Chapter 296: The Observation Diagram

Mo Hua couldn't help but open his mouth in shock.

He hadn't expected the cultivation world to be so vast, so many cultivators, and that he'd be lucky enough to become the first to try the crab.

Mo Hua was torn—he didn't want to eat the crab; without precedent, if his method was wrong, he'd get sick.

"Then what should I do?" Mo Hua asked. "Will one day my mind sea be corrupted by evil thoughts, lose my true heart, and truly become a man-eating ghost?"

Mr. Zhuang glanced at Mo Hua. "Don't worry needlessly—you've already eaten living ghosts. What are a few lingering after-death thoughts?"

"You're at most…" Mr. Zhuang paused, then found a word: "indigestion."

"Indigestion…" Mo Hua thought for a moment, then understood.

"Digestive trouble?"

Mr. Zhuang nodded. "You could put it that way."

Mo Hua relaxed, then began asking a string of other questions:

Mo Hua asked: "Can you eat all those evil things and ghosts?"

I mentioned those subtle details before, and Mo Hua could have figured them out himself—truly, his talent is brilliant, his comprehension abysmal.

Mo Hua nodded repeatedly, carefully committing these rare cultivation secrets to memory.

"Foundation Establishment is building the foundation of the small Dao…"

Seeing Mo Hua lost in thought, his brow deeply furrowed, his expression puzzled, Mr. Zhuang stopped teasing and asked with deep meaning:

Mo Hua understood.

Mo Hua's expression turned solemn.

Mr. Zhuang thought for a moment, decided to start from the basics, and asked Mo Hua:

Originally, Mo Hua's realm was so low he couldn't possibly encounter such things, yet now he'd somehow inexplicably found an observation diagram and swallowed the ghost inside—before, he couldn't be certain what he'd meet next.

"These aren't common cultivation knowledge," Tian Meiyan said. "They're cultivation secrets—only known to ancient clans skilled in spiritual sense, or ancient sects preserving formation arts. Ordinary cultivators cannot possibly know them."

Mo Hua silently thought to himself, but he knew: if Tian Meiyan asked this, it wasn't that simple.

"Martial arts activate the body with spiritual power; spells use spiritual sense to manipulate meridians; formations use spiritual sense to commune with the Dao, transmitting spiritual currents through formation patterns. Other cultivation paths are much the same, merely differing in emphasis."

"There are dangers in the world you cannot see," Mr. Zhuang said.

After this conversation with Mr. Zhuang, Mo Hua understood much, and sincerely said: "Thank you, Master!"

Besides Mr. Zhuang, no one else could speak to him of these things.

Tian Meiyan's gaze grew deep. "Do you know why I'm telling you so much now?"

"Meditation cultivates character; formations hone comprehension?"

Mo Hua suddenly understood.

Tian Meiyan still disliked this disciple—he didn't want him to fall into irreversible ruin through ignorance and fearlessness.

But why tell him this? Mo Hua couldn't yet grasp it.

Even Tian Meiyan, so profound and inscrutable, found it terrifying?

A clever disciple is also troublesome—quick mind, many questions, exhausting to answer.

Mo Hua listened in dread, yet asked doubtfully:

Mo Hua smiled sheepishly.

Mr. Zhuang nodded. "Correct. Any ability a cultivator possesses is built upon spiritual sense, spiritual power, and the physical body."

"Lonely mountains, ancient temples, sealed caves, buried tombs—all harbor unspeakable evil entities or ghosts. They feed on human spiritual sense and specialize in corrupting the heart."

Mo Hua's voice crisp, he fired off a long string of questions.

Tian Meiyan looked at Mo Hua in surprise.

Then he asked: "When you first saw that observation diagram, you saw a child monk; now when you look again, the child monk has become a great ghost. Why? Do all observation diagrams have two forms?"

"Are they all hidden inside the diagram?"

Mr. Zhuang said: "One looks at character, seven at cultivation."

"All things in the world have both appearance and essence; observation diagrams are no different. The images within are their appearance; above appearance lies the essence of spiritual thought."

Mr. Zhuang was surprised Mo Hua grasped it so quickly and nodded. "Yes."

How could such a tiny diagram hold it all?

Mo Hua mentally reviewed Tian Meiyan's answers once more, realizing Mr. Zhuang's words all related to "spiritual sense" and "the Dao."

Mr. Zhuang rubbed his forehead.

Tian Meiyan tapped Mo Hua's head. "Don't be greedy. Don't think everything can be eaten."

"Correct," Mr. Zhuang said. "In other words, observation diagrams are merely vessels for spiritual sense. What they contain are residual spiritual sense left by certain cultivators through chance, or spiritual thoughts born by non-human entities through coincidence."

"These spiritual senses or spiritual thoughts are commonly called evil entities or ghosts by cultivators."

"Master, how are observation diagrams created? You said they conceal danger—this great ghost, is that the danger? Is it the 'non-human' Dao you mentioned? Do all observation diagrams contain such ghosts? What should I do if I encounter them again?"

"Appearance and essence, essence and appearance…"

"Whenever you encounter anything strange, bizarre, or inexplicable in the cultivation world, if you're lost and have no clue, consider these eight categories."

Without Mr. Zhuang's guidance, I would never have known these cultivation truths. If I truly encountered a powerful ghost, I might die without even knowing how.

Mr. Zhuang said coolly: "His spiritual sense is weak, his character too greedy, his heart clouded by desire, his understanding of the Dao too poor—he naturally cannot see through it."

Mo Hua thought for a while, grew dizzy from the complexity, and asked:

Mr. Zhuang warned: "These evil entities and ghosts vary in strength. The blue-faced great ghost you encountered was strong enough to be swallowed by you—if you met a weaker one, you wouldn't know who'd eat whom."

"That's why I told you observation diagrams conceal danger, harboring the non-human Dao…"

"No, it's not that complicated to classify," Mr. Zhuang patiently explained.

"So the child monk in the diagram is the appearance, and the blue-faced great ghost is its essence?"

"All extraordinary abilities of cultivators rely on these three. Do you know what these three are?"

"Weak to an alarming degree."

Mo Hua asked: "Are those knowledge also part of Dao cultivation common sense?"

It seems character is still very important; otherwise, it's easy to be blinded by appearances, to be clouded by greed, and fail to see the true nature of things, thus diverging from the Dao.

"Dao insight..." Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then asked doubtfully: "How can one enhance one's insight into the Dao?"

Mr. Zhuang raised his slender finger and hurriedly said:

"How weak can it get?" Mo Hua felt a flicker of curiosity.

"How would you distinguish it?"

"Whether it's a stronger ghost or demonic entity, or a faint and powerless spirit or evil deity, all that exist in this world must have a vessel to inhabit—this vessel is the contemplation diagram."

"Understood?"

"Those eight points: the first is most direct, the seventh requires time, and the eighth is the hardest."

"First, rely on spiritual awareness. If your spiritual awareness is weak, weaker than the spiritual thought within the contemplation diagram's ghost or demonic entity, you can pierce through its true nature."

Mo Hua nodded, suddenly feeling his horizons broaden.

Mr. Zhuang's eyes flickered with deep dread, his tone solemn:

"Second, rely on insight into the Dao. The deeper your insight into the Dao, the closer you are to its essence, and the more clearly you can see the true nature hidden beneath appearances."

Mr. Zhuang nodded. "Correct."

"So the great ghost in the contemplation diagram has no physical body, no flesh or blood—it is pure spiritual thought, merely pure spiritual awareness?"

Seeing Mo Hua hesitate as if wanting to speak but holding back, Mr. Zhuang sighed: "If you want to ask, ask. Don't suppress it inside."

"Strong spiritual awareness cultivators who encounter such things cannot see them, cannot touch them, and may die before they even realize how they died—either their spiritual awareness is completely devoured, or their mind sea is seized by demonic entities, unaware, controlled, becoming living corpses, puppets."

"But..." Mo Hua looked puzzled. "The Eighth Master also has weak spiritual awareness—why couldn't he pierce the true nature of the contemplation diagram?"

Mo Hua thought again from beginning to end, and gradually understood:

He could ask; Mr. Zhuang could answer—or choose not to.

"But most of these spirits and evil deities are inherently wicked, their spiritual thoughts devious; cultivators who revere them rarely meet a good end..."

Mo Hua followed Mr. Zhuang's words and thought further:

"Third, rely on experience. The more contemplation diagrams you've seen, the more your intuition can discern truth from falsehood, and pierce through appearances."

Mr. Zhuang's choice of how much or how little to answer was always deliberate.

"Some diagrams—the appearance is the true nature; others—the true nature is merely a deeper-hidden appearance."

Mo Hua smiled brightly and said: "Thank you, Mr.!"

Mr. Zhuang smiled faintly, his expression showing disagreement:

"Not spiritual awareness, spiritual power, and physical body?" Mo Hua replied.

Mr. Zhuang glanced at Mo Hua, pondered for a moment, and decided it was better to give him a warning first.

Mr. Zhuang shook his head. "Though called contemplation diagrams, they aren't necessarily diagrams. Some murals, stone statues, strange patterns—all may be objects of contemplation. Cultivators simply habitually refer to them all as 'contemplation diagrams.'"

"Your spiritual awareness is weak, but because you meditate daily and draw arrays daily, your insight into the Dao is profound—so unconsciously, you pierced the true nature of the blue-faced great ghost. The blue-faced great ghost then slipped into your mind sea, intending to devour your spiritual awareness..."

"Have you decided what kind of Foundation Establishment you'll build?"

"Do all contemplation diagrams have both appearance and true nature?"

Mo Hua frowned, thought deeply for a moment, then suddenly his eyes lit up and he said:

"Some entities exist longer, their spiritual thoughts overwhelming, nearly indestructible—cultivators' spiritual awareness cannot even perceive them. Some cultivators, filled with reverence, worship them as 'spirits' or 'evil deities,' bowing before them in devotion."

"Understood," Mo Hua said, then remembered something else: "But..."

"Because you asked me..."