The Immeasurable Hall was brightly lit. The Xieling members scattered, searching for clues to the main tomb chamber.
Beside the stone bridge, Lu Yan was explaining some basic principles of cultivation to Chen Yulou.
"There are countless kinds of energy in heaven and earth. We call the energy we can observe and properly use the vital energy of heaven and earth."
"And the key to observing and manipulating energy is our mental power."
"Humans are born with a spirit. By that, I mean we have complete souls."
"The soul is divided into three parts: the true spirit, the spirit body, and the spiritual nature."
"When the spiritual nature radiates outward, it becomes mental power. You can think of them as one and the same. At the beginning of cultivation, a person makes their soul reach a wondrous resonance, absorbing the scattered spiritual energy in the world as naturally as breathing, to nourish and strengthen their soul."
Though Chen Yulou was learned, he still only understood half of it. He asked, "Master, what's the difference between spiritual energy and the vital energy of heaven and earth?"
"Of course there's a difference."
Lu Yan shot Chen Yulou a sidelong glance, then patiently explained.
"The vital energy of heaven and earth is exhaled and inhaled by the world, but it isn't easy to use for strengthening the soul."
"Spiritual energy, on the other hand, is the spiritual nature that has dispersed from living beings since life first appeared on Earth. Generally, it has no particular attributes and is easy to absorb."
Chen Yulou was still utterly confused. "Master, according to what you've said, shouldn't there be more and more spiritual energy? But haven't I heard that this is the Age of Declining Dharma?"
Teaching a disciple for the first time was proving a little trying for Lu Yan. He patiently explained, "The Age of Declining Dharma refers to the vital energy of heaven and earth growing thinner and less active. As for spiritual energy, there should have been more and more of it, but during the Ming Dynasty, heaven and earth were severed. The spiritual energy concentration now is actually lower than it was before."
"Moreover, in modern times, people's desires have grown increasingly complicated. The more crowded a city is, the harder its spiritual energy is to absorb. Cultivating there can easily lead to qi deviation, which is why it's called the Age of Declining Dharma."
As the leader of Xieling, Chen Yulou had naturally heard the legend of Liu Bowen severing heaven and earth. Curiosity stirred in him. "What exactly does 'severing heaven and earth' mean? Why did Ming Taizu order it?"
Lu Yan himself hadn't known much about these secret histories of this world, but Simu and Yixiu had been well versed in them and had told him about it. He explained, "At the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming, the Yuan Dynasty's long oppression and years of warfare brought tragedies to every corner of the land. Resentment surged across the Divine Land, spawning countless demons. Among them were many ghost kings who gathered ghost soldiers and generals, refused to descend to the underworld, and sought to establish a netherworld among the living."
"Every sect sent its disciples down the mountain to exterminate the demons, but the monsters kept appearing, fed by the endless resentment. They were simply too difficult to defeat, and the sects suffered heavy losses."
"With the world on the verge of becoming a netherworld, Liu Bowen presented Ming Taizu with a plan. He used the God-Sealing Array left in Primordial Heaven to sever heaven and earth, drawing in all the ghosts that had grown powerful across the land."
Chen Yulou was dumbfounded by this secret history, but it only left him with more questions. He could only gaze at Lu Yan expectantly.
Lu Yan didn't keep him in suspense. He continued, "Primordial Heaven is what we call the Sea of Consciousness. It's where the true spirits of all living things on Earth go after death. Both the Eastern underworld and the Western netherworld lie within it."
"The God-Sealing Array was an array used by the ancients to confer titles on the gods and establish the Heavenly Court. You don't need to learn all the details."
"After a person dies, their true spirit is inevitably drawn into the Sea of Consciousness within forty-nine days. Once assimilated, they cease to exist. The underworld, however, is a place of great merit. It not only balances yin and yang, but also allows people to reincarnate after death without their true spirits dissipating."
"When Liu Bowen used the power of the whole world to activate the God-Sealing Array, the pull of the Sea of Consciousness grew stronger. It drew in and assimilated not only the many ghosts lingering among the living, but also a huge amount of spiritual energy."
"Several hundred years have passed. The spiritual energy concentration has recovered somewhat, but it's still nowhere near what it was."
At this point, Lu Yan glanced at Chen Yulou's blank expression and decided there was little point in explaining further. He touched a finger to Chen Yulou's brow, sending a Meditation Technique into his mind.
"Enough of that. I'm passing this Meditation Technique on to you. It's the foundation, so practice it well."
Chen Yulou felt a prickling sensation between his brows. A huge amount of complicated, incomprehensible information suddenly appeared in his mind, and he staggered two steps, nearly losing his balance.
"Master, that was amazing. Without that, it would've taken me ages to learn all this."
Chen Yulou closed his eyes and sorted through the knowledge in his mind. Then he looked at Lu Yan in admiration.
"Good thing you didn't turn into an idiot. Your mental power really is impressive. An ordinary person would've become a fool from that one touch."
Lu Yan looked at Chen Yulou's beaming face and spoke without a hint of courtesy.
Chen Yulou's face stiffened. At a loss for words, he simply stood to one side and sulked.
"Found it!"
"Chief, Master Lu, we found it!"
Just then, a Xieling brother of average build ran over, panting.
"Let's go. Show us the way."
Chen Yulou perked up and assumed the bearing of Xieling's leader.
They headed down at an angle from the stone bridge and came upon a passageway. It was filled with swirling mist. Several Xieling brothers waited beside it with their oil lamps, not daring to enter rashly.
Chen Yulou liked to lead from the front to win people's trust, and this time was no exception. Holding the Little Divine Blade in his right hand, he strode step by step into the passageway.
After a while, they saw a stone door at the far end. A figure in black robes sat before it, dressed in a bizarre fashion.
But with his newly sworn master, Lu Yan, at his side, Chen Yulou had no reason to fear any demons or ghosts. He steeled himself and walked toward the figure.
Up close, he saw that it was a stiff corpse. The man had been fat and tall, with a square nose, a broad mouth, and a very long beard. His eyes were still open, revealing two eerie, pitch-black hollows.
Chen Yulou saw that the man wore a black hat and had his boots on the wrong feet, dressed like the death demon from a stage play. His heart pounded, but his new master and all the Xieling brothers were watching nearby. How could he show fear?
Chen Yulou stepped forward and carefully turned the corpse over with the Little Divine Blade. He found medicine bottles and jars, as well as wooden and paper figures that looked like puppets. A large bag hung from the corpse's waist, filled with black, hard beans. The stranger it all looked, the more baffled he felt.
Suddenly, Chen Yulou spotted a gold plate at the small of the corpse's back. Four large seal characters, written with vigorous strokes, read "Guanshan Taibao." He couldn't help exclaiming, "So he was one of the Ming Dynasty's Guanshan Taibao!"
Chen Yulou thought for a moment, then pried off the waist plaque and ordered, "Two men, step forward. Don't touch the corpse. Drag it outside and cremate it on the spot."
"Yes, sir!"
Two skilled Xieling members immediately hooked the corpse with bamboo poles and began dragging it out.
"Wait."
Lu Yan stepped forward, took the wooden and paper figures and the black beans from the large bag, and examined them carefully.
Chen Yulou was quick to read the situation. Seeing that his master was interested, he explained, "Master, during the Ming Dynasty, there was a group of tomb raiders known as the Guanshan Taibao. They were skilled in Mountain-Viewing Finger-Guidance. I've heard they looted many imperial tombs and were quite capable, but nobody knows why they robbed tombs."
"The Guanshan Taibao were extremely mysterious. There were rumors that they were skilled in a Puppet Technique that used paper figures, but that's all I know."
"Hmm, this energy is rather interesting."
Lu Yan had already activated his Sharingan. As he studied the wondrous currents of energy linking the paper figures and the beans, a thoughtful smile came over his face.
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