I Materialized the Cultivation Game

For example, there’s a very popular post titled "Chen’s experts are indeed great at handling kidnappers, but it also shows Chen’s opportunism. After all, they only protect the wealthy; they would hardly protect an ordinary person!"

There’s always someone who likes to link everything to money and power.

Actually, in the Taoist Sect, many times it doesn’t matter if you’re wealthy, powerful, or just a regular person.

The Taoist Sect speaks of all beings being equal, not meaning that everyone should enjoy the same rights. If you have more money and power than me, that’s sinful and not obtained justly.

True fairness should mean equal benefits for everyone.

But this notion is incorrect in the Taoist Sect.

It’s like when someone sees a person not queuing at the bank and protests why they can skip the line, claiming it’s unfair, and causing a commotion, only to be taken away by the police.

They don’t realize that this person is the bank’s super VIP. The bank needs their deposits and transactions; the bank seeks them out.

There was an incident before where an ordinary person went to a government office to process documents, queued, faced cumbersome procedures, and then witnessed the office manager enthusiastically handing documents to a man, so he filmed them and uploaded it online saying the world is unfair, with collusion between officials and businesses.

Actually, that man was the secretary of an investor whose investment was hard-won in that area. The factory’s construction not only displaced villagers but also enriched many people and created many jobs.

Anyway, the video caused a public opinion storm, and the investor simply withdrew. Word later went around that the person who posted the video was beaten into a hospital by many villagers, but no one knows the outcome.

In the Taoist Sect, fairness is not about favoring someone because they’re poor and weak. The idea of "I’m poor and weak, so I’m right" doesn’t work in the Taoist Sect.

Because there’s always someone poorer and weaker, complainers often look upwards but don’t realize that if fairness is applied as they say, they might actually be worse off than they are now.

The Taoist Sect advocates doing without doing, believing that the Dao is the source of the world, with its own operating rules, needing no human intervention, so-called Daoist nature, the unfeeling Great Dao. The Celestial Dao doesn’t help you because you’re poor and weak, nor does it suppress you because you’re fortunate and successful.

If someone can become wealthy and powerful, it means they adapt to the Dao’s operating rules. The current social rules are actually part of the Dao.

Similarly, wealthy individuals being morally condemned or powerful individuals being legally punished is also part of the Dao’s rules.

Chen Han also saw the video, but he didn’t want to respond, disinterested in pointless chatter. However, a respected Daoist from the Taoist Sect spoke out for him:

"The Taoist Sect has long had the tradition of benefactors inviting Daoists to act as mages or to provide protection. Benefactors help the Taoist Sect with work or donate property, creating good karma, which the Taoist Sect reciprocates."

"This is a very fair way of acting. Just like the people of the Taoist Sect go down the mountain but don’t beg; they often exchange fortune-telling, Feng Shui, and solving people’s problems for good karma."

"For example, today’s Ms. Liao, if she donated a considerable amount of property to the Chen Family, it’s appropriate for the Chen Family to reciprocate this good karma. It’s not possible for you to demand this of the Chen Family without any interaction or established karma."

"Likewise, karma is variable; it’s not just money. Sincerity and human relationships are also considerations. Overall, while beings are not equal, the Dao is equal to all beings!"

Many people understood the meaning of the Daoist’s words when they came out.

Chen’s experts protected Ms. Liao and fought against kidnappers, meaning Ms. Liao must have had good karma with the Chen Family, even if she donated money; karma is karma.

But if you have no relation with the Chen Family, just an ordinary tourist with no donations or other karma, then it’s unreasonable to expect the Chen Family to risk their lives for you.

Like at work, others do less but earn more than you; are you happy? For the same salary, if you double the work of others, are you happy?

Those who don’t understand naturally support the opinion of the internet celebrity, continuing to discuss Chen Family’s opportunism and money-oriented actions.

The Ming Di naturally saw the news as well. As one of those riding the Chen Family’s wave of trending, he immediately called his cousin Xu Bin and Zhu Xueqin: "Did you see Chen Family’s news? We should shoot a video and ride the trend."

Zhu Xueqin appeared puzzled: "This news has nothing to do with us; how do we ride it?"

Xu Bin also nodded because they had no way to participate in this matter.

It didn’t even happen at Chen Family.

"Riding trends is an art; it requires ingenuity!" Ming Di directly led his cousin and Zhu Xueqin back to the hillside platform, using Chen Family as a backdrop to shoot a simple video again.

Ming Di: "Did you hear? A group of Daoists planned against the Chen Family’s Work Hall Master, only to be slaughtered by them. Really a bunch of idiots, not even knowing the power of the opponent."

"Now there’s a fear that such behavior will anger the Chen Family, leading to a demon-vanquishing action. So, the best thing we can do now is nothing, to prevent exposure and being implicated by these idiots!"

This video was soon uploaded, gaining quite a bit of attention, but also causing many to mock Ming Di.

"Ming Di, you’re forcing your demon into this trending topic."

"Haha, thanks for telling me about this matter; I didn’t know the real story was like this!"

"Alright, your words have turned the case into a Demon Path Demons targeting Chen Family’s experts."

"..."

While people mocked Ming Di, they didn’t realize an old Daoist appeared at Chen’s Parking Lot again, surprising the tourists who noticed.

This old Daoist was famous before; some tourists had seen him in videos and instantly recognized him.

This one is truly extraordinary.

Just when they took their phones out to shoot, the old Daoist was already gone from sight.

In the parking lot, after Deng Shuang and his colleagues got into the police car, preparing to return to the county, they being Chen Family’s tourism police, the shift just ended.

Deng Shuang was about to start the car when he heard the door open, and someone got in.

This surprised them, as they’ve never seen anyone so openly open their car and get in.

But when they saw who got in, they were all stunned.

Dressed in a cyan gray Daoist robe, an old Daoist full of white beard.

That’s him, right?

For a moment, Deng Shuang and his colleagues didn’t know what to say.

Chen Han pretended, smilingly asking: "Gentlemen, do you mind taking me to the county?"

"Ah, no... no problem..." Deng Shuang instinctively replied, then started the car, leaving Chen’s Parking Lot, heading for the county.

The one in the passenger seat had already taken out his phone, secretly sending a message to their captain Huang Xin.

Huang Xin had been handling the Jingmei Group’s case with Li Rui these days, though the case is so big, involving more people now, even the city sent supervisors over, and everyone understands why, saying nothing.

What makes him envious is that Li Rui, after going out once, gained another accolade. The kidnapping case’s accolades are significant, especially if firearms were involved, automatically upgrading the case, increasing the accolades.

And it was a windfall.

Just after finishing some case details, Huang Xin sat down and received a message from his subordinate: "Captain, an old Daoist got in our car, the Chen Family’s old Daoist!"

Huang Xin, upon first seeing the message, thought this subordinate was exaggerating; if the Chen Family’s Daoist is riding your car, it can be just a courtesy ride, no need to inform him of such a minor matter.

But as he put down the phone, he felt something was amiss.

An old Daoist?

He instinctively replied with a message: "Which old Daoist?"

"Yes!"

Seeing the subordinate’s confirmation, Huang Xin was unsettled; the appearance of this old Daoist in the county had naturally drawn attention, he had checked into it, investigated, yet found no trace of this old Daoist, a scenario of a dragon appearing and disappearing.

Now this old Daoist appeared again and got into his subordinate’s car.

He inexplicably felt this matter wasn’t simple.