Prajna

Fang Xuan continued studying the gold foil in his hand. Unlike those methods that cultivated inner strength through meditation and polishing, the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill was more like a moving art. It used inner strength to vibrate the acupoints throughout the body, driving the blood and qi to circulate everywhere.

Take the first level, for example. Face south with your back to the north, sit with the left foot atop the right and the five centers facing heaven. Keep your neck straight, suspend your head, draw in your abdomen and lower your waist, spread your shoulders slightly, straighten your spine, and point the Brahma acupoint atop your head toward the sky. Tighten your anus slightly, place both hands palms-up on your knees, relax the Heavenly Eye acupoint, breathe naturally, sink your qi into the lower abdomen, and sit without distracting thoughts.

This method imitated the vibrations of a tiger's breath and somewhat resembled the Tiger Leopard Thunder Roar of the Mortal World. It used inner strength to vibrate the entire body, gradually strengthening the flesh over the years.

"No wonder it is so slow. Inner strength drives the blood and qi, while the blood and qi temper the tendons, bones, organs, and skeleton. That is equivalent to adding another step in between. This is the work of a waterwheel, but logically, the further one progresses in this art, the stronger the body becomes and the richer the blood and qi grow. At that point, blood and qi and inner strength will complement each other. Even if the cultivation speed is slow, it should not take a thousand years to reach great completion, as the book claims. Strange, truly strange!" Fang Xuan said doubtfully.

At last, Fang Xuan focused his gaze on the cultivation method for the eleventh level.

"Hmm?"

The cultivation method after the tenth level of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill consisted of only a hundred or so words.

"Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva practiced profound Pāramitā Prajna... The Buddhas of the three ages, relying on Pāramitā Prajna, attained Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi. Therefore, know Pāramitā Prajna."

It seemed like an ordinary scripture, nothing particularly remarkable. Yet Fang Xuan felt that something was off, and his gaze instinctively shifted toward the Buddha image in the center of the gold foil.

Fang Xuan sprang to his feet and burst into laughter.

"Dragon Elephant Prajna... Prajna... So that is it, so that is it. If my comprehension had not greatly improved and I had not reached the Spirit Connection Realm, I truly would not have discovered it.

"From beginning to end, this Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill emphasizes strength but not wisdom. If that were all there was to it, would it not be better simply called the Dragon Elephant Skill? Why add the word 'Prajna'?

"Prajna is Sanskrit. It translates as wisdom and is also called nondiscriminating wisdom. It is therefore not the ordinary cleverness people speak of, but pure wisdom capable of illuminating the true nature of emptiness. It may also be translated as wondrous wisdom—the great wisdom that comprehends all dharmas, both worldly and transcendent.

"The ignorant masses only believe this divine skill is meant for combat, never realizing that it also contains profound wisdom. If the first ten levels are methods for tempering the body and increasing one's power, then these brief hundred words are the true guiding principle of this supreme divine skill."

"No wonder that during the Northern Song dynasty, a great Tibetan monk cultivated to the ninth level and continued advancing courageously. When he reached the tenth level, his inner demons suddenly arose. Unable to control himself, he danced madly for seven days and seven nights before severing his own meridians and dying.

"Practicing only the Dragon Elephant Skill without Prajna wisdom—how was that any different from Mei Chaofeng and her husband turning the proper Daoist divine skill, the Nine Yin Divine Claw, into the Nine Yin White Bone Claw?

"They had cultivated themselves into neither human nor ghost."

Fang Xuan was overjoyed. If he had not reached the Spirit Communication realm, with a mind so profound and mysterious, and combined it with the comprehension accumulated by his other self incarnation, he would not have been able to uncover this secret.

"I never expected the spiritual cultivation method I had sought so painstakingly to come to me like this. After wearing out iron shoes searching in vain, I found it without any effort at all," Fang Xuan said excitedly.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, imitating the Buddha's posture in the center of the gold foil.

He formed the Dragon Elephant Purification True Seal with his hands, silently recited the guiding principle, and visualized dragon and elephant.

"Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva practiced profound Pāramitā Prajna... The Buddhas of the three ages, relying on Pāramitā Prajna, attained Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi. Therefore, know Pāramitā Prajna."

In an instant, Fang Xuan arrived once more in that boundless darkness.

He visualized starlight descending from the heavens, pouring through the crown of his head and entering his mind inch by inch.

Suddenly, he felt coolness spread through his entire body, as though he were bathing in a gentle breeze. Every pore seemed to breathe in pure air. He felt light enough to float away, utterly comfortable.

Visualize the qi of the heavenly stars pouring through the crown, penetrating inch by inch and joining with the soul. Illusions would arise anew. The soul might feel coolness, scorching heat, sourness, or spiciness; one might see jade pavilions and celestial maidens in the sky, as well as asuras and evil ghosts; heavenly maidens and Bodhisattvas, the gods of heaven and earth, and ancient sages; one might feel oneself falling into reincarnation, fighting amid battle formations, embracing soft jade and warm fragrance, receiving a stern father's and loving mother's care; one might feel one's martial strength soaring to the heavens, capable of overturning rivers and seas; one might feel one's entire body rotting, bones piled high. Ignore every such illusion. Steady the mind and visualize a buddha in the void, named Amitabha, forming the Amitabha hand seal. This buddha is the original face of all beings between heaven and earth. Guard the original thought and remain unmoved by all things, and calamities may be avoided. Then one may suddenly feel the qi of the heavenly stars touch the soul and pull upward with immense force, as if one were about to ascend in broad daylight. At that moment, use tremendous concentration to steady the spirit and let it rise and fall within the body. Never allow the true intent to leave the body. All such phenomena are delusions...

Knock, knock, knock~

"Master, Master, are you awake?"

Fang Xuan slowly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

He glanced at the sky outside. Unexpectedly, an entire night had passed, though to him it had seemed no more than an instant.

He sensed the clarity of his spiritual awareness and the vibrations of his soul.

Every blade of grass and tree, every movement within the entire courtyard, was reflected in his sea of consciousness, including Old Imp, who stood outside the door holding a basin of hot water and knocking.

Fang Xuan was delighted.

His guess had indeed been correct. This Prajna Skill was a method of spiritual cultivation. In merely one night, his Spirit Power had increased greatly and his soul had grown stronger.

Fang Xuan had a premonition that before long, he would enter the tenth realm of the physical body, Divine Transformation.

He rose and pushed open the door. Old Imp stood there holding a basin of hot water, his face full of ingratiating smiles. Beside him stood little Zhang Jing, her eyes curved into crescent moons from smiling.

"Hehe, Master, wash your face."

Fang Xuan laughed helplessly and motioned for Old Imp to set down the basin. Though he had a Dust Repelling Talisman and had no need to bathe or wash up, he could not waste the man's good intentions.

"Um... Master, when will you teach me martial arts?"

Fang Xuan accepted the towel Zhang Jing handed him, gently wiped his face, and said, "It is not impossible for you to learn your master's martial arts, but you must obey one rule of this sect."

"Say it, Master. I, Old Imp, will definitely be able to do it." Old Imp patted his chest and spoke loudly.

"You must protect your martial aunt, Zhang Jing. You must not allow a single hair on her head to be harmed."

"Ah?"

Fang Xuan's eyes widened. Old Imp felt as though a divine mountain had fallen from the sky, ready to suppress him beneath the Nine Netherworlds. His mind trembled, and fear welled up from within.

Fortunately, the pressure came and went swiftly. Yet even that brief instant left him drenched in sweat, staring at his cheap master with a face full of fear.

"Can't do it?"

"I can, I can! I, Old Imp, swear that as long as I am alive, no one will be able to harm Martial Aunt. Even if I die, I will have those ox-nosed martial nephews keep protecting Martial Aunt!" Old Imp declared loudly.

Only then did Fang Xuan nod in satisfaction.

According to his original plan, he had intended to entrust Zhang Jing to East Heretic Huang Yaoshi. However, Old Imp had eagerly volunteered himself. Thinking it over, Old Imp was not a bad choice, and behind him stood the entire Quanzhen Sect as well—numerous and powerful.