Qi Wuhuo asked curiously:

"Meeting all the brothers?"

The old man looked at him and shook his head:

"You, are you looking forward to it now? I have to let you see it."

"But it's just nightfall now. We can't waste such good time. I told you before that there is a time limit for gathering essence or breathing in essence. If you exceed the time limit, it will hurt your body. But since you have eaten some good food today, there is no time limit."

“See how long you can meditate.”

Qi Wuhuo nodded, but still suppressed his curiosity and expectation, and then sat at the front of the boat, facing the night breeze, holding up his left hand with his right hand and lightly touching it with his thumb, holding his breath and concentrating, refining his vital energy.

But after just one breath, he felt a faint stream of light flying into his mouth.

Like moonlight.

Collecting and refining moonlight is not a problem at all.

But it seems particularly strong here.

Incredibly rich—

A mouthful of moonlight enters my stomach.

The fresh energy transformed from the food eaten in the body suddenly began to circulate violently.

When a person who practices cultivation has just begun, he needs to breathe in and out vital energy, and refine the vital essence throughout the body in order to achieve perfection.

This step should have been achieved slowly and steadily, but Qi Wuhuo had experienced a disaster when he was young, and his foundation was damaged, just like a crack on a water tank, the vital energy would always dissipate, but now, a vast amount of vital energy was gathering, and when he exhaled, it was like a vast ocean rolling through his body, and the clear air in his body was rising up to fill those cracks.

There is also the use of moonlight to refine the essence.

Qi Wuhuo's feeling at this moment was not as leisurely as in ordinary practice. Instead, there were two streams of energy intertwined inside and outside, filled with a feeling of swelling and pain, and the cracks in his own foundation were repaired and compensated, and there was also soreness and numbness. Many feelings appeared at the same time, but he had to maintain his own energy and keep it calm. It felt like he was about to fall off a cliff, with only one hand holding the cliff wall.

He used one hand to support his whole body, feeling extremely sore and weak, and a dull pain, as if he would fall off the cliff if he could not hold on any longer. He had a premonition that if this happened, the two streams of clear energy would collide and naturally dissipate from his body.

Qi Wuhuo closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly.

Although the body was in extreme pain and discomfort, he still maintained a steady flow of qi and peaceful breathing.

The old man stroked his beard and nodded, laughed to himself, and was already on top of the boat.

"The sun rises and the moon sets. The sun is the heart, the nature, and the primordial spirit; the moon is the kidneys, the life, and the primordial qi."

"To cultivate both the body and soul is the right path."

The young Taoist didn’t know.

Just practicing breathing.

This vast, majestic and boundless river seems to have no boundaries. The ripples are filled with layers of starlight, as if reflecting the stars in the sky. But when looking up, no stars can be seen. There is silence all around, except for this huge ship which is moving slowly forward, breaking through the layers of waves and ripples.

The night wind is blowing gently but the moon is not visible.

Looking down, wow, the moon is in the water.

An extremely large full moon is located just below this huge ship, and the moonlight is flowing, as if supporting the ship.

On the boat, the young man breathed peacefully.

The whole body seemed to be shrouded in a layer of faint moonlight.

Qi Wuhuo didn't know how long he had been breathing in and out, he just knew that the feeling was extremely painful and unbearable. He just told himself to hold on for a while, and as time passed slowly, the tingling feeling finally slowly dissipated, and the feeling of soreness, numbness and itching also disappeared.

It was as if the cracks in my body were slowly being filled and gradually disappearing.

I don’t know how much time had passed, the boy moved slightly and slowly opened his eyes.

What you see before you, you can’t see the sun.

Only the purple clouds in the sky are reflected in my eyes.

Earlier, when he began to meditate and closed his eyes, he was sitting on a huge ship that could accommodate thousands of people. But now the ship had disappeared, and the sky was filled with rosy clouds, like the sky over the water. The place where the young man was sitting was just a branch, with ripples all over it. He had his hands clasped in front of him, and the sleeves of his Taoist robe hung down.

My mind was at peace, and I had no other thoughts. I just felt that the scene in front of me made me feel inexplicably calm.

The Taoist was meditating in the purple clouds.

The gulls and herons forget about their plans.

Forget myself again.

I don't know how much time passed until the purple light gradually disappeared, the wind and waves gradually rose, and suddenly a laugh came from a distance. Qi Wuhuo saw that the old man was standing on the river bank, stroking his beard and smiling:

"Is Wuhuo awake?"

"Come on."

Qi Wuhuo originally had no thoughts about anything.

At this moment, ripples appeared, which was [wearing something].

This change made it impossible for him to maintain his elegant and graceful posture. He swayed, let out a cry, and fell into the water.

The old man laughed out loud, as if he was in a much happier mood as he rarely saw his young and mature disciple in such a state.

He waved again, asking the young man to come to the shore. Qi Wuhuo got up coughing, his black hair was wet, and he raised his hand to wipe his forehead with his sleeve.

The old man stroked his beard, looked at him and smiled:

"Before, your mind was not attached to anything and you were able to blend in with everything. That's why you were able to maintain that mysterious state of mind."

"After that, your mind was in turmoil, so you naturally fell into the water, haha."

Qi Wuhuo seemed to show a rare bit of dissatisfaction, and said: "It's just that my current cultivation is still a little lacking."

"If your cultivation level can be higher, it won't be a problem."

The old man smiled and said, "Then I will wait and see."

When Qi Wuhuo turned around, he saw the branch still in the water. It was completely wet, being tossed up and down by the waves, hitting the shore, and covered with fine sand and gravel. Compared with the prosperity of yesterday, it looked somewhat lonely and pitiful. The young Taoist thought about it and picked up the branch as well.

The old man asked, "Why, are you still reluctant to part with it?"

Qi Wuhuo said: "I just suddenly felt that it was a pity to leave it here."

The old man burst out laughing.

Watching the child wash the branch with clean water and then wipe it clean, there was no other place to put it. Although the sword box could be used to store things, after putting a zither, a sword, and several books in it, there didn't seem to be much space. He was also worried that he might accidentally damage the books, so he thought about it.

It is just worn around the waist, inserted diagonally into the silk belt.

The old man looked at the young Taoist priest, shook his head and smiled.

Qi Wuhuo asked: "Teacher, which senior brother should we look for?"

The old man stroked his beard and said, "Let's go to the first position first, and follow me."

He walked forward, Qi Wuhuo followed behind with the sword case on his back, and asked curiously:

"What kind of person is this senior brother, teacher?"

The young man heard the old man laughing and saying:

"Him? Let me think about it."

"He is ranked in the capital of the capital, and is called the Venerable Heavenly Master."

"The emperor revered them, and all officials bowed to them. They built a platform to observe all things and record the stars."

As the old man hummed, the surrounding scenes lingered, and the turbulent scenery gradually dissipated, replaced by the prosperous streets of the capital. The voices of vendors along the road could be heard, and the sounds of people coming and going. Some snow fell in the capital, with red walls and glazed tiles, and red doors and high walls. Suddenly, the world of mortals was also quiet. The old man led the young man forward, and the snow under their feet made a sound. He introduced in a calm tone:

"The Tongguan was opened to stand opposite the Tongwenguan, and all the wise men in the world came to study there."

"Every thirty days, I will give lectures and discuss the mysteries of the Way. My words can predict the fortunes and disasters of eternity, and the opportunities of events thousands of miles away."

"He is called Master Xuanzhen, and has tens of thousands of disciples."

"He is called a patriarch and a true man, but he lives a simple life, is not interested in women, and does not like luxury. He is devoted to practicing Taoism."

The old man took out some money and bought the boy a roasted sweet potato. The young Taoist in a blue shirt held it in both hands, ate it in small bites, and exhaled hot air.

The old man led him forward and slowly introduced this senior brother.

When he paused, Qi Wuhuo looked up while holding a hot roasted sweet potato. He saw a huge and simple building. He could faintly hear the sounds of various musical instruments. People with some cultivation entered here respectfully. Outside, the carriages of dignitaries spread out, almost filling up the Suzaku Street.

Apart from the dignitaries, there were also ordinary people wearing cloth clothes and hemp shoes coming and going.

There are great scholars among whom we chat and laugh, and there are also common people among whom we interact.

Looking up, you can see that the pine and cypress trees have grown very tall, so tall that even the high walls of the building cannot cover the hanging canopy, and you can faintly hear the voice of Taoism.

It tells the story of the Taoism of the innate Qi.

It is profound and mysterious, and has already formed a system, which is much higher than Qi Wuhuo's understanding.

The old man stroked his beard and said, "He is the first person you want to meet. I met him three hundred and seventy years ago. He could study hard even in a dilapidated temple on a rainy night. He is experienced and talented. He can talk about world affairs and profound theories. He said he wanted to benefit the world. He talked about a five-hundred-year plan in the time it takes to play a game of chess, and now it has been accomplished."

"I once gave him the Daoist name [Yuyang], Wuhuo, today you are meeting him."

“It’s also you who [sees] yourself.”

Qi Wuhuo finished the steaming hot roasted sweet potato in two or three bites. There was still some joy in his eyes about meeting his fellow senior brother. He said:

"So what am I going to say?"

The old man replied: "Ask him if he is willing to go with me to travel and practice."

The old man's voice was as gentle and calm as ever:

"If not today, he will come out with you."

"Otherwise, take it back by its Taoist name."

Qi Wuhuo paused, feeling the weight of these words, as well as a faint, bland coldness. It was not the tone of his words or anything else that was cold, because the old man was still gentle. That coldness was a greater existence that a young man of this age could not describe or depict.

But suddenly I realized that this final farewell lesson of today's journey seemed to be different from what I thought.

Qi Wuhuo subconsciously glanced at his teacher, but this time he couldn't see the old man's eyes clearly.

In the countless memories that followed, these eyes contained neither joy nor sadness, but only great tolerance and peace.

I just felt that the road was vast and boundless, plain and distant.

The old man stroked his hair and said gently:

"Go ahead."