Thirty-Four: Yuanshi Preaches the Dharma

  Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian and Sanren gave the Daoist priest Nanzong a warm welcome in the Huanyuan furnace. This warmth lasted for 49 days, during which time the Daoist priest sat with Suzhong on one side to observe and also benefited greatly.

  By the forty-ninth day at noon, Laozi let out a soft shout. Yuanshi and Tongtian simultaneously withdrew their hands. Laozi struck out with a magical seal, removing the white light cover that had been enveloping the Hunyuan Furnace. The various colored flames that had been burning around the Hunyuan Furnace all suddenly seeped into it and disappeared.

  At this time, the Hunyuan Furnace was no longer its original appearance. Although the surface was still a bit gray and hazy, inside it was no longer dark and mysterious, emitting a faint golden glow. It was slowly rotating in mid-air. The three old men looked at the Hunyuan Furnace in front of them, also with slight smiles on their faces.

  Bang!

  A soft clang, and the Hunyuan furnace landed steadily on the ground of the bamboo pavilion, ancient, majestic, mysterious.

  The old man stroked his snow-white beard, narrowed his eyes to look at the Hunyuan furnace, and had a pleased expression. After a while, he opened his mouth and said: "This furnace has reached this point, so I'll perfect it once more. Use it to refine a seven-turn golden elixir, and use the medicinal gas of the elixir to nourish it."

  Yuanshi smiled and said, "It's rare for Brother to be willing to open the furnace and refine the elixir. This is also its own destiny." He then turned his head to Xun Daozi and said, "Disciple, your master is willing to open the furnace and refine the elixir for you, and it's still going to be the Seven-Turn Golden Elixir. This is a rare opportunity for you. There are many medicinal materials in the valley, hurry up and prepare the corresponding medicinal materials for your master. Also, prepare a quiet room as the dan house for refining the elixir."

  Xun Daozi was overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly got up to kneel in front of Laozi, saying: "Thank you, Master, for your kindness. Please tell me what kind of medicine is needed, so that I can prepare it."

  The old man pointed with one hand, and a danfang floated to Xun Daozi's face: "You can prepare the medicine according to this danfang. This danfang is also given to you, and in the future, you can practice alchemy like this." After saying this, the old man looked at Su Xin who was somewhat envious on the side, paused for a moment, and said, "Su Xin, as a Lingzhi transformed being, should be familiar with the properties of various medicines. You can go with Xun Daozi to prepare the medicine, and when I start the furnace, you can do some preparatory work for me."

  Su Xin listened with a pure heart, and it was truly a joyful surprise from heaven. She quickly knelt down: "Su Xin thanks the immortal for his support, I will definitely prepare the necessary medicine materials for the immortal, make all kinds of preparations, and not disappoint the immortal's kindness." After finishing speaking, she knocked her head nine times in succession, then got up with Xun Daozi to exit the bamboo pavilion and go prepare the medicine room.

  Dai Xuanzi and Su Xin exited the bamboo pavilion. Tong Tian opened his mouth and said, "Elder brother, why do you treat that little Lingzhi with such care?"

  Laozi glanced at Yuanshi and said, "Just now, I quietly operated the Xuan Gong to calculate it. I feel that Zhisu's heart is also going to enter our door, but the timing has not yet arrived, and we don't know who she will enter in the future. However, from my observation, this woman is intelligent and resourceful, and has a great talent for alchemy, so I made some slight suggestions."

  Xun Daozi was busy preparing the medicinal materials for the Dan Fang given by Laozi, but unexpectedly, due to his own reasons, Sanqingmen gained an additional disciple named Su Xin. Unbeknownst to him, the real Honghuang and the legendary Honghuang were drifting further and further apart.

  Soon, Xun Daozi and Su Xin prepared all the medicinal materials on Lao Zi's Dan Fang, and set up a quiet room in Wu Dao Cave, then returned to Zhu Ting to report.

  Laozi saw Xun Daozi and Su Xin return, and said: "Two younger brothers, I will go to refine the elixir first, you two can take care of yourselves."

  Yuanshi said: "Elder brother can leave now, we have our own things to take care of, no need for elder brother to worry."

  Laozi put away the Hunyuan furnace and went with Xun Daozi to the Wudao Dongjing chamber.

  In the quiet room of the cave, Laozi looked around and nodded slightly. The room was about 30-40 square meters in size, with a white jade cloud bed in the center, on which was placed a simple and elegant grass mat; beside it stood a stone table, upon which rested a set of crystal-clear white jade tea utensils; a medicine cabinet made from a single piece of green jade sat next to a green jade stone desk, where various prepared medicines were neatly arranged.

  The old man placed the Hunyuan furnace in the center of the quiet room and said to Xun Daozi, "You currently have no foundation in alchemy, and you can't even identify many medicinal materials. My intention for refining the elixir this time is to nurture the furnace, so it's meaningless for you to be here; I'll give you my 'Taiqing Refining Elixir Formula', you can first familiarize yourself with it, and then practice on your own." After finishing speaking, he raised his hand and pointed, a stream of green light flashed and entered Xun Daozi's forehead.

  Xun Daozi suddenly felt a surge of information flood into his mind, making his head ache with the sheer volume, but knowing it was the gift of the old master's mantra, he quickly knelt down to express his gratitude.

  The old man waved his hand and let Xun Daozi get up, saying: "You go out for now."

  Xun Daozi personally exited the quiet room, walked out of the Wudao cave mansion, and returned to the bamboo pavilion.

  Yuanshi saw Xunzi return and had him sit down in front of him. He opened his mouth and said, "Your master's furnace for refining elixirs this time requires several years of work. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I'll take a look at your cultivation over these years and see if you have any questions to ask. You can bring them up together and I'll answer them for you."

  Xun Daozi immediately knelt down to thank Yuan Shi, and then reported his hundreds of years of cultivation and practice to Yuan Shi one by one, including the various difficult-to-master places and the confusing and incomprehensible places. At the same time, since Tong Tian was also sitting on the side, Xun Daozi also detailedly reported the situation of practicing "Shang Qing Jian Jue" (Upper Clear Sword Technique).

  Yuanshi listened seriously to Xun Daozi's lecture, affirming the results he had achieved over hundreds of years, and pointing out the problems in his practice. He was amazed that Xun Daozi could cultivate the "Jade Clear Spirit Refining Technique" to the point where it became second nature, without needing conscious effort, and could run automatically in his body, constantly strengthening his spirit and soul. Even Tongtian beside him stared at Xun Daozi with wide eyes, as if looking at a monster.

  Xun Daozi said that when he was searching for the tea tree, he encountered a demon beast and let out a loud roar, which made him feel dizzy and his eyes turned black. If it weren't for the protection of "Tie Xin Fu Chen", he would have been injured by the demon beast's claws. Yuan Shi told him that the demon beast must have had the talent to attack with its soul, and that one roar was a direct attack on Xun Daozi's soul. Fortunately, Xun Daozi had the protection of "Tie Xin Fu Chen" and didn't need to worry about this kind of attack. However, he still needed to practice the corresponding soul defense technique to understand this type of attack. Yuan Shi also praised Xun Daozi's talent for practicing thunder techniques, making him feel a bit embarrassed.

  Finally, Yuanshi felt that Xun Daozi's cultivation was not up to par and couldn't understand the Taoist principles. He was speechless when he saw that this disciple didn't even have a basic understanding of cultivation, yet had somehow managed to attain the level of Taiyi dispersing immortal fruit. He could only give him a crash course in basic knowledge. Tongtian watched from the side as Xun Daozi's face turned bright red with embarrassment, and couldn't help but tease him mercilessly.

  Xun Daozi arrived in Honghuang, and when he transformed, he lacked the usual innate inheritance that Honghuang creatures had when they transformed. As for his cultivation in Honghuang, he didn't have a clear understanding of the cultivation system, and was simply relying on his own assumptions to narrate it. Today, as he detailed his cultivation experiences to Yuan Shi, everything became jumbled, to the point where Yuan Shi sometimes listened with confusion. This gave rise to the idea of teaching him basic knowledge.

  Yuanshi Dao said, "Today, as your master, I will tell you about cultivation and practice. Remember this well, so that in the future when you go out, you won't be laughed at and bring shame to our reputation."

  Xun Daozi quickly knelt down and said: "Disciple will definitely remember the teachings of Master, and absolutely not tarnish the reputation of Master."

  Yuanshi Dao said: "You get up and sit down, listen carefully to what the teacher says today. If you have any questions, you can also ask, and the teacher will answer them for you."

  Xuanzong thanked Yuanshi and sat up straight, listening intently as Yuanshi began to explain.

  "Yuanshi, wait for Xun Daozi to sit well and open his mouth to say: 'Xun Daozi, you should remember that the cultivation of Tao corresponds to the realm; it is our cultivators' experience and understanding of Tao. Through a series of actions, we can attain the behavior of verifying Tao, which is also the process of our daily cultivation, comprehension, and verification of Tao. This is called cultivation.

  The Taoist path and the realm can be combined as one, that is, through a series of cultivations, we can understand Tao and obtain the degree of Tao's recognition, grasp the many or few traces of Tao. This is also the Taoist path of the cultivator, which is also the realm. In formal terminology, it is called the fruit of Tao, the position of the fruit."

  Cultivation corresponds to magical power, and the cultivator on the one hand embodies the Tao, enlightens the Tao, and hopes to gain the recognition of the Great Tao; On the other hand, they must also absorb and refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and draw on the vitality of heaven and earth to support their cultivation path. If not, even if you have a high innate talent and enlightenment far surpassing ordinary people, you cannot draw on the vitality of heaven and earth to nourish yourself, and before you can attain the Tao, your lifespan will be exhausted. How can you walk far on the path of the Tao?

  At the same time, practitioners also absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth through their own cultivation to transform it into their own Fa power, which is stored in their body as a source of power for displaying magical powers; if there is no Fa power inside the body, even having magical powers will be in vain. Through absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper oneself, transforming it into Fa power and storing it in one's own body, this is cultivation.

  There is also a practice that says, this practice means to cultivate and exercise, and the magical techniques can be grasped through this practice.

  Yuanshi said up to here, Yuanshi asked Xun Daozi: "Now can you understand?"

  Xun Daozi hastily replied: "I also basically understand. However, I am still unclear about some of the details, and I hope Master will enlighten me!"

  Yuanshi Dao said: "Is there anything else you are unsure about? Feel free to ask."

  "Master, I heard a saying that goes like this: 'The higher the Tao is cultivated, the stronger the Fa power will be.' What's the relationship between cultivating the Tao and Fa power?"

  "The power of the law is the refinement and storage of the heavenly spiritual power within the body by cultivators. The capacity for storing the power of the law in a cultivator's body is limited. How can one store more of this power? There are several ways to do so. Firstly, one must elevate their Dao, that is, raise their cultivation level. Each time a cultivator elevates their Dao, or achieves a new level of enlightenment, their body and spirit will undergo a corresponding transformation, allowing them to contain even more of the power of the law. This is the primary method for storing greater amounts of the power of the law, and it is also the origin of the phrase 'the higher one's cultivation, the stronger one's power'. Another way to increase the body's capacity for storing the power of the law is through physical refinement, that is, by continually refining and strengthening the flesh, increasing its endurance, allowing it to contain even more of the power of the law. This method is most commonly practiced among the Wu tribe, as well as some demonic tribes. There is also another way to increase one's storage capacity for the power of the law: through the refinement and compression of the refined power of the law. This allows a cultivator to store even more of this power within their body than others, thereby increasing its overall quantity. However, only those with strong spirits can achieve this."

  Xún Dào Zǐ listened to the Dao here, only then did he realize how isolated and ignorant he was, how mistaken his own thoughts were. He thought that his own cultivation had reached a certain level, but it turned out to be quite superficial. Thinking of this, Xún Dào Zǐ asked again: "Master, what are the spiritual powers of heaven and earth?"

  Yuanshi Dao said: "The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is omnipresent in the space between heaven and earth, there is the spiritual energy of the celestial bodies, and the pulse energy of the great earth. All these can be absorbed and refined by practitioners as spiritual energy. Since the spiritual energy absorbed by practitioners mainly comes from the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, practitioners are also called Qi practitioners."

  "Master, can the lifespan of a cultivator be counted?"

  "At this time, the ordinary living beings in the vast and chaotic universe can live for 18,000 years. If they cultivate slightly, their lifespan will increase accordingly; if they attain the Xian fruit position, they can live for 50,000 years; if they again attain the Tianxian fruit position, they can live for 100,000 years; attaining the Taiyi scattered immortal fruit position allows them to live for one million years; attaining the Taiyi true immortal fruit position allows them to live for 100 million years; attaining the Taiyi golden immortal fruit position allows them to live for one billion years; attaining the Daluo fruit position allows them to coexist with the universe; attaining the Hunyuan allows them to exist alone after the destruction of the universe. This is the general rule for ordinary cultivators, but there are also a few special cultivators who do not follow this rule. Even their masters cannot know what lies above."