ATPnovel #232 - The gathering of destiny
#232 - The gathering of destiny
Chapter 231: The Convergence of Destiny
Zhang Chen wasn't a child; he wouldn't believe everything he heard.
"This is due to the accumulation of the senior's foundation. I merely provided a spark of inspiration; it's the senior's accumulated knowledge that has blossomed," Zhang Chen said politely.
"If the gentleman truly wishes to thank me, I do have a matter I would like to ask the gentleman to grant."
"Oh? What is it? You may as well tell me," said Fifth Master.
Zhang Chen said, "Han Suzhen is my master. She was disrespectful to the gentleman before. I hope that the gentleman will not pursue the matter in the future and let it pass."
"You're asking me just for this matter? Do you have no requests for yourself? Wealth and glory? Beauty and power? As long as you ask, even a direct descendant of the Zhong family can be betrothed to you," Fifth Master said, his voice full of surprise. He thought Zhang Chen would ask for his own benefit, but who knew he would plead for Han Suzhen.
When he mentioned betrothing a direct descendant, Fifth Master subconsciously glanced at Zhong Xiang, only to see Zhong Xiang's expression change.
Listening to Fifth Master's words, Zhang Chen raised his head and looked at Fifth Master. He could see that Fifth Master was sincere, but Zhang Chen still insisted on his own idea. Fifth Master had no choice but to nod in agreement: "Alright! As you said, my grievances with the Han family end here. In the future, neither the Zhong family nor the academy will pursue this matter."
"Thank you, sir! In that case, our karma is settled," said Zhang Chen.
Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Fifth Master shook his head, "Kindness is kindness; it's not so easy to settle."
After a few more polite words, Zhang Chen took his leave:
"Later, scholars from all walks of life will come to visit. I'll take my leave first, lest I cause trouble for the senior."
Now that Zhong Wubai had attained the Yang God realm, countless people would come to visit. He didn't want to be blocked by them.
"Now that I have attained the Yang God realm, how can I fear the Pingbian Prince's Mansion? You can stay here; I will come forward to mediate and ensure that all grievances between you and the Pingbian Prince's Mansion are resolved," Zhong Wubai said confidently.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen quickly declined and refused. If he were to reconcile with the Pingbian Prince's Mansion, he would have to hand over the nine flying swords. How would he refine the God-Smiting Whip then?
Seeing Zhang Chen insist on refusing, Zhong Wubai was helpless and could only let him leave.
Zhong Xiang personally saw him off, taking Zhang Chen to the gate and then saying, "I will probably return to the capital in half a year. If you want to use my flames, you need to get it done within half a year, otherwise it will be too late."
Zhang Chen turned his head and glanced at Zhong Xiang, "You're like a dog; you turn your back on people so easily. Why didn't you mention the deadline when I was helping Fifth Master?"
Zhong Xiang coldly snorted, arrogantly raised his chin, and turned to walk back into the mansion.
Zhang Chen looked at Zhong Xiang's back, couldn't help but shake his head, but didn't care about the other party's attitude. Considering how he had tormented Zhong Xiang before, it was already good that this kid was still keeping his promise.
"I only hope that Xie Lingyun can move a little faster," Zhang Chen muttered to himself. He was actually anxious to refine the God-Smiting Whip to restrain various experts.
Zhang Chen walked on the way back. When he passed by the mutton offal shop, he saw Little Master Zhu Xun sitting in front of the stall, staring blankly at the sky, not even eating the mutton offal in front of him.
"Boss, a bowl of mutton offal soup," Zhang Chen shouted to the boss, then sat down opposite Zhu Xun, "Why aren't you eating, sir?"
"My heart is blocked; I can't eat. Tell me, Fifth Master clearly had a broken Dao heart before, how could he suddenly break through and attain the Yang God realm?" Little Master retracted his gaze and looked at Zhang Chen, his eyes full of resentment.
"Do you have a feud with Fifth Master?" Zhang Chen asked when he saw Little Master's expression.
Little Master shook his head, "Of course not, I'm just purely jealous. That's the Yang God realm! Now that this person has attained the Yang God realm, the Han family is afraid to face great pressure. After all, Han Suzhen tried to assassinate Fifth Master, and I'm afraid the Zhong family won't let it go. The Han family is afraid they can't withstand it; their destruction is only a matter of time. How can I not worry?"
"The grievances between the Han family and Zhong Wubai are over. In the future, neither the academy nor the Zhong family will make things difficult for the Han family again," Zhang Chen said.
Little Master was stunned when he heard this, and looked at Zhang Chen with a face full of surprise: "Why?"
"Because Zhong Wubai was able to break through and stand again entirely because of my guidance," said Zhang Chen.
Little Master was stunned, then smiled bitterly, "That's right, those two tricky questions were raised by you. Who else but you could answer them?"
Then Little Master said with a face full of curiosity: "What are the answers to those two questions?"
"A gentleman does not save, but a sage cannot refuse due to righteousness," Zhang Chen said, and then explained the process of his discussion with Zhong Wubai.
Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Little Master was stunned on the spot, muttering Zhang Chen's words as if struck by lightning: "Is it fate? Accept its correctness, therefore, one who knows fate does not stand under a dangerous wall. To die fulfilling one's Dao is a proper death; to die in fetters is an improper death."
After a long time, Little Master sighed faintly, "It was really lucky that Fifth Master was able to attain the Yang God realm. Your words are invaluable to him. His accumulation was already sufficient, but he was never able to touch the Great Dao of the Yang God. Now he has finally obtained an opportunity and can leap over the dragon gate."
Speaking of this, Little Master looked at Zhang Chen with a pair of eyes, his eyes full of weird colors: "You kid can actually say such words containing reason, it's really incredible. If you weren't sitting in front of me, I would have thought that this sentence was a maxim spoken by a sage."
Zhang Chen glanced at Little Master, then lowered his head and silently ate the mutton offal soup, because these were the words of a certain sage in later generations.
Looking at Zhang Chen eating the mutton offal, Little Master leaned over and whispered: "You can say such maxims to guide Fifth Master, isn't our relationship stronger than Fifth Master's? Why don't you also say a few maxims to give to me? When I attain the Yang God realm, I can protect you!"
Hearing this, Zhang Chen stopped eating the mutton offal, raised his head and glanced at Little Master. You can't say that he really found Little Master pleasing to the eye, although this guy never suffers losses and is a reckless master, he really does things when he should.
"I have a complete philosophy of the mind here, do you want to learn it?" Zhang Chen said with a smile, seemingly joking.
"What is the philosophy of the mind?" Little Master asked curiously.
"It's the learning created by Chen Sanliang. I named it the philosophy of the mind. If you are willing to kneel down and worship me as your teacher, offering tea, I will teach you the essence of the philosophy of the mind. Chen Sanliang has only realized a little bit of the philosophy of the mind; he has never obtained the essence of the philosophy of the mind at all. Not only do I have the complete essence of the philosophy of the mind here, but I have even compiled the classics," Zhang Chen said with a smile.
He said these words half-truthfully, just to tease Little Master. Who would believe that he had mastered the essence of the philosophy of the mind? As long as someone is a normal person, they would never believe that Zhang Chen had mastered the essence of the philosophy of the mind.
But Zhang Chen happened to meet an abnormal person. He saw Little Master Zhu Xun kneel down directly without saying a word, kowtowing directly: "Disciple Zhu Xun greets the teacher, and also asks the teacher to pass on the Great Dao to me. Disciple will definitely serve the teacher wholeheartedly in the future, and will never dare to have any second thoughts. There is no tea here; disciple will use mutton offal soup as tea. Please accept it with a smile."
Zhang Chen looked at Zhu Xun, who was kneeling on the ground and offering the mutton soup with both hands, and couldn't help but be a little stunned. Where did this fool come from?
"Why did you believe me so easily?" Zhang Chen looked at Zhu Xun blankly.
"It's just kowtowing a few times and calling you master. What loss can I suffer?" Zhu Xun said confidently, "If you teach me knowledge, you will naturally be my teacher in the future, and it is right for me to kowtow to you. If you deceive me, I can just ask you to kowtow back to me. Then we'll be even."
Zhang Chen was speechless when he heard Zhu Xun's words. This guy is really a freak.
However, he cultivates the Immortal Dao and doesn't follow the path of Confucianism. That philosophy of mind is useless to him, so he might as well spread it out.
If Zhu Xun can really carry forward the philosophy of mind in the future, he, as the person who passed on the scriptures, will definitely benefit from it and receive the nourishment of Confucianism and Taoism's luck.
If he passes on the essence of the philosophy of mind, his future gains may not be less than Zhu Xun's.
But he still has a worry. What if Zhu Xun gets the essence and kills him to silence him? That would be too much to bear, and he would have dragged himself into it.
"Make an oath to me with the Great自在天魔. I will pass on to you the essence of the philosophy of mind. You must not harm me in any way in the future, otherwise you will definitely be possessed by the Great自在天魔," Zhang Chen said.
"Easy, I'll take an oath now." Zhu Xun quickly swore to the void. As he swore, the lotus petal in Zhang Chen's palm fluctuated slightly and fell into Zhu Xun's energy, spirit, and soul along with the oath.
After the oath was made, Zhu Xun looked at Zhang Chen eagerly. Zhang Chen looked at Zhu Xun with his eyes and, after a little thought, dipped his finger in the mutton soup in Zhu Xun's bowl and wrote a line on the table: "Unity of knowledge and action."
"Unity of knowledge and action?" Zhu Xun was stunned.
Zhang Chen looked at Zhu Xun and began to explain the essence of Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind.
Looking from afar, in the alley, in front of the mutton stall, a young man was sitting quietly at the table, and a middle-aged man was kneeling in front of the young man, seemingly immersed in some state, quietly listening to what the other was saying.
Today, the flow of people in the alley was very sparse, so the two were not disturbed in passing on the scriptures.
As Zhang Chen explained the essence of the philosophy of mind, inexplicable energy began to gather in the dark, gathering around Zhang Chen's body.
That belongs to the luck!
The most mysterious luck in the world!
As soon as the luck gathered, golden light flashed in Zhang Chen's eyes, and he noticed the existence of the luck.
"Huh, there's actually this kind of reaction?" Zhang Chen was curious. He saw that the mysterious luck directly passed through Zhang Chen's body and descended into his soul, merging into his mana and gathering a milky white energy in the green lotus.
The energy was very thin at first, about the size of a grain of rice, looking like a faint mist, but as Zhang Chen preached the Great Dao, the mysterious energy became thicker and heavier, and began to expand and grow, turning into the size of a ping pong ball.
If you want to ask Zhang Chen why he knows the essence of the philosophy of mind?
When the philosophy of mind was popular, it set off a wave of enthusiasm for the philosophy of mind, and Zhang Chen naturally followed suit and studied it for a period of time.
Although he didn't understand it, he knew many subtle meanings.
It is said that when Zhang Chen first started speaking, Zhu Xun listened absentmindedly, but as Zhang Chen said more and more, his entire face became serious, and he listened with his ears cocked, not daring to move, for fear of missing a word.
Zhu Xun even used his supernatural powers to form an illusion barrier to cover the two of them.
Although what Zhang Chen said was inconsistent and intermittent and could not be connected at all, every sentence was the essence, and every sentence directly pointed to the Great Dao in the dark.
After Zhang Chen emptied his dry goods, the white light in Zhang Chen's green lotus had turned into the size of an egg.
The white energy turned into a fetal egg, as if something was gestating.
"This is the foundation of the philosophy of mind's luck. It contains a treasure that suppresses luck. When the philosophy of mind grows to a certain extent in the future, this mystery can break out of the womb. This thing is the foundation of the philosophy of mind. If the world's philosophy of mind has ten斗 of luck in the future, I will occupy at least seven斗!" Zhang Chen was overjoyed, unexpectedly there was such a harvest.
He was just explaining the essence of the philosophy of mind, but he was actually recognized by the luck of heaven and earth in the dark.
Zhang Chen held the mutton soup with both hands, his eyes full of surprise.
Zhu Xun, who was kneeling on the ground, was still kneeling on the ground, the aura in his body churning, and wisps of pure yang aura surging, as if he was about to transform into a Yang God真人 at any time, but Zhu Xun suddenly stretched out a palm and slapped it on the Baihui acupoint on the top of his head, and then the gathered pure yang aura was slapped away by him.
Zhang Chen was stunned when he saw Zhu Xun's action: "Weren't you envious of Fifth先生's proving the Dao Yang God? Why did you suddenly give up when you were about to prove the Dao Yang God yourself?"
"If I break through to the Yang God now, I will just be an ordinary Yang God. When I go back and sort out the essence of the teacher's Great Dao and write it into classics, I can condense my own natal箴言. At that time, I will use the status of a Confucian saint to break through to the Yang God, and I will have hope to glimpse the legendary eleventh realm in the future." Zhu Xun's voice was full of excitement. His harvest today was really too great, simply boundless.
Then Zhu Xun bowed to Zhang Chen again, respectfully: "I, Zhu Xun, keep my word. You will be my teacher from now on. I will be your disciple from now on, and I will definitely be respectful to the teacher in the future to repay the teacher's kindness of preaching."
Zhang Chen helped Zhu Xun up. This is a chosen worker, his little machine for collecting luck.
"What master or not, I'm just joking with you. I'm still young and have little knowledge, how can I be worthy of being your teacher?" Zhang Chen said.
"You passed on the Great Dao to me, you are my teacher." Zhu Xun's voice was full of stubbornness.
"I'm a commoner, you are a great aristocrat, how dare I be your teacher? If this gets out, I'm afraid the world will tear me apart." Zhang Chen resolutely stopped Zhu Xun's address.
"That won't work. If I don't become your disciple, what if you rob me of the holy fruit of the philosophy of mind in the future? What if you pass on the knowledge to others? If I become your disciple, would you still have the nerve to rob me of the fruit? Would you still have the nerve to pass on the knowledge again? Would you have the nerve to stab your own disciple in the back?" Zhu Xun's voice was full of frankness, expressing his calculations.
This is Zhu Xun, the unique and unrestrained Zhu Xun.
"I, Zhu Xun, never do business at a loss, you just have to accept it." Zhu Xun said decisively.
Zhang Chen was speechless when he heard Zhu Xun's words. This guy is too realistic. However, after hearing the other party's words, Zhang Chen felt much more at ease.
As for the holy fruit?
He doesn't care. Who said that only one saint can come out of a school of learning?
Aren't there many saints in Confucianism?
The most important thing is that Zhang Chen controls the luck of the philosophy of mind. He is equivalent to the 合道鸿钧, what is he competing for the holy fruit for!