The fourth is infinite variation without departing from the fundamental principle

  Sun Ming's mind quickly became immersed in the Xuantian Yuexu Gong, and Yun Zhongzi felt a sense of relief, thinking that he had finally found a good successor. However, just as this thought flashed through his mind, Sun Ming opened his eyes, looking at Yun Zhongzi with a puzzled expression on his face.

  "Master, what's the difference between 'drawing in air and entering the body', 'refining air to transform the spirit', 'refining the spirit to return to emptiness', and 'refining emptiness to merge with the Tao'? Aren't the stages of a cultivator's progress: laying the foundation, opening the aperture, merging, forming the golden elixir, spiritual quietude, forming the primordial infant, exiting the mortal shell, separating from the body, reunifying with the body, crossing the calamity, and great completion? This is basic common sense that I knew even when I was an ordinary person, how did it change?" Sun Ming asked in confusion.

  "Yes, think about it, what's the difference between inducing the body and building the foundation, opening the light, merging, and the golden elixir? What's the distinction between refining the spirit and quieting the soul, and the original infant? Refining the spirit to return to emptiness is clearly just a comprehensive term for escaping the mortal coil, dividing the spirit! And what about refining emptiness to merge with the Tao? During the tribulation period, one must pass through the heavenly tribulation when refining emptiness to merge with the Tao, isn't it all the same?" Cloud Middle Child said with a smile to Sun Ming.

  "If there are three thousand waters, I will take one scoop to drink. The great way has three thousand paths, all of which can become sacred. As the saying goes, 'ten thousand changes do not depart from their origin.' Indeed, I have found that this is a world of practitioners who cultivate energy, no, it should be said that they are very clever cultivators of truth. They have detailed their cultivation system to the extreme, but this system is too focused on accumulating power, and in the end, the heart demon is too heavy, and the mind of seeking benefits is too strong. In those years, why wasn't I cut off from the top three flowers as a master? It was because I abandoned all my mind of seeking benefits. Whether it's cultivating truth or refining energy, ultimately, it's all about cultivating the heart." Cloud Middle Child said.

  "As a master, I have been cultivating the Dao through refining instruments and finally achieved the ultimate goal. In those years, I imitated all the famous magical artifacts, such as the Heaven-Defying Seal, the Immortal-Restraining Rope, the Pangu Flag, and the Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife. While refining instruments, I also came to understand the changes of heaven and earth, the cycles of the universe, and finally achieved the ultimate goal. From this, I discovered a principle: any magical artifact that can mobilize more of the heavenly yuan force when used will have a higher grade. Therefore, I decided to let you imitate one by one the magical artifacts from the War of the Gods." Yun Zhongzi said with a mischievous smile to Sun Ming.

  "I asked Master, how powerful are those magical treasures?" Sun Ming asked.

  "This is a good metaphor. Take the case of Fan Tian Yin, for example. With one blow, your top Dharma practitioners here can kill several thousand people without any problem." Cloud Middle Child said.

  "Really or fake?" Sun Ming swallowed his saliva and asked, "This thing must be huge, with several thousand of them. Who has such a large amount of true yuan power to use such a treasure? Is he an immortal or something?"

  "The authentic Bantian Seal was forged by the original Heavenly Master from half of the Xian Mountain after Gonggong, the Water God, angrily struck Mount Buzhou. It's so powerful that even the great witch Zhuanxu couldn't withstand it and was captured. You can imagine its might." - Yunzhongzi Dao

  "But who is Gonggong, and what is the Wu tribe? I don't know anything about Xingtian." Sun Ming said with a puzzled expression.

  "Never mind, this is an experience from my past as a master for you," said Yun Zhongzi. A golden light flew into the depths of Sun Ming's consciousness sea. From being taken in by the original gate to having this memory sealed away in Sun Ming's mind, it turned out that the world outside was indeed so wonderful.

  From Pangu's opening of the sky to Hongjun's canonization, from the great calamity of witchcraft to the rise of the human tribe when the heavenly court was first established, from the battle of sealing gods to the deep attraction of the underworld, what excited him even more were those treasures. These things have long become a thing of the past, but these treasures are indeed real and can be replicated. The Heaven-Sealing Stamp, Pangu's banner, Hunyuan Golden Cauldron, Five-Fire Seven-Phoenix Fan... there are too many, with these, even if they are just replicas, he can still become a powerful being.

  "Master, I want to learn your art of refining instruments," Sun Ming said to Yun Zhongzi.

  "It's you, not learning for the sake of teaching, but as a teacher, I have chosen the path of refining instruments. Since you are my disciple and possess the Hongmeng Purple Fire, it would be a waste if you didn't learn to refine instruments." Yun Zhongzi said to Sun Ming.

  "Hongmeng purple fire, what thing is it? Is it saying that fire also has different types?" "Isn't it just strong or weak?" Sun Ming asked again with a puzzled face.

  "Cultivators can use spiritual fire when guiding qi into the body, true fire is used during the refinement of qi and transformation of spirit, while a more advanced three-flavor true fire is employed during the reversal of spirit and return to emptiness. When refining emptiness and merging with the Tao, one can even utilize heavenly fire. The type of spiritual fire also varies depending on individual attributes, and the Hongmeng Spiritual Fire possessed by you and I, master and disciple, is the most mysterious and precious in this world, inheriting the initial fire of chaos from the beginning of heaven and earth. Cultivating to the extreme can melt and refine all things in the world, and even burn out spatial cracks in space."

  "In those days, only I and Duobao Daoren possessed this spiritual fire. Unfortunately, Duobao Daoren was later sent to the Western world by Laozi's 'Hu for Buddhism' and divided into Buddhist luck, while I was betrayed and sealed here by my fellow masters." Yun Zhongzi sighed after finishing his words.

  "Since this Hongmeng purple fire is so extraordinary, why did I only have a one-star Huoyuan power when I detected my talent at the beginning?" Sun Ming couldn't help but ask Yun Zhongzi.

  "Hongmeng purple fire, the most noble spirit fire in the world, can't be detected by that Fire Cloud Mirror, a mere pseudo-immortal artifact. Moreover, when Hongmeng purple fire was first born, it was relatively weak and small. Without refining energy and transforming spirits, or in other words, the cultivation of the Yuan Ying period fundamentally didn't show any power." Yun Zhongzi said.

  "You are cultivating in this spiritual realm, if you were an ordinary person, there might still be a possibility to enter a higher state, but the Hongmeng Purple Fire does not have the correct cultivation method and cannot evolve, so it is fitting for you to become my disciple." Yun Zhongzi seemed quite pleased, smiling all over his face as he spoke to Sun Ming.

  "I'll take Master's auspicious words to heart." Sun Ming was in an unusually excited state of mind at this time, and finally knew for sure that he could become a strong one. Ouyang Xingyue, you just wait.

  "Just as Sun Ming was indulging in his fantasies, Yun Zhongzi's voice echoed in his mind."

  "Hongmeng's purple fire incident should not be mentioned to anyone, a good man is innocent but guilty of being in possession of jade, after all, as a master, my understanding of this world is not much, even the planet's cultivation level is divided so precisely, it can be seen that this world still has great divine powers." Yun Zhongzi said.

  "Master, when can I start learning alchemy?" Sun Ming asked Yun Zhongzi with a look of eagerness.

  "Refining equipment can be done at any time, but you don't meet the conditions for refining equipment yet, do you? Every focused refinement can lead to a breakthrough, but you've just started learning the Xuantian Yuexu Gong. Even if I guide you in refining equipment now, even if you succeed, how much comprehension will you have?" Yun Zhongzi said with a serious face.

  "It was I who acted too hastily, Master." Sun Ming said.

  "From now on, practice the Xuantian Yu Xu Gong every day, and I will continue to guide you. When your cultivation reaches a certain level, we will start the first stage of alchemy." said Yun Zhongzi.

  "Alright, go rest first, we'll start cultivating after finishing tomorrow's chores." Yun Zhongzi said.

  "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The Nameless is the origin of heaven and earth. The Named is the mother of all things. Therefore, always desire to observe its wonder without desire; always desire to observe its boundary with desire. These two come from the same source but differ in name; both are called mysteries. Mystery upon mystery - the gate of all wonders."

  Everyone knows the Tao Te Ching, but how many people know that the Tao Te Ching is the general outline of the Xuan Tian Yu Xu Gong. Your next goal is to thoroughly understand the heavenly principles contained in the general outline. After finishing speaking, he also informed Sun Ming about the route of practicing Gong.

  "When all the world recognizes beauty as beautiful, ugliness arises. When all the world recognizes good as good, evil arises. Being and non-being produce each other, difficulty and ease complete each other, long and short form each other, high and low fill each other, voice and sound harmonize with each other, front and back follow each other. This is the eternal principle. Therefore, the sage dwells in non-action, teaches without words; all things arise but do not begin, are born but do not possess, act but do not rely on, complete their work but do not dwell on it. Only by not dwelling on it can one avoid going away." The master said this has nothing much to do with cultivation. Sun Ming sighed and said.

  "Cultivation is cultivation of the mind, the most important meaning is to let you have a naturally virtuous heart. Slowly comprehend the meaning of these sentences." Yún Zhōng Zǐ was unusually patient at this time.

  "In the past, those who obtained one thing were: Heaven obtained one and became clear; Earth obtained one and became peaceful; Spirit obtained one and became divine; Valley obtained one and became full; Marquis obtained one and became the standard for the world. If they lost it, they would be in danger of splitting apart, bursting forth, becoming stagnant, drying up, perishing, or falling. Therefore, nobility must take humility as its foundation, and height must take lowliness as its base. This is why marquises and kings call themselves 'alone', 'widowed', and 'not full'. Is this not taking humility as their foundation? The carriage of many things has no carriage. Therefore, they do not desire to be resplendent like jade or strong like stone." Sun Ming read these sentences with a thoughtful expression in his heart. Cloud Middle Son saw Sun Ming's expression and couldn't help but feel delighted.

  "The world all says I am great, but I am not. Only because I am not, can I be great. If I were to be concerned with it for a long time, then I would be insignificant. I always have three treasures that I hold and preserve: the first is compassion, the second is frugality, and the third is not daring to be the first in the world. Because of compassion, I can be brave; because of frugality, I can be broad-minded; because of not daring to be the first in the world, I can become a vessel for the people. Now if we abandon compassion and only talk about bravery, abandon frugality and only talk about broad-mindedness, and abandon humility and accept undeserved praise, then we will surely perish! With compassion, one can win battles and defend oneself. Heaven will protect those who are compassionate."

  It's been over a year, and seeing Sun Ming's comprehension, Yun Zhongzi suddenly felt that this disciple was quite clever after all. He himself had spent three years studying the general outline carefully when he was younger. It has to be said that this child has great potential for cultivating the Tao.

  "Get ready, it's time for your first try at refining equipment." Yun Zhongzi said to Sun Ming.

  Although he had been cultivating for more than a year, when Sun Ming heard the news, his heart was still racing. "Master, what did we refine for the first time?" Sun Ming asked curiously.

  "The three characters 'Fan Tian Yin' made Sun Ming a little dazed."

  Look at how the largest slate in history was pirated in the next chapter.