Refining the Void and Merging with the Dao

"Qing Ge, do you mean that this Holy Cup Fruit Tree, like that Pitcher Plant, is a carnivorous plant?" Wang Sheng shivered. If it weren't for the warm water in the bottle, which made his whole body Warm Goat, he would have wanted to jump up.

"They really do look alike."

Tang San also knew about Pitcher Plant, and nodded slightly, but—

"None of the Abyss People should have been preyed upon by this 'plant,' and both of us have very keen senses. This water does indeed contain many components that are beneficial to the human body, and can even strengthen Qi and Blood and improve spirit."

"That's right."

Zhou Qing could naturally sense this, but there is no free lunch in the world, especially for creatures in nature, where everything is in a cycle and interacts.

Therefore, during this hot spring soak, Zhou Qing was certain that something on their bodies must have been "exchanged" away by the water.

But he didn't feel like he was missing anything. On the contrary, he felt much more relaxed, and even his Soul Power seemed to become more refined.

The moment Zhou Qing lifted his arm from the hot spring, he stared at his fair, jade-like arm for a moment, then his eyes narrowed. He activated the Innate Internal Scripture Chart to strengthen his Spiritual Power and carefully sensed the surroundings. He then laughed and said, "I understand!"

"What do you know?"

Tang San and Wang Sheng looked at each other in bewilderment and hurriedly asked.

What is poison to one is honey to another!

Zhou Qing swam to the bottle opening, raised his arms, and struggled to pull himself up, asking, "Look at the area above my neck, then look at my lower body. What's the difference?"

"It seems cleaner now?" Wang Sheng was a little confused.

"Marrow Cleansing and Tendon Transformation!"

A purple light flashed in Tang San's blue eyes as he saw the difference in skin texture on Zhou Qing's neck.

But how do we explain "his poison"?

"The filth Marrow Cleansing and Tendon Transformation is harmful to the human body, but for this plant, it may be the finest fertilizer!"

Zhou Qing stopped keeping him in suspense and explained his thoughts in detail, "Similarly, the plants on the Third Layer are also using the sunlight to heat the water they hold, expelling 'impurities' from their bodies. And these impurities are why this spring water is a natural medicinal bath!"

"Just like a person who has undergone Marrow Cleansing and Tendon Transformation needs to wash away the dirt on their body with clean water, this plant also needs to be 'washed away' after it has expelled the toxins and impurities that are harmful to it."

"But it has no hands or feet and cannot become Soul Beast, so how can these impurities be washed away?"

We need the help of other creatures!

People!

Immediately, Tang San and Wang Sheng both realized the answer!

When a person soaks in this Tree Hot Spring, it Marrow Cleansing and Tendon Transformation at an extremely slow pace. Impurities accumulated in the body enter the hot spring and are absorbed by the inner walls of the plants that hold the hot spring. The "impurities" released by the plants have a Strengthening the Foundation and Cultivating Vitality effect on the human body.

This is a win-win situation for both plants and humans!

"Nature is truly amazing!" Wang Sheng exclaimed.

"Everything in the universe is in a cycle and interacts. Everything we humans do, whether it's invention, creation, or cultivation, is actually learning from nature. This is true for things like building the human body's Martial Cauldron Soul Furnace with the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, using the human body's Aura Field to perceive the natural Aura Field, and opening up the Inner Scenery World."

Zhou Qing smiled and said, "I have a feeling that the ultimate goal of cultivation is to allow us to interact and circulate with everything in the world, while maintaining self-awareness, so that we and the world can move towards a more perfect direction."

[Refining the Void and Merging with the Dao!]

The word popped into Tang San's mind.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill is Daoist Cultivation Technique, and naturally it also has the concepts of Refining Essence into Qi, Refining Qi into Spirit into spirit, Refining Spirit and Returning to the Void, and Refining the Void and Merging with the Dao. However, the book describes these concepts in a very mysterious way. Although the Tang Sect in his previous life Daoist Cultivation Technique, they were vague about the various Daoism terms. In fact, each Daoist sect had its own code words, slang, and even metaphors. As a result, he only understood the concepts of Refining Essence into Qi and Refining Qi into Spirit —which are essentially cultivating Internal Energy and Spiritual Power.

But I'm a bit confused about the latter two.

But now that Zhou Qing has said it, it seems like I suddenly understand!

The latter two are not simply about continuously improving Internal Energy and spirit!

Among them, the Refining Spirit and Returning to the Void is the construction of the "Martial Cauldron Soul Furnace" theory proposed by Zhou Qing based on the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, which allows the three treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit to circulate.

The Refining the Void and Merging with the Dao involves comprehending the natural world and engaging in a deeper, more meaningful exchange with it. Based on the Martial Cauldron Soul Furnace, one can then create Inner Scenery World.

In Daoism's Golden Core Great Dao, the "elixir" (丹) in Inner Core, as long as it doesn't involve refining external elixirs from herbs, wood, or minerals, is a metaphor in the cultivation of internal elixirs. It doesn't actually involve using the three treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, and spirit to cultivate an Inner Core within the dantian. Rather, it's about cultivating the elixir within oneself, becoming one with heaven and earth!

Thus, once this "golden elixir" is refined, no one can take it away unless they devour the entire person, and the person will also be immortal!

The humans of the Douluo Continent are uniquely blessed with the ability to awaken their Martial Soul, which means that everyone is born with a potential magical treasure!

[No wonder Qing Ge said that after opening up Inner Scenery World, it seems like one can live indefinitely. That old poisoner also had a lifespan of ten thousand years. So this is the Golden Core Great Dao!]

Upon realizing this, Tang San suddenly understood and felt even more admiration for Zhou Qing.

The ability to articulate the essence of cultivation with such a straightforward analogy is far more concise and clear than those who deliberately described the concept of cultivation in a vague and confusing way in the previous life, even leading many descendants of martial arts sects to believe that alchemy cultivation involved using the three treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, and spirit to cultivate an "inner Inner Core" within the body.

"Qing Ge, since this hot spring has such effects, there should be a lot of people gathered here. Why are there so few people?" Wang Sheng asked again.

"Perhaps for the Abyss People, to fight against the Ascension Curse of the Third Layer just to take a bath might be a bit too extravagant."

Zhou Qing thought for a moment and guessed, "If these plants were growing on the first level, I estimate that many people would be willing to come down, and even the city lord of Tianming City would try every means to control the first level. But this is the Third Layer, Ascension Curse is much more severe than the first and Second Layer, so large-scale development is not possible. Not to mention, Odin is also protecting the Second Layer."

Rustle!

Just then, the leaves outside rustled, and then a pair of round, brownish-gray claws reached in.

"Someone's here."

Then, a round, hairy, brownish-gray face peeked in.

This "person" Riko, covered in brownish-gray fur, with long, fluffy gray hair that draped over his back like a cape. He wore a blue-gray hat with the sides cut off, revealing a pair of long rabbit ears. He wore round, grayish-red trousers.

It looked like a girl, but her upper body was naked... only because of her grayish-white fur—

It cannot be considered nudity.

This is the real Rabbit Girl!