Chapter Three: The Essence of the Supreme Way—Laying the Foundation of Your Path (A New Story Sets Sail; I Hope Everyone Will Follow Along!)

Qingyangzi had watched Lin You all along the journey, always so composed and unruffled, but now, seeing the look of awe on Lin You’s face upon catching sight of the mountain gate, he couldn’t help but feel a stir of pride within. Indeed, everyone who glimpsed the Red Pine Palace’s gate for the first time—be they emperors, generals, or martial masters—was unfailingly left in wonder. This was a marvel born of nature’s own ingenuity, far beyond anything human hands could fashion.

With a smile, Qingyangzi pointed to the branches above, wild as dragons and serpents sprawling across the sky, and explained, “Friend Lin, these are the boughs of the Pine Ancestor. Once we pass through the gate, walk straight on for several hundred steps, and you’ll see the Pine Ancestor’s true form! I promise, it will leave you speechless!”

At that moment, perhaps stirred by a mountain breeze, the ancient pine branches overhead began to sway gently. Countless pine needles, intermingled with morning dew, fell in a fine misty rain, carrying a refreshing scent of pine and cypress. It was as if the mountain itself was sweeping the path in welcome for distant guests.

Lin You’s cloak and hat caught much of the dew, sparing his clothes from dampness. But Qingyangzi was less fortunate—his gray robe was soon covered in dew and pine needles, and he looked rather bedraggled.

“How odd, I didn’t feel any wind?” muttered Qingyangzi, brushing the needles from his shoulders, his face puzzled.

Lin You did not reply. Instead, he gazed up at the pine branches, lost in thought, his expression unreadable. Was it just his imagination, or did he sense a friendly, almost affectionate presence emanating from the majestic pine canopy above, as if a loyal pet were greeting its master? The notion struck him as absurd, yet it only fanned the flames of his curiosity—he found himself eager to approach the ancient pine and see for himself.

“Friend Lin? Friend Lin?” The gentle calling drew Lin You back from his reverie; Qingyangzi had noticed his distraction and couldn’t help but call out.

Lin You gathered his thoughts and offered an apologetic smile. “Forgive me, Daoist Qingyangzi. I was momentarily entranced by the wonders of this place. Please excuse my lapse.”

Qingyangzi waved it off good-naturedly. “When I first came to the gate, I was dazed for the better part of half an incense stick. Your composure, my friend, is truly remarkable!”

He then gestured ahead. “Beneath the shade of the Pine Ancestor, there stands the Pavilion of Inquiry—a relic from ancient times. You may rest there for a while. I will go and inform the master and elders, then come back to escort you to the Hall of Ancestors.”

With that, he led Lin You through the woods, emerging onto a broad clearing.

At the clearing’s center towered an immense red pine, its gnarled trunk like a coiled dragon. Who could say how many ages it had weathered? Its bark was rough and patterned like dragon scales, and tens of thousands of branches stretched to all sides, forming a grand canopy that sheltered most of the mountaintop.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the branches, scattering flecks of gold across the thick carpet of pine needles below.

Pine shadows danced, and the shifting light glimmered like gold. Lin You’s eyes sparkled with a rare brilliance at the sight before him, a scene so wondrous it could have been conjured by the hands of gods.

Near the ancient pine stood a simple stone pavilion, its eaves inscribed with two powerful characters: “Inquiry.” Each stroke carried an ancient austerity and a hidden sharpness, as though a wild hermit had carved them into the stone with a sword instead of a brush.

“Please wait here a moment, Friend Lin,” said Qingyangzi, leading Lin You into the pavilion. With a word of apology, he hurried off toward the palace and temple built along the cliff’s edge.

Lin You had not cared much for the ceremony of tracing his ancestral roots at Red Pine Palace. What truly drew his interest was the venerable Pine Ancestor in the courtyard. He wanted to know whether that strange sensation from before had been mere fancy.

He set down his pack in the pavilion and slowly approached the ancient pine. Outside the gate, the feeling had been faint, but now, standing before the old pine, it surged up unmistakably. Lin You could clearly sense a wave of reverence and submission emanating from the tree, as if it were greeting its king.

It seemed ludicrous, yet his right hand moved almost of its own accord, reaching out to touch the bark, patterned like dragon scales. The moment his fingers brushed the tree, his mind exploded with sensation. Dimly, Lin You beheld a world-spanning tree, its crown piercing the flow of ages.

But before he could discern its true form, the vision dissolved into a blur, as if time and space themselves had been upended. His consciousness felt as though it had plunged into a vortex, or returned to the bottomless abyss atop Mount Kunlun.

His eyes were tightly shut; he could no longer tell up from down, east from west. All he could sense was his awareness rising ever higher, swept along by some mysterious force.

Above, the pine branches swayed and dew dripped steadily, soaking his clothes—yet Lin You felt nothing.

For he was witnessing, in a state transcending time and space, a vision before his eyes:

Upon a rocky crag sat an old man in hemp robes, with crimson hair and beard, his features strange and ancient. He leaned against the tree trunk, seated across from a young man.

The youth, a wooden sword slung across his back, bowed three times with deep reverence before the elder and then asked:

“Master, may I ask: What is the Dao?”

“The Dao cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be known, cannot be measured…”

“Then how does one seek the Dao?”

“One must first obtain the Seed of the Dao. Next, irrigate it with spiritual insight, and only then will it sprout the yellow shoot. This is the foundation of entering the Dao…”

“Master, what is the Seed of the Dao?”

“The Seed of the Dao is the essence of heaven and earth, and also the purest part of man himself. It contains all—wind and rain, darkness and light, the five elements, yin and yang. It is the root of creation!”

The old man picked up a dry twig from the ground, pinched it between his fingers, and gently pressed it into the moist earth.

A miracle occurred: the withered pine twig, once lifeless, suddenly took root and sprouted, growing rapidly into a miniature canopy.

After being infused with the power of the Dao, the young pine’s needles turned the same crimson as the old man’s beard and hair. Each pine needle shimmered like red jade, glowing with spiritual light.

The young man before him, witnessing this marvel, seemed plunged into profound enlightenment. Radiance flickered around him, and the wooden sword at his back hummed softly.

The crimson-bearded elder, seeing this, smiled and nodded. Stroking the pine, he chanted:

“Essence of the Supreme Dao, you lay the foundation of the path; Spirit of the Five Elements, you nurture the elixir’s birth; The pure energy of sun, moon, and stars, you transform and give rise to the sacred infant; Casting off the form, shedding the shell—true spirit is born! Roaming the Three Islands, soaring to immortality…”

Though his soul drifted beyond time and space, Lin You could feel the depth of the elder’s aura, and the chant he sang brought an intoxicating clarity, as if he were comprehending the Dao itself.

Yet just as Lin You was immersed in this rapture, his spirit was suddenly seized by a wave of weakness. Darkness swept over him, the world spun, and the vision shattered. The crimson-haired elder and sword-bearing youth vanished, leaving only the towering pine standing alone.

Within Lin You’s mind, a seed radiating a mysterious aura had already taken root. In the space of a few breaths, it sprouted and grew into a small jade-green tree several inches tall.

At the tip of its branches grew three leaves—one white, two green—each translucent as glass, clustered around a single blue-gray fruit glowing with gentle light.

Its roots seemed to anchor themselves in the void, absorbing nourishment from the very fabric of heaven and earth to fuel its growth.

But what shocked Lin You most was that one ethereal root of the little tree appeared to be intertwined with the ancient pine before him. Through this root, he could distinctly sense the old pine’s joys and sorrows, even feeling a faint, indescribable connection with the entire Red Pine Peak.

What was the origin of the seed within his mind? What was that mysterious fruit? Had he truly witnessed a scene from the ancient days, when immortals taught the Dao? Was this Pine Ancestor the very sapling from that vision?

A thousand questions churned within Lin You’s heart, mixed with an inexpressible thrill and elation.

Fortune! A stroke of supreme fortune! This, without doubt, was the immortal chance that Pine-Crane the Daoist had sought in vain his entire life.