Chapter 12 "Dao Xing?"

"Dao Xing?"

Hu Ma hadn't expected Old Suanpan to give him that answer.

The concept of dao xing (cultivation level) went hand-in-hand with one's skills.

The limit for a person was three pillars of dao xing, but one could use certain methods to acquire four, or even more.

Besides, while dao xing was important, and the more one had the better one could endure in a desperate situation, that was only when the cultivation methods were similar and the skills were comparable. When the cultivation method was high-level enough, and the techniques were refined enough, dao xing could even seem a little useless.

Just like himself, whether it was zou gui (spirit walking) or shou sui (year guarding), his were the most profound methods. When he fought with others, the outcome was usually quickly decided, and there was no need to reach the point of comparing dao xing.

Moreover, there were many in this world who were good at cultivating dao xing. Some could cultivate two extra pillars of dao xing with insects. The Meng family's master even had nine pillars of dao xing, which didn't match what Old Suanpan was saying.

"It's a righteous method!"

As if seeing through Hu Ma's thoughts, Old Suanpan said in a low voice, "This is different from the dasheng zhuang (living sacrifice pillar) that I told you about before. It's a proper and upright method of seeking life from within."

Hearing him say this, Hu Ma's heart stirred slightly. "What is a righteous method? What is an unorthodox method?"

"Everything you see in the various sects is an unorthodox method."

Old Suanpan sighed and said, "The road to Shangqiao (Ascension Bridge) only came about after the advent of Lord Tai Sui, but cultivating dao xing was a method that people in various sects had long ago."

"It was much simpler back then than it is now. One could gain dao xing by killing people. Kill one person, gain one pillar. Of course, some killed good people, and some killed human demons."

"But whether it's killing good people or killing bad people, or using some method to refine an external body or an external soul, it's all actually deception, like a reflection in a mirror or the moon in the water. You can only see a shadow, and you can't bring it with you in life or death. Your life is still your life."

"But the real method is actually..."

Old Suanpan's comical face now seemed extremely solemn as he slowly said, "Killing oneself."

"Seizing life from the heavens."

"What you seize becomes your own, upright and proper, and your physical body will not die."

"..."

Listening to Old Suanpan's words, Hu Ma couldn't help but frown.

He didn't rush to ask how to "kill oneself," but saw through the clues: "He's the one who told you to tell me all this?"

Old Suanpan immediately shrank his neck and said in a low voice, "Just knowing is enough. I wouldn't remind you if you didn't know!"

"My skills aren't good enough to see the realm of heaven and earth. Skills in this world have their own realms. Only the chief priest can see that high and that far, and it has to be a chief priest who has already questioned heaven and earth."

"These words were all given to me by my cheap master to memorize. He said you would ask sooner or later. I don't have to tell you forcibly, but as long as you ask, I will say it."

"..."

"Is it because he knows I won't go to the bridge, but he's not resigned to it, so he's using this opportunity to tell me?"

Hu Ma wanted to vent his anger on Old Suanpan again.

But looking at his shrunken and droopy appearance, he just narrowed his eyes and said, "Then keep talking!"

"I'm just repeating what I heard..."

Old Suanpan said, "As for other things, about the matter of going to the bridge, he also said that going to the bridge is actually a way to avoid the world. It starts with the word 'hide', so it's not appropriate. Now that so many people have gone to the bridge, they have also encountered roadblocks and can't get through."

"Those who go to the bridge don't see their hometown, and that's why. So, if avoiding the world doesn't work, staying in the world and fighting for life with heaven and earth may be the right path."

"This method of cultivating dao xing, step by step, and the method of going to the bridge have become a yin and yang situation."

"It's just that if you go on, you might just end up in the same place, and you can step into that step of crossing the bridge. Or it might be to confirm a truth or a lie, and there's a big difference between them."

"..."

Hu Ma suddenly thought of the key point: "In other words, he himself has not practiced this method?"

"He said he doesn't have a hard enough life, and he's not cruel enough..."

Old Suanpan said, "Most importantly, he himself is one of the people who has gone the furthest on the bridge, and he can't get off."

Seeing Hu Ma fall into contemplation again, he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Okay, I've said everything I should say. It's not important anyway. He might not even know that I know you have four pillars of dao xing."

"I didn't want to tell you about the method of dasheng renzhu (living human pillar) earlier, but now that I think about it, it's better to have told you. Dasheng zhuang is a heretical method, and it has already blocked this path."

"Now, even if you want to cultivate dao xing, you can't."

"..."

"That's not an obstacle."

Listening to him, Hu Ma said lightly, "I've already cut off that pillar of incense from myself."

"If you had stayed in the blood food mine earlier, you should have seen the abnormality."

"..."

"Ah?"

Old Suanpan's eyes widened. After a long while, he said cautiously, "You didn't refine it back?"

"No."

Hu Ma gently exhaled and said, "I originally had other plans, but now I won't touch it for the time being."

Looking at his appearance, Old Suanpan fell silent. He originally wanted to tug on the donkey's ears to make it walk slower and quietly disappear from Hu Ma's sight, so he could think for himself.

He didn't expect the donkey to refuse to listen and walk faster and faster, insisting on following Hu Ma's carriage. This made him a little awkward to guard Hu Ma. After a long while, he tentatively said, "If you ask me, this..."

"...These words are not repeating what I heard. I really think so."

"..."

Hu Ma turned his head to look at him, signaling him to speak.

Old Suanpan cleared his throat and said, "If you ask me, what anyone says is useless. You have to see for yourself."

"You asked me about the problem of fate. I can't answer it because I don't have that high a perspective. Even if I know, it's just what I've heard, and it's not accurate. So, nothing is more useful than seeing it for yourself."

"Shangqiao?"

Hu Ma looked at him. To see his fate clearly, he had to go to the bridge.

"Fake bridge!"

Old Suanpan lowered his voice and said, "Now, in the various sects in the martial world, I don't know how many people want to go to the bridge, but those with shallow foundations can't go even if they want to."

"Some people, by chance, will take that step and see themselves clearly, but after all, they can't step firmly and slide down again. They often feel that it's their destiny, and from then on, they will settle down and live out their years."

"But to put it bluntly, it's just that their foundations are not strong enough."

"You are completely different from these people. Your foundation is too solid. You can go whenever you want, but your body is too heavy. Once you take this step, you have to worry about not being able to come down, but if..."

"...What can you use to hold yourself back, so you can just take a look and immediately return to the human world?"

"..."

"You can do that?"

Listening to him, Hu Ma's heart really stirred. He put down the curtain and seriously thought about the feasibility.

Going to the bridge, whether it was transcendence or avoiding the world, was described differently by different people, but it seemed that there was an instinct in people to "escape" or "avoid." Therefore, after his skills reached a certain level, the urge to go to the bridge was always there.

Anyway, it was already hard to suppress. If he just teased it a little without going in...

The more he thought about it, the more interesting it became. Outside the carriage window, the dazzling sunlight passed through the curtain and fell on his legs. It was noon.

Going to the bridge was entering the underworld, and he needed to find a time when the yin qi (yin energy) was strong, but if he wanted to come back, it was better when the yang qi (yang energy) was strong. As for the things that could hold him back, he thought of Little Hong Tang and looked down.

Little Hong Tang was lying beside him because she was bored from the journey. After a moment of愣, she understood his eyes and slowly rolled up her sleeves.

So Hu Ma felt relieved and slowly pondered. Suddenly, he closed his eyes.

In the next moment, everything around him suddenly showed a moment of strange movement. The wheels that were rolling over the muddy road seemed to lose their sound all of a sudden.

The clear wind that was passing through seemed to stagnate for a moment. The coachman in front raised his whip high, but at the moment when the tip of the whip was about to curl up and make a sharp crack, it was silent, as if time had been stolen.

"Hey, sister, let me tell you, there are more fun things."

"Before, in Shima Town, we taught a lesson to an old official with a big head and a small body. You don't know, that old official looked funny, but he was very fierce, but my brothers and I teased him..."

In the carriage behind, Immortal Maiden Miaoshan was telling stories to Miss Zhou Si, who yearned for the martial world but was strictly controlled by her family and hadn't been in the martial world for a few days. But the more Miss Zhou Si listened, the more confused she became: "Sister, the person you're talking about sounds a little familiar?"

"Ah, then I'll change one..."

Immortal Maiden Miaoshan said, "I told you, I have many brothers and sisters, all with good skills."

"And ah, we never hide our good skills. We teach whoever wants to learn. But do you think it's funny or not? We want to teach our own skills to others, and the people who are teaching are willing, and the people who are learning are willing, but other people don't want to."

"That time ah, we met a guy named Zhou, nicknamed Cloud Grasping Hand, who came over and pointed fingers, but when we started fighting, our eldest brother taught him a good lesson..."

"He was hung on a tree for a few days..."

"..."

Miss Zhou Si couldn't laugh anymore. She said a little awkwardly, "My surname is Zhou."

"Sister, the person you're talking about seems... to be my third uncle!"

"..."

The atmosphere in the carriage, which had been happily chatting all the way, began to become a little awkward.

Miss Zhou Si and Immortal Maiden Miaoshan stared at each other, both feeling that things seemed a little wrong. Immortal Maiden Miaoshan told many stories about indebted rich men and rigid people in the martial world. Miss Zhou Si also told many stories about bandits who did evil and were bent on causing trouble...

Obviously, the two of them had a lot to talk about when they got together, but now...

"Buzz!"

But just when the eyes of the two of them had changed a little, and the atmosphere began to move towards the edge of being out of control, suddenly, Miss Zhou Si was startled and suddenly took her eyes back from Immortal Maiden Miaoshan.

In that instant, the surprise in her heart was indescribable. Without even thinking, her figure suddenly passed through the carriage and leaped ten zhang (approx. 33 meters).

"You... could it be..."

She looked at the carriage where Hu Ma was and her expression was indescribable. She couldn't believe her guess.

How could someone do such a thing while traveling?

Shouldn't this be carefully prepared for many years to avoid accidents?