Chapter 426: Lin Che and Mu Bingmei Discuss the Dao in the Bamboo Forest

Lin Che stopped, slightly turned his head to look at Mu Bingmei behind him, and softly asked, "Do you still need something?"

Mu Bingmei bit her thin lip, looked at Zhou Ruer, then glanced at Lin Che, seemingly having some unspoken difficulty but unsure how to express it.

Lin Che glanced at Zhou Ru beside him, patted her shoulder, and gently said, "Little Ruer, you can wander around nearby for a bit. Your master and I will chat."

Zhou Ru nodded, rode on Xiaobai's head, and ran straight towards the distant direction… In the Kunxu Realm, a tranquil bamboo forest in the backyard.

Mu Bingmei sat on a chair, personally poured Lin Che a cup of tea, then raised her jade hand to tidy the strands of hair by her ear.

"I never imagined that in just a few hundred years, Senior has already reached the third step of the Empty Nirvana realm… while Bingmei is still in the Shattered Nirvana, without any possibility of a breakthrough."

"I invited Senior here today because I want to find a way to break through my cultivation… I also wish to step into the Celestial realm."

Lin Che's fingertip gently tapped the celadon teacup, and a ripple of faint white spiritual energy spread from the rim. His gaze fell on the fragmented sunlight filtering through the bamboo tips, his voice calm and unruffled.

"Realms are like a ladder, yet not the only measure of cultivation. Look at this bamboo forest: new bamboo takes three years to fill a grasp, old bamboo a hundred years to become a pole. But when the spring breeze arrives, the force of a new bamboo sprouting may not be inferior to the steady rooting of an old bamboo."

Mu Bingmei's fingers, holding the teacup, tightened slightly, her jade-colored knuckles showing a hint of powerlessness: "Senior's words, Bingmei understands, but the chasm from Shattered Nirvana to Empty Nirvana, I have attempted for three hundred and seventy-two years."

"Each time I tried to break through the bottleneck, spiritual energy tangled like a mess in my dantian, and my sea of consciousness was repeatedly torn by inner demons. Even my Natal Weapon, the Frost Condensing Sword, began to show cracks. With such torment, I truly cannot see the way forward."

Lin Che raised his hand and gestured, a wisp of greenish bamboo wind slowly floated into Mu Bingmei's teacup. The originally calm tea suddenly rippled with fine lines, as if countless tiny spiritual veins were flowing within it.

"Look at this tea. If you stir it forcefully, it will only spill out of the cup. But if you gently guide it along its patterns, you can allow spiritual energy and mind to merge."

"When I was attempting to break through to Empty Nirvana, I was also stuck at the peak of Shattered Nirvana for a full two hundred years. At that time, I was obsessed with accumulating spiritual energy, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth daily until my dantian swelled with pain, yet I neglected the compatibility between my sea of consciousness and spiritual energy."

"It wasn't until I had an epiphany by a mountain stream, seeing how the stream bypassed rocks and accumulated in hollows, that I understood the true meaning of 'going with the flow'."

Mu Bingmei gazed at the patterns in the tea, her eyes gradually lighting up: "Going with the flow? Does Senior mean that I shouldn't blindly force my way through the bottleneck, but rather first sort out the chaotic spiritual energy within my body?"

"More than that."

Lin Che stood up, walked to the edge of the bamboo forest, and reached out to stroke a new bamboo shoot. A warm, moist sensation came from his fingertips.

"Cultivation is like planting bamboo; it needs to grow upwards, but even more importantly, it needs to root downwards. Your current problem, seemingly a realm bottleneck, is actually unstable foundations."

"The Shattered Nirvana realm should be about refining the compatibility between the soul and spiritual energy, but in your pursuit of speed, you prematurely boosted your spiritual energy to its extreme, causing your soul to fall behind the pace of your spiritual energy."

"Just like this bamboo shoot, if you only force it to grow tall without allowing its roots to delve deep into the soil, a single storm can break it."

Lin Che's fingertip condensed a wisp of faint golden spiritual energy, slowly injecting it into the bamboo shoot.

The bamboo shoot visibly sprouted branches and leaves, but just as it was about to grow into a new bamboo, it suddenly stagnated, and tiny cracks began to appear on its stalk.

"You see, this is the consequence of being overly eager for quick results. After I realized this, I gave up on breaking through to Empty Nirvana and instead went into seclusion to sort out my soul.

Every morning, I absorbed the essence of morning dew to nourish my sea of consciousness, and at night, I observed the stars and comprehended the laws of heaven and earth, gradually merging the restless spiritual energy within my body with my soul.

Three years later, when I tried to break through the bottleneck again, my spiritual energy was as easy to command as an arm, and inner demons crumbled before my sea of consciousness without a fight. The Empty Nirvana realm was naturally broken through."

Mu Bingmei looked at the nearly broken bamboo shoot, and her mind suddenly cleared. The long-accumulated frustrations seemed to be blown away by the bamboo wind.

"Does Senior mean that what I should do now is to stop trying to break through the bottleneck and first stabilize the foundation of the Shattered Nirvana realm, allowing my soul and spiritual energy to achieve perfect compatibility?"

Lin Che withdrew his spiritual energy, and the bamboo shoot gradually returned to its original state, only with a bit more stable vitality than before.

"The path of cultivation has never had a shortcut for instant success. If you can calm your mind, use the Pure Heart Art daily to sort your sea of consciousness, temper the impurities in your spiritual energy with the coldness of the Frost Condensing Sword, and supplement it with morning dew and moonlight to nourish your soul."

"Within ten years, your soul and spiritual energy will reach a state of perfect fusion. By then, breaking through to the Celestial realm will be like pushing a boat with the current, without any hindrance."

Mu Bingmei stood up and bowed deeply to Lin Che, the confusion in her eyes completely fading, replaced by a resolute light.

"Thank you, Senior, for guiding me out of my迷津! Bingmei was previously fixated on the level of realms, but overlooked the essence of cultivation. Today, hearing Senior's words is like seeing the sun after the clouds part. From now on, I will definitely calm my mind to refine my foundation and no longer be eager for quick success."

Lin Che looked at the rekindled light in her eyes and nodded slightly: "On the path of cultivation, the most precious thing is to realize one's mistakes and return to the right path."

"Since you have this realization, your future achievements are bound to be limitless. Please drink this cup of tea; I have infused a wisp of Pure Heart spiritual energy into it, which can help you temporarily suppress the chaotic spiritual energy in your body. Consider it a fortuitous encounter from me."

Mu Bingmei picked up the teacup and drank the tea in one gulp. A cool spiritual energy flowed down her throat into her body, instantly calming the restless spiritual energy in her dantian, and her sea of consciousness became clearer than ever before.

When she looked at Lin Che again, there was a hint of respect in her eyes.

"Senior's cultivation is not only profound, but his state of mind is even more transparent. Bingmei has learned a lot today. In the future, if I have any further confusion in my cultivation, I hope Senior will not hesitate to enlighten me."

Lin Che smiled and waved his hand, his gaze sweeping towards the direction Zhou Ruer had left, his voice carrying a hint of satisfaction: "It's good that you understand."

"The path of cultivation must ultimately be walked by oneself. I merely pointed you in a direction when you were lost. It's getting late, and Little Ruer must have wandered enough. We should head back."

Mu Bingmei nodded in agreement and walked out of the bamboo forest with Lin Che.

Sunlight filtered through the bamboo tips, casting dappled light and shadow on the two of them, as if foreshadowing a new turning point in Mu Bingmei's cultivation journey.

Mu Bingmei looked at the departing Lin Che, lightly pursed her thin lips, and softly murmured, "It's truly like a withered tree meeting spring and flourishing again, but a person never gets to be young twice."

"Back then, he was merely in the Nascent Soul stage, but now even I must address him as Senior. Hehehe, fate truly plays tricks on people."