Chapter 5: Visualization Method (In Search of a Collection)
In April, Shi Xuan did not have many gatherings with his neighbors. That is, he only met them to exchange a couple of words when going out to eat every day. Lady Zhang mentioned her own daughter several times, but as Shi Xuan's reaction was cold, she no longer brought it up. It was nothing more than idle chatter with neighbors. For example, the Son of Heaven was gathering Daoist masters from across the world to compile the Shoudao Shu. Scholar Jiang wrote another fine poem in Hangzhou that was on everyone's lips. The Mountain Hermit's new tale was originally about ghosts consorting with ghosts, but teahouses retold it daily, so it was all the rage. There was the tomb of a descended general in Yangzhou; seeking karmic connections there was very efficacious, but regrettably it was too far away. The Widow Wu on the street remarried to a merchant from Yixing, astonishing people with her high nose and deep-set eyes. What else?
On this late autumn morning in October, Shi Xuan drank the Qianyuan Huansui Decoction and began practicing the Ten-Dragon Demon-Subduing Fist in the small courtyard. Through such long training, he entered a state where he could grasp the sensations of his physical body and soul even more distinctly.
Myriad Dragons twists at the waist; the Azure Dragon subdues the waves; the Fire Dragon burns the heavens; the White Dragon freezes the sea. Every fist technique refines the body more deeply. Yet the feeling of failing to grasp the divine essence grew thicker. Because he had not overcome this hurdle for four months, it was as if he had emotions he could not vent in his heart.
When the Pale Dragon soars into the heavens, he suddenly enters an empty state. The fist follows the stirring; the mind follows the spirit; the spirit follows the soul. Essence, energy, spirit, and soul seemed closely connected. The sensation of being unable to grasp the divine essence seemed on the verge of shattering at once. Shi Xuan concentrated all the strength in his body, drew his whole being in, and performed the Black Dragon Frolicking in the Water. It was like shattering a wall. At the same time, a dragon aura that could even command the moisture in the air struck together with this fist, feeling both majestic and simple.
After throwing this punch, a bone in Shi Xuan's body rang out lightly, echoing for quite some time before stopping. This was a sign that bones and joints were connecting through. This was an expression of great forging achievement. Shi Xuan had originally only been able to control his muscles and bones, but now his soul power had greatly increased and grown more acute, allowing him to control even the deepest parts of the bones and the minute corners of the body.
At this time, much heat rose from the marrow and permeated inward. Shi Xuan was overjoyed and dared not be negligent. Closing his eyes and resting, he suppressed this heat and circulated it through the five viscera. Passing through the twelve regular meridians, it returned to the dantian. Only then did he open his eyes and finish; his face was full of joy, for he had reached the Yang Qi Soul-Refining Stage in one go.
Furthermore, because the physical body had previously trained in the Extraordinary Meridians and Eight Vessels, although the soul had died, the original internal energy had also disappeared. This meant Shi Xuan no longer needed to pierce the Extraordinary Meridians and Eight Vessels one by one, saving a great deal of time.
Generally, an internal expert in the martial arts world takes about fifteen years to accumulate internal energy and then pierce the Extraordinary Meridians and Eight Vessels. This assumes one has good aptitude, does not stray into other matters, and trains diligently. Those with inferior aptitude take even longer. That is why many internal experts fail to pierce the Extraordinary Meridians and Eight Vessels in their entire lives. Even those with overflowing innate aptitude and fortuitous encounters need seven or eight years to complete it.
Why was Du Bai able to pierce the Extraordinary Meridians and Eight Vessels in three years? There are three reasons. First, the Daomen True Scripture he practiced was as far apart from ordinary martial arts as heaven and earth, as holy from the mundane. Second, when raising Daoist arts, fighting relies on spells, talismans, and dharma tools, while martial arts internal power, in any case, relies on the enemy's effects to inflict serious injury. When cultivated, the soul becomes robust; when the soul is robust, internal energy can be controlled better. Better control of internal energy yields far better effects in opening the meridians. Internal energy does have the effect of nurturing the soul, but its main purpose is to harm people and repel enemies. Nurturing the soul is natural, but when the purpose differs, the effect differs. Third, Du Bai's aptitude was outstanding. Otherwise, he would not have been accepted as a disciple by Old Taoist Xu.
Now that Shi Xuan had entered the Yang Qi Stage, medicinal decoctions and medicinal baths had to stop. Entering this natural Yang Qi Stage indicated that the body had already reached its limit at this stage; exceeding it would instead be harmful. Next, by accumulating internal energy and transforming the body's essence, the body would naturally be nourished and the physical form slowly strengthened. At the same time, daily meat intake had to increase to ensure the demand for refinement. After the twelve regular meridians and the eight extraordinary meridians were filled with internal energy, one would pierce the other small meridians and form the acquired grand circulation; this was the highest boundary of the Yang Qi Stage.
By this point, Shi Xuan's soul strength could also begin to visualize. However, Shi Xuan did not immediately return home and sit down. In cultivation, there are times to be slow and times to be urgent; Shi Xuan had only just broken through the boundary. Forcing himself to calm down and sit in visualization while brimming with joy would instead be harmful.
Moreover, since coming to this world, Shi Xuan had felt a sense of crisis. His strength was insufficient; he could not protect himself. Therefore, apart from eating and buying medicine, he hardly went out, striving to raise his strength. Otherwise, if something happened outside without corresponding strength to support him, he could not avoid being wronged. This could be called an expression of a transmigrator's lingering trauma.
Currently, Shi Xuan had finally broken through the Yang Qi Stage and could be considered an expert on one side of the rivers and lakes. Moreover, using spells and talismans to protect himself was sufficient. With this, most of the stress in his heart was finally released. Therefore, this was the time for Shi Xuan to rest; it was unsuitable for practicing qigong.
Shi Xuan sat on the ground, leaned his back against a small well, and held a pot of yellow wine taken from Old Taoist Xu's room in his right hand. In his left hand, he held the "Jinque Zatan Zhuban Guishen Shi," collected by Old Taoist Xu's Daoist predecessors, and listening to what heretical ghosts were and various ghostly anecdotes, the flavor of relaxation was very strong. At this time, autumn skies were high and the air was crisp; a clear wind slowly blew. He would read a page or two, take a mouthful of the yellow wine, and when in high spirits, shake his head with the leisure to savor the carefree joy of the Yellow Court.
In this world, after people die, there is no reincarnation. For example, if there is no one to perform sacrifices, the soul slowly loses its memories after seven days, and after ten days slowly transforms into the space between heaven and earth. After a hundred days, it completely vanishes. Only with great resentment and obsession, or encountering a place of yin energy, can the soul stabilize and transform into a yin entity. However, a Taoist priest's soul receives the half-sustenance of heaven and earth; when he dies, the soul dies. One must cultivate until the Yin Shen Stage to resist this heavenly principle. Therefore, worldly people perform sacrifices many times, and by enjoying a family's sacrificial rites and offerings, they can guarantee that the soul will not perish for several years. The more people who perform sacrifices, the longer the time of imperishability; but unless the incense and power of sacrifice allow them to comprehend a dharma sermon for their own Dao conduct, it will not last a hundred years. These souls who are offered sacrifices are collectively called ghosts.
Those with such great resentment and obsession gradually become yin ghosts; their obsession is revenge. Their behavior relies on obsession. Those with clear awareness and waking consciousness are rare. Of course, because the obsession is not savage, there are also quite a few who maintain their divine will. However, cultivation is unconscious. Generally, the older they get, the deeper it becomes; those without divine will gradually gain wisdom after ten years. Those who encounter yin lands become yin ghosts as before, but without the obsession for revenge, possessing divine will and wisdom yet lacking inherited cultivation methods. To be eternal, they must feed on blood food, yang energy, or soul power. These two types, along with souls that have not vanished before a hundred days, are collectively called heretical ghosts.
Because they must feed on blood food, yang energy, or soul power, heretical ghosts often harm people. But if their cultivation is insufficient, when they encounter a person with vigorous blood and qi, they cannot approach, and their nearby bodies are burned by the vigorous blood and qi, their yin soul bodies scattering like dust and smoke. Also, heretical ghosts that have not cultivated to the Initial Mobilization Stage can, when a cultivator is training, stir that cultivator's emotions, give rise to inner demons, and cause them to fall into demonic deviation, thereby giving the ghost a chance to absorb the cultivator's soul power.
The ability of heretical ghosts to pull at others' emotions is an innate talent that can be exercised from afar. Therefore, there are mainly three methods to deal with this innate talent. The first is to arrange a formation to block the inside and outside. However, Shi Xuan does not currently possess such ability. The second is that if, while cultivating, one devotes one's whole heart and mind and does not let distracting thoughts arise in the spirit center, these emotion-moving dharmas will have no effect whatsoever. The third is a magical tool that suppresses the soul, which Shi Xuan also lacks.
Even so, the Spirit Concentrating Incense that Old Taoist Xu secretly made also helps concentration and can slightly suppress the effects of heretical ghosts. Therefore, as long as Shi Xuan does not have stray thoughts while cultivating, it should not be dangerous. And as long as he does not lose consciousness, if something goes slightly wrong and the soul is injured, he must immediately escape from the spirit center.
Shi Xuan spent a pleasant day. When evening arrived, he settled his mind, and the state of his entire body reached a kind of normality. Through a series of procedures—bathing, changing clothes, burning incense, and offering sacrifices to heaven and earth—his mind and spirit both reached an ethereal and peaceful state. Of course, only after becoming proficient or accumulating depth later could one reach such an ethereal and peaceful state without so many troublesome procedures, always able to attain it after a few quick inhalations.
Shi Xuan knelt on a cushion, closed his eyes, concentrated his spirit, embraced the Origin, and guarded the One, soon entering the spirit center. After entering the spirit center, he began to examine the divine intent of the Clear Wind and Bright Moon painted in the "Qingfeng Mingyue Zhaoshen Zhenfa" recorded in the treasured register. At first, he looked several times, but halfway through he had other thoughts. And he failed. It was like an ordinary person wanting to concentrate on one thing, only to let their thoughts scatter, startle awake, and return to where they started.
Shi Xuan was not discouraged. Knowing this was normal, he began to practice the thought-gathering dharma recorded in the "Qingfeng Mingyue Zhaoshen Zhenfa." He imagined himself as a tall host, looking down upon his many thoughts. Many thoughts arose here and there, filling the entire field of awareness. As the host, he bound these thoughts within his scope so they would no longer fluctuate.
The goal here is not to eliminate all thoughts. If all thoughts are eliminated, one will eventually become a stone without thought or emotion. What is emphasized here is the absolute control of the original spirit. Controlling these thoughts from on high without fluctuation, calmly observing; even if thoughts follow creation and destruction, they cannot escape the scope of control. Therefore, the highest boundary to be achieved here is not that "when one thought arises, the void does not arise," but rather that "when one thought arises, the void does not arise." This is the truth that a single word transmits and ten thousand volumes cannot exhaust. At the same time, this is also the great dharma of knowing the original spirit.
Following this dharma, Shi Xuan subdued the various thoughts in an ethereal state; those that survived in the sea disappeared, but he prevented them from leaping out of it. Gradually, Shi Xuan felt his thoughts become one, and he began to think of the Clear Wind and Bright Moon Spirit.