Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra: Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness

As the saying goes, read a book three hundred times and its meaning will reveal itself without a teacher.

Ye Qin had flipped through the "Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit" preface of the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra at least a thousand times over the past few years, nearly wearing the thin pages to shreds, and his comprehension had gradually deepened.

Although this mental cultivation method lacked the fierce offensive power of Yang Yicheng's Tiger Fist or the freakish agility of Feng Xiao's Cloud Ladder Leap, it had provided him with no small amount of help over the years. He had gradually come to realize the wonders of this technique. A journey that took others two days, he could complete in half a day because his stamina was exceptionally high, his recovery rate was rapid, and he was virtually tireless. With less time spent on the road, he naturally had more time for gathering herbs.

What Ye Qin regretted slightly was that "Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit" only contained the first level of cultivation.

He turned past the last page of the first half of the manual and saw that the latter half—nearly half the book—bore these words: Upper Volume Fragment, Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness, levels one through three.

In the past, Ye Qin had habitually ignored these words.

This was because a senior expert from the Herb Gathering Hall had written a critique on this manual, stating that only the preface, "Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit," was worth practicing, as it could continuously accumulate internal energy to strengthen the physique and prolong life.

As for the subsequent Upper Volume Fragment, Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness, that senior expert had dismissed it as useless for martial artists and not worth practicing. Those who enjoyed self-cultivation and character-building could read it at their leisure.

Ye Qin did not know that the one who wrote this critique was actually the first generation leader of the Medicine King Gang, a top-tier martial artist who had brought the gang to prosperity.

Ye Qin did not believe himself to be more capable than that senior expert, so he had never entertained the thought of touching those pages. Instead, he had focused his efforts on the preface, "Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit," until he had mastered it perfectly.

But now, he was suddenly tempted.

The danger he had encountered during this herb-gathering trip left Ye Qin with a secret, anxious urgency. He needed to strengthen his power and elevate his abilities as much as possible; otherwise, he truly did not know when his little life might come to an end.

Within the next year or two, it was impossible for him to save up enough gold coins to purchase a decent martial arts manual from the Secret Manual Room. He could not learn any other martial arts.

With a ready-made mental cultivation technique sitting right in front of him, it would feel like a waste of a heavenly treasure and a rejection of what was near in favor of what was far if he didn't at least try to practice it.

If he truly couldn't achieve any results, he wouldn't lose anything. At most, he would have wasted a little bit of spare time during his herb-gathering. It wouldn't cost him a single copper coin. If he could achieve some results, he would save a fortune in gold coins that would otherwise go toward buying a manual—saving him years of hard labor. Not taking advantage of such a good deal would be foolish.

Besides, someone in this world must have successfully practiced it. Otherwise, why would the predecessors have left this manual behind?

Thinking of this, Ye Qin could no longer hold back.

He sat upright with proper posture and turned to the following pages.

"Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra: Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness: Meditate and forget, without filth or injury. Levels one to three mental cultivation: Retract all externalized aura, retract all leaking expressions, emotions, and mental energy; convert every thread of the body's essence, energy, and blood into primordial energy."

Eh, primordial energy? What is that?

Ye Qin rubbed his nose. He had only heard of internal energy and true qi; what was this primordial energy for?

Forget it. He wouldn't overthink things he didn't understand. He would just follow the instructions and practice. If others could practice it, why couldn't he?

Ye Qin sat cross-legged, silently reciting the mental cultivation method, and began his Great Circulation practice by guiding his internal energy according to the meridian map in the book.

This mental cultivation method was indeed strange.

According to the "Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit" method, the faint thread of energy produced by one Great Circulation would always gather in the Dantian, slightly strengthening his internal true qi. Over time, this made his internal true qi gradually deeper.

But according to the "Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness" method, that faint thread of energy, while circulating through his meridians, would suddenly vanish without a trace when it passed through the Mud Pill, its destination unknown.

After a day of meditation, he could complete seven Great Circulations. Yet, these seven cycles failed to strengthen his internal energy even by a fraction.

Ye Qin finally understood why that senior expert had said not to practice it; there was indeed a reason. This chapter's cultivation method did not strengthen internal true qi at all; instead, it made the energy produced during meditation disappear to who knows where.

For several days in a row, he spent his mornings gathering herbs and his afternoons practicing. After several days of this, the situation remained the same, and Ye Qin felt somewhat discouraged.

However, Ye Qin did not easily give up because of this difficulty. He wanted to figure out where that faint thread of energy produced by the practice was going. The energy within his body could not just disappear for no reason; finding the cause might lead to a solution.

One day, Ye Qin was sitting against a giant rock as usual, performing a Great Circulation.

His consciousness was completely immersed in the process, moving along with that faint thread of energy. When his consciousness passed through the Mud Pill point, it was suddenly sucked into a vortex of immense suction.

Then, the scene before his eyes changed instantly.

Ye Qin suddenly discovered that he had become a tiny, pale-white ball of light, floating above a stone stele.

The entire stele was encased in a circular barrier of light about a zhang in size, protecting it. The location of the stele was precisely a Gray Rock Floating Island. In the void surrounding the floating island, endless gray mist drifted.

Ye Qin was startled.

Wasn't this the dream he had a few days ago? How did he suddenly enter it again?

Moreover, he wasn't dreaming right now; he was practicing the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra.

His heart stirred, and his ball-of-light "body" floated up gently.

However, he dared not float outside the range covered by the stele's light barrier, only drifting within it. This Life Primordial Spirit Stele, inscribed with his name, gave him a sense of security. If he left this barrier, it was hard to say whether he would be safe.

He still clearly remembered those incredibly dangerous purple lightning bolts drifting in the void. Touching even a fraction of one would likely be enough to end the life of his little ball of light. He dared not wander out again and attract that purple lightning.

Ye Qin floated within the barrier, observing the Gray Rock Floating Island.

The entire island had not changed; it was still the same as he had seen a few days ago—barren, with a deathly silence all around, vast and desolate.

The only change was that there were now wisps of white light on the island, smaller than a strand of hair and about a few inches long. As these wisps moved, they resembled the motion of the purple lightning, twisting their bodies and slowly drifting around the island, bringing a hint of vitality to the stagnant land. Those dozens of white rays merely drifted in the air above the island, as if held by some binding force that prevented them from leaving.

Ye Qin was shocked. What were these rays of light? Surely they couldn't be as terrifying as the purple lightning.