Chapter 1 A Bit Awkward

Things were a little awkward.

A wonderful mood, turned somewhat sour.

Lu Changsheng fell into silence.

The pit he had dug was, after all, the one he was now stuck in.

What to do! What to do!

Lu Changsheng felt this was the biggest crisis he had encountered in his life.

The previous matters were easy to deal with.

But this matter was a bit troublesome.

People had cultivated diligently for half a year, then you told them to leave, and when they came back, you hadn't even figured out how to teach them.

Who wouldn't feel aggrieved?

He could get away with a few perfunctory remarks now, like, "Have you comprehended it?" or "Do you understand?"

But what about later?

Ask them every day, "Have you comprehended it?" Only a fool would fall for that.

Not everyone is Liu Qingfeng.

Rubbing his temples.

Lu Changsheng quietly thought back to what he had said in the beginning.

"Chop firewood every day, without using Daoist techniques, until one day, you chop five hundred *jin* (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 1.1 pounds) of firewood in a single day, then it's over!"

"Fetch a bucket of water every day, and wipe the main hall inside and out, making sure the hall is free of even a speck of dust, and after wiping, the water must still be clear."

What kind of logic-defying genius came up with these questions?

How utterly idiotic.

Wipe it clean, and the water still has to be clear? Even a water purifier isn't that powerful, right?

Thinking carefully, there were quite a few more.

Like going to a town outside the Great Luo Holy Land and doing a good deed, without seeking anything in return, and without leaving your name. The task is only complete when someone discovers you're a Great Luo disciple.

Or advancing to become an inner disciple without relying on any outside forces, and then imparting Daoist techniques.

Even more ridiculous was, ring the bell once in the morning, once at noon, and once in the evening. Only when the bell rings on its own will I impart Daoist techniques.

Damn it, it's not an alarm clock, how could it ring on its own?

Could it be that the bell has grown up, become sensible, and move by itself? Oh, no, ring by itself?

As for sweeping all the leaves in the main hall...

That was also impossible.

Rubbing his temples.

Lu Changsheng was a little regretful. Why had he been so casual back then?

At this moment, Lu Changsheng desperately wished someone could travel through time and return to the very beginning, to warn him not to be foolish, even if it was just to leave a comment in this chapter.

Headache, headache, what a headache.

Lu Changsheng was crying, truly and genuinely crying.

Why did he have to go and create trouble for himself?

But sighing and lamenting was useless.

Lu Changsheng still had to honestly think of a way to muddle through.

And so, within the main hall of the main peak.

Strange sounds could be heard from time to time.

"Heh, I've got it!"

"Oh, no!"

"Heh, I've got it!"

"Oh, still no."

Outside the door, Gu Aotian and Long Ma fell into deep thought.

"Third brother, what do you think eldest brother is doing?"

"The Dharma, is wondrous beyond words!"

Who knew what Lu Changsheng was doing, but he was too embarrassed to say he didn't know, so Gu Aotian came up with this line.

Meanwhile.

Wang Ye and the others had already left the main peak, each of them looking worried.

"Alas, who would have thought that Senior Brother Lu had us do these things as a way to test us."

Wang Ye sighed and said.

"That's right, who would have thought? I thought Senior Brother Lu simply wanted me to do good deeds, but I didn't expect there to be a hidden meaning."

"Don't even mention it, I'm really annoyed right now. What can you comprehend from wiping the main hall every day? If I still can't figure it out in three days, I'm afraid I'll be scolded by Senior Brother."

"He probably won't scold us. Senior Brother is such a good person. It's just that if word gets out, we'll inevitably be laughed at."

"Actually, being laughed at isn't a big deal. The main thing is that I can't get past my father's scrutiny. If my father knows I can't even comprehend this, you probably won't see me this year."

"Alas!"

Dozens of disciples sighed, both male and female.

They never expected that Lu Changsheng's arrangements for them to do these things would contain hidden meanings.

In reality, even Lu Changsheng himself hadn't thought about why he had arranged for them to do this.

But in any case, Wang Ye and the others still honestly did the tasks at hand, hoping to have an epiphany within these three days and comprehend something.

And so, three days later.

Inside the main hall of the Great Luo main peak.

Lu Changsheng had finally come up with a solution.

Although it might not be enough to fool them completely, it was at least better than continuing to have them do hard labor.

On this day.

Wang Ye and the others also arrived as scheduled, in the main hall of the main peak.

Twenty-seven people in total.

Each of them was a little nervous.

They hadn't been nervous before, but after Lu Changsheng asked them if they had comprehended anything three days ago, they had become nervous.

Because at first, everyone thought that Lu Changsheng had them do these things simply to train themselves, but who would have thought that this eldest senior brother was actually having them comprehend the Dao.

For the past three days, everyone hadn't eaten, drunk, or slept, their minds filled with thoughts of what to comprehend.

"Wang Ye, have you comprehended anything?"

Lu Changsheng's expression was gentle, without a trace of anger. Instead, his eyes smiled as he asked Wang Ye.

"Senior Brother, this junior brother is foolish and unable to comprehend anything."

Wang Ye kowtowed on the ground, saying with utmost sincerity.

"Then let me ask you, what was the task that I assigned to you?"

Lu Changsheng asked.

"To chop firewood every day, until I can chop five hundred *jin* of firewood in a single day."

Wang Ye answered truthfully.

"Then do you have any insights?"

Lu Changsheng asked with a smile, his face handsome, like a refreshing spring breeze, and his eyes filled with wisdom.

"Insights?" Wang Ye pondered for a moment, then opened his mouth and said, "This junior brother has no insights, except that when I first started felling trees, I thought about completing the task as soon as possible every day."

Wang Ye replied.

Lu Changsheng nodded, then stood up, walked outside the main hall, and looked towards the distant mountains.

"You go up the mountain every day, and you go down the mountain every day. Apart from felling trees, don't you have any other gains or insights?"

Lu Changsheng's eyes were filled with a smile, like a refreshing spring breeze, and like a great wise man, every move he made was full of wisdom.

Wang Ye was silent for a while, lost in thought. After a while, he slowly said.

"If I say I have nothing, that is naturally impossible. If I say I have something, it may not necessarily be an insight. This junior brother feels that a sapling must wait a hundred years to become a towering tree."

"But after becoming a towering tree, it may be mercilessly cut down. After a lifetime of hard work, it all comes to nothing. Sometimes I feel that these trees are very pitiful, but when I think about it carefully, although they are cut down as firewood, they are reborn in another way, becoming tables and chairs, and then I don't feel so sorry."

Wang Ye murmured, saying this.

Lu Changsheng nodded, looking at Wang Ye with satisfaction.

"Then you have already comprehended it."

He smiled, his eyes seeming to see through everything in the world, like a great wise man descending to earth, every move filled with wisdom.

"Already comprehended it?"

Wang Ye was stunned. He didn't know what he had comprehended.

But at this moment, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in his mind. Wang Ye frowned, and after a long time, he looked at Lu Changsheng and couldn't help but say.

"Senior Brother, did you have me chop firewood every day to tell me that all things in the world have a cycle, that anything that seems to disappear will actually continue in another way? Should we cultivators learn from trees, burning ourselves to illuminate others?"

Wang Ye murmured, he seemed to understand, but he also seemed not to understand.

"Great wisdom."

Lu Changsheng didn't say anything, just slowly uttered these three words.

In fact, what he originally wanted to say was that everything has value, even seemingly ordinary trees will have corresponding value.

But he didn't expect Wang Ye to be so perceptive, he had actually comprehended another layer of meaning.

He was really something.

In an instant, Wang Ye was stunned.

He sat down cross-legged and began to ponder. Immediately afterwards, the spiritual energy in his body became violent, but after a stick of incense, Wang Ye broke through, from the Core Formation realm, officially breaking through to the Golden Core realm.

At this moment, the others were shocked.

Lu Changsheng was also shocked.

He could break through with that?

Are you kidding me?