On Roundness

"Excellent! With your reminder, Uncle Yu, I've stripped away the unnecessary jargon. This is the most concise and clear theory of cultivation!"

The young man spoke proudly, full of confidence. "I said before, what's the most crucial thing in the Spirit realm?"

Yu Ci chimed in, "Master Ye mentioned that the Spirit realm is where cultivators clarify the structure of their spirit and soul, refine its nature, and elevate its level until a Yin God is formed and can wander outside the body. As for what's key within that, I'll have to ask Master Ye to enlighten me."

A faint blush appeared on Ye Tu's face, but he held his ground. He clapped his hands. "In the Spirit realm, the most crucial element is, of course, the structure of the spirit and soul. Without it, any refinement or Yin God formation is just muddled nonsense. Today, I will definitely explain the structure of the spirit and soul clearly!"

Ye Tu was full of confidence. He sat down cross-legged and gestured for Yu Ci to sit beside him. Then he began, "I said before that the structure of the spirit and soul is 'one origin, two real, three virtual.' It sounds strange, but it's actually very easy to understand."

He took a breath and drew a circle with his finger. "This is the Conscious Spirit."

Then, his finger moved back to the pebbles at the center of the circle. "This is the Original Spirit."

"The Original Spirit is a point of innate spiritual light, and also the innate 'nature.' All cultivation is about returning to the origin and pursuing its innate divine abilities. The Conscious Spirit, on the other hand, is for thought and awareness; it's what we think, what we feel, what we perceive, and it governs daily affairs. Daoist texts say that the Conscious Spirit hides while the Original Spirit emerges, discussing their relationship... Simply put, isn't it just like this?"

He tapped the diagram twice with his finger. Yu Ci nodded repeatedly. The relationship between the Conscious Spirit and the Original Spirit could be complex and convoluted, with endless words failing to fully describe it, but presenting it with this diagram made it instantly visual. It was clear that Ye Tu had put in a lot of effort.

"The Original Spirit and the Conscious Spirit are the two ultimate, mutually generating concepts within the structure of the spirit and soul, which is the 'two real.' But why do we add 'one origin' before it? Here, we must thoroughly understand a concept: what exactly does the Conscious Spirit's thought and awareness mean?"

Ye Tu looked up, meeting Yu Ci's eyes. "See, when I started, I drew a circle. This represents the ideal state, a perfect mental state. And how does this 'perfection' come about? It's the projection of the Original Spirit's innate perfect state when completely free from external interference. At the beginning of the spirit and soul, there was no distinction between Conscious Spirit and Original Spirit; it was a unified whole, perfect and flawless. It was just the Original Spirit's innate spiritual light shining, and on the entire spiritual plane, the 'Original Spirit' was the foundation, the only, the essential point.

"But in reality, this perfect mental state is impossible to achieve. From the moment we receive our parents' essence and blood, and are conceived in the mother's womb, we are constantly influenced by the external environment. Some of these influences are perceptible, some are not; some are memorable, some are not. This includes every stumble from infancy until now, every kindness received, every malice, every good deed, every bad deed, and so on..."

He finished speaking, stretching his arm out as if to encompass an unbearable weight, then bringing it down with a sound effect:

"CRASH!

"This way, the perfect circle becomes imperfect! But for every force that makes the 'circle' become 'un-round,' our instincts will generate a corresponding counter-force, hoping to return it to perfection. After a period of time, practice makes perfect, and a complete set of responses to external changes will form. This set of responses is the foundation of our conduct, something acquired later in life, which is the acquired thought and intention, in other words, the 'Conscious Spirit'..."

As he spoke, a thunderous roar echoed again from Sky Rift. The surrounding living beings stirred restlessly, but Yu Ci paid no mind; this had happened too many times last night. Ye Tu was completely immersed in his own world and didn't notice, continuing animatedly:

"You also need to understand one thing. Every force applied from the outside leaves a trace in our consciousness. Some we can feel, some we cannot. Those things that are difficult to perceive, though seemingly insignificant, actually accumulate in total to tens or even hundreds of times the information we can consciously perceive. Decades of accumulation have already formed a scale, far exceeding what we can sense."

His hand moved, almost along the outer arc, and drew another circle. Together with the previous diagram, it formed a set of concentric circles. "This thin outer circle is what we use daily, our ordinary thoughts and awareness. I call it 'Manifest Consciousness.' The inner part, I call 'Hidden Consciousness.' Together, they constitute the true 'Conscious Spirit.'

"The information within the Hidden Consciousness is incredibly vast and contains immense power. It holds our pent-up emotions and desires, the primal instincts inherited from our ancestors, and even more mysterious bloodline inheritances. This is what cultivators often refer to as 'talent' and 'aptitude,' the potential we've accumulated over the years. So..."

The young man heavily slapped his palm onto the concentric circles. "This is a complete 'diagram.' You see, the Original Spirit resides within, and the Conscious Spirit resides outside. The Hidden Consciousness is in the depths, and the Manifest Consciousness is on the surface, forming a clearly layered, three-tiered structure. All cultivation in the Spirit realm can be represented by this. Behold!"

Ye Tu's index finger started from the center and drew two lines, extending beyond the two outer rings.

Yu Ci was stunned at first, then slapped his thigh. It aligned perfectly with his own cultivation experience. "Differentiate Consciousness, Transform Thought!"

Ye Tu smiled broadly. "Exactly! After cultivating through the 'Three Mortal Gates,' the spirit and soul gradually grow stronger, but it's truly the Original Spirit deep within that grows. When it reaches a certain level of power, it can penetrate the Conscious Spirit, projecting spiritual energy outward, and also actively perceive external information. We call the former 'divine thought' and the latter 'divine consciousness.' Both are collectively called 'divine intent,' and this is the first step in the Spirit realm!"

Hearing this, Yu Ci suddenly understood.

The spirit and soul system was like this: the Original Spirit and the Conscious Spirit were its basic constituent elements; the Conscious Spirit could be further divided into Manifest Consciousness and Hidden Consciousness; the Original Spirit, Hidden Consciousness, and Manifest Consciousness, from inside to outside, formed the basic structure of the spirit and soul.

As for divine thought, divine consciousness, and their collective term "divine intent," these were concepts derived from the Original Spirit itself, merely representing different branches or layers.

Thus, the priorities and importance were clearly delineated.

Yu Ci's reaction was the best reward for Ye Tu. The young man waved his hand demonstratively, a flush of excitement spreading across his fair face. He pressed on, drawing over a dozen arrows from the edge of the outer ring inward, converging towards the center.

"The next goal is to expand controllable thoughts as much as possible inwards, and to transform the elusive Hidden Consciousness into Manifest Consciousness that can be controlled. This is 'Refinement,' the key stage of cultivation in the Spirit realm.

"You must understand that the Hidden Consciousness harbors too many emotions and desires, a mixture of good and bad, impurity and dross. It's arguably the dirtiest corner of the human heart. Tribulations often arise from here during cultivation; it's the origin of inner demons. If it's not refined carefully, not only will progress be difficult, but even if you ascend, your foundation will be hollow, destined to collapse sooner or later."

He shook his head. "This is where a good longevity art becomes important. Ordinary methods like 'qi circulation contemplation' and 'guiding and breathing' can at most lead to Differentiate Consciousness, Transform Thought. But from the 'Refinement' stage onwards, you need a qualified longevity art as guidance. Every sect in the cultivation world has its unique methods for 'Refinement.' As a rogue cultivator, Uncle Yu, this is truly difficult."

Yu Ci knew his own predicament, but he didn't show it to Ye Tu. He just smiled and said, "The cart will find its way when it reaches the mountain. Who can predict fortune?"

Ye Tu thought for a moment. "How about this: Uncle Yu, why don't you come back to the East Sea with me? Our Half-Mountain Island has its own unique achievements in longevity arts. And your mastery of the sword dao is so good. I'll talk to my master when we get back and have him take you as a disciple. Wouldn't that be great?"

The young man became more excited as he spoke. Yu Ci was also somewhat moved, but didn't hold out much hope. Although Ye Tu hadn't formally introduced his sect, from the occasional hints he dropped, Yu Ci could sense that Half-Mountain Island was primarily populated by the Ye clan, with very few outsiders. It wouldn't be easy to join such a place.

So he just smiled and pulled Ye Tu back to the main topic. "We'll talk about longevity arts later. You've just reached 'Refinement,' what comes next?"

Ye Tu became excited again by his own ideas, his emotions soaring. He responded fluently:

"When we have refined all the Hidden Consciousness, completely transforming it into Manifest Consciousness that we can perceive and control, it proves that our control and grasp of the spirit have reached a certain height. At this point, there's no longer talk of Hidden Consciousness, Manifest Consciousness, or Conscious Spirit; it's collectively called the 'Yin God.' Once the Yin God is formed, the immense potential hidden within the spirit and soul will also be gradually unlocked, causing the spirit and soul's strength to advance by leaps and bounds, until it detaches from the physical body and wanders outside, which is the work of the third step!

"Correspondingly, there are three major signs of the Spirit realm: the first is Differentiate Consciousness, Transform Thought, marking the beginning of the Spirit realm; the second is True Spirit Manifestation, serving as the axis of the Spirit realm; and the third is the Yin God's departure from the body, marking the completion of the Spirit realm!"

"What is True Spirit?" Yu Ci asked, hitting the most crucial point.

Ye Tu answered fluently, "To see one's true heart is 'true'; for all orifices to be open is 'spirit.' True Spirit corresponds to the Hidden Consciousness. It can manifest the Hidden Consciousness, allowing one to initially grasp the outline of one's most hidden intentions. The Original Spirit within then shines brightly, projecting through this outline outwards, forming various kinds of spiritual light. This is True Spirit. In essence, it's the shadow formed by the Original Spirit penetrating the Conscious Spirit, nothing more."

Hearing this, Yu Ci couldn't help but think of the lamp flame that ignited above his crown. According to Ye Tu's explanation, that should be the True Spirit.

Ye Tu nodded. "Precisely. I see your True Spirit burning brightly like a flame, but its form is singular. You must know that a person's Hidden Consciousness is naturally a true reflection of themselves. Therefore, the True Spirit manifested through its outline should also take on the form of one's own image. So, you must have just touched the Hidden Consciousness without delving deeply. Among the early, middle, and late stages of the Spirit realm, you have completed the early stage but not yet reached the middle stage.

"Uncle Yu, you've only been in the Spirit realm for a few days and you've reached this point; it's already very impressive. It must be because your foundation during the 'Three Mortal Gates' was solid... Right, you practice methods like contemplation and visualization. Compared to those who cultivate from the outside in or purely through guiding and breathing, you have a great advantage in nourishing the spirit and soul."

Ye Tu's extensive knowledge truly impressed Yu Ci. Then, the young man began to conclude.

"If the human form is completely achieved, without any differences, it signifies that the Hidden Consciousness has been successfully refined. That is already the level of the Yin God. At that point, the Yin God is the form, and the True Spirit is the shadow. Looking back at the Original Spirit, it's like the sun and moon traversing the sky. This Original Spirit can be called 'Yang God.' Of course, the current 'Yang God' is just a title; there's still a long way to go before the 'Yang God' cultivation of 'gathering to form, scattering to become qi' in the future."

At this point, Yu Ci couldn't help but slap his thigh in admiration. Regardless of the depth or accuracy of the young man's explanation, this series of theories was truly self-contained and complete. He had truly broadened his horizons today.

The more Yu Ci reacted this way, the happier Ye Tu became. Not only did he speak, but he also repeatedly gestured according to the diagrams on the ground. He didn't aim for meticulous detail but gradually revealed a complete outline of cultivation, which was far more brilliant than simply reciting books filled with obscure classical language.

At this moment, Yu Ci suddenly felt the sensation of "listening to your words is better than reading ten years of books." He listened even more carefully. The two of them, one speaking enthusiastically and the other listening intently, lost track of time. Gradually, Yu Ci also began to ask questions to better understand the information. He was more interested in the sword dao, so after a few exchanges, he inquired about "Original Spirit controlling the sword."

"Original Spirit controlling the sword... that would extend things again." Ye Tu hadn't prepared for this question. He scratched his head and improvised.

"Using the Original Spirit to control the sword is an application of 'Uniting Spirit and Qi.' This 'Uniting Spirit and Qi' isn't part of the same system as what I mentioned before; it's related to Qi refinement and body forging. To put it plainly, it's the fusion of the spirit and soul with the vital energy throughout the body. That is, the essence, energy, and spirit become one, indistinguishable from each other. This is what's meant by 'spirit and qi embrace,' 'spirit enters qi acupoints,' and 'the three unite into the origin'! This process forms high-level powers like 'Gang' and 'Sha.' Infusing this into a sword allows one to control the sword and connect with spirits, while also enhancing the vitality of the Original Spirit. It's a very practical technique."

"Hmm, sounds good..."

"Of course. Others might just see it as a skill, but for sword cultivators, Original Spirit sword control is the foundation of nurturing the sword and cultivating Sha. It's a lifelong pursuit. It's remarkable that you, Uncle Yu, achieved it without a teacher, which shows you've built a solid foundation in cultivating the body, possess abundant vital energy, and have extraordinary talent for swordsmanship!"

"It's that demanding? Then Daoist Yan..."

"What Daoist Yan?" Ye Tu looked confused.

Yu Ci immediately recounted his encounter with Daoist Yan, emphasizing the incredibly powerful final strike.

Ye Tu listened, stunned, and muttered, "No way, since when did anyone just pick up Original Spirit sword control?"

He shook his head, regaining his composure, and began to explain to Yu Ci, "There's a crucial step here involving the embrace of spirit and qi, transforming and generating qi. This qi isn't ordinary qi; it's Gang, it's Sha, it's Innate Qi, which is a level above the true qi cultivated by the human body. It's the result of cultivation in the Core Formation realm. Spirit cultivators find it difficult to temper Innate Qi, and even if they do, it's a fleeting moment of spirit and qi merging, relying on a flash of inspiration, and cannot be maintained for long.

"I haven't met this Daoist Yan, but based on your description, Uncle, before he unleashed that sword strike, his True Spirit was suspended above, controlling qi with his spirit. It was likely Original Spirit sword control. However, his deliberate posture suggests he was still a step below. That power, though... By the way, let me see the Nine Yang Talisman Sword."

He took the Nine Yang Talisman Sword and examined it carefully before chuckling, "I see. Aside from other aspects of this talisman sword, it has talismans that accumulate Sha qi. It was likely activated by Original Spirit sword control or some other method, which is why its power was so immense. This doesn't entirely reflect Daoist Yan's own strength."

Yu Ci lowered his head to observe, tracing the patterns of the talismans and deducing the process. He found it to be true. He also remembered that the Jade Slip he obtained from Daoist Yan contained information on this topic, though he hadn't had time to study it.

Nodding, he was about to ask again when the commotion from the fierce beasts seemed to be spreading, and a violent tremor shook the ground beneath them. Ye Tu, standing at the edge of the slope, looked out and suddenly gaped, unable to speak.