Chapter 18: Beyond Luyang City, Beside the River of Longevity (Part Three)
The River of Longevity flows through Luyang, enters Lujiang, and finally merges with the sea.
The cultivator, who happened to share the name Longevity, eventually departed, leaving Old Ma bewildered and unable to recover his composure for quite some time.
He had exhausted all his strength in the attempt, but his master uttered a few words and the man withdrew—truly, his master was no ordinary person. He had sensed this since the moment of the spirit talisman, but now the feeling was even stronger.
What was the identity that Longevity claimed?
Unable to fathom it, and forbidden to ask, Old Ma nonetheless felt that the title of master was well deserved.
Suddenly, he felt as though he had struck gold.
“Master, there’s a tea house up ahead. Why don’t we rest there for a while?”
Seeing his sly grin, Gu Yi laughed, “Didn’t you say you couldn’t call me master?”
“How could that be!” Old Ma replied earnestly, “I’ve already kowtowed, of course I can. I know the rules, I won’t ask too much. But master, the features you told that coward to look for—are they real? Why didn’t you mention it before?”
“They might be real, or they might be false.”
Old Ma was dazed: My master’s words are truly profound!
Gu Yi had not deceived him, “If Xie Yiyi hasn’t changed her appearance, then it’s real. If she’s deliberately avoiding me, then what I said is false.”
Poor Longevity—how long would it take to find her? When master sets out to mislead, he does so ruthlessly. Old Ma asked again, “Who is Xie Yiyi? Why would she avoid you, master?”
Gu Yi answered, “I’m more interested in the verses that man recited. Has it really been three hundred years since a true immortal appeared?”
“No, the immortal of Little Garden Mountain is one, isn’t he?”
Gu Yi gave up; talking to this fool yielded nothing. Better to hurry along the road.
As evening drew near, they finally saw the outline of Luyang City, but were unable to enter.
Old Ma explained, “The relations between Xu State and Li State are tense, and war in the north could break out at any moment. The gates of Luyang City are only open during the day. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow, master.”
Gu Yi looked at the vast city walls, stretching for hundreds of meters like mountain ranges, and suddenly thought of something.
“What about someone like me, with an unclear identity? Would I be able to enter?”
Bald Ma declared, “Of course you can! Who says your identity is unclear? You’re the master of Ma Yuan!”
Goodness, someone might mistake me for your father.
“If you’re so impressive, why don’t we enter the city tonight?”
Old Ma: “...”
He obediently started a fire by the river, caught a few fat fish to fill their bellies, scooted closer to Gu Yi, and asked in a seemingly casual manner, “Master, about the spirit talisman—where should I begin?”
“Start by drawing an egg.”
Draw... an egg?
Thinking of how Longevity was tricked, Old Ma felt a lingering unease, “Master, are you telling me the truth?”
“If you want to learn, listen to me.”
“I’m all ears! I’m so obedient, I’ll definitely listen to you. When we enter the city tomorrow, I’ll buy a pound of eggs.”
“That’s a waste of money. When you eat at the inn tomorrow, just ask the innkeeper to lend you a few eggs. It’ll do.”
Ma Yuan was stunned. All his years of roaming the world, yet he’d never been slicker than his master.
Mentioning money, Gu Yi suddenly remembered something: this fellow was not only greedy for food and lust, but also stingy.
Stinginess wasn’t the main point. The main point was that someone like him, with no steady job, probably had no savings.
Gu Yi asked, “Old Ma, how much silver do you have?”
Ma Yuan suddenly shifted away from him. With a master as crafty as this, could he be eyeing the little money I have? Taking a master shouldn’t bankrupt me.
“Master, eat well, drink well, and rest quickly,” he said, pretending not to hear, completely ignoring the question.
Ha, so he really has no money.
Looking at the majestic River of Longevity, Gu Yi felt no urge to wax poetic about history; instead, one thought filled his chest—throw this guy into the river and be done with it. Keeping him alive was a waste of food.
Tonight, the stars were sparse and the moon was bright; no one slept.
“Master, those wine and poetry immortals you talked about earlier—what kind of people were they? Why have I never heard their story?”
“I told you, they were geniuses.”
“Master, I used to be a genius myself.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true!”
Lying down, he suddenly sat up.
“Even if it’s true, it’s because you wasted your talent on greed and lust.”
“But what about you, master? You seem extraordinary. Why don’t you cultivate? Are you really a transcendent?”
“No. I don’t cultivate immortality because true immortality isn’t achieved through practice, but through enlightenment. It’s a natural state of realization. That’s my immortality.”
Ma Yuan recalled the talk about the poetry immortal and wine immortal, who supposedly reached a new realm in three days, “If that’s so, why do you still want to visit the technique library at the Immortal Academy?”
There were inconsistencies everywhere.
Gu Yi sat up as well, “When you studied at the Immortal Academy, did you understand what the word ‘formula’ meant?”
“Formula? What do you mean, master?”
“Techniques, swordsmanship... are all tricks devised by humans. Because one can’t wield a sword, one learns fixed sword moves; because one doesn’t understand cultivation, one follows established techniques. These things are like formulas: ordinary people know how to use them, geniuses know how they were created, but true immortals don’t require them at all.”
“Like the wine immortal and poetry immortal?”
“Yes. They understood a realm in half a day. They probably didn’t have time to read even a single scroll of techniques, nor could they quickly master them. How could they break through?”
Old Ma curled his lips and rolled his eyes, “People like me, average geniuses, need to rely on techniques to cultivate.”
“The people I mentioned, from the moment they sensed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, could manipulate the energy of plants, trees, rocks, everything living and dead around them. It’s said that when they entered deep meditation, the multicolored spiritual energy would become active and converge, shining like the sun and moon upon the mortal world. With such talent, they could cultivate as they pleased.”
Gu Yi pondered this answer.
Had he gotten stuck in his own thinking? Must ordinary people rely on techniques?
But after reaching the Sage Realm, he could never break through, and gradually felt the impotence of techniques... His skills were perfected, but his realm remained stagnant.
It was like a diligent student, easily solving the first problem with memorized formulas, but unable to apply any of them to the final question, no matter how hard he tried.
Yet Old Ma was right—how could ordinary people embark on the path of cultivation without learning techniques or sword moves?
Gu Yi couldn’t determine which was correct, so he could only go to the technique library and see for himself.
“What are you thinking about, master?”
Gu Yi shook his head and sighed, “I’m wondering what true cultivation is. If both you and I are right, then whether someone can achieve the Great Dao is determined at birth.”
The bald man was broad-minded and optimistic, “That’s how it is anyway. Hey, master, why don’t you try entering meditation and sensing spiritual energy? Maybe you’re a genius too, like the immortal of Little Garden Mountain, able to illuminate Luyang from a hundred miles away.”
On this boring night, two idle men had nothing better to do. Old Ma was suddenly curious; was such extraordinary talent the faint glow of a firefly or the brilliance of sun and moon?
“Better not.”
Bald Ma bumped him with his hip, grinning mischievously, “Come on, master, don’t be shy. Even if it’s just a firefly’s light, and not a single plant or stone stirs, I won’t laugh at you.”
“What about you, Old Ma?”
Old Ma squinted, “You won’t show me, but you want me to show you?”
Gu Yi laughed; this fellow was truly something.
...