White Bone Contemplation

Chapter 5: White Bone Contemplation

Ye Qin closed his eyes. Although the shadows of the sun and moon lingered in his mind, they were extremely crude—mere outlines, nothing but hollow appearances.

He slowly opened his eyes, his forked tongue twitching uneasily.

"What's going on? Why can't I fully settle into meditation?"

Ye Qin tried to calm his heart, but a restless feeling clung to him, completely unlike the profound, mysterious stillness he had achieved moments ago.

Back then, both his consciousness and soul had sunk into a deep space, hardly affected by the outside world, allowing him to forget himself and grasp the opportunity for cultivation.

But now, the feeling was entirely opposite. Though shadows lingered in his mind, they were more like a superficial, imagined state.

"Where exactly is the problem?"

"The sun and moon are ordinary and common, yet these ordinary things are extraordinary."

"As the saying goes: Heaven and earth are dark and yellow, the universe vast and wild. The sun and moon wax and wane, the stars and constellations spread. Cold comes and heat goes, autumn harvests and winter stores."

The cycle of the four seasons repeats, containing the great Dao of heaven and earth, the Dao of nature, the Dao of the seasons. Seemingly ordinary, yet in truth elusive, containing endless transformations.

Take the sun and moon, for example. They hang high in the sky every day, appearing close at hand, yet actually far beyond reach.

It's only because we're used to seeing them daily that we take them for granted.

Understanding this principle, Ye Qin suddenly saw clearly. "Earlier, I was on the wrong track. For someone like me now, contemplating all things is still a bit difficult."

In other words, what right did a mere snake have to contemplate the great sun and bright moon?

That was why, just now, he couldn't completely clear his mind of distractions and enter the state of contemplation.

Because everything he saw and understood was superficial, with no solid foundation.

He had just told himself to keep his feet on the ground, one step at a time. He hadn't even learned to walk yet—how could he run?

Ye Qin felt somewhat troubled. "It seems there's nothing else I can contemplate."

Just then, the corner of his eye caught a flash of white. Looking at the skeleton so close at hand, Ye Qin fell into thought.

"The great sun and bright moon are too distant and profound. The mountains and rivers are too vast. I am merely a small snake now, insufficient to contemplate such grand things—my vision is too limited, and I cannot glimpse their entirety."

"So, I can contemplate what's right in front of me. A tree, a blade of grass, even a skeleton!"

Ye Qin's heart gradually stirred with excitement. He felt he had found the right direction.

A person should know themselves. To create a cultivation method and immediately try to contemplate the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers—wasn't that like dreaming?

Fortunately, he remembered a Buddhist meditation technique called the "White Bone Contemplation." Perhaps it would be just right here?

Thanks to his habit of reading miscellaneous books and his good memory, the White Bone Contemplation was not unfamiliar to him.

With a ready skeleton before him for contemplation, it was an opportunity delivered to his doorstep.

Ye Qin had been inspired by the "Yellow Emperor's Classic of the Inner Elixir" beside the skeleton, thus beginning his path of cultivation. This was his connection to the bones. Now, using them again for contemplation felt as if fate had long decreed it.

Everything originated from the skeleton. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it Ye Qin's guide.

"If there truly is a bond between us, I hope you will help me succeed in contemplation once more. If I gain the ability in the future, I will surely gather your remains and give you a proper burial."

Ye Qin looked at the skeleton before him, calmed his heart, and gradually emptied his gaze. Faint Buddhist chants echoed, appearing and disappearing once more.

This time, he quickly entered a state, but the feeling was different from before.

The chaotic space did not appear, nor did the living gray mist. He felt as if something was missing.

Could this be a special state? Not something he could enter successfully every time?

This thought flashed through Ye Qin's mind, but he quickly cast aside distractions and stopped dwelling on it.

The human body has 206 bones in total, divided into the skull, ribcage, spine, limbs, and pelvis—the source of human movement.

Each bone has a different function. Even the smallest bone has its purpose, occupying its place in the body.

Flesh decays, but only white bones endure for centuries, even millennia, without disappearing.

Ye Qin's gaze slowly traced downward from the skull, then to the chest. Twenty-four ribs were arranged neatly in order, followed by the spine.

To see more clearly, he straightened his body, his black, slender snake form rising like an upright branch.

If not for fear of overstepping, Ye Qin might have even coiled around it to observe more closely.

Contemplation has no special trick.

Only talent and patience.

Those of mediocre aptitude spend time and effort yet see nothing; those of outstanding talent are the opposite.

Ye Qin clearly belonged to the latter.

"The White Bone Contemplation, also called the Skeleton Contemplation. One should first visualize the flesh on one's own forehead rotting and falling away, leaving only white bones. Gradually expand from narrow to wide, visualizing one head, its flesh rotting and falling away, revealing white bones. Until the entire body is seen as white bones."

Ye Qin did the opposite.

The skeleton before him had no flesh left. That skin and muscle had long decayed in the river of time, leaving only this pile of bones floating on its surface.

The cave was dim, with nothing to measure time.

It felt as if only seconds had passed, or perhaps an entire century. The concept of time blurred in that moment.

At first glance, there seemed nothing different about the stark white bones.

But the White Bone Contemplation had records stating that in the later stages of meditation, a hallucination like a crimson pearl would appear—the origin of all anomalies.

This thought had just surfaced.

And in Ye Qin's mind, the image of a pearl emerged accordingly. As time passed, those bones actually began to emit a red glow.

Within the white skeletal frame, at the position of the Life-Generation Palace, a red pearl had appeared, flickering in and out of visibility.

This pearl was blazing red and luminous, tiny as it was, yet incomparably scorching, ceaselessly radiating light and heat like a rising sun.

The red light gradually enveloped the entire skeleton. Countless crimson threads wove through the white bones, not even sparing the gaps between joints, quickly spreading throughout the body and then radiating outward.

They even shrouded Ye Qin himself.

The three thousand great worlds, filling all of space, pervading the entire Dharma realm.

Light returned to emptiness, shining back upon the inner white bones; the inner white bones emitted light, empowering the outer white bones, illuminating the entire Dharma realm.

White bones set off by red light—this was what was called the "White Bone Radiant Light Contemplation."

The red light covered everything, thousands of strands intertwined, like blood flowing gently, as if something was using this as nourishment, growing wantonly.

Soon, Ye Qin saw a faint membrane, based on the red light, covering the jade-white bones.

The fastest-growing area was at his two toes, where countless threads stretched endlessly.

While other places were still transparent membranes, there it had already turned flesh-colored, writhing continuously, then connecting together.

End of this chapter