Xiang Bao's heart was filled with determination. Full of vigor, he returned home with steady steps. He was a completely different person from the day before. Luckily, it was already late at night. Otherwise, if someone saw him, they would probably think that he had a fortuitous encounter.
Closing the door, Xiang Bao took out the Immortal-Gifted Constellation Sword and immersed his spirit into it to observe the Million Star Atlas.
Specks of stars shone brightly as they rose and fell, drawing a mysterious and complicated trajectory. They formed a picture that looked like the reflection of the starry sky, profound and brilliant.
With just a glance, Xiang Bao felt dizzy. His temples swelled to the point of rupturing, and his ears buzzed. But after he had the previous epiphany, he did not retreat in the face of difficulties. Instead, he followed his previous idea and focused his mind on the most striking Big Dipper, carefully observing and memorizing the orbits of the seven stars.
After a few breaths, Xiang Bao lay down with his legs crossed. His face was pale, and his eyes were lifeless. His spirit was almost exhausted. He felt so tired that he could barely move a finger. He was so dizzy that he wanted to hit the wall and faint at any moment. However, he forced himself to hold on and recalled the trajectory of the stars he had just observed in his mind so that he would not forget them.
Rays of resplendent light appeared in his mind, but he could only remember less than ten percent of what he had observed. When he finished recalling, Xiang Bao finally could not hold on any longer and fainted.
When he woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. His head was swollen, and when he tried to recall, he realized that he had not forgotten the trajectory of the stars. He immediately jumped up and danced with joy.
In a carefree mood, Xiang Bao drank some medicinal soup and began to train his body. After a series of punches and kicks, he suddenly felt a surge of heat in his bone marrow. He broke through from the peak of the Body Refining Stage to the Qi Nourishing Stage.
Good things happened one after another. Xiang Bao was really elated. When it was late at night, he began to try to visualize.
The visualization method of the Iron Sword Sect was to visualize a giant sword in the Purple Palace. It would transform the Inner Qi and emit a sharp golden Qi to nourish the soul.
Xiang Bao finally visualized the giant sword, but he suddenly realized that there was a hideous and disgusting black centipede coiled around the giant sword. It was baring its fangs and brandishing its claws. In an instant, he was forced to retreat from the visualization.
"Could it be that the evil spirits of the Outer Dao have invaded my soul?" Xiang Bao thought of the records in the technique and decided to ask the elders in the sect tomorrow.
…
After a few days, Xiang Bao was half happy and half worried. He was happy that by visualizing the Big Dipper, he had finally mastered the Big Dipper from The Stars Bestowed Sword by Immortals. He was worried that if he visualized the Big Dipper, the black centipede would not appear. But if he didn't, it would definitely appear.
"Our family's wealth is limited. Just the food to nourish our Qi is already a huge expense. Furthermore, these calming items are not cheap. If we follow what Martial Uncle Wang said and continue to rely on these things until our souls can leave our bodies, we really can't afford it, unless we reduce the time we spend practicing swordsmanship by half and do those sect missions with high rewards." Xiang Bao pondered as he walked on the street. As he walked, he suddenly realized that he was near the Shing Wong Temple.
Xiang Bao laughed self-deprecatingly, "That Senior Taoist is a wandering Taoist, why would he stay here for you to ask for guidance?" Although he thought so, Xiang Bao still walked in involuntarily, even if it was just to take a look.
But just as he entered, Xiang Bao realized that the young Taoist was sitting under the statue of the Shing Wong Temple. Seeing him enter, the Taoist said humorously, "I see that my young friend's glabella is turning black again. Looks like you've met with a disaster again."
Xiang Bao scratched his head and his face flushed red. He said embarrassedly, "Senior Taoist is wise. I have some questions in my cultivation that I would like to ask. Is that possible?"
"Let's hear it," Shi Xuan replied indifferently.
Xiang Bao quickly told him about the encounter with the black centipede in his visualization. In the end, he said, "I wonder which evil spirits of the Outer Dao it is. Do you have any way to get rid of it?"
"To get rid of it, you have to find the evil spirits of the Outer Dao first. Hold a charcoal stick in your hand. When you visualize, once the black centipede appears, immediately imagine hitting it with the charcoal stick. This way, the charcoal stick in your hand will shoot out and hit it to confirm its location," Shi Xuan said calmly.
Xiang Bao had never heard of such a method to search for heretic ghosts and deities. It was extremely mysterious. However, with the incident with the Stars Bestowed Sword Technique, he trusted this Taoist priest very much. He quickly took a piece of charcoal and held it in his hand. He adjusted his state of mind and started to visualize.
As expected, the black centipede was still entrenched on the giant sword. Xiang Bao followed the Taoist's instructions and visualized a charcoal stick to hit it.
As soon as he hit it, Xiang Bao felt dizzy and retreated from the visualization.
He quickly looked at what the charcoal stick in his hand had hit. But what made him dumbfounded was that the charcoal in his right hand only left his left hand and the front of his clothes full of black marks. There were no other external objects.
"Taoist?" Xiang Bao looked at Shi Xuan in confusion.
Shi Xuan smiled lightly, "Do you still not understand?"
Xiang Bao was at a loss. He looked down and suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "That evil spirit of the Outer Dao is me?!"
Shi Xuan smiled without saying a word.
Xiang Bao quickly visualized again. This time, when the black centipede appeared, he remembered that it was him and continued to visualize calmly without fear.
In his calmness, the black centipede gradually became docile and retreated from the giant sword. Then, it became fainter and fainter until it completely disappeared.
After a while, Xiang Bao opened his eyes. In his eyes, the young Taoist in front of him was really omnipotent. He thought to himself, "Could it be a master of the Soul Realm or a senior at the level of Jindan Grandmaster?"
Xiang Bao thanked him happily. He really couldn't think of anything to repay this senior Taoist. He could only secretly make up his mind to take two hours out of every day to listen to the Taoist's instructions and serve him.
After solving the hidden danger of the visualization problem, Xiang Bao happily returned to the sect and met Uncle-Master Wang who had given him pointers earlier.
Uncle-Master Wang saw Xiang Bao's happy appearance and the dejected look just now. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Xiang Bao, aren't you worried about the centipede?"
Uncle-Master Wang was young and elegant. He was easy-going and many disciples would ask him for advice. He was the most popular senior in the sect, so Xiang Bao specially went to ask him. Now that he was asking, and since he was still a child, he didn't have much wariness, so he happily replied, "It's already been solved."
"How did you do it?" Uncle-Master Wang was very surprised. Could it be that Xiang Bao had met an enlightened master? This kind of inexplicable visualization problem was not something a small city like Yunliu could solve.
With a bright smile on his face, Xiang Bao explained the process of asking the Taoist priest for help, "… The Taoist priest's method is really mysterious and unexpected, but the effect is surprisingly good. It allowed me to understand that the centipede was formed from my own distracting thoughts."
Uncle-Master Wang frowned as he listened. When Xiang Bao finished, he shook his head and said, "Xiang Bao, you've been tricked. When you were visualizing, you unconsciously waved the charcoal in your hand. There's an eighty percent chance that it touched your own body. But it can be considered a blessing in disguise. You've completely solved the big problem in your heart."
Xiang Bao was speechless. He thought back to the way he held the charcoal. The more he thought about it, the more certain he was. Other than throwing it forward, no matter what he did, it would leave a black mark on his body.
He didn't dare to believe it and muttered to himself dejectedly, "Senior Taoist was actually a liar … How could he be a liar!"
Uncle-Master Wang looked at Xiang Bao and sighed. He thought to himself, "How can meeting a wandering Taoist be a senior cultivator?"
Xiang Bao walked towards the Temple of Shing Wong in a daze. The incomparably lofty image of the Taoist in his heart suddenly collapsed. He wanted to personally ask if the Taoist's guidance was all Jianghu's unorthodox methods and was deceiving him.
Seeing this, Uncle-Master Wang was afraid that he would be taken advantage of by the Taoist when he just entered the Qi Nourishing Stage. Thus, he quietly followed behind so that he could save him at the crucial moment.
When he arrived at the Temple of Shing Wong, Xiang Bao saw that the young Taoist was still sitting upright. He walked towards him and asked with a trembling yet expectant voice, "Senior Taoist, was the charcoal that pointed to the unorthodox method of ghosts and deities to deceive me? No matter how I think about it, there's an eighty to ninety percent chance that the charcoal was on my body and not the unorthodox method of ghosts and deities. "
"You still don't understand?" Shi Xuan did not answer but asked in return.
Xiang Bao was stunned, "What?"
"When it comes to visualization, which problem doesn't lie with one's self?" Shi Xuan leisurely stood up.
Xiang Bao and Uncle-Master Wang who was behind him were stunned for a moment. Recalling the records of the martial arts and ancient books, it was clearly stated that as long as one did not have any distracting thoughts and did not think too much, the unorthodox method of ghosts and deities would not be able to take advantage of the gap. However, when it comes to real cultivation, most cultivators would often forget about this point and rely on items that could calm the mind. In any case, they could still cultivate until their souls left their bodies.
"So what the Taoist was trying to tell me was that since there's an eighty to ninety percent chance that the charcoal was on my body, then the problem of visualization naturally lies with me." Xiang Bao was suddenly enlightened while Uncle-Master Wang recalled the various things that happened when he was visualizing and began to feel that he was on the wrong path.
Shi Xuan clasped his hands behind his back and walked towards the entrance of the Temple of Shing Wong. He left behind his last words, "From the beginning of the Body Refinement all the way to the Unification of the Path, aren't the various problems in cultivation the same as well?"
"The problem of cultivation lies with one's self!"
Xiang Bao's mind was buzzing, as if he had an epiphany, but also as if he did not understand anything. Uncle-Master Wang was sweating profusely and his face was pale.
The problem of cultivation lies with one's self. Shi Xuan's words were not only a reminder for Xiang Bao and Uncle-Master Wang, but also for himself.
After a long time after Shi Xuan had left, Xiang Bao and Uncle-Master Wang regained their senses. The two of them looked at each other. For a moment, they felt that these words were profound and meaningful, but for another moment, they felt that it was easy to understand. Saying it was as good as not saying it, everyone knew it.
"From the Body Refinement to the Unification of the Path, how arrogant." Uncle-Master Wang recalled Shi Xuan's words just now and said in confusion and shock, "To have such a tone, could it be …"
"A Genuine Immortal, or a Divine Immortal!" Xiang Bao finished the sentence and muttered to himself.
Such scenes were happening everywhere in Yu Yutian. Sometimes it was a young Taoist, sometimes it was a white-haired old man …
…
Inside Shi Xuan's cave abode.
After 390 years of collection, countless auras of epiphany gathered in front of Shi Xuan's chest. Seal characters surrounded it and fell into it from time to time, causing them to emit a black and white light.
When the last two Taoist Seed characters flew in, the shapeless aura immediately twisted and changed, gathering into a shape.
After half an hour, the entire quiet room was filled with the light of wisdom. A thin book appeared in Shi Xuan's palm. The simple patterns on it formed three seal characters: Tao Te Ching.
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