Chapter 193 Three Ways to Immortality
"Young people don't have time to come to the park. They are all so busy. Lao Wang, this is my granddaughter and grandson-in-law. My grandson-in-law also practices traditional Kung Fu. Xiao Du, this is Lao Wang. We just met yesterday."
Xiang Yuanzhang said something on the side, and then introduced Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan to Lao Wang again.
In fact, it can be seen that Xiang Yuanzhang likes this place very much. Just as he said, these people who come here are all friends. Even if they have only met once or twice, there is no barrier between them and they are all like old friends.
However, after Xiang Yuanzhang finished his introduction, he went back to the crowd and started practicing the Five Animal Exercises again.
"Oh? What kind of Kung Fu do you practice? Nowadays, fewer and fewer young people practice martial arts."
Lao Wang seemed to be interested and stopped practicing. He sat on a stone bench opposite Du Ruo and started chatting with Du Ruo while holding a thermos cup.
"I just practice casually. I usually practice Xingyiquan quite a lot."
Du Ruo just treated it as if he was here to accompany Xiang Yuanzhang to play, and to be honest he quite liked the atmosphere here, so he didn't hide anything and just chatted with him.
Originally, he thought Xiang Yuanzhang wanted him to show off, and he was already prepared to show off his skills.
"Xingyiquan, I originally wanted to learn this, but none of them knew it, and Master Xiao Qin was busy these days and didn't have time to teach me."
Lao Wang smacked his lips as he spoke, then took a sip of the tea in the thermos, and subconsciously spat out the tea stems.
"It's all about keeping fit, so it doesn't matter what you practice. I saw that you did Tai Chi very well, Mr. Wang."
Du Ruo was just chatting casually, occasionally looking at the old men in front practicing martial arts. Even when he saw someone making mistakes, he still smiled, as if he thought everyone was practicing well.
But his hands were not idle either. He held Xiang Yuanyuan's fingers and occasionally fiddled with Xiang Yuanyuan's nails, just as if he was chatting.
"Haha, what good training do I have? Alas, it's because I didn't take care of my body when I was young. Now that I'm old and have more time, I realize that my body is not as good as it used to be. I feel pain when I sit for a long time, so I thought about practicing these to see if I can live a few more years."
Old Wang smiled at first, and seemed very happy about Du Ruo's compliment, but after laughing, he began to sigh, feeling a little emotional.
"Mr. Wang, you don't look old. You're probably in your fifties. And you look pretty good. You might be thinking too much. Relax and take care of your grandchildren. When you're in a good mood, you'll naturally look younger."
After hearing what Lao Wang said, Du Ruo couldn't help but look at the other person again.
Only then did I realize that this Old Wang must have served in the army. When he sat, his back was straight and his complexion was rosy. He just liked to frown. Even when he was smiling, his brows were slightly wrinkled.
"Haha, that's true. Tsk, Xiao Du, do you think martial arts training is effective? I went to see Xiao Qin's master yesterday. He's not that old, so how could he become paralyzed? Isn't it said that martial arts training can prolong life?"
Lao Wang seemed to be obsessed with the idea that practicing martial arts could improve his health, or he might want to find Du Ruo as someone to talk to.
"Maybe, but who knows?"
Du Ruo didn't want to talk to Lao Wang about the essence of martial arts, nor did he want to explain why some people practiced martial arts and lived to be over a hundred years old, while others were plagued by injuries after the age of forty.
"Little Brother Du, do you think that if a person practices martial arts to the extreme, he can achieve immortality?"
Lao Wang said this very abruptly, and after saying it, he looked at Du Ruo seriously.
"Ok?"
Du Ruo, who was originally a little distracted, fixed his eyes upon hearing this and then looked at Lao Wang.
Not to mention Du Ruo, even Xiang Yuanyuan, who was watching her grandfather practicing the Five Animal Exercises while Du Ruo was playing with her fingers, turned around with a look of surprise when asked by Lao Wang.
It's no wonder that the two were surprised. After all, no normal person would ask such a question, but the person in front of them looked very serious.
"Mr. Wang, are you asking me?"
Du Ruo looked at Lao Wang, still with a smile on her face, but her eyes were emotionless.
"Well, I'm just asking. After all, young people nowadays have divergent thinking. I just want to hear their ideas."
Old Wang felt a little scared when Du Ruo stared at him. To be honest, he was in a high position and of course he felt afraid sometimes, but he never thought that a young man would have such a look.
Although Du Ruo was looking at him straight in the eye at this moment, his pupils were slightly lowered, which caused his chin to be slightly raised. He was looking down at him, and there was no emotion in his pupils, just like a well-fed tiger sizing up its prey, which made Lao Wang unable to help but soften his tone.
"Okay." Du Ruo still looked at Lao Wang calmly, then his smile faded and he uttered two words softly.
"Ah? You, what did you say?"
Old Wang was stunned. He originally thought that Du Ruo had seen through his identity and would not answer this question, but he did not expect that Du Ruo gave him the answer unexpectedly.
"I said that it is possible to achieve immortality to a certain extent."
Under the shocked gazes of Lao Wang and Xiang Yuanyuan, Du Ruo nodded again and spoke affirmatively.
After saying that, Du Ruo felt his hand tighten. He looked down and saw that it was Xiang Yuanyuan who was holding his hand tightly. Because she was holding it too tightly, her finger joints were a little white.
In fact, he did have some guesses about the identity of the person in front of him, but he had just carefully sensed it again and found that there was no one watching around and there was no danger.
Du Ruo had certain considerations when he said this. People who didn't know his abilities wouldn't believe anything he said. But people who knew his abilities would study it carefully even if Du Ruo was just talking casually. So Du Ruo decided to tell what he knew to avoid anyone from keeping a grudge.
He knew that this day would come sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to come so soon. He didn't expect that these people valued immortality rather than his martial arts.
"Can you tell me about it?"
Lao Wang lowered his head and took a sip of water, taking this opportunity to divert his gaze, no longer looking at Du Ruo, and then continued to ask questions.
"Eternal life is what everyone pursues. Since ancient times, countless people have been pursuing immortality. It can be said that after people gain power and authority, in order to hold on to them for longer, they will naturally pursue immortality."
Du Ruo raised his head and stopped looking at Lao Wang. Instead, he looked at Xiang Yuanyuan beside him. While speaking, he patted Xiang Yuanyuan's hand, signaling her to relax, and then continued speaking, but while he was talking about others, he was also talking about himself.
"I have read a lot of ancient books recently, and then made some speculations based on some scriptures and my own understanding. In the end, I came up with three methods of longevity. As for whether it is feasible, you have to judge for yourself."
Du Ruo did not lie. In fact, he thought there was no need to lie. He was not the only one who knew these things. Many pioneers had already experimented with them. But whether they were successful or not was only known by those pioneers themselves.
Knowing is one thing, being able to do it is another.
In fact, when he first acquired the skills, he thought that practicing martial arts was actually very simple, it was just about training the body or studying the techniques of killing.
However, as he practiced, the more he knew, the more he realized how ignorant he was, which led him to delve into the various martial arts knowledge he had acquired in his mind.
"As far as I know, the pursuit of immortality can be roughly divided into three groups of people, and these three groups represent three methods: martial arts, Taoism, and Buddhism.
They represent respectively: essence, energy, and spirit.”
"Let's talk about Buddha first. Buddhists mainly cultivate the spirit by reading and understanding the ancient scriptures, meditating, or tempering their spirits like ascetics. They pursue the growth of the "spirit" and ultimately jump out of the cage of the body, escape into the world of nothingness, and create their own Buddhist kingdom. This should be considered a kind of immortality."
When Du Ruo said this, his expression was very serious, and he couldn't help but ask back in the end, but he still had some guesses that he didn't say out loud, which was whether he would eventually escape into his own Buddhist kingdom, or into someone else's Buddhist kingdom to strengthen others.
"Calculate!!"
Lao Wang nodded in acknowledgment. He listened very carefully, mainly because what Du Ruo said seemed a bit absurd, but it was difficult to find any flaws.
In a corner of the park, several old men were discussing martial arts with smiles on their faces. They did so simply because people realize the importance of a healthy body when they get old, and they were exercising here in order to live a few more years with fewer illnesses.
Sitting not far from them, three people were talking about immortality.
"Taoists mainly cultivate Qi. They perceive the universe and get close to nature in various ways. Some meditate to nourish their own Qi, some absorb the Qi of heaven and earth every day, and some make elixirs and swallow the Qi of their own spiritual materials. In order to purify the Qi in their bodies, they can even stop eating grains, so that their own Qi can be more in line with the universe.
Eventually, the body will also fade away, or dissolve, and then the pure energy that one has cultivated will be integrated into the universe. This can also be considered immortality."
What Du Ruo said is actually all historically traceable, but the "Buddha" and "Taoism" he mentioned are not absolute. In fact, when one path is blocked, people will try to find another one. So there are those who practice "Buddha" to cultivate qi, and there are also those who practice "Taoism" that involve all three.
However, these two paths to immortality are only possible for people with outstanding talents or special gifts. Others cannot even reach the threshold.
"Calculate!!"
Old Wang gritted his teeth and nodded. He no longer had the same expectation as before, because he found that what Du Ruo said was not what he wanted. In other words, the immortality he wanted was a simple and efficient way. If it was the immortality like what Du Ruo said, it seemed a bit useless.
(End of this chapter)
