Chapter 30: Wandering the Northern Sea at Dawn and the Cangwu Mountains at Dusk, Already Possessing a Touch of the Immortal Spirit

Winter passed and spring returned. In the blink of an eye, the New Year had passed.

Little Zhao Zheng was growing day by day. Now over a year old, he was able to crawl all over the floor. The spring sun hung high, and the breeze was gentle and warm. Lu Ge sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, as sunlight streamed through the window, bathing him in its glow. Using both hands and feet, little Zhao Zheng flipped himself over and crawled into Lu Ge’s arms. Lu Ge smiled warmly and picked up the little bundle of flesh, settling him on his lap.

"Goo-goo, ga-ga."

Little Zhao Zheng lifted his head, slapping his small palms against the bamboo slip in Lu Ge’s hand.

"Do you want to hear me recite the scriptures?" Lu Ge asked with a chuckle.

Little Zhao Zheng did not understand, merely continuing to slap the bamboo slip.

"Alright, alright, I shall read it to you."

Lu Ge held the little one close and began to recite the classic in his hands. Little Zhao Zheng quieted down instantly. He leaned obediently against Lu Ge’s chest, his dark eyes blinking as he listened with rapt attention.

For some time now, Lu Ge had discovered a truth: his heaven-defying comprehension was not, as it seemed, entirely perfect. When it came to Taoist classics, he understood them instantly, mastering them the moment he studied them. However, for the classics of the other Hundred Schools of Thought, the results were not nearly as effective. To date, he had realized the concept of "Heartless Valuing of Emptiness" from the classics of Liezi, and there were signs that a divine ability was about to manifest from the works of Zhuangzi. Yet, when he read the Five Classics of Confucianism, or the works of the Mohists, the Yin-Yang School, and others, though he grasped the meaning immediately, he always felt a barrier that prevented him from deriving any divine abilities from them.

After much thought, Lu Ge formed a hypothesis. His heaven-defying comprehension was a gift from the *Tao Te Ching* within his sea of consciousness. It appeared now that he was only fated with Taoism. The classics of the other Hundred Schools could perhaps serve as a foundation for his knowledge, but deriving divine abilities from them was likely impossible. Consequently, once he realized this, Lu Ge began to focus primarily on Taoist classics. At the very least, he would gather all the divine abilities he could from Taoism before turning his attention to others.

"In the Northern Darkness, there is a fish, and its name is Kun..."

Lu Ge’s recitation echoed through the room. Shen Dao and the others, much like fish drawn to the scent of bait, immediately gathered around. The brilliant sun in the sky slowly moved toward the west.

"Its back is like Mount Tai, its wings like clouds hanging from the sky. It beats the whirlwind and mounts upon the sheep-horn gale to ascend ninety thousand li, breaking through the clouds and mist, bearing the blue sky upon its back, and only then does it chart its course for the south, to the Southern Darkness."

At this point, Lu Ge’s voice suddenly ceased. Shen Dao and the others looked up in confusion. They saw Lu Ge with his eyes tightly shut, a joyous expression on his face.

Within his sea of consciousness, wild winds raged and clouds gathered. His essence, energy, and spirit coalesced into a divine brush, dipped into the ink of Taoist rhyme, and wrote in the void. A talisman of divine ability slowly formed, radiating infinite light.

"Great Divine Ability:逍遥游 (The Free and Easy Wandering)."

Lu Ge snapped his eyes open. He handed little Zhao Zheng to Zhao Ji and looked at the others. "I have some matters to attend to; I shall return shortly."

Before anyone could react, Lu Ge had already stepped out the door. The others chased after him, only to see Lu Ge leap gently into the air, ascending into the sky. Behind him, wind and clouds gathered, transforming into the manifestation of a mythical beast. It resembled a fish, like clouds hanging from the sky, yet it also resembled a bird, with wings that obscured the heavens. It was the manifestation of the Kunpeng.

As the Kunpeng manifestation flapped its wings, Lu Ge’s figure vanished instantly from the spot.

"The Ancestor..."

"Did he just fly away?" Lu Buwei muttered to himself.

Shen Dao pondered for a moment before saying, "The manifestation behind the Ancestor just now resembled the Kunpeng from the *Free and Easy Wandering*. It seems that after studying Zhuangzi’s classics for so long, he has finally realized a divine ability from them."

Zi Chu asked, looking somewhat dazed, "I recall the Ancestor descended from a painting just last year. It has been little more than a year, and he has already realized a divine ability just by reading?"

Shen Dao laughed heartily. "Normal, quite normal. And this is not the first divine ability the Ancestor has realized from the classics. Before this, he had already realized a great divine ability from the works of Liezi. You will get used to it. The Ancestor’s talent is beyond our comparison."

Even with Shen Dao’s words, Lu Buwei and Zi Chu found it inconceivable. In this world, those capable of realizing even one divine ability were scholars of supreme learning, honored by the world as "Masters." Yet, one had never heard of anyone realizing two divine abilities in a single lifetime. Most people struggled their entire lives to realize even one, and those who succeeded were few and far between. Yet, right before their eyes, the number of divine abilities Lu Ge had realized had already far exceeded two. It truly shattered their worldview.

Meanwhile, Lu Ge felt a bit dazed. The Tao of heaven—a thousand people see it, and a thousand understandings arise. Lu Ge had spent half a year reading the classics of Zhuangzi and had realized only the word "Freedom." Thus, the divine ability he realized was the *Free and Easy Wandering*. Where the heart goes, the body follows. To walk without borders, to be unhindered by constraints. Simply put, he could fly, and at a speed so great that, based on his brief test, he felt he was approaching the speed of light.

Beyond this, he could ignore various obstacles and restrictions. This overlapped slightly with the "void-form" of his "Heartless Valuing of Emptiness," as both allowed him to bypass barriers. While the effects were similar, the principles differed. The *Free and Easy Wandering* drew upon the Tao of freedom, thus allowing him to remain unconstrained. The "Heartless Valuing of Emptiness," however, involved turning his own existence into a void, detaching from the shackles of heaven and earth, and thus he could not be bound by external things.

"Only now can I truly say I wander the Northern Sea in the morning and the Cangwu Mountains in the evening; I finally possess a touch of the immortal’s aura," Lu Ge sighed, standing above the clouds, looking down at the thousands of miles of mountains and rivers.

Yet, even so, until his Taoist fruit was fully realized, he was not a true immortal—merely one brushing against the threshold. Lu Ge counted his abilities: the Sword Qi of the North Star, Immortality, Heartless Valuing of Emptiness, Summoning Wind and Rain, and the Free and Easy Wandering—five divine abilities in total. The path of the Human Immortal was already half-traversed.

"The Great Tao is long and the journey is far, but I shall walk it slowly."

Lu Ge let out a long whistle, waved his large sleeves, and walked upon the clouds. With a single stride, he crossed mountains and seas, returning to the skies above the State of Zhao. Upon returning to Shen Dao’s residence, Lu Ge pulled a handful of lychees from his sleeve with a smile.

"I gathered these just now from an island in the sea. Do try them."

Shen Dao took the lychees, and Lu Buwei and the others gathered to look.

"I seem to have heard of this fruit," said Lu Buwei. As a great merchant who traveled extensively, he was well-informed. "Because it does not keep well and must be eaten as soon as it is picked, it is called 'Li-Zhi' (the fruit that leaves its branch). They generally grow in the lands of the Baiyue, Nanyue, and Xiou. Looking at the stems, these were freshly plucked."

Lu Buwei looked up at Lu Ge in shock. "Did the Ancestor truly just make a trip to the Southern Sea?"

At these words, everyone was astonished.

Lu Ge smiled. "I studied the classics of Zhuangzi diligently and realized the meaning of freedom, thereby gaining this great divine ability. In a mere instant, I can cross thousands of miles of mountains and seas. A trip to the Southern Sea is nothing."

Shen Dao murmured, "The Ancestor is now nearly an immortal deity."

Lu Ge felt somewhat embarrassed by the praise. "Enough, enough, stop the flattery. If you keep praising me, I shall become arrogant. These lychees... eat them quickly. They won't taste good if left too long."