《The Divine Chanter》


 Chapter 1: Enlightenment

    Yu Song looked at his room.


    He was in a small study, table in front of him, inkstone, brush and white xuan paper.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how I landed here¡­ it seems even without focusing, as long as one has a fascination, one will follow it through.¡±


    Yu Song travelled through the river of reincarnation. Although he doesn¡¯t know why, he didn¡¯t forget his memories. When he arrived in this world, he learned quickly that this world was in the ancient times. Fortunately, he was born in a family of scholars and was able to live well.


    He learned from his father and entered the imperial academy, where he became a refined scholar. In fact, there were more diligent students, but among all the students, he was said to be the most refined and scholarly person.


    There was no other reason, he simply had great enthusiasm for the ancient classics even before he transmigrated, and he recited the most known classics on a daily basis. In fact, he didn¡¯t agree with many of them, but he agreed that the ancient people were very far sighted and poetic, which is why he called himself a poetic scholar many times.


    Even after he finished the academy, he didn¡¯t take the imperial examinations but took examinations from the academy to earn the title of a scholar. Afterwards, he retreated back to his own home in the capital, where his parents raised him.


    If he didn¡¯t have an older brother, he would have to take the examination to earn a title, as a scholar wouldn¡¯t be able to keep the status of his father who is an official. His parents were unhappy of his unambitious behaviour, but when he settled down in his home, he taught his two younger brothers and the children of other officials, through which he was able to support his family and even assist his older brother occasionally.


    During this whole time, he enjoyed his life, but now, he was in a unique situation.


    Like usual, he was in his study, like a ritual he chanted three classic chants from Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. He wasn¡¯t partial and liked all kinds of ancient scriptures, he even rhymed together different parts to make it fit more with his own morality. As an old saying once said ¡°Those that learn from me shall live, those that copy me shall perish.¡±


    He changes his chants regularly and the current ones were summarised to be awakening the human mind and setting the foundation for eternity.


    The start is from the buddhist platform sutra, which is ¡°The mind is the Bodhi tree, The body is the mirror stand. Clean it constantly without letting dust cling.¡±, followed by a vers from the first chapter of the tao te ching ¡°The tao that can be told is not the eternal tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name.¡± and finally the confucian chant of the doctrine of the mean ¡°Harmony is the universal path. The superior person practices moderation and achieves harmony.¡±


    The weird thing for Yu Song was that as he was chanting it, his whole body felt extremely clear. After finishing it fully, he realised something ¨C his body seemed to reflect a slight green hue, as if he was a mirror in a forest, there was a hidden meaning in his heart as if he understood something but couldn¡¯t define it, while his whole self-felt satisfaction from the depths of his mind, as if the weird sensation of travelling was finally removed, which made him feel harmonious with the world.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    As an avid reader of novels in his past live, he knew his state was special.


    The classics that he chanted casually every day since his birth for over sixteen years has transformed into a foundation in his body, heart and mind, which reflect the physical state, the emotions and his wisdom.


    There were many stories about immortals in this world, but he just brushed it off. At first he was till interested and asked, but when he heard the stories, he quickly realised that they were more exaggerated that anything he ever read, so he paid it no heed.


    But now, he felt that these stories might be true. Not that the immortals were truly like they told him, but rather the fact that there were immortals in this world.


    Now the issue is, he wanted to know what kind of cultivation method he practiced that made him able to cultivate. Having realised the truth, he remembered that when he was five years old, some people visited his family and the family of others, gave him some tools to hold, and when there was nothing, they just left.


    At that time, his mind was dizzy, and he was far from the current state of enlightenment. If he had to describe it, he would say he was like a person with a mental illness that would only occasionally have clear moments. Only his mental instinct of reciting the chants kept him going all along, and when he was eight, he finally left the dizziness in the past.


    Still, he knew that he probably didn¡¯t have the basic requirements to cultivate, so he probably didn¡¯t take the orthodox route of cultivating with spiritual roots.


    Thinking of this, he remembered some side remarks he read that there were numerous unorthodox ways of cultivation, and he was probably unintentionally cultivating one such. The three ways of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism have different teachings, but in essence they aim at self-enlightenment and enlightenment others from oneself.


    Having chanted his whole life, he was enlightening him all the time and had an extremely solid foundation. When he finished his academy just last year and began teaching others, he found the joy in teaching people, and if his guess was right, he probably received feedback from this.


    It¡¯s just that although he liked teaching, he was more of a mentor that would give advice than a teacher that would sit by you all the time. Fortunately, through his own refining of the three paths, he cultivated a path unique to his own, where he cultivates himself and becomes a guide for others when they are troubled.


    Yu Song sighed, but he was happy deep in his heart. ¡°Who doesn¡¯t want to be an immortal? Others want to wield swords, but it¡¯s much more interesting to chant a few things and change the world with your words.¡±


    As he said this, he concentrated his mind deeply, felt his own state and repeated the chant ¡°Namo Amituofo¡± many times. With each chant, the surroundings became more peaceful, the dust that accumulated slightly over night seemed to dissipate, the brush that was cleaned started to shine even and there was a general positive energy in the room that seemed to evoke a focused mind.


    ¡°The ancients don¡¯t lie, and chants evoke truth. A simple chat that tries to eliminate negative energy has such a large effect even though I just started¡­¡± Even though Yu Song didn¡¯t have any knowledge whatsoever, his heart told him that the orthodox way of cultivation was very close to the truth.


    If one had to measure, he was a first step qi-refiner.


    But the paths of cultivation are different after all. He was enlightened in the three essences of body, heart and mind, and naturally if one had to compare, he was like a qi-refiner but also like someone that has already completed qi-refining.


    He tried looking into his inner self and calculated that as long as he influenced the world in a large way, he would be able to advance. The influence would then become his foundation and based on it, he would be able to derive other abilities. In general, he would gradually advance, but his foundation would be based on this, the orthodox term would be foundation building.


    ¡°The second stage¡­ this is also the limit about which I can feel, if I want any more, it won¡¯t be possible no matter how enlightened I am.¡±

 Chapter 2: FIrst Spiritual Chant

    Yu Song looked at his study once again and smiled.


    In fact, as a person who liked chanting, the art of calligraphy wasn¡¯t so interesting to him. He only practiced it because it was a requirement in the academy, but now it seems that his own words were enough to move the world.


    He realised just now that the words he spoke didn¡¯t only change his surroundings, the words were like an imprint that flew around everywhere with the sound, and it also landed on the paper and brush, which caused it to copy it down.


    Now, there was a solemn, but also somewhat holy and soft ¡®Namo Amituofo¡¯ written on the paper. He also knew that this was the transformation of a chant to a talisman. If he were to use this talisman, it would be like chanting it himself.


    Of course this was the result of his sudden enlightenment, and if one asked him to create another such talisman, he would be totally lost. After all, the art of talisman is far beyond the superficial understanding of imprinting a spell into a temporary container.


    Still, an entire role was infected during his enlightenment, and he knew that if he cut it, it would probably result in many talismans, but once again, he didn¡¯t have the art of talismans and didn¡¯t know how to cut it without damaging it.


    Regardless, a talisman with the chant ¡®Namo Amituofo¡¯ didn¡¯t need to be cut. Rather, as long as the roll was rolled out, it would be as if the talisman is used passively the whole time. The consumption would be less and the sheer size of it would ensure that it would work for a long time.


    ¡°It seems that as I am enlightened and already plan to leave the mortal world, the world is gifting me an item that can resolve my cause and effect.¡±


    Yu Song himself hadn¡¯t taught his younger brothers long nor earned enough money all this time, so naturally he would have to repay his parents and brother. As for others, there was none. The teachers in the academy were the third closest, and their relation was one of transaction.


    In fact, Yu Song himself didn¡¯t like most of them, they were all very competitive and inside the royal schemes and such, he didn¡¯t believe these people were of pure mind. They were like recruiters in the school.


    Only a few teachers were close to him, but he had differences with them, so he didn¡¯t think there was a need to specifically say goodbye. Anyways, there aren¡¯t many like him that understand the three paths so well yet instead of following them deeply, he rhymes together what he likes and uses the three impartially.


    If a monk, priest or scholar saw him, they would probably scold him to the moon and back. Anyways, Yu Song didn¡¯t have this worry. If he really cared about others¡¯ opinion, he wouldn¡¯t have been a person with an enthusiastic attitude towards classics in the modern world, especially at his age, where people were thinking of all kinds of vulgar things.


    Yu Song smiled and came to his small table. He rolled up the paper roll and put it into a box below the table. The box was made of wood with beautiful carvings and golden corners.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°At least it looks good. It would be a shame if a broken box became a spiritual item.¡±


    The scroll would keep passively emitting the effect in the state of being rolled up, at least this was less than when opened. The box that contains this roll of paper will naturally be infected.


    ¡°Who knows, maybe in the end this paper roll will be used for a few years and from then on, this box will be passed down for generations as a family treasure. I wonder what effects it will have¡­¡±


    He smiled, took a brush and dipped it in the ink. He came to the box and elegantly wrote ¡®Hidden Brightness; Eternal Shine¡¯.


    ¡°Such a name will maybe influence its direction. Anyways, it¡¯s the paper¡¯s chance to be enlightened, and even if it doesn¡¯t change the box, it will be enough to repay my parents in this life.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t that Yu Song wanted to get rid of his parents. They were very kind to him and took care of him, but it was a basic difference of perspective and ideology. His elder brother would always shield him from his parents, which allowed him to do what he wants, else if he was the elder brother, who knows how restricted he was left and right.


    Yu Song looked at the room once again and smiled. This room was also infected, but the range was too large to change it majorly like it did with the paper. Still, it would be a great room for practice for a few days, so he wanted to give it to his younger brother and enlighten their intelligence from an early age.


    He went out the room and walked down the floor. Servants would occasionally bow to him from afar but not call out nor approach him. He didn¡¯t like this whole servitude. It was one thing to hire a cook, an assistant or even guards, they were like normally employee¡¯s. But servants were generally bought, to him, this was no different from a slave.


    As a modern human, he knew best the greatness of the human will. The more restricted it is, the more it is pronounced, like a caged beast. He himself didn¡¯t like the analogy of a caged beast at all ¨C why would you want to cage a beast? Don¡¯t they only move around their own territory anyways? The same was for humans ¨C they were animals of habit and didn¡¯t like great change.


    Leaving people be was the method he referred to the most. Anyways, if he hired people, it would be of their own will. He liked a theory from a philosopher very much, it was Immanuel Kant¡¯s ¡°Humanity-Purpose-Formula¡±. It clearly stated the difference of humans and objects or tools.


    To use a human as a tool to fulfil your own purpose is allowed as long as you fulfil their purpose too. Like hiring someone, it is with the purpose of having a helping hand, while the hired also fulfils his own purpose of earning money.


    Using a human without fulfilling their purpose too would be no different from slavery, and naturally it would go against this theory. Anyways, Yu Song didn¡¯t like these things, and just because he was in an ancient world, he didn¡¯t have to accept the current rules.


    The modern world is based on the ancient world ¨C if one strictly follows the ancient laws while ignoring the modern laws, it¡¯s like putting the card in front of the horse. Or a more modern idiom would be to buy a new phone but use an old version and not update.


    Updates happen after many calculations and even though they are faulty at first, they are generally better than the past. Especially if the newest update is v20.25, it¡¯s fine if one takes the version of v20.00 and beyond, but taking the v08.00 is like deactivating every function of the phone except the notes.


    Yu Song never understood why one would change their own values based on the current time they live in. ¡®When in Rome do as romans do¡¯ refers to behaviour, not to your own values. In the same sentiment, should he also take three wives and four concubines?


    ¡°Anyways, every human is their own, some people think one sided and others know their world has three sides.¡± Even if Yu Song wanted to be nice and tolerant, there are certain borders and one doesn¡¯t have to accept everything beyond a scope.

 Chapter 3: Maxim

    As Yu Song walked out, he thought once again of his foundation.


    Although he was severely lacking in true knowledge, nothing stopped him from guessing based on his understanding, and he had plenty of understanding. After only a few things, he already formed a maxim in his heart: Comprehension of All with an eternal Pure Heart.


    As long as he was true to himself, Yu Song didn¡¯t believe there was no progress on his path. He might not know how other cultivators, especially the orthodox path, practiced, but his path was different from them. If he had to guess, rather than cultivating spiritual power, he was comprehending the laws of the world, but rather than comprehending, his own path is to shape the laws of the world to be conform with his own laws.


    With a pure heart, even when he comprehends everything, he will stay true to his intention no matter where his path takes him.


    After fleshing out the maxim, it seemed as if the undefined thing deep in his heart became solid, as if it was a sentence carved in jade.


    ¡°The tao that is spoken isn¡¯t the true tao, but if the tao isn¡¯t spoken about, then there won¡¯t be a tao. Indefinability is mysteriousness, human nature is curious, and enlightenment seeks truth, only through defining the undefined and anchoring it in our heart can we shape the non-existent into existence.¡±


    Yu Song smiled as he walked, the aura around him solidified from his sudden enlightenment. He believed that rather than saying one shouldn¡¯t talk about the tao because that would make it the ¡®false tao¡¯, it means one shouldn¡¯t tell others about your own tao, thereby risking infecting their tao.


    If he only learned Taoism, that might be enough to stop him from doing such a radical thing as anchoring his tao and defining it directly, but Confucianism is the teaching that shaped human society since ancient times. It can be said to be its own tao that was solidified by spreading it.


    Naturally Yu Song didn¡¯t think of becoming a state teacher such as Confucius, else he would¡¯ve taken the imperial examination. He is more like a wandering monk that comprehends his own tao and becomes a bodhisattva by helping others comprehend their tao.


    The length of the floor didn¡¯t allow Yu Song to think any longer. He had already arrived in the main courtyard, where his parents were sitting together with his younger brothers.


    Everyone knew his rituals at this point and they wouldn¡¯t disturb him, which makes him very happy.


    He approached his parents and smiled ¡°Mother, Father, I wish you a great morning!¡±


    The parents looked at him and just sighed ¨C once again, he didn¡¯t follow the true etiquette, but they couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Though they also felt happy their child could be so open with them, because they had seen how he acted outside, where his manners were flawless.


    His father, Yu Liang, smiled ¡°Song¡¯er, how come you¡¯re here so early? I-¡° he was just about to talk more when he felt something and looked at his son once again. His mother didn¡¯t understand, but she just smiled, admiring once again how tall her son had became and how he would be able to get married to any beauty he wanted.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    In fact, if Yu Song could, he¡¯d rather not guess his mother¡¯s thoughts, but who made the people in this era forget their own rights and be so obsessed with an old way of thought?


    Well, they didn¡¯t know it was old so he didn¡¯t fault them for that. He just smiled at his father ¡°Why don¡¯t we let Li¡¯er and Ling¡¯er go into my room? They should study their own books there from now on, at least for the next month.¡±


    There was another reason he wanted to keep the room free besides to help his brothers ¨C it would spread the positive aura all around the house and clean any evil spirits that accumulated. Once again, if he did it by hand, it would take much longer and be more ineffective.


    He had a general understanding of his power ¨C it was simply weak in its initial stage. Chanting was a matter of accumulation to bring grand change, as for how it was later, he wasn¡¯t sure. He couldn¡¯t even guess that far. Anyways, since there was an easier way, there is no need to make it more difficult for him by chanting along the whole huge courtyard.


    Yu Li and Yu Ling heard him and their eyes sparkled ¨C they didn¡¯t have their own proper study room and their older brother¡¯s study was very clean and always made them play as if they were already scholars and officials taking care of important matters.


    Yu Laing then came back and looked deeply in his son¡¯s eyes, before he sent away his wive and asked him ¡°Did you enter the path of cultivation? But your roots are too low?¡±


    In this world, everyone is born with roots and everyone has a chance to cultivate. It¡¯s just that some people¡¯s roots are so low, even if they cultivated, they would never achieve anything, and as mortals, they at least enjoyed the privilege of being secure from persecution of cultivators.


    The father, as an official, was naturally a cultivator in the late stage of qi refining. All mortal kingdoms were led by at least foundation building royal families, with many lesser but few higher. There is no other reason for this ¨C the spiritual veins in places were such countries exist are very low and scarce, so they are given to subordinate forces by larger forces to become a ¡®breeding pool¡¯ to accumulate talents for the larger power.


    Naturally there are also truly strong countries, but they are much fewer, meanwhile, a country such as the one Yu Song lives in can be found in wilderness regions all around.


    Yu Song smiled ¡°I don¡¯t follow the orthodox path of cultivation. I cultivate sagehood.¡±


    It was easy for Yu Song to understand his path. Although he was unique in many things, it¡¯s impossible for no one to have taken a similar path, or rather, he was just a niche branch of the path of a sage.


    He saw his father¡¯s confusion and explained ¡°The path of a sage doesn¡¯t cultivate spiritual power directly, it cultivates the wisdom and comprehends the laws of the world, through which he influences spiritual power to do as he pleases.¡±


    In fact, at later stages of the orthodox path, it would also achieve similar things. At least that was his online novel knowledge, how it was in truth, he didn¡¯t know.


    Anyways, comprehending the laws directly is always better, but the risk is higher and the talent required is also much higher. Yu Song knew that if he wasn¡¯t a traveller, he wouldn¡¯t have had the talent to start in this path.


    Every traveller would have this ability as long as they had set values, a good understanding of their own previous world and a unique interpretation of it. If one is so weak as to adapt to the world, then the path of sagehood is wrong. If one doesn¡¯t find problems in the system, no matter whether they actually exist or are made up, then one is not meant to become a sage.


    Yu Song¡¯s own ¡®problem¡¯ is in fact one he ¡®made up¡¯ ¨C after all, the system of the country works, and is perfectly fine for a cultivation world. He just didn¡¯t believe it is the best and refused to bow to it at heart, so naturally he had some qualifications.


    His father heard this, was a bit confused, but still smiled ¡°If you enter the court now, with your specialty, it¡­ You aren¡¯t planning to enter the court, are you?¡±