Forty, Ascend to the Purple Heaven Palace

  Time flew by, and when the seven gourds hanging on the rattan suddenly emitted a dazzling light, everyone standing in wait couldn't help but smile with some excitement. And then, no one came anymore.

  The red-haired, red-robed Red Cloud chuckled and spoke up: "We currently have seven people, and there are also seven gourds. Since these gourds have already matured, we'll each take one. What do you think, fellow Taoist friends?"

  Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian replied: "Yes!"

  Nüwa also said: "Good!"

  Taiyi looked at everyone, but didn't say anything.

  Hongyun smiled and said, "Since everyone agrees, I'll pick one first." After finishing speaking, he walked forward with a smile and picked the first red gourd, then retreated to where the crowd was standing.

  He, wearing a bright yellow robe and holding a shining brass bell, saw the red cloud retreat and then went forward to pick up the orange gourd, turned around and left directly, and no one paid attention.

  At this time, Nüwa stood aside and made a gesture of invitation: "Please come in, fellow Taoists!"

  The three old men returned a courtesy and said: "Still, let's ask Lady Nuwa first!"

  Xun Daozi thought to himself: If Master, Master's brother or Master's uncle had picked the calabaza first, and I also followed suit and picked it first, then the calabaza vine would have been taken away by Nüwa together. It seems that a reason must be found to pick it last, in order to get the calabaza vine into one's hands.

  Right, thinking that the three of them had picked calabazas before Nüwa, Laozi picked a yellow calabaza, Yuanshi picked a green one, and Tongtian picked a cyan one. Now only Nüwa and Xún Dào Zǐ hadn't picked any yet. Xún Dào Zǐ had already made up his mind to pick last so that he could take the calabaza vines away. Seeing that Laozi and the others had finished picking, he didn't come forward but just stood there.

  Nüwa saw Xun Daozi not moving, and smiled. Xun Daozi suddenly felt that the world had lost its color, and then heard Nüwa's clear voice: "Xun Daozi, fellow Taoist, go pick some too!"

  Xun Daozi was slightly distracted, but immediately came back to his senses. He bowed and said: "Xun Daozi is a junior, how dare he pick first? Please let Master Shu pick first!" After finishing speaking, he made another bow, with a sincere face.

  Nüwa saw Xun Daozi like this and couldn't shirk it, so she had to first pick off the blue gourd and retreat back to where the crowd was standing.

  Xun Daozi saw Nüwa return, and he also walked forward, plucking the last purple gourd. As soon as this last gourd left the vine, everyone saw that the vine withered instantly. On the cliff, only a dry vine was left hanging. Xun Daozi saw it and casually pulled out the withered vine, even pulling out its roots from the ground, and brought it back to Yuan Shi's side.

  Everyone saw it, but no one said anything.

  Hongyun, having seen that the matter was settled, bowed to Laozi and the three others, as well as Nüwa, saying: "There is nothing else for me to do here, so I will take my leave." After speaking, he let out a hearty laugh and transformed into a red light, swiftly departing.

  Nüwa also bowed to Laozi and the other two, saying: "Congratulations to the three Daoist friends for making great progress in their Dao. Nüwa has something to attend to, so I'll take my leave first and bid farewell. I'll come to visit your grottoes again in the future to seek your guidance!"

  The three old men returned the courtesy and said: "I humbly await your noble presence, fellow Taoist!"

  Nüwa bowed again and turned around to ride away on a colorful cloud.

  Nüwa left, and Laozi and his three disciples also rode on a colorful cloud to return.

  Returning to the open space in front of the thatched hut where everyone lived, Laozi stopped and said: "Today we obtained this pre-heavenly spiritual root gourd, which is also a fate. After refining it, it will be a treasure. You can refine it yourself, or you can have one more protective item. There are still elixirs in my furnace that need to be refined, so I won't accompany you."

  After Laozi left, Yuanshi called Xuanzang into his own house and asked him to tell about his nearly two hundred years of cultivation.

  Xun Daozi merged his own 'Yu Qing Lian Shen Jue' and the refining method of Fa Li, and carefully told Yuan Shi about it. After finishing, he also asked Yuan Shi for guidance. Yuan Shi listened to Xun Daozi's explanation, feeling a bit surprised in his heart, and also felt that Xun Daozi's revision made some sense. So, Yuan Shi let Xun Daozi run the modified Gong Fa for himself to see.

  Xun Daozi sat upright in front of Yuan Shi, using his consciousness to guide the start of the modified Gong Fa. Yuan Shi also attached his divine awareness to Xun Daozi's body, carefully observing the operation of Xun Daozi's Gong Fa.

  After several periods of time, Yuan Shi finally withdrew his divine consciousness and fell into deep thought.

  Xun Daozi was still practicing his skills and didn't know that Yuan Shi had fallen into deep thought.

  The two of them were like this, one practicing and one meditating, also unaware of the passage of time.

  At the beginning, Xun Daozi sat opposite each other for ten years without realizing it. Yuan Shi was motionless in his meditation, and Xun Daozi also guided his movements with his consciousness without stopping for a moment. After ten years of practice, the pure and extreme liquidized Fa power in the meridian running route had grown stronger, still wrapped in gaseous Fa power, flowing through the meridians, participating in the refinement of the physical body and spiritual soul, leaving some residue in the Dan Tian vortex, and also leaving some residue in the Tan Zhong. The continuous operation also continuously has new spiritual energy being refined into Fa power to join the running of the meridians.

  On this day, Yuanshi, who was deep in thought, opened his eyes and saw Xun Daozi still quietly cultivating. A hint of a relieved smile appeared on his face, and he immediately used his divine power to transmit a message into Xun Daozi's mind, telling him to temporarily stop his cultivation.

  Zheng Xinggong's disciple heard the voice of Yuanshi in his mind, telling him to withdraw his efforts. He slowly withdrew his consciousness and retracted his technique, then paid respects to Yuanshi.

  Yuanshi smiled and stopped Xun Daozi from paying respects, his face filled with satisfaction and praise. Now Yuanshi was extremely satisfied with this disciple. After ten years of contemplation, he had deduced the essence, advantages, disadvantages, and areas for improvement of Xun Daozi's created technique to a very high level, and also made some reasonable improvements to the technique's shortcomings. However, it could not be denied that this technique was excellent and powerful. Yuanshi was especially surprised that Xun Daozi could create such a technique after just entering the "Taiyi Scattered Immortal Realm". Even if he had borrowed from the "Yuqing Lian Shen Jue" and his own transmitted refining technique, although Xun Daozi said he only combined the two techniques, in Yuanshi's eyes, this was not just a combination, but rather the creation of a new, extremely brilliant technique. Although this technique still needed further improvement, it already counted as an extremely brilliant technique. Yuanshi felt both surprise and joy in his heart, and he liked Xun Daozi more and more.

  Yuanshi first saw Xun Daozi's collection of achievements, and then opened his mouth to clearly explain the thoughts on this set of skills for over a decade. For some subtle and difficult-to-understand places, he used the method of fantasy display. Among them, Yuanshi highly praised Xun Daozi's move of splitting his divine soul and merging it into the operation of the skill, considering it a pioneering move that greatly assisted the operation of the skill. However, he also believed that the split divine soul had no consciousness and was not enough to exert the effect of this strand of split divine soul. Yuanshi suggested giving this strand of divine soul consciousness, but the given consciousness must be pure and can only be a single consciousness that guides the practice, which should have a greater miraculous effect with the participation of this strand of consciousness in guiding the operation of the skill. This strand of divine soul will also grow stronger as the skill operates, and then better guide the operation of the skill, forming a virtuous cycle of spiral ascent. For other issues with the skill, Yuanshi also made some targeted comments.

  Yuánshǐ was indeed a great divine being in the realm of Dàluójīn Xiānjìng. After his guidance, Xún Dàozi felt as if he had broken through the clouds and seen the sun, with many places suddenly becoming clear to him, like a sudden enlightenment. He felt as if he had emerged from a narrow cow horn, and suddenly the sky was high and the earth was vast, with all directions open and accessible.

  Xun Daozi was overjoyed and bid farewell to Yuanshi, wanting to return to his own place to perfect his skills. However, he was stopped by Yuanshi, who said: "Hand over your gourd and gourd vine to me, and I will refine them for you so that you can use them."

  Xun Daozi hastily handed over the purple gourd and withered gourd vine to Yuan Shi. Then, he withdrew from Yuan Shi's thatched cottage with a heart full of joy, and happily returned to his own thatched cottage to perfect his skills.

  Ten years later, Xun Daozi walked out of his thatched cottage with a joyful face. After ten years of contemplation and introspection, combined with Yuan Shi's guidance, Xun Daozi finally perfected his technique, making it more effortless to practice, and the effect of refining spiritual energy stronger. The gains from these ten years alone doubled the pure and refined spiritual energy in the Zhoutian Gong meridian, its effectiveness increased by a factor of two compared to before the improvement. How could this not make Xun Daozi happy? Following Yuan Shi's suggestion, Xun Daozi imparted a simple guiding consciousness to the split soul that participated in the practice, allowing it to run the technique on its own. As soon as he started practicing, Xun Daozi felt a huge difference. At this point, Xun Daozi had confidence that he could cultivate this technique to become second nature, like the Zhoutian Gong and the "Yuqing Lian Shen Jue", allowing him to practice it automatically whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, refining spiritual energy and tempering his physical body and soul.

  A joyful Seeker of the Way walked to an open area, opened up his stance and started practicing Tai Chi. Before long, he entered a state of tranquility with a smile on his face.

  Xun Daozi was fully immersed in the realm of Tai Chi, moving slowly and steadily, when he suddenly heard a loud shout in his ear: "Good!" His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately exited the Tai Chi state, turning around to see Tong Tian's face pale with shock, staring at him with wide eyes.

  Xun Daozi hastily went to pay his respects. But was caught by Tongtian and asked: "Young man, what kind of fist technique is this? How can it be so exquisite and powerful? Where did you learn it?"

  Xun Daozi's arm was grabbed by Tongtian and it hurt so much, but he didn't dare to struggle free, so he just made a wry face at Tongtian.

  Tongtian took a look at Xun Daozi's strange appearance, chuckled and threw open his arms, shouting: "Don't pretend with me, quickly say what kind of fist technique this is? Where did you learn it?"

  Xun Daozi pretended to rub his arm, but in his heart he was muttering: Where did you learn this? Do you want me to tell you that it's from the future? Of course, it has already been modified beyond recognition.

  Xun Daozi pretended to rub his face for a while, seeing Tongtian's angry expression, and hurriedly opened his mouth: "This fist is called 'Taiji', it was created by the disciples in their spare time, used to exercise the body."

  Tongtian stared at Xun Daozi with a look of utter bewilderment and suspicion, his face filled with incredulity. After staring for half the day, seeing that Xun Daozi's expression remained unchanged, his face not flushing, his ears not reddening, and his breath not quickening, he had no choice but to believe it was indeed his creation. He turned his head away, deflated.

  He then stared at Xun Daozi and said, "You little brat, use the same fist technique as before to exchange blows with me, let me see what you're made of." After that, he stood in the empty space in the middle and shouted at Xun Daozi, "Hurry up, don't dawdle!"

  Xun Daozi smiled wryly and made a Tai Chi gesture with his arms embracing the sky.

  Tongtian saw Xunzi making a strange gesture, standing still and unmoving. He couldn't help but shout in anger: "What's wrong with you, boy? Why are you standing there motionless? Hurry up and take action!"

  Xun Daozi heard this and bitterly smiled: "Master Uncle! This is just a physical exercise fist method, it won't initiate an attack!"

  Tongtian was stunned after hearing it: Is there such a fist technique?

  Tongtian had just come out of the house and saw Xundaozi practicing his fist technique. He didn't watch for long, but after seeing Xundaozi perform a few moves, he felt an inexplicable sense of wonder and immense power. Unconsciously, he exclaimed: "Good!" This startled Xundaozi, who was unaware of the changes in his fist technique. Now, upon hearing Xundaozi say that this fist technique wouldn't initiate an attack, Tongtian was taken aback: This kid won't attack, does he want me to attack first? After hesitating for a long time, Tongtian still couldn't bring himself to attack Xundaozi first. He was extremely annoyed in his heart.

  Just as he was thinking of how to deal with this kid, he saw his father, Yuan Shi, also opening the door and walking out of the thatched cottage.

  Laozi, Yuan Shi came out of the door and saw Tongtian staring at Xun Daozi with a frown, while Xun Daozi stood with a bitter expression. The two were somewhat curious and asked what was wrong.

  Tongtian turned to Laozi and Yuanshi Dao: "I just came out, saw this little guy boxing, I saw that his fist method is exquisite, the power is extraordinary, for a moment my heart was strange, wanting to exchange blows with him. But this little guy said that his fist method does not take the initiative to attack, wants me to attack first. Isn't this deliberately angering me?"

  Laozi, Yuan Shi heard some curiosity about what kind of fist method this is, and asked Xun Daozi if it was true.

  Xun Daozi nodded with a bitter face and acknowledged it.

  Laozi: "You go ahead and demonstrate your fist technique from the beginning, let Shibo take a look as well."

  Xun Daozi saw Laozi open his mouth and immediately performed a courtesy, saying: "Disciple obeys!" He turned around, opened up his stance, and started practicing Taiji boxing. One move after another was smooth and natural, and soon he entered the realm of Taiji. With fists extended and legs lifted, the mysterious traces of the great Tao appeared in the void, changing moves, stirring the mysterious trajectory of the Tao. The spiritual energy between heaven and earth gathered around Xun Daozi's body, moving with him. The vast spiritual energy seeped into Xun Daozi's body in an inexplicable way, following the Taiji boxing he practiced, quickly being refined into pure Fa power to participate in the operation of the Zhou Tian Gong.

  Laozi, Yuan Shi, Tong Tian Mian Mian Xiang Ju, Zhen Jing Mo Ming: This is what kind of fist method?????

  After a long time, the three old men finally came to their senses. Yuanshi looked at Laozi and Tongtian Dao: "Elder brother! Third brother! This time in the Purple Mist Palace, I want to bring Zidu with me to listen to the Tao. What do you think, elder brother? Third brother?"

  Laozi and Tongtian exchanged a glance.

  Tong Tian nodded and said: "Alright!"

  The old man also nodded and said: "Good!"

  Here is the translation:

  PS: Came, went; collected, shelved. My heart was messed with, up and down. Thick-skinned, I'll learn a bit carefully: click, recommend, collect. Thank you!