The Dantian as a Sea

Gradually, Xuanzhenzi frowned. He discovered that his Internal Power was draining away faster and faster, but he did not pay it much mind.

By then, however, Huang Xiao had noticed something unusual. He discovered that he had absorbed a considerable amount of his master's Internal Power, and now it was flowing into him without end.

"M-Master, your disciple's injuries have mostly healed. My life is no longer in danger," Huang Xiao said.

"Don't speak. Keep absorbing the Internal Power!" Xuanzhenzi said quietly.

Huang Xiao wanted to say more, but Xuanzhenzi increased the flow of Internal Power even further. It made Huang Xiao's meridians swell painfully, forcing him to concentrate on absorbing the power and merging it with his own.

This is bad! Xuanzhenzi suddenly discovered that he could no longer stop. The Internal Power in his body surged madly into Huang Xiao like floodwaters through an opened sluice. He tried to withdraw his palms, only to discover that they seemed stuck to Huang Xiao's back. He could not pull them away at all.

Huang Xiao's body shuddered. The sudden influx of immense Internal Power had already filled his meridians to capacity. Even after being transformed by the Blazing Sun Fruit and the Black-and-White Refining Snake's blood essence, his meridians could scarcely bear it.

Xuanzhenzi's face turned deathly pale. The black blood staining his mouth, nose, and eyes grew thicker, and his body began to tremble. He discovered that he could no longer control the situation. He had only wanted his disciple to absorb more of his Internal Power and save himself several years of cultivation, but now he was going to put his disciple in mortal danger.

"Qingxiao, your master has doomed you!" Xuanzhenzi said weakly.

"M-Master, I'm all right. I bear no resentment!" How could Huang Xiao possibly blame Xuanzhenzi? Without him, Huang Xiao would have long since departed for the Western Heaven. Besides, he knew that Xuanzhenzi's earlier actions had been the same as Qinghe's.

Xuanzhenzi felt his strength ebbing away, and his consciousness began to blur. The Heart-Burning Powder's poison was growing stronger and stronger, telling him that his allotted time was nearly up. Xuanzhenzi did not care whether he lived or died, but he had one regret: he could not save his disciple.

If I die, so be it! Feeling the Internal Power continuing to surge within him, Huang Xiao knew that his meridians might rupture at any moment. When that happened, only death would await him. Yet the closer he came to death, the more unusually calm he became. He had faced mortal danger several times during this period. He had escaped from the King of Hell the previous few times, but he did not believe he could escape every time. At that thought, he felt somewhat at peace.

"Gah, gah, gah~~~ (I really don't know what an eagle's cry sounds like, and I couldn't find it on Baidu either, so I'll just use this. Sigh~~~)" Faintly, Huang Xiao seemed to hear the cries of eagles echoing through the deep mountains outside the ruined temple-or perhaps they were the cries of hawks.

The Golden-Winged Roc? The cries naturally reminded Huang Xiao of the enormous Golden-Winged Roc in the valley back then. Had it not been for the bird, he would have died long ago. Of course, looking at it the other way, if he had not helped it kill that enormous Black-and-White Refining Snake, the Golden-Winged Roc would certainly not have fared well either.

In the Northern Darkness there is a fish, whose name is Kun. Kun is so vast that no one knows how many thousand li it measures. It transforms into a bird, whose name is Peng. Peng's back stretches no one knows how many thousand li. When it rises and flies, its wings are like clouds hanging from the heavens. When the sea stirs, this bird will migrate to the Southern Darkness. The Southern Darkness is the Pool of Heaven... Suddenly, Huang Xiao recalled the opening of "Inner Chapters: Free and Easy Wandering," the first piece in the Scripture of Southern Florescence. It happened to describe the Golden-Winged Roc, though, of course, these descriptions concerned the Golden-Winged Roc of myth.

Thinking of the Golden-Winged Roc also brought back the sight of it practicing its breathing every morning.

The Northern Darkness? They say it's the great sea in the north. Legend has it that the northern sea is boundless. Even Kun and Peng, thousands of li in size, would be no more than a speck in the Northern Darkness, wouldn't they? The Northern Darkness, infinitely vast... As the saying goes, the sea embraces a hundred rivers. However many streams and rivers there are, they all ultimately converge in the sea. Huang Xiao's thoughts sank into this. Then the Internal Power in my meridians is like those hundred rivers. Could it all be gathered into my dantian?

There are similarities, but there are differences too! Huang Xiao rejected the thought. The Northern Darkness is infinitely vast, so naturally it can hold a hundred rivers and streams. But how large is my dantian? How much Internal Power can it contain?

No! Huang Xiao thought again. The Buddhists speak of "fitting Mount Sumeru into a mustard seed." How enormous Mount Sumeru is, and how minute a mustard seed-the smallest containing the greatest.

"When the moon is full, it wanes; when water is full, it overflows. All things decline upon reaching their peak. Yin at its utmost becomes yang, and yang at its utmost becomes yin. By the same principle, the greatest size at its utmost becomes the smallest, and the smallest becomes the greatest," Huang Xiao murmured. "Though the dantian is small, it is also immensely vast, like the endless sea of the Northern Darkness gathering a hundred rivers. Though the Internal Power in the meridians is immense, it is also exceedingly minute, like the enormous Mount Sumeru fitting into a mustard seed."

The Golden-Winged Roc's method of absorption! Huang Xiao carefully recalled the bird's breathing. Then he imitated its rhythm, inhaling and exhaling, drawing the Internal Power from his meridians into his dantian, now quickly, now slowly.

The dantian had limits, but the mind had none. By then, Huang Xiao was completely immersed in it. In his thoughts, his dantian was like the endless Northern Darkness, absorbing all Internal Power.

"This...?" Xuanzhenzi, whose consciousness had already grown hazy, was suddenly jolted awake by the Internal Power raging through his body. He discovered that it was flowing out even faster, but to his astonishment, the Internal Power in Huang Xiao's meridians was no longer increasing. Instead, it was rapidly disappearing into his dantian.

Xuanzhenzi could scarcely imagine such a thing happening. Huang Xiao had previously possessed only one year's cultivation of Internal Power; his dantian could not possibly hold such an immense amount. Xuanzhenzi was, after all, in the First-Class realm. His Internal Power cultivation had already surpassed sixty years, nearly a full sexagenary cycle's worth. Even though the poisoning had greatly diminished his Internal Power, it was still more than Huang Xiao's meridians and dantian could absorb.

He's actually unharmed, and still absorbing it? Excitement mingled with Xuanzhenzi's shock. His life was nearing its end, and once a person died, their Internal Power would naturally disperse. Now that his disciple was absorbing his Internal Power, this was the best possible outcome. Although he was not performing the Great Empowerment Technique, the effect was no different.

Xuanzhenzi no longer resisted the suction coming from Huang Xiao's body. Instead, he actively increased the force. The Internal Power within him poured madly into Huang Xiao's meridians, and Huang Xiao gathered all of it into his dantian. That dantian was like an ocean that could never be filled. The Internal Power gathered within it, yet the space it occupied inside the dantian scarcely grew at all.

The dantian is the Northern Darkness, infinitely vast! Huang Xiao silently repeated. He had already sensed this state, something that could only be grasped inwardly, not conveyed in words.

Huang Xiao forgot everything. All he did now was gather the Internal Power in his meridians into his dantian, taking in however much came.