Chapter Ninety: The Doctrine of Physics

Chen Jin did not force his way in. If he had wanted to, it would have been far too easy; with his precise control of force, a few borrowed currents of momentum would have carried him through the sea of people.

Though he did not push inside, he stopped at the entrance and began searching for the Daoist Master Clear Breeze on his phone.

Messages from Chen Lan arrived one after another.

"What are you going to ask?"

"Ask Daoist Master Clear Breeze?"

"Then hurry up and go!"

Soon the search bar produced a Baidu entry about Daoist Master Clear Breeze.

"Daoist Master Clear Breeze, born Li Sanshui, a native of Jiaoao, now practicing at the Supreme Purity Palace on Mount Lao..."

Chen Jin quickly skimmed through the information. In broad terms, this man had been using live streams to spread knowledge about cultivation to ordinary people. Of course, even before the nation announced the revival of spiritual energy between heaven and earth, he had already been livestreaming; at that time, his streams mainly covered exercise routines.

Chen Jin opened one of those old workout videos.

Every punch and kick produced sounds like firecrackers bursting. Yet in the comment section back then, people insisted that Daoist Master Clear Breeze was faking it, that the sounds had been added afterward.

Now, however, the comments were all praise and admiration, with people clamoring for apprenticeship, calling him amazing, flooding the screen with endless approval.

So Chen Jin inferred that this Daoist Master Clear Breeze was probably an early cultivator as well.

Still, since he had not approached closely, he could not tell what level of cultivation the man had reached, nor could he determine exactly how much distance remained between them.

After learning what he could about Daoist Master Clear Breeze, Chen Jin nimbly avoided a few cameras and slipped past the people following him, then turned and entered the side hall of the Three Officials Hall.

Inside the side hall sat quite a number of people, most of them Daoists with topknots and robes, along with some media workers and ordinary visitors.

Of course, these ordinary people were not truly ordinary. They were all wealthy figures from Jiaoao City.

As for the media workers, they were carrying cameras and filming the white, plump Daoist seated at the very front of the side hall, apparently livestreaming the event.

The Daoist sitting cross-legged at the front was Daoist Master Clear Breeze. He was currently explaining a Daoist scripture, and everyone in the hall had a copy.

The scripture was called the Treasury of the Three Officials' Calamities and Blessings. It was not a cultivation manual, merely a Daoist text concerned with philosophy.

This was only natural. The nation was currently promoting the Universal Cultivation Scripture. Who would dare disrupt a matter of state? Clearly, Daoist Master Clear Breeze would not.

The Treasury of the Three Officials' Calamities and Blessings spoke of the Heavenly Official bestowing blessings, the Earth Official forgiving sins, and the Water Official resolving hardships and untangling knots. Chen Jin had read it before and knew it by heart. His own cultivation, however, lay elsewhere; he practiced the True Scripture of the Black Emperor's Primal Origin. Thus, the classical texts he studied were mostly those related to the Black Emperor. Even so, as Daoist Master Clear Breeze explained this scripture, Chen Jin found his reasoning coherent and persuasive.

Clearly, this Daoist Master truly did possess considerable skill.

Daoist Master Clear Breeze spoke for half an hour before dismissing the gathering.

The listeners departed with lingering satisfaction, each looking pleased with himself, as though they had all heard the true meaning of the Great Way and could begin cultivating as soon as they got home.

As for Chen Jin, after listening, he merely thought silently that the explanation had been incisive and penetrating, though not in accord with his own path; even so, there was much he could still learn from it.

Once everyone had left the side hall, Daoist Master Clear Breeze did not rise from the ground.

"Friend Daoist on the beam, will you not come down for an introduction?" he said softly.

Upon hearing this, Chen Jin no longer bothered to hide. He leaped lightly down to the floor.

He had already checked every corner of the side hall and even sensed it with his Primordial energy; there were no hidden cameras, so he landed openly and without concern.

"So it is Friend Daoist Chen. I failed to welcome you properly upon your arrival. How discourteous of me." Daoist Master Clear Breeze formed a Daoist hand seal in greeting.

"Oh? You know me?" Chen Jin said in surprise.

"Did my sister tell you?" Chen Jin asked, his expression turning solemn.

"Hm? What sister?" Daoist Master Clear Breeze looked at him in confusion.

"Oh, President Wu Liangkun, then." Chen Jin immediately understood.

But seeing the genuine confusion on Daoist Master Clear Breeze's face, Chen Jin realized he had indeed overthought things.

"Precisely. May I ask what brings Friend Daoist Chen to Mount Lao?" Daoist Master Clear Breeze said, his expression settling again.

His wording was interesting: he said Mount Lao, not the Supreme Purity Palace. By doing so, he was declaring that Mount Lao was under his protection, his territory; if you were a dragon, coil yourself properly, and if you were a tiger, lie down and behave.

He was staking a claim.

In truth, these days the spiritual energy of famous mountains and great rivers really was far denser than in ordinary places. The government had not announced this, but all cultivators knew it.

Yet those famous mountains were already occupied by cultivation forces. Mount Longhu was held by the Celestial Master Sect, Mount Wudang by the True Warrior Temple, the Himalayas by Tibetan Buddhism, and the Five Sacred Peaks were the same.

Some mountains were occupied by cultivation sects; others were held by several powerful cultivators. In any case, Chen Jin, this rising newcomer, could only occupy the back mountain of his own home...

Still, Chen Jin was not lacking in spiritual energy. If he released the energy sphere he had sealed inside the black book, he could turn his own little villa into a blessed land of immortal scenery.

"I came to travel, admire the scenery, and comprehend the natural Way," Chen Jin replied casually.

"I fear it is not that simple," Daoist Master Clear Breeze said, clearly unconvinced by such a perfunctory answer.

"It is only that simple," Chen Jin said with certainty.

For a moment, Daoist Master Clear Breeze was silent. Then he said, "Would Friend Daoist care to discuss the Way with this poor Daoist?"

"Certainly." Chen Jin nodded.

After speaking with Daoists for too long, one inevitably picked up a touch of their ancient manner of speech.

Their debate on the Way was a debate in movement, in combat, not a seated exchange of philosophical reasoning.

"Friend Daoist, please begin." Daoist Master Clear Breeze rose from his cushion.

"Then I shall not be polite." Chen Jin clapped a hand forward.

He did not move his feet, only his arm. The two were separated by about half a zhang, so this strike sent out his Primordial energy.

Chen Jin condensed his Primordial energy into a palm. The energy palm was as solid as a real hand, with clear lines across it, so lifelike it seemed genuine. Only, it was much larger than an actual hand, as large as a person.

That immense palm then crashed straight toward Daoist Master Clear Breeze.

Seeing it, Daoist Master Clear Breeze's expression did not change. Though the palm moved swiftly, Chen Jin's eyesight was sharp enough to see clearly. Calm and composed, he did not dodge. Instead, he swept his wide Daoist sleeve.

The Primordial energy palm was scattered by the sleeve and dissolved into a raging wind that howled and swirled through the side hall.

Chen Jin's first strike ended, and he immediately sent out three more in rapid succession. Three Primordial energy palms flew forth, each as tall as a man, layered one after another, imposing and fierce. Any ordinary person who saw them would surely have been reduced to shaking in helpless terror.

Yet Daoist Master Clear Breeze seemed to see only a passing breeze. There was not a trace of fear on his face. His hand paused slightly, then clenched into a fist, and he pushed it forward in a single strike.

One Primordial energy palm... dispersed.

But the scattered Primordial energy gathered into the next palm, making it even larger and more substantial.

Daoist Master Clear Breeze struck again with the same calm fist.

The palm dispersed once more, and the released energy flowed into the palm behind it.

Unmoved, unangered, and unbothered, Daoist Master Clear Breeze struck again.

Bang...

Then he flew out.