Chapter 1133: What Will You Put Aside?! (1/2)

Chapter 1133: What Will You Put Aside?!

Xue’er was on the verge of going crazy. She wasn't sure what she had done to offend Meng Hao. All she had done was secretly follow him for a while, and actually had no ill intentions whatsoever.

Furthermore, she'd even given him an incredible medicinal pill just to get him to play a game of Go with her. Those were the instructions given to her by her Master, to find all the Echelon cultivators of the generation, and find the one she was meant to help.

All of the other Echelon cultivators had been easy to convince; Meng Hao was the only one who wouldn't cooperate.

Seeing him leaving, Xue’er gnashed her teeth.

“I just want to play a game of Go!” she cried. “It doesn’t matter who wins or loses, I’ll still give you the good fortune, something that can help you escape the black-robed people from the Third Nation!

“I can help you get out of this dangerous situation!” Xue’er ground her teeth. This was the first time in her dealings with Echelon cultivators where she had started offering them her benefits before she had even made a choice.

Meng Hao stopped and looked back at Xue’er. He had known all along that if Dao-Heaven cared so much about this young woman, there must be something very special about her. Furthermore, he could tell from everything she had just said that she really was very important to the Echelon.

“Your obsession runs too deep,” he said coolly, his expression tranquil and impossible to read, even transcendent.

His words caused a tremor to run through Xue’er. Next, he clasped his hands behind his back and began to speak, his tone light. To him, this was like a debate, and going all the way back to his days debating the Dao of alchemy, he had never lost.

“The word obsession is made up of two characters, one relating to thoughts, the second to actions. If your thoughts are occupied by the game, and your actions pertain only to the game board, then… aren’t you merely searching for game pieces, not an Echelon cultivator?

“Playing Go is just a way for you to help make your decision, right? But decisions... can be made in many ways. And you seem to be obsessed with this one method. Instead of saying that you are looking for people to play the game, it would be more accurate to say... that you are stuck within the game itself.

“In the grand scheme of things, the game is insignificant, and yet you have sunk yourself into it as if it were Heaven and Earth. Because you are stuck in the game, your path has become blocked, your Dao limited. The game of Go... is for you, not for me.”

Xue’er trembled, and from the expression on her face, it seemed as if she were experiencing enlightenment. After a long moment, she took a deep breath, clasped hands, and bowed deeply to Meng Hao.

“This is my fault for being too fixated,” she said. “I also understand why you weren't willing to play Go with me, Elder Brother Meng. If you devoted yourself to the game, you would lose yourself in the game board, and fall into that world.

“Therefore, you only played a single piece, then turned and left. It was like leaving behind a single thought in Heaven and Earth, so that the mountains remain pristine and the waters undisturbed. You left behind no ripples or waves, but instead chose to remain on the outside, observing... watching as great changes unfolded....” Eventually her voice trailed off. Finally, she clasped hands and bowed deeply to Meng Hao one more time.

“Many thanks, Elder Brother Meng!” Her expression was completely sincere, and in fact, her aura seemed even more extraordinary than before. It was as if she truly had experienced some sort of enlightenment, as if she suddenly understood more about life. Apparently, even her cultivation base experienced advancement.

Meng Hao looked startled, but then quickly recovered his calm demeanor and enigmatic expression. He smiled faintly, and a look of praise could be seen within his eyes.

He was actually shocked to see the transformation which had just occurred in Xue’er. The only reason he had made his little speech just now was because he couldn’t actually play Go. He would never have guessed that his words would actually affect Xue’er in such a way.

“Elder Brother Meng, I already understand that it doesn't matter who wins or loses this game. However, my Master’s stipulations are hard to work around. Elder Brother Meng, please do me the favor of making your move.” Xue’er’s expression was very sincere, and all the haughtiness from earlier had vanished. She now seemed very respectful when she looked at him, as if to her, his words were the Dao.

Meng Hao was grumbling inside, and wasn't sure what to do next. However, his expression of praise deepened. Ideas racing through his head, he looked down at the game board and then smiled slightly.

“Do you really understand?” he asked, his voice suddenly becoming very archaic as he attempted to imitate the way Zong Wuya had spoken and held himself moments ago. “You know, just now, someone asked me what the Dao is.

“My answer was that the Dao relates to the thoughts in your heart. Whatever you focus your thoughts on, that is your Dao. The Dao is shapeless, and cannot be touched; it can only be contemplated, just like life.”

Xue’er frowned; this time she didn't quite understand what he meant.

“Life?” she asked.

Meng Hao didn't answer her. Instead, he turned to the mastiff and stroked its fur gently. Its ferocious eyes suddenly turned soft, and it licked him.

At first, Meng Hao had simply been trying to pull a fast one on Xue’er. However, their conversation caused him to think about the cultivator in the Immortal jade mine. Then he thought about the black-robed men in the Third Nation. He thought about many things.

“Look, this is my mastiff, who I raised from a tiny puppy.

“It is not constrained by morals, nor bound by any rules. It only has its primal desires to guide it. The one thing that is not subject to that, is me. I am its family, and it is my family. Besides that, all it has is instinct. Even when it kills, it is not a matter of good or evil.

“The Windswept Realm is similar. Foreign cultivators can become forever lost here, and end up being driven into acting only on instinct.

“That is a sort of primitive freedom and independence, and that is the life that they are living.

“If you defined life as having different Realms, then that would be... the Natural Realm.” All of a sudden, it was as if he broke through to a higher level in his mind. It was as if he had truly reached a level of philosophical enlightenment that caused his eyes to glow with a strange light.

Xue’er stood there thoughtfully.

“Consider them,” he said, gesturing toward the soldiers not too far off in the distance, and the cultivators from the Mountain and Sea Realm. “Now consider yourself.