Chapter 297: Chapter 296: The Map of Visualization_1
Mo Hua couldn’t help but gape.
He hadn’t expected that in such a vast Cultivation World, with so many cultivators, he himself would have the fortune to be the first one to “eat a crab”.
Mo Hua was conflicted; he didn’t want to “eat a crab”. Without any precedent to follow, if he got the method wrong, it could lead to a upset stomach.
“What should I do then?” Mo Hua asked, “Won’t there be a day when my Sea of Consciousness is eroded by evil thoughts, and I lose my true nature, truly becoming a man-eating little ghost?”
Mr. Zhuang glanced at Mo Hua, “There’s no need to worry needlessly. You’ve already consumed living little ghosts; what would some residual wandering thoughts amount to?”
“What you’re experiencing could at most be called...” Mr. Zhuang paused thoughtfully and found the words, “indigestion.”
“Indigestion...” Mo Hua pondered for a moment and then understood.
“Poor digestion?”
Mr. Zhuang nodded, “That’s one way to put it.”
Mo Hua was reassured and began chattering away with other questions:
“Gentleman, where exactly do these Contemplation Maps come from? Also, you mentioned that the Contemplation Maps harbor dangers, does this little ghost count as one of those dangers? Is it the ‘Non-Human’ path you spoke of? Do all Contemplation Maps contain these kinds of little ghosts? If I encounter them again, what should I do?”
Mo Hua’s voice was crisp, as he asked a long string of questions in one breath.
Mr. Zhuang couldn’t help but rub his forehead.
Having a clever disciple was also somewhat troublesome; their quick minds led to many questions, making them exhausting to answer.
Mr. Zhuang thought for a moment and decided to start with the basics, so he asked Mo Hua:
“All the extraordinary powers of a cultivator rely on three things. Do you know what these three are?”
“Are they Divine Sense, Spiritual Power, and the physical body?” Mo Hua answered.
Mr. Zhuang nodded, “Correct. Every ability of a cultivator is founded upon Divine Sense, Spiritual Power, and the physical body.”
“Martial Arts involve stimulating the physical body with Spiritual Power, Spells congeal Spiritual Power with Divine Thought; Formations connect to the Heavenly Dao with Divine Sense, transmitting Spiritual Power through Formation Patterns. Other methods of Tao Cultivation are similar, though their emphasis may vary.”
“In the future, if you come across anything bizarre or strange in the Cultivation World, and if you cannot grasp it or find a lead, you can consider these three aspects.”
Mo Hua had an epiphany.
“So the little ghosts in the Contemplation Maps, having no physical bodies or Spiritual Power, are purely Divine Thoughts, just pure force of Divine Sense?”
“Exactly,” Mr. Zhuang said, “In other words, the so-called Contemplation Maps are just mediums that carry Divine Sense, which in the maps are remnants of Divine Sense left by certain cultivators due to coincidences, or Divine Thoughts born from some Non-Human entities due to fortuitous opportunities.”
“These Divine Senses or Divine Thoughts are often referred to as evil beings or ghosts by cultivators.”
Mo Hua asked, “Are all these evil beings and ghosts edible?”
Mr. Zhuang tapped Mo Hua’s little head, “Don’t be greedy, always thinking about eating.”
Mo Hua smiled sheepishly.
Mr. Zhuang warned, “These evil beings and ghosts vary in strength. The little green-faced ghost you encountered was relatively weak and you were able to consume it. If you encounter something stronger, who knows who will consume whom.”
“How strong can they become?” Mo Hua was curious.
Mr. Zhuang’s eyes flashed with deep wariness and he spoke with a grave tone:
“Terrifyingly strong.”
Mo Hua’s expression also became serious.
“Do all Contemplation Maps divide between apparent and true forms?”
“Yes, but it’s not so simple to distinguish them,” Mr. Zhuang patiently explained:
“In some maps, the apparent form is the true form, while in others, the true form is just a more deeply concealed apparent form.”
“Apparent form, true form; true form, apparent form...”
Mo Hua thought for a while, a bit dizzy from the circular reasoning, then asked:
“How can I distinguish between them?”
Mr. Zhuang raised his slender finger and slowly said:
“First, it depends on Divine Sense. If your Divine Sense is strong, stronger than the Divine Thoughts of the ghosts or evil beings within the Contemplation Map, then you can perceive their reality.”
“Second, it relies on experience. As you see more Contemplation Maps, you will naturally develop an intuition to discern truth from false, to see through some apparent forms.”
“Third, it is based on your enlightenment of the Heavenly Dao. The deeper your understanding of the Heavenly Dao, closer to the essence of the Great Dao, the more you will be able to see the true forms hidden beneath the apparent ones.”
“Of these three aspects, the first is the most direct, the second takes time, and the third is the most difficult.”
“Enlightenment of the Heavenly Dao...” Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then doubtfully said, “How can I enhance my enlightenment of the Heavenly Dao?”
Mr. Zhuang said, “One depends on the temperament, and the other on tempering.”
Mo Hua furrowed his brow, thinking carefully for a moment, then his eyes brightened as he said:
“Meditation improves temperament, while Formation tempering enhances comprehension?”
Mr. Zhuang did not expect him to grasp the concept so quickly and nodded, “Yes.”
Mo Hua thought it through from the beginning to the end and gradually understood:
“My Divine Sense is strong, and because I meditate and practice Drawing Formation every day, my understanding of the Heavenly Dao is also profound. Hence, without realizing it, I saw through the true form of the Little Green-faced Ghost. The Little Green-faced Ghost then penetrated into my Sea of Consciousness, attempting to devour my Divine Sense...”
“But...” Mo Hua looked puzzled, “The Householder also has a strong Divine Sense, so why didn’t he see through the true form of the Contemplation Map?”
Mr. Zhuang said indifferently, “While his Divine Sense may be strong, his temperament is too greedy, clouded by personal desires. His enlightenment of the Heavenly Dao is too poor, naturally preventing him from seeing through it.”
Mo Hua understood.
It seemed that temperament was very important; otherwise one could easily be clouded by greed, blinded by the apparent forms, failing to see through the true nature of things, and thus straying from the Heavenly Dao.
From this conversation with Mr. Zhuang, Mo Hua learned a great deal and sincerely said, “Thank you, Gentleman!”
Mr. Zhuang’s gaze went deep as he asked, “Do you know why I’m telling you so much now?”
“Because I asked you...”
Mo Hua thought silently, but he knew that since Mr. Zhuang had asked this way, there must be more to it than that.
He could ask, and Mr. Zhuang could choose to answer or not.
How much Mr. Zhuang answered and what he chose to explain could all be very telling.
Mo Hua reviewed Mr. Zhuang’s answers in his mind once again, realizing that everything Mr. Zhuang had explained related to ‘Divine Sense’ and ‘Heavenly Dao.’
But why Mr. Zhuang spoke of these things was not immediately clear to Mo Hua.
Seeing Mo Hua deep in thought, his small eyebrows knitted tightly, his expression somewhat puzzled, Mr. Zhuang did not keep him guessing any longer but asked meaningfully:
“Foundation Establishment is about laying the Foundation of the Great Dao...”
“Have you decided what kind of Taoist Foundation you want to establish?”