He breezed through this stage, which somewhat surprised Elder Jie Liang. He looked at him a few times and remarked, "You seem to be quite open-minded."
Even with Elder Jie Liang's profound wisdom, he could not fully comprehend the life journey Yu Ci had undergone, nor could he understand the extent of Yu Ci's inner strength and independence. However, this did simplify things considerably.
"Once your obsession is gone, the Storing Thoughts Method you've been cultivating for over a decade will no longer be a hindrance, but a help. Furthermore, you have also mastered the Qi Leading Method, so all preparations for cultivation are complete. With this, I will pass on this method to you."
Yu Ci's spirit was invigorated, as he listened attentively. Elder Jie Liang then explained:
"My Primordial Root Qi Method begins with storing thoughts, but it uses the Heart Method of Drawing Talismans. The Mental Image I mentioned earlier refers to drawing every stroke of the image with the method of book illustration. In this, all Heart Methods are merely aids; only the Mental and Physical Images are the foundation.
"You are skilled at talismans, so you should understand the art of drawing: the limitless vacuum within your heart is the canvas, the Heart Method is the brush, and your essence and spirit are the ink, allowing your Mental Image to gallop freely, spreading essence and distributing qi, thus obtaining the likeness of your true self. This is a simple truth, but one that requires constant attention. Brace yourself, I am about to pass you the brush!"
What Elder Jie Liang said resonated with Yu Ci's initial feelings about Old Daoist Yu Zhou's illusion of the Fish-Dragon. Or perhaps Elder Jie Liang had used some method in his speech, for when Yu Ci heard it, he felt a clarity in his spiritual platform, naturally attaching his mind and understanding the Heart Method flowing from Elder Jie Liang's lips, oblivious to the passage of time.
**************
When Yu Ci woke from his trance-like state, it was already bright outside. Elder Jie Liang was still sitting in his original position, as if he had never moved.
Yu Ci squinted his eyes, taking in the daylight from the window. Despite memorizing countless words overnight, his mind was still clear and bright. This lack of fatigue felt as if he had merely taken a brush from Elder Jie Liang's hand.
As Elder Jie Liang had said, all Heart Methods are like the "tip of the brush". Whether he could remember the words and sentences was not important. What mattered was that he could hold "that brush" in his hand and keep it in his heart.
Yu Ci felt that when he closed his eyes, a large brush, dipped in ink, was suspended in mid-air, poised and hesitant, waiting to make the first stroke. But what should be depicted?
At this moment, Elder Jie Liang asked him, "Have you got the brush?"
Yu Ci nodded solemnly, "Yes."
"That's good!" Elder Jie Liang said, then stood up, preparing to leave.
Yu Ci was taken aback and quickly stood up, "Immortal Elder, please stay. I still have doubts."
Elder Jie Liang paused, turned around, and looked at him. "Speak."
Yu Ci opened his mouth, suddenly unsure of what to say. He knew very well in his heart, but hadn't expected that the remarkable Primordial Root Qi Method would be taught in just one night. He had prepared to spend three to five years to delve into its mysteries!
Seeing his expression, Elder Jie Liang could roughly sense his thoughts and said, "If you could not comprehend it last night, it would take three years to replenish the exhausted Divine Light, and it may not even match the gains of this night. You did well."
With that, Elder Jie Liang nodded at him and walked out the door.
Yu Ci bowed deeply to his retreating figure. Only someone like him, who had personally experienced the predicament of being unable to cultivate, could understand how important a good teacher was.
Practicing the Primordial Root Qi Method was in fact a three-step process.
If we take the analogy of Elder Jie Liang from last night, the first step is to use the Storing Thoughts Method to lay out the "canvas", referred to as the "Inner Void of the Heart" in the Heart Method, a place to carry the Mental Image. The depiction of the Mental Image will be carried out in the Inner Void of the Heart in the future. Yu Ci, with the foundation of the Storing Thoughts Method and the removal of his obsessions, had no problem with this.
The second step is to "hold the brush" using the Drawing Talismans technique. In this step, in addition to having a thorough understanding of Drawing Talismans, one also needs to understand how to reflect one's "Physical Image" onto the "brush", and then connect it with the "Mental Image". This is the subtlety of this part of the Primordial Qi Method.
It was here that the key role of Elder Jie Liang became apparent. In just two hours of the night, Elder Jie Liang taught him personally, guiding him to start from the details of his skin, flesh, meridians, organs, and even his Divine Soul and thoughts. It was as if he had laid down millions of threads, involving all aspects of the Physical Spirit, guiding the Physical Spirit's Aura to gather orderly onto the "brush" in his heart. From this point on, when the "brush" moved, his Physical Spirit moved. The "Mental Image" drawn by the "brush" was the "Mental Image" produced by his "Physical Image".
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It was only Elder Jie Liang, the genius who established this method, who could guide Yu Ci, making the difficult easy, the complex simple, and accomplishing this immense project overnight. With this move, by the third step, that is, when drawing the Mental Image, Yu Ci could extricate himself from the tedious details of circulating Qi and focusing on the formation and enrichment of the Mental Image.
"How absolutely marvelous!"
Yu Ci finally understood why, once this method was introduced, it was welcomed into the Ancestral Master's Hall and accorded a lofty status. The glimpse he had now was a brand new world that he could not have imagined before.
With the canvas spread out and the brush in hand, the only question now was, how would he portray his Mental Image?
***********
In the blink of an eye, more than ten days passed, and the coldest season of winter was over.
Yu Ci still hadn't found his Mental Image.
Elder Jie Liang, who taught him the method, was not surprised. In his view, those in the world who could practice this method could be divided into two types: one who had fully recognized their "Physical Image", at least a cultivator who had successfully refined the Yin Spirit. On this basis, as long as they mastered the basic method, they could succeed in forming a "Mental Image". The second type, those who lacked understanding of their "Physical Image", would include the process of continuing to recognize their "Physical Image" when depicting their "Mental Image". This was not something that could be resolved in a few days.
Therefore, after imparting the method, everyone's focus shifted to hunting Demons.
A ferocious, bloodthirsty, and seemingly cunning powerful Demon lurked nearby, posing a significant threat to the Still Heart Temple, which was mostly comprised of Outer Disciples or Freelance Daoists.
As the most powerful person below the Golden Elixir Stage in the temple, Yu Ci temporarily set aside his study of the Primordial Root Qi Method and joined his peers in assisting several Immortal Elders in searching the surrounding mountains.
"There's definitely none within fifty miles."
Having observed secretly with the Divine Map countless times, Yu Ci was confident, and the Immortal Elders also made judgments, similarly focusing on the periphery. The further out, the wider the range, and it was challenging for the Still Heart Temple to cover everything with their manpower. However, Hai Yang, the Immortal Elder who was proficient in soul-soothing and exorcism spells, had found clues from the animals affected by the evil aura and had been performing a certain spell these days to gradually locate the Demon's traces.
The atmosphere was slowly tightening, and then, on a snowy night, it suddenly erupted.
Yu Ci, who was still twenty miles away at the time, did not make it to the battle. He only saw the ominous clouds that filled the sky and heard the thunderous roars that echoed for dozens of miles when Elder Jie Liang took action. By the time he arrived, the cunning Golden Elixir Stage demons had already been reduced to ashes by Elder Jie Liang. Along with them, another individual had also been incinerated.
Nan Songzi!
This was a result that caught everyone off guard.
According to Elder Jie Liang, he was searching in the mountains when he sensed a sudden surge of intense atmospheric fluctuations in the distance. Rushing over, he found the demons struggling fiercely within an Illusion array. From their appearances, it was clear that their Divine Souls were being controlled and were undergoing Possession.
Elder Jie Liang refrained from intervening immediately. He observed for a while and concluded that neither party in the Possession was of good nature, and then he took action. By that time, the demons had even used the Illusion technique of the Ten Thousand Images Sect and had sacrificed an evil artifact in a desperate struggle. However, under Elder Jie Liang's Five-Thunder Bombardment, they were instantly reduced to ashes and were completely annihilated.
The reason they could confirm it was Nan Songzi was not only because of the Illusion array and Illusion technique of the Ten Thousand Images Sect but also because of a piece of Red veil material that had been scorched by thunderfire until only fragments remained. It was no more than half a foot long, and its edges were all fire marks.
This was the evil artifact that the opponent had sacrificed, which had been largely burnt by the thunderfire launched by Elder Jie Liang and was now completely ruined.
In the Still Heart Temple, this item was held in Yu Ci's hand, with Yu Zhou, Elder Jie Liang, and Hai Yang, the three Immortal Elders, all watching him.
As a participant in the battle at Nanfrost Lake, Yu Ci had the most authority to speak. He held the Red veil, pinching it between his fingers, and felt an unusually high temperature within it. After rubbing it, he even felt a faint burning sensation. When he channeled "Primordial Qi" through it, a trace of greasy fragrance emerged, which, when inhaled sharply, caused slight dizziness. This fragrance was identical to the one he had smelled on the day at Nanfrost Lake, only somewhat fainter.
In Yu Ci's understanding, the crimson mist that had shrouded the lake must have originated from this wicked artifact. The subsequent departure of Nan Songzi's spirit from his body was likely reliant on this very artifact.
Yu Ci confirmed this suspicion.
The fragment of the Red Veil returned to the hands of Yu Zhou and the others. The three Immortal Elders, all well-versed and worldly, passed the Red Veil amongst themselves, confirming its identity. Finally, Hai Yang declared:
"This is undoubtedly the Peach Blossom Tent."
Hai Yang, stout and short in stature with jet-black hair and beard, spoke in a resonant voice that caused the walls to tremble.
Yu Zhou stroked his beard and said, "In recent years, the banks of the Cang River have been rather unsettled, with demons hiding amidst us. Many lone cultivators and small sect cultivators, particularly female cultivators, have been drained of their yin essence and blood, dying as a result. I wonder if Nan Songzi is to blame for this?"
The Peach Blossom Tent is indeed a notorious item in this realm. It is a vile object crafted using female yin essence and blood, taking the form of a gauze canopy. Typically, some lowly individuals use it as a novelty for their amusement. However, some cultivators, more ruthless, have taken this base and, through the sacrifice of human lives, advanced it into a more malicious magical instrument. Nan Songzi was evidently one of the latter.
Judging from the situation at that time, the disembodied Nan Songzi only had this one soul vessel. Now that the vessel was destroyed under the bombardment of heavenly thunder, his soul scattering was inevitable.
Hai Yang burst into laughter, "The Heavenly Dao is impartial. Such a Woodworm Cultivator, tarnishing the name of cultivators, has sought his own death. Being annihilated under Senior Brother Jie's Heavenly Thunder is truly karmic retribution!"
Woodworm Cultivator?
Upon hearing Hai Yang's tone, Yu Ci wondered if this term had some sort of history?
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I have also posted the following more chapters [All free] on: https://www.readgates.com/article/74a39e