End of Chapter Twenty-six

“What is the Dao?”
The voice exploded by Shen Qingyun’s ear like a thunderclap.

“Heaven and earth, all things, every flower, every blade of grass, every tree—each may be the Dao!” Shen Qingyun replied without hesitation.

“The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao. Thus it is, well said!”

Shen Qingyun’s steps did not falter for an instant, though question after question boomed in his ears, each one met with an immediate answer.

From the outside, it seemed as if Shen Qingyun met no obstruction at all—he continued his ascent, step by step. Under the watchful eyes of many, he was already close to the halfway point up the mountain.

“What is immortality?”

“To live as long as heaven, to share the span of earth!” Shen Qingyun again responded without pause.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“All things under heaven and earth cycle through samsara, reaching perfection and longevity—thus, immortality.”

As soon as Shen Qingyun’s words fell, another question rang out: “What is samsara?”

“Karma.”

“What does that mean?”

“To begin at the origin and return to the origin. The end follows the beginning—this is karma, and this is samsara.”

“Explain further.”

“The circle.”

“Well spoken!”

Reaching the halfway point, Shen Qingyun’s pace remained unwavering. The elders at the summit began to sense something unusual.

“Strange, is this Path-Questioning Statue having no effect on him?”

“That’s not possible. The method for crafting the Path-Questioning Statue came from the distant Central Province, said to be created by a peerless cultivator. It has existed for countless ages—how could it be ineffective on him?”

“Could he simply be able to answer every question the statue puts forth?”

This suggestion was dismissed out of hand by the elders—none among them could answer every question the Path-Questioning Statue asked. Moreover, the deeper one’s understanding of the Dao, the harder the questions that would be posed—perfect answers were impossible!

Could it be that Shen Qingyun’s understanding of the Dao already surpassed theirs?

What a joke!

In the brief span of time, Shen Qingyun had already answered countless questions. With each step, innumerable voices rose, posing endless queries, yet he answered every one.

“What is flawlessness?”

“An emperor is flawless!” Shen Qingyun responded calmly, a flicker of violet light in his eyes.

“What does that mean?”

“The body and heart are whole, standing as one with the heavens and the earth! Only the emperor achieves flawlessness.”

“Difficult to know, but perhaps so.” The statue could not judge whether Shen Qingyun’s answer was correct—had his understanding already exceeded that of the statue’s creator?

“One final question: why do you pursue cultivation?”

Shen Qingyun’s stride paused. In his previous life, he had stumbled at this very question. All earlier queries he had answered by rote, imitating textbook responses, but this question was never addressed in any book!

But this time, nothing would stop him. For he himself was flawless.

“To protect.”

With that, Shen Qingyun stepped off the mountain path. The outer sect disciples at the foot of the mountain all stared wide-eyed at him. Yet, strangely, the bell did not ring.

Both disciples and elders alike were puzzled. He had passed through; by rights, the bell should have sounded.

“I’ll go and ask him,” said one of the elders, flicking his horsetail whisk as he stepped forward.

“Wait!” Bai Yiran reached out a hand to stop him, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief as she said in a low voice, “Look carefully!”

At her words, the elders scrutinized Shen Qingyun more closely.

Gradually, they noticed something amiss—Shen Qingyun was shrouded in a faint, silvery glow.

“How can this be!” In his excitement, one elder tore out several hairs from his own beard. “He’s still within the Path-Questioning Realm?”

“The Path-Questioning Statue has more to ask him!” Bai Yiran’s expression grew grave. “It seems the Sect Master was right—this child is extraordinary!”

...

“If you lack strength, how can you protect?”

As Bai Yiran had guessed, when Shen Qingyun declared his intention to protect, the Path-Questioning Statue did not recede as it should have, but continued its interrogation.

“If the heart desires to protect, why should one not?”

“Yet with only intent and no strength, what can you protect?”

“Without the conviction to protect, what drives one to advance?” Shen Qingyun no longer wished to be ensnared in the statue’s cycles of logic. He answered plainly, “Protection has nothing to do with strength. If your heart holds that conviction, then even without strength, you will stand at the forefront.”

“When someone seeks to harm what you wish to protect, you will step forward without hesitation. In that moment, you think only this: if you wish to harm her, you must do so over my dead body!”

“Such conviction is fearlessness. Is not the path of cultivation, at its core, fearless?”

Shen Qingyun’s counter-question left the statue silent for a long time.

At last, the Path-Questioning Statue’s voice sounded once more, “Well said!” With that, the bell began to ring.

It rang not once, not twice, but for nine full breaths, lingering before it slowly faded away.

Everyone, both on the mountain and below, held their breath.

A silence fell—one so profound it was as if time and space themselves had frozen.

“So it’s true… there really is a nine-ringed bell.”

A disciple stood with mouth agape, murmuring in disbelief. Yet his words were like a stone cast into a tranquil lake, shattering the stillness.

The guiding elder below, too, was stunned—he could not believe that something recorded only in the annals of Cangyun history had unfolded before his eyes.

“Heh… The Heavenly Ascension Path is concluded for today. Those who did not pass, keep striving, and aim to enter the inner sect next time!”

High above, the voice of the Cangyun Sect Master drifted down, rousing the elders from their daze.

The guiding elder below and the elders atop the mountain all clasped their hands and bowed respectfully to the void. “We obey the Sect Master’s command!”

At their words, the disciples erupted into a commotion, as though a drop of water had fallen into a cauldron of boiling oil.

The outer sect disciples were beside themselves with excitement—they had never dreamed they would hear the Cangyun Sect Master’s voice. After all, outer sect disciples had no right to see the Sect Master; even inner sect disciples rarely had the chance.

Yet today, at the conclusion of the Heavenly Ascension Path, they had heard his voice. This meant that the venerable master himself had been paying close attention to today’s trial.

Which raised a question—why had the Sect Master chosen to observe this particular trial?

Many disciples could not help letting their imaginations run wild. Could Shen Qingyun actually be the Sect Master’s illegitimate son?

The moment this idea surfaced, many found themselves convinced. After all, this newcomer had been granted the opportunity to walk the Heavenly Ascension Path upon entry, and had even triggered nine bell tolls! With all these connections, who could help but speculate?