The Realm of Night Roaming

After the heavy snow, several clear days followed. The dark clouds dispersed, and the night sky revealed sparse, scattered stars, though they were far less brilliant than the galaxy-filled sky of a summer night.

Hong Yi stood in the middle of his courtyard at midnight, when all was silent and deserted. He looked up at the sparse stars in the sky, observing them deeply for a few moments before closing his eyes and reciting the cultivation method from the scripture.

He had studied the Daoist Classic thoroughly and knew that the methods for soul cultivation were essentially based on visualization—treating the false as true.

He sat cross-legged on a simple mat spread on the ground, looked up at the sky again, and focused on memorizing it. After the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense, he seemed to have imprinted the entire starry sky into his mind. He suddenly closed his eyes, sat in the posture of the Buddha depicted in the Amitabha Sutra, folded his hands in front of his abdomen with his thumbs touching, and formed the Amitabha Seal.

He had spent the day reading and had generally grasped the meaning of the scripture, which contained a fundamental method for strengthening the soul.

He sat for the time it took to burn a stick of incense, visualizing, and gradually entered a state of focus.

In his thoughts, all the stars in the sky flickered from the infinitely distant void, shooting down infinitely long rays of light that landed on the top of his head, drilling in inch by inch.

As soon as the illusory starlight entered his mind and reached his skin, Hong Yi suddenly felt a cool sensation throughout his body, as if he were bathing in a gentle breeze. Every pore in his body seemed to be breathing in fresh air, and he felt ethereal and incomparably comfortable.

He knew from the scripture that visualizing the starlight entering the brain would produce many illusions. The feeling of a cool breeze blowing over the body and the sensation of being ethereal was the first level of experience.

Just as he was about to become intoxicated, Hong Yi felt a sense of alarm in his heart. He suddenly visualized, and a golden Buddha appeared in the starry sky—compassionate and intimate, as if it were his own past life from thousands of lifetimes ago. This Buddha was the very one depicted in the Amitabha Sutra.

The scripture stated that visualizing this Amitabha Buddha could suppress all kinds of inner demons and reveal one's original face from thousands of lifetimes ago.

As soon as this Buddha appeared in the starry sky within his mind, all of Hong Yi's comfortable feelings vanished instantly, replaced by a return to clarity of mind.

"What a powerful illusion... If I hadn't been able to visualize the Amitabha Buddha, I would have been lost in it. It is extremely dangerous."

Hong Yi knew that if he hadn't visualized the Amitabha Buddha in time, he might have truly become intoxicated by the feeling of the cool breeze and lost his ability to protect himself, potentially ending up insane.

The scripture said that the art of this Buddha's painting had condensed all the essence of Buddhist teachings within it. Even without considering the Buddha, the figure itself was at the pinnacle of the art of painting; such a realm could rival the Human Immortal of the martial path or the Yang God of the immortal path.

Hong Yi continued to hold his mind steady, refusing to be moved by anything.

Suddenly, the illusion changed again. He felt as if he had fallen into a land of gentleness, surrounded by beautiful women, with alluring sights appearing and disappearing, accompanied by soft singing and dancing.

Hong Yi remained unmoved, guarding his mind.

Suddenly, it changed again. He was surrounded by fighting on all sides, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, placing him in the midst of a forest of blades and spears.

Hong Yi steadied his mind again, sat quietly, formed the seal, and looked inward at the starlight entering his brain.

The illusion changed again, but this time, he felt stabbing pain throughout his body, his head felt as if it were splitting, and then all sorts of bitter, spicy, and sour tastes flooded his heart.

Hong Yi remained steadfast.

He knew that just as visualizing a plum in one's mouth would cause saliva to flow—even though there was no plum, it was just a false image—these were all illusions.

"The scripture says: 'Visualize the heaven and the Buddha. The heaven is where all gods return and the spiritual platform of all Buddhas. Visualize the energy of the heavenly stars entering through the crown of the head, penetrating inch by inch, and combining with the soul. Illusions will be reborn; the soul may feel cool, hot, sour, or spicy. One may see celestial palaces and jade maidens, or Asuras and evil ghosts, or celestial maidens and Bodhisattvas, or the gods of heaven and earth, or the sages of antiquity. One may feel they have fallen into reincarnation, or feel the slaughter of the battlefield, or feel soft jade and warm fragrance, or feel the strictness of a father and the kindness of a mother, or feel one's own martial power is overwhelming, capable of overturning rivers and seas, or feel one's whole body rotting and covered in bones. Regardless of all these illusions, guard your heart and mind. Visualize a Buddha in the void named Amitabha, forming the Amitabha Seal. This Buddha is the original face of all living beings in heaven and earth. Guarding your original intent, not moved by anything, can avoid disaster. Suddenly, one may feel the energy of the heavenly stars has touched the soul, pulling it upward with great force, giving one the intention of ascending to heaven in broad daylight. At this time, use great determination to steady the spirit, sinking and floating within the body; one must never let the true intent leave the body. All these things are false...'"

Hong Yi had experienced the illusions, and he knew the scripture was not exaggerating.

Suddenly, he felt his whole body rotting, covered in flies, mosquitoes, and maggots, with his bones exposed.

Hong Yi ignored it, guarding his mind tightly.

Finally, Hong Yi was exhausted. With a boom, his thoughts scattered, and his whole body felt an urge to sleep immediately.

He struggled to support his body, almost crawling into his room, lying on the bed, covering himself with a quilt, and immediately falling into a deep sleep.

He woke up to bright daylight.

Because Hong Yi had the experience of practicing the Pagoda Visualization Method, he was able to steady his mind. When he calmed down, he had no distracting thoughts, so practicing this method of strengthening the soul from the Amitabha Sutra was not very difficult.

Feeling inspired, Hong Yi's soul drifted out of the room.

He tried to move his soul outside the range of the incense.

"I can't sleep in the courtyard, or I'll freeze to death."

As soon as his soul left his body and touched the outside world, Hong Yi had a strong desire to swim, like a person who had just learned to swim seeing water. He felt his soul sinking and floating within his body, like a drowning person struggling.

He knew that this desire after the soul left the body was the realm of Night Roaming, as recorded in the Daoist Classic and mentioned by Bai Ziyue.

Hong Yi tried to hold his soul steady, but he felt a powerful force pulling him away from his body, wanting to float up to the sky.

He knew that if he really let his soul leave his body just now and float up to the sky, his soul would have been scattered by now. Even if one had cultivated to the level of a Ghost Immortal, if the soul floated to the extremely high sky, it would be blown away by the wind in an instant.

"With the experience just now, I won't be afraid to try again."

This time, with more experience, he easily overcame the myriad illusions. Hong Yi once again felt the sensation of a great force in the sky pulling his soul, wanting to leave his body and ascend.

Sure enough, there was no longer that feeling of weakness and coldness from before; instead, there was a comfortable feeling of roaming freely.

The visualized starlight seemed to combine with his soul. Hong Yi felt an irresistible force coming from the void in the sky, pulling his soul out of his body and floating toward the sky.

At this critical moment, the Amitabha Buddha, who seemed to be his past life, suddenly appeared in the starry sky.

Hong Yi's soul could not help but be pulled away from his body by this great force, wanting to float toward the sky.

He tried hard to resist this force.

The feeling of ascending to the sky at the end was the final illusion.

Hong Yi remained steadfast, and in an instant, he understood what was meant by the impermanence of life and death, and his terror vanished. This feeling was very real and very good, as if a seeker who had gone through thousands of hardships and overcome eighty-one tribulations had finally passed the final test and ascended to heaven.

He knew that his soul had consumed too much energy, just like thinking too much while reading.

Hong Yi had a feeling that if Bai Ziyue saw this Buddha, he might be able to advance further without even practicing what was in the scripture.

This comfortable feeling was something that even determined warriors, Martial Masters, or even Xiantian Martial Masters and Grandmasters could not resist.

Hong Yi also felt a sense of intoxication.

He tried to hold on, but his soul was pulled away.

Suddenly, the scene changed again. He was surrounded by evil ghosts, Asuras, and Yakshas, all wanting to pounce on him to eat his flesh and drink his blood.

He did not pay attention to them and guarded his mind tightly.

Finally, he succeeded in reaching the realm of Night Roaming.

The bright sunlight came through the window. Hong Yi felt his mind was agile, and his whole body was so refreshed that he wanted to sing.

The soul that wanted to leave the body and ascend to the sky suddenly calmed down.

The world was still the world.

He had passed the test.