EFB Chapter 338: Enlightenment
Chapter 338: Enlightenment
Xu Wuyi "watched" this scene, and a sudden realization dawned in his mind.
Fire is motion.
’Then what is the motion of these sparks?’
He stopped thinking. Instead, he immersed his entire Heart and Spirit into it, to feel, to observe, to experience.
...
Time flowed by in the silence.
Xu Wuyi remained in his cross-legged position from afternoon to dusk, and then until night fell.
The smart-brain quietly delivered dinner. Seeing him immersed in his practice, it didn’t disturb him, gently placing the food box by the door before leaving.
Late at night, the only light in the bamboo house was the faint moonlight filtering in through the window.
Suddenly, Xu Wuyi opened his eyes.
Deep within his pupils, a dim golden glimmer flashed and vanished.
He rose and walked to the *Celestial Bird Bathing in Fire Painting*. This time, he didn’t look with his eyes. Instead, he slowly extended his Spiritual Perception to touch the painting’s surface.
In an instant, the familiar scorching heat returned.
But this time, within that scorching heat, there was a trace of... liveliness.
The Flame in the painting seemed to come alive. It was no longer made of static brushstrokes, but was truly burning, flickering, and breathing.
The gaze of the Divine Bird also seemed to hold a certain indescribable quality.
It was not the pain of being incinerated by the Flame, nor the pleasure of bathing in it, but something more fundamental.
Acceptance.
The Flame was a part of it, and it was a part of the Flame.
Xu Wuyi suddenly recalled the Flame Venerable’s words.
"I am the fire."
He hadn’t quite understood it then, but now he felt he was faintly touching the edge of that concept.
Fire was not an external object, not a tool, not a means to an end.
Fire was the self.
The moment this thought arose, the Mountain Peak Great Sun Realm in his sea of consciousness trembled violently.
The light of the great sun surged, and the surrounding dim golden sparks spun faster, beginning to generate a faint gravitational pull between them.
Xu Wuyi hurriedly reined in his Heart and Spirit, not daring to delve any deeper.
He understood the principle that too much is as bad as not enough.
He took two steps back, drew a deep breath, and suppressed his churning Qi and Blood and Spirit.
He walked to the door and picked up the food box. Inside was still-warm stewed meat and flatbread, along with a pot of clear tea.
He ate slowly, feeling the food transform into Energy that nourished his body. Then he washed up and rested.
Cultivation wasn’t a desperate struggle, but a long and steady process.
...
The next day, Xu Wuyi resumed his regular routine.
He rose at five in the morning and practiced the *Basic Body Refining Technique* in the garden. Every movement was precise and perfect, his Qi and Blood circulating with an efficiency far surpassing that of an ordinary person.
After two rounds of the Body Refining Technique, he began his spear practice.
The Meteor Iron Long Spear danced in his hands as he executed the Silk Binding Force of the Wind-Settling Spear, the Spiritual Cold Radiance of the Shocking God Spear, and the Soul Suppressing intent of the Eight-direction Soul Suppressing Spear, one after another.
Finally, he integrated all the Spear Techniques, reducing them to the simplest, most direct thrusts, sweeps, upward flicks, and smashes.
There was nothing flashy, only what was practical.
This was a lesson the Star Realm Battlefield had taught him: in a life-or-death battle, all superfluous Techniques were openings for the enemy.
An hour had passed by the time he finished his spear practice.
Steam rose from Xu Wuyi’s entire body, and his training uniform was soaked with sweat.
He returned to the bamboo house, took a cold shower, and changed into clean clothes before finally sitting down in front of the *Celestial Bird Bathing in Fire Painting*.
His observation began.
This time, he no longer tried to "understand" anything; he just watched quietly.
Watching how the Flame burned, how the Divine Bird stretched, how the Mental Realm contained within the painting flowed.
Time passed, second by second.
Xu Wuyi’s breathing gradually became long and slow, his Spirit completely immersed in the painting.
In a trance, he seemed to hear the CRACKLING of the Flame, feel a heat that was scorching yet not violent, and even smell a fragrance similar to sandalwood.
And the Divine Bird, it seemed, turned its head and glanced at him.
Its gaze was calm, profound, as if it could see straight through his soul.
Xu Wuyi felt neither shock nor fear.
He simply met its gaze openly, laying bare his understanding, his doubts, and his path without reservation before that stare.
Then, he "heard" a voice.
It was not a sound heard with his ears, but one that echoed directly in the depths of his consciousness.
The voice was ancient and majestic, yet it also carried a trace of gentleness.
"What is fire?"
Xu Wuyi blurted out, "Fire is motion."
"What else?"
"Fire is connection."
"What else?"
"Fire is resonance."
The voice fell silent for a moment before asking again, "And what of you?"
Xu Wuyi froze.
"Is fire you?" the voice pressed. "Are you fire?"
Xu Wuyi could not answer this question.
’Am I fire?’
He controlled the Undying Flame, comprehended the Fire Realm, and could even articulate understandings like "fire is motion."
’But am I fire itself?’
’Clearly not.’
He was a man, he was Xu Wuyi, he was a Martial Artist.
Flame was merely a power he controlled, a path he understood, a part of his Mental Realm.
To become fire itself—this was the Flame Venerable’s understanding, but it was not his.
He could accept this understanding, he could use it as a reference, absorb it, and digest it into his own realization, but he would not accept it wholesale.
’But... is it really just that?’
On the Star Realm Battlefield, when those Flames connected, resonated, and ultimately formed a "concept" that incinerated everything, he had clearly felt as if those Flames had become an extension of his body, a manifestation of his will.
At that moment, the boundary between fire and himself had blurred. It was somewhat similar to "I am the fire," yet fundamentally different.
Xu Wuyi sank into deep thought.
The voice did not sound again, as if it had never been there at all. The bamboo house was silent, save for the occasional birdsong from outside the window.
After an unknown amount of time, Xu Wuyi slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze was somewhat dazed, as if he had just awoken from a profound dream.
His gaze fell upon the *Celestial Bird Bathing in Fire Painting*. The painting was still the same painting; the Divine Bird was still in the Flame, its expression calm.
But Xu Wuyi knew that the conversation he just had was not an illusion.
It was the remnant of the Mental Realm left in the painting, or rather, a wisp of a spiritual brand left behind by the artist to communicate with those who came after.
"Am I fire?" Xu Wuyi asked himself in a low voice.
He had no answer.
But he knew that this question was the direction he needed to pursue next.
...
The third day, Xu Wuyi maintained the same rhythm.
Body Refining, spear practice, observation.
But today, his observation took a new turn.
When his Spirit once again immersed itself in the painting, the Divine Bird seemed to come to life.
It wasn’t an illusion, but a true "aliveness"—its wings beat gently, its eyes shifted, and the Flame surrounding its body leaped and surged, as if it would fly out of the painting at any moment.
Xu Wuyi did not resist. Instead, he proactively opened up his Spirit, allowing that Mental Realm to envelop him.
In a trance, he felt as if he had transformed into the Divine Bird.
’No, not transformed. Rather, my consciousness has achieved a kind of resonance with the consciousness of the Divine Bird.’
He felt the temperature of the Flame, the stretching of his wings, and that wondrous Realm of being transcendent and detached, yet also one with the Flame.
Fire is motion.
Fire is connection.
Fire is resonance.
’So then, what about fire and life?’