Chapter 33: Transcending Life and Death

Chapter 33: Transcending Life and Death

"Throughout a lifetime, every ordinary person will, to some degree, encounter moments of sudden inspiration. It might happen while studying, when a flash of insight helps you solve a difficult problem, or perhaps while gaming, when a sudden spark of genius allows you to pull off an impossible maneuver, snagging three kills in the process—only to be berated by your teammates for being a 'kill-stealer'..."

"But when it comes to the level of 'sudden enlightenment,' the vast majority of ordinary people go their entire lives without ever experiencing it, nor do they even know what it truly means."

"So, what is this sudden enlightenment like? Have we ever experienced anything similar in our daily lives?" Chu Xuan, appearing from out of nowhere, asked proactively.

"Yes, there is a term for it in life: 'having a breakthrough.'"

"In casual conversation, you often hear stories like this: a child from so-and-so's family had mediocre grades in elementary and middle school, but in their first year of high school, they suddenly had a breakthrough. They started studying hard, and as a result, they were admitted to Wudaokou Technical College this year, ranking first in the entire school—the best result their school has seen in years!"

"You also hear things like: it's normal for grades to be bad in elementary school; once the child grows up and has a breakthrough, realizing the importance of studying, their grades will naturally improve."

"This so-called 'breakthrough' can be seen as a form of sudden enlightenment."

"A child who was originally mediocre or even slow at learning suddenly, overnight, has a breakthrough, transforms into a bright student, becomes the top of their class, and gets into Wudaokou Technical College. This is the effect of sudden enlightenment."

"Mountains and rivers are easy to change, but a person's nature is hard to alter. Yet, in terms of personality, sudden enlightenment can fundamentally change a person—a complete transformation! In terms of learning ability, it can turn someone who struggles with studies into a talent, or even a genius."

In short, sudden enlightenment can turn an ordinary person into a genius!

Of course, how long that genius status lasts once achieved is another matter entirely. After all, this is not a permanent, one-time-only certification. Even setting aside geniuses created by acquired enlightenment, there are historical precedents like Fang Zhongyong—super-children who were born with high intelligence but still faded away.

"As for the final stage, 'Unity of Heaven and Humanity,' that is not something ordinary people can even aspire to. The later years of Laozi, the later years of Zhuangzi, the moment Wang Yangming reached enlightenment, and Confucius after the age of seventy—these can all be viewed as states of the Unity of Heaven and Humanity."

"The Unity of Heaven and Humanity is the absolute limit of what a human being can achieve. Before the resurgence of spiritual energy, even masters like Laozi and Zhuangzi could only occasionally enter this state. It wasn't that they couldn't maintain it, but rather that the environment wouldn't allow it, and their physical bodies couldn't withstand the strain!"

Having said this, Xiong Yan picked up the gourd beside him, pulled the stopper, inhaled the fragrant aroma of the rice wine, and took a drink.

Unlike heavy spirits, rice wine is not harsh or pungent; it is smooth, sweet, and low in alcohol. As long as you don't drink too much at once, it’s quite pleasant.

***

"Focus, flashes of inspiration, sudden enlightenment, and the Unity of Heaven and Humanity!"

"This is the cultivation process of refining the spirit!"

"Ordinary people can achieve focus and can be the passive, lucky recipients of a flash of inspiration at special times."

"Talents can have frequent flashes of inspiration. Geniuses can have frequent sudden enlightenment, and peerless geniuses can often achieve the Unity of Heaven and Humanity!"

"The essence of refining the spirit is turning ordinary people into talents, then talents into geniuses, and geniuses into peerless geniuses!"

Of course, the above content is purely for promotional purposes. I am not responsible for any inaccuracies, and all rights of interpretation belong solely to me!

"According to research, humans generally possess over two thousand consciousnesses."

"When you do something, you might subconsciously think about many things, yet you still make a decision in an instant. For example, what to eat tonight: your subconscious might, in a split second, list dozens of different options, only to have you subconsciously veto them one by one, ultimately deciding: 'I'm on a diet, I won't eat!'"

"In this process, you only thought for a second, but dozens of different ideas and thoughts—that is, consciousnesses—were born."

"However, these consciousnesses are scattered, irregular, and lack coordination. If you compare them to an army, they are like a loose, untrained band of peasant rebels."

"Focus is when several of these consciousnesses are simultaneously controlled by you to perform the same task!"

"It is like this when studying, and it is the same when playing games!"

"A flash of inspiration represents that moment when dozens of your consciousnesses are controlled by you to act on the same thought."

"Sudden enlightenment means that hundreds of thoughts are unified in that instant. As for the Unity of Heaven and Humanity, that is when thousands of consciousnesses are all unified!"

"There is a term called 'multitasking.' Ordinary people can do it, but the efficiency drops significantly. Why can you multitask? It is because at that moment, your brain is running two different consciousnesses simultaneously to do two different things. With the interference between them, efficiency naturally cannot be high."

"As for the essence of consciousness and the principles behind its unification, it is quite complex, so I won't go into it for now."

"Just remember the conclusion: unifying several consciousnesses is called focus, dozens is a flash of inspiration, hundreds is sudden enlightenment, and all of them is the Unity of Heaven and Humanity!"

***

"The more consciousnesses you have in a unified state, the higher your efficiency in thinking!"

"And there is currently only one path to refining the spirit: entering meditative stillness!"

"Entering Stillness, Constant Stillness, Perpetual Stillness, and Embryonic Breathing!"

"Entering Stillness corresponds to focus. People who frequently enter stillness can effectively improve their sleep quality and focus more quickly. Everything they do is more efficient, and they find it easier to calm down—these are all the results of focus."

"Constant Stillness is externally manifested by the ability to enter stillness anytime, anywhere."

In a quiet room, entering stillness in a familiar environment is the easiest!

In a cafeteria, where the server is shaking the ladle, people are grumbling, and others are making a ruckus—the difficulty of entering stillness in such an environment is clearly far higher than the former!

And on the edge of a cliff, with one foot on a rock and the other hanging over the void—the difficulty of entering stillness at that moment is a step above even the cafeteria!

"When you can remain calm even when Mount Tai collapses before you, the stage of Constant Stillness is complete. At that point, no matter what news is suddenly delivered to you, you will not be surprised; you will be able to remain composed, calmly thinking and making arrangements. Then, you can attempt Perpetual Stillness."

At this point, Xiong Yan pointed to himself: "The day the stars appeared in daylight, for some reason, I was dying!"

"At that time, my internal organs were on the verge of failure, my eight major systems were about to collapse; I was truly on the brink of death."

"Then, under the pressure of life and death, I forced myself into a state of Perpetual Stillness, forcibly suppressing all negative emotions."

"I am human too; when I was dying, I felt worry and fear. But in the state of Perpetual Stillness, all my negative emotions were suppressed by reason!"

"Therefore, I was able to call the relevant departments very calmly at that time. You wouldn't be wrong to say I had transcended life and death."

At the very least, at that moment, Xiong Yan was truly able to risk sudden death while calmly handling everything.