"Are you also hoping to learn the art of cultivation here?" Hearing Zuckerberg's request, Zhang Jintao's face showed little surprise, as if he had already anticipated these matters.
"Yes!" Zuckerberg quickly replied.
"Then, there are some things I must tell you!" Zhang Jintao said calmly. "Firstly, the art of cultivation cannot guarantee immortality. 99.999999999% of humans in this world can only use it to cultivate their minds and moral character. Especially now, with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth cut off, the remaining Qi is less than one in ten thousand. In this decadent age, I can assure you that it is almost impossible for you to achieve immortality; at most, it can only prolong your life! If that is the case, are you still willing to learn the art of cultivation from me?"
Li Chunlei quickly translated Zhang Jintao's words. Fortunately, during these days, Li Chunlei had already considered how to translate some Taoist terms, so the entire translation process was relatively smooth.
It was just that he didn't know how to translate "decadent age" and "spiritual energy cut off." Even Li Chunlei himself didn't understand what Zhang Jintao meant when he first heard it. He could only discuss with Zhang Jintao for a long time to realize that the decadent age and the cut-off spiritual energy referred to the fact that starting from the Ming Dynasty, the Qi available for human cultivation from heaven and earth gradually decreased. Let alone achieving immortality, even the simplest foundation building could not be met.
It was like a faucet dripping water into a bucket. When the bucket was full, the requirement for immortality would be met.
Originally, in ancient times, the water dripped quite quickly. Within thirty to forty years, it was roughly enough to fill the bucket and ascend to immortality.
But as the Qi in heaven and earth was used less and less, by the Ming Dynasty, it might take three to four thousand years to fill the bucket, making immortality naturally hopeless. Even the most talented individuals could not achieve it.
After Li Chunlei heard this explanation, he felt a sense of sudden enlightenment. Could the legends of ancient immortals not be fake? Could it be that it was truly possible to become immortal in the past, but it was impossible now?
When Li Chunlei translated these explanations to Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg's expression became somewhat desperate. He had thought that by coming to China, he could become immortal.
But then he thought about it, his own faith, Christianity, also seemed to have no records of sainthood since the Industrial Revolution. Could this really be true?
Of course, sainthood was mainly determined by the Church. Believers mainly hoped to go to heaven later. Such things could not be verified while alive, only after death.
However, Zuckerberg quickly accepted this. After all, he had also consulted many stories about Chinese Taoism and knew that most people could not achieve immortality through cultivation. He had not expected himself to become immortal, but as long as the effect of prolonging life could be achieved, it would be quite good.
"Can it really prolong life?" Zuckerberg asked.
"Naturally. Although the ultimate goal of cultivating immortality is difficult to achieve, the entire process of cultivation will gradually condition your body, preserve the essence, Qi, and spirit within your body, and ultimately achieve the purpose of delaying life!" Zhang Jintao said with great certainty. "However, you must strictly adhere to our Taoist cultivation methods. If you fail to follow our practices for a period of time, or if you always fail to cultivate correctly, then it will definitely have no effect!"
Zhang Jintao's words were quite interesting. He first affirmed that cultivation could prolong life, and then added a condition: one must strictly follow the requirements for cultivation, and even added a prerequisite of not cultivating correctly, which made the entire statement irrefutable.
After all, who could judge whether you cultivated correctly or not? Of course, it would be Zhang Jintao, the abbot of the Zhengyi Sect.
"Can I learn the true art of cultivation here?" Zhang Jintao's words made Zuckerberg ponder for a moment, and he felt that whether this person was telling the truth or not, or whether the art of cultivation was real or not, there was no reason for him to refuse.
Firstly, if all this were true, it would naturally be a good thing, helping him prolong his life.
But if these things were false, they would not cause him any harm. Anyway, he would try to get the art of cultivation first. If it turned out to be useless, it would not be too late to discard it.
Since he was already here, he couldn't possibly leave empty-handed.
So Zuckerberg directly asked if he could learn the true methods.
"Naturally!" Zhang Jintao said calmly. "Our Taoism is not like other religions; we have no requirements regarding race or country. As long as you are willing to learn, we are naturally willing to teach!"
"In fact, our core cultivation method, the Daozang, can be directly accessed at the National Library. It contains all our Taoist scriptures and techniques. You can learn directly without going through our Tianshi Mansion, and there will be no obstacles!"
"No, no, no, I can't understand those books at all. I need a bishop like you to teach me!" Zuckerberg quickly said. "In fact, he had already read the Daozang. He obtained a photocopy through connections. He even found a few Chinese people to translate it, but unfortunately, few of these Chinese people could understand it, as the classical Chinese writing is truly frustrating."
"If you need my guidance, you must join our Tianshi Mansion!" Zhang Jintao said. "In our China, we emphasize master-disciple inheritance, which is completely different from your Western churches. Therefore, you need to become a disciple of our Tianshi Mansion, start as a Daoist boy, and learn our Tianshi Mansion's Taoist methods step by step. Are you willing?"
"I am willing!" Zuckerberg said without hesitation, after all, he was already here!
"However..." Zuckerberg hesitated for a moment and then continued, "I cannot stay here for a long time. I have work in the United States. I can only stay here for two months at most. After two months, I will have to return to my country!"
"In that case, I cannot agree," Zhang Jintao shook his head. "The art of cultivation itself is mystical and elusive. I have practiced the Tao all my life, yet I still feel that time is not enough, and I may never reach that high realm in this life."
"You are surrounded by the temptations of myriad desires in the secular world and need to invest a lot of time in your work. How can you possibly cultivate correctly? Even if you don't become an immortal, even prolonging your life is quite ethereal and requires a lot of time!"
"Therefore, I believe it is best for you not to waste your time here and to return early!"
"No, Bishop, I am sincere!" Hearing Zhang Jintao refuse him, Zuckerberg quickly said. However, Zhang Jintao still shook his head. Zuckerberg then said, "Bishop, I see that some places here are quite dilapidated. How about this? I will donate 1 million! 1 million US dollars to repair these buildings, and you can teach me the great dharma!"
"1 million US dollars!" Zhang Jintao's eyebrows twitched several times, but remembering what someone had told him, he still shook his head. "No, no, this is not a matter of money, but you simply cannot cultivate successfully. If I accept you, I will not be helping you but harming you!"
"In the future, if you find that your cultivation yields no results but you have lost over a million US dollars, won't you hate our Tianshi lineage to the bone? It would not be cultivating a disciple, but cultivating an enemy!"
"To avoid any future discord between us, I think it's best to forgo this."
"No, Bishop, I guarantee that no matter how my cultivation goes, I will never have any resentment towards Tianshi Mansion. Besides, it's not that I can't cultivate. I can already enter meditation! That's what your Taoism calls entering samadhi." Zuckerberg quickly said.
"You can enter samadhi!" Zhang Jintao's expression was greatly astonished. He jumped up from his chair and circled Zuckerberg several times, saying in disbelief, "You, a foreigner, can enter samadhi?"
"Really, I can really enter samadhi!!" Who was Zuckerberg? He immediately saw Zhang Jintao's shock. It seemed that his ability to enter samadhi was something extraordinary, so he quickly patted his chest and said, with a surge of pride in his heart.
"Are you sure you can enter samadhi?" Zhang Jintao asked again.
"I am very sure," Zuckerberg nodded vigorously.
"What should we do!" Zhang Jintao showed a very troubled expression. "Since you can enter samadhi, it means you are a cultivation prodigy among one in a hundred. If you cultivate properly, you can achieve certain results. There are not many people like you anymore; you are born to be a Taoist priest."
"But you are entangled with the secular world and may not be able to devote all your energy to cultivation. In the future, you will likely waste your talent and hinder your career. What should I do?"
"Bishop, this is not a problem you need to worry about. My future is my own to bear. I am confident that I can find a balance between the two. Moreover, my demands are not much; I only hope to prolong my life!" Zuckerberg said sincerely.
"Alright, in that case, I will give you a chance!" Zhang Jintao finally made up his mind and said to his Daoist boy, "Send Mr. Zuckerberg to the side room to live. Recently, there have been many people hoping to become disciples. Let them live together. In three days, I will hold a grand incense ceremony to pay homage to the ancestors and select disciples. Infinite Heavenly Venerable!"
"As you command!" The Daoist boy said respectfully, and then sent the excited Zuckerberg and others to the side room. However, all of Zuckerberg's companions were refused entry.
These people naturally argued reasonably, but to no avail. In the end, only Zuckerberg was allowed to stay in the side room, while the others had to leave reluctantly.