Thirty-Eight, Ascending Kunlun

  A rainbow cloud is flying rapidly in the high sky of the vast wilderness, and there are four people on the cloud. Three of them stand side by side: one has white hair and a red face like an infant; one looks majestic with clear-cut features and a beard under his chin; one has sword-like eyebrows that reach to his temples, eyes shining like stars and moons, and a green beard flowing down from his chin. All three are ethereal and otherworldly, with the demeanor of immortals.

  One person was left standing on the cloud, looking around excitedly and inexplicably. This person had an ordinary face, but his eyebrows and eyes were particularly striking, with a hint of spirit. His complexion was slightly dark, with stubble on his lips and chin.

  This group of people is Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian and Xun Daozi who came out from the mountain.

  Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian was on Xundao Mountain as Xundaizi set up the Great Array of Protecting the Mountain. After that, he wanted to leave and return to Kunlun. Hearing that his masters were going back to Kunlun, Xundaizi thought of every method and found all sorts of reasons to follow them and take a look. In the end, Yuanshi had no choice but to bring him along.

  Before leaving, Xun Daozi repeatedly entrusted Su Xin with the method of opening the Hu Shan Da Zhen and left the "Hun Yuan Lu" that had basically succeeded in refining Dan in the Wudao Dongfu Danfang. Even Laozi and Yuanshi gave some guidance to Su Xin, and then everyone left Xun Dao Mountain and rushed to Kunlun Mountain.

  On the way, Xun Daozi, who was inexplicably excited, kept making some weird movements, which made Laozi and the other two people also smile.

  Xun Daozi had once practiced the "Yu Qing Teng Yun Jue" and rode a cloud around Xun Dao Mountain, even taking Su Xin for a spin. However, his skills were not impressive, so he stopped riding clouds in front of people. This time, following Master out, this colorful cloud was flying high and fast. Compared to the cloud ridden by Xun Daozi, this cloud was like a Porsche, while Xun Daozi's cloud was like an old cow pulling a broken cart.

  All the way, Zhenzi felt that he had never been so close to the blue sky. Even on the rapidly flying colored clouds, he didn't feel any discomfort in the high altitude, neither hypoxia nor coldness, and didn't feel the biting strong wind blocking his path at all. This cloud-driving journey was indeed fast and comfortable.

  After a few days, Xun Daozi finally calmed down and sat quietly in the clouds to comprehend various Dharma techniques. From time to time, he would also take out some of his doubts and ask Yuan Shi for guidance. The journey was not lonely at all.

  After several months, everyone finally arrived at a mountain range with tens of millions of miles in length and width, with towering peaks and majestic atmosphere. Clouds rose and mist fell, with auspicious air and radiant light. Xun Daozi looked at it with a sense of wonder, and when he learned from Yuan Shi that this was the Kunlun Mountains, his heart was filled with excitement. Compared to the Kunlun Mountains, his own Xun Dao Mountain was just a small mound. This was the sacred place of the Honghuang cultivators, and today he finally saw it. Xun Daozi's heart was full of emotion: Lofty Kunlun, I have finally seen you!

  At first seeing Xun Daozi's excited expression, he smiled to himself and didn't say a word.

  Caiyun swiftly flew to the main peak of Kunlun Mountain and landed on the mountain waist below in an instant. Xunzhizi stood on the ground, looking around, only to see the surrounding peaks stacked, ancient trees towering into the sky, with occasional ape cries and tiger roars coming from afar, the clouds and mist between the mountains and ancient trees shining brightly, auspicious aura and holy light flickering.

  Xun Daozi was gazing into the distance when he suddenly saw Laozi, Yuan Shi and Tong Tian walking ahead. Xun Daozi quickly followed them, but after a few steps, he saw that Laozi and Tong Tian had vanished. When he looked again, he saw that half of Yuan Shi's body had disappeared, and soon his entire body merged into the void and was gone. A faint ripple appeared where Yuan Shi had disappeared, but it too quickly dissipated.

  Xun Daozi stared blankly, what's going on?

  Zheng Fa was stunned again, and then he saw Yuan Shi suddenly drilling out of the void, shouting at him: "Don't you come in yet!" Then he turned around and disappeared.

  Xun Daozi hastily followed, stepping out in the direction where Yuanshi had disappeared. In an instant, his body felt as if it had passed through a layer of foam, and suddenly, the scene before his eyes changed to a completely different world.

  In front of Xun Daozi was a majestic and magnificent mountain, Xun Daozi was shocked at first glance, unaware of its height. Clouds, fog, and auspicious aura had already shrouded the upper part of the mountain. Xun Daozi wanted to explore upwards with his divine consciousness, but it couldn't penetrate the area shrouded by clouds, fog, and auspicious aura, so he turned back to look around the surrounding mountains.

  Around the great mountain, there are many peaks, cliffs and steep walls, as well as towering solitary peaks. Nearby, there are also hanging springs and flying waterfalls, green pines and willows, lush forests and bamboo groves, all with auspicious auras and radiant lights. Far away, one can see spiritual monkeys climbing and playing in the gaps of the mountain forest, auspicious beasts appearing and disappearing, white cranes dancing, and colorful phoenixes singing in the sky.

  Xun Daozi was deeply moved: This is truly a blessed land of immortals, his own Xun Dao Mountain was just a small rural farm after all.

  Xun Daozi had just finished speaking when he saw that Yuanshi and the other two had already walked far away, so he quickly caught up with them.

  Not far away, three thatched cottages lay under a mountain cliff, simple and almost crude, but there seemed to be connected with the whole universe, so harmonious, so natural, as if it should be so, the universe was born for these three thatched cottages.

  The three of them were already standing in front of the thatched cottage, and Daozi quickly walked a few steps to their faces. Before he could speak, Yuanshi pointed his hand to the empty space beside him, and a thatched cottage suddenly rose from the ground.

  "From now on, you will cultivate in this new thatched hut. Whatever you need, you will prepare for yourself. Your Shibo lives in the middle hut, I live in the left hut, and your Shi Shu lives in the right hut. If you have any questions during your usual cultivation, you can come to my hut to ask me. Don't disturb your Shibo or Shi Shu unless it's necessary."

  Xun Daozi hastily agreed.

  Next to Laozi, Tongtian also said that if there are any doubts, you can go and ask.

  Xun Daozi also hastily thanked him.

  Then the three old men each went into their own thatched cottage, and Zidian also entered his own hut, where he saw a table and stools, with a cloud-patterned bed and a complete set of bedding, as if nothing else needed to be prepared.

  After a month of rushing along the road, Xunzi also felt somewhat tired, so he got on the cloud bed and began to meditate on the couch.

  Xun Daozi sat in meditation in the thatched hut, not rushing to comprehend the Dao, but rather preparing to calm his mind and thoroughly practice the few techniques transmitted by Yuan Shi. Since listening to Yuan Shi's lecture on the secrets of the Hong Huang in Xun Dao Mountain, Xun Daozi also felt a sense of urgency, no longer thinking that relying on his master would allow him to live safely in the Hong Huang, and not knowing when he would be drawn into calamity. If he didn't take this opportunity to increase his strength, if he were really drawn into calamity, he feared for his life. Although a high realm represented a certain level of strength, strength was not solely reflected in one's realm; the application of divine techniques, the degree of refinement of the physical body, the purity of one's Fa Li, and the abundance of actual combat experience were all part of one's strength. In situations where it was difficult to improve one's realm, practicing divine techniques and refining the physical body were effective means of increasing one's strength.

  Xun Daozi had just obtained the Taiyi dispersing immortal fruit position, and wanted to quickly improve his realm again in a short period of time, which might not be possible. It would be better to focus on studying the divine ability incantation, tempering the physical body's magical power to clearly increase actual strength.

  At this time, Xun Daozi was studying the refining method of Yuanshi's law, and found that this method also had the effect of refining the flesh and soul. This made Xun Daozi greatly surprised and suspicious in his heart, wondering if this was the prototype of the legendary Nine Turns Profound Art or Nine Turns Primordial Art. Although there was no change in technique during Xun Daozi's study, this method had some similarities with the 'Nine Turns Profound Art' or 'Nine Turns Primordial Art'. In later legends, Yang Jiaolong cultivated the 'Nine Turns Profound Art', some said it was the 'Nine Turns Primordial Art', and others said it was a certain Buddhist 'Eight-Nine Profound Art', which was the same as Sun Wukong's cultivation method. They were all legends, Xun Daozi didn't know which one was correct, nor did he need to prove it. He only knew that Yuanshi's current refining method of law had an effect on refining the flesh and soul, which was enough. Although this refining effect was not as obvious as refining the law, with long-term operation and accumulation over a long period, the effect should also be quite obvious.

  This Xuan Daozi's method of refining and compressing the law force, according to the Yuanshi transmission, is a technique that requires guidance from the divine soul. During the refinement process, it also needs the power of the divine soul to purify the unrefined law force, separate the unrefined spiritual energy, and re-refine it. When compressing the refined law force, it also requires the power of the divine soul to merge with it. The higher the compression degree, the greater the required divine soul power. This is not something that ordinary practitioners can do.

  Perhaps because the technique requires the participation of the divine soul at all times, it also refines the power of the divine soul. The technique refines and compresses the law force, mobilizing the power of the flesh body's meridians, and subtly refines the flesh body as well.

  If Xuan Daozi hadn't practiced the transformed Zhou Tian Gong with its effect on refining the spirit, and also cultivated Yuanshi's special "Yu Qing Lian Shen Jue" for refining the divine soul, both of which had become second nature to him, allowing his divine soul to far surpass that of ordinary practitioners. Even so, Xuan Daozi could only barely operate this technique for refining law force transmitted by Yuanshi, and couldn't do it freely.

  Xun Daozi had an idea, which was to cultivate this technique into the body's instinct, just like 'Zhou Tian Gong' and 'Yu Qing Lian Shen Jue', so that it could run automatically at any time without conscious guidance. This would save Xun Daozi a lot of time in his practice to focus on embodying and understanding the Tao.

  While Xun Daozi studied and guided the operation of this set of refining techniques, Zhou Tian's Gong still ran autonomously without any impact on the operation of the refining technique. It was really strange. However, when Xun Daozi consciously guided the operation of this set of refining techniques, the originally autonomous 'Yu Qing Lian Shen Jue' was affected and could not operate. Once it operated, it would affect the operation of the refining technique.

  For a month or two, Xun'er studied the 'Yu Qing Lian Shen Jue' and the method of refining her spiritual power, trying to find a way to make both methods work together without interfering with each other.

  Half a year, one year, Xun Daozi hasn't come out of his thatched cottage, still studying.

  Ten years, twenty years, Xuanzang is still studying.

  Fifty years have passed, Xun Daozi didn't go ask Yuan Shi San Ren, still studying alone.

  Before long, a century has passed.

  One day, a clear and pleasant whistle came from the thatched cottage of Zidu, high-pitched, excited, joyful, and uncontrollable.

  The three old men in the remaining three thatched cottages were startled by him, but hearing the irrepressible joy in his whistle, they knew he had gained something, so each went about their own business and didn't bother to ask.

  The whistling sound stopped, Xun Daozi sat on the cloud bed and couldn't help but feel delighted. After a hundred years of research, Xun Daozi finally solved the problem that the jade-clearing mind-refining technique and the law-refining method were interfering with each other and could not be run at the same time.