"The waist should be straight, the hands should be straightened, and don't be distracted..."
Beside the waterfall in the back mountain, beside the Zen room that had long been turned into a "workshop", Pei Wende was forging the steel that had just come out of the furnace while scolding Zhang Chusheng who was striding under the waterfall.
"Whether it's swordsmanship or boxing, physical strength is the foundation of everything."
"If your body is strong enough, even a casual punch can be a 'killing punch' that can kill someone."
"But if your body is as thin as a hemp pole and you are out of breath after just a few moves, then even if your swordsmanship is the best in the world, it will not be as good as the hatchet in other people's hands."
Listening carefully to Pei Wende's reprimand, Zhang Chusheng felt as if the soft sword in his hand was as heavy as a thousand pounds.
In the past, the soft sword could make a sound of breaking through the air with just a flick, but now it was unable to even shake off the water splash on the sword.
"I'm different from the old monk. I care more about hard work than spiritual practice."
Seeing that Zhang Chusheng was clearly exhausted but still trying his best to maintain the standard of movements, Pei Wende nodded with satisfaction.
“If you have not experienced the hardships of penance, no matter how high your spiritual state is, it will only be a flower in the mirror or the moon in the water. If you encounter the slightest difficulty, you will fail.”
"You are very talented and have a Buddhist connection, so I am not worried about the upper limit of your future achievements."
"Instead of thinking about how to reach the sky in one step, the most important thing you should do now is to spend more time and effort to lay the foundation and sharpen your will."
Along with Pei Wende's narration, Zhang Chusheng seemed to have entered a state of "one thought arises and all thoughts disappear".
The body mechanically and instinctively performs actions that have been repeated countless times, but the brain is completely empty and meditative, just instinctively responding to the body's actions.
In this state, Zhang Chusheng can feel every subtle change in his body.
The simplest sword-swinging action in the past has been broken down into detailed dynamic changes.
From fur to flesh and blood, to muscles and bones, Zhang Chusheng's consciousness seemed to be integrated into every cell of his body, slashing with his sword in the most comfortable and perfect state.
As we all know, human beings are lazy by nature.
Training in the conventional sense is to combat this lazy nature, so that your body can continuously become stronger and stronger, and have a physique that surpasses its peers.
But Zhang Chusheng, who was in this state, felt that the nature that made him feel tired and lazy seemed to have disappeared.
Or rather, the lazy nature that was originally engraved deep in the cells was reversed and transformed into an instinct to pursue strength and power.
Driven by this instinct, any behavior that can make oneself stronger will make the body feel comfortable and loved.
Even the physical exhaustion turned into a certain degree of pleasure, which gave Zhang Chusheng the illusion that he wanted to continue and that it was not his limit yet.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Huh?"
Clearly sensing Zhang Chusheng's change, Pei Wende, who was blacksmithing, couldn't help but stop the sledgehammer in his hand and looked at the other man in surprise.
"Can you achieve enlightenment like this? This kid's talent is too good, isn't it?"
However, after carefully observing Zhang Chusheng for a while, Pei Wende frowned again.
"Too much is too little, and if you are strong, you will be easily broken."
"This guy has great talent, but he goes to extremes easily."
The instincts of human beings and even living things are born for the purpose of better survival. "Sloth" is one of the natural instincts of human beings, and the same is naturally true.
Although the lazy nature can easily affect people's will and make people like to be lazy.
But it is precisely because of the existence of such nature that human beings always pursue the most comfortable state so that their lives can continue.
Except for some extreme cases, sleeping when you are tired, drinking when you are thirsty, and eating when you are hungry are instincts evolved by humans over hundreds of millions of years and are a way of self-care for the human body.
But at this moment, Zhang Chusheng reversed this instinct and raised his need to "constantly pursue strength" to the highest level.
In this way, Zhang Chusheng was able to ignore his physical fatigue and let himself indulge in the fact that he was "constantly getting stronger".
But as a price, Zhang Chusheng's body will collapse and disintegrate little by little due to long-term overload operation, until it finally reaches the end of life.
“What is not biased is called middle, what is difficult to change is called mediocrity.”
After thinking briefly for a moment, Pei Wende suddenly raised his voice, and the vast words like bells and drums spread throughout the back mountain.
"The middle one is the right way of the world, the mediocre one is the rule of the world!"
Zhang Chusheng, who was immersed in the state of enlightenment, didn't even have time to react when the magical sound of enlightenment entered his ears and brain, making it difficult to maintain his original state of enlightenment.
Bang!
Affected by this, the soft sword in Zhang Chusheng's hand also fell out of his hand and fell vertically into the deep pool of water.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Senior brother?"
It was only then that Zhang Chusheng opened his eyes with a confused expression and looked at Pei Wende who had stopped forging.
"That's it for today's practice. Hurry up and go to the temple to prepare today's incense and candles!"
Hearing what Pei Wende said, Zhang Chusheng was shocked to realize that the time had reached this point.
"Okay, I understand, I'll be there right away."
Quickly diving into the pond, Zhang Chusheng first picked up the fallen soft sword, and then hurriedly went ashore to change into clean clothes.
After confirming that there were no omissions, Zhang Chusheng hurriedly ran to the main hall of Tongqing Temple.
"Tsk, this character is getting more and more irritable."
With a slight smile on his lips, Pei Wende watched Zhang Chusheng's retreating figure and began to hammer the steel in his hand again.
As for Zhang Chusheng's "epiphany" that was forcibly interrupted just now?
Pei Wende showed no concern at all, as if that scene never happened.
Because the so-called "enlightenment" is based on what you know and learn, it is a kind of accumulation of inspiration that comes naturally.
Without profound knowledge as a foundation, the more times you have epiphanies and the deeper your insights, the more likely you are to go astray.
Just like Zhang Chusheng just now, if he hadn't stopped him in time and allowed him to go deeper into the wrong "enlightenment", I'm afraid he would have to collect his body after a while.
After all, epiphany is just an inspiration, an introduction and an opportunity. Treating it as a "panacea" on the path of spiritual practice is a situation that any righteous practitioner must be wary of.
And this is also the difference between the vast majority of righteous practitioners and those who follow the left path.
There are two completely different results from having someone to guide and correct you along the way, and practicing alone without any reference.
—Recommendation ticket—/—Monthly ticket—
7017k
