Chapter 9: Entering the Way

  Cheng Jun actually didn't lose consciousness, but cut off his five senses and completely lost contact with the outside world. His spirit had been introspecting his physical condition all along.

  However, it's not entirely accurate to say that the power of the divine soul can only be separated after entering the Dao. In reality, before entering the Dao, it's just a matter of the consciousness not being extinguished, gathering but not dispersing, maintaining a single point of clarity in the spiritual platform.

  All five senses are severed, consciousness is clear and distinct, inner breath is vigorous, this is the best state for entering the Tao.

  Entering the Way is the first level of cultivation realm, it is the first threshold of Taoist gate, which divides the world into two distinct realms: the cultivators and the ordinary people.

  Traditionally, when entering the Tao, one must find a quiet and cool place, because at the time of entering the Tao, the true spirit will be separated from the soul, and at that time, all kinds of thoughts will arise, the heart fire will be fierce, and slight distractions can lead to the danger of walking into evil. Moreover, after practicing fetal breathing in the Tao, a large amount of hot air and impurities need to be eliminated, if there is no cold environment to cool down, the fragile body that has just entered the Tao cannot bear it.

  From a certain perspective, the water under the river and glacier are the best choices for entering the Way. Firstly, they represent extreme quietness and closure; secondly, the cold water flow will take away heat and eliminate impurities, keeping the entire environment clean and icy.

  The only problem is that after entering the Tao in water, it's not easy to wake up on one's own, especially after just separating from the divine soul. Consciousness is hard to clear up by itself and often becomes muddled and confused, unaware of returning to the mundane world. Without the guidance of a master, blindly cultivating in water can lead to sinking down and never waking up again.

  Cheng Jun was not an ordinary person after all. As early as the fetal breath realm, he had consciously trained his soul, and after his rebirth, his soul was much stronger than before. Although it was only a month's time, he already possessed the ability to control his divine soul. After the first strand of divine soul condensed, he quickly woke up.

  Shen Hun rose to the Lingtai, Cheng Jun introspected the situation inside his body. Taisui entered the Tao, and there were two must-pass checkpoints. One was to condense and refine one's own Taisui, transforming it into true Qi. True Qi had the same quality as the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth; without true Qi as a guide, one would be unable to absorb spiritual Qi. Now that Cheng Jun's Shen Hun had already separated, it was proof that his Taisui had been completely transformed. That was why he didn't pay attention to this step.

  However, after entering the spiritual platform, he discovered that his physical condition was much better than he had expected. The fetal breathing was difficult to practice, and many people spent years grinding in the fetal breathing realm, but even after condensing their energy through entering the Tao, they could only gather a thread of true yuan energy as thick as a cotton thread. As for Cheng Jun, his days were still short, and his fetal breathing was not as abundant as others. If he didn't rely on external objects, the most he could condense would be a strand of true yuan energy as thin as a hair. Passing the second test was also barely possible. But now, when he looked inward at his body, he felt that his true yuan energy was extremely abundant, with three strands as thick as a hemp rope, and it flowed like pearls, circulating non-stop.

  No need to ask, this is the power of Dragon's Eyes. The first effect of Dragon's Eyes is to release a large amount of pure spiritual energy, making up for the deficiency of true energy in the body.

  Moreover, he clearly felt that most of the spiritual energy contained in Longjing had not been exerted, hidden deep in the air sea, waiting for the future to be exerted step by step with the progress of cultivation, and the benefits of cultivation need not be said.

  However, the true energy now is not the true energy after entering the Tao, and the dragon's eye effect on enhancing the true energy is also not what Cheng Jun values most.

  The key lies in the second pass, enlightenment.

  Born as a human being, one has already received the favor of heaven and earth, and can open up spiritual wisdom, understand creation, and is not as ignorant as beasts. However, to truly communicate with heaven and earth, it is necessary to open up the spiritual orifices. When an infant falls to the ground, there is a pre-heavenly spiritual orifice "fontanelle" that is open, but as age grows, the fontanelle gradually closes, and people also lose the only orifice for communicating with heaven and earth, and wanting to open it again is something that happens after entering the Way.

  Entering the Way, the emphasis is on opening up, which is the process of fetal breathing bursting open the spiritual orifices inside the body. Refining fetal breathing to transform it into true energy is secondary.

  The Taoist communicates with the heavens and the earth, unless they have entered the realm of true cultivation of the yuan Shen, otherwise they can only absorb the spiritual energy of the heavens and the earth through the lingqiao. This is also why only those who have opened their orifices can become "entering the way". There are seven orifices in life, and there are more than 360 body orifices, but the lingqiao that communicates with the heavens and the earth is limited. The more lingqiao one has, the faster they absorb the spiritual energy of the heavens and the earth. This is related to a person's innate talent, those with the highest innate talent can open nine orifices, which is a rare genius, and those who can communicate through seven orifices are already extraordinary talents. The general threshold for entering the Taoist sect is five orifices, passing five orifices means having excellent qualifications, three or four orifices is an average person's talent, and opening one or two more orifices is just enough to practice qi.

  However, unlike another important qualification "Xian Gu", even ordinary people can open one or two apertures and accept spiritual energy, but without Xian Gu as a support, it cannot be retained even if absorbed. Therefore, the Taoist school attaches much less importance to Ling Qiao than to Xian Gu.

  There is another point, that the spiritual aperture is different from the immortal bone, it's not something that can't be changed after being born in heaven and earth. Although it's related to innate talent, there are some heavenly materials and treasures that go against heaven, which are used at the critical juncture of entering the Tao, and can forcibly open one or two more spiritual apertures. Moreover, as cultivation increases and reaches several major realms, new spiritual apertures will naturally be opened. True people in the great master realm all have nine apertures unblocked, and when reaching the realm of exiting the aperture and roaming freely, the yuan ying directly communicates with heaven and earth, and doesn't even need spiritual apertures anymore. In the end, what spiritual apertures can affect is only the speed of the early stages.

  However, the early stages of cultivation are often the most crucial moments in a cultivator's life. Cultivators are also mortal and have limited lifespans. If their cultivation speed is too slow, their short lives will not be enough to complete their practice. When people die, their paths disappear, and even the best spiritual bones become useless once they turn into white bones. Therefore, in the early stages, it's not just about opening multiple spiritual apertures, but even increasing one's speed by a fraction may bring new possibilities. To increase cultivation speed, even a single spiritual elixir can stir up bloody storms, let alone an inverse heavenly treasure that directly opens multiple spiritual apertures?

  For example, Longjing has such an anti-heavenly effect.

  "Let's begin." Cheng Jun's spirit was firm, his true yuan within him like an arm moving at will, rushing towards the spiritual orifice.

  The process of breaking through the spiritual aperture actually doesn't require human direction, most cultivators automatically break through while being muddle-headed. However, this also has a drawback, which is that the true energy only uses a rough and careless method to impact the apertures, resulting in too much consumption. The refined true yuan energy is often weak, sometimes even insufficient to break through the aperture, and is completely consumed, leading to failure in entering the path. Even if one successfully enters the path and opens up their spiritual aperture, the true yuan often disperses due to excessive consumption, requiring them to start accumulating from scratch again. But now, Cheng Jun is alone by himself, with no external objects on his body, every thread of true energy is precious, he absolutely cannot allow any waste to occur, he wants to use the most efficient method to complete the breakthrough.

  Cheng Jun's two lives were reborn, and he naturally knew where his innate spiritual aperture was, so he didn't hesitate at all. His breath flowed and went straight to Xuanji.

  Having entered the Tao, fetal breathing is unobstructed, the hundred vessels are cleared, and the breath rises along a single path. In an instant, it has already reached the Xuanji acupoint, where the spiritual energy rolls up to form a small whirlpool, which bursts out along the meridians.

  Xuán jī —— pò!

  In an instant, the spiritual energy permeated the Xuanji key point, transforming into a hundred spiritual threads that fixed the about-to-open spiritual aperture - opening, closing, and fixing, all in one breath. In reality, it was always this simple, a checkpoint that could be passed through relying on instinct alone, how much technical content could there be?

  It was only in the moment of enlightenment that Cheng Jun's spirit was stimulated by a sharp and intense pain, almost losing control. He had no idea that breaking through would be so painful. In his past life, he had entered the path in a daze, unaware of the process, nor did anyone else in the world who had been fortunate enough to break through while awake. If not for his unyielding willpower, the remaining few orifices could only rely on instinct to break through again.

  After breaking through the Xuan Qi hole, Cheng Jun's breath turned upwards and rushed towards the left pupil Zong Zi. This spiritual orifice is quite remote and fragile, at least Cheng Jun hasn't seen a second spiritual orifice open in this place. In his previous life, this spiritual orifice was opened crookedly and not completely broken through, so it could only be considered half of one, which meant that even when he reached the True Man realm, he could only be considered to have opened eight and a half orifices, half less than ordinary True Men. However, the benefits brought by this remote spiritual orifice are also unimaginable for ordinary people.

  This time, he didn't dare to use the spiral-shaped true energy blast again. Instead, he condensed his true energy into a liquid-like state and slowly flowed it into the spiritual aperture.

  Jingming (Eye Brightness) has been shattered!

  A stream of spiritual energy passes through and exits from the second aperture, unblocked!

  Immediately afterwards, continue to charge forward.

  Taiyuan... Broken!

  Labor palace - broken!

  Shi Mu——Broken!

  Surging Spring—Explode!

  All six senses are open and functioning.

  Cheng Jun's past life had only opened these six orifices, and his innate talent was considered top-notch, but he still fell short of being a genius by one step. If he could open the seventh orifice, it would be extremely beneficial for his early-stage cultivation. And Longjing gave him this opportunity.

  Generally, the extra opened aperture is not as fixed as the innate spiritual aperture. Most of them are random and often appear next to the last opened spiritual aperture, which is the residual effect of the spiritual energy breaking through the aperture. However, Cheng Jun had his own target in mind, and with a thought, his true energy burst forth and rushed towards the crown of the head.

  Fontanelle, the innate spiritual orifice. It is also the largest spiritual orifice in the human body and the one that communicates with heaven and earth the most, also known as "the leader of all spirits". Once it is opened, not only can it contain spiritual energy far beyond its peers, but it can also nourish the soul, expand the divine thought, and bring countless benefits. This doesn't even mention the benefits for the future emergence of the primordial infant. Once the fontanelle is opened, it's as if he has walked the same path as his previous life, and his cultivation speed will be at least 30% faster. The help it brings to him is truly immense.

  The gate of fate is open!

  Without any suspense, without a single bit of waste, the majestic true yuan energy burst through the fontanelle and apertures, almost bursting out.

  Cheng Jun hastily stopped, and the true yuan qi that was about to communicate with heaven and earth immediately returned. He didn't just stop at the fontanelle, but opened seven spiritual orifices, all of which only reached the fixed orifice, without communicating with the heavenly spirit energy, but instead withdrew all the existing true yuan qi back into the sea of qi, where it continued to circulate on its own.

  It's not time yet. There is no need to disturb one's own pace now.

  Cheng Jun gathered all the spiritual energy into one point, and the dragon's pupil, which had not been fully refined, shone like the sun, emitting a faint glow. As it passed through the spiritual energy, Cheng Jun took the dragon's pupil as the center, his soul seemingly scattered yet not scattered, like a cloud of mist quietly suspended above the spiritual platform, waiting, waiting for the most important step in entering the Tao.

  Here...

  On the spiritual platform, a ray of light suddenly flashed and disappeared, coming from nowhere and going to nowhere. A breath of air that had been accumulating since ancient times, mysterious and profound, suddenly descended and enveloped Cheng Jun's body and soul.

  It's now!

  The mist of divine soul formation, under Cheng Jun's sudden burst of power, like lightning, rushed towards the white light. At the moment when the light was about to disappear, it heavily collided with it, and with a loud crash, merged into it.

  A mysterious aura suddenly dispersed and permeated this small spiritual world.

  The light burst and scattered. The scenery around changed suddenly.

  Here is a chaotic mass, above there is no sky, below there is no earth, and even light does not exist. The world has only the most primitive, endless chaos.

  Suddenly, the chaos parted in a line, the clear air rose, the turbid air fell, the heaven and earth separated, the sun and moon hung in the sky, the ocean surged, the mountains and valleys rose and fell, and a new world was established between the fingers.

  Afterwards, the colors of the world gradually became clearer, with a blue sky and golden sunlight. Countless trees, flowers, and grasses sprouted from the mountains and rivers below. The four seasons changed in an endless cycle of red, green, yellow, and white hues. Countless birds and beasts appeared, followed by humans who lived through birth, aging, illness, and death. Spring plowing, summer weeding, autumn harvesting, and winter storage passed in an instant, and the world had already transformed into a human realm.

  In the vast sky thousands of miles high, a figure slowly emerged, opening his eyes and gazing down at the world.

  He was a tall and stately man, wearing a seven-star Taoist robe, with a high star crown on his head, looking elegant and refined, but from his forehead to the corner of his mouth, there was a terrifying long scar that ruined his appearance.

  That person glanced around and stood with his hands behind his back, saying: "Indeed, this is the way. I didn't think that I, Cheng Jun, would have the opportunity to return here so soon."