Chapter 214: Dao follows nature

Yan Buji did not get the answer he wanted, but Ming Zhong obviously also did not want to tell him.

In that case, there may be great turmoil outside; it's better to hide within the Clear Wind Observatory for a while.

In the following time, Yan Buji daily contemplated the Shaking Dragon Scripture, reduced his time going out, and devoted himself to cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, another three months passed.

That day, Yan Buji sat inside the stone house when suddenly a scorching heat qi emanated from beneath him; the earthly evil qi within the heat qi rushed toward his dantian, constantly entangling with his magical power, wearing down its killing nature, and gradually forming a new kind of magical power!

By circulating this magical power through the heavenly cycle, Yan Buji finally mastered the first layer of the Shaking Dragon Scripture!

"Oh! Not bad, using killing qi to temper magical power not only strengthens it but also accelerates cultivation. However, the limitation is great—it must be done where there are earth veins." Yan Buji's eyes lit up.

The Shaking Dragon Scripture cultivates using killing qi, so it inevitably erodes the cultivator's body. Yan Buji's physical strength is adequate, and with the Martial Dao Profound Skill protecting him, he can withstand the impact of the killing qi.

But erosion itself is a silent, subtle process; even after mastering the Shaking Dragon Scripture, one must still be cautious of the killing qi's effect on oneself.

All of his techniques are pure-yang cultivation methods, which cannot tolerate impurity, so he must be extremely careful.

Having mastered the Shaking Dragon Scripture, he next needed to find his Master, Ming Zhong.

Inside the Dao Cang Ge.

Yan Buji found Ming Zhong, demonstrated his mastered Shaking Dragon Scripture, and Ming Zhong appeared very pleased.

"Good, good, good! Master did not misjudge your monthly progress; you are indeed a fine seedling for cultivating the Shaking Dragon Scripture!"

"It is entirely thanks to Master's nurturing."

"Hmm, since that's the case, Master will hand over the entire continuation of the Shaking Dragon Scripture to you; this Shaking Dragon Scripture remains greatly useful even if you cultivate to the Golden Core Phase—you can refer to it to plan your future cultivation methods." Ming Zhong laughed.

"You can actually cultivate to the Golden Core Phase?!" Yan Buji exclaimed in surprise, taking the complete Shaking Dragon Scripture and putting it away.

Ming Zhong nodded: "This Shaking Dragon Scripture has five layers in total, but it is not the complete text. It should be the preliminary section of some great cultivation method; unfortunately, Master's aptitude is insufficient, so I can only cultivate up to the third layer."

Upon hearing this, Yan Buji's cheeks twitched slightly.

No, why do all these techniques have continuations? Does cultivating techniques just mean constantly seeking their sequels?

Although one could also not seek them and instead create a new system of techniques, knowing that the original technique has a continuation makes one feel something is missing if they don't go look for it.

Ming Zhong looked at Yan Buji and smiled: "Opportunity is predestined by heaven; those are matters for the future."

"Yes, Master."

"By the way, what technique did you cultivate before?"

"It is the Five Elements Technique I painstakingly figured out myself, with the attributes of the Wind and Thunder Technique." Yan Buji laid bare his foundations, demonstrating his Five Elements Technique and Wind and Thunder Technique in front of him.

Although Yan Buji is not careless, it is clear that Ming Zhong holds nothing back toward this disciple of his; moreover, he has never told Yan Buji to do anything specific, merely letting him cultivate well and giving him everything.

Such a good master is rare; Yan Buji does not fear any ill intent from him, for if he truly had ill intent, Yan Buji could not defeat him anyway, so it's better to simply choose to trust.

This world still has many good people, but good people usually do not live long.

Yan Buji demonstrated his technique, and Ming Zhong's eyes lit up: "Not bad, your Five Elements Technique cycles through the five elements' mutual generation; although the technique is simple, its foundation is solid. Your Wind and Thunder Technique, while slightly superior to your Five Elements Technique, is not impossible to harmonize."

"Please teach me, Master!"

Ming Zhong nodded and smiled: "Go read through all the Dao scriptures on the first floor."

"Yes!"

Yan Buji understood Ming Zhong's meaning: let him resolve the issue of harmonizing magical power, i. e., have the Five Elements Technique incorporate the Wind and Thunder Technique, so that his technique system would become unified, avoiding the need to use them separately.

Most importantly, Yan Buji's foundation of cultivation techniques is built upon the Five Elements Technique framework, which cannot be changed. For future considerations, these problems require him to think and solve them himself; others can only offer suggestions, not directly intervene to solve them.

The problem is solved, but cultivating a cultivator's independent and self-reliant character and the accumulation of knowledge is what matters most.

Yan Buji believed Ming Zhong's words; the Dao Cang Ge contains nearly a thousand Dao scriptures, and even if he read one per day, it would take him three to four years to fully comprehend them, assuming he can understand the scriptures' content and derive corresponding knowledge points.

However, time is not important to Yan Buji at present.

He is only fifty years old; a Lianqi Phase cultivator who takes good care of himself can easily live to one hundred fifty.

Since there is no urgent need for great power to protect himself now, with the Clear Wind Observatory and Master standing ahead, he can also cultivate in peace.

This is also the greatest benefit of his joining the Clear Wind Observatory.

Day by day, year by year.

In the blink of an eye, almost everyone in the Clear Wind Observatory forgot that Elder Ming Zhong still had a disciple, since they hadn't seen each other in a long time; unless they were very close, no one would mention him daily.

Yan Buji sat cross-legged in the stone house, currently interpreting the last Dao scripture stored in the Qing Feng Ge.

He felt that the more he read, the less he understood.

Previously, when discussing Buddhist and Daoist scriptural principles, Yan Buji could ramble on endlessly, but the more he engaged with them, the more he felt himself becoming insignificant.

The writings left by the ancients are few, some merely ten thousand characters;

but the ideas they left behind are great; even a mere thousand characters require Yan Buji to spend several months savoring and understanding them.

Words carry ideas; Daoist ideas are many, but Yan Buji feels that when summarized they amount to just a few characters.

"Dao, law natural."

"Dao law natural."

"Dao law, natural."

There is an entity, chaotic and boundless, formless and soundless, perfectly unified; it already existed before heaven and earth were split. It is singular, without equal, never changing, yet it pervades all things without ceasing, and can serve as the foundation of the world, heaven, earth, all things, and even the universe.

Not knowing its true name, they used "Dao" as its name, reluctantly calling it "the Great." This "Great" constantly transforms, meaning it is everywhere, reaches everywhere, permeates ancient to modern, the eight directions and six unions; reaching the farthest extremes, it naturally returns to the origin.

Because the Dao is so boundless and endless—it both creates the myriad things of the universe and causes all things to return to the Dao—thus we say the Dao is great, and those who follow the Dao—heaven, earth, and people—are also great. The universe has four "Greats," and humanity is one of them. People follow the earth's laws and characteristics; the earth emulates heaven; heaven takes the Dao as the basis for its operation; and the Dao naturally does so.

"Naturally so."

Yan Buji's entire being was immersed in a mysterious epiphany; this epiphany was not a breakthrough in cultivation, but rather like after gaining a new understanding of himself as the entity called "Yan Buji," he entered a breakthrough on another level.

He thought that "Yan Buji" pursued the unification of his "innate desire, heart desire, and heavenly desire," but this does not prevent "Yan Buji" from incorporating the understood "Dao law natural" into himself after encountering Daoist ideas.

For him, the way of viewing things can not only be understood through "desire," but also expound the relationship among "Dao, law natural," "Dao law natural," and "Dao law, natural."

"I can seek a breakthrough in the Dao from within my heart, or I can emulate heaven and earth to pursue the ultimate Great Dao. Fundamentally, my Dao is the pursuit of fulfillment of my 'innate desire, heart desire, and heavenly desire'; the desires that come naturally from heaven are what my body and mind wish to obtain, not to follow nature's course."

Yan Buji had a slight epiphany; this sudden understanding caused his spirit and will to undergo another subtle transformation. Though not as intense as before, it also made him more composed.