Suddenly, the rapidly ascending spiritual consciousness was torn apart by the chaotic energies and life force in the sky. A sharp pain shot through my head, blood oozed from my seven orifices, and I felt the impending danger. Just then, the Xuanhuang Flag flashed with white light and forcefully pulled my spiritual consciousness back.
When Yang Granny saw my condition, her face turned pale with fear, and she hurriedly shouted for me to stop.
In fact, even if Yang Granny hadn't shouted, I had already stopped. My mind went blank, and I absentmindedly wiped the blood dripping from my nose, feeling incredibly frustrated.
"How many is this?" Yang Granny waved two fingers in front of me.
I shook my head and weakly replied, "Granny, I’m fine, don’t worry."
"How many is this? Tell me quickly! You’re scaring me to death!" Yang Granny urgently ignored my answer.
"It’s two, Granny, I really am fine."
Sighing, Yang Granny pulled me off the yellow cloth and said, "Quickly wash your face, look at you, don’t tell anyone, especially not that lamb child or your family, I was really scared just now."
"Don’t worry, Granny!" I felt weak all over and was mentally drained, but I asked curiously, "Why did that happen just now? Why was it fine for you, but not for me?"
Yang Granny's expression faltered for a moment, and after a brief pause, she awkwardly replied, "Child, actually… actually, I lied to you. I really don’t know how to summon the great gods."
My God!
"Then where did the steps and gestures you taught me come from?" From her actions earlier, I clearly felt the change in my life force and spiritual consciousness. If that was all fake, then Granny really was some kind of shaman.
"The steps, the gestures, and the yellow cloth… all of them are passed down in the Yang family," Yang Granny sighed and said, "Lamb’s grandfather, when he tried to summon the gods, he bled from his seven orifices and died…"
After saying this, her gaze became vacant, and it seemed like she was lost in thought.
When I heard that Lamb's grandfather had died from bleeding after attempting to summon the gods, my heart sank, and I broke into a cold sweat! Could it be that I had just brushed past the gates of death? Why did I end up with bleeding from my seven orifices on my first attempt at summoning the gods?
Where did all that chaotic energy and violent life force come from?
I remembered when I left the Xuanhuang Flag last time and drew life force into my body, the violent energy was similar, but this time, besides the intense energy, there was also an energy that seemed to have a consciousness of its own. What was that?
What’s really going on here?
Is it because of changes in the Heavenly Dao, or is it something to do with me?
Cultivators strive to seize the Heavenly Dao to pursue immortality, but if the Dao has become so chaotic and violent, isn’t that a great calamity for cultivators?
With the Heavenly Dao like this, how am I supposed to comprehend the true meaning of the Dao?
These questions kept swirling in my mind, and I began to overthink.
I spent the rest of the way back to school mulling over everything, but I still couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation for why my spiritual consciousness soared freely that night at the medicine valley, yet when I tried to summon the gods, my mind was nearly shattered.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
If it weren’t for the Xuanhuang Flag, I might have been finished. Even so, when I got back to the provincial city, my face was still deathly pale, and I looked utterly drained.
My relatives immediately asked if I was feeling sick, especially when I returned to the provincial city. My third uncle insisted on taking me to the hospital, but I politely declined. It wasn’t an illness; it was just the aftereffects of failing to summon the gods. I didn’t want to be lectured or hear nagging, so I kept my mouth shut about everything I had learned from Yang Granny about divination and summoning gods.
On the 8th of October, when I returned to school, my classmates were all curious when they saw me in such a state. Several of my friends who knew me well asked what had happened.
I just made up a quick excuse and kept to myself, feeling too drained to care about the others' concern. I was frustrated!
The first day of school, no one was focused, and the teacher let us study on our own. For me, it didn’t matter whether it was self-study or class; I continued to live my quiet school life.
If I had been in this state before the National Day break, I would have to wait for my energy to slowly recover. But now that the inner medicine had matured, it was time to refine my spiritual consciousness. My heart was almost completely depleted, and it was just the right time to temper it. The so-called "break through and stand again" was a perfect match for my current condition.
While my classmates were busy studying, I was in the last row with my eyes closed, cultivating. My deskmate, Wu Xiaoman, had tried to remind me a few times but eventually stopped bothering me.
After class, Zhang Yu would always come over to chat with Xiaoman, while also expressing concern about my lack of motivation, complaining that I was wasting my time.
Why do they think I’m wasting time? I’m cultivating, heh.
At the end of English class, the beautiful teacher, Lü Yanling, called me into her office and said, "Zhang Santong, you’re quite a strange student. So, did you bring the talismans I asked for?"
I replied, "Yes, I brought them."
Lü Yanling took out several hundred yuan bills from her drawer and handed them to me, saying, "Give me a few more of those talismans, the ones that stop motion sickness. Here’s 800 yuan, take it."
Wow, she really gave me 800 yuan! After thinking for a moment, I didn’t hesitate and took the money, handing her five Calming Talismans, joking, "Heh, teacher, if you need anything else, just let me know!"
Huh? I think I may have made that sound a bit ambiguous... Oops! No harm done, right? Amitabha Buddha!
I didn’t give her more talismans because she was a teacher. After all, I’m just a poor student, not a benefactor. Those were the results of my cultivation; I had to cherish them.
Time passed quickly as I went on with my lazy school life. It took me nearly half a month to restore and refine my spiritual consciousness. The small medicinal pellet in my dantian had grown to the size of a pea.
My spiritual consciousness became stronger, and whenever I was bored, I would try using my will to move small objects, just for fun. Cultivation was indeed enjoyable!
During this time, a rumor began circulating among my classmates.
It was said that during the National Day holiday, the school had hired some Taoist priests to perform a ritual to cremate the mummified corpse. However, the night before the cremation, the corpse disappeared.
Although the school tried to suppress the news, within a few days, nearly every student knew about it. Many students began walking in pairs to school, and by the time evening self-study rolled around, there were hardly any students left in the classrooms. We day students eventually stopped going to evening self-study altogether.
The rumors left everyone uneasy.
If the mummified corpse really disappeared, I was certain someone was behind it. The evil soul fragments that had remained in the corpse had been exterminated by my Xuanhuang Flag, so the corpse definitely wouldn’t have disappeared on its own.
When my deskmate, the beautiful Xiaoman, heard the rumor, her face turned pale, poor thing! You look down on me, but I see you’re just as vulnerable as I am!
With the upcoming midterm exams, everyone was on edge, and the atmosphere at the school became heavy.
Of course, I was the exception. I still went to school to cultivate, returned home to cultivate, and occasionally studied the Taiyi Liu Ren method that Yang Granny taught me. As for summoning gods, I set that aside for now until I could figure out the cause.
Autumn was here, the Yang energy was receding and the Yin energy growing, the wind was fierce… Autumn’s beauty was mature—it wasn’t as shy as spring, as exposed as summer, or as introverted as winter.
Huh? When did I become so poetic? It was a Saturday, and with nothing to do, I went out to buy some yellow paper. As I was walking down the street, I suddenly found myself marveling at the beauty of autumn.
In the small shop where I was buying yellow paper, I noticed a middle-aged man dressed as a Taoist priest, around forty years old. His eyes gleamed with energy, and he looked full of life.
When he saw me buying yellow paper, the middle-aged Taoist looked at me with curiosity, and in his hand, he carried a large cloth bag. I had no idea what was inside.
What a strange Taoist...