The two Daoist books weren't the entirety of the Heavenly Book and Dharma Collection of Tian Dou and Ming He, being just an abridged version, but they lacked not a single detail of the overall inheritance passed down from the two; they contained all the main spells, including the Taiyin Divine Thunder and the Formless Immortal Escape, among others.
Shi Feiyang found the Formless Immortal Escape extremely mystical, quite different from the escape skill described in "Guang Chengzi's Heavenly Book," and felt greatly inspired, exclaiming without reserve, "This is wonderful."
Jiang Shu said regretfully, "It may look good in writing, but no matter what, I just can't seem to master it."
"Why can't you master it?" Shi Feiyang asked him to try practicing, and indeed he couldn't achieve invisibility. He then asked Jiang Shu for his understanding of this escape skill, and after listening, he pondered for a moment and then suddenly laughed.
He stood up, formed a seal with one hand, gave Jiang Shu a flicker, and his entire being disappeared into thin air.
Jiang Shu's eyes lit up with delight, and he reached out to grasp, but caught nothing: "Brother Feiyang, where are you? Have you really mastered it so effortlessly?"
Shi Feiyang, now invisible, moved to the side, watching Jiang Shu groping around fruitlessly and found it quite amusing. In the original story, the two elders of Song Mountain would often use this very Formless Immortal Escape technique to become invisible before slapping their younger adversaries. Those loud slaps sounded as though they were free.
Naturally, he had no intention of slapping Jiang Shu. Instead, he took out a piece of Immortal Fruit from his Qiankun Bag—about the size of a lychee, sweetly fragrant—took it and stuffed it directly into Jiang Shu's mouth.
As Jiang Shu called out for him to reveal himself, he suddenly smelled a fruity scent, and before he could even open his mouth, something was already being stuffed in. Instinctively recoiling while reaching out grasp, he caught nothing and pulled out the fruit; its skin was already bitten, the flesh inside was crystal clear, shining like a jewel, with the juice tantalizingly fragrant inside his mouth.
"What sort of fruit is this? It's incredibly delicious." He took another bite of the Immortal Fruit.
Shi Feiyang reappeared in his original seat and placed another handful on the stone table, "This is called Dragon Fruit."
Jiang Shu saw there were so many and took another, eating while examining it closely: "Why is it called Dragon Fruit?"
"Because there's a dragon that particularly prizes it."
"Do dragons really like to eat this kind of fruit? I had thought it was as rare as a dragon, which would also make sense. But humans love to eat it too; it should be called Human Rare Fruit. Where is it grown? It must be very scarce, right?"
"There are plenty, but they're from the Little Antarctic region. If you like them, later I'll take you..." Shi Feiyang trailed off without continuing.
"Later what?" Jiang Shu, having eaten two fruits and reaching for a third, asked, "Do you mean you'll take me there later?"
"I would like to take you there, but I'm afraid you might not want to come with me when the time comes."
"Why not? I'm quite keen to see the sea. The sound of the tides echoes back in my Divine Sound Cave on every full moon night of the fifteenth; the sound has layers, and there's a natural rhythm to it. I imagine the tides overseas might be even more enchanting. Is Little Antarctic located in the South Sea? Is it an Immortal Mountain overseas? Is your cave dwelling there? If you're inviting me to your place, I will surely come! After all, I've already invited you to my home, so it would only be right for you to reciprocate and invite me to yours."
"I would indeed like you to come over as a guest, but unfortunately, if you don't end up attacking and yelling at me, that would be good enough."
"Me, attacking and yelling at you? How could that be!" Jiang Shu was puzzled and asked why he would say such a thing.
"Let's not talk about this for now. Let me explain this Formless Immortal Escape to you; you've got it all wrong so far."
He changed the subject and clarified the escape skill for Jiang Shu. The understanding of 'formlessness' in Daoism is quite different from the concept of formlessness in Buddhism: "The key point lies in the understanding of 'form' and 'formlessness.' The ancient Chinese character for 'form' depicts an eye and wood, representing a carpenter looking at trees or timber. What does the carpenter envision when looking at the tree?
Calculating its length, straightness, yin and yang, hardness, and softness, essentially marking the wood. Observing the stars and calculating the paths, is also like marking the Heavenly Dao. The Great Dao remains hidden. When it's not evident through the Heavenly Dao, it is measured against the sun, moon, and stars. Measurement isn't the aim, just a means.
This Formless Immortal Escape is the highest level of Immortal escape skill. You have to let go of measurements and metrics, to merge seamlessly with the universe, everything in unity, that's the crucial part. Mmm, you need a foundation in parity of all beings; cultivating the unity of all things before employing the Formless Immortal Escape will achieve the realm of 'ascending to the heavens, playing in the mist; stirring and teasing the infinite, forgetting each other in existence, with no limit to one's journey!'"
Jiang Shu found it somewhat confusing to grasp. He had not managed to master the Formless Immortal Escape in his previous life, and was even less able to understand it at his current level.
So Shi Feiyang began to teach him the Way of 'Unity of All Things.' Measuring the world fell under the lesser, terrestrial studies. He had once instructed Jin Xunu to lead ministers to measure the trajectories of the heavens as accurately as possible on the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain. Now, he was teaching Jiang Shu the Greater, celestial Way, asking him to give up all intentions to measure and comprehend everything in the world.
To recognize all things, one needed intention. With intention comes knowledge, understanding the myriad things, with all knowledge arising from intentions. The more scheming one is, the "smarter" one becomes, the broader their knowledge, and this is the essence of learning more each day.
For enlightenment of the Dao, you must not employ intentions. Cease all intentions, extinguishing all "knowledge," to reveal the "natural origin." However, it's hard for anyone to let go, and one needs to "forget" bit by bit, which is the essence of losing more of the Dao each day.
Jiang Shu's own Daoist books also contained similar content, but the dry and arcane text was hard to digest. Even after tens of thousands of recitations and a hundred years of contemplation, it remained elusive. With Shi Feiyang's pointed and personalized explanations tailored to Jiang Shu's situation, his many lifetimes of accumulated cultivation finally led to numerous moments of clear understanding.
Shi Feiyang carefully guided him through the practice, first entering the state of 'Unity of All Things' and maintaining stability within that realm, before attempting to cultivate the Formless Immortal Escape.
After more than a month passed, Jiang Shu finally mastered the Formless Immortal Escape!
He mischievously picked some fruits from outside, sneaking back to stuff them into Shi Feiyang's mouth as a way to exact "revenge for a past grudge."
But Shi Feiyang could accurately grab his wrist to stop his "mischief," "Your understanding and cultivation of 'all things are one' is still very superficial. Using this escape skill to tease others might work, but it's useless against me."
After saying that, Shi Feiyang took the fruit from Jiang Shu's hand and ate it, commenting, "The sourness is just right, though it's a bit astringent."
Jiang Shu made himself visible, smilingly handing over the whole plate of fruits: "Then you can have them all. I tasted one earlier, and it was even sourer than vinegar."
Shi Feiyang took the plate, all fruits washed in mountain spring water, and ate two. Suddenly, he said, "I should go now."
The sunny smile on Jiang Shu's face disappeared in an instant: "Why are you leaving so soon? Where are you going? I happen to be free, I'll join you in wandering Jianghu. With the fusion of our dual swords, we can sweep away the hordes of demons!"
"I have to go to Jiuhua Mountain to gather herbs. You're welcome to come with me. However, that elder from your family has been stealthily spying on us these days." He pointed towards the cave entrance, "He must be anxious because he saw me kill those two demon cult Taoists that day, worried I might corrupt you. He's already uneasy with me being here, and if I take you to Jiuhua Mountain, he'll surely think I'm abducting you – he might even send flying swords to chop me up."
"You always talk about my past life, but what exactly was my past life like? You never tell me when I ask! Now there's an elder too! If he is an elder, why doesn't he show up instead of sneaking around like a ghost!" He ran outside the cave, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly to the surroundings, "What relation of mine were you in my past life? Since you've come to my doorstep, please come in and sit down, let me see the respected face of my elder and fulfill my duties of respect and filial piety!"
He shouted defiantly several times, causing the mountains to echo, startling birds into the air, but no one answered.
He returned to the cave: "Where is that elder of mine?"
"You are at your most vulnerable during your cycle of rebirth and cultivation. He is protecting you from the shadows. You should be grateful, not so full of anger."
Jiang Shu looked at him, then said worriedly, "You said that if I awaken the memories of my previous life, I would immediately draw my sword against you. Could it be that my elder will also wish you harm?"
"It's possible."
Jiang Shu became immediately anxious: "You said the other day that he could see through the Shuanghuai Temple's array from miles away, so his Dao level is extremely high. Can you defeat him?"
"I don't know," Shi Feiyang shook his head.
"How can you not know?"
"Knowing yourself and knowing your enemy allows you to determine if you can prevail in a fight. I only know myself, not him, so naturally, I can't know if I can defeat him."
Jiang Shu paced around in frustration: "Can you see through that array from a thousand miles away?"
"I cannot," Shi Feiyang stated bluntly. He truly couldn't.
"Cannot? Then you can't win!" Jiang Shu was very anxious, "We need to think of something. If you leave now, can he catch up with you? The Formless Immortal Escape? No, that won't work; since he's my elder, he will surely know the Formless Immortal Escape too, and probably practice it even better than you. You need to figure out how to escape…"
"That won't be necessary," Shi Feiyang laughed, "He might have a higher Dao level than me, but in a real fight, it depends on the use of spells and Magical Treasures."
Shi Feiyang had in his possession the Zhou Tianyu Light Disc, a "nuclear power" level super Magical Treasure. If he really couldn't win, he could just detonate it, which would be equivalent to the explosion of over twenty Heavenly Secret Demon Divine Shuttles at once. Inside was also the Yin Yang Core of the Cosmic Spirit Shuttle. Once activated, it would draw down the Void Evil Fire from the Heavenly Stars, stir the Earth Magnetic Evil Qi to shatter the earth's crust first, and then suck up all the Earth Core True Fire. Heaven and earth would bombard together in mayhem, obliterating the Central Earth Continent into a wasteland covered in Tribulation Ash, with no life for at least a few thousand years...
Of course, such almost apocalyptic measures would not be used unless absolutely necessary.
Besides the Formation Plate, he had several Ancient Treasures. Unless he faced a super powerhouse like Li Jingxu, he would not fear a confrontation with an average Earth Immortal.
Jiang Shu still felt uneasy: "If I'm with you, and that elder wants to kill you, if I plead on your behalf, could he possibly spare you for my sake?"
Shi Feiyang burst into laughter: "It's precisely because I'm with you and 'leading you astray' that he wants to take action against me. If you plead for me, wouldn't that just make him even more determined to completely obliterate me?"
"How are you leading me astray?" Jiang Shu couldn't understand, "Everything you've taught me these days has been the righteous skills of the Mysterious Sect. I've even considered formally taking you as my master!"
"Even if I haven't led you astray now, there's always a chance I might in the future. In his eyes, I must be... uh, up to all sorts of evil, and always on the brink of destroying the world. They wouldn't rest easy until I'm killed, and old grudges must eventually be avenged."
Jiang Shu was incredibly frustrated: "You never tell me anything, just beating around the bush! You might as well restore my previous life's memories, so that I can really know what kind of demon you are!"
"That's out of the question, it would ruin your cultivation."
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