So, Shi Hao took out a strange scroll from his bedroom and said to Laozi, "How about I give this to you as compensation!"
"Humph, what do you think my Qing Niu is?" Laozi's face darkened, but when he saw the scroll, his gaze was instantly captivated.
What kind of painting was it? It exuded a starry brilliance, like a silver river hanging above.
When his mind immersed itself in it, he realized his own insignificance and the vastness of the universe.
"What did you just say?"
"Cough, cough, I said I agreed to give it as compensation for the Qing Niu."
Laozi's eyes were filled with wonder, his gaze seeming reluctant to leave the scroll for a moment. It… was he really going to give it to him? The Qing Niu died a worthy death.
It was called the Milky Way Star Chart, also a reward Shi Hao received from his system check-in, a scroll depicting the Milky Way.
In fact, when Shi Hao first got the Star Chart, he couldn't believe it either. Such a small scroll could actually depict the Milky Way, which was tens of thousands of light-years in diameter, just like a 2D sheet.
Shi Hao often marveled at the system's check-in rewards, it really had everything.
Although the prehistoric world was vast, compared to the Milky Way, it was not even in the same league.
The largest planet that humans have observed from tens of thousands of light-years away from the Milky Way, called Stevenson 2-18, its size is comparable to the prehistoric world!
For example, the sun is pretty big, it's 1.3 million times the size of Earth.
However, if it replaced the sun in the solar system, its size would extend to Saturn's orbit, because it's 10 billion times the size of the sun! Compared to Earth, its volume is one trillion times that of Earth.
However, compared to the prehistoric world, the planets in the Milky Way are relatively barren, and there are very few life-bearing celestial bodies.
"You wish, your little Qing Niu can't compare to my Star Chart!"
"Then what do you mean by bringing it in front of me, deliberately showing off?"
"Hehe, if you want to get something cheap from me, you have to see if you have the ability. How about we compare our calligraphy? If you can beat me, I won't mind giving you the Star Chart as compensation. If you lose, the Qing Niu incident is settled."
Mainly, the ink was already ground, and Shi Hao was about to practice calligraphy anyway, so he didn't bother thinking about other things to compete in.
The most important thing was that he got calligraphy mastery from his system check-in, so he wouldn't be completely helpless against cultivators.
In terms of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, who's afraid of who.
"Calligraphy?"
"That's right! You and I each write a character on the scroll, and see who writes better."
Laozi was also very happy to be able to compete with Shi Hao, because he also wanted to test his depth, so he agreed.
However, the content of the competition surprised Laozi, it shouldn't be as simple as writing a single character, right?
For fairness, both of them had to write the same character to better compare who was better, and Shi Hao let Laozi choose what character to write!
"How about the character 人 (rén)?" Laozi thought of his Humanism, so he chose the character 'rén'.
"Okay." Shi Hao had no objections, with his calligraphy level, it didn't matter what character he wrote.
Both of them picked up their brushes, seeming to be pondering and contemplating, not immediately starting to write.
Laozi didn't think it was simply about calligraphy, but rather using 'calligraphy' to display his Dao!
His understanding of the Dao instantly flowed to the tip of his brush, the character 'rén' containing the ultimate principle, was depicted by Laozi in one go.
The Dao is inaction, inaction is also not inaction, inaction contains great action.
One produces two, two produces three, three produces all things. One is the primordial energy, which is the source; two is yin and yang, the foundation of the creation of heaven and earth. Three is all things. All things are nature, nature is Dao.
"Your calligraphy is not bad, but my understanding of the character 'rén' shouldn't be like this." After glancing at Laozi's finished character, Shi Hao shook his head lightly, and finally began to write!
Like a thunderbolt, Shi Hao's brush flew like a dragon, and he finished writing in an instant.
Even though it was the same character, it gave people two completely different feelings!
Laozi's character was calm and natural, while Shi Hao's character was full of perseverance!
Laozi looked at Shi Hao's character 'rén', and he saw the perseverance of the human race, struggling against heaven, against earth, against people.
Gonggong crashed into the mountain and the celestial river overflowed, the weak human race didn't give up, they worked together to build large ships to fight the flood that almost drowned the sky.
When the human race was plagued by disease, Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, and learned to use medicinal herbs to fight disease.
It seemed to tell Laozi that the human race should strive for strength, not everything should follow the natural order, and develop according to the way of heaven.
Perhaps Laozi's Dao was not wrong, but the human race shouldn't be like this.
Shi Hao sighed, "If it was another character, there would be no problem with the meaning your character contained, but unfortunately, you chose the character 'rén'."
"Humph!! Isn't my Laozi Sage's Humanism also about inaction and following the natural order?"
"Hehe, Laozi established Humanism, he initially used the opportunity of the human race's fortune to become a sage."
It's called Humanism, but the doctrine of Humanism is completely inconsistent with the human race, it's about everything following the mandate of heaven, the Dao is inaction!
In terms of educating the human race, Laozi is completely slacking off, he only took Xuandu as a disciple, most of the effort was made by the disciples of the Interpretation Sect, of course they were only doing it for the merit of educating others.
"The human race in the prehistoric world doesn't fit the meaning of the character 'rén' you depicted. I guess you must be a disciple of Humanism, the character 'rén' you wrote is at best a 'rén' of Humanism, not a 'rén' of the human race. Laozi used Humanism as a name, although he took advantage of the human race's fortune, but actually lost the bigger picture. His doctrine clearly contains the natural changes of heaven and earth, not limited to the human race."
Laozi remained silent, although the other party was right, it was not easy to be convinced by a debate about doctrines.
"You are not Laozi Sage, how do you know his schemes. You win this time, but I won't lose next time." After a long time, Laozi admitted defeat.
It wasn't that Shi Hao completely convinced him, but the Dao rhyme in Shi Hao's character 'rén' was indeed much stronger than his.
"Haha, come again next time, I'll treat you to beef hot pot. Your mount, its meat is very good."
Shi Hao laughed, thinking to himself, "Whew, that was close, I almost bled myself dry by giving away my Milky Way Star Chart. That old man's calligraphy is extremely high, only a bit worse than mine."
Laozi left with a black face. He sighed. Although he learned the truth today, it was a pity for his mount, he was eaten for nothing.
What kind of identity does he have? Is he also one of the first creatures to be born after the creation of the world? But why didn't I see him during the three sermons of the Daozu in the Purple Cloud Palace?
Laozi couldn't figure it out. Although he had competed against the other party, he only had a glimpse into the situation, a small understanding of the whole.