Xu Lian Blessed Land
The earthly calamity was gone. But the aftermath it caused was quite severe.
Xu Lian flew in the air as he assessed the state of his blessed land.
"This... My ninth earthly calamity can't be considered a success. The losses are too severe. I lost all the resources that the Wen clan lent me." - He sighed to himself.
"Luckily the lands weren't fully developed, there were many empty locations that didn't have anything important yet." - He thought to himself as he looked over the torn up terrain.
Casams and deep cracks scarred the lands.
But every cloud had its silver lining. As long as one was alive, they could start over anew.
Xu Lian glanced at Bao Zhi who situated himself on a sizable rock.
Bao Zhi was sitting cross-legged as he read The Legends of Ren Zu again and again.
"Oh, Ren Zu. What a life you've lived." - He sighed deeply.
His understanding of this human path inheritance has deepened once again. He peered back another layer of its profundity.
Many of his questions were answered. But those answers gave birth to even more questions.
This is what knowledge was like. The more one knew, the more aware they became of their own limitations.
"What is a human? To be a human is to have two feet to stand up high and travel the lands. To be human is to have two hands that grasp the world within. To be human is to have a heart that's steadfast and true."
Bao Zhi was itching to act, he felt his understanding was on the cusp of something significant.
"Enough with the reading." - He put the book beside him and got on his feet.
He walked up to the crater that his self detonation created not long ago. He climbed down and picked up a heavy stone that was twice the size of his head.
He carried it back up and laid it on the ground before climbing back for another one.
This continued on and on. He stacked the rocks carefully next to each other.
Xu Lian noticed Bao Zhi's actions from up in the air. He stopped to observe him.
"Just what is Ancestor trying to accomplish?" - He wondered as he looked at Bao Zhi laying down another sizable piece of stone.
Xu Lian did not descend to ask Bao Zhi, it wasn't his place to interrupt him. He continued to observe silently.
Soon, a rectangular shape emerged as Bao Zhi pieced them together resolutely. He only used his physical strength and no gu worm to do this.
"Ancestor seems to be building something." - Xu Lian mused.
When the platform was done, Bao Zhi went to look for something else. He returned with some flat rocks and sticks.
He took a flat rock in his hand and started to strike it with a hammer-stone in his other. Sharp flakes were spit left and right. The flat stone soon had a rough but sharp edge.
When Bao Zhi was done with the flintknapping, he split a stick at its end in the middle and attached the sharpened rock to it.
A primitive axe was made.
Bao Zhi headed into the woods and started to hack away at a good sized tree. It took him long hours to fell this single tree. But he wasn't deterred, he pushed on.
He cut off the branches and carved beams out of the tree's trunk.
Xu Lian watched on dumbfounded. He didn't understand why one would choose such roundabout and primitive methods.
"I'll lend a helping hand to Ancestor." - He descended to use his gu worms.
Xu Lian cut down a tree as well and chopped it into long and even pieces.
But Bao Zhi stopped him midway and didn't use them. He continued to do things his way.
Xu Lian frowned but didn't take it to heart. If anything, this made him even more curious.
Days passed like this.
Bao Zhi stopped before his creation now.
It was a wooden house that rested on a stone foundation. It wasn't big. It was plain and simple.
Bao Zhi's hands showed marks of wounds on it. His bare feet were covered in dirt and mud. But his face showed a satisfied expression.
"I'm parched, thirsty as a desert." - He wiped off the sweat from his forehead.
He did not stop to rest for long, he was at it again.
Bao Zhi created a shovel and stared to dig.
After a day of digging, a well was created next to the house. Clear water was slowly gathering at the bottom of it.
From the dirt he had dug up, Bao Zhi separated the clay and created various pots.
He took two pieces of dry twigs and started rub them to each other. Amidst the smoke, a small ember was born as the result of the strong friction.
Bao Zhi put the dried pots into the pit of fire to harden them.
When firing the pots was done, he finally drew water from the well and filled his pot.
Bao Zhi drank the fresh water relish.
He offered some to Xu Lian as well.
Xu Lian did not dare to refuse his ancestor, he took a clay cup and drank the water.
"This is just regular water. Nothing special about it..." - He thought as he drank it anyway.
Next, Bao Zhi headed inside his self-built house and rested his body.
The next day he rose with vigor. He raised a small fence around the house and portioned a small garden in the back.
He hoed the soil and planted wild vegetables in row after row.
He motioned for Xu Lian to join as well.
Xu Lian was reluctant, but decided to play along.
Both of them were on their knees in the mud as they planted the greens with bare hands.
Xu Lian couldn't recall the last time he did something this lowly. Did he ever do anything like this even?
But without the use of gu worms to replenish his stamina he soon started to tire. His neck and back already ached from bending down.
Xu Lian looked at Bao Zhi who worked adamantly. Xu Lian didn't dare complain to his ancestor when his attitude was like this.
The bodies of immortals were still human in the end, without gu worms Xu Lian was not much different from mortals.
By the end of the day, Bao Zhi drew water again from the well for both of them.
This time, Xu Lian drank the water hearthily.
"Is this the same old water?" - Xu Lian wondered to himself. After toiling in the garden, he felt like this jug of water was the most tasteful drink.
Days passed by.
Bao Zhi continued his work around the house. He cut firewood. He laid out a stone path between his house, the garden and his well.
Xu Lian got back to manage his blessed land as he got used to Bao Zhi's antics. From time to time he stopped by to take a look at him.
"Why? To what end? Why is ancestor living like this?" - He asked himself.
The day came when the vegetable garden was ready for harvest. In this wood path environment, one didn't have to wait long for plants to mature. They were like fish in water.
Bao Zhi harvested some and cooked some soup from it. He invited Xu Lian to eat with him.
Xu Lian didn't enjoy it. He found it bland and tasteless, lacking salt and spices.
The next day, Bao Zhi instructed Xu Lian to make the same soup himself, but forbid him to use gu worms.
Xu Lian complied out of respect, albeit somewhat unwillingly.
Xu Lian gathered the vegetables from the garden. Then he drew water from the well to wash them thoroughly. Next, he had to chop firewood and prepare the kindling-wood as well.
With some effort he managed to light the fire, as he saw it from Bao Zhi. It wasn't easy!
He finally could begin to cook the vegetables in the boiling water.
When he was done, he set the table and presented his cooking.
Bao Zhi ate his soup with gusto. It made Xu Lian feel relieved.
He took the carved wooden spoon into his hand to taste his own making.
"Ancestor, how can this be?" - His spoon almost fell out of his hand as he asked incredulously.
This was the same bland soup they had yesterday.
"Tastes better, right? This is the taste of your own efforts." - Bao Zhi commented between two spoonfuls of soup.
"So it is like that." - Xu Lian's eyes flashed with understanding.
"Thank you, Ancestor. I think, I understand." - Xu Lian cupped his fists respectfully.
Bao Zhi just nodded along.
He wiped his mouth and put down his empty bowl on the crude table.
"This is the house I grew up in." - Bao Zhi began to reminisce.
"My father built our house with his own two hands, to have a roof above their head by the time I was born."
"He was a hardworking man, not one to ever complain about hardships."
"He worked on the fields from morning till evening, while my mother kept to the house and raised me. I waited his return each day."
Bao Zhi told his story with deep emotions in his voice.
Xu Lian listened intently.
Bao Zhi's childhood was such a distant memory to him already...
"One should cherish the good times while they last." - Bao Zhi cleared his throath.
Next, he stood up and headed to the fireplace.
He took a piece of flaming wood and chucked it into the corner!
The flames licked the wooden walls, and the fire started to spread quickly.
"Ancestor!?" - Xu Lian called out.
Bao Zhi did not answer him, he let the flames advance and walked out of the house.
Xu Lian hurriedly followed him. The two of them watched side by side as the house was engulfed in fire. Bao Zhi's hard work was undone in a matter of minutes.
Bao Zhi stood there, his expression was unreadable for a long time.
"I'm sorry." - He said softly.
At this moment his eyes turned wet.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't be there..." - He sobbed quietly.
Xu Lian stood there in silence, not sure how to react.
After a while, Bao Zhi wiped his tears off and approached the still smoldering ruins.
He grabbed the stones from the foundation and layed them into two elongated piles beside where this house once stood.
He placed two big flat rocks at the ends as headstones.
He kowtowed three times before the graves.
When he stood up, his eyes flashed with renewed light!
"To comprehend humanity, one has to first comprehend themselves. To comprehend oneself, one must have a deep understanding of their own thoughts, feelings, and actions." - Bao Zhi explained.
Bao Zhi turned to the solemn Xu Lian.
"Remember, it is not weakness to show emotions. It takes great strength to embrace and recognize them for what they are. Because they are part of who you are. Suppressing and discarding them is akin to disfiguring your own mind!" - Bao Zhi said sternly.
"But Ancestor, being controlled by emotions is a detriment, rather than a gain." - Xu Lian objected.
"Only those are led by their emotions who cannot accept them. One must know themselves truthfully, doing otherwise is deceiving their very self. When one walks astray from their true path, they are the undoing of themselves." - Bao Zhi said slowly.
Xu Lian did not reply, he ruminated on these words deeply.
"Are you the person you thought yourself to be? Go, comprehend your true self." - Bao Zhi instructed.
Xu Lian bowed and left quietly.
Bao Zhi stood there alone, his green eyes glinted in the dim evening light.
"Success!"
"The core of understanding humanity is being a human. We all have the same beginning, but as humans cultivate further and further, they lose thier very self that made them who they are."
"Their minds become cold and detached, their bodies become tainted and infertile."
"Recalling and reliving my oldest memories were the last push I needed to comprehend this truth."
"My human path attainment has finally reached the grandmaster realm!"
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