After hearing what Qiao Zhi had to say, Chu Qiguang felt an overwhelming whiff of pyramid schemes and scams hit him squarely in the face. Stunned for a moment, he blurted out, "Become an immortal?"
He had never imagined that this would be the other party's ultimate answer. He could not help thinking inwardly, 'Is this cat hustling me?'
Qiao Zhi nodded, but the voice that followed rang directly in Chu Qiguang's mind: "In your previous life, you were an immortal of the heavens. Having broken the laws of Heaven, you were cast down into the mortal realm by the Heavenly Emperor and made a mere mortal.
"The only reason you have yet to awaken the memories of your past life is that you have never truly become a cat lover. Once you become a cat lover, your life will change."
Chu Qiguang's head was spinning. The more he thought about it, the more bizarre it felt. 'Ergou was an immortal in his past life? But in my past life, I was a person from Earth... Could there be some misunderstanding here? Earth couldn't possibly be the celestial realm, could it? And what does any of this have to do with loving cats?'
He suddenly recalled the cat palace he had built for himself in his previous life after making his fortune—he certainly had kept a great many cats back then.
'Could it really have something to do with loving cats?'
Chu Qiguang could not help asking, "What heavenly law did I break in my past life?"
Qiao Zhi shook his head and sighed. "Alas, in your previous life you were far too dissolute. You paid a nocturnal visit to the Heavenly Emperor's daughter."
Chu Qiguang frowned. "Isn't this Heavenly Emperor a bit too petty? Banishing me to the mortal realm over a little romantic dalliance?"
Qiao Zhi said in a flat tone, "In a single night, you visited seven of his daughters."
Chu Qiguang: "..."
He thought to himself, 'Then that definitely wasn't me.'
Qiao Zhi continued, "In your past life, you were my disciple. I could not bear to see you suffer, so I have come specifically in this life to guide you across to immortality and return you to the ranks of Heaven."
Hearing the orange cat say this, Chu Qiguang was all the more reluctant to reveal that he was no longer Ergou. What if the orange cat took him for some wandering ghost that had seized a mortal body and killed him on the spot?
"Follow me. Let's find another spot." Having spoken, Qiao Zhi turned and walked away. Chu Qiguang followed him to the edge of a cliff where no wild beasts were in sight.
Chu Qiguang glanced back and saw the two feral cats that had led the way earlier squeezed together in a clump of bushes, staring curiously at them. The instant they saw Chu Qiguang look their way, their heads darted back into the brush like startled critters.
With his back to Chu Qiguang, Qiao Zhi gazed up at the bright moon in the sky. "To attain immortality, first, one must rely on one's own hard work, and second, on celestial and terrestrial fortune. Today, I will first explain to you how to apply your own efforts.
"Applying your own efforts requires diligent cultivation on your part. And the ways of cultivation under heaven can be broadly divided into two categories: martial arts and Daoist arts."
Hearing this, Chu Qiguang felt his curiosity pique. Knowing that this might truly be an unprecedentedly grand opportunity, an eager thirst for learning arose in him. Looking at the orange cat, he asked, "What is the difference between martial arts and Daoist arts?"
Through Qiao Zhi's detailed explanation, Chu Qiguang gained an initial understanding of the so-called martial arts and Daoist arts.
A person is born possessing both a physical body and a primordial spirit. Martial arts nourishes the primordial spirit through the conditioning of the physical body, and then uses a powerful primordial spirit to perceive the body and circulate blood and qi. This, in turn, nourishes the physical body. Over time, both physical body and primordial spirit grow ever stronger, until at last one can sense the existence of the Heavenly Dao.
Daoist arts, on the other hand, forsakes physical cultivation, directly honing the sensitivity of the primordial spirit and the wisdom of the intellect. It seeks only that upon gaining sudden insight into the Great Dao, one can ascend to the heavens in a single bound, proclaiming oneself an immortal and patriarch.
Whether martial arts or Daoist arts, the essence of cultivation is the comprehension of the Heavenly Dao. Yet how profound and wondrous is the Heavenly Dao? A mere mortal vessel cannot comprehend the Heavenly Dao at all; only after years of disciplined practice can one step into the realm of comprehending it.
Throughout the world, the realm wherein one can comprehend the Heavenly Dao is called "entering the Dao." Anyone who attains this realm is among the paramount figures of this world, striding unhindered across the mortal plane, their every move wielding immense influence over the entire realm.
Qiao Zhi said, "Today, I will first explain Daoist arts cultivation to you.
"Before one can truly comprehend the Heavenly Dao and enter the Dao, the Daoist arts are entirely a matter of mental discipline. Some brilliantly gifted monks and Daoist priests persist in daily seated meditation, persevering for years, even decades. Outwardly, they appear utterly ordinary, devoid of anything wondrous or miraculous.
"In truth, they are constantly circulating their primordial spirit in silence, elevating the realm of their mind, until at last they achieve sudden enlightenment in a single day, comprehend the Heavenly Dao, and cease to be mortal.
"You were originally a banished immortal from the heavens, so this kind of practice is perfectly suited for you to cultivate right now."
As Qiao Zhi spoke, he sat down cross-legged. His crossed paws and hind legs were not cat-like at all, moving with the nimbleness of a human's hands and feet.
"Lying down makes it too easy to fall asleep, and standing makes it easy to lose focus. Sitting cross-legged is the best posture for seated meditation, contemplating, and tempering one's mental realm." Qiao Zhi continued, "Sit down first, and I will slowly tell you how to cultivate."
Chu Qiguang mimicked Qiao Zhi's human-like posture and sat down cross-legged. Unnoticed, two cat heads poked out once more from the bushes behind them, peering curiously at the person and the cat.
Catching sight of this, Qiao Zhi merely flicked his tail, paying them no mind.
Chu Qiguang suddenly remembered the bald outsider he had seen at the village entrance earlier today, so he asked, "What about that 'manifestation in dreams' the outsider at the village entrance mentioned today...?"
Qiao Zhi nodded. "I was listening to them speak there today as well. That indeed belongs to an exceptionally profound mental realm.
"That bald man is even more formidable. His body has been tempered through external martial training to the point where he is only a single step from entering the Dao. What's more, his face bears official authority and his body carries a heavy murderous aura. He is a man of officialdom. I can guess a bit of his identity, but we will discuss that later."
Seeing Chu Qiguang's humble and eager demeanor, Qiao Zhi nodded in satisfaction and continued, "Since ancient times, the cultivation methods of the myriad sects and schools in this world have been beyond count. Generation after generation of ambitious mortals have circulated their primordial spirits and sought to comprehend the Heavenly Dao, aspiring to forge a path to immortality.
"Yet in the present world, there are merely twenty-five schools that can genuinely enter the Dao.
"Among them, nine belong to martial arts and sixteen to Daoist arts, collectively referred to by those in the know as the Twenty-Five Orthodox Arts."
Chu Qiguang could not help remarking, "Is the difference between martial arts and Daoist arts really that vast in number? Does that mean cultivating Daoist arts makes it easier to become an immortal than martial arts?"
Qiao Zhi shook his head. "Not necessarily... There is a saying: 'One may grow old and die cultivating the Dao without crossing the threshold, while a month of martial arts can beat a man to death.' It refers to how cultivating Daoist arts and quietly circulating the primordial spirit makes entering the Dao vastly harder than practicing martial arts. Who knows how many monks and Daoist priests practice bitter meditation for ten or twenty years without achieving a damn thing."
Qiao Zhi sighed. "However, once cultivation enters the Dao and one begins comprehending the Heavenly Dao, Daoist arts will leave martial arts far behind, unlocking all kinds of incredible power.
"One could put it this way: before entering the Dao, martial arts has an easier threshold and boasts greater might. But in cultivation after entering the Dao, Daoist arts completely surpasses martial arts in both cultivation speed and sheer power. At that stage, anyone practicing martial arts who hopes to outmatch Daoist arts must expend ten times the effort."
Chu Qiguang nodded in understanding. 'So one is an early-game hero, and the other is a late-game hero.'
Sensing that the cat before him seemed to know a great deal, Chu Qiguang decided to ask about a question that had piqued his curiosity for days now: "Master Qiao, have you ever heard of the Secret Register of the Purple Mansion?"
Chapter 9