Immortal Travel of Longevity

Chapter 484: Explaining the Truth, It Really Isn’t Clever

Chen Changsheng frowned. This was no small matter.Fortune was unstable. Troubles were sure to arise again later.

He recalled the matter of the Qingshan City Righteous Army. In his view, that drought back then had also been unclear, which had led to the Righteous Army’s defeat.

Was it Master Zhulan?

But he seemed to be on Great Jing’s side, why would he help Zhao Zhen?

“Unless…”

Chen Changsheng paused, then suddenly understood.

‘He truly dares to think and dare to act…’

Yun Li noticed Mr. Chen muttering and asked, “Mr. Chen, have you calculated something?”

Chen Changsheng looked up. He shook his head and said, “Even the great masters from the various Immortal Mountains couldn’t calculate it, how could I manage it?”

“You’re too humble, sir.”

Yun Li didn’t ask more about it.

Then Chen Changsheng brought up his intention to leave.

After all, he couldn’t stay at Yun Manor forever. Besides, he was looking for Evil Spirits. A bunch of Evil Spirits gathered in the courtyard could easily cause trouble and might even implicate the Yun family.

Patriarch Yun was startled. “Sir, you wish to leave so soon after returning?”

Chen Changsheng said, “I’m pressed for time this journey. It can’t be helped. I’ll surely visit again once my business is finished.”

Patriarch Yun secretly thought it a pity, but seeing the sir’s mind was made up, he didn’t insist.

Chen Changsheng felt it wasn’t right to just leave like that. So he suggested: “I’ve occupied this courtyard for so long, I feel rather embarrassed. Why not this? At noon, I can explain some truths to the Yun Manor disciples, sharing a bit of my experience. But I don’t know much myself. If my explanation isn’t good, I hope you won’t mind, Patriarch Yun.”

Patriarch Yun’s eyes lit up. He said, “For you to explain truths, sir, our Yun Manor disciples will surely treat you with utmost reverence.”

Chen Changsheng nodded. Soon after, Patriarch Yun left to make preparations.

“Explaining truths?”

Tabby Cat muttered, then asked, “Good Human Chen, what are you going to talk about?”

“Just some insights regarding Cultivation.”

“Oh? Can Lihua go listen?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, okay!”

The Tabby Cat opened its big eyes, full of anticipation.

By noon, Patriarch Yun had selected his disciples.

Chen Changsheng originally planned to go out himself. Unexpectedly, Patriarch Yun brought the inner mountain disciples to the small courtyard instead.

There weren’t many. Eight of them.

These eight were the most outstanding disciples of this generation chosen from Yun Manor.

“Greetings, sir. Greetings, sir…”

They respectfully bowed, then settled down on the ground cross-legged.

Chen Changsheng thought to himself this saved him a lot of trouble.

Patriarch Yun really knew how to handle things.

It wasn’t without reason that a Cultivation clan like the Yuns held a place in the Cultivation World after all.

“When it comes to Cultivation,” Chen Changsheng began, sitting on the long bench, “everyone’s path is different. What I share today are my personal insights and experiences on the journey. Not absolute truths. They may not suit everyone. Just listen. If it doesn’t resonate with your own understanding, ponder it further, but don’t doubt your own path.”

Explaining truths was just sharing experiences and insights.

Like a highly skilled Senior imparting the accumulated wisdom of years to their disciples.

But every Senior’s path was different.

It still required their disciples to have enough wisdom for it to connect.

That’s why Patriarch Yun had only chosen eight people.

The disciples were eager at first.

But as they listened on, they grew confused.

Because truths mentioned by this sir were consistently intertwined with Mortals. Repeatedly, they felt an unease deep within their Dao Hearts.

Compared to following Heaven’s will, Chen Changsheng’s emphasis on mankind felt like opposing it.

Chen Changsheng noticed the disciples’ reaction.

‘It really doesn’t work…’

He sighed quietly. “Everyone,” he spoke up, “please refocus. Perhaps my insights don’t suit you. But no matter. I have other insights that shouldn’t cause discomfort.”

The disciples exchanged looks, then nodded.

Chen Changsheng took a relieved breath and began again: “Humans follow the Earth, the Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows the Dao, the Dao Follows Nature. So what is Nature? It’s said the Dao begets One, One begets Two, Two begets Three, Three begets the myriad things. The Dao’s role and influence within Nature…”

Chen Changsheng’s tone and subject shifted abruptly.

The eight disciples’ eyes brightened slightly. The uneasy feeling in their hearts vanished. They listened intently instead.

Seeing this, Chen Changsheng understood — his own path was probably different from the Cultivators of this world.

Quoting ancient texts mixed with his own understanding of the sayings, Chen Changsheng continued for over two hours.

During this time, Tabby Cat had also tried to listen seriously to Chen Changsheng.

But after a while, it fell asleep.

It even started snoring softly at first, though fortunately the sound was faint.

The eight disciples benefited greatly from this teaching. One even sat down to meditate right there, gathering Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.

Chen Changsheng realized then — the Taoist Scriptures from his previous life indeed held some value after all.

Even if not truly his own, useful was good.

Patriarch Yun specifically thanked Chen Changsheng. Three of the eight disciples had achieved enlightenment then and there. This truly brought honor to Yun Manor, and the favor was deeply ingrained.

As the skies turned gold, Chen Changsheng, carrying Tabby Cat and followed by Black Dog, finally left Yun Manor.

As they walked, Black Dog remarked, “Sharing those things with those Yun Manor Cultivators was a shame. Just understanding one sentence out of ten would be more than enough benefit for them. You were too generous.”

Chen Changsheng said, “Better than owing a favor.”

Black Dog asked, “Is avoiding favors so important to you?”

“Yes.”

Chen Changsheng reasoned, “When things are settled cleanly, no loose ends remain. If left unsettled…”

He didn’t finish, just shook his head.

Black Dog glanced at him and didn’t press. This Chen Changsheng likely had many burdens hidden in his heart.

Tabby Cat, however, was persistent. “What happens if it’s unsettled?”

Chen Changsheng pondered. “Probably makes one unhappy.”

“Really?”

Tabby Cat blinked. “So, by following you, is Lihua also taking advantage? If Lihua leaves things unsettled later, will Lihua also be unhappy?”

Chen Changsheng was taken aback. “Sometimes I call you unwise, yet you can grasp things like this?”

“Are you scolding me again?”

“No, I’m praising you.”

“Oh.”

Lihua peered ahead. “Which way now?”

Chen Changsheng looked. “There’s a place, but it’s quite far.”

Lihua blinked. Then it paused, feeling it had forgotten something.

What was it?

So, it really wasn’t very clever.