Chapter 6
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Chapter 6: Gentle Breeze Caresses the Spirit, Bright Moon Enlightens the Soul
Visualization Technique is not about picturing the shapes of gentle breeze and bright moon, but about imagining their spiritual meanings.
Gentle breeze feels refreshing and carefree, gentle in touch without being fierce, awakening the spirit without harming the soul; the bright moon shining in the sky, eternal and everlasting, nurturing all things with its essence.
Shi Xuan’s soul seems to be sitting above a sea of consciousness, surrounded as if going out in the morning, feeling the gentle breeze blowing gently, refreshing the spirit, the breeze passing over the soul, taking away various impurities accumulated over time, as well as anxieties, restlessness, excitement, anger, and other emotions that came with events, dispersing with the wind, no longer leaving imprints on the true self, gradually revealing a clear and bright soul.
The bright moon above seems to rotate slowly, drawing in the internal energy, then like a gentle rain from the heavens, strands of moon essence fall on the soul, Shi Xuan’s soul absorbs the essence of the moon blown by the breeze, nourishing its spirit, then the impurities are carried away by the breeze.
After an unknown length of time, when Shi Xuan feels that his soul has grown stronger and the essence absorption has reached saturation, only then does he end the visualization and come out of meditation.
The soul is formless and immaterial, while internal energy is formless with substance, there is a huge gap between the two, it is difficult for internal energy to directly nourish the soul, even if it is the Nurturing Soul with Qi and Blood, it can only be achieved with the mysterious connection between the body and soul. Hence the need for visualization, to build a bridge between the soul and internal energy, transforming the internal energy into essence that the soul can absorb. Of course, these are just some effects of this stage of visualization, in the future when the realm is deeper, internal contemplation will lead to the corresponding laws of the heavens and earth, by then, one can directly absorb the essence of the heavens and earth and comprehend the laws.
When Shi Xuan wakes up from meditation, he takes a moment to catch his breath and realizes that today’s accumulated internal energy has been depleted to some extent, so he follows the route of circulating internal energy as recorded in the "Treasure Record" and the "Yushu Twelve Jiang Eight Lakes Seventy-Two Great Rivers Qi Record", but for now, he can only circulate the Small Body Circle route of the Twelve Regular Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Vessels. Shi Xuan focuses his mind, controlling the internal energy to circulate from the Dan Tian, feeling that after this meditation, his increased soul strength has made it easier to control the internal energy.
After circulating the Small Body Circle a few times, the internal energy continuously absorbs the dispersed heat from various parts of the body and has doubled in strength, much more efficient than the previous method of circulating energy.
After completing 365 Small Body Circles, Shi Xuan finally stopped. This number of Great Body Circles was just right, as the dispersed heat was absorbed completely. Continuing further may have led to transforming his body’s essence.
Based on the internal energy accumulated from this Great Body Circle and the internal energy consumed by strengthening his soul, Shi Xuan estimated that it would take over four months to fill the twelve main meridians and the eight extraordinary vessels, and around seven months to open the seventy-two small meridians according to the "Yushu Twelve Jiang Eight Lakes Seventy-Two Great Rivers Qi Record." The time needed to reach the peak of Soul Strengthening Period was uncertain since Du Bai had no experience in it.
The trouble now was that Shi Xuan spent about two taels of silver daily on food consumption, which could have covered a nice feast in a restaurant. Despite not demanding high-quality ingredients or cooking skills, Shi Xuan’s appetite was greatly admired by the neighbors as it seemed to have doubled.
Calculating the expenses, Shi Xuan would need around seven hundred taels of silver to reach Qi Strengthening Period Dacheng. However, after purchasing medicinal herbs and considering the previous months’ expenses, he only had less than four hundred taels left. There was a shortfall of three hundred taels, a significant amount considering that regular households in the city earned only twenty to thirty taels per year.
At this moment, Shi Xuan did not want to seek any work to earn money. He was steadily progressing in his daily practice and wished he could practice twice as much in a day.
After some consideration, Shi Xuan decided to sell the small courtyard later. Once his Qi cultivation reached completion, he planned to travel the world in search of immortality. The courtyard, valued at about two hundred and eighty taels, would be sold eventually. With enough silver to last him seven to eight months, Shi Xuan was in no rush to sell. He believed he could find a good buyer and after deducting fees and taxes, he expected to receive around two hundred and forty taels.
Additionally, after selling the courtyard, Shi Xuan would need to rent a peaceful house for about four months, costing around a dozen taels. It seemed he was still short of around eighty taels. While he considered resorting to theft using his Taoist spells, it went against his usual law-abiding nature to consider such actions. He decided to keep this as a last resort in case all else failed, as he believed he could handle it without guilt.
Thus, Shi Xuan hung a sign outside the tooth shop for selling the courtyard and sought help from Shopkeeper Liu to introduce him to his friends working at the yamen. By making acquaintances, he hoped to avoid being overcharged when dealing with property deeds and taxes in the future.
However, Shi Xuan’s main focus remained on his cultivation. He diligently followed the "Yushu Twelve Jiang Eight Lakes Seventy-Two Great Rivers Qi Record" and "True Divine Method of Clear Wind and Bright Moon" daily without slacking. In the past five months, there was a significant improvement in his soul strength. He was no longer exhausted after casting spells a few times as he was initially. His internal energy had also made great progress, filling the twelve main meridians, the eight extraordinary vessels, successfully opening a small meridian after a few failed attempts, and then consecutively opening twelve more.
One day at noon, after Shi Xuan had lunch, he returned to the courtyard. Before he could sit down, he heard the sound of the courtyard gate being knocked. Shi Xuan thought it was the dentist bringing people to see the yard. Due to daily practice, Shi Xuan and the dentist had an agreement to bring people to see the yard after noon, for no more than an hour.
The dentist had brought people to see the yard several times before, but they had not agreed on the price yet. Shi Xuan wasn’t in a hurry as he still had money that could last for two to three months.
Shi Xuan opened the courtyard gate and to his surprise, he saw not the dentist but a familiar person outside, a handsome young man in his twenties wearing a silk robe.
Before Old Taoist Xu went out to seek immortality, he created a martial art called "True Returning Skill" based on the "True Returning Book" to teach his family members. Previously, Old Taoist Xu’s family was just a wealthy merchant family, often extorted by the martial arts world. Later, based on this martial art, they gathered some secret techniques and produced some skilled fighters who gained reputation in the martial arts world. They even became influential in Xia’an Prefectural City, dealing in silk, fabric, and private salt. However, because Old Taoist Xu wasn’t very skilled in martial arts, the techniques he wrote were lacking in combat effectiveness and were not well-matched, so the Xu family could only be considered a third-rate family in the martial arts world.
Ten years ago, when Old Taoist Xu returned to Xia’an Prefectural City, although he did not live with his family, he maintained contact with them. The Xu family greatly revered their ancestor and sent monthly gifts and selected promising children to learn from him. It was considered a great privilege to learn even a bit of immortal techniques from the revered ancestor.
Unfortunately, although the selected children were talented, they seemed to not comprehend the Taoist teachings well. They excelled in physical training instead. Old Taoist Xu had high hopes for another Taoist in the family, but after observing this pattern, he focused on teaching Du Bai. The children were sent back to the Xu family after reaching a certain level in their training.
Nonetheless, based on his experiences with martial arts experts over the years, Old Taoist Xu revised the contents of the "True Returning Skill" and added collected secret techniques, providing some guidance for the Xu family.
The young man who came to visit today was Xu Tianqi, the most talented among the group of children from years ago. He was sent to learn at the age of ten and entered the Qi Strengthening Period in just six years. However, he lacked focus in his spiritual training after entering this period, concentrating solely on refining his internal energy using the new "True Returning Skill" techniques. After two years with no major progress in his spiritual cultivation, Old Taoist Xu sent him back to the Xu family.
In the martial arts world, entering the Qi Strengthening Period before the age of twenty was a sign of exceptional talent from renowned sects. Xu Tianqi, achieving the status of an internal master at eighteen, was considered average among his peers. Despite some achievements and recognition, Xu Tianqi felt dissatisfied, thinking that if he didn’t belong to the Xu family, which was considered second-rate now with the new "True Returning Skill," he should have ranked among the top ten with his strong internal energy, even though he had not yet unblocked the Ren and Du meridians.