Chapter 394 Natural Way
Li Mu only felt puzzled and moony, as if he were in a boundless field; even he himself did not know what was going on.
That feeling was weird, since he felt enjoyment. Just as described in Journey to the West, when Sun Wukong heard the fantastic pieces from Master Puti, he just felt happy and smiled beyond reason.
It was mysterious and the gate of all mysteries.
That was a mysterious feeling.
After an instant—
“Old cla.s.smate, old cla.s.smate…”
A distant and familiar voice suddenly came to him.
Li Mu was startled, and suddenly became conscious.
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu looked at him with concern.
“w.a.n.g, human pet, have you been stunned?” General Husky looked at Li Mu with a scornful look, and said, “You can watch a stone-carved black bull for one hour. Are you stupid?”
Li Mu was surprised. “I watched it for an hour?”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu said with some concern, “Yeah, you just stared at this stone monument. It seemed as if you had lost your mind, since you started to laugh and frown sometimes, and then you cried out. At first I thought you were doing it for Taoism and didn’t dare to disturb you, but when I saw that your expression was getting more and more unusual, so…”
Speaking of that, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu said with a look of shame and anxiety, “Old cla.s.smate, did I affect your chance?”
She had also read martial arts novels, and at that time, she also heard about something like insight and contraction from the talks of the royal guards.
Li Mu shook his head and said, “It’s alright. I can only quit at the right time.” Otherwise, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu couldn’t have awakened him from the mysterious state.
He felt it lasted for only a while, but it was an hour in the outside world.
After hearing that, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu felt relieved and laughed. “That’s good …oh, what’s on the stele?”
She was curious and envious of him.
She saw it every time when following her father to the Daoyin Temple to wors.h.i.+p, but had no response, while Li Mu fell into a state of epiphany at the first glance… which was really annoying.
Li Mu said what happened just then, “This black bull stele is very strange, especially this line of words that can actually provoke my mind.” His spiritual force was as grand as the sea, far superior to ordinary saints’, but he fell into a mysterious state at first glance of that stele.
However, when he went to see the line again, he found something strange.
On the back of the stone monument, the words in the first chapter of the Tao Te Ching had disappeared. The surface was flat, and it seemed old, as if those words were just hallucinations.
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu also found something strange, “Hey? The words are gone.”
She ran over and touched the back of the stone monument, saying in surprise, “It seems as if the line was never there. The stone surface is rough. What’s the matter? Old cla.s.smate, come and feel it. Did you gain anything just now?”
“There seems to be nothing…” Li Mu said subconsciously, and when looking inwardly with his spiritual force, he was suddenly shocked.
“What’s wrong?” w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu looked at him.
Li Mu did not speak, but raised his hand.
Ten meters away, a huge towering ancient tree was silently turned into twenty or thirty broken pieces, whose cuts were all as smooth as mirrors, and then when blown by the wind, they were turned into flames and instantly disappeared into the void.
“w.a.n.g?!” General Husky jumped up.
“Wow, so powerful?” w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu was also surprised.
The three went to see that towering ancient tree.
They found a large pit on the ground. When looking down, they saw that the roots of the tree had been burned and scattered into ashes, and the holes in various took were like giant curving ant holes. Even the little holes were also visible.
Strands of heat came out of the holes.
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu and Husky looked at Li Mu.
Li Mu was also surprised.
That was the first level of the power from the Natural Invisible Body-Broken Sword Intent.
The knife intention activated just then was basically invisible and colorless.
The Broadsword Intent was basically ready!
Li Mu was delighted, since he did not expect he could gain something from such a coincidence.
It must have been something to do with the first text of the Tao Te Ching on the stone tablet.
Li Mu read between the words.
He was more and more skilled at controlling the Natural Invisible Body-Broken Sword Intent in the void. In an instant, six lines of the intent could be formed and transformed in the void. He could also incorporate the Wind-Cloud Six Moves technique to display the Dao-using methods.
“It really is amazing.”
A look of surprise appeared on his face.
The sages on the earth had acknowledged that the Tao Te Ching was the king of Scriptures. Many of the later cla.s.sics were derived from it. That was just a paragraph of the first chapter, which could even enable him to finish the basic intent.
Li Mu suddenly became interested in the other collections in that hall.
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu said that in the past, there were many tributes and pre-epoch relics stored there. If Li Mu guessed right, there should be something left by Laozi. If he could get those things, maybe he could perfect his Natural Invisible Body-Broken Sword Intent.
Although it was an attack and fighting technique, having nothing to do with the realm, that was also a life-saving means. Although Li Mu, currently having the Five Emperors’ Immortality Scriptures and the Xiantian Skill, he could step into a higher realm easily. It was difficult to find his own combat skills.
Moreover, since that Laozi had left the first chapter of the Tao Te Ching on that stele, the other chapters might have been left among the relics. That work had to be different from the later ordinary copied scriptures on earth. Maybe there was also a great gain for Li Mu’s cultivation.
At that moment, Li Mu made up his mind to go to Lin’an, the capital of the Song Dynasty.
Because according to w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu, the Taiyi Palace—in which items from pre-epoch times were stored—was in Lin’an City.
He found nothing after he searched the whole hall for a while, and even with the Third Eye. It seemed that everything there might have been evacuated.
Li Mu bowed in front of the hall before leaving.
When back in the fine house, he found Lord Virtuous the Eighth was communicating with Zhao Ji.
Seeing they had returned, Lord Virtuous the Eighth laughed and said, “Here you are, haha. Did you go to Tao Te Hall? Previously, every time Yu’er came to the Daoyin Temple, she would go to there. She always mentioned there were traces of her hometown, but when asked where her hometown was, she did not say. Since you and Yu’er are from the same hometown, I knew that you had to be interested in the Tao Te Hall.”
Li Mu laughed and replied, “Yeah, I really miss someone when seeing these objects. I really have some interest in it. Does Lord have any plans next?”
Lord said, “I must return to Lin’an City as soon as possible. Considering that Lord Jin is dead, the situation must be unstable. The other seven anti-lords will definitely compete for Lord Jin’s power. I hope that I can help the emperor to regain Lord Jin’s fief so as to end the mess in the Song Dynasty, and for the people to live a peaceful life again.”
Speaking of Lord Jin’s death, Lord Virtuous the Eighth was also full of emotion.
That powerful, troublesome and traitorous lord was easily killed like an ant by a saint. That was the power of the peak martial arts and the reason why anyone from the Nine Superbs could control the destiny of a large empire.
If Li Mu could stay in the Northern Song Dynasty and serve the royal family, in a few days, he could end the rebellion.
Lord Virtuous the Eighth was expecting that to happen.
But at the same time, he also understood how dignified the saints were. Wasn’t it difficult to draw them to his side?
He glanced at his adopted daughter who seemed to match Li Mu. If he could take action by profiting from the relations.h.i.+p between the two, would he be able to make Li Mu stay in the Northern Song Dynasty?
“In this case, let me send lord back. I also want go to Lin’an City to see the bustling capital,” Li Mu said.
The lord was overjoyed and said, “Haha, that’s great.”
That was outstanding; as long as Li Mu was willing to go to Lin’an City, there was a chance to draw him to his side.
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu looked at Li Mu with a smile, since she knew Li Mu’s intentions, but she didn’t state them out loud.
Li Mu asked Yuan Hou to find the white crane.
Soon, those people saw the giant white crane unexpectedly descend from the sky.
After some arrangements, Li Mu left with more than a dozen people including Lord Virtuous the Eighth, Zhao Ji and w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yu, while some of the other lord’s guards returned on their own.
Master Qin watched everyone leave at the gate.
The originally lively Daoyin Temple was restored to its quietness.
“Leader, the text on the stele disappeared.” A little handsome Taoist priest approached and warned him in a low and pure voice, looking like he was only about ten years old.
Dao Qin nodded and said, “Yeah, it finally disappeared… finally, this day comes.”
“Leader, what should we do next?” The young Taoist priest, with dark eyes and a handsome face, looked far calmer than the ordinary.
Dao Qin said, “Let the disciples below the Cheng generation go down the mountain. Given the chaotic situation, we should just follow the instructions to go down to save the world and the people.”
“Yes.” The young Taoist priest turned and left.
Dao Qin, standing at the gate, watched the endless s.p.a.ce under the Mount Oxhead. It was late autumn, and it would not be long before the autumn wind blew, when the lively world would became a land of desolation.
Taoist doctrine was about hiding in the peak period and going down to save people in chaos.
That was the purpose.
Soon, many Taoist priests who had packed their luggage walked out of the temple.
Among them were old gray-haired people, teenagers, and more than a hundred young and energetic men with clean and patched Taoist robes.
They only took dried food, water, clothes, and wooden sticks.
Taoist priests from the Daoyin Temple were also masters.
They went over, seemingly bursting into tears and saluting to Dao Qin. Then they turned silently, stepping down the mountain road to travel in different directions. On the road, they saluted each other, and then scattered.
Dao Qin saluted back one by one.
That time, they were leaving to save the chaotic world.
Despite their powerful strength, the mundane disaster would be quite horrible. How many disciples could would return in the end?
The handsome young Taoist priest came out at the end of the crowd, carrying his bag with teary eyes. He saluted, saying, “Leader, I’m leaving now. Take care of yourself.”
The leader sighed and said, “Xuan Jizi, stay in the Daoyin Temple.”
“Ah? The brothers have all gone, and I am also below the character Cheng generation. I…” He was clearly surprised.
Dao Qin said with a smile, “Stay in the Daoyin Temple. If the world is stable and your brothers are all back, how can there be no one to open the door to meet them?”
The little priest suddenly realized something, and said in a trembling voice, “Lord, will you and the elders also leave?”
Dao Qin nodded, “We also have a mission to complete. How can we ignore the disaster?”
“But…” Xuan Jizi was extremely distressed and said, “But then, isn’t our Daoyin Temple… empty?”
Dao Qin smiled and said, “You are still here.”
Xuan Jizi suddenly burst into tears.
Since the leader suddenly changed his mind and ordered him to stay there, which showed how he clearly felt the danger of what they were about to face, he was not sure if they could come back alive. Was there any place where the leader could not escape to? Even so, he felt he might die.
“Lord, I…” Xuan Jizi wanted to say something.
Dao Qin gently stroked his head, and said, “Child, the Taoist blood of the Divine Land may depend on you to pa.s.s it down. Remember to practice after you close the door. Don’t play anymore. You are talented…”
After speaking, his figure turned into a streamer and disappeared directly.
At the same time, dozens of streamers rose up in the Daoyin Temple. They rushed to the sky, and disappeared in the far distance.
“Lord and elders… wow,” Xuan Jizi cried.
In the huge Daoyin Temple, from then on, he would be alone.
He stood alone at the door for a long time, and finally, slowly turned around and walked towards the gate.
“I will safeguard this mountain. Brothers will definitely come back, and as long as the bell at the door rings, I will come to open the door as soon as possible… and master, the elders, they will certainly be back.”
Xuan Jizi wiped his tears and said to himself loudly.
Bang!
The door closed.
As layers of invisible ripples appeared, the millennium matrix method was activated at that moment. The bricks, green tiles and wood buildings were hidden in the void and gradually disappeared, with only an iron bell hanging under an old pine tree.
On the clock were four Chinese characters—
The Way is Nature.