Infinite true path

"Do books also make people feel lonely?" Huan Yin asked subconsciously.

The old man didn't answer, but asked Huan Yin: "Do you feel lonely?"

Huan Yin thought for a while and thought: "Occasionally."

The old man asked again: "Why are you lonely?"

"It's because no one talks to me." Huan Yin looked at the old man in front of him with confusion, not knowing what he wanted to say.

After listening to Huan Yin's words, the old man nodded and smiled: "That's right, language is a way to express one's thoughts. If you are lonely, it is not so much that you want to talk to others, but that you are suffering from your own thoughts being stuck in your head. Not known to outsiders, right?"

Huan Yin's eyes lit up: "Senior has a profound understanding of life. This kid has learned a lesson."

The old man then asked: "Why did you come to read these classics?"

Huan Yin replied: "Of course it is to increase my knowledge."

"Well, knowledge is also a kind of human thought. What is recorded in this book is the thought of the author, so there are thousands of thoughts here. Do you think they will be lonely?" The old man looked at Huan Yin. , with a smile on his face.

Huan Yin was shocked. He didn't expect that this old man could say such a profound truth about a simple matter. However, he still had doubts in his mind at this moment, so he asked again: "Senior, if you don't read these classics when you come here, won't your thoughts here still be lonely?"

The old man shook his head and said: "I have read the classics here countless times, and many of them are even written by me. I am here just to accompany them, how can I help them relieve their loneliness?"

"Seniors also have many thoughts left here?" Huan Yin asked.

The old man nodded: "Quite a few."

Huan Yin suddenly realized: "Senior, you are lonely."

The old man laughed: "Then can you accompany me, a lonely old man?"

Huan Yin arrived immediately: "Senior, please speak."

This time, the old man looked at Huan Yin for a while before asking: "Why do you want to learn to make swords and work so hard?"

Huan Yin subconsciously thought of his master Duan Yun, who led him to the path of sword making. Then he thought of Lan Yu. He came to participate in this weapon master selection test because of his beauty. Finally, he thought of Lan Tongtian. He made a bet with Lan Tongtian that he could pass the weapon master selection test this time to prove that his way was correct.

But in the end, Huan Yin somehow felt that what he just thought about didn't represent his desire to learn sword-making, so he could only say with shame: "Senior and junior don't remember why they want to learn sword-making." ”

Unexpectedly, after hearing Huan Yin's words, the old man not only did not frown, but laughed and said: "It's better to forget, it's better to forget."

Huan Yin was puzzled and asked: "Senior, why do you want to practice sword making?"

The old man smiled heartily: "I forgot about it too."

Huan Yin didn't expect that this seemingly inscrutable old man would give such a humble answer, and he seemed to be vaguely proud of it, and the confusion on his face became even heavier.

"Everyone has a motivation for embarking on a certain path, such as making swords. Maybe you did it for the beauty, for relatives and friends, or to prove yourself at first, but if you always keep these motivations in your heart to practice, Then your cultivation will be inseparable from those superficial purposes, and it will be difficult to achieve the Tao in the end. On the contrary, some people, as their cultivation becomes deeper and deeper, they gradually forget why they want to cultivate. , putting aside distracting thoughts, it seems that he is cultivating without purpose, but in fact his purpose is to cultivate for the sake of cultivating, and to cultivate for the sake of the Tao. The mind that only contains thoughts of the Tao is the Tao mind, and the Tao that it creates is the Great Way.”

The old man's words were always calm, but in Huan Yin's ears, his words sounded like thousands of thunders exploding at the same time.

Cultivation for the sake of cultivation, cultivation for the Dao, without distracting thoughts, only then can you achieve the Dao!

Huan Yin did not expect that the old man's few words actually contained wisdom that he had not heard in the past ten years. Even now, he has not fully realized the full meaning of the old man's words. It seems that Huan Yin needs a long time to understand the few words of the old man.

Huan Yin bowed deeply to the old man and said solemnly: "Huan Yin will bear in mind the kindness of the seniors!"

From that day on, Huan Yin would go to the eighth floor of the Nine-Storied Pagoda every day, and the old man would wait for Huan Yin there every time.

Huan Yin never asked the old man what his name was, and the old man never mentioned it. The two of them, one old and one young, maintained an indescribable tacit understanding, and they would talk for a long time on the eighth floor every day. However, this kind of discussion can actually be said to be the old man trying to clear up Huan Yin's doubts.

The old man had no idea of ​​what topics he would discuss with Huan Yin every day. Maybe one day the two of them were talking about life, the next day they were talking about cultivating immortals, but the third day it would be something else. Talking about these topics might not be of much help to Huan Yin, who was about to take the weapon master selection test. However, Huan Yin did not feel impatient at all, and even often chatted with the old man on the eighth floor for several hours in a row.

Today is the day before the weapon master selection test. Tomorrow all participating weapon masters will face the Yijian Peak weapon master selection test that they have prepared for many years. So today, all the weapon cultivators are seizing the last moment to improve themselves so that they have a greater chance of passing.

However, Huan Yin was still walking on the way to the Nine-Storied Pagoda at this moment. He was not going to read the classics, but still wanted to see the old man and chat with him for a while - this has become Huan Yin's story. It has been my habit for a long time, come rain or shine.

"Senior, I'm here." After reaching the eighth floor, Huan Yin greeted the old man cross-legged on the ground, like a greeting between old friends.

The old man nodded: "Well, tomorrow you will take the weapon master selection test, so today is my last time here."

Huan Yin was a little surprised: "Old senior, can I never see you again in the future?"

The old man looked at Huan Yin and said, "Why bother?"

Huan Yin suddenly remembered the word "fate" that he had talked about with the old man. The old man had reminded him that fate was too elusive and difficult to figure out, so he should not be attached to it. If you are persistent, it becomes seeking fate. You must know that fate cannot be sought.

Huan Yin immediately realized: "This junior is superficial."

"Well, I only have two questions to ask you today. After I finish asking them, you can leave." The old man nodded.

Huan Yin bowed to the old man: "Senior, please ask."

The old man looked at Huan Yin and pointed his finger at him: "Why don't you try it?"

Huan Yin looked at the direction the old man was pointing, and he knew that what the old man was asking was why Huan Yin didn't try to break into the last level of the nine-story pagoda. Huan Yin thought for a while and then answered: "This junior can't get through it."

"Why can't you get through?" the old man asked again.

"Although this junior doesn't know what the assessment for the upper level is, I know that my accumulation is far from enough. Even if this junior knows a little bit about the way of enlightenment, if the foundation is not solid, how can one build castles in the air? " Huan Yin replied.

"If you don't try, how will you know you're not good?"

"The reason why I don't want to break through is not because I'm afraid of not being good enough, but because I don't want to be too presumptuous. Because I know that the last level belongs to Lan Yanzi, the ancestor of Yijian Peak. I don't think that my intellectual attainments can match those of Lan Yanzi. Compared with him. So even if I get through the ninth level by chance with my current knowledge, I am not worthy of being on the same level as Senior Lan Yanzi."

"You don't want a name as good as Lan Yanzi?" The old man seemed a little surprised.

"Juniors want to be real, not famous."

This time, the old man nodded repeatedly: "It's better to be real, not famous. If the younger disciples of my Yijianfeng are like you, maybe one day my sword-making skills at Yijianfeng will be truly unparalleled in the world. You may not. As a new generation, it is really rare to be able to not be too self-confident, recognize oneself, and constantly pursue pragmatism.”

In this sentence, Huan Yin somehow heard a hint of lamentation in the old man's tone.

The old man paused for a while, then regained his composure and said, "Okay, second question, what is a sword?"

As a sword cultivator, Huan Yin has thought about this common question countless times. He has even discussed it with his close colleagues and even his elders. However, everyone has different answers to this question, and these answers all seem reasonable at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they always feel that there are some shortcomings. Therefore, Huan Yin actually does not have a deep understanding of this issue now.

In the end, Huan Yin shook his head and said: "This junior is stupid and does not have a deep understanding of this issue."

The old man glanced at Huan Yin and said: "The more common and simple the question seems, the more profound the truth contained in it is. It is natural that you are young and do not have a good understanding of this question. You and I are destined. So today I will tell you my thoughts on this issue, which is a blessing."

As soon as the old man said these words, Huan Yin somehow felt that the old man in front of him had been with him for more than a month just to ask these two questions today. The first question is about asking, and the second question is about giving back.

Before Huan Yin could think more about this inexplicable feeling, the old man had already continued: "I have been making swords for more than a thousand years in my life, and the sword in my hand is no less than three thousand. In my opinion, the sword is Like snow, if it falls on a branch, it remains unchanged in nature. But if it adheres to the ground, it condenses into ice. If it falls on a lake or sea, it turns into clear water. If it is burned by the scorching sun, it turns into mist. So. , In fact, the sword has never actively changed. What the sword is, just depends on the person who forges the sword, and the sword is different. Huan Yin, what kind of sword you make depends on whether you are a branch, the earth, a lake, a sea, or a scorching sun. ”

After saying that, the old man laughed, and his figure gradually blurred and disappeared from Huan Yin's eyes.

Hi everyone, this is the fourth update. I’m really tired, but I’m very happy to have your subscriptions. Thank you!