A Bond Forged Through Enlightenment

Whether he believed it or not, he wouldn't show it. He smiled warmly and invited the young man who called himself Qingle, "I'm bored having a picnic alone. Would you like to come and join me? We can have tea together. I have plenty of Ganoderma Cicada Seed tea leaves here."

Qingle glanced at the various novel foods piled up in front of Lin Xiao, then at the box of tea leaves emitting a faint fragrance and the small ceramic stove beside it that was constantly warming water. His eyes lit up. "Great!"

Lin Xiao briefly removed the barrier and let Qingle in. Qingle followed his example and sat on the ground.

The food on the ground was a variety of dishes. Lin Xiao introduced them to him one by one, explaining what ingredients were used and how they were generally prepared. Qingle listened attentively.

While introducing the tea, Lin Xiao poured him a cup of tea, saying, "The tea is all in the pot; pour yourself if you want some."

Hearing this, Qingle nodded, picked up a piece of tea snack from the tablecloth, and began to eat it in small bites, sipping tea and snack at a time.

He gulped down the first cup because the tea was so fragrant, but now he wants to savor it slowly.

Qingle held a steaming cup of tea, gazing blankly at the dazzling sun above the distant forest line.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao didn't disturb him, but instead followed his example and stared into the distance in a daze.

When they are truly lost in thought, they seem unaware of the passage of time, or perhaps they are completely letting time slip away.

The once bright and dazzling sun in the sky gradually slanted westward, its light turning yellow, then into the sunset, and finally into the moon.

From a distance, the two figures, viewed from behind, resembled two old monks in deep meditation, or two statues in meditation, seemingly merging with heaven and earth, with the night, as if they had lost their lives, yet also as if they had gained eternity.

The entire space seemed to have fallen into a long period of stillness.

Only the bubbling of the small stove beside them, warming the seemingly endless spring water inside, and the occasional wisps of smoke rising in the air with the gentle breeze, proved that this space was still alive.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Lin Xiao and Qingle woke up almost at the same time.

Upon waking, Qingle was still unaware of what she had experienced. Sensing the changes within her body, she clutched her chest in astonishment and turned to look at Lin Xiao: "I actually..."

The words were left unsaid, but Lin Xiao knew what he was about to say.

Because the same thing happened to him.

They both suddenly had a small epiphany.

He had some experience with this situation before; it happened the same way when He Yi was chatting with him in the Mortal Realm —the person would just walk past while they were talking.

Qingle's surprised expression, he must have never experienced a sudden enlightenment before.

Lin Xiao then explained to him that they had experienced a sudden enlightenment together.

However, he had no clue as to why the two of them had a sudden realization this time, nor did he know what common ground they had reached at that moment.

But that's not important; it's a good thing overall.

"From now on, our friendship will be based on shared enlightenment!" Lin Xiao declared.

Qingle seemed to understand, but not quite; he carefully sensed the increasing Spiritual Power within his body.

The sudden enlightenment seems to be more than just an increase in cultivation level; it seems that something different is sprouting within the body.

He wasn't clear on what cultivation was supposed to be like. Looking at Lin Xiao opposite him, he opened his mouth, but hesitated for a long time before finally asking, "Is cultivation... like this?"

"Huh? What kind of cultivation is this?" Lin Xiao was completely baffled by this sudden, seemingly unrelated question.

"Well..." Qingle was a little embarrassed. After all, the seniors all said that cultivation was a very private matter for every cultivator, and they wouldn't easily explain it to others. But he was really curious and really needed to know. Remembering what Lin Xiao had said about their friendship after their enlightenment, he finally mustered up his courage and said, "That's right, after a cultivator reaches a certain level, they all rely on enlightenment to improve their cultivation?"

After asking the question, Qingle looked at Lin Xiao expectantly, like a child who had been puzzled for too long and was eager to get affirmation from others.

Lin Xiao:?

Fellow Daoist, would you like to hear what you're saying?

Does cultivation rely on sudden enlightenment?

Then all cultivators in the world will probably forget about improving their cultivation level and might as well go home and farm.

However, judging from the other person's expression, Lin Xiao didn't say anything. He secretly wondered, "Could this young man really be ignorant? That shouldn't be the case, he's supposed to be a cultivator."

Oh, he just said "after cultivating to a certain level," does that mean this person has reached a bottleneck in their cultivation and their progress has stagnated, hence their confusion?

Why did he have to ask this complete stranger, someone he had never met before, when no elders were there to answer his questions?

unless...

Lin Xiao had a vague guess in his heart, but he decided to keep it to himself for the time being.

Since we've known each other since the beginning of our enlightenment, answering this question is naturally no problem for me.

"Logically speaking, cultivation and enlightenment are not necessarily related. Many cultivators may not achieve enlightenment even once in their entire lives," he replied. "Enlightenment depends on various conditions such as fate, timing, and one's own thoughts and cognition, which must be in harmony with the right time, place, and people to achieve a breakthrough."

Even with identical external conditions, one cannot replicate sudden enlightenment. It's something that should be left to fate and cannot be forced. The more you try to force enlightenment, the further you stray from its true nature.

Upon hearing this, Qingle's expectant gaze gradually dimmed.

It turns out that this kind of situation is not a common practice, but rather something that can only be encountered by chance.

He remains the same person who doesn't know how to cultivate.

Lin Xiao, who was waiting for the other person to continue asking questions, found that the person had only asked one question and then fell silent. Instead, the person sat next to him, hugging his knees and looking extremely depressed and dejected, mimicking a wilted eggplant.

Lin Xiao carefully reviewed what he had just said, and it seemed there was nothing wrong with it.

"What's wrong with you? Why do you look so lifeless?" he asked directly.

A dejected Qingle said listlessly, "I don't know how to cultivate. Apart from today's sudden enlightenment, my cultivation level hasn't increased much in a very long time."

"I've observed many people cultivating, but it's all useless. No matter how I learn from them, it's all in vain. Without cultivation, I can only maintain the status quo until I die. I don't know what else I can do, or what the meaning of my existence is."

Hearing him say that, Lin Xiao felt a little hesitant to press him further.

This person was clearly encountering problems in his cultivation but didn't know how to break through. He couldn't ask for too much detail, since everyone's cultivation method was different, and many personal cultivation details were private matters for each cultivator and couldn't be discussed with outsiders. Generally, only very close relatives or teachers could help with these matters, so he didn't want to presume to interfere.