A Tear Frozen in Time

Choices

In the lotus position, Mo Yuan quietly allowed his mind to completely close down.  It was actually far easier than he thought it would be having had her on his mind every second of every day he had been back.  But having come to a final decision regarding her and where his future might lie, it took no effort at all to close his eyes and block out the world.  

His body was barely functioning, and he knew if he didn't  culitvate, he might actuallly end up in the chaos again.  Zhe Yan had not even bothered to return let alone check on him, and though he knew he would in time, he was not going to wait for him, or anyone else for that matter.

And having given Die Feng the order to send his juniors home before closing down the mountain, Mo Yuan settled in for a very long seclusion period.  His mind was clear, his thoughts still and his heart rate calm and in no time at all, he let himself go.

In deep meditation, he felt nothing and heard nothing.  Not even his own breathing, but a part of his mind always remained aware of who he was and where he was in order to come back to himself quickly if he had to.  In just a few short minutes, he was already feeling the rush of energy as it began to lightly work itself into his aura.

There were many ways to cultivate.  For non Immortals, this meant life times of lessons and traumas of the spirit in order to strengthen the soul for much deeper lessons and traumas until it had reached a stage where its cultvation gleaned over lifetimes would allow it to finally let go of all earthly cares and enter a much different state of being.

Some belief systems demanded the release of all worldly possession and to live in poverty in order to appreciate the little things while also freeing oneself from greed and desires.  Only Mo Yuan had never really understood the need for such extremes, because 'things' were merely 'things', one did not have to go without 'things' in order to appreciate them, one merely had to understand that 'things' were a way to choices.

Titles, land, riches.  They were all a means to choices.  What one did with them could either be a way to cultivating or losing it.  It was all in the mind set.  If one lived their entire life working to accumulate a little wealth, lived well, did good deads without thought of gain, and hurt no one, then that person would cultivate because he had a good heart, showed kindness and kept his mind free of bad thoughts.

So in effect, living a clean and healthy lifestyle, while ensuring that those around him did not suffer at his hands, either through action or thought, meant that he too would cultivate regardless of how many 'things' he accumulated.

Most immortals on the other hand, had already gone through the soul lessons and had cultivated enough to move on.  Mo Yuan on the other hand had been born into the Immortal world as a pure Immortal.  Not many were blessed in this way, but Bai Qian too had been lucky eough to be born as a pure Immortal, so it seemed only natural that the two would meet and their souls know each other.

And this was where the choices came into it.  He had all manner of weatlh and had learned to live at peace with it.  He could live comfortably and without any worries for his well being, but he could also live without it.  Either way, accumulated 'things' were merely a choice to comfort and there was nothing wrong with that, so long as one did not see it as a means to living.  Desires on the other hand were a completely different issue.

And he had completely allowed himself to fall back into a well worn path he had sworn to forego and for one reason.  Desires of the heart were not conductive to maintaining ones cultivation, because it required vast amounts of energy and effort.  And he had chosen desire over his own wellbeing.  He was now weak, heartbroken and lonelier than he had ever been.  Before her, he had been happy with what he had.