Chapter 88: Recognizing the Spirit and Cultivating Immortality through Martial Arts As they were talking, Qiu Zhen followed An Kang into the An family martial arts arena. As soon as the two entered the courtyard, An Jishi, who was scolding his son incessantly, might have noticed it. Suddenly, he looked at the two people who entered the courtyard, and a relieved smile immediately appeared on his unhappy face: "Xiao Zhen, I guessed you would come over these few days." "Sir, you have a keen eye. You just broke through the fifth level last night." Qiu Zhen was not surprised at all that Master An saw at a glance that he had cultivated an "impeccable body". So fast? Ankang and An Huayu were slightly surprised. However, considering that Qiu Zhen had a good destiny and many opportunities and fortunes, the two were not surprised. As he was speaking, Ankang came to An Huayu and whispered a few words.
An Jishi was a little surprised, then smiled at Qiu Zhen: "Have a heart." "Sir, let's have a taste of our own spiritual fruit." Soon, the group arrived at the pavilion in the corner of the martial arts field and sat down. "Xiao Zhen, are you here to ask me for advice on the next stage of cultivation?" "Exactly." Qiu Zhen nodded. He cultivated a "leak-free body" and perfected his Yin spirit. He officially entered the realm of "refining essence into Qi" and practiced the [Dragon-Tiger Copulation Method]. In terms of cultivating immortals, he had no shortage of paths to practice. As for the practice of martial arts, he did not understand the realm above the innate level. The An family library has countless books of all kinds, but few of them involve advanced martial arts or detailed explanations of the knowledge of cultivation. Normally, when talking with Fairy Yunrou and Monk Zhenkong, they usually only talked about spiritual practice and cultivating magic powers, and rarely talked about martial arts. "Please give me some advice, sir." "Hmm~" An Jishi was not surprised at all. Acquired martial arts are widely spread in the countryside and it is not difficult to inquire about them. However, the innate realm is already an "extraordinary" realm, and few people in the countryside know about it. It's normal that Qiu Zhen knows nothing. "You must also know that the martial arts that are flourishing nowadays are derived from the immortal way. It is the life skill in the [Dual Cultivation of Sex and Life]. When talking about the innate realm, we have to mention cultivating the way to become an immortal." Practice Taoism to become an immortal? Qiu Zhen immediately became interested. Pharmacist An is knowledgeable, has a high level of attainment, and has the bearing of a master. Even if he has not practiced cultivation, his vision and experience would probably far exceed his.
Normally, he would not ask too much due to taboos, but now that Pharmacist An took the initiative to mention it, he was naturally more than happy to ask. "Sir, please speak." "There are three treasures in practicing Taoism: 'essence, energy and spirit'. Essence and energy refine the body, which is the prototype of martial arts life skills, while the essence of practicing Taoism lies in the spirit and the nature skills. The spirit is divided into soul and spirit. The soul is the innate primordial spirit, and the spirit is the acquired conscious spirit. The acquired conscious mind is the tangible ordinary mind. The seven emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire that you and I have, and the six desires of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are all controlled by the conscious mind. All the thoughts that you and I have are the results of the conscious mind. This is why people praise someone for being decisive in doing things. When one's consciousness is strong, one will naturally be bold and resolute in doing things. The innate spirit is the origin of life for human beings and is the unchanging nature. In the eyes of heaven and earth, humans are like mayflies that are born in the morning and die in the evening. In the eyes of the Dao, heaven and earth are like bubbles that disappear in the moment in the water. Only the true nature of human spirit can transcend time and space and be eternal and immortal. However, human spirit will decay with the decay of heaven and earth and will not last forever. Only the primordial spirit can transcend yin and yang and is not in the three realms. If the "innate primordial spirit" is compared to the king of a country, then the "acquired consciousness spirit" is the tyrannical prince and warlord. When a cultivator first starts practicing Taoism, he refines his body and nourishes his soul, and cultivates himself into a "yin god". Although he has magical powers and his Taoism improves, there are two sides to the coin. Just like when the power of princes and warlords grows, they can resist foreign invasion and strengthen the country. However, the power of princes and warlords is too great. Once they become too powerful to be controlled, the status of the monarch and his subjects will be reversed, and if one is not careful, a usurpation of power will occur. Once this happens, it means death. For those who practice Taoism, only by practicing Xinggong and continuously expanding the power of the monarch, and with the assistance of wise ministers, can they suppress the princes and warlords. Practicing Xinggong is to strengthen the authority of the monarch and control the four directions from the central government." Pharmacist An spoke eloquently and eloquently, expounding the way of cultivation. After listening to Jun's words, Qiu Zhen's horizons were broadened. He had a direct understanding of the matter of "cultivating the Tao" and became curious: "Sir, why is the immortal way declining now?" "There are two kinds of air in the sky, pure and turbid. People who practice Taoism collect and refine the pure air from heaven and earth to refine their bodies and preserve their spirits. However, the heaven and earth change, and the evil thoughts in the pure air are rampant. From time to time, demons descend, making it extremely difficult for people who practice Taoism to practice." When An Jishi said this, a look of regret appeared on his face: "You and I were born in the wrong era. The pure energy contains evil thoughts, which can pollute the consciousness, causing it to lose itself and indulge in desires. This is like the warlords in the four directions losing control and rebelling at any time, causing the country to be shaken. Even if a cultivator practices hard, it is very easy to go astray." "The cultivation of immortals is more than a hundred times more difficult than in ancient times." Qiu Zhen finally understood something. He had heard similar statements before, but this time it was the most comprehensive and systematic understanding. "Sir, is there really no future for practicing Taoism?" "That's not true." An Jishi sighed and said: “If you can cultivate the Dao of Alchemy, the Heart Seal of the Buddha, and the unique skills of the saints, you can awaken your primordial spirit early, and strengthen your power early. Maybe you can fight against the warlords in all directions.” After saying this, An Jishi shook his head: "It's a pity that no one has entered the method of the saints of the three religions to ascend to heaven in one step, and there is no way to enter. After all, if you enter with this method, you will summon a demon equivalent to a martial arts master or a spirit-refining old monster. How can you resist it with a mere hundred-day foundation-building cultivation?" "If you practice Dunfa, you will die at the hands of the great demon. If you don't practice Dunfa, it will become increasingly difficult to practice in the future, and there will be little hope. This is equivalent to a dead knot that is difficult to break." "This" Qiu Zhen's heart moved. Whoever said it was hard to crack, I have done it. Of course, he was excited in his heart, but he did not show it on his face. Instead, he asked: "Sir, what about martial arts practice? Why is it not easy to provoke demons when practicing martial arts?"
"Just now I mentioned that the cultivators of Taoism cultivate by refining the pure energy of heaven and earth. We in martial arts cultivate the turbid evil energy of heaven and earth. We use the evil spirits to suppress the demons, so there is naturally no risk of going astray and becoming possessed by the devil." An Jishi shook his head. When he mentioned martial arts, he didn't show any pride at all, but rather a bit of loneliness: "The price of flourishing martial arts nowadays is the loss of immortality. The turbid evil spirit restrains the devil, but also restrains oneself. Even if one cultivates to the level of a martial saint, the life span is only a few hundred years at most. There is no such thing as immortality or a life span equal to heaven." After saying this, he, who was extremely talented and ambitious, felt a little depressed and casually handed Qiu Zhen a painting. "This diagram is called the [Demon Ape Suppressing the World Diagram]. It is a method of gathering turbid evil qi and refining innate true qi. Your attainments in the [True Yang Sword Technique] are extremely high. Your true yang has just begun to move. In at most a year, you will surely be able to open the mysterious gate and enter the innate realm!" When these words were spoken, An Huayu and An Kang on the side were dumbfounded and shocked. Achieve innateness within one year? ! On the other side, Qiu Zhen was also surprised. It was not that An Jishi concluded that he could break through to the innate realm within a year. On the contrary, he had already completed the foundation building in a hundred days, and he had already discovered the mysterious secret. As long as he had the [Demon Ape Suppressing the World Diagram], he would be able to become an innate martial artist very soon. just After hearing what An Jishi said today, he felt numb all over. The current martial arts practice of refining "turbid evil qi" and cultivating spirits and demons, which is in conflict with the "pure qi" he cultivates for immortality. In other words, after cultivating oneself after birth and reaching the level of "refining essence into qi", the way of immortality and the way of contemporary martial arts diverge, and one can only cultivate in one direction. It’s over. Qiu Zhen's heart sank. From this perspective, he can never become a congenital martial artist. Before this, he had speculated in this regard based on known information, but he had not obtained any authoritative and specific information, so he still had some hope. Now, after Master An’s detailed explanation, the case has basically been concluded. this. Could it be that he was preparing to perform the "corpse transformation" drama so early, cutting off worldly ties and going into the mountains to practice? (End of this chapter)