On Circles

"That's right! With Uncle Yu's reminder, stripping away all those flowery phrases, this is the most concise and clear cultivation theory!"

The youth spoke proudly and full of confidence, "What did I say before was the most crucial thing in the Spirit Cultivation realm?"

Yu Ci played along and answered, "Master Ye said that the Spirit Cultivation realm is where cultivators clarify their spirit and soul's nature, refine its properties, and elevate its tier until they forge a Yin God and their spirit wanders outside the body. As for what is key in all this, I must ask Master Ye for guidance."

A faint blush appeared on Ye Tu's face, though he managed to hold his ground. He clapped his hands. "In the Spirit Cultivation realm, the most crucial thing is naturally the structure of the spirit and soul. Without this, all that talk of refinement and Yin Gods is just complete gibberish! Today, I will definitely make the structure of the spirit and soul crystal clear!"

Full of assurance, Ye Tu sat cross-legged on the ground and motioned for Yu Ci to sit beside him as well, then spoke, "I've said before that the structure of the spirit and soul is one foundation, two realities, and three illusions. It sounds strange, but it's actually very easy to understand."

He took a breath and traced his finger across the area of the circle. "This is the conscious spirit."

Then his finger moved back to the gravel at the center of the circle. "This is the primordial spirit."

"The primordial spirit is a speck of innate numinous light, and also the innate nature. All cultivation is about returning to the origin and pursuing its innate divine abilities. Meanwhile, the conscious spirit is thought and perception—what we think, feel, and observe—which handles our daily affairs. Daoist texts say the conscious spirit hides and the primordial spirit emerges to discuss the relationship between the two... Put simply, isn't that just how it is?"

He tapped the diagram twice, and Yu Ci nodded repeatedly. The relationship between the conscious spirit and the primordial spirit sounded complex and tedious, impossible to exhaust in thousands of words, but laid out in this diagram, it suddenly became vivid and visual. It was clear that Ye Tu had truly put in the effort.

"The primordial spirit and the conscious spirit are the two ultimate, interdependent concepts in the structure of the spirit and soul, which are the two realities. But why put one foundation in front of it? Here, we must thoroughly grasp one concept: what kind of meaning does the conscious spirit's thought and perception actually have?"

Ye Tu raised his head and stared into Yu Ci's eyes. "Look, I started by drawing a single circle. This represents a perfect mental state under ideal conditions. And how does this 'perfection' come about? It is precisely the projection of the primordial spirit's innately complete state in the complete absence of external interference. At the very beginning of the spirit and soul, there was no distinction between conscious and primordial spirits; it was whole, complete, and flawless. It's just that the primordial spirit's innate numinous light suspended and illuminated everything. On the entire spiritual level, the primordial spirit is the foundation, the sole entity, and the essential point.

"But in fact, this perfect mental state is impossible to achieve. From the moment we receive our parents' vital essence and blood and are conceived in our mother's womb, we are constantly influenced by the external environment. These influences include those we can perceive and those we cannot, those we can remember and those we cannot—including every stumble from infancy to the present, every single act of goodwill or malice we receive, every good thing or bad thing, and all the rest..."

Having said all that in one breath, Ye Tu stretched his arms out to their maximum, as if framing an unbearable heavy load, and then pressed them down in a single rush, providing his own sound effects:

Clang!

"Just like that, the perfect circle becomes imperfect! But every time a force appears that makes the 'circle' imperfect, our instinct will give it a corresponding counterforce, hoping it will return to completeness. After a period of time, practice makes perfect, and it will form a whole set of reactions to deal with changes in the outside world. This set of reactions is the foundation of how we conduct ourselves in the world, forged postnatally—which is postnatal thought and intent, or in other words, the 'conscious spirit'..."

At this, another roar like thunder suddenly sounded in the Sky Rift Valley, and the surrounding creatures grew somewhat restless, but Yu Ci paid it no mind; this performance had already played out too many times last night. Ye Tu was even more completely immersed in his own world, completely unaware, and spoke with wild gesticulation:

"We must also understand one more point. Every force exerted by the outside world leaves a trace in our consciousness. Some we can feel, and some we cannot. Those hard-to-perceive things might seem inconspicuous, but in reality, their total volume is dozens or hundreds of times the information we can consciously perceive. Accumulated over decades, they have long since formed a massive scale—and one that far exceeds the scale we can perceive."

His hands moved, tracing almost right against the outer arc to draw another circle, forming a set of concentric circles with the previous figure: "This thin circle on the outside is what we use in our daily lives—ordinary thought and perception. I call it the manifest consciousness. As for this inner part, I call it the hidden consciousness. Only when the two are combined can they be called the true 'conscious spirit'.

"The information inside the hidden consciousness is unimaginably vast and contains immensely powerful forces. It holds suppressed emotions and desires we've harbored for years, the feral instincts left behind by our ancestors, and even more wondrous bloodline inheritances. This is what cultivation often calls 'talent' and 'aptitude'—where our long-accumulated potential lies. Thus..."

The youth slammed his palm heavily onto the concentric circles. "Only thus is it a complete 'diagram'. Look, the primordial spirit dwells within, and the conscious spirit dwells without. The hidden consciousness is in the depths, and the manifest consciousness is in the shallows, forming a clear, three-tiered structure. All cultivation in the Spirit Cultivation realm can be expressed with it. Behold!"

Ye Tu's index finger started from the center of the circle and drew two lines that extended all the way out beyond the two layers of rings.

Yu Ci was startled at first, then smacked his thigh hard, already matching it up with his own cultivation experience: "Differentiate Consciousness, Transform Thought!"

Ye Tu smiled happily. "That's right! Through cultivation of the Three Mortal Gates, the spirit and soul gradually grow stronger. In truth, what grows strong is the primordial spirit in the deepest part of the spirit and soul. When it grows strong to a certain level, it can pierce through the conscious spirit, letting spiritual power seep out, and can also actively perceive outside information. We call the former 'divine thought' and the latter 'divine sense', and collectively refer to both as 'divine intent'. This is the very first step of spirit cultivation!"

Hearing this, Yu Ci experienced a sudden flash of enlightenment.

The spirit and soul system was just like this: the primordial spirit and conscious spirit were its basic constituent elements; the conscious spirit could be further divided into manifest and hidden consciousness; and the primordial spirit, hidden consciousness, and manifest consciousness formed the basic structure of the spirit and soul from the inside out.

As for divine thought, divine sense, and their collective term "divine intent," they were all concepts derived from the primordial spirit itself, merely branching tiers.

In this way, the primary and secondary, the heavy and light, were separated.

His reaction was the best reward for Ye Tu. The youth waved his hand defiantly, a wave of excited red blooming across his fair face. Pressing his advantage, he used the edge of the outer ring as a starting point to draw dozens of arrows pointing inward and converging:

"The next goal is to make the controllable intent expand inward as much as possible, and make the elusive hidden consciousness transform into controllable manifest consciousness as much as possible. This is 'refinement', the crucial focal point of cultivation in the Spirit Cultivation realm.

"You must know that the hidden consciousness conceals far too many emotions and desires—good and bad intermingled, silt and mud mixed together. It can be said to be the filthiest corner of the human heart. During cultivation, tribulations often arise from here; it is the birthplace of inner demons. If not meticulously refined, not only is it hard to make progress in cultivation, but even if one truly ascends, the foundation will be hollow, and it will collapse sooner or later."

At this, Ye Tu shook his head. "Herein lies the importance of a good longevity technique. Ordinary breathing of qi, contemplation, visualization, guidance, and exhaling and inhaling can at best reach the stage of differentiating consciousness and transforming thought. But starting from the step of 'refinement', one must have a qualified longevity technique as guidance. Every sect in the cultivation world has its own unique 'refinement' method. Uncle Yu is a rogue cultivator, which truly puts him in a difficult spot."

Yu Ci naturally knew his own problems, but in front of Ye Tu he did not reveal them, merely smiling. "When the boat reaches the bridgehead it will naturally go straight through, and as for fate, who can say for sure?"

Ye Tu thought for a moment and said, "How about this, Uncle Yu? Come back to the East China Sea with me. Our Half-Mountain Island also has unique attainments in longevity techniques. And since Uncle's sword cultivation mastery is so good, I'll go back and speak with my master, having him take you in as a disciple. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

The more the youth talked, the more excited he became. Yu Ci was also somewhat tempted, but did not hold out much hope. Although Ye Tu had never seriously introduced his own sect, from the occasional slips of the tongue he let out, one could sense that Half-Mountain Island was mostly populated by the Ye clan, with very few outsiders. Wanting to squeeze into such a place would be no easy task.

Therefore, he merely smiled and pulled Ye Tu back to the main topic. "Let's talk about longevity techniques later. You just reached 'refinement'—what comes after that?"

Ye Tu grew even more excited by his own conception, his mood soaring as he fluently replied:

"When we have completely refined all the hidden consciousness, thoroughly transforming it into manifest consciousness that we can perceive and control, it proves that our control and mastery of the mind have reached a certain height. At this time, there is no longer any distinction of hidden consciousness, manifest consciousness, or conscious spirit; they are collectively called the 'Yin God'. Once the Yin God is formed, the vast potential hidden within the spirit and soul will be progressively unlocked, causing the strength of the spirit and soul to advance in leaps and bounds until it breaks free from the physical body and wanders outside. That is the feat of the third step!

"Thus, corresponding to these three steps, the Spirit Cultivation realm has three verifications: the first is differentiating consciousness and transforming thought, which is the beginning of spirit cultivation; the second is true spirit manifestation, which is the axis of spirit cultivation; and the third is the Yin God leaving the body, which is the completion of spirit cultivation!"

"What is meant by true spirit?" Yu Ci's single question hit the most crucial point.

Ye Tu rattled off his reply without missing a beat: "Illuminating the true heart makes it true; all apertures opening through makes it numinous. The true spirit corresponds to the hidden consciousness. It can cause the hidden consciousness to manifest, initially clarifying the outline of one's most secretive mind, while the inner primordial spirit shines brilliantly, projecting outward through this outline to form all sorts of different numinous lights. This is none other than the true spirit. In reality, it is simply the shadow formed by the primordial spirit piercing through the conscious spirit, and nothing more."

Hearing this, Yu Ci couldn't help thinking of the lamp flame burning up and down on his crown. According to Ye Tu's description, that must be the true spirit.

Ye Tu nodded. "Precisely. I see that Uncle's true spirit is blazing like fire, but its form is single. You must know that a person's hidden consciousness is naturally a true reflection of themselves, so the true spirit reflected through its outline should also have the form of one's own body. Therefore, you should have just touched the hidden consciousness without reaching the deeper layers. Among the primary, middle, and upper tiers of the Spirit Cultivation realm, you are right at the point where the primary tier is finished and the middle tier is not yet full.

"For Uncle to reach this stage only days after entering the Spirit Cultivation realm is already extraordinary. It must be because your foundation was solid during the 'Three Mortal Gates'... Right, the technique you practice is something like contemplation and visualization. Compared to those who go from the outside in, or purely rely on guidance and breathing, you have a huge advantage in nourishing the spirit and soul."

Ye Tu's erudition truly commanded Yu Ci's admiration. Then, the youth began to wrap things up:

"If one's human form is completely perfected without the slightest deviation, it proves that the hidden consciousness has been successfully refined, which is already the level of the Yin God. By then, the Yin God is the form, and the true spirit is the shadow. Looking back at the primordial spirit, it is like the sun and moon traversing the heavens. The primordial spirit at this time can be called the 'Yang God'. Of course, the current 'Yang God' is still just a title; there is still a very long way to go before reaching the future Yang God cultivation of gathering to form a shape, dispersing to transform into qi."

When Ye Tu reached this point, Yu Ci could not help patting his leg in praise. Regardless of how shallow or deep the kid's words were, or whether they were correct, this series of theories could genuinely justify itself from start to finish. He had truly broadened his horizons today.

The more he acted like this, the happier Ye Tu became. Not only did he speak, but he also repeatedly demonstrated using the diagram on the ground. Without seeking to be overly meticulous, he gradually revealed a complete outline of cultivation, which was countless times more practical than endlessly agonizing over books and filling one's mouth with classical jargon earlier.

At this very moment, Yu Ci suddenly felt like he was experiencing the saying, listening to you speak for a moment is better than reading books for ten years, and he listened even more closely. The two of them—one lecturing with all his might, the other listening intently—completely lost track of time. Gradually, Yu Ci also began asking questions in order to better understand the information within. He was more interested in sword cultivation, so after a few rounds, he asked about "primordial spirit sword-riding."

"As for primordial spirit sword-riding... that requires yet another extension." Ye Tu hadn't prepared for this question. He scratched his head and improvised on the spot:

"Primordial spirit sword-riding is an application of uniting spirit and qi. This 'uniting spirit and qi' doesn't actually belong to the same system as what I said before; rather, it involves things on the side of qi refining and body forging. Put simply, it is the spirit and soul uniting with the primordial qi of the whole body—meaning essence, qi, and spirit melt together without distinction between one another. It is what's called spirit and qi embracing each other, spirit entering the qi cavity, and the three merging into one primordial! From this, high-level powers such as gang and sha are formed. Imbuing them into a sword allows one to ride the sword to reach divinity, while simultaneously enhancing the vitality of the primordial spirit. It's a very practical technique."

"Mh, sounds good..."

"That goes without saying! Others aside, for a sword cultivator, primordial spirit sword-riding is the foundation of nurturing the sword and cultivating sha, a foundation that takes a lifetime to use. But for you to be self-taught, Uncle Yu, it shows that your foundation in self-cultivation was laid solidly, your primordial qi is abundant, and your talent for wielding a sword is all the more extraordinary!"

"The requirements are that high? Then that Daoist Yan..."

"What Daoist Yan?" Ye Tu looked bewildered.

Yu Ci immediately recounted his clash with Daoist Yan, focusing on describing that final, overwhelmingly powerful sword strike.

Hearing this, Ye Tu went blank, murmuring, "No way, since when can anyone and everyone do primordial spirit sword-riding?"

He shook his head, composed himself slightly, and began explaining to Yu Ci: "There is a crucial point here of spirit and qi embracing each other, and transforming it to generate qi. This qi is not ordinary qi; rather, it is gang, sha, and innate qi, which is a tier higher than the true qi cultivated by the human body. It is the cultivation achievement of the future elixir-returning realm. It is very difficult for spirit cultivators to refine innate qi, and even if they do, it is an instantaneous convergence of spirit and qi relying on a flash of numinous light; maintaining it for long is impossible.

"I haven't met that Daoist Yan, but judging by Uncle's description, before releasing his sword, his true spirit was suspended and illuminating, riding qi with spirit—that was probably primordial spirit sword-riding indeed. Yet making deliberate gestures still falls into the inferior grade, though that might... Oh right, let me take a look at the Nine Yang Talisman Sword."

He took the Nine Yang Talisman Sword and examined it carefully for a moment before smiling, "Indeed. Aside from everything else about this talisman sword, it has talismanic scripts that accumulate baleful intent. It was probably driven out by relying on primordial spirit sword-riding or some other method, which made its power appear extremely immense. Half of that isn't even Daoist Yan's own strength."

Yu Ci lowered his head to observe, deducing along the trajectory of the talismanic scripts, and found that it was indeed so. He also remembered that the jade slip obtained from Daoist Yan genuinely contained content of this sort, only he hadn't had time to study it yet.

Nodding, he was about to ask another question when the restlessness of the raptors and fierce beasts showed signs of spreading, and an intense tremor suddenly erupted beneath their feet. Ye Tu was facing the edge of the slope, and his gaze swept over as he suddenly dropped his jaw, unable to speak a word.