Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra: Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness

They say that if you read something three hundred times, you'll understand it even without a teacher.

Ye Qin had read the introductory chapter of the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra, Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit, at least a thousand times over the past few years. He had nearly worn through those few thin pages, and his understanding of them had gradually deepened.

Although this mantra and mental cultivation method didn't have the fierce offensive power of Yang Yicheng's Tiger Fist or the astonishing lightness skill of Feng Xiao's Cloud Ladder Leap, it had helped him considerably over the past few years. He had gradually come to appreciate its subtle benefits. A journey that took other people two days took him only half a day, because he had tremendous stamina and recovered extremely quickly, almost never feeling tired. The less time he spent on the road, the more time he had to gather herbs.

Ye Qin regretted only that Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit had just one level of cultivation.

He turned past the last page of the first half of the manual, then saw a few words written across nearly half a page in the second half: "Fragment of the Upper Section: Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness. Cultivation methods for the first through third levels."

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

That was because a senior expert from the Herb Gathering Hall had written an assessment in the manual, saying that only the introductory chapter, Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit, of the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra was cultivable. By continually accumulating inner qi, one could strengthen one's body and prolong one's life.

As for the fragment of the Upper Section, Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness, that senior expert had judged it useless to martial artists and not worth practicing. Those who enjoyed cultivating their character could read it at their leisure.

Ye Qin had no idea that the author of this assessment was none other than the Medicine King Gang's founding leader, a peerless martial artist who had led the gang to prosperity centuries ago.

Ye Qin didn't think he was any better than the senior expert who had written the assessment, so he'd never considered giving those pages a try. Instead, he had devoted himself to practicing the introductory chapter, Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit, until he had mastered it thoroughly.

But now, he was suddenly tempted.

The dangers he had encountered on this herb-gathering trip had left him feeling secretly anxious and keenly aware of the need to improve his strength and push his abilities as far as he could. Otherwise, he didn't know when he might lose his life.

For the next year or two, he wouldn't be able to save enough gold coins to buy a decent martial arts manual from the Secret Manual Room. He couldn't learn any other martial arts.

A ready-made cultivation method was right there in front of him. Not giving it a try felt like wasting a treasure and reaching far away for something close at hand.

If he truly couldn't get any results from practicing it, he wouldn't lose anything. At most, he would waste a little of the spare time he had while gathering herbs, without spending a single copper coin. But if he did get results, he could save the gold coins he would have spent on a manual—and years of hard work. Turning down such a bargain would be foolish.

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

At that thought, Ye Qin couldn't resist any longer.

He sat upright and opened the pages in the back.

"Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra: Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness. Sit in meditation and forget the self; be free of defilement and harm. The first through third levels: rein in every trace of outwardly released qi, every expression, emotion, and exertion of will that might leak out. Convert every shred of the body's vitality and blood into primordial qi."

Huh? Primordial qi—what was that?

Ye Qin rubbed his nose. He had only ever heard of internal energy and true qi. What was primordial qi supposed to do?

Never mind. There was no point dwelling on things he didn't understand. He just had to practice as instructed. If other people could do it, why couldn't he?

Ye Qin sat cross-legged and silently recited the cultivation mantra. Following the meridian diagram, he circulated his inner breath and began practicing the Greater Celestial Circuit.

This cultivation method really was rather strange.

When he practiced Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit, even the faintest wisp of qi produced by one Greater Celestial Circuit would ultimately gather in his dantian, slightly strengthening his inner energy. With time, his inner energy would gradually grow more substantial in his dantian.

But when he practiced Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness, that faint wisp of qi circulated through his meridians and suddenly vanished without a trace when it passed through the Mud Pill point.

After a day of sitting meditation, he could complete seven Greater Celestial Circuits. Yet none of those seven circuits had strengthened his inner energy by even the slightest bit.

Ye Qin finally understood why the senior expert had said not to practice it. There really was a reason. This chapter's cultivation method didn't strengthen inner energy at all. Instead, it made the qi produced during meditation disappear to who knew where.

For several days in a row, he spent the mornings gathering herbs and practiced in the afternoons. The results were the same every day, and Ye Qin grew a little discouraged.

But Ye Qin didn't give up so easily just because he had run into trouble. He wanted to find out where that faint wisp of qi went. The qi inside his body couldn't simply vanish for no reason. If he found the cause, perhaps he could solve the problem.

One day, Ye Qin sat meditating as usual with his back against a boulder, circulating the Greater Celestial Circuit.

His consciousness was completely immersed in the process, following that faint wisp of qi. As his consciousness passed through the Mud Pill point, a powerful vortex suddenly seized it and swept it inside in an instant.

Then, everything before his eyes abruptly changed.

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

A ring of light nearly a zhang wide enveloped and protected the entire stele. The stele stood on a Gray Rock Floating Island, while the empty space around the island was filled with endless drifting gray mist.

Ye Qin was startled.

Wasn't this the dream he'd had a few days ago? How had he suddenly come back?

And he wasn't dreaming this time. He was practicing the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra!

A thought crossed his mind, and his ball-shaped "body" began to float gently upward.

Still, he didn't dare drift beyond the area covered by the stele's ring of light. He only floated around within it. This Life Primordial Spirit Stele, engraved with his name, gave him a sense of security. If he left the ring of light, there was no telling whether he would still be safe.

He clearly remembered the terrifying Purple Lightning drifting through the void. Even the slightest brush against one of them would probably be enough to kill his tiny ball of light. He didn't dare run off exploring again and risk drawing the Purple Lightning over.

Floating inside the ring of light, Ye Qin looked over the gray rock island.

The island hadn't changed at all. It was just as he'd seen it a few days ago: barren, lifeless all around, vast and desolate.

The only difference was that thin streaks of white light had appeared across the island. They were finer than strands of hair and only a few inches long. As they moved, they twisted and drifted slowly around the island, much like the Purple Lightning, bringing a hint of life to the dreary place. Those dozens of streaks of White Glow floated only above the island, as if some force held them there and kept them from leaving.

Ye Qin was startled. What were these streaks of light? Could they be as terrifying as the Purple Lightning?