After bidding farewell to the profusely grateful Shi Heyang, Cheng Xinzhan left beautiful Mount Lu with the child attendant and lion, who had enjoyed themselves immensely.
On the return journey, he lay on his back atop the lion, pillowing his head on one elbow, his eyes half closed. His other hand gently waved his Ao Tail whisk, while he silently studied the newly acquired Spirit Wandering Returning Light Method, contemplating its mysteries.
The deeper he delved, the more he marveled.
In truth, the Spirit Wandering Method was not rare.
One could even say that traveling with the Primordial Spirit had been a fairly common means of cultivation since ancient times.
Spirit Wandering broke free of the body's fetters and limitations, allowing one to fly higher and dive deeper. Escape arts such as Mountain-Piercing, Forest-Crossing, Fire-Walking, Metal-Splitting, Water-Avoidance, and Wind-Riding became easier and more convenient to perform, and far faster as well. Beyond that, leaving the body to travel alone, directly receiving the essence of the sun and moon and the qi of mountains and rivers, was itself a way of tempering the Primordial Spirit.
Thus, once cultivators entered the Third Realm, opened their gates to welcome lightning, and refined their weak souls into Primordial Spirits, Spirit Wandering became an everyday escape art and means of cultivation. When their Primordial Spirits advanced from guarding the one spirit to the night-traveling spirit stage, these excursions became far more frequent. This was especially true of the Yang Spirit Dao and Sichuan Shu Xuanmen, which placed particular emphasis on cultivating the Primordial Spirit. Spirit Wandering was their principal method of cultivation; keeping their bodies hidden and motionless in the mountains while their Primordial Spirits lay low by day and emerged at night was the norm.
A step further, once the Primordial Spirit reached the