turned back to look at Xie Linchuan, he saw that the young man was already beginning to come around. He could not help shaking his head.

Young people really had no staying power.

The moment Xie Linchuan opened his eyes, he looked for Yu Tunzhou.

After hearing Yu Tunzhou's views on entering meditation and the true heart, he had gained some insight and was a little more confident in reestablishing the True Intention of the Qi Ingestion Method!

"It's late. He's already gone back." Zhang Qingtong asked, "Why haven't you gone to cultivate in the bamboo grove lately?"

Xie Linchuan replied, "Grandmartial Uncle, I'm ready to reestablish the True Intention of the Qi Ingestion Method."

Zhang Qingtong gave him a long look and nodded slightly.

"I look forward to the day you succeed."

"Also, when you see Yu Tunzhou again, remember to thank him. Just now, more than ten streams of fortune from the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple were bestowed upon the various Households. You received the greatest share."

The Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple's fortune had been dispersed?

Xie Linchuan stared blankly, then suddenly understood.

Was it because they had cleaned the residence?

That was a "Dao Contention"?!

But why had he received the greatest share?

No matter how he reckoned it, it should have been Brother Yu!

Could that visualization diagram be worth even more than the fortune?

He looked at his grandmartial uncle in puzzlement.

Zhang Qingtong, however, did not reveal the answer. With his hands behind his back, he gazed in the direction of the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple.

After centuries of decline and a full century of silence, the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple was finally about to produce another white jade pillar to prop up the heavens.

If that one could truly break through the Dharma Aspect realm, the balance of the world would change once more.

He wondered when the other nine Households would rise from the ashes like the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple...

As night drew near, Yu Tunzhou hurried along.

He rounded a corner and his steps faltered. The next moment, he resumed walking as before, even picking up his pace.

A fortune-telling stall stood ahead. A bald Daoist sat behind it and said with a hearty smile:

"Young friend, would you like your fortune told? Since fate has brought us together, draw a fortune stick. I won't charge you."

The next moment, Daoist Non-Contention's smile froze on his face.

The young man, already walking faster without looking to either side, broke into a jog when the Daoist spoke. He hurried past the stall and ran out of the alley.

The Daoist watched the young man leave the alley. His hearty smile vanished without a trace, and his brow furrowed tightly.

He had clearly tampered with this street without overstepping the bounds. Anyone who passed through would have the idea of having their fortune told, and unless they were innately averse to it, they could not escape it.

Why, then, had Yu Tunzhou not even glanced at him?

Yu Tunzhou's thinking was quite simple.

Fortune-telling was all a scam.

In his previous life, he had accompanied his teacher and met quite a few swindlers. He had even learned the basics of divination from his teacher.

He could do it himself, so why seek out a stranger?

Of course, given the town's unusual circumstances, this man was most likely some sort of expert.

But setting up a fortune-telling stall in an alley with no foot traffic in the middle of the night? He was obviously no good. Was he waiting for a willing fish to take the bait?

Was this the outsider Old Mo had mentioned before?

Hmm... I stayed out too long today, and it's too late. For all I know, this man might have something to do with the one suppressed beneath the grotto-heaven.

An expert who had been suppressed by the various Households for a thousand years, whose fortune they had carved up among themselves for just as long...

Yu Tunzhou, who was about to partake in that feast, thought it best for kings not to meet.

It was already late, and he had temporarily resolved Cao Jianjia's problem, so Yu Tunzhou did not take a detour. He went straight for the nearest path up the mountain.

As he passed the stone bridge.

He noticed that the girl who often squatted by the river had not yet left. Her right hand was in the water, perfectly still.

He was wondering what she was doing when, the next second, she suddenly pulled her hand back. A dragonfish had its mouth around her finger and was "fished" out of the water.

Yu Tunzhou watched, dumbstruck. Was she using herself as bait?

The girl moved deftly. With her left hand, she grabbed a stone she had prepared and smashed it down hard. The dragonfish stopped struggling at once and passed away peacefully.

She picked up the dragonfish and strolled toward the town, humming a tune without so much as glancing at Yu Tunzhou.

Yu Tunzhou stared at the surface of the river for a long while, puzzled. When did these fish get so stupid?