Dao of Trading

Ling Feng had glimpsed the truth of the market—not as a battlefield of buyers and sellers, nor as a game of deception and manipulation, but as an eternal, living entity. Every rise and fall was a breath, every pullback a heartbeat, every expansion a cycle of renewal.

But understanding this was not enough.

To ascend, he had to break free from the final chains that bound him to the mortal realm of trading—attachment to results, the illusion of control, and the last remnants of fear.

The Three Obstacles of the Mind

Master Tian Yuan led Ling Feng to a secluded mountain peak beyond the Hundred Market Sect, where the winds howled like the voices of lost traders and the stars shone like the countless candles of the market.

"You are on the precipice of true mastery," Tian Yuan said, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "But before you can ascend, you must pass through the Three Obstacles."

Ling Feng listened intently. He had already overcome so much—what more could remain?

Tian Yuan raised a hand. "The first obstacle is Attachment to Profit."

Ling Feng frowned. "I have long abandoned greed."

Tian Yuan shook his head. "Greed is simple to conquer. But profit, even when attained through mastery, remains a chain. You still measure yourself by what you gain. Even if you trade without ego, you still think in terms of outcome."

Ling Feng exhaled. He had to let go. To trade without any thought of return. To exist within the cycle without trying to extract from it.

"The second obstacle is Illusion of Control."

Ling Feng had believed himself past this. Had he not already surrendered to the flow of the market? Had he not accepted that price moved as it must?

But then he realized the deeper truth—he still sought to anticipate.

His mastery of order flow, his ability to read the liquidity, even his deep understanding of imbalances—these were all methods of controlling uncertainty.

Tian Yuan saw the shift in his expression and nodded. "You must go beyond seeing. You must become the unseen."

Ling Feng closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he no longer sought to predict.

He only watched. And in that moment, he saw everything.

Tian Yuan smiled. "The final obstacle is Fear of the Unknown."

For all his training, Ling Feng had still believed there was a final state of perfection. A moment where he would understand all things, where he would reach a point of invincibility.

But there was no such thing.

There was only the infinite.

The market was limitless, eternal, ever-changing. True mastery was not about knowing—it was about embracing the unknowable.

As the dawn rose, Ling Feng took his final breath as a mortal trader.

And exhaled as something else entirely.

The Awakening

From that moment on, Ling Feng no longer "traded." He no longer analyzed. He no longer waited, nor anticipated.

He simply acted.

Every entry was precise, yet effortless.

Every exit was neither too soon nor too late.

Every movement was as natural as the rising sun, as inevitable as the flowing river.

He had severed his ties to the outcome of trades.

He had released his need to control.

He had embraced the unknowable nature of the Dao.

As he descended from the mountain, the disciples of the Hundred Market Sect watched in awe. There was something different about him. His presence was no longer like a man walking, but like the shifting wind—formless, unpredictable, yet utterly in harmony with all that surrounded him.

He had broken the last mortal chains.

But the path was not yet complete.

For beyond this stage lay something greater.

Not mastery.

Not dominance.

Immortality.