Until lunchtime, Xu Qingtong kept poring over the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art. He had read it countless times throughout the morning, yet still barely understood it.
During the meal, Xu Qingtong asked Chen Jialiang, "Uncle, I came across a book this morning called the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art. It doesn't look like a medical text to me! I've read its contents many times, but I still can't grasp their meaning. Could you please give me some guidance?"
Chen Jialiang paused, then frowned in thought. "That book was passed down by our ancestors. They say our Fifth Ancestor left it behind. I've read it too, and it seems to be a book immortals used to strengthen their bodies. I tried practicing what it described, but it had no effect. Perhaps immortals' bodies differ from those of ordinary people, so we can't judge its contents by mortal standards."
Hearing that it had belonged to their Fifth Ancestor stirred something in Xu Qingtong's heart. Just who had that ancestor been? An immortal's medicine-refining attendant who had lived for over two hundred years! The recipe for his medicinal baths had come from that very man. Since the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art had been left by him, it might well be an immortal cultivation method!
At that thought, Xu Qingtong could barely sit still. Others might know nothing of the cultivation world, but he knew it all too well. Hadn't Lu Mo, the man who had once tried to possess his body, been an immortal cultivator?
According to Lu Mo, immortal cultivation required a spirit root as well as a cultivation method. By following that method, one could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and refine it within the body into magical power, gaining the might to move mountains and overturn seas. Could this Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art be an immortal art that taught people how to absorb spiritual energy and refine it into magical power?
The more Xu Qingtong thought about it, the more certain he became that his guess was right. For a moment, he even forgot to eat. Seeing him lost in thought, Chen Ruoling shouted at him, "Hey, blockhead! What are you thinking about? Your food's gone cold!"
Xu Qingtong snapped out of his daze and gave an embarrassed smile. He hurriedly finished the rice in his bowl in a few mouthfuls, then got up and went to the study.
Xu Qingtong picked up the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art again and reexamined it from the perspective of immortal cultivation. "Origin qi, long enwreathed in mist, transforms into water, fire, and earth... principle takes qi as its function, qi takes principle as its substance... the five centers face the sun, thought dwells amid them, and thought guides it..."
With this change in perspective, Xu Qingtong suddenly began to understand. Sure enough, this was an immortal cultivation method, one that taught people how to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, circulate it through the body, absorb it, and refine it.
His earlier failure to understand the book had mainly stemmed from his fixed way of thinking. He had assumed it was a medical text, which had left much of it incomprehensible. Now, with a different perspective, he could finally grasp its general meaning.
Seeing that many passages mentioned heaven and earth, the universe, and yin-yang and five elements, Xu Qingtong found the texts on the theory of the five elements and studied them carefully once more. Once he began, a path gradually took shape before his eyes, growing clearer and clearer.
Xu Qingtong spent the entire afternoon immersed in the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art, even forgetting dinner. Only when his cousin came in to call him did he realize it was time to eat. He hurried to the main room, hastily ate a little, then turned and went straight back to the study.
Chen Jialiang felt that something was different about his nephew that day, but he could not put his finger on it. He shook his head and returned to his own room.
Xu Qingtong did not stay in the study long. Once he understood the method of cultivation, he returned to the west wing. Back in his room, he climbed onto the bed.
Instead of sleeping, he sat cross-legged on the bed as the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art instructed, with the soles of his feet and his palms facing upward. He closed his eyes, formed a hand seal, opened his pores, and focused on sensing the air around him.
After an unknown length of time, Xu Qingtong finally sensed something unusual in the air. A few bright specks, like dust motes, floated around him.
He quickly used his mind to guide these specks into his body through his skin, pores, mouth, and nose. Just then, Xu Qingtong felt as though countless ants were crawling over him, giving him a fright.
He dared not delay. Following the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art, he hurriedly guided the bright specks along the twelve meridians, through his entire body, and finally through the conception vessel into the sea of qi acupoint. Only then did that strange sensation slowly fade.
Suddenly, he felt a boom reverberate at his sea of qi acupoint, and a warm current surged three inches below his navel. The gate of origin, sea of qi, spirit gateway, and life gate acupoints resonated with one another, linking end to end and merging into a single, interconnected whole that formed a tiny space.
Xu Qingtong focused on sensing it. Within that space three inches below his navel, there seemed to be a bean-sized current of qi slowly revolving. He considered it. Could these be the "dantian" and "origin qi" described in the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art?
Excitement immediately filled Xu Qingtong. He continued as before, steadily guiding the bright specks into his body. They followed the same fixed route, slowly gathering within his dantian.
Without his noticing, the night passed. The crowing of chickens outside startled Xu Qingtong awake, and he felt his qi and blood surge violently, nearly making him spit out a mouthful of blood.
He did not know how to bring his practice to a close. When his cultivation was interrupted, the spiritual energy within his body had nowhere to settle and rampaged in every direction, nearly sending him into cultivation deviation.
Xu Qingtong thought, Cultivating recklessly without understanding the proper methods truly is dangerous in the extreme. I'll have to be more careful from now on!
Suppressing his discomfort, Xu Qingtong calmed his breathing and focused his mind, directing his awareness toward his dantian to sense the changes within it once more.
All at once, he discovered something that astonished him. It was as though he could see his dantian with his own eyes. A misty ball of qi was slowly revolving inside it.
It appeared to be about the same size as he had sensed the previous night, still no larger than a bean. This time, however, he could clearly "see" its shape, and it seemed a little more condensed than it had felt the night before. He was puzzled. Was I practicing incorrectly? Why has the ball of qi hardly changed? Was that whole night of cultivation wasted?
Xu Qingtong got out of bed and moved his arms and legs, finding nothing amiss. Although he had not slept all night, he did not feel tired. Instead, his mind felt clear and refreshed. Only his qi and blood remained somewhat unsettled from the interruption to his cultivation. In no hurry to leave, he sat on the edge of the bed to rest for a while.
Remembering how he had just been able to "see" his own dantian, he grew excited. Could this be the "divine sense" Lu Mo mentioned? But according to Lu Mo, divine sense only develops at the second level of the qi refining stage, doesn't it? I've only just begun cultivating. I probably haven't even reached the first level, so why have I developed divine sense?
Unable to understand the reason, he stopped dwelling on it. Recalling how he had examined his dantian, Xu Qingtong extended his divine sense outside the room.
He "saw" the chicken coop a short distance away in the courtyard. Inside stood a large white goose, stretching its neck and looking this way and that. Then it lifted one webbed foot and gently set it down again, looking exceedingly cautious.
As though he had discovered a new continent, Xu Qingtong kept probing his surroundings with his divine sense. Oh, Uncle's already up. Aunt isn't in their room.
Huh! My cousin really doesn't keep still in her sleep. She's kicked her quilt half off the bed, with the other half hanging onto the floor. What an unseemly position! How can a girl sleep sprawled out like the character for "big"? Ahem, see no impropriety. I didn't mean to! He hastily withdrew his divine sense, not daring to look again.
When he tried looking farther away, Xu Qingtong found that he could no longer make anything out. Everything was a gray haze. He estimated that the distance within which he could "see clearly" was about three to four zhang.
Xu Qingtong withdrew his divine sense, hastily washed his face, straightened his clothes, and went to the rear hall. His uncle was already seated upright at the table, a cup of freshly brewed tea beside him, looking perfectly composed as his mind wandered far beyond the heavens.
Entering the room, he bowed to his uncle and wished him good morning. Only when Chen Jialiang saw Xu Qingtong come in did he return to his senses and answer him.
After breakfast, Xu Qingtong approached his uncle. He hesitated, but ultimately told him what had happened the night before. Upon hearing it, Chen Jialiang sprang to his feet, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Qingtong, what did you say? You can practice the arts of immortals?"
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