I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 23 Tiansi Enters the Dream
Wang Yun’s question forced Wang Jing to fall into deep thought, and he began to sort out the memories in his mind.

It has actually been more than two years since I traveled to this world, and I have inherited some fragments of my original body's memories.

Although due to his age, Wang Jing has been staying at home to receive the most traditional family education of the Han Dynasty since he traveled through time, and he rarely goes out.

However, he knew the Confucian cultivation method very clearly.

Confucianism was born from the ritual and music tradition of the Zhou Dynasty. It is about learning the Six Classics and the Six Arts. The Book of Rites clearly puts forward the core concept of Confucianism: "If jade is not carved, it will not become a tool; if people do not learn, they will not know. Therefore, the kings of ancient times, when establishing a country and governing the people, put teaching first."

The "learning" here refers to reading, and it must be "serious books" such as classics, history, philosophy, and collections. "Leisure books" such as strange stories, dramas, poems, and essays are not acceptable.

When he first arrived, Wang Jing had no idea that this world was abnormal. Although there were many inexplicable memories in his original mind, he had never seen them with his own eyes. They were all hearsay. Therefore, Wang Jing did not believe it at all and completely regarded the so-called method of refining the spirit of Confucianism as feudal superstition and nonsense.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, people from all walks of life believed in the study of prophecies and divination, and even regarded this knowledge as "national studies."

The so-called study of prophecies and divinations is to always refer to the will of heaven. It is believed that disasters in the world are entirely caused by the monarch's failure to practice moral governance. As long as the monarch practices moral governance, people's hearts will not be corrupted and the country will enjoy good weather and good harvests.

Isn't this nonsense?
Any normal person who has received nine years of compulsory education would not believe in these things.

But thinking about it now, Wang Jing felt that he had underestimated the study of prophecies and divination.

After all, the Three Kingdoms he came to was full of the power of ghosts and gods, and the fact that the study of prophecies and divination could become the "nationally renowned study" in such an environment was obviously impossible to achieve just by brainwashing.

It should even be said that being able to brainwash others can gain power in itself!

For example, the power of thought!

The Confucian way of cultivating the spirit is rooted in and developed from the power of thought, and possesses countless incredible magical powers and secret techniques.

After pondering for a long time, Wang Jing's mind turned over and over, and finally he answered Wang Yun in a proper manner: "In ancient times, those who wanted to make the virtues known to the world first governed their country. Those who wanted to govern their country first put their family in order. Those who wanted to put their family in order first cultivated themselves. Those who wanted to cultivate themselves first rectified their hearts. Those who wanted to rectify their hearts first made their intentions sincere. Those who wanted to make their intentions sincere first acquired knowledge. Acquiring knowledge lies in investigating things. After investigating things, knowledge is acquired. After acquiring knowledge, intentions are sincere. After intentions are sincere, hearts are rectified. After hearts are rectified, bodies are cultivated. After bodies are cultivated, families are in order. After families are in order, countries are governed. After countries are governed, the world is at peace. From the emperor to the common people, all of them take self-cultivation as the foundation..."

“Therefore, the way to cultivate the spirit is to first investigate things, then acquire knowledge, then be sincere, then rectify the mind, and finally cultivate oneself, govern the country and bring peace to the world.”

Wang Jing's answer made Wang Yun very satisfied, at least in theory it was completely correct.

"The first step in the path of spiritual cultivation is to study things, the second step is to acquire knowledge, the third step is to be sincere, and the fourth step is to rectify one's mind. As long as you, Yuan Xu, can open your heart and forge a path in your mind, the last step of self-cultivation will be a natural outcome."

"Jing, you should do your best."

After bidding farewell to Wang Yun, Wang Jing returned to the West Wing holding the blood-colored glazed jade box, and could not help but sigh: "I really can't slack off."

Today, he has already reached the realm of perfection in the field of swordsmanship in the way of martial arts. Although his realm has regressed, at least he has experience, and it will not be difficult for him to make further progress next time.

As for the practice of Qi refining, one has already been able to hold the Yuan and maintain unity, and condense Qi into elixir.

Although it was just a fake pill, his Qi refining skills were improving day by day. With twelve hours of practice a day, his Qi sea grew at such a fast speed that it could be said to be advancing by leaps and bounds.

But on the road to refining the spirit, he had not even taken the first step.

Previously, I was able to open my heart entirely due to the power of the magical instrument, the Calming Bead.

In the room, Wang Jing tapped the table with his fingertips, a look of depression lingering between his brows: "The teachings of the saints... Confucius said to become a martyr, Mencius said to pursue justice... These are very good principles, but I don't believe them..."

The path of investigating things and acquiring knowledge is easy to walk, but the test of sincerity and uprightness of mind is difficult to pass.

Wang Jing knows what kind of person he is. He is not a bad person and he will not take the initiative to harm others for his own benefit.

But he can't be considered a good person. At least after reading the books of sages, he can't and doesn't want to "die for righteousness" or "sacrifice his life for justice".

However, in this world, Confucianism is the only school of thought that is so powerful that it can even compete with imperial power.

In contrast, the Taoists were forced to be independent, the military strategists had to rely on the imperial power and the emperor. The other hundreds of schools of thought disappeared, either died out or lay dormant, and none of them could be compared with the Confucian school.

Wang Jing knew that Wang Yun asked him to pay attention to the improvement of his spiritual cultivation, and was implicitly warning him that taking the route of strengthening his thinking ability and embracing Confucianism was the true way to success.

As for Taoism and martial arts, they are just unorthodox ways and cannot be considered as a noble art.

But Wang Jing came from later times, and although he did not hate the teachings of the so-called Confucian sages, he was not interested in them and had no motivation. Instead, he was fascinated by the mysterious magic of Taoism and martial arts and wanted to take a peek.

"Essence, Qi, and Spirit, these three cultivation methods all point directly to the true nature of the Great Dao. Although there are also methods of cultivating the Spirit in martial arts and Taoism, the study of the power of thought cannot be compared with the Confucianists who specialize in this field. It seems that I have to read this sage book even if I don't want to."

"Military strategists refine their essence, Taoists refine their qi, and Confucians refine their spirits. If we combine the profound methods of these three schools into one, I wonder if we can see a higher view?"

Wang Jing couldn't help but imagine that curiosity is the greatest driving force for people to move forward.

At this moment, Wang Jing couldn't help but be curious - what is the source of these three extraordinary powers: martial arts, Taoism and holy words?
What would happen if he reached the end of all three roads?

With such curiosity, he took out the Six Classics, including Poetry, Book of History, Rites, Music, Yi Jing and Spring and Autumn Annals, and placed them horizontally on the desk. After spreading out the bamboo slips, he saw the texts on them. Every word was written with iron and silver strokes, with strong meaning and brilliant literary style, which complemented each other.

Wang Jing seemed to see six phantoms of divine dragons passing by him. He immediately thought of a record he had read in strange stories. He could not help but exclaim in admiration, "What a masterpiece! The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons! These six classics must have been written by a great scholar, who must have engraved them with great care to retain his divine thoughts and leave such a strange image."

Two years ago, Wang Jing thought that Wenxin Diaolong and the like were just exaggerated descriptions written by literati. Now that he has achieved success in Qi training, he has truly come into contact with the true face of this world.

He had read the Six Classics on the desk two years ago, but at that time he could not see any dragon shadow or strange image and thought it was just an ordinary scroll.

Thinking about it now, it was probably because my cultivation was not enough at that time. I had neither opened my mind nor gained the sense of Qi. Therefore, even though the treasure was placed in front of him, he turned a blind eye and turned a deaf ear, like a blind and deaf man.

Looking at it again now, the perception is different.

With a pot of yellow millet wine and a stove of soul-bewitching incense, Wang Jing sat cross-legged facing the Six Classics. Soon he held his breath and concentrated his mind, and his mind once again stepped into the depths of the sea of ​​consciousness.

I saw thoughts surging like the tide, and all kinds of thoughts were entangled with each other, interweaving to create a magnificent and fantastic dream world.

These dreams floating in the sea of ​​consciousness are like islands. Some are sweet dreams, some are nightmares. Anyone with a weak mind, once trapped in them, will sink forever.

Fortunately, Wang Jing had the protection of the calming beads, so his mind remained clear and neither joy nor worry could disturb his spirit or confuse his mind.

Wow~
Waves began to surge in the sea of ​​consciousness, and a small boat appeared under Wang Jing's feet.

This boat seems neither empty nor real, and is between reality and illusion. It is formed by the interweaving of the primordial energy of heaven and earth and the human mind.

After Wang Jing sat down, he felt a wave of bitterness in his heart, but within this bitterness, there was also a bit of sweetness. The bitterness and the sweetness were intertwined with each other, and he really felt a mixture of emotions in his heart.

Inexplicably, Wang Jing recalled his experience of studying in high school in his previous life. He got up at 11:00 a.m. every day and went to bed at 12:00 p.m., never putting his books down. How could he describe how hard it was?

Learning itself is naturally painful and difficult, but after mastering the knowledge, the pride and happiness that comes from the heart are also sweet and intoxicating.

Wang Jing suddenly understood: "The sea of ​​learning is endless and the journey is hard... Am I crossing the sea of ​​learning?"

Wow~
The sound of waves remains, and in the boundless ocean of learning, endless words turn into rolling waves, while a small boat crosses them. Although it is as small as dust, it is unusually stable.

Wang Jing knew that his spiritual consciousness had already passed through the mind channel constructed by the Six Classics and entered the secret realm of Confucian thinking.

If you want to enter the mountain of books, you must first cross the ocean of learning.

After an unknown amount of time, Wang Jing finally crossed the vast ocean of knowledge and climbed a thousand-foot-high mountain made entirely of books.

The moment he stepped onto the mountain of books, Wang Jing knew clearly in his heart that this was the place where Confucianism was passed down, and he automatically learned the rules of inheritance here.

Anyone in the world who studies the Six Classics can step into the mountain of books, hear the teachings of the sages, and thus inherit the various magical powers of Confucianism.

"Studying things...seeking knowledge...My three views have long been formed, so I can easily cross the boundless ocean of learning. But because of this, I am afraid that there are very few Confucian classics that can resonate with me."

Wang Jing stepped into the depths of the mountain of books and saw many strange peaks. Some were high into the clouds, while others were low like hills, each with a different appearance.

Obviously, the different peaks or hills represent the various schools of thought within Confucianism.

Those that tower into the clouds are steep, rugged, and difficult to understand.

The low hills are stable and easy to understand. The heights are different, but not in a sense of high or low. It is because the principles and truths in the mountain of books are difficult to comprehend for different people.

The mountains stand tall, hundreds and thousands of them, representing the many branches within Confucianism.

Among them, only three peaks are the most magnificent, and they are the three most prominent Confucian schools in the world.

Wang Jing walked forward, reached out and touched them one by one, and the names and purposes of these three schools immediately emerged in his mind.

The first peak is the Modern Text School of Confucianism. Its purpose is to emphasize the practical application of classics and the interaction between heaven and man. Its ideological connotations originated from the Gongyang School and were dedicated to serving the monarchy. Dong Zhongshu impressed Emperor Wu of Han with this, making Confucianism the only school of thought and dismissing all other schools of thought.

Wang Jing would leave as soon as he came across it. He would not accept these so-called "cynicism" that made people serve as dogs for others, even if the road ahead was smooth.

The second peak is the study of prophecy and divination. Prophecy and divination are the combined name of prophecy books and divination books. Its core purpose is that the king's power is granted by heaven and emphasizes the will of heaven. It pretends to be gods and saints to predict good and bad luck and inform people of political affairs.

Prophecy is a secret language used to predict good and bad fortune.

The weft is a tributary of the warp, and it also has a side meaning.

Wang Jing also left as soon as he was touched. To put it bluntly, this kind of trickery is nothing more than spreading fear to deceive others. How is this kind of deceiving the world and stealing fame different from religious brainwashing?

Wang Jing threw it away as if it were a worn-out shoe, and continued walking forward without stopping.

Finally, Wang Jing stopped in front of the third peak, reached out and touched it, and information immediately came in.

The core purpose of the ancient classics is to worship Zhou Gong and regard Confucius as a teacher who "transmits but does not create, believes in and loves the past." This school focuses on exegesis and has little connection with real political issues.

"Very good, at least you are not bent on being a dog for the imperial power, or kowtow for personal gain, which goes against your conscience."

Although Wang Jing did not fully agree with some of the concepts of ancient classics, at least the school of ancient classics attached great importance to one's own "virtue" and to refining the mind, and followed the path of ancient sages.

For Wang Jing, this was enough.

After stopping for a moment, the scenery in front of Wang Jing's eyes suddenly changed. Everywhere he looked, there were rolls of bamboo slips shining brightly, and each roll represented a magical secret technique of the ancient text classics school.

However, these magical powers and secret techniques cannot be learned just because you want to. Instead, they must be in line with your "original heart".

If you force yourself to practice against your will, you will end up with nothing.

Just as Wang Jing was carefully selecting, he came to Kuifu Hill outside Chenliu City.

A figure suddenly appeared and stood proudly on it.

This gentleman was none other than Longju Tiansi, who had just gone to Shuijing Villa to meet Sima Zheng not long ago.

He put his hands together, put his fingers together at the center of his eyebrows, and opened the Dharma Eye in front of his forehead.

As the Dharma Eye opened, a faint divine light directly ignored the defensive formation of Chenliu City and illuminated the entire city, just to find any traces of the remaining dragon energy.

Soon, Tian Si's sight was fixed on the governor's residence.

"Sure enough, there is no sign that the sealing formation of Jinshui River was forcibly opened, and the dragon energy of Wei State disappeared in the governor's mansion. It seems that Wei Wu Tianming has been seized by the Taiyuan Wang family."

"Next, we need to confirm who intercepted the King of Wei's fake dragon."

Tian Si sat cross-legged on the spot, with the palms of his hands, the soles of his feet and the top of his head facing the sky, and he performed the art of traveling through the universe. His mind transformed into a colorful butterfly, flapping its wings and flying towards the governor's mansion in the city.

The phantom butterfly is a creation of the mind, it has no form or substance, so it sees the high wall as nothing and passes through it directly.

The aura seemed to be there and not there, silent and traceless, and even Wang Yun, a Confucian master who had achieved great success in spiritual cultivation, was unable to notice for a moment that an uninvited guest had come into the mansion.

Huandie observed everyone in the mansion one by one.

"Not Wang Yun..."

"It's not Wang Hong..."

"It's not Wang Ling..."

"It's not Wang Jing...wait!"

When the phantom butterfly transformed by Tiansi's mind was about to fly to the east wing to find its next target, he noticed something wrong with Wang Jing.

"The last time we met, I saw that although this boy had the talent of his great-grandfather, he was destined to have a fatal disaster. Why hasn't the fatal disaster been eliminated yet? Why is his fate so uncertain and difficult to predict?"

With a thought, Tiansi's main body counted on his fingers and estimated, and found that in the entire governor's mansion, the death crisis that was originally entangled with Wang Yun and Wang Hong was also quietly loosening, and their fate became uncertain, and the source of it all fell on Wang Jing.

"Change your fate!?"

Tiansi's mind was shaken.

It is easy to know the will of heaven, but difficult to go against it. The destiny of the Wang family of Taiyuan was determined long ago, and it is a fact that cannot be changed under the great trend of the times.

But now it has been changed by someone, although it is just a small sign, but Tian Si is well versed in the principles of fate and knows how difficult it is to change Yi Tian's fate.

It should be noted that changing destiny is never a grand affair. In the beginning, it is often like a stream, a trickle, which accumulates little by little and finally guides the secular torrent to converge into a mighty river and turn the world around.

In the past, Emperor Gaozu used this method to finally reverse the destiny, ascend the throne and become emperor, establishing the Han Dynasty for 400 years.

"It seems that the fake dragon of King Wei must have been obtained by this boy. Moreover, this boy is full of mystery. If it weren't for the change in his fate after he got the dragon's energy, I would have almost been deceived."

Tian Si's heart was in turmoil, and when he looked at Wang Jing, he had already come up with the idea of ​​"making the most of a rare commodity".

Back then, after killing the white snake, Emperor Gaozu of Han still had some strange signs in his destiny, revealing his potential to become a king.

However, the fate of the young man in front of him, after swallowing the dragon, was still like a deep stream, without revealing the slightest trace, as if it was not within the predetermined fate and difficult to calculate at all.

"Incredible, really incredible!"

"Everyone in this world, as long as they are alive, will be affected by fate and it is difficult to escape from it. Therefore, there has been a saying since ancient times that the will of heaven is unpredictable. But for this boy, his fate is so unpredictable. It is really strange."

As soon as he thought about it, the phantom butterfly flew into Wang Jing's sea of ​​consciousness, followed the trail, flapped its wings all the way, crossed the sea of ​​learning, and climbed the mountain of books.

At this time, Wang Jing was comprehending the mysteries of the ancient Confucian classics school, and finally he chose the "Book of Changes" among the Six Classics as his fundamental method.

Wang Jing was just about to continue to comprehend the Dao and principles recorded in the Book of Changes, but he was unexpectedly disturbed by the faint light, and his mind was moved: "Where did the butterfly come from?"

Then he realized, "No! In the mountain of books, the image is the reflection of the heart. One heart reflects one image. This butterfly is the image of someone else's heart reflected in the sea of ​​consciousness!"

Seeing that Wang Jing had noticed, Tian Si stopped being silent: "Don't worry, I have no ill intentions. In fact, I came here to give you a benefit."

The phantom butterfly flapped its wings and communicated with Wang Jing spiritually through the secret technique of mind-to-mind communication.

But Wang Jing did not believe the other party easily: "You have come here uninvited, I dare not accept your kindness."

"We have met before. If I wanted to take your life, would you still be alive now?"

"It's you?"

Wang Jing also recognized the aura of the other party at this time. It was the fake Great Sage Master whom he had met several times before.

When Wang Jing thought of the other party's unfathomable strength, he fell into silence. Although he didn't know what the other party was planning, it seemed that he had no room for refusal.

"May I know your name?"

(End of this chapter)