Consuming Qi

"Come, I will first teach you a breathing method. All sentient creatures under heaven take this method as their foundation when drawing in and expelling spiritual qi.

"Breathing means inhaling and exhaling, something everyone knows from birth. But consuming spiritual qi through it is a profound art.

"Exhale through the nose and inhale through the mouth? Long exhalations and short inhalations? Breathing differs with day and night, the four seasons, and the direction you face. Some even raise lofty towers, build vast altars, or bury their own bodies for the sake of breathing practice. At its most subtle and sublime, a single inhalation dries rivers and marshes, and a single exhalation brings forth the morning clouds."

"The method I will teach you has no grand name. Bright Governance Mountain's fourth-generation patriarch found this fragment among ancient ruins, and we simply call it the Five-Character Mantra. It is a method specifically for consuming the qi of the five elements, corresponding to the seasons of heaven and the five organs of the body. It takes breathing as its foundation and incantations as its guide, and can also be paired with bodily formation methods, external alchemy, and visualization. It is a practical art that opens onto many paths."

With that, Sukong touched her jade ruyi to the space between Yunqi's brows, and radiance surged at the point of contact.

As the jade ruyi approached, Yunqi instinctively closed his eyes. First, he felt a cool touch between his brows, then saw five ancient characters in the darkness.

He had never seen these characters before. The script was unfamiliar, yet a closer look revealed something familiar about it. Soon, he remembered: it resembled Cloud Clerical Script, though it must have been a much older form.

The jade pendant at his waist bore Cloud Clerical Script written in blood ink: the three characters of his name, Cheng Yunqi. Feng Ji Hu had taught him those, but no one had ever taught him these five ancient Cloud Clerical Script characters in the darkness. Yet he could pronounce their syllables:

[Xu], [he], [hu], [si], [chui].

"Come, stand up."

Yunqi rose at her instruction and stood still.

"Set your feet shoulder-width apart. Keep your head upright and your neck straight. Draw in your chest and stretch your back. Relax your waist and hips, bend your knees slightly, relax your whole body, and breathe naturally."

Yunqi followed each instruction, settling into a stance.

"Sink your weight into your heels, lift the anus and draw in the kidneys. Breathe with the natural movement of your abdomen, exhaling before inhaling. Exhale slowly, sounding the character as you do. Press your tongue against your lower teeth and lower its surface. The character [he]-speak it!"

And so Yunqi pronounced that syllable as he exhaled.

"Touch your big toes lightly to the ground. Raise both hands from in front of your lower abdomen, palms facing inward. Bring them up along your body, turn your palms outward when they reach the center of your chest between the nipples, then lift them to eye level. Slowly!"

Yunqi felt as though this one movement had expelled all the turbid qi in his body.

"When the breath runs out, inhale. Turn your palms toward your face, then slowly lower them past your face, chest, and abdomen until they hang at your sides. Good. Finish."

"Again."

He repeated it six times.

After expelling the turbid qi for the sixth time, Yunqi inhaled naturally.

But this time, he felt something different. A warm stream of qi entered his mouth, and before he could react, it slipped down his throat. Soon, his chest grew warm as well.

Sukong instantly noticed the different light in Yunqi's eyes.

"You consumed qi?"

Yunqi's breathing practice was interrupted, but he felt no discomfort. Instead, he felt rather relaxed. The exercise had left him a little fatigued, and he thought this must be the rhythm of the breathing method.

He replied, "Just now, I drew a warm current into my mouth. It went down my throat, and afterward, my heart felt slightly warm."

"You consumed qi."

Sukong repeated it, a smile appearing on her face. "You can go to the All-Teachings Institute to collect a reward."

"Hm?"

Yunqi was somewhat puzzled.

"Consuming qi in six breaths merits a place on the Southern Dipper Ranking."

Yunqi was delighted to hear this. Judging by his teacher's reaction, it must have been a good result. He had been rather worried before. In the mortal world, he was naturally a genius: literate at one, practicing exercises at two, remembering everything he read at three, and refining Pure Spirit Qi at five. By ten, his father had nothing left to teach him. But above and below the mountain were two different worlds. If he could not cross this threshold, he would surely regret it all his life.

Fortunately, it now seemed that even on the mountain, he was not doing badly.

"Very good. Rest for a while, and remember the essentials I just explained."

Yunqi nodded and closed his eyes, recalling the rhythm of his exhalations and the key points of the movements.

After roughly half a quarter-hour, Sukong signaled for him to continue.

After regulating his breathing, Yunqi felt much better too. The sense of having exhausted his breath had vanished.

"Bring your lips lightly together, with tension stretching them sideways. Point the tip of your tongue forward while drawing it slightly inward. Leave a gap between your upper and lower teeth. Exhale. The character [xu]-speak it!"

"Raise both hands from in front of your lower abdomen, slowly again, with the backs of your hands facing each other. Bring them past your ribs to shoulder height. Lift your arms like a bird spreading its wings, opening them to either side, palms angled upward."

"Higher!"

"Turn your gaze inward, looking within. Widen your eyes with the force of your exhalation."

"Good. Inhale when your breath runs out. Bend your arms and slowly lower your hands past your face, chest, and abdomen until they hang at your sides. Good. Repeat this six times for one round of breathing."

This time, Yunqi felt himself inhale a mass of cool qi. It vanished after slipping down his throat, and immediately afterward, a cool sensation spread through his upper right abdomen. Even his vision became much clearer.

Yunqi knew that was where his liver was.

Next, under Sukong's guidance, Yunqi tried the remaining three breathing syllables, hu, si, and chui, consuming earth qi, metal qi, and water qi into his spleen, lungs, and kidneys respectively.

"You are very good."

Sukong spoke earnestly. To her, this disciple was wonderfully easy to teach. Nothing needed to be said twice, and she did not have to labor over explaining each mantra character's pronunciation or the essentials of each movement. With direct transmission into his mind and a little spoken guidance, she could teach him with ease.

Yunqi bowed. "It is thanks to your excellent guidance, Teacher."

He meant it just as earnestly. To him, this teacher was truly masterful. Her words were concise and perfectly placed, without a single wasted phrase. That spell which projected the ancient language straight into his mind was truly miraculous, saving a great deal of time.

"That will be all for today. Keep practicing these five mantra characters, and remember to account for the season and the terrain. In this method, six exhalations count as one level. Come find me again when you reach nine levels, or when you can no longer consume qi."

"No longer consume it?"

Yunqi was somewhat puzzled.

Sukong explained, "However large your stomach, there always comes a time when it is full."

Yunqi understood. He nodded in acceptance and prepared to take his leave.

"Oh, there is one more thing to do while consuming qi."

"Please instruct me, Teacher."

"In cultivation, method never leaves thought, and thought never leaves method. When thought moves, qi follows; where thought reaches, qi arrives. If your thoughts scatter, no amount of spiritual qi will help. You must concentrate your thoughts while consuming qi. I have a method for this, but to practice it, you must first build a Dao Palace in your mind.

"This Dao Palace must not copy anything on the mountain or in books. You must imagine it from nothing. The more magnificent, the better; the more intricate, the better. Halls, terraces, towers, pavilions, pagodas, altars... build whatever you please, but make them plentiful, not sparse. Steps, gates, windows, walls, courtyards-make them as detailed as possible, and give your imagination free rein.

"Only one thing must be made clear: beams, pillars, bearing blocks, brackets, bricks, tiles, paint-all these most fundamental things must follow established forms and rules. You must not invent them recklessly."

Yunqi considered this and felt it would not be simple, so he asked, "Is there a time limit?"

Sukong said, "There is no limit. When you come next time, I will go inside and look. However much you have built will do. Also, remember: when building it in your mind, you must not rely on physical objects or put brush to paper to draft it."

Yunqi agreed, then asked, "Since it is a Daoist palace, there must be a principal deity enshrined within. Which deity should I enshrine in the Dao Palace in my mind?"

Sukong was somewhat surprised. She gave Yunqi a long look before saying:

"You truly have considerable talent. I originally intended only to teach you a method for concentrating your thoughts for now, but since you have asked, I will say a little more.

"You must understand that Palace-Opening requires an ocean of five-element qi. The loftier its quality and spiritual significance, the better. If you wish to achieve Palace-Opening sooner, visualization is unavoidable. Sooner or later, you will have to hold an Inner Landscape Deity in contemplation within your body's apertures.

"Since you have now asked which deity to enshrine in your mental Dao Palace, I think that, if you truly have strength to spare, you might as well begin considering what kind of five-element qi you intend to consume for Palace-Opening, and which Inner Landscape Deity you wish to contemplate. Visualize its divine image now, and when the time comes, it will step out of the palace in your mind and settle into your organs and apertures as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

"You have only just entered the sect, so I may as well speak more plainly. An Inner Landscape Deity of too high a rank is unsuitable, for its divinity is difficult to hold in contemplation. Too low a rank is unsuitable, for it offers no benefit to cultivation. One that attained the Dao too long ago is unsuitable, for its connection to the spiritual qi of this world of seas turned to mulberry fields is weak. One that attained the Dao too recently is unsuitable, for you may easily form karmic ties. One of human origin is unsuitable-beware the dove taking over the magpie's nest. By contrast, demons, ghosts, sprites, and spirits are acceptable."

Yunqi nodded thoughtfully, then asked:

"May I ask, Teacher: to construct a Dao Palace, I can observe real buildings and read standards to understand the required forms. But how can I find the divine essence of an Inner Landscape Deity?"

"The sect has illustrated catalogs of ancient gods, demons, and spirits. You can use the pictures for visualization. Later, when you travel outside the sect, if you see temples in the mountains or wilderness, you may also stop and linger."

Yunqi acknowledged her words, then took his leave.

The contract has been signed.

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