Li Yuan sat cross-legged at the edge of the lake, a silent place seemingly cut off from all commotion. The trees swayed gently, the wind seemed to hold its breath, and a thin mist enveloped the entire area—as though time itself had begun to lose its footing.
He closed his eyes, regulated his breath, and descended into deep meditation.But this time, something was different.
As he quieted his mind, something within him opened.Like an invisible gate—a threshold between the outer world and the inner one, between time and the timeless.His breath grew calm—not merely as a tool for life,but as a knot between reality and understanding.
One inhalation.One world shifted.
He was no longer meditating.He had entered the path.
The Daojing Path.
Within him, a world unfolded.A sky colorless, yet full of possibility.A ground without shape, yet felt beneath the soles of his inner feet.All of it was born from his understanding—understanding of stillness, of breath, of motion that did not move.
Time no longer flowed as before.In the outer world, only five days had passed.But within his consciousness,Li Yuan felt as though fifty years had gone by.
Fifty years of stillness.Fifty years of silence.Fifty years without sound—only breath's echo and the growth of awareness.
He realized something:the outer world and the inner world were not two separate realms.They were connected through breath,through the simple cycle of inhalation and exhalation.Each breath bridged realities,and meditation was the unseen bridge that spanned both.
In those "fifty years," he did not move.Yet his understanding grew—rooted, flowing, forming new inner structures.The Daojing Path began to take shape.The Realm of Ganjing—the realm of sensing—was no longer just a concept.It lived in each heartbeat, in every pulse of awareness.
Then… he heard it.
A voice—not spoken.A voice without sound, felt only by a heart at peace.
"It is not time that transforms you…but understanding."
He didn't know whether the voice came from within him or from the world itself.But he did not question it.The words required no logic—only acceptance.
Then, he saw shadows.Not dreams.Not illusions.But like memories… from a life not yet lived.
An old man picking flowers and smiling.A child crying beneath the rain.A farmer gazing quietly at the night sky.And himself—Li Yuan—walking alone, yet each step filled with resolve.
And he understood something else.
The Daojing Path was not about power.Not about speed in cultivation.
It was a path to understand the world,and deeper still to understand existence.
His whole being became wrapped in silence.His soul echoed with something indescribable.In that profound stillness, he encountered something older than anythingthe First Breath,the origin of all things.A soft vibration—eternal.
The Eldest Breath.
He tried to follow it.Once.Twice.Ten times.Thousands of times.
And within that vibration,he slowly dissolved,no longer "Li Yuan,"but a part of everything.
But like all things born,the meditation reached its end.
He opened his eyes.
The morning sunlight kissed his face.The mist had lifted.The wind whispered once again.
Li Yuan breathed in gently.
His eyes were clear.His thoughts now reached far deeper.The world looked the samebut it no longer felt the same.
He saw the stone,and understood its silence.
He saw the lake,and grasped its reflection—ungraspable.
He touched the earth,and knew the earth was never still.
In five days of the outer world,he had traversed fifty years of inner study.
And this…was only the beginning of the Daojing Path.
Author's Note:This chapter marks a profound leap in Li Yuan's spiritual journey, aligning with the Daojing system that emphasizes insight, inner time, and the seamless connection between the inner and outer realms.His meditation transcends physical time and becomes the birthplace of a new foundation—one that redefines cultivation as deep understanding rather than mere advancement.
Time had lost its shape.Fifty years had passed in the inner world,yet only five days had slipped by in the outer world.
Li Yuan slowly opened his eyes.The soft morning light touched his face.There was no doubt, no surpriseonly a single, calm breath.
"I will not rush…"he whispered within.
His breath flowed like an unheard wind,like dew falling without a sound.The world within him had expanded immeasurably in those fifty years,but in the outer world…his steps remained slow.
He sat cross-legged upon a flat stone,surrounded by silent trees.Li Yuan gazed at the quiet sky.The morning light had yet to fully bloom,yet in each breath,he felt something different.
His breath was no longer just breathbut a light igniting from within.A small light, growing inside him,like a seed warmed from within.
It was the light within the breath.
He did not know where it came fromwhether from understanding,from long spans of time,or from the silence he had embraced for decades inside.
But he knew one thing:this light was not meant to be seen,but to be felt.
His breath became a bridge,linking himself with the world.With every inhalation, the light flowed and spread.With every exhale, the light returned—bearing new understanding.
Li Yuan touched his chest.There, he felt no swirling Qi,no violent force,but a gentle, formless stream.
Like light behind a mist.Like a sound never heardand yet always present.
"I understand," he murmured."This path is not meant to be rushed.This path… is meant to glow slowly."
The light within the breath was not something others could see.But for Li Yuan,every step ahead was illuminated by itguided from within.
That was Daojinga path unseen,but grasped by those who are willing to be still.
Li Yuan stood.The wind brushed against his grey robe.The world around him had not changedbut he had.
Not through a surge of power,but through a quiet radiance.
His first step after that meditation was lightbut filled with meaning.The light within the breath would guide him,step by step.
The sky was still pale.But in his steps,it was already dawn.