Sima Chengzhen

Though its effects were somewhat lacking, the Tang Gui World did indeed contain heavenly treasures.

Besides the rare flowers, exotic herbs, and Nine Great Strange Pearls that had appeared in the tv series, there were also some that existed only in the words of the characters.

The Heavenly Mountain Qilan was a typical example.

It was said that an assassin had once ambushed Di Renjie. Su Wuming tested the medicine for Di Renjie, was unfortunately poisoned, and fell unconscious for seven days and seven nights.

To save his beloved disciple's life, Di Renjie invited several renowned physicians from the Divine Capital and brewed the Heavenly Mountain Qilan stored in the palace into a soup, using it to bathe Su Wuming's entire body. Only then was the poison successfully cured.

Since this was merely Su Wuming's side of the story, many viewers had assumed he was talking nonsense.

But after personally making a trip to Tianshan, Lin Yu had indeed found the so-called Heavenly Mountain Qilan there.

This plant was extremely yin in nature and belonged to the tea family. Once brewed and consumed, it could nourish yin and replenish yang, cure illnesses and dispel poison, prolonging one's life.

However, from Lin Yu's own experience, the stuff really did not taste good. Its effects on ordinary people, though, were genuinely impressive.

If it could be watered with Magic Power of a similar nature, perhaps it could produce even higher-quality Heavenly Mountain Qilan.

Besides that, Lin Yu had also found a Great Red Robe Mother Tree with an excellent flavor, a Green Date Tree that could nourish vitality and extend one's lifespan, a stalk of Green Bamboo as hard as steel, a three-colored lotus flower, as well as many ordinary Spiritual Items such as thousand-year-old ginseng and lingzhi.

Anything that could barely be called a heavenly treasure was taken away using the Holy Scripture spell [Sleeve Universe]. He planned to bring them back to the Frieren World, cultivate them properly, and try to evolve them into Spirit Seeds.

In fact, Lin Yu had already tested it. The Green Jujubes produced by that date tree could indeed resonate with Magic Power.

The four Green Jujubes he had given the Four Sons of Nanzhou had been strengthened with Magic Power. After the four of them ate them, the effects had indeed increased greatly. Zhong Boqi, the great tea master, had thus been rid of his hidden ailment. Presumably, he would no longer commit murder as he had in the original work.

The following morning, three hours remained before his return.

Lin Yu arrived at Tongbai Mountain in the Tiantai Mountain Range.

This mountain had been known as the dwelling place of Immortals since ancient times. Nine peaks encircled it, while clear streams flowed before it.

To its north lay Jade Firmament and Xianglin, belonging to Huading, with deep, lengthy mountain veins and all five elements complete. To the east, the two peaks of Wolong and Hualin pierced the heavens. To the west, Zixiao, Lianhua, and Cuiwei bowed their heads. To the south stood the exquisite and extraordinary Yunü and Yuquan.

These nine peaks rose and fell in endless succession, wreathed in clouds and mist. From afar, they truly seemed lofty and ethereal, like the residence of Immortals.

At its peak in later generations, Tongbai Mountain contained thirty-six palaces, seventy-two temples, and one hundred and eight daoist shrines of all sizes. Many famous scholars and poets recorded in history had stopped here, leaving behind countless poems.

But in the present era, Tongbai Mountain was still far from reaching its historical zenith.

Even Tongbai Palace atop Jade Firmament Peak had yet to be built. Only its predecessor remained—the Dharma Wheel Courtyard, built in the first year of Wuyuan during the Three Kingdoms period by the eminent Daoist Ge Xuan.

Of course, that did not mean that no famous daoist temple had yet appeared atop Jade Firmament Peak.

In fact, someone had been living in seclusion here for thirty years, building a thatched hut and cultivating the Dao, attracting numerous daoist disciples to gather here.

The residence where this man secluded himself was known as the Jade Firmament Mountain Dwelling, the prototype of the future Grotto-Heaven Palace.

The Jade Firmament Mountain Dwelling was especially quiet in the morning. Green tiles and soaring eaves were half-hidden amid mist that never dispersed throughout the year.

The stone steps were mottled with moss. A lush tung tree stood in the courtyard, and beneath it, an energetic old daoist sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, quietly meditating before the morning light and mist.

Unlike his peers, who currently favored alchemy, the old daoist had inherited an orthodox lineage but was not enthusiastic about the External Elixir Art.

Instead, he believed that one's state arose from the heart. Cultivating the Dao meant cultivating the heart. Only by sitting in forgetfulness to restrain the heart, embracing stillness and abandoning desire, becoming free of all dust and attached to nothing, could one transcend the mundane...

Not long afterward, the old daoist ended his morning practice and slowly opened his eyes beneath the tung tree.

Suddenly, his expression froze. He discovered that a young man in white had appeared in the courtyard at some unknown time.

The man stood tall and straight, with handsome features. His black hair swayed faintly in the Clear Wind, while his dark eyes were lowered as he quietly read the Daoist Scripture in his hands.

Judging by his bearing alone, he seemed like the clouds and mist in these mountains—ethereal and detached from the mortal world.

The old daoist stared in a daze for a moment before finally coming to his senses. His bright eyes fixed upon the young man.

"This Jade Firmament Mountain Dwelling is where this old daoist cultivates in peace. Who are you, Your Excellency, and why have you entered without invitation?"

"..."

The young man in white raised his eyes and carefully examined the old daoist before lifting the Daoist Scripture in his hand.

"Did you write this On Sitting and Forgetting?"

"...This old daoist did."

The young man in white smiled faintly, his gaze falling upon the Daoist Scripture as he said leisurely, "Faith and reverence, severing ties, gathering the heart, simplifying affairs, true observation, deep stillness, attaining the Dao—the seven stages of sitting in forgetfulness. This is indeed already close to the Inner Elixir Art!"

The Inner Elixir Art?

The old daoist was stunned. Then his eyes shone with a strange light, and excitement appeared on his face, as though he had grasped some profound mystery.

Seeing this, the young man in white—or rather, Lin Yu—could not help curling his lips into a smile.

External elixirs and Inner Elixirs were two different daoist cultivation arts. The External Elixir Art originated from alchemy, referring to refining external materials into pills that could be consumed for immortality. The Inner Elixir Art, meanwhile, treated the human body as a furnace and cauldron, cultivating the essence, qi, and spirit within until they condensed into an elixir.

At this point in time, the second year of Jingyun in the Tang dynasty, the harmful External Elixir Art was still prevalent throughout the world.

As for the Inner Elixir Art, it was currently only in its infancy. The person who would bring it into form and exert a major influence on later Inner Elixir theories was the old daoist standing before Lin Yu—Sima Chengzhen!

He was a descendant of Sima Kui, Grand Commandant of Cao Wei, and the great-grandson of Sima Yi, Duke of Langya Commandery under the Northern Zhou.

Though born into a great clan, he had no interest in becoming an official. At an early age, he became the disciple of the Mount Song taoist priest Pan Shizheng, studying the Shangqing Sutra Methods and talismans.

After completing his studies, he bid farewell to his teacher and traveled across famous mountains. In the end, he settled at Tiantai Mountain and secluded himself on Jade Firmament Peak. During that time, he wrote countless Daoist Scriptures, founded the Shangqing Tiantai Sect, and was revered by later Daoism as the twelfth patriarch of the Shangqing Sect.

The On Sitting and Forgetting in Lin Yu's hand was one of Sima Chengzhen's most representative works, as well as a landmark work in Daoism's transition from the External Elixir Art to the Inner Elixir Art.

"May I ask, Your Excellency, what is the Inner Elixir Art?"

Ignoring their difference in age, Sima Chengzhen clasped his hands in salute and stared at Lin Yu with bright eyes.

Lin Yu smiled faintly and said leisurely, "What you have written is called sitting in forgetfulness, but it is truly sitting in distraction. Though it already possesses the rudiments of the Inner Elixir Art, it can only be considered the initial stage on the path to longevity. The true method of immortality should preserve both form and spirit, treating the human body as a furnace and cauldron to refine essence, qi, and spirit into an elixir. Only then can form and spirit unite, allowing one to live forever and see for ages!"

"Form and spirit both complete, refined into an elixir..."

Sima Chengzhen murmured to himself, as though something had dawned on him.

A moment later, he came back to his senses and said excitedly, "The Lingbao Sutra says that when body and spirit become one, it is the true body. The Xisheng Sutra also describes how form and spirit unite, and thus one may endure for long!"

"Yet the way of emptying the heart has varying depths. At its deepest, it affects the form as well; at its shallowest, it reaches only the heart. Those it affects in form gain only the body, while those it reaches in heart gain only wisdom. This old daoist has cultivated for many years, yet has obtained only the heart..."

"May I ask, fellow daoist, is there a method that achieves both?"

Facing the old taoist priest's excited yet expectant gaze, Lin Yu's smile stiffened slightly.

He had come to find Sima Chengzhen today for three reasons: to manifest his holiness, to offer guidance, and to leave some contingencies behind in this world.

In his original plan, facing an expert with such profound daoist learning as Sima Chengzhen, a simple description of the Inner Elixir Art that had yet to appear should have been enough for him to deduce the rest himself.

Who would have thought this fellow would be so good at pushing his luck? Unable to figure it out himself, he simply asked Lin Yu directly.

How was Lin Yu supposed to answer that?

Lin Yu had a headache. He had only collected the Daoist Canon today; it was not as though he truly understood it. How could he possibly answer?

...No choice. I can only bluff my way through this first!

With that thought in mind, Lin Yu merely smiled without speaking.

Sima Chengzhen was initially puzzled, but then his face showed realization. With a serious expression, he said, "As the saying goes, the Dharma cannot be transmitted lightly, and the Dao cannot be sold cheaply. Yet fellow daoist, you came uninvited today, which was already discourteous. Privately reading the Daoist Scriptures of this temple could even be called stealing a teacher's teachings. This old daoist does not hold it against you and is even willing to set aside past grievances to sit and discuss the Dao with you. Is even that not enough?"

"Ha ha!"

Lin Yu laughed in surprise. "You old daoist, you truly are interesting... Very well. Since I was discourteous first, I will explain it to you."

As he spoke, he flicked his sleeve. A steaming teapot and two jade teacups suddenly appeared atop the stone table in the courtyard.