Divine Tang Era

Chapter 115 Inner Observation

In the Five Elements Transport Technique, in addition to observing the nose and the mind, there is also observing the heavens.

The name of Guantian is unparalleled in its power and influence, shaking people's hearts. His statement says: "Those who cultivate the Tao are in the Three Realms."

The first is the head of the celestial realm, also known as the Upper Yuan. The Heavenly Valley, the Niwan Palace, is where all the gods gather, and through which thirty-six thousand gods pass. Is this the path for the ascending and descending, the way for the gods to enter the brain? The Great Hammer Bone is the gate of the celestial realm, the path of ascent and descent, back and forth in a cycle; a single strike can reach the Heavenly Gate. Ascending from below is the Gate of the Windlass, within which lies the medicine—is it the Yellow Sprout and White Snow?

The heart is the Crimson Palace.

When the mind is at peace, the spirit is at peace; when the mind is in turmoil, the spirit is in turmoil. All the gods then take heed of this.

Its form is that of a phoenix, its name is that of a red dragon, and it belongs to the fire element of the south. By refining the lung qi with the fluid of the heart, it becomes golden ointment. Behind the Crimson Palace lies the Gate of Supreme Mystery and the Abode of Blood and Violet; why? Because true water arises within the heart.

True water is mysterious. Three inches below the navel lies the Great Ocean, where turtles and snakes dwell, concealing primordial energy.

The "Observation of Heaven Techniques" was full of profound and mysterious words. Xu Dan recognized each word individually, but when put together, he was completely bewildered and could read it but not understand it.

After studying it for a while, he roughly understood its meaning. Despite its complicated explanation, the central idea is just one thing: "cultivating Qi." Yes, it's about cultivating Qi, and the internal observation method of the Five Elements Transport Technique is a method that integrates refining essence, cultivating Qi, and cultivating spirit.

In the Divine Tang Dynasty, there are methods such as Qi Refining, Spirit Refining, Body Refining, and Blood Refining, or one may focus on cultivating the Way of Literature, Confucianism, Military Science, Legalism, Yin-Yang, etc. All of these are single cultivations, or two of them are cultivated simultaneously. I have never heard of anyone cultivating all three.

Because cultivating one's primary path already consumes most of one's energy, let alone the other three.

Xu Dan was unable to cultivate his Qi, so he could only sigh in vain at the cultivation method of the Heavenly Observation Technique.

"Huh?"

He suddenly realized that it wasn't that he couldn't cultivate his qi, but rather that his meridians were blocked, preventing the flow of internal energy; however, he could still store qi in his dantian. Did this mean he could cultivate the complete internal observation method?

Since trying won't kill you, why not give it a shot?

Xu Dan began to cultivate according to the internal observation method recorded in the Five Elements Transport Technique.

By eliminating distracting thoughts, one can regulate breathing and refine essence through the method of observing the nose, eliminate distracting thoughts and refine spirit through the method of observing the mind, and cultivate stillness and refine qi through the method of observing the sky. When essence, qi, and spirit are cultivated together, one can immediately feel the connection between the physical body, vital energy, and spirit becoming closer.

However, the Five Elements Transport Technique is not as simple as it seems.

In the beginning, Vipassana meditation uses breath to control the operation of the three elements. As the three elements grow stronger, they need to be brought together and integrated.

This is when the practice of combining the three methods of introspection begins.

However, Xu Dan's meridians were blocked, preventing him from circulating internal energy. Without circulating internal energy, he couldn't combine the three methods for cultivation. Therefore, when he practiced the three methods together, the Qi cultivation of the Heavenly Observation Method could only rise and fall with his breath, circulating in circles within his dantian. But this wasn't without its benefits; with each circulation, the internal energy in his dantian became one degree purer.

Observe the heavens to refine your Qi; observe your nose to refine your essence.

As Xu Dan's breath rose and fell, his body also rose and fell with it, causing impurities from his skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and marrow to be slowly squeezed out of his body, leaving a thin layer of dirt on his skin.

However, after drinking the earth's milk and the blood of the dragon vein in the cave, he was refined by the Purple Golden Lotus.

His physique had already reached the state of a pure and flawless innate treasure body, and there was not much impurity expelled.

The key to practicing the three methods together lies in breathing. Breathing controls the three methods. As the breath rises and falls, the essence, energy, and spirit rise and fall accordingly, and some impurities brought about by later life are gradually washed away.

The method of observing the mind and cultivating the spirit reveals that the soul is the most mysterious part of the body.

With each breath, Xu Dan slowly sank into a profound and mysterious realm.

Suddenly, the world changed, and they arrived at an unknown place.

Coming to his senses, he looked up and saw the Seven Stars above him, realizing he had returned to the space he had been in before. Looking at his body, he saw he had limbs again, though they were only the size of sesame seeds. He had found this place strange when he entered while practicing the Mind-Calming and Spirit-Hiding Technique. Now, he realized it was the void within his brow, the ancestral aperture of the human body, the abode of the soul, the pivot of the body, also known as the Divine Court.

And my current state must be my soul.

How come it's so small? No wonder I almost lost control when I was practicing the Heavenly Will Four Symbols Arrow.

The divine court was vast and silent, hazy and ethereal, utterly empty. Xu Dan circled around, feeling bored, so he sat cross-legged on the ground and began to cultivate. He circulated his magic, his breathing rose and fell, and his body gradually became shrouded in a layer of luminous light.

The seven stars overhead shone brightly, casting starlight that rapidly dissolved the luminous glow outside the soul. The starlight fell upon it, merging into the soul with each breath. The soul visibly grew, but was also assimilated by the starlight, shining brilliantly.

Sensing the state of his soul, the golden lotus located in his heart followed the trail upwards, appeared beneath his soul, and unfolded its petals to envelop him.

Starlight shone down and landed on the purple lotus, where it was immediately absorbed and refined before being sent into the soul.

The starlight that the soul had previously absorbed was also refined by the Purple-Gold Lotus and returned to it. Back and forth, the soul visibly grew, from the size of a sesame seed a moment ago to the size of a grain of rice in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly, a cold wind swept in.

Xu Dan opened his eyes, and two golden beams shot out from his double pupils, piercing through the layers of wooden walls, and the outside world came into view one by one.

A wandering spirit, for reasons unknown, flew aimlessly toward the inn. Suddenly sensing something, it tried to fly upwards. The two bas-relief door gods embedded in the door abruptly opened their eyes, and four blazing red beams of light shot out, landing on the wandering spirit.

"squeak"

The ghost screamed in alarm, but before it could escape, it was struck by the red light.

His soul and body instantly melted away like ice and snow, disappearing into the world.

A dark shadow sensed the eerie atmosphere and approached from afar, only to find nothing amiss before flying away again. The night watchman and the lantern bearer noticed the commotion and rushed over, but found nothing and left.

"I feel like something is watching us?"

"There is no sign of yin energy on the plaque."

"Someone must have been woken up and was peeking inside. We have a lot of things to do, so let's not waste time talking and get out of here."

After the others left, Xu Dan withdrew his gaze and continued his cultivation.

"Ooh ooh ooh..."

Early in the morning, a rooster crowed loudly on the roof. Xu Dan opened his eyes and realized that a whole night had passed. He had actually been meditating cross-legged on his bed all night, but strangely, his spirit was not weak at all; on the contrary, he was radiant.

The little magpie sneaked upstairs and peered through the crack in the door.

Xu Dan got out of bed, opened the door, and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Mother said you're cultivating and told me not to disturb you. Brother, are we going up to the roof today?" Little Magpie asked, blinking her big eyes.

She was referring to gathering the purple aura of the rising sun, which was their daily practice.

"go."

Xu Dan washed up and then took Xiao Que'er up to the roof to absorb the energy. Yun Niang followed, but she felt embarrassed to jump onto the roof with them to absorb the energy, so she just sat below.

During the meal, Yunniang looked at him and said, "Young master, you've lost weight."

"Really?" Xu Dan touched his face, feeling nothing.

"Brother has lost weight, his face isn't as round as before," Little Magpie said from the side.

One person's opinion might be wrong, but two people's opinions might not be.

This reminded Xu Dan of the Five Elements Transporting Technique he had practiced last night. The internal cultivation method of this technique involved combining three elements: essence, qi, and spirit. It seemed simple, but it came at a price. For example, refining essence required a significant replenishment of qi and blood. Otherwise, if the body's qi and blood were insufficient, the nutrients needed for cultivation would be drawn from the flesh and blood. If that wasn't enough, it would even draw life force from the bone marrow.

Qi cultivation, because it involves absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, is not as terrifying. Spirit cultivation, on the other hand, involves refining the essence of the moon and stars for one's own use, which is simpler.

However, if neither of these two is sufficient, the body will still absorb the nutrients it needs. Therefore, during cultivation, it is necessary to eat a lot to replenish the energy depleted.

Xu Dan didn't eat anything last night and cultivated all night, so the cultivation technique he was using had to draw nutrients from his body, which is why he lost weight overnight.

After thinking things through, Xu Dan decided to stop practicing the three-method combined internal observation method. Because his meridians were blocked, he could no longer practice any of the methods, and regarding essence refinement, due to the Purple Golden Lotus, his physical body no longer needed further cultivation.

Therefore, only the cultivation of spirit through the method of observing the mind remains.

However, since the three methods of Inner Observation are integrated, if two methods are not practiced, there is no need to continue practicing the others. It is better to switch to cultivating the later methods of Nourishing the Spirit and Regulating the Spirit to Ascend to Immortality.