Chapter 135: Idle Clouds Discussing the Dao, Form, and Spirit
"It's not that I don't want to teach you," Han Yang said, walking past Long Qi and taking a copy of "Taoism" from the bookshelf behind him. He then continued, "With your aptitude, you can indeed practice this technique. But do you know how to control the spiritual energy in your body?"
Long Qi shook his head upon hearing this. The sect had always only taught Daoism and martial arts, and had only touched upon spiritual energy. He had never heard of anything related to internal or external spiritual energy. He had mostly practiced the "Entangled Dragon Sword Technique," and while it did discuss channeling spiritual energy into the sword, he had always been ambivalent about it.
Seeing him like this, Han Yang smiled and said, "Look, firstly, you don't understand the way of spiritual movement. Secondly, you are, after all, a disciple of Elder Fu Cang, while I am only the headmaster's eldest disciple. It is not appropriate for me to interfere in his affairs."
"However, if Junior Sister agrees, as long as you can master the Five Elements and the method of spiritual movement, I am willing to teach you everything I know."
…
Long Qi returned to Xianyunju and flipped through the books Lingxiang had selected for the three of them. Among them was a book on the Five Elements of Spirit Flow. The Five Elements was easy enough to explain, but this whole concept of Spirit Flow was much more obscure.
Honeysuckle was very curious when he saw it. Logically speaking, these classics related to the Five Elements were originally selected for him by Lingxiang. Although he never understood why, now that Long Qi valued them so much, it made him even more puzzled.
Is there any mystery in this book?
Just as he was thinking this and was about to comprehend it himself, he saw Xinyi enter the house and said that Lingxiang had summoned three people to the courtyard to teach them magic.
Long Qi left immediately after hearing this. Wasn't this exactly what he wanted? He ran faster than a rabbit in the field. Just as Xin Yi was about to reach out to ask, he had already run out.
This kid, when did he become so enthusiastic about magic? He used to scoff at it...
Lingxiang placed four cushions in the courtyard and had Long Qi and the other two sit opposite them, looking quite formal. Of course, this was Lingxiang's first time as a teacher. She had only taught others a few things before, but now, as a formal teacher, she naturally wanted to be more solemn. So, she followed Hufengdian's example and made the arrangements accordingly.
Even though it was spring, the chill was still freezing. Sitting in the courtyard, exposed to the cold wind, was unbearable for the three of them, even those skilled in martial arts.
Long Qi sat on the futon, rubbing his arms in confusion. He hurriedly asked Lingxiang, "If we're going to be outside, why are we just told to sit? If we get hurt from the cold, how can we still practice?"
Honeysuckle agreed with what she heard, and even Xinyi looked at Lingxiang in confusion.
Lingxiang, however, looked unhurried and just sat quietly on the cushion.
"Of course I have my reasons, but since you asked, in keeping with the teacher's moral principles of imparting knowledge and resolving doubts, I will tell you."
"If all things in this world want to cultivate, they must possess three things: form, spirit, and soul. Form is easy to explain. Everything that exists in this world has form. For humans and beasts, the flesh is form. For inanimate objects, what we see is form. Even the invisible and intangible qi is actually a form."
Lingxiang said this and twisted her fingers, and suddenly a gust of wind blew in the yard.
"If Qi is invisible, there will be no wind." As he said this, he withdrew his hand seals and the wind stopped immediately.
"I just talked about form, now let's talk about spirit. In storybooks, spirits are often considered to be souls, but that's not true. Spirits are actually thoughts. Humans are good at thinking and can concentrate their minds, so they have been passed down from ancient times. But wild animals only care about being well fed and warm, so they just reproduce."
"Finally, there's the spirit. This is the foundation of cultivation. If one wishes to achieve success in cultivation, they must first learn to gather the spirit. This is like an instinct. In ancient times, the ancients were very skilled at gathering the spirit. However, as dynasties passed and everything changed, people's ability to gather the spirit weakened. Conversely, wild beasts, due to the power of nature and their innate instincts, are even more adept at gathering the spirit."
Lingxiang talked a lot of nonsense, but Long Qi was confused. Even Jindong was a little confused, but Xinyi seemed to understand. She looked thoughtful and thought for a moment before asking:
"You mean, under extreme circumstances, a person's spiritual power can be stimulated. Even so, why can some dead things transform into monsters?"
Lingxiang was very pleased to hear Xinyi ask this. It seemed that there was still a smart one among his three disciples.
"Just now I said that everything has a form, but there is a difference between gods and spirits. If people want to practice, they must know how to communicate with spirits. If animals want to practice Taoism, they must learn how to concentrate. As for these dead things..." Lingxiang stood up and took out a comb from her waist.
"Dead objects only have form, but they can become demons because of thoughts. It's like this comb. If someone gives you a comb, and that person is someone you love, you will become attached to it. Over time, you will be able to gather spirits into it, and after a long time, you will naturally become psychic. And once you are psychic, it is very easy to become a demon."
"This is why most of the spirits and monsters we see on a daily basis are wild beasts in the mountains. It's because they are naturally good at gathering spirits."
"Do you understand this explanation?" Lingxiang imitated the old scholar in the school at the foot of the mountain, walked around the three people with her hands behind her back and asked.
When Long Qi heard her ask this, he shook his head, as if saying, "I didn't understand a word you just said." However, Ren Dong seemed to understand a little, but there were still some things she didn't understand, so she just lowered her head in thought.
Seeing Long Qi like this, Lingxiang understood the feelings of those old scholars in the school at the foot of the mountain who were disappointed with their children. She had explained it to him so well, but this blockhead still didn't understand. It really proved the saying that it's difficult to carve a rotten tree. He had a natural spiritual root, but his head was like a gourd, empty.
Seeing the two like this, Xinyi smiled and said, "In short, we now need to learn how to gather our spirits so that we can practice the art of cultivation. Being frozen is simply a means to help us quickly realize the art of gathering our spirits."
Lingxiang clapped her hands after hearing this, pointed at Xinyi, and exclaimed, "That's right. Hey, there's still someone smart after all! I'm so relieved! So relieved!"
Long Qi was a little unhappy when he heard this: "Just say you want to practice the spirit gathering method directly, why bother with all this nonsense and beating around the bush."
Lingxiang slapped Long Qi on the head, and said angrily, "Talking so much is of course useful."
"Now, when you practice magic, you must know how to gather your spirit. However, if you want to achieve success in your practice, you still cannot give up on focusing your mind. Focusing your mind is like morality, and your spirit is like magic. If you only know the magic but don't understand the morality, then the magic will not be effective. However, if a person has a strong sense of morality, then it will be very easy for him to achieve the right result. Take the reincarnated Jin Chanzi for example. What magic did he know? In the end, didn't he still achieve the right result? That's the truth."
Lingxiang said as she walked back to the futon and sat down.
"After saying so much, I still have to teach you how to gather spirits first..."
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