When in Doubt, It Was the Founder
Zhou Tianchen set aside his obsession with getting to the bottom of things. Smiling at the little black fish in Junior Brother Yu's palm and the breeze transformed from the Founder's spirit, he looked as though he were watching an elder of the sect play with a junior, his expression growing gentler.
He suddenly slapped his forehead, as though he had overlooked something tremendously important.
That was right.
The origins of this little black fish could wait for now.
But how was he to explain the vast blue sky and boundless sea within Junior Brother Yu's Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth?
Hmm...
Since Junior Brother Yu could comprehend the form of the supreme yin by contemplating the supreme yang, having an extra sea didn't seem like such a big deal... my ass!
The crucial point wasn't even the addition of another image. After all, since Yu Tunzhou had comprehended the form of the supreme yin fish, an extra northern sea really was no great matter.
The problem was, how had this kid managed to open up such a vast secondary aspect the moment he formed his Primordial Spirit Inner Form?
Could it be the ancestral diagram...
At that thought, Zhou Tianchen felt helpless.
He couldn't just pin everything he couldn't explain on the Founder, could he?
"Junior Brother Yu, I'd like another look at your Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth."
Yu Tunzhou did not refuse. He too wanted to understand his Primordial Spirit Inner Form better.
A Heavenly Peng beat its wings against the clouds, exploring all the way toward the end of the blue sky and the edge of the ocean.
The farther he soared, the more astonished Zhou Tianchen became. The vastness of this sky and sea far exceeded his imagination.
Junior Brother Yu's fish was small, but this sky and sea stretched boundlessly wide. It was so vast that it was even a little... too outrageous!
As a rule, the Inner Form was divided into primary and secondary aspects.
The little black fish clearly possessed a spirit, so it was naturally the "primary" aspect. The blue sky and the vast sea could only be secondary. As things stood, the primary and secondary aspects were plainly reversed.
And an Inner Form with such an arrangement of blue waves meeting the azure heavens was not something an ordinary little black fish could support...
Zhou Tianchen slowly exhaled. Just as Junior Brother Yu had guessed, this little fellow was most likely a Kun Fish, though he didn't know why it was so miniature.
Normally, Kun Fish were divine beasts born and nurtured by heaven and earth, sacred from birth. In the sea, they feared no true dragon; in the sky, they were no less than true phoenixes.
He didn't know how long he wandered.
Within this Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth, Zhou Tianchen found himself feeling as free as a dragon returning to the sea or a bird entering the mountain forests. An urge to throw back his head and cry out surged within him.
The next moment.
A clear, ringing cry resounded across the sky and sea!
When he came to his senses, he felt somewhat embarrassed, but a surge of delight also welled up in his heart. The Heavenly Peng divine intent, which he had spent years trying and failing to make more harmonious, had just taken a solid step forward!
His heart burned, and he was overjoyed. He knew perfectly well what this meant.
It was an affinity with the Great Dao!
Just as the Golden Crow roosted in the Fusang tree, the true dragon roamed the four seas, and the heavenly phoenix alighted on the wutong tree...
A match made by heaven and earth, an affinity with the Great Dao!
And this affinity came not only from the blue sky, but also from this vast sea!
Could it be that an arrangement where sky and sea met was the heavenly and earthly image best suited to the Heavenly Peng?
At that moment, Zhou Tianchen looked out again, his gaze deep.
What a fine arrangement of blue waves meeting the azure heavens.
Outside, meanwhile, Yu Tunzhou was puzzled.
Why was Senior Brother Zhou shouting?
Once Zhou Tianchen withdrew from Yu Tunzhou's Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth, he said with great solemnity:
"Junior Brother Yu, you must never casually show your Primordial Spirit Inner Form to others in the future!"
"If anyone from the town's various households presses you about which visualization diagram you cultivate, just tell them it's the Heavenly Peng Bearing the Azure Diagram."
Seeing Yu Tunzhou nod, he still felt uneasy, so he spoke plainly:
"Ordinarily, when people cultivate a visualization diagram and form their Primordial Spirit Inner Form, they must first establish the primary aspect, because the power of the Primordial Spirit is limited."
"Even someone exceptionally gifted in the Primordial Spirit, such as a Dao Infant whose innate Primordial Spirit is close to an infant's, couldn't possibly form such a boundless image of sky and sea all at once."
"Do you understand the crucial point?"
Zhou Tianchen's voice was serious and low, and Yu Tunzhou couldn't help growing solemn as well:
"Thank you for the warning, Senior Brother Zhou!"
Zhou Tianchen waved a hand. "Your secondary aspect has now reached completion in one step, while your primary aspect is weak and immature. This path of cultivation is almost the opposite of the current 'main path.'"
Yu Tunzhou nodded lightly.
According to Senior Brother Zhou, everyone first formed a primary aspect that possessed "spirituality," then gradually filled in the secondary aspects, until at last they achieved the full vision of the visualization diagram.
He, however, had done the opposite.
Zhou Tianchen thought for a moment, but left some things unsaid.
Even if Junior Brother Yu had given up forming the primary aspect and pursued the secondary aspect instead, he still shouldn't have been able to form such a vast Primordial Spirit Inner Form.
And given that Junior Brother Yu himself didn't know what had happened, he had a guess-
When in doubt, it was the Founder.
This time, he wasn't joking...
The ancestral diagram contained the imprint of the Founder's Primordial Spirit. A Dharma Aspect expert's Primordial Spirit, even if only an imprint, was far beyond anything in the Qi Ingestion Realm. Even someone like him in the Divine Ability Realm had to be careful when facing it.
That was also why the ancestral diagram was important.
Those who visualized it could use the Founder's Primordial Spirit imprint as a whetstone, repeatedly honing and polishing their own Primordial Spirits.
And Junior Brother Yu had mastered the visualization diagram in a single night...
Zhou Tianchen smiled bitterly to himself.
There was only one possibility.
The Founder thought very highly of Junior Brother Yu and had willingly dispersed the personal will within this wisp of his Primordial Spirit imprint, turning it into pure Primordial Spirit power to pave the way for him.
That would go some way toward explaining why Junior Brother Yu's secondary aspect was so vast.
Looking again at the breeze circling Junior Brother Yu, he truly regretted it now.
Yesterday, though he hadn't openly refused, he hadn't accepted either. And to neither accept nor refuse was to refuse.
Fortunately, though he had been rash, he was neither foolish nor stubborn, and their Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple had also formed a considerable bond of goodwill with Junior Brother Yu.
This would become the basis for many things in the future.
At that thought, Zhou Tianchen felt somewhat comforted. Then another thought occurred to him-
If Eldest Senior Brother could take a trip through Yu Tunzhou's Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth, might his Heavenly Peng primary aspect also improve and advance another step?
At the possibility, Zhou Tianchen's heart couldn't help pounding, and he could scarcely contain himself.
If Eldest Senior Brother could improve, never mind a full step, even half a step would be...
A great road reaching the heavens!
When Zhou Tianchen looked at Yu Tunzhou again, his eyes were already shining brightly.
If that were true, Junior Brother Yu was practically the "divine Fusang tree" and the "divine wutong tree" of their Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple!
"Senior Brother Zhou, how should I nurture and improve the primary aspect?"
Taking this opportunity, Yu Tunzhou also voiced each of the questions in his heart.
There were some things, especially matters concerning the path of cultivation, in which it was inconvenient for the old Daoist priest to interfere. Yu Tunzhou was also unwilling to trouble them, so now that he had caught Zhou Tianchen, he naturally had no reason to let the chance pass.
The Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple was, after all, one of the town's households.
"The stronger the Primordial Spirit, the stronger the primary aspect. But methods for tempering the Primordial Spirit are rare, and none can be approached in the Qi Ingestion Realm."
Zhou Tianchen explained patiently,
"However, though you can't cultivate such a method for the time being, you've already achieved Wisdom Born of Concentration. From now on, every time you enter deep Meditative Concentration, you'll gain a tiny amount of Primordial Spirit power. It may be little, but cultivating the Primordial Spirit is Nature Cultivation, which has always emphasized a steady trickle over a long time. Accumulated day after day, it becomes quite substantial."
"Primordial Spirit cultivation can't be rushed, so you mustn't be impatient, Junior Brother Yu. Though your Kun Fish is miniature, well... it's rather cute when it's little."
Zhou Tianchen offered a word of comfort.
Yu Tunzhou: "..."
A thought suddenly occurred to him.
Using the Great Spirit Courtyard to pass through the Shendao Acupoint also seemed to be a way of nourishing the spirit.
At that moment, he felt the value of "change" more directly than ever.
Adding just one acupoint had brought about something close to shedding his mortal body and exchanging his bones, freeing him from the original confines!
Did this count as the "shackles of the Dao" that the old Daoist priest had mentioned before?
"Senior Brother Zhou, you just said I've already achieved Wisdom Born of Concentration? What does that mean?"
"No one has mentioned it to you?"
Zhou Tianchen was taken aback. Only then did he realize how much of a complete beginner this junior brother was when it came to cultivation.
Good!
The Daoist temple wouldn't interfere in the town's struggle over the Dao, so it was time for him to show what he could do!
He hurriedly said:
"In the Daoist School's Nature Cultivation, Meditative Concentration is the first realm. It has three levels, and Wisdom Born of Concentration is the third."
"Generally speaking, martial artists take a shortcut into the second level by using a visualization diagram. This lets them skip much arduous cultivation of their state of mind and set foot on the proper path of cultivation early."
"But if one can master Meditative Concentration before cultivating a visualization diagram, then after cultivating the diagram, one can naturally advance to the level of Wisdom Born of Concentration."
He paused, then said solemnly, "Back then, my eldest senior brother was just like you. He entered Meditative Concentration first, then cultivated a visualization diagram, directly mastering the level of Wisdom Born of Concentration and gazing toward the distant Pure Land."
"Pure Land?" Yu Tunzhou asked curiously. "Is that the next realm of Nature Cultivation?"
"Correct. Entering the Pure Land is the stage after Meditative Concentration, and also the second realm of Nature Cultivation." Zhou Tianchen smiled. "You're exceptionally gifted in Nature Cultivation, but I don't mind you pursuing the Pure Land now."
"Why?"
Zhou Tianchen said slowly, "I just said that in the Qi Ingestion Realm, you can't cultivate a Primordial Spirit tempering method, and can only rely on Meditative Concentration to improve your Primordial Spirit through slow, painstaking work. But there are exceptions to everything."
Looking at Yu Tunzhou, Zhou Tianchen said with a burning gaze:
"Fortune!"
"In this world, no method can replenish the Primordial Spirit faster than devouring fortune!"
"You're in Luofu Grotto-Heaven, and that is your greatest fortuitous opportunity!"
"For now, you should devote most of your efforts to cultivating your Qi Ingestion Method. By the way, Junior Brother Yu, which Qi Ingestion Method do you cultivate?"
Yu Tunzhou said, "I cultivate the Spark Instruction."
"The Spark Instruction?" Zhou Tianchen frowned. Why was it that Qi Ingestion Method?
Junior Brother Yu had won the Founder's favor, so surely he ought to be cultivating their Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple's Heavenly Peng Essence-Devouring Instruction!