Chapter 226: Reflect on the past and revive the present, learn from the past and plan for the future
Chapter 226: Reflect on the past and revive the present, learn from the past and plan for the future (5K, please vote at the beginning of the month)
The fourth day of March, the 454th year of the Ming Dynasty.
The sun is rising and it’s a nice day.
Cheng Xinzhan glanced to the east and pinched his hands twice in his sleeves. It was five quarters past the hour of Mao. The time was just right.
This is a good time to absorb purple energy.
There is only a quarter of an hour to absorb purple energy every day, and the specific starting time will change with the change of seasons and geographical location.
Sometimes if it rains, you will miss it. Clouds, rain and thunder occur from the first to the third heaven. Although the purple air above the third heaven will not be blocked by rain, the sunlight there is too scorching. While consuming the purple air, you will be injured by the yang fire, which is not advisable.
In addition, sometimes one has to go into seclusion, practice magic, make elixirs, refine treasures, enter a state of meditation, do inner vision, or even fight with others, etc. If one misses this quarter of an hour every day, he will miss it.
Cheng Xinzhan believed that one of the good habits he had maintained since he embarked on the path of cultivation was that no matter where he was, what he was doing, or what plans he had, he would try his best to free up the time at sunrise to absorb the purple energy.
Today, Cheng Xinzhan deliberately set out early to reach the cliff wall in order not to delay this matter.
He sat down on a rocky platform no more than five feet in diameter and began to breathe and eat.
The Taichu Purple Qi is the innate solar true qi, which can cleanse the acquired turbidity. No matter how high or low your realm is, the more of it the better.
When Cheng Xinzhan was in the first realm, he ingested purple air to cleanse his marrow and remove hair. When he was in the second realm, he used it to nourish his life treasure orifice. Now that he has reached the third realm, he uses it to cleanse his primordial spirit.
The cultivation of the primordial spirit is divided into three realms: human, yin, and yang.
When in the state of "human god", the primordial spirit must reside in the physical body or incarnation and cannot leave the body to exist forever between heaven and earth. If it is away from the body for a long time, at best the spirit will be damaged and the body will decay, at worst both the spirit and the body will be destroyed.
When in the state of "Yin Shen", the soul can leave the physical body and wander at night, without being bound by the body. In a moment of thought, it can go to the sky or the underworld, and can even live in the dark underground for a long time, but it cannot appear in the daytime for a long time.
When one reaches the realm of "Yang Shen", one can regard the physical body as a mere shell. The world is so vast that the soul can go anywhere. Being close at hand or far away is just a common thing. One can even perform various magical powers and spells with the soul alone. When one reaches the extreme, one can "rise to the sky with Yang Shen" and "ascend to heaven in broad daylight", which is the way of the celestial being.
Cheng Xinzhan believed that he should have now surpassed the realm of "human god" and had reached the threshold of "yin god".
Judging from the age he has been practicing Taoism, this is undoubtedly a very terrifying realm. Most of the cultivators of the same age as him have not even formed a primordial spirit at this age, let alone a "yin spirit".
There are many reasons why his soul can reach such a level.
Firstly, he was born with a strong soul, which was innate, so he was able to stand out in the entry-level bar exam at Meiji Mountain.
Secondly, since he started to take in air, he has been visualizing the Pleiades, and visualizing the Pleiades can strengthen the soul.
Third, the Feng Shui of Meiji Mountain nourishes the soul.
Fourthly, the "Secrets of Changsheng Taiyuan Yangshen" and "Taiyi Jinhua Principle" that he practiced successively are both rare soul-nourishing secret techniques in the world.
Fifth, he had passed the first cleansing of the golden elixir early, and his soul had experienced the extremely high-quality yellow sky thirty-nine thunder tribulations.
It is precisely because of the gradual accumulation of all the things in the past that he has reached such a high level of spiritual realm today.
When it comes to cultivating the primordial spirit, the magical power of the primordial purple qi is reflected again. The primordial purple qi is the innate solar true qi. Logically speaking, Cheng Xinzhan, who has just entered the realm of the yin spirit, is not suitable for being contaminated by the yang qi.
But this primordial purple energy is different. It is different from the pure yang essence and sunlight. The purple energy is the first ray of sunlight when the sun rises and the moon sets. The sun's Dharma meaning is neutralized by the moon, which is what is meant: "True yang contains true yin, and purple mist is born."
Therefore, this purple air is both the light of creation that is booming and rising, and the innate true qi that embraces yin within yang. Therefore, it is revered by Taoists all over the world as the most suitable spiritual energy of heaven and earth for cleansing the primordial spirit.
It's just that this purple air only exists when the sky is clear and the sun rises. It is inexhaustible, and there is no fixed amount that needs to be fought over. Taking in the purple air sounds like just a piece of cake, which seems to be unworthy of the extremely resounding name of "Taichu Purple Air".
However, there is only a little time every day to absorb the purple energy. If you want to see any effect, it will take long and hard work.
Therefore, everyone knows the preciousness of purple qi, but there are very few people who insist on taking it every day. And most of them are beginners who will stick to it for two or three years, and when they reach a higher level and become busier in cultivation affairs, they will gradually forget about it.
Often, on a clear morning several years later, I would suddenly have the urge to breathe in some purple air. I would feel relaxed all over and make up my mind to inhale it every day. However, the next day I would be delayed by other things and forget about it.
After a few years, I suddenly remember it, make up my mind again, and then forget it again, and this cycle repeats.
Some advanced cultivators even think that the purple energy that any ordinary cultivator can consume is useless to them and is not as effective as taking a few high-quality elixirs.
Many people say that Cheng Xinzhan is very talented and can do anything with ease, but they often subconsciously overlook his strong will and self-discipline.
Reading thousands of books is just common to him, and absorbing purple energy every day is by no means empty talk or slogan to him.
As he closed his eyes, breathed in and out, and circulated his soul, three misty spiritual whirlpools formed by the gathering of purple energy took shape on his head. The tails of the spiritual whirlpools went straight into the purple palace and landed on the three souls.
Perhaps it is because this is the place where low-level disciples in the sect are punished, and these disciples who are still in the stage of consuming purple energy and opening up their palaces have not slacked off in absorbing purple energy because of the instructions of their master and elders.
So at this moment, looking at the entire stone wall, there are no less than thousands of people absorbing purple air, as if purple flowers are blooming one after another on the golden cliff.
The time of absorbing purple air always passes so quickly, but in the blink of an eye, the sun is scorching hot, and only light and heat remain, and the purple air is no longer seen.
Cheng Xinzhan stood up again and drew his sword.
"Autumn Water" sparkled in the sunlight. Although the appearance of this sword, which had been with him for the longest time, had not changed, its interior was already very different.
The changes in this sword are mainly due to its continuous feeding of gold essence minerals and Tiangang and Disha, especially in the past five years.
In the past five years, he has used his Shuangling soul to control the Wuchen Lotus incarnation to slay demons in Yuyang. Because all the magic weapons have been absorbing the thunder for the past five years and cannot be spared, he can only use this sword.
During the five years in Yuyang, he only used the Jingming Water Method, Zhenwu Sword Method and Body Sword Technique from beginning to end. "Qiu Shui" can be said to have drunk a lot of blood from dragons and snakes.
In addition, during these five years, he obtained a lot of Jiaodan Snake Pearls, including the one owned by Xue Linglong in Tianqiao Mountain. After he used the "Returning Wind and Returning Fire" technique to refine the Gangsha from these pearls, those containing gold properties were refined into this sword, which also made this sword undergo a complete transformation.
Cheng Xinzhan walked out of the stone platform, stood still in the air, picked up the sword and carved the words, and just like that, he began to write.
"Lao Jun said: The Great Way is invisible, giving birth to the heaven and earth; the Great Way is emotionless, moving the sun and the moon; the Great Way is nameless, nourishing all things; I do not know its name, so I call it the Way. ..."
The classics of the sages are full of profound meanings. As Cheng Xinzhan wrote, his heart gradually calmed down.
This is a good time to look back on history, learn from the past and plan for the future.
He often does this kind of thing, ranging from small matters such as the next few days, medium-sized plans for the next one or two years, to large-scale plans such as the direction of cultivation for the next few decades.
What he needs to do now is to make big plans for the next few decades. The last time he made such a plan was after returning from overseas. He set the tone of practice for himself as "slow first, fast second, strive for third", and he actually did so.
From the current perspective, there was nothing wrong with the previous arrangement.
His own realm can be said to be complete. It took him seven years to travel around the southern wilderness and the northern border, open up five palaces, and open the Crimson Palace through the rotation of the five elements. He also opened up three thunder houses and one cloud house, and visualized nine inner gods.
It took him sixteen years to reach the second realm, and most of these sixteen years were spent in the mountains.
After he entered the second realm, he participated in the Dragon and Tiger Dharma Assembly. After returning to the mountain, he stayed in the mountains for seven years, cultivating his body and mind, adjusting the elixir and forging swords, opening twelve new acupoints, and refining many life-hiding supernatural powers such as "refining the body with jade liquid", "refining the body with heart and kidney", "refining the soul with water and fire", and "the bright flame of the mind".
After that, he went out to sea for a year and felt deeply that the evil was rampant. He made up his mind to be like Jingwei and decided to use the newly acquired "Huangji Zhengwu Sha" to make the elixir as soon as possible.
After returning to the mountains, he meditated in seclusion for five years, opened 21 new acupoints on the "Stomach Meridian of Foot Yangming", acquired the two magical powers of "Whale Suction" and "Dragon Roar", and successfully plowed the courtyard.
After Li Ting, he went to Juqu Mountain, where he studied Buddhism and preached for four years. At the same time, he opened up sixteen acupoints on the Ren Meridian, Yin Qiao Meridian and Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian.
Then he combined the Yellow Dragon and the Green Tiger to form the elixir. His cultivation in the first and second realms was two completely different mental states.
The cultivation of the first realm made him realize the difference between immortals and mortals, so he had a reverent heart towards cultivation and was very cautious in opening his mind and concentrating his spirit. He pondered over the order of opening the five palaces, fearing that there would be mistakes and falling into mediocrity.
As for the practice of the second realm, he completely regarded it as a stepping stone to the third realm.
He had a strong purpose in opening up the acupoints to store life. After he had identified the evil spirits for forming the elixir, he used his understanding of the three ways of inner elixir, Qihuang and storing the spirit to determine the minimum acupoints needed for forming the elixir, and opened them up as quickly as possible.
But even so, it still took him sixteen years.
The key points of the life treasure are as many as the number of Zhoutian. It means that the practice of the second realm is a slow and painstaking process, like moving at a snail's pace. There are very few people who can reach perfection. Only those with a heart as solid as a rock can achieve it. Even Cheng Xinzhan is no exception.
And seven years have passed since the Dan was formed.
The confidence he had in daring to take the second place and strive for the third place was due to his practice in the soul and the method of storing the spirit.
During the seven years in the third realm, he traveled outside as an incarnation, always separating a part of his primordial spirit from others to mobilize the seven spirits and a corresponding inner spirit to continue the unfinished work in the second realm. In essence, he was practicing in the second and third realms at the same time.
In fact, this situation will probably continue for a long time.
He was also quite satisfied with what he had done after reaching the third realm.
Kill Yang Xuanla, expel Yao Kaijiang, rescue Hong Changbao, sweep Shizhou, defeat Bai Wuchang, destroy Lost Soul Stream, kill the demons in the three temples, overturn Tianqiao Mountain, and convert millions of corpses.
No matter which of these things is, it is definitely impossible for the second realm to accomplish.
This series of actions also slightly calmed the surging desire to destroy the devil in his heart.
And most importantly, this cleared up the demonic troubles in the Wuling area, making it so that the loss of souls and bodies was no longer a common occurrence. At the same time, it also completely put an end to the Southern Demon Cult's desire to annex Wuling.
This is his influence on the world.
It was the source of his determination to destroy the devil.
This year happens to be the 30th year of his cultivation, and Cheng Xinzhan is 45 years old.
It's time to plan for the future.
The first thing is to cultivate one's own realm, which is the foundation of longevity. The next major event is naturally to survive the second pill cleansing tribulation. This time, one must not deal with it as hastily as the first time, so as not to become a useless person after the tribulation.
After the first pill tribulation, he had been refining treasures to resist the tribulation, such as the gourd and the magic umbrella he had just refined for resisting the tribulation. Last time, he had mostly used offensive swords to resist the tribulation, which was not a good thing, otherwise he would have nothing to use against the enemy after the tribulation.
At the same time, he also had to find other ways to make the Dan Cleansing Tribulation come sooner - of course, it couldn't come more than fifty years earlier like Cao Jin cast a spell.
Secondly, every Dan-cleaving Tribulation contains the laws of heaven and earth and the vitality of creation, which must not be wasted. The first Dan-cleaving Tribulation can be said to have utilized the thunder tribulation to the extreme. Not only did it temper the golden elixir, the flesh and the magic weapon, but it also used the thunder tribulation to open up the purple palace and refine the primordial spirit.
What should we do during the second thunderstorm?
Apart from refining the elixir, the soul, the body, and the magic weapon, what else can be done?
Yes, the golden elixir should be transformed from a round pill shape into a great Dao divine shape, and the golden elixir Dharma image should be established!
The Golden Elixir Dharma Image is very different from the Shangqing School's unique Inner Scenery Divine Dharma Image.
The inner scene of the god method needs to rely on the Shangqing Talisman, and use the inner scene of the god that one observes as the god form. Only those who possess the Shangqing Talisman and practice the method of storing the god can perform it.
The divine form of the inner divine Dharma is the divine form that already exists in heaven and earth, and we are borrowing its divine form.
The Golden Elixir Dharma Image is based on the Golden Elixir and takes one's own Great Dao as its divine form. This divine form can be an existing divine form in heaven and earth, or it can be a divine form created from nothing based on one's own Great Dao.
However, in order to form the Golden Elixir Dharma Image, two conditions must be met.
One is that the golden elixir can change from a round pill to an invisible one, but this invisible does not refer to nothingness, but means that it is not limited to the solid form of a pill and can change at will.
This requires the elixir to reach extremely high quality. Many people, after washing their elixir three or four times, are still unable to reach the state of transforming the tangible into the intangible.
Another condition is that the practitioner himself must be able to understand the true form of his own great way and make it manifest.
This is an extremely high test for the practitioner's lineage and spiritual heart.
Some people, even if they have a high talent for cultivation and their elixirs are of excellent quality, they only practice by following the book. When asked about their aspirations for the Tao, they just repeat what others say, talking about freedom, immortality and the like.
Such people cannot see the road ahead clearly, and cannot understand the true form of their own path. Naturally, they cannot form the Golden Elixir Dharma Image, nor can they reach the Nascent Soul realm.
In other words, if someone can achieve the Golden Elixir Dharma Image early on, then this person is someone who possesses both extraordinary talent and a clear mind of Tao, and is also someone who has the potential to achieve the Nascent Soul.
Some people practice the Pure Yang Way, their hearts are in the light, so their golden elixir image is likely to be a big golden sun, or a bright morning glow. Some people practice meditation and forgetfulness, and like quietness and joy, so their golden elixir image is likely to be a black tortoise, or a piece of stubborn stone.
The appearance of the Golden Elixir varies from person to person, and a single thought can make a huge difference. For many people, after their own Golden Elixir appearance appears in the world, it may be very different from what they thought a moment ago.
Cheng Xinzhan believed that his great ambition had already been clear, and now he had to determine its spirit and form, and to polish the golden elixir well in the next few decades, so as to transform the golden elixir from tangible to intangible during the next elixir cleansing catastrophe.
In addition to personal cultivation, there is another thing that must be planned - that is naturally to eliminate demons and defend the way.
To eliminate the devil, what devil should we eliminate? To defend the Dao, how should we defend the Dao?
After destroying Lost Soul Gorge and Tianshao Mountain, Cheng Xinzhan sent two incarnations to the north and south. In the past few years, he has understood a truth.
The Northern and Southern factions of the evil sects have existed for tens of millions of years. In their battles with the righteous path, either the east wind prevails over the west wind, or the west wind prevails over the east wind; they have never been completely exterminated.
Now, with the rise of Blood God's Son, Green Robe Patriarch, Gu Chen and others, it is just another storm, and this storm is still brewing.
This is not like the Demon Cult in the Wuling Mountain area. With his current level of cultivation, he cannot destroy the storm, let alone delay its formation.
It took the combined efforts of the entire Haoran League to stop the Southern Demon Cult from advancing eastward in Yuyang. To be honest, the entire Yuyang defense line was no more or less.
Before he went to Yuyang, he even went to Wanshou Palace to learn water magic and practiced the art of killing dragons and monsters. But even so, he supported Yuyang with an incarnation, and he might be able to exert the strength of ordinary second or even third wash, which was enough to surprise many people. But this was not what he wanted, because such strength still could not play a decisive role in the entire Yuyang defense line, let alone counterattack to the interior of the Southern Wasteland.
This certainly does not mean that the Jingming Water Method is not effective, it’s just that my cultivation level is not high enough.
Therefore, he felt that the value of his five years in Yuyang was not even as significant as the one year he spent destroying Tianshao Mountain.
So the next step is to think carefully about what demons to eliminate and how to maximize your own value.
As for defending Taoism, what they are defending is naturally Sanqing Mountain, what they are defending is the Wanfa School, and what they are defending is the immortal inheritance of the Eastern Taoist tradition.
What Weidao has to do is not only to exorcise demons, but also to prevent other sects from swallowing up the Eastern Dao Sect. For example, Longhu Mountain wants to privatize the Eastern Dao Sect, and the Xuan Sect in Shuzhong wants to replace Dao with Xuan.
These two families are bound to have a fight sooner or later, but now they are just being patient because of the danger ahead.
what!
An idea suddenly flashed through Cheng Xinzhan's mind. Perhaps, there is a place where they can fight against demons and defend the way of righteousness together.
Xikang!
(End of this chapter)