Chapter 1805: Two Instruments

“Ba Zun’an, what lies beyond the sword-thought?”

Half a year ago, when the Gui Fo Realm first stirred, Xu Xiaoshou posed this question to Ba Zun’an. The latter chuckled, “I’ve pondered it for a long time.”

“Any conclusions?”

Ba Zun’an shook his head. “The thought of a god has an ‘above,’ but the sword-thought has no ‘above.’ Or perhaps, the ‘above’ of the sword-thought is to return to its essence, to return to ‘name’ (Ming).”

Ming… Xu Xiaoshou’s questions were always incisive. “Have you achieved it?”

Ba Zun’an shook his head a second time, a hint of emotion in his voice.

“Ming is like the Dao, too ethereal and elusive.”

“Even I could only borrow the concept of sword-thought and cleverly adapt it. This merely captures its form, not its spirit.”

Ming is like the Dao… Xu Xiaoshou nodded thoughtfully, indicating his understanding, as he felt the same way at that moment. “It’s like scratching an itch through a boot.”

“Precisely!”

Ba Zun’an agreed, then added:

“My Dao was born from Ming, and matured through sword-thought.”

“Therefore, I later pursued and experimented with Ming, but the Dao that matured in sword-thought also became confined by sword-thought.”

“Consider this…”

At that time, he was at the Holy Mountain Ruins, beneath the Gui Fo, his finger pointing forward, yet his gaze was fixed on the Southern Region, where his journey had initially begun.

“My path is already nine-tenths complete.”

“Ancient sword techniques made me, sword-thought made me, and then confined my thinking to the ‘nine-tenths,’ making me forget the essence of ‘Ming’ that I pondered when I first set out.”

He lowered his head, shaking it with a sigh. “If I were to abandon everything, disperse everything, perhaps I could touch the essence of the Grand Dao and gain enlightenment. But I have no time.”

He looked up at the Gui Fo. “If I were to disperse my cultivation and start anew now, perhaps the Dao would be waiting for me ahead, but they won’t wait for me. I can no longer turn back.”

Xu Xiaoshou understood this feeling all too well.

Trapped in the situation, pushed along by the tide, who could truly remain untouched?

Not to mention Ba Zun’an’s inability to turn back; even his own thoughts and concerns now were vastly different from the various ideas he had when he first began cultivating.

But he knew Ba Zun’an wouldn’t stop.

If Ming couldn’t be achieved, there was more than one path to the Grand Dao. So he asked, “Then, after sword-thought, what have you cultivated in the past thirty years?”

As the words left his mouth, various scenes from the Divine Ruins flashed through Xu Xiaoshou’s mind, and he already had an answer.

As expected, Ba Zun’an nodded and said:

“Sword, self.”

Sword-self?

No, that old Ba, he not only chose his words carefully, but the true meaning lay in the details.

When he said those two words just now, he clearly paused…

“Sword-self?”

“Or ‘sword’ and ‘self’?”

These seemed like the same question, yet they had essential differences.

Ba Zun’an smiled, noncommittal, and then changed the subject. “Shen Yi, did he teach you ancient martial arts?”

Xu Xiaoshou nodded, remaining silent.

Then he heard old Ba say, on his own accord:

“Shen Yi and I also discussed ancient martial arts, and I gained a lot.”

“If the Dao lies in spirit, a hundred flowers bloom; if the Dao lies in the sword, three realms open their gates.”

“Both of these require a choice. Among the three thousand Daos or the nine ancient sword techniques, one must choose a small path or a small technique, cultivate it to the extreme, and then be crowned a god or an ancestor.”

He paused, then turned back to his original point, his voice filled with a touch of admiration:

“But the Dao in ancient martial arts is very pure; there’s no need to overthink it. Just cultivate it step by step, and when you reach the end, the position of ancestral god is within reach.”

“So, what is the Dao of ancient martial arts?”

Xu Xiaoshou actually knew the answer to this question.

Because Shen Yi had also told him, he said, “Nine Palaces, Eight Gates, Seven Constellations, Six Paths, Four Abodes, Three Realms, Two Poles, One Venerable.”

Ba Zun’an nodded and added, “Missing five, Wu Ji.”

Right, there were indeed those two things.

“Missing five is the fist, five is within the missing fist.”

“Wu Ji Tai Shang is merely an ethereal concept, a thought left by the Battle Ancestor for further advancement in the Dao of ancient martial arts.”

“Let’s not discuss these two for now.”

Returning to the arrangement from “Nine Palaces” to “One Venerable,” Ba Zun’an elucidated:

“And from nine returning to one, this ‘One Venerable’ is the realm that the Battle Ancestor aspired to in the past, equivalent to becoming a god or an ancestor.”

“Later cultivators, no matter how confident they may be, should not be overly ambitious, nor should they seek enlightenment through the Dao—that’s like seeking enlightenment through Ming, too easy to go astray.”

“Therefore, just like cultivating Ming through sword-thought, one must enter the Dao through technique, and then return to simplicity and truth. Although one might be confined by it, this is already the safest path.”

“And my Dao, after my discussion with Shen Yi, drew upon the concept of ‘Two Poles’ and decided to cultivate ‘sword-self’ (Jian Wo).”

So that’s how it is… Xu Xiaoshou now fully understood.

“Sword-self” (Jian Wo) is the Two Poles (Liang Yi).

“Sword” (Jian) and “self” (Wo) are the black and white of the Two Poles, both opposing and mutually achieving?

Old Ba’s ambition was not small!

Ba Zun’an was indeed never a person to be content.

And after returning to “sword-self” (Jian Wo) from ancient martial arts, when Ba Zun’an talked about what he had said before, it became simple and easy to understand:

“Ming is like the Dao, Ming is like One Venerable.”

“The Dao of Ming is too ethereal and elusive, and it goes against me.”

“Ming is passively acquired, while my sword, no matter how circuitous it may be, is essentially always actively attacking.”

It was clear that Ba Zun’an liked “Ming” very much, but he cut it off cleanly: “It only has its form, not its spirit. Forcing it is useless. I willingly give it up.”

Ba Zun’an liked Ming, but he could not attain it.

His words, however, heavily pierced Xu Xiaoshou’s heart.

Indeed, sometimes when discussing heaven and earth, what truly touches one’s heart is an unintentional remark:

“Ming is passive…”

Xu Xiaoshou was moved.

After careful consideration, that “touched” feeling suddenly split into “deeply touched.”

“Xu Xiaoshou, you came to me for more than just asking about ‘beyond sword-thought,’ didn’t you?” Ba Zun’an interrupted his thoughts.

“Indeed, I want to cultivate the Dao…”

“Which Dao do you want to cultivate?”

“Just now, I was still lost…”

“And now?”

“Now… Ba Zun’an, I want to cultivate Ming!”

At Gui Zhe Ruins, beneath the Gui Fo, the exchange between the First Sword Immortal and the Eighth Sword Immortal reached its climax.

With that final, resolute utterance, Dao Yun surged around Xu Xiaoshou, and a sword-thought disk naturally unfurled beneath his feet.

There was no second disk.

Only the sole sword-thought disk!

Complex insights, wonderfully diverse, like an immortal pointing the way, or demonic sounds piercing the ears, passing through his eyes, through his bones, merging with his self, pushing out the old and bringing forth the new.

“Cultivate Ming…”

Ba Zun’an couldn’t see, but he could sense it.

Xu Xiaoshou had gained enlightenment.

His realm suddenly began to advance upward from nine-tenths of ultra-Dao transformation, and there was no end to its ascent.

Nine-one, nine-two, nine-three…

Until nine-nine!

He seemed to have entered a state of sudden “pseudo-ancestor transformation”?

In terms of combat power, there might not have been any visible improvement yet.

But in terms of Dao comprehension, there was an extremely remarkable surge, and there was a constant sign of “Qi deviation”!

“The Dao of Ming…”

Ba Zun’an himself was an unworldly genius.

He was taciturn and disliked idle chatter with ordinary people, because it was like playing a lute to a cow.

But for Xu Xiaoshou, whether it was his character, his conduct, his comprehension… Ba Zun’an had always only expressed praise and approval.

After sensing that the young man in front of him, while talking, suddenly underwent a transformation, constantly “gaining,” and what he gained was very peculiar, leading him to have an even greater tendency to fall into a demonic state.

Ba Zun’an showed no panic.

Instead, he calmly changed his role.

He descended from the position of a superior answer provider to that of an inferior question poser, yet he was still able to counter from below, questioning:

“Cultivate Ming? Isn’t that equivalent to cultivating the Dao? It’s as difficult as ascending to heaven!”

Xu Xiaoshou indeed no longer needed anyone to provide answers for him.

He entered the pseudo-Dao transformation for the first time, as if immersed in an ocean of answers, everything within reach, and he could answer casually:

“No, the Dao of Ming can also be divided into three: Ming, Upper Ming, and Supreme Ming.”

Ba Zun’an could not hide his shock.

Xu Xiaoshou was either in a demonic state or something else.

What he said was too ethereal, and it had to have substance, otherwise, when he woke up, everything would be empty, and he might even lose his Dao and perish.

He began to subtly guide Xu Xiaoshou by asking questions, confronting him:

“I cultivate Ming. Ming is like a double-edged sword; it both helps and harms me. I interpret ‘sword-self’ and derive the Two Poles. What are your current insights on the Dao of Ming?”

“Ming is like the Dao. If the Dao gives birth to the Two Poles, then Ming can also give birth to the Two Poles.”

“Oh? Ming, how can it have the concept of Two Poles?”

“Ming is like a double-edged sword, harming both me and others. Therefore, Ming is like fire, with the appearance of a raging inferno, burning everything to ashes. Cultivating Ming means being invincible and indomitable.”

He was indeed in a demonic state… Ba Zun’an frowned and retreated, becoming vigilant, ready to act at any moment, but his words remained calm:

“Just ‘fire’ doesn’t constitute ‘Two Poles,’ Xu Xiaoshou, you’ve swapped concepts. This is merely an interpretation of Ming as a double-edged sword, not an interpretation of ‘Ming is like the Dao, and the Dao gives birth to the Two Poles’.”

“No, Ba Zun’an, you are dull; you haven’t heard my meaning… I said, if Ming is like fire, it makes Ming violent, but I also said that Upper Ming is like water, nourishing all things. If utilized well… only by not contending can one be without blame.”

Ba Zun’an suddenly opened his eyes wide, everything before him was pitch black, and his ears were filled with the true meaning of the Grand Dao.

Xu Xiaoshou spoke intermittently, and he listened with trepidation and awe, his composure slightly disturbed:

“It’s true that Upper Ming is like water, not contending and blameless, but being in the midst of it, who can not contend? You must be dreaming!”

“Ba Zun’an, you are wrong again.”

“Oh?” Ba Zun’an had never been contradicted so many times in his life, but then he heard Xu Xiaoshou speak with another startling remark:

“Not contending does not mean being without desires and without contention; inaction means following the flow.”

Ba Zun’an had originally intended to guide Xu Xiaoshou onto the right track.

After hearing these two sentences, Dao Yun also exploded around him, and with a change in his expression, he too was about to enter a state of enlightenment.

He quickly suppressed this impulse, knowing that what Xu Xiaoshou said was still grand and empty, and it had to be rooted, otherwise, it would be a castle in the air, crumbling with a single blow.

“The Dao of Ming, the Two Poles can be water and fire, but entering the Dao with water and fire, they are inherently incompatible, and it’s easy to bring about one’s own destruction… Xu Xiaoshou, do you understand water and fire?”

“Ba Zun’an, you understand swords, so you see everything as swords. But you don’t understand water and fire, so you assume everyone in the world doesn’t understand water and fire… This is like a frog at the bottom of a well.”

“Oh?” Ba Zun’an suppressed a hint of anger this time. Xu Xiaoshou spoke in a gentle, clear manner:

“The Dao has no superiority or inferiority, only sequence.”

“Indeed, the profound meaning only reaches eight-tenths of the Spiritual Refinement Dao. Borrowing the Dao of water and fire doesn’t require mastering more; being able to use its essence is sufficient.”

“Elder Sang taught me the fire of Jīn Zhào, making my nature restless and my power violent. The Water Ghost taught me the water of Shang Shan, making my body mutable and my thoughts cunning. Although these two powers are somewhat insufficient, their Dao intentions are very high.”

Now it was Ba Zun’an’s turn to be taught a lesson.

Indeed, how could the Dao that could be cultivated to the profound meaning not have a high intention?

It was just that Wu Xiu and the Water Ghost’s abilities were slightly insufficient, preventing them from pushing further.

The Dao of water and fire, like the Dao of divine thought, the Dao of sword-self… essentially, they were all Grand Daos that directly pointed to the path of becoming a god or an ancestor.

Cultivating Ming, borrowing the Dao of water and fire, transforming into the Two Poles.

With Elder Sang and the Water Ghost as prime examples, Xu Xiaoshou could completely make up for the rest of the path with his own comprehension!

“No anger, no anger…”

Ba Zun’an felt ridiculed and mocked.

He didn’t even know if Xu Xiaoshou was doing this on purpose, even in this state, to curse at him.

But after all, he was decades older. As a guide, he absolutely couldn’t get angry because of this. On the contrary, Ba Zun’an had to continue asking questions:

“Borrowing the Dao of water and fire is easy to talk about, but difficult to implement. How will you, respectively, prove the Dao of Ming from ‘water’ and ‘fire’?”

“Ba Zun’an, I have basically mastered the profound meaning of fire.”

“Then, water?”

“Water, naturally formed.”

It must be said that Ba Zun’an’s guidance indeed played a role.

When he was led to this point, to the detailed considerations, Xu Xiaoshou finished his last sentence and fell into contemplation.

In just half a day, he slowly turned around, his gaze already scanning the five regions and eight directions, and he spoke eloquently:

“Upper Ming is like water, and water is spread throughout the five regions.”

“I will spend half a year observing the waters of the five regions.”

“I will enter the Dao from streams, lakes, rivers, marshes, and seas, taste the changes of mist, rain, tides, waterfalls, and floods, step into the River of Time, touch the Void Boundary, comprehend life and death, grasp the profound mysteries, synthesize Yin and Yang, and prove the Dao of Upper Ming!”

Upon hearing this, Ba Zun’an was once again awestruck.

In just half a day, Xu Xiaoshou’s state of enlightenment was incredibly powerful—he could actually implement the cultivation of “Upper Ming” to such an extent.

“Ming is fire, Upper Ming is water. But for the Two Poles to be balanced, your Ming and Upper Ming sound like one is low and one is high?” Ba Zun’an pointed out the last confusion.

Xu Xiaoshou shook his head slightly, his eyes flickering, Dao Yun continuously flowing: “You don’t understand…”

What?

Ba Zun’an’s brows twitched, but then he heard Xu Xiaoshou say:

“The Two Poles can be ‘left and right,’ or ‘inclusion and being included.’ Naturally, ‘up and down,’ ‘high and low’ also correspond.”

“And Upper Ming being water does not mean that fire is ‘Lower Ming.’ Moreover, the Dao gives birth to the Two Poles, and the Two Poles are not equivalent to Ming, nor are they equivalent to the Dao.”

“It’s just a clever borrowing to enter the Dao.”

Ba Zun’an was indeed taught a lesson; he had been too fixated on “water and fire,” never expecting Xu Xiaoshou to be so clear-headed.

“Then…”

With all confusion cleared, what remained was no longer guidance, but pure curiosity, even with a hint of seeking advice:

“Ming and Upper Ming, you have comprehended them both. This Dao might be worth a try. What about Supreme Ming?”

Supreme (Tai Shang), the concept must have originated from the “Wu Ji Tai Shang” just now.

Could it be that Xu Xiaoshou, in this enlightenment, had even touched upon the threshold of a realm that the Battle Ancestor could not achieve?

Ba Zun’an’s face showed emotion.

As his voice fell, Xu Xiaoshou turned around.

The sword-thought disk beneath him vanished, and the Dao Yun around him gradually faded. He merely curled his lips into a smile, chuckling:

“Ba Zun’an, you are fixated on appearances.”

“Only by not contending can one be without blame… Your question shows that in terms of realm, you are still a little behind me.”

Upon hearing this, Ba Zun’an’s face turned ashen.