Chapter 108: Teaching the Heavenly Master a Principle

Chapter 108: Teaching the Heavenly Master a Principle

Chapter 108: Teach the Heavenly Master a Truth

Gan——

In the early morning in the soup and noodle shop, people were coming and going and the aroma of thick soup was lingering, but Zhao Duan just wanted to curse.

He was so scary, so scary. Unprepared, he was subconsciously shocked when he saw this "Tianshi Mansion official" again.

"Why are you here again?" Zhao Duan couldn't help but complain, but in his heart he was surprised at the other party's methods.

He had just been reborn and his six senses were becoming more sensitive. Logically, he should have noticed that the acquaintance, who was a sorcerer, had entered the soup and noodle shop.

But the fact was, he only realized it slowly until he sat opposite Zhang Yan.

This old Deng is a master... Zhao Duan became more and more certain of this judgment.

The old Taoist priest with a ruddy face and narrow eyes looked down gently, still dressed as an old man in the past, with a half-eaten mutton soup and a cake in front of him, and said with a smile:
"Because my friend has a connection with my Tianshi Mansion."

"..." Zhao Duan was speechless and asked doubtfully:

"Old sir, as far as I know, this place is quite a distance away from the Tianshi Mansion. Don't tell me, you have to run all the way here early in the morning just to eat this pancake."

He didn't believe it.

He highly suspected that the other party must have known that he was staying in the palace, so he came to block him early in the morning.

It was not difficult for the "casual officials" of the Tianshi Mansion to know this little thing.

The old Taoist priest with long eyebrows and beard smiled:
"As far as I know, this place is still quite a distance away from Mr. Zhao's house. Did you come out of the palace?"

You are such a cunning fellow that you even found out where my home is... Zhao Duan complained in his heart and said unhappily:
"Yes, I performed meritorious service yesterday and was rewarded by the Saint. I stayed in the palace overnight and worked hard all night before I came out."

A good lie is one where every word is true, but when put together they become a lie.

To outsiders, this sentence sounded as if he was sleeping with the empress.

Zhao Duan said this to imply that he had a close relationship with the empress, so old man, please stop wasting your time.

It is impossible to change jobs. The only way to maintain life is to live on gigolos.

Secondly, he was implying that he was the empress's favorite and was not afraid of a mere official like you.

Zhang Yanyi smiled and didn't fall for it. He looked him up and down and said:

"The Yijing cleanses your marrow and transforms you completely... It seems that His Majesty has really cultivated you."

"Oh, old man, you have good eyesight," Zhao Duan said with a smile:

"So, don't waste your energy. I'm really not interested in joining the Tianshi Mansion."

At this time, the owner of the soup and pancake shop presented a large bowl of hot soup and five soft, steaming pancakes.

Zhao Duan drank a mouthful of soup, took a bite of the pancake, and after eating the hot food, his mood became even better.

Well, it’s a pity that this soup has no seasoning. It is urgent to make seasoning to improve the diet.

Zhang Yan shook his head and said:
"Practicing Taoism requires fate. Since you are unwilling, I will not force you. I came here today for two things."

"You say." Zhao Duan concentrated on eating the cake and said vaguely.

"The first thing is that last time, young friend orally expounded on the theory of the Way of Heaven. It was profound and meaningful, and I liked it very much. After returning, I copied it down for the younger generation to read, and I came here specially to tell you." The old Taoist priest said slowly.

Zhao Duan then remembered that he had made up a few sentences from the original text of the "Tao Te Ching" when he was drunk last time.

Unexpectedly, the old man liked it, but he didn't care much. After all, he was just a porter between the two worlds. The key point was that there was no copyright law in the Dayu Dynasty.

He couldn't collect royalties, and there was nothing he could do if others copied his works.

Otherwise, how can I put it? In my previous life, I read novels about plagiarism on Qidian. In the opening background introduction, it was said that the protagonist traveled to another world with perfect copyright laws...

But this old man is not honest. He took the sentences I copied for free and didn’t even give me some gifts... Zhao Duan said nothing and waited for what happened next.

"The second thing is that I have done some research on the art of deducing celestial phenomena and fortune-telling. Yesterday, on a whim, I predicted that you will have a bloody disaster in the near future, so I came to remind you." The old Taoist priest continued.

"puff!"

Zhao Duan almost choked on his mouthful of mutton offal soup. He looked up in shock, his eyes filled with the words "you cursed me".

Then, he thought of this world again. It was not the same as his previous life. There were gods in this world, and the other party was a Taoist priest from the Tianshi Mansion.

He was good at calculating, so it wasn't surprising. He immediately became serious and put down the bowl of soup:

"Don't deceive me, old man."

Zhang Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and gently stroked his beard:

"Why would I do this? If you don't believe me, you can just think of me as a charlatan."

Zhao Duan's expression became serious and he cupped his hands:

"My words just now may have offended you. I hope you can explain more carefully, sir."

Zhang Yanyi smiled and shook his head:
"The secrets of heaven are hard to predict, and nothing in the world is absolute. Heaven and earth are benevolent, but the blessings and disasters they give are not constant, so how can we tell exactly?"

Haha, since you are talking about this, I want to talk to you about quantum physics... Zhao Duan frowned.

He didn't think that a powerful figure from the Tianshi Mansion would be so bored as to scare him.

And the bloody disaster...means that there may be danger in the near future, which is also logical.

The capture of the two men from Tiechiguan meant that the intelligence network of the Kuangfu Society in the capital had suffered a huge shock.

Ordinary people may not know the key role Zhao Duan played in this case.

But the rebels definitely know.

It would only be natural that revenge would be directed against me.

Of course, potential enemies include not only the rebels, but also the "Li Party" that he has offended one after another, including the Huaishui Pei family, Prince Jing's Mansion, Princess Yunyang...

"Oh, I have indeed become stronger, but my enemies have also increased, and the number is increasing exponentially." Zhao Duan laughed at himself in his heart. He could never be sure that some petty enemy would come to assassinate him and then put the blame on the rebels.

"Thank you for your advice, old man." Zhao Duan sighed, "I will pay attention to it."

Having said that, he couldn't think of any good way to protect himself.

You can't just hide in the palace or the governor's hall all day long, seeking protection from the powerful.

Or whenever he goes out, the entire Lihua Hall must be fully armed to protect him, right?

As for asking the old supervisor for a bodyguard, that is not realistic either.

It is possible to hire someone temporarily to handle the case, but it is impossible to send an expert to protect him closely throughout the year without any blind spots.

Zhao Duan's identity does not allow him to have this qualification. Even if he could, he would not be happy about it. He would lose his privacy if he was being watched all day long.

After all... a blacksmith must be strong himself. After being "reborn", Zhao Duan felt the powerful energy surging through his meridians, as well as the "Golden Crow Flying Knife" in his sleeve.

It is also assisted by "Body Protective Rays" and "Galaxy Upside Down", two royal martial arts, one for attack and one for defense.

I felt eager to try it out.

He suddenly realized that this might be what Emperor Taizu called the "spirit" of a warrior.

However, given his character, although he was not afraid of the assassin, he also had the courage to fight him to the death.

But if you can defeat the enemy without doing it yourself, you must be crazy to do it yourself.

Lord Xiao Zhao is a noble porcelain, how can he collide with a cheap earthenware jar?

"Although I cannot tell you the details, I have something to give you as a gift."

When Zhang Yan heard this, he suddenly shook out a piece of silver talisman paper from his sleeve.

Press with your fingers and push it over the table.

Zhao Duan looked at the talisman paper in surprise. There was the emblem of "Tianshi Mansion" on the front of the silver talisman.

In the center, a Taoist decree is depicted in a sky-blue cinnabar style.

Looking closely, the sky-blue cinnabar does not seem to be a solid entity, but a stream of clear air flowing slowly.

"The divine talisman!" He was surprised and recognized the origin of the object.

In Beijing, the signs of Tianshi Mansion and Shenlong Temple are different.

The Shenlong Temple excels in pharmacology, and the medicines it sells are top-notch. Warriors use them to strengthen their bodies, and the medicine bags they use are of the best quality only those produced in the Shenlong Temple.

The medicine is sold throughout Dayu, and there are medicine shops under the Shenlong Temple in all major cities.

The Tianshi Mansion is good at alchemy and talismans, but its output is scarce.

But each furnace of pills and each talisman are of staggering value, and usually only the wealthy and powerful families and high-ranking officials can afford them.

The silver divine talisman can be torn to summon a god to help in battle.

The origin and strength of the deity are determined by the quality of the talisman.

It is a valuable item that is in short supply and can save your life at a critical moment.

"Old sir, this thing is valuable. I can't accept it." Zhao Duan placed his hand on the talisman paper with a serious look on his face.

"..." When Zhang Yan saw that his hands were tightly clenched and showed no intention of loosening, he had a new understanding of the thickness of this young man's face.

“Haha, take it. This will be your reward for copying my insights on the Way of Heaven without permission.” The old Taoist priest said calmly, acting like a master.

Zhao Duan's eyes lit up, and he wondered if the Tao Te Ching was so valuable. He pondered for a moment and said:

“I actually have many more insights…”

Zhang Yan smiled and said, "My friend, that's not what you said last time. You said you only understood those few sentences."

The problem is, you just gave me a bowl of hangover soup last time... Zhao Duan said seriously:
"Oh, this is a new realization I had these two days."

"..." Zhang Yan smiled and said nonchalantly:

"Oh? Then tell me about it?"

With his level of attainment, he would not really not understand the meaning of those words and phrases from the other world.

But whether the same principle can be expressed in sufficiently concise and exquisite sentences is another matter.

The Heavenly Book in the Tianshi Mansion had been cultivated for thousands of years, and Zhang Yan thought it was perfect and not a single word could be added or deleted.

But what Zhao Duan said casually was even more refined than the words pondered by the great monks of all ages in the heavenly book, and it pointed directly to the great way of heaven and earth.

However, just as poetry and prose are naturally formed and accidentally created by a master's hand, Zhang Yanyi doubted that what Zhao Duan had said before were already the best ones.

The subsequent additions, even if they are still good, are not enough to replace the words in the heavenly book.

On the other side, Zhao Duan was also thinking about which sentence was more valuable. He thought for a while and said:

"Just now the old gentleman said that Heaven and Earth are benevolent and give enlightenment, but I have a different opinion."

"Oh?"

Zhao Duan talked freely:

"Heaven and earth are not benevolent, they treat all things as straw dogs; sages are not benevolent, they treat the people as straw dogs. Between heaven and earth, is it like a bellows? It is empty but not bent, and it moves and comes out more. It is better to keep to the middle than to know too much."

After a pause, he said, "This is the inhumanity of heaven and earth."

Under the awning of the soup and noodle shop, Zhang Yan was stunned.

Thanks to Zhizhuzaiwo for the 500-coin reward and Wuweiwuyuwuqiu for the 150-coin reward

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(End of this chapter)