"Upon seeing this tree, I can't help but recall the days of practicing under the Dao Ancestor."
Fan Wubing curiously asked,
"Master, did you practice with the Dao Ancestor?"
Yushan Daoist laughed and said, "At that time, though a hundred schools of thought contended, and ideas blossomed freely, there was a common understanding that all avenues of truth, though different, eventually converged. It was quite common for Daoist disciples to listen to Confucian lectures and for Confucian students to study under the Dao Ancestor. Communication, exchange, cooperation, and mutual advancement—this is how ideas spark through collision."
Fan Wubing was quite impressed,
"So, that's why that era is called the best of times!"
Yushan Daoist said, "I don't quite agree. I always believe that the best of times will never arrive. It is by striving towards a better era that people push forward. If the best of times were in the past, what would people be progressing towards in the future?"
"Hope."
