Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Supreme Forgetting Emotions is not heartlessness, the Dao seems heartless yet it holds feelings.

The love between men and women is ordinary; even a cultivator finds it difficult to escape conventions, yet the Supreme, though having emotions, can forget them.

Just like Zhang Fan, regardless of how beautiful past romances might have been, perhaps they were true then, but to him now, they are false. True and false, separation and union, there are no absolutes—they can only aid in cultivation, suppressing the restless heart, curbing the wandering consciousness, the Primordial Spirit returns, borrowing falsehood to cultivate truth.

”Your breathing is disturbed.”

Inside the pavilion, that leisurely cold voice echoed again, swirling around the ears, piercing the heart.

”He and I belong to different worlds, there’s no need to make a fuss over a chance encounter.” Xu Zhixia said indifferently.

”Red Dust, Red Dust... the more you taste it, the more flavor there is.”

At this moment, the figure inside the pavilion changed the tone, suddenly whispering.

”In life here, shrouded by Six Dusts, hidden from the gates of immortality!”

Life in the world must endure the filth of the Six Dusts, referred to in the Daoist Sect as the Six Thieves.

The Six Dusts are color, body, scent, taste, touch, and technique.

From birth, one is polluted by the Six Dusts through eyes, ears, mouth, nose, body, and consciousness; gradually the Primordial Spirit falls silent, consciousness becomes restless, throughout life trapped within, unable to transcend.

In Journey to the West, there’s an episode called ”Heart Monkey Returns Right, Six Thieves Vanished,” where Sun Wukong, just released by Tang Sanzang from Five Elements Mountain, encounters six hooligans on his westward journey, claiming to be long-time mountain masters, demanding ancestral king Sun Wukong to leave toll money, but are obliterated by Sun Wukong with a strike.

These six hooligans are named: Eye Watching Joy, Ear Hearing Anger, Nose Smelling Love, Tongue Tasting Thoughts, Opinion Desire, Body Origin Worry.

This is actually a metaphor; the six hooligans represent the Six Dusts, the impurity of the Six Dusts arises six desires, consciousness becomes restless, straying further from the Dao.

Heart Monkey eliminated the Six Dusts to obtain the True Scripture, and behold the True Buddha.

Hence, Red Dust is aptly used; humans are born stained by Dust, to seek the Dao, one must eliminate the Six Dusts.

”Humans are confused by Six Dusts, not recognizing true nature.”

Words to this point, a gust of eerie wind swept by, lifted those delicate curtains accompanied by the crisp and melodious sound of bells.

”Zhixia, true love or old affection, it’s but heart-obscuring Red Dust; if used for cultivation, there’s no harm.”

Leaving these words, the figure inside the pavilion slowly stood up, opened the incense burner on the table before him.

”Ahhh…”

Suddenly, agonizing cries echoed from the incense burner, seemingly from deep within purgatory, suffused with profound madness.

Xu Zhixia slightly furrowed her elegant brows, coldly lifting them.

Inside the pavilion, an arm reached out, with a golden bell bracelet on the wrist, slender fingers plunged into the incense burner, pinching something, extracting a Primordial Spirit.

”Six Dusts are both poison and medicine…”

Soft words gently fell, those slender fingers slowly rubbed, and the struggling Primordial Spirit turned into dust and ashes.

Simultaneously, the eerie figure inside the pavilion leaned forward halfway, greedily inhaled the scattered dust.

Witnessing this, Xu Zhixia could no longer remain standing.

”I’ll say it again, he’s just an ordinary person, impossible to appear in my world again. If you still feel there’s an issue, so be it.”

Saying this, Xu Zhixia turned away without looking back, leaving the serene back garden.

”Ordinary person!?”

Inside the pavilion, the golden bell gently swung, emitting a melodious sound; the eerie figure watched Xu Zhixia’s distant figure, slowly lifted his head, the dust just inhaled seemed to take effect, causing him to utter sounds of delight.

”But he’s Zhang Lingzong’s son, the... seed left behind by Li Linglong.”

Inside the pavilion, the eerie figure trembled gently, with Six Dusts entering the body, bizarre and grotesque, like gut-wrenching poison, also like the whetstone polishing the mirror.

Back then Quanzhen Ancestor Qiu spoke well: the cloud-wandering travelers beyond, not the mirror-polisher within Dust.

To attain the Dao, transcend beyond, the mirror reflects true nature, not within Red Dust.

To become immortal, one must use Six Dusts to polish the mirror, until true nature is revealed.

”Who could have imagined... he is Zhang Lingzong’s son, the anomaly not dead beneath Dragon Tiger Mountain.”

”A breakup actually led him through an emotional trial, breaking the realm and re-cultivating…”

”Tsk tsk... is this fate!?”

Inside the pavilion, the eerie figure clutched his face, emitting hysterical laughter.

Buzz...

Just then, the incense burner lid opened again, Primordial Spirits jumped out, fluttered chaotically, producing cries seemingly wanting to escape the pavilion.

”Hahaha…”

Suddenly, the eerie figure’s laughter grew more frenzied, like drums rumbling, deafeningly loud.

In the next moment, those Primordial Spirits shrieked in terror, collapsing into dust.

Instantly, the scattered dust filled the entire pavilion; the eerie figure raised his head, his nose twitched, inhaled the dust from the air.

”So refreshing!”

The eerie figure’s body shook, pores seemingly all opened, his eyes rolling white, experiencing unparalleled pleasure, a multitude of light and shadows danced before his eyes.

At this moment, he seemed to have become immortal.

”Zhang Fan… Zhang Fan…”

Soft murmurs, like dreamy whispers, emanated from the pavilion, as emotions gradually calmed, dispersed into the vast night.

…

Ten o’clock at night.

Hongfu Garden.

As Zhang Fan was about to reach the entrance of the neighborhood, the road was already deserted. After all, it’s an old community, the elderly men and women sleep early and wake early.

”Daddy’s daddy is a monster, daddy’s mommy is a monster, mommy’s daddy…”