Chapter 248: Heaven is unpredictable, I know it all
Chapter 248: Heaven is unpredictable, I know it all
The golden elixir has nine tribulations, and the primordial infant has three disasters.
These are the "three disasters and nine calamities" that one must go through before achieving the Dao.
The three disasters of Yuanying are: thunder, fire and wind.
In the "Zhengkong Sutra" passed down in the Xiushou Zen Temple, it is said that when the great monks in the four realms were going through a wind disaster, the wind that blew out of thin air included a weak wind.
Seeing this statement, even Cheng Xinzhan, who has great concentration, couldn't help but feel speechless.
Go to the nearby areas to collect folk songs when the disaster is happening in the four regions?
He immediately felt that collecting folk songs through Tianfa was not that difficult.
The Tianfa method of collecting wind clearly states that wind should be collected during the Zi hour of late autumn during the Cold Dew season in the Zi year of the Earthly Branch.
The Earthly Branch Zi Year is the year when the yin and yang of heaven and earth alternate and the spiritual energy begins to cycle. Cheng Xinzhan counted on his fingers and found that it was the 456th year of the Ming Dynasty, the Bing Zi Year, which happened to be the Earthly Branch Zi Year!
Let's calculate the date again. Today is the fifth of September. This year's Frost Descent is on September 15. The fifteen days before and after are September 8 to September 22. There is still time!
There are four days left, so we have to hurry up and refine the Xinjin net and the lead-tin bottle.
Time was of the essence and it happened to be such a coincidence. Cheng Xinzhan did not dare to delay for a moment and immediately got up and left the abode and went out of the Sword Pavilion. In order to refine the Covering Net, it would certainly make a lot of noise and he could not do it in the Sword Pavilion.
He turned into fire and left, and heard the voice of the people in the Sword Pavilion.
"it's him!"
"Clouds come to disperse people!"
"I wonder which demon will be killed this time."
"..."
----
Cheng Xinzhan traveled eastward, because the ground in the west was covered with heavy snow, goose feathers were flying, and the autumn wind turned into frost, which was difficult to show here.
He left the Jinsha River, flew across the Yalong River, and soon returned to the vicinity of the Dadu River. On the east bank of the river, he saw a mountain that was one thousand six hundred feet high, towering into the sky and blocking the sun.
This mountain is located north of Bailongqi Mountain and in the upper reaches of Dadu River.
Looking at this mountain from afar, it goes without saying that the top of the mountain is covered with snow, but there is hot steam rising from the eastern foot of the mountain, which merges into a colorful cloud and covers half of the mountain.
There seemed to be a hot spring there. Cheng Xinzhan heard the gurgling sound of the spring and vaguely smelled sulfur, but it seemed that it was not just sulfur. The smell wafting from there was very pungent.
Cheng Xinzhan walked a little closer and the smell became stronger. It made people feel nauseous and their eyes hurt.
This is a poisonous cloud formed by poisonous gas, no wonder it emits such bright colors.
However, Cheng Xinzhan couldn't bear to leave the geothermal energy here, so he slowed down his escape and first flew around the mountain in a circle to make sure it was an ownerless mountain before revealing his figure.
To be on the safe side, he took out a "Tianhuang Jiedu Pill" and put it under his tongue, and then it fell into the colorful clouds on the east slope.
After entering the mountain, he discovered that there were hot springs of all sizes everywhere, but the water in the hot springs was not clear, but turbid yellow in color and had a pungent smell.
Not only are there sulfur deposits here, but there are also many poisonous rocks, and the smoke rising from them is colorful.
Cheng Xinzhan looked around and had an idea in his mind. There was geothermal energy here. The geothermal energy melted the snow water, which then flowed into the poisonous stone pit to form poisonous springs. The springs were then evaporated by the geothermal energy to form a special colorful poisonous miasma.
This poisonous miasma is a threat to the Jindan realm and cannot be stayed for long. It is even more deadly to those below the Jindan realm. No wonder there is no one in this mountain.
However, Guo Xinzhan had the "Purple Fire Rotten Peach Evil" in his body, which could be regarded as one of the worst geothermal miasma in the world. So he was not afraid of the poisonous clouds here. Moreover, after taking the detoxification pills, his breathing was normal, so there was no impact.
There is a mixture of ice and fire here, which corresponds to the interaction between Kan and Li, and no one will disturb us, so it is suitable for starting the furnace.
Cheng Xinzhan decided to refine the treasure here.
He summoned the "Purple Fire Rotten Peach Evil" and merged it into the colorful smoke and cloud miasma. He used the evil as the eyes and the clouds as the base to set up a mountain protection magic circle to prevent disturbance.
Then, he summoned the "Fire Refining Scarlet Sky" and found an open furnace with abundant geothermal energy. While heating the furnace with geothermal energy, he searched for raw materials from the cave stone he had with him.
In the Yin and Yang, Xin belongs to Yin Metal, which is in line with the Frost Blade Autumn Edge. In the Five Elements, Metal creates Lishui, and when wind meets Metal, it forms Cold Dew, so it makes sense to use Xin Metal to make a net to catch the autumn wind and cold dew.
Cheng Xinzhan had no shortage of Xin metal materials, because he had originally visualized the corpse of a unicorn and used the Xin metal energy to open up the lungs. In addition, the "Autumn Water" sword has the dual nature of metal and water, and is a weapon of death and punishment. Usually, he would intentionally accumulate Xin metal stones to feed the sword.
So at this moment, he took out a lot of Xinjin materials at once.
He picked and chose, and took out a bag of "White Dew Sand" and a box of "Cicada Sheep Gold Flakes". The former is formed by the white dew seeping into the broken gold in the shade of the mountain, and it is soft and easy to shape. The latter is formed by the cicada slough and the underground gold and stone, and it is tough and not easy to break.
It would be more appropriate to combine the two to make a network.
And this is the benefit of Cheng Xinzhan’s practice of all dharmas.
Because he had knowledge of elixirs and tools, he could refine his own treasures. Because he had mastered the five elements and three swords, he always had gold on him. Because he understood yin and yang, he could better distinguish between Geng and Xin.
When the furnace was hot, Cheng Xinzhan threw the gold into the furnace, then took out the gourd. The gourd spit out a fire dragon, which hovered under the sword furnace.
To refine Xin metal tools, the natural first thing to start is Ding fire, and it should be calcined slowly over low heat.
Because time was very tight and he couldn't afford to make any mistakes, Cheng Xinzhan practiced very carefully for three days and three nights, until the morning of the eighth day of the first lunar month, when he finally finished refining the Xinwang.
Because if you miss it you will have to wait another twelve years, so Cheng Xinzhan made sufficient preparations and refined three at a time. Fortunately, his wish came true and everything went smoothly.
The dew-receiving bottle, also known as the lead-tin bottle, is even simpler to refine. The lead and tin materials are put into the furnace and quickly shaped. The most difficult part in the Buddhist scriptures is to carve secret symbols on the lead-tin bottle, but for Cheng Xinzhan, it is actually the easiest.
He carved the symbols with a chisel and wrote with a flourish of his pen, and finished the work in one go. He only spent the whole morning to refine the three dew-receiving bottles.
Then he stood up, put away the furnace, and left the mountain, but he did not disband the mountain protection formation because he might come back to refine the net again at any time.
After leaving the mountain, he continued to walk eastwards. Because there was a lot of snow in the mountains and the wind brought snow, it was difficult to judge when frost would form. When it was almost dark, he found a suitable wilderness with no mountains blocking the east-west direction, which was suitable for collecting wind.
There is a stream here with lush water plants, but as the weather turns colder, the flowers and plants have already withered and mostly turned yellow. I think if they are blown by the autumn wind a few more times, they will wither completely.
However, withering and flourishing are just the cycle of yin and yang. There is no need to be sad. Come next year, this place will be lush and green again.
Cheng Xinzhan found a stone to sit on. It was located in the west and it was late autumn. The golden energy was strong here, so Cheng Xinzhan began to absorb the golden energy.
Soon, the sky became completely dark and the stars lit up one by one. Cheng Xinzhan found that the galaxy here was particularly bright. He guessed that it might be because the place was high and sparsely populated.
As it was approaching midnight, he found that the autumn wind blowing from the west was getting colder, and even he felt cold all over.
In the late autumn of the Zi year, at the time of Cold Dew, the yin energy reaches its peak and the yang energy begins to grow. This is the destiny of the universe and has nothing to do with cultivation. Whether it is a mortal wrapped in autumn clothes or a high-level master in a robe, they will feel the cold invading their bodies. Cheng Xinzhan also stopped eating qi. The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine says: "At the time of Zi, the yang is born, and the latent dragon does not work." At this time, the cold is too heavy, and it is not suitable for eating qi to enter the body.
He stared intently at the lying grass on the ground, waiting for the moment when frost would fall.
But it was clearly midnight, the wind was howling, but there was no sign of frost forming. As the Jade Rabbit flew away, time passed quickly, and until the beginning of the Chou period, Cheng Xinzhan still did not see any frost.
All night wasted.
Fortunately, Cheng Xinzhan had a good attitude. He knew that if it was really that simple, the inheritance of Xiushou Zen Temple would not have been cut off.
He sat upright, motionless, continuing to practice wind magic and comprehend the wind evil, wanting to get closer to the wind.
In the blink of an eye, it was midnight of the second night again. His soul left his body and covered the wilderness with his spiritual thoughts, hoping to detect any traces of white frost as soon as possible.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and there was no frost tonight.
After that, the Jade Rabbit appeared six more times, and he spent a full seven days photographing purple in the wilderness. Even on the Cold Dew Day of September 15, there was still no trace of white frost.
It was past midnight that night and it was already September 16th. Logically speaking, the coldest night would be the night most likely to produce a weak wind, so the hope for the next few days would become increasingly slim.
Although there was no frost, the autumn wind never stopped blowing in the wilderness. The wind blew the stream water and shattered the moon shadow, and the grass and trees bent down. However, when it blew on Cheng Xinzhan's face, he just smiled, and then the cold wind spread his singing throughout the wilderness.
"The secrets of heaven are like cotton wool that gets stuck on your clothes, and they cannot be grasped by the world."
If he released the weeping wind monk at this time, the latter would certainly be able to empathize with him. How difficult it is to pick up the declining wind! It is really beyond human intervention. Twelve years of hard waiting often ends in vain.
And this style is the icing on the cake for Cheng Xinzhan. For those who specialize in this style, if their teachers do not have a surplus and can pass this style down from generation to generation, then as long as one generation is broken, the inheritance will be in danger.
After all, who would spend twelve years waiting for the wind in the early stages of cultivation? And once you miss it, you have to wait another twelve years.
However, the scarcity of this wind means that no one can have too much surplus.
It is no wonder that this kind of practice in both the East and the West came to an end at the same time.
But if Qiufeng thought that Cheng Xinzhan was feeling regretful and sad because of the unpredictable fate, then it was wrong. It heard the Taoist priest say the next moment,
"I have seen the divine bird by observing the wind, so don't wait for the mysterious sound!"
There was nothing wrong with waiting, it was a common thing in cultivation, but since I had already learned the art of divination, I naturally had to avoid waiting in vain. If I didn't have the chance this year, I could just wait twelve years later, but it was not good to continue waiting here and wasting time.
A dharma light emerged in his eyes, and he saw a black swallow appear in the oncoming autumn wind. It was late autumn and the wind was carrying pine nuts, one of which happened to appear in the black swallow's beak.
The bird flashed by.
Cheng Xinzhan nodded. The black swallow is a lucky bird and pine nuts represent autumn fruits. The interpretation of this physiognomy is: "The swallow carries the fruit that has not yet fallen, which is a sign of getting an opportunity that has not yet been realized."
It seems that I am lucky and my wait will not be in vain.
He had an idea in mind, and his mind calmed down. He then kept his mind focused, as still as a mountain, and watched to see what would happen.
Time flies and it is the night of September 22, the last day of the seven days after the Frost Descent, and it is already three quarters past midnight.
Cheng Xinzhan, who was meditating with his eyes closed, frowned, then raised his hand to touch his eyebrows, then looked at his eyes, and couldn't help but smile knowingly.
It was actually white frost.
The white frost did not appear on the ground or on the grass first, but appeared on the eyebrows first.
Is this the recognition by heaven and earth that one has reached the state of "harmony between man and nature, unity of inside and outside"?
At this moment, his state of mind had reached an extremely good level. Even though he saw the frost after a long wait, he did not panic. He just waved his sleeves, and three huge nets were hung high in the air, swaying in the wind.
Three giant nets were arranged in a line, each one of which was a mile long. The three nets spanned three miles, from the north to the south of the wilderness.
The net rope is only one millimeter thick, as thin as a hair, and should be imperceptible in the night. However, the moon is bright tonight, and the sky is cloudless. The golden silk thread reflects the starlight and moonlight. The wind blows the net, and waves of light surge in the air, which is unusually beautiful.
Moreover, dewdrops began to condense immediately on the Internet, reflecting the light of the stars and the moon, which was very eye-catching.
He stood up, flew into the air, and split his spirit into incarnations. Suddenly, one person turned into four. Three gods controlled three incarnations. One person held a lead-tin bottle. Wherever there were flashing dewdrops, the incarnation would come forward, stretch out his finger and lightly touch the net, and the cold dew would fall into the bottle.
At the same time, the soul used the "Silk Puppet Method" to control the physical body, knocking down the broken stones and branches in the wind to prevent it from breaking through the soft Xin net.
This process probably only lasted for a quarter of an hour. After half past midnight, that is, four quarters later, no new dewdrops condensed.
But fortunately the wind was light and we were on guard, so the net was not broken. Fortunately there were many nets and many people, so we collected a lot of cold dew.
He collected the net, gathered himself together, returned to the stone and sat down. He put the three bottles together and weighed them. The cold dew weighed at least five zhu.
A smile appeared on Cheng Xinzhan's face. This way, he could give a try to the idea in his mind.
At this moment, when he looked at the wilderness again, it was already covered with white frost.
He could not help but sigh again that fate was unpredictable and he had to wait until the last day to get anything. If he wanted to harvest Hanlu again, he would have to wait until the Wuzi year twelve years later.
And just as he was observing the frost on the ground and feeling the divine will, he suddenly saw a burst of blood light in the north. At this moment, it was late at night, but the north was like the setting sun, illuminating half the sky in red.
Seeing such a strange phenomenon, he didn't need to use divination to know that there was a demon in the north causing chaos and killing people.
Cheng Xinzhan looked at the direction and suddenly realized that the north of this place was Baihe Jiange!
He suddenly turned into a beam of fire and flew away on his sword.
The Lihuo Sword Light went north along the Dadu River, and after traveling 400 miles, the Dadu River turned northwest. At this point, Cheng Xinzhan looked to the northeast and saw a white streak of silk winding northward a hundred miles away.
I guess that must be the White River.
Cheng Xinzhan left the Dadu River and flew towards the Baihe River.
The Baihe River lived up to its name, its water was milky white, like sheep fat, and it still retained its original color under the blood light. He urged his sword to move faster, and continued to go north along the Baihe River at lightning speed. This time, he traveled another 400 miles.
At this time, Cheng Xinzhan knew that the Baihe River was about to end and the mouth of the Baihe River was just ahead.
Because at this moment, at the end of the sight, there is only a big river dividing the sky and the earth. The water seems to be rushing in the clouds, vast and mighty, with turbid waves emptying out.
That is the Yellow River.
That can only be the Yellow River.
(End of this chapter)