Cui Heng had been walking the mortal world for a while.
This was the tenth year.
In these 10 years, he did not use any Dharmic powers or divine powers.
He walked around like an ordinary person.
He had seen many people and encountered many things.
He tried to find answers in the lives of ordinary people.
What was he missing?
Why was it that the feedback obtained after changing the situation of this world could not improve his Nascent Soul?
And in the process, he gradually understood what he was missing—
A goal!
Indeed, Cui Heng had clearly designed the future situation of Chongyang Star and told Pei Qingshu to change the direction of the lives of the people. However, this change was only a spur of the moment idea.
Moreover, this was not the world he really wanted. It was just an experiment.
In short, if he wanted to increase his realm using the transformative feedback he received from the world’s current situation, he had to let this transformation develop to a state of the world he wanted.
He could not make changes aimlessly. He had to have a clear final goal.
He had to make the act of “changing” related to himself. Only then could the Purple Qi produced by the feedback interact with his Nascent Soul and promote the improvement of his realm.
When he changed this world into the state he wanted, he could establish the foundation of the Soul Formation realm and completely break through the shackles of his current realm to reach the Soul Formation realm.
However, after understanding this, another question appeared in front of Cui Heng.
What kind of state did he want the world to be in?
Or rather, what did the “path” he wanted to walk look like?
At the same time, he understood what the passage “applying the knowledge you’ve gained into practice and changing the current situation of the world” in the Primary Grade Immortal Technique meant.
Actually, it meant constructing a world according to his past understanding and knowledge.
Then, Cui Heng realized that he did not know what kind of world he wanted, let alone what kind of path he wanted to take.
In this aspect, he might not be as good as Hong Fugui.
At the very least, Hong Fugui had already determined his goal from the beginning and knew what kind of world he wanted.
The practice of great harmony of all things under the heavens!
“But what about me? What kind of world do I want?”
Cui Heng had asked himself this countless times.
In the process of asking himself questions again and again, Cui Heng kept recalling the past hundreds of years of his life, the stable life on Earth, the relaxed and comfortable life in the Beginner’s Space…
In the end, he confirmed one thing. The state of the world he wanted definitely included one thing.
Safety!
It must be safe!
It was definitely difficult to avoid unexpected danger, but one should not have to worry about being killed every day. That could be said to be a safe world.
From this point of view, as long as the changes to this world could make the people living in it feel safer, it matched the direction of his goal.
And what was the premise of safety?
It was a powerful and stable order.
Simply put, the world state that Cui Heng wanted was a safe world with stable order.
And this was what the Wu Dynasty was doing.
The nomological laws restricted private battles between martial artists and prohibited martial artists from harming ordinary people at will.
It greatly increased the safety of ordinary people.
Hence, after Cui Heng understood this, the purple qi that was originally wrapped around the Nascent Soul suddenly moved.
Most of the purple qi directly sublimated into balls of purple-gold divine light and fused into his Nascent Soul, increasing the essence of his Dharmic powers and giving his Dharmic powers a special effect.
It could make the Great Dao laws within the range of his Dharmic powers more stable, orderly, and less easily destroyed.
This effect clearly came from the “path” he wanted to take.
In this way, the road ahead was clear.
As long as he followed this path, if nothing unexpected happened, he could rely on establishing a world with stable order to reach the Soul Formation realm.
However, Cui Heng clearly felt that pure safety was not what he wanted. Or rather, he wanted more than just safety.
Although a world with a stable order was safe, it was also suffocating and lifeless. There was definitely something missing and lacking.
As for what was missing and what was lacking, he had yet to think of it.
However, before the purple qi that symbolizes the changes in the thoughts and fate of all living beings in the Purple Mansion Golden Hall turned into divine light, he planned to investigate from this aspect and see if he could find any clues.
Gradually, he realized that many martial artists from the old era had lost their original positions in this new era. They had become dispirited and even despaired.
Yan Buqun was a typical example.
Cui Heng heard about it from a disciple who had left Yan Buqun, so he came over to talk to him.
….
“Yes, yes! Please come in.”
Yan Buqun welcomed Cui Heng in happily and hurriedly went to make tea. At the same time, he asked with a smile, “How should I address you?”
Although he did not know Cui Heng or his identity, he felt that there was nothing about him worth scheming against.
Moreover, it had been a long time since anyone came to look for him. At such a bitter time, it was good to have someone to talk to.
Hence, he did not ask much and welcomed Cui Heng in.
“My surname is Cui.” Cui Heng nodded slightly. He looked around and smiled. “Your dojo is very big.”
“So it’s Brother Cui.” Yan Buqun walked over with a tea stove and invited Cui Heng to sit on the meditation cushion. He sighed and said, “Back then, I was ambitious when developing the dojo, so I built it a little bigger. I didn’t expect it to become like this.”
“It’s because of the spread of the new martial path, right?” Cui Heng looked at the tea stove and the charcoal inside. “The changes of the world are like a raging fire, blazing and bright, illuminating the path ahead, but it’s inevitable that some people will become charcoal.”
“…” Yan Buqun’s body trembled slightly when he heard this. He looked at Cui Heng in surprise and frowned. “Brother Cui, what are you trying to say? Don’t expect me to say anything bad about the Wu Dynasty.”
“I don’t have any intention of probing you.” Cui Heng shook his head gently and smiled. “I just want to ask you, what do you think of the current Wu Dynasty and your current self?”
“How can a muddle-headed cripple like me be worthy of answering such a question?” Yan Buqun shook his head repeatedly, but when he saw Cui Heng’s gaze, he fell silent again.
After a long while, he sighed deeply and said, “Actually, I’m not dissatisfied with the current Wu Dynasty. Whether you believe it or not, this is the truth.
I’ve experienced the chaotic times of the past. The people who begged together today might die on the streets tomorrow for no reason. Those who were kind to others might also be killed for no reason.
In those times, Chongyang Star was chaotic and dangerous. After the Wu Dynasty was established, there were laws in the world. With powerful law enforcers maintaining order, it became much safer.
The spread of the new martial path has also given more ordinary people a chance to change their fate. This is a great thing. To be honest, I still like this era very much.
Sigh… Brother Cui, perhaps you’re right. The world is changing, and flames are burning. There will always be people who are destined to become charcoal and burn themselves to illuminate this era.
Old martial artists like us are like this charcoal. But sometimes, the charcoal can’t help but wonder if the blazing flames can give us a chance as well.
Can it not lock us in the furnace like this? Can it give us a chance to change ourselves? Can it not throw us into the tea stove without asking anything?”
Gradually, Yan Buqun became agitated. He even stood up to vent his emotions.
Cui Heng sat opposite Yan Buqun and listened quietly.
Hearing him question, hearing him roar. Hearing him cry, hearing him lament and finally, turn everything into a sigh.
….
….
“I seem to understand what I’m missing.”