Qi Wuhuo sat next to the stone table and the old man gave him a cup of tea.
As the tea fragrance entered his mouth, he felt it split into two streams, one that calmed his mind and spirit, and the other that entered between his eyebrows, gradually easing his scattered mind that had been causing him a splitting headache, and no longer as painful as before.
The old man waited until he recovered and murmured:
"Tao is born from nothingness, and from this one qi, yin and yang are produced."
"Yin and Yang combine again into the Three Treasures, and the Three Treasures give birth to all things that flourish."
"Remember this, this is the general outline of my lineage..."
Qi Wuhuo asked: "General outline?"
The old man stroked his beard and said, "To govern all laws and unify everything with one is the general principle."
“Although this is not a method of cultivation, it points directly to the great way.”
"You need to remember this carefully, lest you make a mistake that you cannot make up for in this lifetime, so I am telling you in advance."
"As for what I'm teaching you..."
The old man stroked his beard and pointed at Qi Wuhuo:
"The great way of the world is, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things."
"The Qi of heaven and earth is divided into Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang are in the body, with the heart as the nature and the kidneys as the life. The heart is Li and is Yang, and the kidneys are Kan and are Yin. Yin and Yang give birth to three Qi, namely the three treasures of essence, energy and spirit."
"And practitioners need to know this destiny, and then practice against it."
"Return three to two, turn two to one, and one to Tao."
"The starting point of my Taoist practice is [Life Skill]. Essence, Qi and Spirit are stimulated to the limit of life, and then combined into Yin and Yang, which is Yuan Qi Yang Shen. When Yuan Qi Yang Shen is combined into one, it can be said that one has entered the Great Dao, from existence to non-existence."
"Your mind and spirit have been well nourished. Next, you can nourish your essence and then transform it into qi."
Qi Wuhuo asked: "Qi, does it refer to the breath?"
The old man smiled and shook his head: "Breathing? Wrong."
"The third-grade medicine is of the highest quality. It can make one feel the essence of spirit and energy, hazy and indistinct."
"This semen is not intercourse semen."
"Qi is not the breath."
“God is not a thinking God.”
“That’s an acquired method.”
"In our Taoism, Qi is acquired and Qi is innate. The two words are pronounced the same way, but their meanings are completely different in the Taoist Canon."
“Practice is qi, and regulating breathing is qi.”
"Refining essence into qi is the way of the warrior, and refining essence into qi is the key to Taoism."
"Qi is the mother of Dan, and Dan means harmony, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and finally returns to the state of nothingness of the Great Dao."
The old man said that he would only teach one move, but because of the methods of cultivation and the Taoism, a poem might be a heritage, and each word has its own meaning, so he actually explained the basics in detail.
“The first stage of Taoist practice is to achieve the Three Talents, also known as planting the three flowers.”
"Whether you are cultivating the Tao or becoming an immortal, the first step is to do this. People have essence, energy and spirit. They all need to be cultivated to the extreme of their own body, achieving full essence, full spirit and full energy."
The old man pointed at Qi Wuhuo's upper, middle and lower dantian and said:
"It's called full because in life, we experience all kinds of things, illness, staying up late, sitting for long periods of time, injuries, and our spirit will inevitably be damaged. It's not in its prime."
“This step needs to be taken slowly.”
“It takes time to achieve success.”
"When you have reached the perfection of your essence, energy and spirit, you can combine them into the innate Qi. Even if you cannot combine them into the innate Qi, you can still live to the limit of human lifespan."
Qi Wuhuo asked: "Lifespan limit?"
"Yes, because everyone's body is different, it's about 120 to 130 years old, and then you can live a life without worries, illness or pain, and die in a dream. When you die, your hair will still be black, your teeth will be intact, and your skin will not be wrinkled. This is why it is called [Complete]."
"You can have a full life."
Qi Wuhuo pondered and said, "If I can't reach the state of full energy, full spirit, and full mind, is it okay to try to gather them together?"
The old man smiled and said, "The cultivation of the Great Dao is long and difficult, so naturally there will be people who want to take advantage of it. Most of them cultivate one of the essence, energy and spirit to an extremely high level, and then attach the other two to it. In a short period of time, they can cross the realm of the Three Talents and breed magical powers."
"It may be fast, but it cannot last long."
“Maybe you can be proud of yourself and call yourself a real person for a short period of time, but the more you practice, the more the disadvantages of this shortcut will become more and more obvious. Maybe you won’t be able to make it in thirty or fifty years.”
“That’s why it’s called a side door, a left path.”
“Although they have many magical powers, their lifespans may not be much longer than those of practitioners who have truly cultivated to the stage of Sancai Quan. They may even have a shorter lifespan. Many practitioners choose this path because they cannot stand the loneliness and the temptation to show off in front of others, and eventually die with regret.”
"Wuhuo, you must remember..."
The old man pointed to the trees next to him:
"Our goal is to cultivate and reach a certain state, just like this tree, which needs to be more and more rooted and extend upwards. The various magical powers and methods are just the fruits of cultivation."
"To blindly pursue magical powers is like a tree using all its nutrients to grow fruit. How can it grow into a towering tree?"
"You monks, you should remember this, beware of this, and be careful!"
The old man stroked his beard and said, "Okay, now sit cross-legged here. I will teach you a secret formula for breathing and nourishing qi. First nourish the acquired qi, so that it can be gathered into the innate qi in the future, and then it will be possible to reach the realm of the top gathering three flowers."
Qi Wuhuo sat cross-legged as the old man had said, with his five hearts facing the sky.
Then the old man pointed his finger at his Dantian, and the blood and flesh in Qi Wuhuo's body circulated, naturally giving rise to a trace of aura, which then existed in his body along with his blood and qi. The old man said, "Concentrate your mind and visualize."
"Remember, the three words 'spirit, energy and spirit' are different from what ordinary people see."
"According to the Taoist scriptures, the essence is pure and unmixed, the qi is flowing through the blood, and the spirit is active."
"It is the primordial essence, primordial energy, and primordial spirit."
"Yuan means the beginning of the universe, which means everything that is innate."
"The core of everything is the soul."
"Use spirit to control qi, use spirit to refine essence, and remember the method of its circulation."
The old man's skills are not passed on through words.
Instead, he directly took Qi Wuhuo to understand what the flow of the Great Dao is. After that, Qi Wuhuo's body would naturally understand how to concentrate his mind, how to visualize, and how to circulate and regulate his breathing.
Qi Wuhuo's mind followed the old man's guidance.
The old man said, "Warriors practice, swallow meat, strengthen their bodies, and after their qi and blood become strong, they naturally feel the flow of qi. When it flows to the extreme, they use their strong bodies to feed their hearts and minds, and stimulate their minds. But my lineage of cultivation is completely different."
"When the mind is empty, the spirit is concentrated; when the spirit is concentrated, the qi is gathered; when the qi is gathered, the essence is born."
"From one comes the creation of all things, and all things return to one; they are all my God."
Qi Wuhuo fell into a state of meditation.
At this moment, his mind was strong, and he was able to draw the flowing aura into the body very smoothly. Before he knew it, the Golden Crow had set in the west, the Jade Rabbit had risen in the east, and there was a dimness between heaven and earth. It was already night.
When the snow melts in winter, it is much colder than when it snows.
On winter nights, even the night watchmen had to wear thick clothes and drink strong liquor to ward off the cold, but Qi Wuhuo only wore a slightly thicker cloth coat and sat outside.
It was freezing cold outside, but there was a flow of warmth inside my body.
Water and fire are intertwined inside and outside, and God is above it all, overlooking everything that is happening. His breath is long and peaceful, gradually returning to calm, and he becomes one with the mountains, rivers, trees, and nature.
Man is essentially a part of heaven and earth.
Before the sun rises, the sound of birds can be heard in the sky.
A bird landed in the yard and was pecking at grass grains. It jumped onto the boy's shoulder, then turned around and combed its feathers with its beak. The boy's black hair fell slightly, stained with morning dew. His eyes opened naturally, and he saw a big sun rising from the horizon and purple air rising.
The young man sat quietly under the plum tree, basking in the sunshine, with a quiet temperament.
Birds preen their feathers on their shoulders.
Everything in the world is quiet.
The old man stroked his beard and asked with a smile: "Can I get it?"