C17 Seeking the Dao.

Let's set aside the wild speculations of Hanyu Zhan'an and Xia Xiaodie for now. At the Hanyu Family Library entrance, a ten-year-old boy stood with a look of eager anticipation on his face, gazing at the building that might just chart the course of his life.

"Please activate your Holo-Brain's access for verification. The Library's main Holo-Brain system needs to scan your reading privileges," a library service manager said courteously to Hanyu Xiaotian. This service manager, an external clan official of the Hanyu Family, lacked the martial arts talent to excel within the clan but had a passion for reading, which led him to oversee the family's library.

He was astute, never underestimating visitors based on their age, well aware that anyone within the Hanyu Family could be a person of influence he dared not cross.

"Beep!"

"Scan complete. Authority level A confirmed. You may access the A-class shelves and have a private reading room. Would you like to proceed?" The library manager internally exclaimed, "As expected!" Those with A-level access were typically key figures in the family. He felt a renewed sense of pride and relief for his earlier caution.

"Enter!" Hanyu Xiaotian responded.

"Please follow me. And, if I may ask, do you prefer physical books or the light-printed versions?"

"I'll go with the light-printed edition," Hanyu Xiaotian decided after a moment's thought.

"Your personal reading room is ready for you. The Holo-Brain system there will assist you throughout. Should you require water or Yi Gu Wan, simply inform the Holo-Brain system, or you can contact me directly."

"Thank you," Hanyu Xiaotian said, then made his way into his private reading room and activated the Holo-Brain system.

"Select the type of book based on your interests, or input specific topics to find related literature."

After a brief pause, Hanyu Xiaotian typed in the character for "Dao." A list of titles instantly appeared on the management Holo-Brain's screen. Without hesitation, he opened the top selection—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. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of ten thousand things."

"The Tao is empty yet inexhaustible. It is the ancestor of all things. Blunt the sharpness, untangle the knots, soften the glare, merge with the dust. Deep and clear, it seems to exist forever."

"The valley spirit never dies; it is called the mysterious female. The gateway of the mysterious female is called the root of heaven and earth. It flows continuously, barely perceptible. Utilize it; it is never exhausted."

"Can you hold the uncarved block and not let go? Can you focus your Qi to the point of suppleness, like a newborn?"

"Embrace the void and maintain tranquility."

"Man follows the earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows what is natural."

"The Dao produces one, one produces two, two produce three, and three produce all things. All things carry yin and embrace yang. They achieve harmony by combining these forces."

...

Lines of text flowed like a refreshing spring, pouring into the young boy's heart from the far reaches of the sky. In an instant, Hanyu Xiaotian was utterly captivated, lost in the profound depths of the Dao.

In fact, Hanyu Xiaotian had completely forgotten his lifelong inability to practice ancient martial arts ever since he glimpsed the miniature cosmos within his mind. His heart brimmed with a yearning for the cosmos, the stars, and the Dao. For the first time in his life, he realized the existence of such mystical elements in the world, making the pursuit of martial arts seem trivial by comparison.

After some time, Hanyu Xiaotian turned the pages of the next books, the "Huangting Jing" (Great Hall Scripture) and the "Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra" (Heart Sutra)...

"The color yellow represents the center, symbolizing the central figure; the courtyard is where people dwell, the image of the divine chamber. It embodies the void, encompassing all things and all principles, hence the courtyard metaphor. It harbors the vital essence from which all things emerge, thus the yellow courtyard is used as a symbol. The 'Jing' is a path, the path of the 'Dao,' formless and elusive, unseen when looked for, unheard when listened for, intangible when grasped; it is the profound mystery, without place or position, containing all within nothingness, all reality within the void..."

"When the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara practices the profound Prajnaparamita, he sees that the five aggregates are empty, thus overcoming all suffering. Sellitto! Form is no different from emptiness, emptiness no different from form; form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. The same is true for feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness. Sellitto! These phenomena are the aspects of emptiness, neither arising nor ceasing, neither tainted nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. Therefore, in emptiness, there is no form, no feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness, no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, no color, sound, smell, taste, touch, or object of thought, no realm of sight, all the way to no realm of consciousness. There is no ignorance and also no end to ignorance, up to no old age and death, nor end to old age and death..."

"The Dao of Heaven and Earth can be summed up in a single word: its constancy means that the creation of beings is beyond measure. The Dao of Heaven and Earth is vast, profound, lofty, luminous, enduring, and everlasting..."

Curiously, Hanyu Xiaotian had never before encountered the profound meanings of Buddhist or Daoist texts, and the arcane language was beyond his understanding. Yet, as he read these texts, the understanding of the "Dao" they conveyed seemed to arise naturally in his mind.

When hunger struck, the Library provided Yi Gu Wan; when thirst arose, the Library offered clear water. And so, Hanyu Xiaotian embarked on his relentless quest to grapple with the teachings of the Daoist scriptures.