Needless to say, martial arts almost cannot grant longevity, effectively cutting off a common point for all martial artists, or rather, all intelligent beings.
This has made the environment for recruiting disciples infinitely more complex, and it is indeed difficult to say how sects in the martial arts era should handle the recruitment of disciples—a group of foul-smelling stones in a ditch, each with completely different characters that are nearly impossible to change; how is it possible for them to become martial artists of the same sect with the same philosophy and pursuit of the same Great Dao?
But now, An Jing knew.
It was not the sect choosing martial artists who met the requirements, but the sect having the ability to turn people into martial artists who met those requirements!
When An Jing and Chenyinzi climbed to the summit of Bright Mirror Mountain, they could only see a vast, palm-shaped world, with curious stones forming a shape of a hand with five fingers slightly clasped.
And in the center of this palm-shaped world, a void divine mirror rotated.
"We beseech the Divine Mirror!"
Chenyinzi solemnly raised his hand in salute to the void divine mirror: "Please, Divine Mirror, reveal the Way to the future generations!"
"Please, Divine Mirror, reveal the Way to the future generations!"
"Please, Divine Mirror, reveal the Way to the future genera..."
His voice, like a great bell resounding through a vast valley, echoed throughout the area surrounding the main mountain of the Mingjing Sect, stirring up a series of echoes.
Upon hearing Chenyinzi’s call, the once still void divine mirror slightly turned, like an eye with life, containing the hues of countless starry rivers and the radiant brilliance of infinite heavens, ’gazing’ at An Jing.
In that instant, An Jing saw himself in the mirror.
And in the next moment, the image of himself in the mirror suddenly exploded and scattered—or rather, it rapidly diffused, transforming from a solid mirror image into a spiritual fiend human form constructed of countless dust particles. Within this human form, innumerable fiendish qi nodes, like star points, flickered and shifted, slowly moving and rotating like a starry river in the heavens!
It vaguely revealed another form of An Jing’s physical body, a form closer to the Great Dao than a mere reflection of light—a ’mirror image’!
But that was not all; the image in the mirror continued to change rapidly, shifting from a true reflection to a spiritual fiend’s starry human form. Following that, nearly abstract lines, mixed color blocks, an extremely sharp long sword, a shape outlined only by lines, a Sun burning fiercely with dripping blood, and an uninterrupted human-shaped phantom, spanning strands of timeless rivers, all emerged.
Seeing these scenes, even An Jing, despite his numerous enlightenments and cultivation of the Tranquil Sword Manual, felt a moment of disorientation—images reflected by the Heavenly Mirror Shard encompassed not only his physical form but also his soul form, two-dimensional form, dream form, abstract form, and four-dimensional time river form...
The images projected by the Haotian Mirror were indeed all An Jing, but not in the usual sense that a mirror reflects visible forms.
In that moment, An Jing recalled the explanation about the Haotian Mirror he had seen in the Endless Heavens.
[Qiankun Creation Sky Mirror: It suppresses the ten directions of the celestial domain, illuminating the roots of all things, piercing through the truth of creation, and innately essential; it can reflect the heavens, boundless and infinite, hence called the Haotian Mirror. With it to suppress the foundation, it can make a cultivator understand their own creation origin, nurturing the Origin Divine Power.]
These images were constantly changing, seemingly never-ending. A powerful will was deducing the essence of the person before the mirror, evolving many possibilities, and finally determining an image of ’An Jing of the Bright Mirror Sect’.
In the reflective illusion of the Great Void Mirror, An Jing’s image underwent dozens to hundreds of changes.
But the issue emerged.
No matter how much it was deduced, the image in the mirror could not settle.
Atop Bright Mirror Mountain,
Chenyinzi saw An Jing take a step forward, stepping into the mirror, disappearing within the realm of the Heavenly Mirror Shard, and nodded in satisfaction.
As the fundamental foundation of the Bright Mirror Sect, the power of the Heavenly Mirror Shard was unimaginable to other sects without the Lingxiao foundation or the shard.
Our so-called Bright Mirror, Bright Shape, understood oneself, knowing the past and the present!
Knowing your current form allows for the understanding of your state; knowing your past circumstances explains all present results, naturally planning future actions accordingly.
The Haotian Mirror can deduce one possible future based on a martial artist’s ’present’; the image reflected in the mirror is not the real self but the ’self perceived by the observer’. In other words, the Haotian Mirror can deduce an imagined perfect form of oneself from the observer’s perspective, thereby outlining a path for the martial artist on how to ’become the perfect self’.
Of course, this perfection is only temporary; as one becomes stronger, sees more of the world, and learns more advanced and profound arts and skills, one can naturally imagine a stronger self.
But this process of [self-observation, self-change, becoming more perfect], namely the divine skill of [Bright Mirror Bright Shape], will be imprinted in the bones of every true transmission of the Bright Mirror Sect, marking their identity as [descendants of the Bright Mirror Sect]!
Moreover, it’s not only true transmission; even for the inner and outer sects, there is similar treatment, although true transmission uses the Haotian Mirror Shard for deduction, while the inner and outer sects are deduced by the true transmission disciples.
"With An Jing’s foundation now almost perfect, with the Divine Mirror filling in the gaps, it is unimaginable how strong he can become."
Stroking his beard, Chenyinzi was full of anticipation: "I wonder what An Jing’s ideal self would be like. With his talent, he must be well aware of his shortcomings and deficiencies and be willing to admit them—our Bright Mirror Sect values sincerity, recognizing and admitting mistakes, so one can use the mirror to constantly self-examine and remain vigilant to become a perfect martial artist!"
Though it sounds simple, in reality, this is an extremely difficult form of cultivation.
Humans are beings who often refuse to admit their mistakes; despite learning from history, they repeatedly make the same mistakes, let alone more prideful martial artists.
But Chenyinzi believed in An Jing’s Dao Heart.
Still, a long time had passed, and An Jing had not emerged yet.
Feeling that something was amiss, Chenyinzi furrowed his brows and looked towards the direction of the Heavenly Mirror Shard: "What is going on? Could it be that An Jing’s ideal self is so complex?"
Actually, it was not that complex.
Everything was quite simple.
After the Heavenly Mirror Shard’s long deduction, it ultimately reflected an image identical to the present An Jing.
A powerful, perfect young martial artist without the slightest flaw.
A faint voice echoed: [What kind of you can be considered perfect?]
An Jing easily answered, fully understanding the situation: "I am perfect as I am now."