ATPnovel Chapter 469 Witnessing Life and Death! Another Breakthrough!
Chapter 469 Witnessing Life and Death! Another Breakthrough!
"It's hard to say," Chen Fan said, looking at her. "It could be a few months, or it could be longer."
"It's... dangerous outside, isn't it?" Chun Tao whispered. "I heard from the palace guards the other day that the world is in turmoil now, the fighting between the eight kingdoms is getting worse, and people are dying all the time..."
Chen Fan was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded: "Yes, things are not peaceful."
Chun Tao's eyes were a little red, but she held back her tears: "Then you must be careful, and you must come back safely. I...I'll wait for you."
"Okay." Chen Fan looked at her. "We promise you, we will definitely come back safely."
"You said it!" Chun Tao looked up at him, staring at him. "Don't lie to me!"
"I'm not lying to you," Chen Fan said solemnly.
The two talked for a while longer, mostly Chun Tao talking about things in the palace. She said that several rare peonies had been transplanted into the Imperial Garden, and the flowers were blooming exceptionally beautifully.
It is said that a few days ago, a palace maid broke the Imperial Concubine's beloved jade vase and was punished by being sent to the laundry room.
The Empress is in a good mood lately because after the Chu Kingdom surrendered, the territory of Dayuan has more than doubled.
Chen Fan listened quietly, occasionally responding with a word.
As darkness fell outside the window, palace lanterns lit up one after another, bathing Weiyang Palace in a warm yellow glow.
An hour later, Chen Fan got up.
"You're leaving again?" Chun Tao's eyes were full of reluctance.
"Yes, we still have some things to prepare at home," Chen Fan said. "You should get some rest."
Chun Tao escorted him to the palace gate, watching his figure disappear at the end of the corridor before turning back to the palace.
She walked to the window, looked in the direction of the Imperial Stables, and whispered:
"Please stay safe..."
……
Chen Fan returned to the familiar room in the Imperial Horse Stable.
When Xiao Dengzi saw him return, his face lit up with joy. Chen Fan simply nodded slightly and instructed, "We need to cultivate in seclusion for a while. Don't let anyone disturb us."
"Yes, Godfather!" Little Stool replied sensibly.
Inside the room, the oil lamp flickered dimly.
Chen Fan sat quietly for a while, letting the scenery he had traveled through for more than a month, the ease of his conversation with Tian Xiangzi, and even the desolate feelings of revisiting the old site of the Changchun Sect settle in his heart.
This journey, witnessing the withering and flourishing of plants, reflecting on the rise and fall of sects, and remembering the passing of old friends, has given me a deeper and more profound understanding of the concepts of "life and death" compared to my previous simple cultivation practices.
"The realm of life and death... Although we have gained some understanding of it before, there has always been a layer separating us," Chen Fan muttered to himself.
He recalled the strange sight he had seen while observing Shi San and the small dish in the bowl, the annihilation of Princess Yuanping and the Changchun Sect, and his own eighty years as a eunuch, from the brink of death to the struggle for survival.
It's time to calm down and think things through carefully.
With a thought, he vanished from the house and found himself under the dragon whisker fruit tree in the world within the bowl.
The world inside the bowl remained peaceful.
Eunuch Wei dozed off by the field, Shi San quietly weeded in the distant Lingtian field, and Xiao Die floated under the eaves reading a book.
Black Emperor and Little Flower were playing somewhere.
Everything is as usual, and life is peaceful.
Chen Fan, upon returning to the world within the bowl, did not immediately go into seclusion.
He knew that the path of cultivation could not be rushed. Especially when it came to insights into the fundamental principles of the Great Dao, such as the understanding of life and death, they needed to be achieved naturally rather than through forced breakthroughs.
So, in the days that followed, he did not shut himself away in seclusion, but instead walked around the world in the bowl every day, observing the seemingly ordinary yet profoundly meaningful scenes around him.
Beneath the dragon whisker fruit tree, a stone table and benches stand quietly. Chen Fan often sits here, watching the sunrise and sunset, and the clouds drift and gather.
Although the rotation of the sun and moon in the bowl was not as distinct as in the outside world, it had its own rhythm. He watched how the sunlight climbed inch by inch to the treetops, and how it faded inch by inch, leaving behind the cool moonlight.
In his eyes, the rising and setting of the sun and moon gradually ceased to be merely changes in light and shadow, but rather became a cycle of life and death.
The intense sunlight brings vitality and warmth, symbolizing life; the cool moonlight brings silence and tranquility, symbolizing rest. This cycle repeats endlessly, without beginning or end, just like the cycle of life and death.
Chen Fan's gaze was more focused on Shi San and Xiao Die.
Shi San is immortal and has a long life force, representing the ultimate in life. Xiao Die's lingering spirit and deathly aura represent the ultimate in death.
The presence of the two together presented an excellent opportunity to comprehend life and death, but Chen Fan had always viewed them as opposing forces, pursuing the transformation between life and death and the mutual restraint of yin and yang.
Now in a peaceful state of mind, he observes quietly, almost as an observer.
Every day, Shi San works in the spiritual field, weeding, loosening the soil, and watering, his movements slow and steady. His focus and diligence imbue him with a natural and mellow vitality.
That is not a vigorous vitality that can be deliberately cultivated, but rather a long and continuous life force, like the growth of grass and trees, or the babbling of a stream.
Shi San pulled out the weeds, and the withered weeds turned into nutrients to nourish the new seedlings!
He harvested the ripe spirit rice, then sowed the seeds, waiting for the next cycle of growth. In this process, there is life and death, yet they are all integrated, endlessly cycling.
Xiao Die often sat quietly on the edge of the field, or drifted along with Shi San, occasionally helping to hand him tools. She was surrounded by an aura of death, but she was not sinister or terrifying. Instead, under the clear light reflected in the bowl, she appeared gentle and serene.
She absorbed the essence of Yin from the moonlight and exhaled even purer Yin energy. That deathly energy rose and fell like her breath, intertwining, flowing, and complementing the vitality that Shi San exhaled while working in the fields.
The two performed their duties and rarely spoke, but the aura of life and death emanating from them seemed to be drawn together and balanced naturally by some invisible rhythm.
As Chen Fan observed for a while, he gradually came to understand.
Life and death are not opposites, but rather a cycle.
There is no need to fear death in life, nor to fear life in death.
The two are one, like the alternation of day and night, like the rotation of the four seasons, flowing naturally and endlessly.
Shi San's longevity is not immortality, but rather a continuous cycle of life! Xiao Die's vengeful spirit is not a deathly silence, but rather a condensation of death energy that does not dissipate, finding its final resting place in the cycle.
This cycle is not deliberately maintained, but rather occurs naturally. Just like this spiritual field, the growth of weeds is life, and the removal of weeds is death, but the removed weeds become nutrients, giving birth to new life!
Between life and death, there is no beginning and no end.
Chen Fan was so engrossed in these insights that he was completely unaware of the passage of time.
The sun sets in the west, and the moon rises high in the sky!
After finishing his work, Shi San sat down to rest on the edge of the field, slowly drinking water from his water bag. Xiao Die floated to his side, gently sat down, hugged her knees, and looked up at the moon. The two remained silent, yet their breaths seemed to mingle even more intimately.
Shi San drank water and swallowed, his life force flowing and merging into his surroundings. Xiao Die sat quietly, absorbing the moonlight, while death energy rose and fell, exhaling and inhaling yin energy.
Life and death, yin and yang, form a perfect balance under the moon.
While observing the two, Chen Fan would also look at the plants and trees in the yard, and even the insects and ants.
The dragon beard fruit tree is evergreen, but it also sheds its leaves at times.
Chen Fan watched as the leaves sprouted tender buds from the branches, gradually unfurled and turned lush and green, and then one day quietly withered and fell from the branches, eventually landing under the tree, slowly decaying, and becoming part of the soil.