Chapter 141 - 100: Discussing the Dao with Luoxue

Chapter 141: Chapter 100: Discussing the Dao with Luoxue

Jiang Mu had suddenly remembered an old incident.

On his first day after transmigrating, he had flipped off the Dharma Aspect in the sky and even cursed it, calling it a "bastard."

’Is that powerhouse... here to settle the score?’

But after a moment’s thought, he decided it was unlikely.

How could a supreme expert of the magnificent Twelfth Realm be so petty? She had probably long since forgotten all about such a trivial incident.

"Sir,"

Jiang Mu asked tentatively, "When I see the General, is there anything I should be careful about?"

Ran Qingshan pondered for a moment before saying with great gravity:

"Try to say as many nice things as you can. The General... she has a rather cold disposition."

His gaze toward Jiang Mu was tinged with sympathy.

’If General Shangguan really holds a grudge against this kid, he’s in for a rough time.’

’Nice things?’

Jiang Mu understood in an instant.

’Looks like this Garrison Envoy and General enjoys a bit of flattery.’

’That makes things easy.’

’Flattery will get you everywhere.’

...

Ran Qingshan didn’t take him to the Underground Palace where Shangguan Luoxue normally practiced in seclusion.

Instead, they arrived at an ancient temple named "Fallen Dust."

The monastery was built into the mountainside, surrounded by verdant pines and cypresses. Faint Buddhist chants drifted on the air, and the scent of incense mingled with a sense of ancient, weathered history.

As they stepped into the spacious main hall, Jiang Mu saw a purple figure standing quietly before a towering Buddha statue, her back to the entrance.

The great hall was dimly lit.

Only the ever-burning lamp before the Buddha statue flickered, casting an orange glow.

The woman had a tall, graceful figure, and she was wreathed in faint, purple motes of light that swirled like fine snow. This obscured her silhouette slightly, adding to her mysterious and ethereal aura.

Though he couldn’t see her face, her figure from behind alone suggested a peerless grace.

"General, I have brought Jiang Mu."

Ran Qingshan stepped forward and cupped his hands respectfully.

Jiang Mu also stepped forward, took a deep breath, cupped his hands, and announced in a loud, clear voice:

"Jiang Mu, Hall Master of the Eighth Hall of the Hu State Demon-slaying Bureau, pays his respects to you, General!"

"My admiration for you, General, is as endless as a surging river, as unstoppable as the flooding Yellow River! Your divine might is unparalleled, your grace blesses the masses! You are truly a role model for our generation, a pillar of the Great Qing..."

Watching Jiang Mu ramble on, endlessly spouting one over-the-top compliment after another, Ran Qingshan stood dumbfounded, the corner of his mouth twitching.

’I told him to say nice things, not become a professional storyteller!’

’This is way too over-the-top! Does this kid have a death wish?’

"An exterior of gold and jade, but rotten cotton within."

A clear, cold, yet melodious female voice cut through Jiang Mu’s incessant flattery.

Jiang Mu was taken aback, his brow furrowing slightly.

’Wait a minute...’

’How can she just start insulting me the moment we meet?’

’Doesn’t she have any class?’

Ran Qingshan closed his eyes and sighed in resignation. ’Great, that flattery completely backfired. His first impression score is deep in the negatives.’

Jiang Mu was silent for a moment.

He looked up, a respectful smile returning to his face, his tone still sincere:

"One can see for a hundred paces, yet not see their own eyelashes... So, you must be a practitioner of ’Closed-Eye Meditation,’ General. No wonder you doubt the authenticity of gold and jade on sight, and mock a jeweled branch for being hollow."

Even a clay doll has a temper, to say nothing of Jiang Mu, who had always been someone who responded to kindness but not to coercion.

’Since you started it, don’t blame me for not playing fair.’

Ran Qingshan was stunned.

’Big Foolish Jiang, what are you doing?!’

’Are you mocking General Shangguan to her face, calling her blind and short-sighted?’

’Are you trying to get yourself killed?!’

Shangguan Luoxue was also slightly taken aback.

Her previous comment had actually been aimed at the magnificent, gleaming Buddha statue before them.

She had always disliked these overly ornate, superficial religious symbols of the Buddhist Sect, and her comment had been an unconscious reaction.

She hadn’t expected the two of them to misunderstand her words as a comment on Jiang Mu.

Given her disposition, she wouldn’t deign to explain such a trivial matter.

Instead, Jiang Mu’s sharp, veiled "retort" actually piqued her interest.

In all these years, the number of people who dared to be so brazen in her presence...

...this boy was the first, aside from her own Master.

"Sharp-tongued."

Shangguan Luoxue said coolly, her voice still indifferent,

"The path of cultivation prioritizes cultivating the mind and tempering one’s nature. What is external is but a reflection of what is internal."

"Your aura is fickle, your spiritual light is scattered—like a pearl gathering dust, or a treasured cauldron accumulating grime. Even if you possess some aptitude, you are nothing more than an embroidered pouch filled with chaff. With such an unstable foundation, what future could you possibly have on your path?"

Jiang Mu smiled.

’Debating with me?’

’I’m a modern man, tempered by nine years of compulsory education and baptized by the great flamers of the internet!’

He clasped his hands behind his back and said with unhurried composure:

"The Dao follows what is natural. Its value lies in grasping the true meaning, not in being constrained by superficial forms and appearances."

"General, you see my unconventional aura and conclude that my foundation is unstable. But how do you know this is not a state of ’the greatest purity seeming sullied, the greatest square having no corners’?"

"’The greatest purity seeming sullied, the greatest square having no corners’?"

Upon hearing those words, a strange light flashed in Shangguan Luoxue’s beautiful eyes.

She hadn’t expected such a seemingly flippant young man to utter words so deeply imbued with Dao Rhyme.

Even Ran Qingshan was taken aback and began to re-evaluate Jiang Mu.

"A fine ’greatest purity seeming sullied, the greatest square having no corners,’ indeed."

Shangguan Luoxue took a step forward. The purple snow of light around her swirled more fiercely, and her aura grew more imposing, though her figure remained indistinct.

"And yet, while the Dao follows what is natural, it still requires a foundation to bear it. How can boundless water form a river? How can a rootless tree reach for the heavens?"

"You speak loftily of the metaphysical ’no corners,’ yet you ignore the single steps at your feet."

"Is this not just the babbling of a fool, deceiving both yourself and others?"

The smile on Jiang Mu’s face deepened, his eyes shining brightly. "General, you’ve become attached to form."

"I’ve become attached to form?"

Shangguan Luoxue sneered inwardly.

’My state of mind is perfectly clear. I am rarely attached to form. How could a mere Third Realm Cultivator possibly see through me?’

Jiang Mu said slowly:

"A journey of a thousand miles is still just a ’path.’ A great river does not refuse the smallest stream; that is how its ’momentum’ is formed."