I Am Loaded with Passive Skills - Chapter 1987

Chapter 1863 Sword I

Chapter 1863: The
Eight Sword Masters: If one has comprehended the “I”, he would not ask such a question as “What am I?”

Now Xu Xiaoshou did not answer, but kicked the ball back. He himself could not explain the reason clearly.

If something is ambiguous, it is better not to say it.

After thinking about it for a while, Ba Zun’an decided to start from another point to answer this question, for Xu Xiaoshou and himself.

Just as he never needs answers from others, in most cases, he discusses the Dao only because he wants to get an “inspiration” from someone who shares the same frequency, or maybe he will figure it out while discussing it himself:

“I left the village at the age of fourteen. My family was broken up and I lost the meaning of life. I was aimless and lost in the world, trying to find a new life.”

“He picked up his old dream and went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. He traveled through mountains and rivers and traversed the beautiful rivers and mountains. He finally met Wen Ting and Ning Honghong and became sworn sisters.”

“I have changed here and entered the world of spirit refining.”

Xu Xiaoshou was slightly stunned.

He hasn’t heard Ba Zun’an tell stories about his past yet.

All I know is that Lao Ba had a past with Wen Ting and Ning Honghong, and their relationship was much better than that of ordinary friends.

“Can you tell my way…”

Kong Yuhen murmured silently. When he heard the voice, his eyes were filled with memories, but he couldn’t remember anything.

On the other hand, he was twirling the wooden door pendant in his hand, looking a little anxious and absent-minded.

“I was born with a photographic memory and a very good understanding. When I was young, I read a lot of books and learned a lot of truths. Although I don’t show it, I know that I have a stubborn personality and I am arrogant. I often look down on my peers.”

“Wen Ting is one of the few people who can keep up with my thinking.”

“Following him, Ning Honghong and I gradually entered the spirit refining world. On the way, he taught me ancient swordsmanship. Ning Honghong… is the storyteller, the one who likes to wear red skirts.”

Ba Zun’an pulled himself away from his memories as he spoke, glanced across the tea table, and took care of Xu Xiaoshou and Kong Yuhen.

There is no need for that.

Xu Xiaoshou had heard of Ning Honghong’s name before. He continued to listen to Ba Zun’an’s self-narration:
“Wen Ting practiced ancient swordsmanship and wanted to teach us to protect ourselves. But to Ning Honghong, what he taught and said was like a heavenly book, and I couldn’t understand a word of it.”

“For me, it’s like this. I can learn everything quickly. Wen Ting has been suffering for a long time because of this.”

“Even if he follows his path and enters the sword tomb to read the Sword Classic, Wen Ting said that he has mastered seven Sword Classics, and can be regarded as a great swordsman in the world.”

“I read the whole thing and didn’t find it obscure. I understood the three thousand sword ways, eighteen sword styles, and nine sword techniques. I was also able to find the flaws in the words of three or five sword scriptures and make some annotations.”

Ba Zun’an narrowed his eyes and said in a somewhat amusing tone: “Wen Ting was extremely angry at the time and said that I had defiled the Sword Scripture and wanted to beat me up. I fought back with ancient swordsmanship. From then on, he could no longer beat me.”

After hearing this, Xu Xiaoshou bared his teeth and rolled his eyes secretly.

If someone else boasted like this, he would slap him, but if Ba Zun’an said this…

Judging from his current achievements, the various legends he has left in the spirit refining world, and his past behavior of never boasting about himself.

His words are still conservative.

Wen Ting followed him and taught him sword, but in the end it was definitely not as simple as “suffering for a long time”, he must have been hit so hard that he doubted his life more than once.

“After reading the “Sword Classic”, I had some thoughts and asked Wen Ting a question like this…” Ba Zun’an put down the wine glass in his hand.

Xu Xiaoshou and Kong Yuhen looked up, each curious: “What’s the problem?”

The Eight Masters knew: “After a hundred years in the mortal world, experiencing all seven emotions and six desires, tasting the ups and downs, one will eventually return to the yellow earth; while after ten thousand years of refining the spirit, fighting for the great way, trying to transcend the mundane, one cannot avoid death. What are the similarities and differences between the two?”

The Gujin Wangyou Tower suddenly became quiet.

Kong Yuhen and Xu Xiaoshou looked at each other without answering.

Ba Zun An answered his own question: “Mortals rarely fight, and what they fight for is not strong. They rarely get involved in life and death. The various aspects of the mortal world, regardless of the length of life, are actually helpful for cultivation. In the spiritual world, the strong prey on the weak, and there is the law of the jungle. Cultivators behave like primitive beasts, but they still want to open their spiritual wisdom and seize good fortune…”

He shook his head: “The Dao Gang is against the Dao Gang!”

Xu Xiaoshou took a breath of cold air.

If you think about it carefully, it seems to be true.

Even Rao Yaoyao, who was high above the clouds, used the insights he gained in cultivating the Red Dust Sword from the lives of emperors, nobles, and poor common people in the mortal world, through which he entered the Tao, realized the Tao, and attained the Tao.

This Tao, in essence, is just as what Ba Zun An said, it is exactly the opposite!

“But the Tao has always been like this.”

“The Great Dao caused the current situation of the mortal world and the spiritual world. It has been like this for millions of years. How can there be any talk of ‘reversal’?”

Ba Zun’an tapped the rim of the cup with his fingers, frowned slightly, and said calmly:
“So I thought, this is not the reversal of the Tao, but the sinking of people into the Tao.”

“In other words, people have not discerned their true self, so the Great Dao plays tricks on them, and the ‘I’ is trapped in the Dao.”

He tapped his fingers heavily on the tea table, shocking people. The sound was not loud, but it was deafening:
“Distinguish myself, then realize the Tao, practice the Tao, play the Tao, and be free and carefree – this is the order of ‘cultivation’, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people.”

The Forget-Sorrow Tower of ancient and modern times is now so quiet that you can hear a pin drop.

Kong Yuhen clearly heard it. His eyes were a little straight. He even forgot to turn the wooden door pendant on his hand. He just opened his mouth in a daze and was speechless.

Xu Xiaoshou also felt a slight numbness after hearing this. He couldn’t help but change the subject: “How old were you at that time?”

Ba Zun’an was stunned: “Seventeen or eighteen years old?”

Hiss!
Is this the fattest pig?
What was I doing when I was 17 or 18 years old? I seemed to be in a hospital bed?
What was the 17 or 18-year-old Mingzu Shenluan doing? Oh, it seemed that I had just entered the Tiansang Spiritual Palace not long ago, and was hitting my head with a sword and white clouds!

Genius always has amazing ideas…

Xu Xiaoshou quickly suppressed his fluctuating emotions.

As for these eight masters, they are actually just like that. It is not hard to imagine that a monster will appear in the future.

Thinking about it is one thing, but whether you can do it is another!
“So?”

Xu Xiaoshou asked: “What do you want to express, you are awesome?”

Ba Zun’an shook his head, then nodded: “At that time, my words were not taken seriously, and Wen Ting didn’t care if I said anything. Later, when he introduced me to Master You, I was too lazy to say anything.”

“But I am a stubborn person. I have already determined my path. I will not change because of the mainstream or external things. I focus on this and start practicing.”

Has it really started?

Xu Xiaoshou’s mouth twitched: “How do you start?”

“To cultivate the Tao is nothing more than to study things and to use things to enter the Tao.”

“Just like Cen Qiaofu, who spent half his life chopping wood, he attained enlightenment overnight, while I entered the Dao with the sword, so all I know is v*olence, killing, and moving forward without hesitation.”

“To cultivate myself is to refine myself, which means to understand myself.”

“Later, it was proven that my idea was not wrong. Maybe it was the correct one…”

Ba Zun An quoted a vision of the future, then returned to the past and said: “First identify myself, then practice the Tao, this is right – but the Tao often teases people, my idea is too naive. In fact, there is not so much time to do this, I can only do both, practice the Tao and identify myself, and take one step at a time.”

He sighed: “The Tao is complete, but I still don’t understand myself, so I will be trapped for another thirty years.”

Only thirty years!

What do you want to do, Lao Ba!

To truly discern the meaning, one needs to enter a time dilemma, trapped for ten epochs, let alone discerning myself?

“For the past thirty years, haven’t you been cultivating the sword self? The sword self is equal to the discipline self and the discernment self?” Xu Xiaoshou felt that “the sword self” was the key point. From what he said above, what Ba Zun’an wanted to express was not that simple.

“good.”

Ba Zun’an agreed at first, and then said:
“But in fact, I have been practicing swords for more than thirty years. It started from the time I finished reading the Sword Scripture in the Sword Tomb and had such thoughts.”

“The enlightenment of sword consciousness during the punishment of Kuilehan was the introduction. From sword consciousness to sword self is the process. Everything is just a process and means to materialize the castle in the air and illusory ‘Tao’ into a physical ‘art’ like the evil spirit.”

These words were spoken in the language of the Holy Continent, but when put together, Xu Xiaoshou was unable to understand them.

He started with the details: “So how have you cultivated the ‘sword self’, or distinguished the ‘self’ over the past few decades?”

Sword Wo is not only a higher level of sword intent, but also a means for the Eight Masters to materialize his thoughts at that time.

Xu Xiaoshou understood this point.

What he is curious about now is what Jianwo’s intention is.

Jianwo was clearly later than Jiangui, and even the name seemed to be plagiarized. But now it seems that everything was not sudden, but premeditated?

Ba Zun’an smiled and did not answer directly, but asked: “You know Shen Yi, right?”

nonsense!

But what does this have to do with Shen Yi?
“You also know about ancient martial arts?”

That’s nonsense!

Can I practice ancient martial arts too?

I have even cultivated the four levels of giving up: giving up the body, giving up the soul, giving up the mind, and giving up myself… huh?

Xu Xiaoshou’s pupils suddenly trembled, and his scalp felt slightly numb, “I…”

He is now too sensitive about the word “I”.

Ba Zun’an did not notice Xu Xiaoshou’s subtle reaction, and said with a look of reminiscence:

“The gods and I have known each other for a long time. Although we recognized each other before the Ten Thrones War, our first contact and battle actually happened much earlier, when we were traveling in the Dragon Cave.”

“In the early days, Shen Yi was a bounty hunter. Before he hooked up with Xiang Yaoyao, he used up all his resources to practice ancient martial arts. His life was very hard. As long as there was a mission, he would take on any dirty and tiring work.”

“He accepted a mission to go to the Dragon Cave to pull out dragon tendons and make bowstrings for a certain Taixu descendant. It just so happened that I was visiting the Dragon Cave at that time.”

Ba Zun’an spoke in a calm tone and very slowly.

At this crucial moment, he showed some talent for storytelling, giving people the feeling of telling a story in a leisurely manner:
“The Dragon Cave is known as the Seven Forbidden Land. Although it is a little declining nowadays, there are still many secret places inside.”

“We met in the ‘Forbidden Zone of Confusion’, which was caused by the death of the ancient Tongxuan Jade Dragon. It can create a space of consciousness with high laws. The White Dragon of the Holy Palace has half the blood of the Tongxuan Jade Dragon.”

“In the forbidden zone of confusion, those who are good at using their mind can break through the shackles and reach the level of transcendental laws. Although only the mind can reach it, and the body and spirit cannot, it can still be considered a level of good fortune.”

“I also ran into God, and we both felt that the other’s cultivation was extraordinary. We were delighted to see the prey, and without saying a word, we started fighting.”

“The gods also opened the Nine Palaces, Eight Gates, Seven Stars, and Six Paths, unable to do anything to me. They also moved from my body to my spirit and into my mind, until they entered the land of the highest laws in the forbidden zone of lost consciousness.”

“Under normal circumstances, if he opened four houses in the five realms, he would definitely die. However, in the restricted area of confusion, he can understand the mysteries without any side effects.”

“It was the first time that I saw ‘Shewo’ among the four quarters.”

Ba Zun’an showed a strange expression on his face, a little fascinated, a little excited, as if he had verified the feasibility of his own ideas on others. It was rare to see him behave like this:

“Once the four sides are separated, I can’t resist the dominance of the ultimate ancient martial arts.”

“I can’t even find where God is, where my body is… where my mind is… well, or rather, where the ‘I’ of God is.”

“But I could feel the fists everywhere, hitting my flesh, almost shattering my ‘self’.”

“I was awakened.”

He paused, looking into the void before him.

It seemed as if countless fist shadows of Shen Yi were bombarding the void from the past, making him dizzy and dizzy, but he did not sink into despair:
“If I were in the Fifth Realm normally, with my realm at that time, even if my sword opened the mysterious power, I would still be dead. The forbidden zone of confusion can lead to the mysterious power, and I can actually get a glimpse of the scenery behind the mysterious gate in advance…”

At this point, Xu Xiaoshou was shocked.

Although I have never seen it with my own eyes, just by listening to the eight masters’ stories, I can imagine that it was a fight between gods.

The restricted area of confusion gave the two of them a chance to vent without reservation and to the extreme. It must have been very exciting to fight.

“My sword has opened up mystical powers, and it has also entered me. The nine great sword techniques have made me so skilled that it is like an immortal pointing the way. I am even amazed by them.”

“Now that I think about it, I have forgotten most of what I learned behind the door. The gods are also the same. Although they understand me, they don’t understand me. In short, they still can’t do anything to me.”

“Gu Wu is really domineering!”

He sighed again, and then changed the subject. The void seemed to be stirred by flint, and invisible waves suddenly appeared:

“God has also opened to the three realms of ancient martial arts!”

“If we say that ‘Nine Palaces, Eight Gates, Seven Stars, and Six Paths’ are skills, they are born out of form, and ‘Four Houses, Three Realms, Two Principles, and One Deity’ are Dharma, they are born out of form.”

“Three Realms, Severance, Separation, and Annihilation, the ultimate in meaning, is not a skill that can be used by humans. Even though I opened the Mysterious Gate with my sword, I had never seen such a method before and had no experience in fighting, so I was beaten back step by step.”

“But I have read the Sword Scriptures, and I have realized the vastness of the Dao. After all, the Sword Opening Mysterious Sect is based on the most solid swordsmanship foundation of the Sword God Gu Louying, but Shen Yi Gu Wu has learned all the way by himself, without any guidance.”

“If I retreat again, I won’t lose. I just want to keep steady.”

“Once I was stable, God became anxious.”

“He is just like that. He can’t accept a draw. Seeing that the Three Realms can’t defeat me, he forced the Two Realms to open up.”

Ba Zun An shook his head and laughed: “The gods were young at that time, and the Three Realms were not stable, let alone the creation of the Two Principles?”

“I am fortunate enough to have seen the elegance of the ancient warriors.”

“If the Three Realms are the ultimate of intention, then the Two Principles are the ultimate of self, raising and amplifying the ‘God of Ancient Martial Arts’ and the ‘self’ of God of Ancient Martial Arts to an incomparable height.”

“With just one glance, I was at my wits’ end and knew I was doomed to fail.”

“Who would have thought that after that glance, Shen Yi’s own two-yin and yang combination failed, and he was shattered into nothingness. He was backfired by his own power and blasted out of the restricted area of bewilderment. He almost lost himself and died on the spot.”

“I am stable. Stability is the most important thing.”

“I still maintained my sword proficiency, and took advantage of the situation to save his ‘self’, thus saving the life of this stubborn and overbearing guy.”

“The battle has come to an end.”

Ba Zun’an came back to his senses, put the wine glass on his left, and dipped a drop of wine from the glass onto the tea table.

Then he looked up at Xu Xiaoshou, pointed at the “cup” and “wine”, and smiled slightly:

“This is ‘Liang Yi’.”

“The two principles represent black and white, right and wrong, yin and yang, and right and wrong. They are opposite and complementary to each other, distinct and yet intertwined. They can be separated or combined. If they are separated, they become two, which give rise to the three realms, four houses, and even the six, seven, eight, and nine techniques. If they are combined, they become one, reaching the limitless. This is the concept of ancient martial arts.”

“The two yin and yang are like the front and back of a mysterious door, like whether a cultivator has realized enlightenment or not, that is, the sword of an ancient sword cultivator and me. This is what I felt when I observed the two yin and yang.”

“Thus, the concept of ‘Sword I’ came into being.”

Ba Zun wiped the tea table with his hand, and the small drop of wine evaporated.

He tapped the wine glass with his fingertips again, and without using any sword skills, the wine glass was like a sword, placed into the void, and after it floated high up, it became extremely ethereal, unreal, and out of reach.

“At this time, the sword I still exists only in the conceptual stage.”

“I tried to find a way to make this ‘wine glass’ and ‘wine in the glass’ visible and down to earth, but to no avail.”

“I started my cultivation with ancient swordsmanship, and I was also trapped in it. I received guidance from the gods Yi and Liang, and after I gained some enlightenment, I wanted to transcend, but I got lost in it again.”

Ba Zun An used his two fingers as human legs and walked slowly step by step on the tea table:
“It is difficult to walk, and it is even more difficult to realize the truth.”

“I always stick to my ideas, but I am troubled by the inability to put the concept of sword-self into practice. All the ethereal methods are just smoke in the clouds and meaningless.”

“Until…”

After a pause, the eight little figures transformed by An’s two fingers stopped walking and tapped the tea table repeatedly, making a tapping sound.

He laughed with emotion, as if he had found something he had searched
for a long time but never found. “The Five Regions are indeed full of talented people.”

“Until the Battle of the Ten Thrones, I met another genius…”