Transmitting the Dao and Teaching the Craft, Literary Fire Tempers the Body

Within the Diligent Study Hall, Literary Qi swirled in the air, its lingering resonance yet to fade.

More than a dozen newly initiated disciples felt the newborn Literary Qi within their bodies, a power utterly different from anything they had known before, and their hearts could scarcely contain their excitement.

Their gazes converged on the Sage's Clone ahead, condensed from pure Literary Qi, brimming with yearning and thirst for knowledge of the path ahead.

Wanhua's clone looked on serenely, sweeping his gaze over the faces below—some excited, some expectant, some still bearing traces of confusion—before slowly opening his mouth.

His voice was not loud, yet it was like a great bell and a mighty chime, branding itself clearly into the depths of every disciple's mind:

"Now that you have received the infusion of Literary Qi and your foundations have begun to settle, you may be considered to have formally entered the gates of our Confucian Dao.

"Yet Literary Qi is a boat, while the principles of the Dao are the sea. Without a boat, one cannot cross the sea; without the sea, a boat is useless as well.

"Today, I shall impart to you the foundational method of Confucian Dao Foundation Establishment—Literary Fire Body Tempering Chapter."

"This chapter is neither an art of slaughter nor a divine ability for shifting and transformation. It uses your newborn Literary Qi as firewood to kindle the flame of your thoughts and temper your Dao bodies.

"It is a supreme Foundation Establishment method for purifying the Primordial Spirit, stabilizing the Literary Heart, and connecting with the principles of Heaven and Earth."

Rather than directly teaching the specific circulation route, he first expounded upon its core philosophy:

"The old methods of the Primordial Era mostly draw upon external spiritual qi—violent or cold and sinister—to forcibly strike one's own body. Though they may bring swift results, their foundations are flighty and impetuous, making them prone to breeding inner demons.

"Moreover, they are constrained by the spiritual Opportunity of Heaven and Earth. But the core of our Confucian Dao's Literary Fire Body Tempering Chapter lies in one word: 'temper.' And another: 'literary.'"

"What is 'tempering'? It is not brute-force hammering, but the use of gentle, enduring 'literary fire' to proceed from within to without, step by step.

"It washes away the impurities of the fleshly body and Primordial Spirit, making them like refined gold forged a hundred times—casting off dross and leaving only the essence.

"This fire originates from your Literary Hearts, from your sincere reverence for the principles of the Dao. Thus, it can act upon yourselves with precision, neither harming your roots nor foundations, but instead nourishing your origin in return."

"And what is 'literary'? This fire is neither ordinary flame nor as overbearing as Samadhi True Fire. Rather, it contains the principles of 'Civilization,' 'Order,' and 'wisdom.'

"When tempering the body, one is also comprehending reason.

"You must guide the literary fire with your will, visualizing yourselves as a bamboo slip awaiting inscription, a brush awaiting sharpening, a piece of jade awaiting carving.

"Wherever the literary fire passes, it leaves the marks of principles inscribed and shines with the light of wisdom's awakening."

The explanation left the disciples spellbound. Xuanjizi, in particular, a Golden Immortal who had cultivated for countless years, was deeply stirred.

In his past cultivation, had he not always cautiously guided violent spiritual qi, terrified of taking one wrong step? How could he ever have imagined that cultivation could be so "cultured," so "orderly"?

"Watch closely."

Having spoken, the clone raised a hand and pointed into the air.

Within the hall, countless tiny golden motes swiftly gathered, outlining an incomparably clear humanoid figure of light, its meridians and acupoints distinctly visible.

Though the figure was not corporeal, it seemed to contain boundless mysteries.

"This is the foundation for the circulation of Literary Qi. You must commit it to memory."

The clone's voice carried a power that guided the soul to remember. The paths along which Literary Qi flowed within the figure, like the most intricate star chart, were instantly branded into the disciples' Seas of Consciousness.

The pathways were not so complicated as to be incomprehensible, yet every link meshed with the next, beginning and end joined together. They secretly accorded with the principle of cyclical heavenly circulation and faintly echoed breath and thought alike.

Immediately afterward, the clone began to explain in detail the specific cultivation method of the Literary Fire Body Tempering Chapter:

"First, focus the spirit and calm the qi. Guard the embryonic form of the Literary Heart with your intent, draw upon the Literary Qi within your body, and slowly circulate it along this foundational path.

"At the beginning, let it be like a babbling brook. Do not seek swiftness or ferocity. What matters is sensing how the flowing Literary Qi nourishes and cleanses the flesh, meridians, and acupoints."

As he explained, a gentle stream of golden qi began to flow slowly through the figure of light along a designated route.

Wherever it passed, the corresponding part of the figure glimmered faintly, as though life had been poured into it.

"Once the Literary Qi flows smoothly, you may attempt to gather it at the dantian with your will and visualize a seed of 'literary fire.'

"This fire is Formless and Intangible, born from the union of thought and Literary Qi. The purer the thought and the more refined the Literary Qi, the brighter the fire seed."

At the figure's dantian, an exceedingly faint yet exceptionally pure golden flame quietly appeared, burning steadily.

"Once the fire seed is formed, guide this 'literary fire' to travel throughout the entire body with the current of Literary Qi. Take heed: controlling the heat is of paramount importance!

"You must regulate it meticulously with your will, keeping the literary fire always in a state of 'gentle nourishment'—like spring sunlight melting snow, like warm jade giving rise to mist. Never be hasty and turn it into 'parched fire' or 'raging flame,' only to wound yourselves in return."

The golden literary fire flowed through the figure with the current of qi, permeating and illuminating its limbs and bones, five viscera and six bowels, even the finest ends of its meridians.

Under the gentle firelight, gray specks representing impurities and hidden wounds gradually faded and vanished. The entire figure became ever more translucent, pure, and solid.

"Throughout this process, you must experience it carefully. When skin, flesh, tendons, and bones are tempered by literary fire, you may gain the principle of 'Resilience.'

"When the five viscera and six bowels are gently nourished by literary fire, you may comprehend the wonder of 'harmony.' When essence, blood, marrow, and the sea of marrow are cleansed by literary fire, you may understand the Dao of 'vitality.'

"Even hidden wounds left behind by past cultivation and the dust clinging to your minds may gradually be erased beneath the enduring tempering of literary fire."

The clone did not merely explain. He also described, one by one, the obstacles they might encounter during cultivation, the signs of inner demons beginning to grow, and the remedies for when the heat slipped out of control.

One by one.

He explained them in a steady, flowing manner, simple yet profound, striking straight at the essence. He even stirred the Literary Qi and Dao resonance permeating the hall, simulating several different cultivation states.

This allowed the disciples to sense more directly what it meant for the heat to be properly controlled, what it meant to be restless in heart and impetuous in qi, and what it meant for one's foundation to be stable.

Xuanjizi's mind trembled as he listened, greedily drinking in this unprecedented knowledge.

Following the clone's guidance, he attempted to guide the pale golden Literary Qi within his body, circulating it slowly along an arcane path.

At first, it was somewhat sluggish, but under the guidance of the dense Literary Qi within the hall and the clone's Dao voice, it soon began to flow smoothly.

When he tried to visualize the seed of "literary fire" within his dantian, he failed several times at first, unable to focus his mind completely. Yet, relying on the foundation of a Golden Immortal-level Primordial Spirit and his steadfast heart toward the Dao—

He continuously adjusted, and at last, a faint yet incomparably stable golden flame quietly ignited at the core of his dantian!

The literary fire was born!

He cautiously guided this wisp of weak literary fire into the flow of Literary Qi and began tempering his body.

An indescribable warmth and sense of clarity spread through him, as though his entire body had been cleansed from within and without. Some minute hidden injuries and impurities in his mana, accumulated over countless years of cultivation—

Under this gentle yet unceasing tempering, truly showed signs of being refined away and expelled!

His Dao body seemed to have become cleaner, and more attuned to the Literary Qi and Dao resonance between heaven and earth.

He secretly glanced around. Elder Teng was wreathed in intermingling azure light and literary fire, while vigorous life surged beneath his aged shell;

The Antlered Maiden Yun Xi's brows were slightly furrowed, as though she were striving to control her somewhat lively literary fire;

Yun Su's figure flickered in and out amid the circulating literary fire, as though she were seeking a unique balance;

Most of the other disciples were likewise immersed in the wondrous experience of cultivating the Literary Fire Body Tempering Chapter for the first time, their faces either bright with joy or filled with contemplation.

At that moment, no one spoke within Diligent Study Hall. There was only the faint sound of Literary Qi flowing, along with the gentle yet steadfast Dao resonance of body tempering that permeated the air.

The Sage Wanhua's Clone's first sermon and instruction was thus deeply branded into the souls of this first group of Confucian Dao disciples amid their silent cultivation and insights.

The Firewood of Inheritance had been passed on, and body tempering had taken its first steps. Before them, the scroll of Confucian Dao cultivation was slowly unfolding its first solid and glorious stroke.