Chapter 39: Wood Spirit "Those who are good at speaking of heaven must base their opinions on people. Those who are good at speaking of people must base their opinions on heaven." In the Banshan Hall of Fuqiu Temple, an old Taoist in Taoist robes sat at the top, and two newly accepted disciples sat below, preaching. The old Taoist's voice was leisurely. However, amidst this leisurely state, he felt somewhat weak, which was different from his state on the road before returning to the Taoist temple. "So there are four seasons in the sky, the sun and the moon push each other, cold and heat alternate, it is the movement of the universe. When it is mild, it becomes rain, when it is angry, it becomes wind, when it is scattered, it becomes dew, when it is chaotic, it becomes fog, when it condenses, it becomes frost and snow, when it stands, it becomes snails, this is the constant of the sky. People have four limbs and five internal organs, when they wake up and sleep, they breathe in and out, the essence and qi circulate, flowing as the blood and defense, manifesting as the complexion, and making sounds, this is also the constant of people. "This means that those who are good at talking about the Way of Heaven must connect it to people, and those who are good at talking about human affairs must base it on the Way of Heaven. In terms of cultivation, it means that the cultivator uses his own changes and thoughts to comprehend the heaven and earth, and he must always use the changes in the laws of the heaven and earth to adjust himself. Heaven and man correspond to each other, and the two are inherently connected. "Cough cough..." It is mostly about the correspondence between man and heaven and earth. This was also the teachings that Taoist Yunhe gave to them. It can be considered as one of the prerequisite courses for cultivation.
The old Taoist spoke slowly as the sun gradually rose higher. It was obvious that the old Taoist looked a little tired. "That's it for today." "Yes, Master." "Is there anyone who didn't understand?" "I almost understand it all, I just need to savor it slowly." "That's good." The old Taoist nodded repeatedly and said to them: "Oh, by the way, I am old now, and I have been more sober and less drowsy in recent days. It just so happened that during the previous grand ceremony, Xianyuan Temple also recruited a dozen disciples. They will teach the disciples to read and recognize characters. The ancestors of our two families were originally good friends, and later they became old friends. Qingyao, you can't read, so when the time comes, you can go to Xianyuan Temple and learn to read with their disciples. Remember to be serious." "I understand, Master." The junior sister nodded solemnly. "Lin Jue, you know how to read, but you also need to know that it is easy to learn academics, but it is difficult to learn Taoism. When the abbot of Xianyuan Temple preaches to his disciples, I also ask you to go and listen, so don't be embarrassed. Taoism is something that everyone has different opinions on. If you want to go far, just listening to your teacher will be a bit narrow-minded. Wangjizi also has some experience in this regard." Taoist Yunhe said with a chuckle, "If they teach magic, don't be too shameless, listen as much as you can." "understood." Lin Jue also agreed. …… On top of Fuqiu Peak. There are often sounds of chopping branches and breaking decayed trees in the forest, as well as voices. If you are close, you can even hear the sounds of pianos and flutes coming from the Taoist temple. If you are far away, you can only occasionally hear the sound of the flute, which is played by Fourth Senior Brother in his spare time when he is in the mountains interacting with the birds and animals. "Brother Tree, Brother Tree, your lower branches are not getting sunlight, so they are wasting nutrients. I will help you trim them and use them as firewood." "Brother, why are you talking to the tree while you're chopping wood?" "Entertain yourself..."
As Lin Jue spoke, he swung the knife in his hand. Originally, chopping wood was Lin Jue's job, but the little junior sister refused to let him do it alone and always wanted to follow him. Whenever he chopped the wood, she would naturally take it away and sort it into bundles according to dryness, wetness, thickness and fineness. After chopping wood and bringing it back to the Taoist temple, the two of them went together, but one carried the shoulder pole and the other carried the backpack. The little fox cub followed behind them. This continued for several days. In addition to chopping wood, you also need to fetch water. I don't know how much water was spilled on the path from the Taoist temple to the spring, but they still walked with two people, one in front and one behind, carrying half a large bucket and half a small bucket. When the little sister saw him walking, she followed him. When she couldn't carry anymore, she would grit her teeth and wait for him to stop and rest before she would stop. They walked and rested together, and the little fox still followed behind him, running back and forth, and I don't know how many times they ran. In addition, she recited sutras every morning, nourished her qi in the temple, and went to the mountain behind her to breathe in and out in the evening. It was quite leisurely. At this time, the little sister was either listening to the master's teachings or doing other work. Lin Jue initially thought that this junior sister was trying to show off, and that she was close to him so she had to be with him, and he also thought that she wanted to help him share some of the hard work. He also thought that the junior sister didn't want to see him being diligent, but appearing lazy and doing nothing in the eyes of the master and senior brothers. Maybe both are right, but neither seems entirely right. It wasn't until a few days later that Lin Jue slowly began to see things more clearly and figured out what was going on. This little junior sister seems to like working a little? Even when she saw the eldest brother digging outside the Taoist temple or the third brother moving his wine jars, she would take the initiative to help, even if she couldn't help but pretend to be busy. It's quite interesting. A few days later—— Lin Jue was called by his second senior brother to his alchemy room. Second Senior Brother’s alchemy room should also be passed down from the predecessors. It is a small pavilion at the diagonal back of the Taoist temple. As soon as you enter, you will feel a burst of warmth. The attic was two stories high, but actually only one story. In the middle was an alchemy furnace, with a yin-yang fish pattern carved on the floor. There were many bottles and jars on the shelf behind the attic. The second brother sat cross-legged, with a zither table and an ancient zither behind him. I guess he enjoyed playing the zither when he was bored while waiting for the elixir to come out. The zither sounds often heard in the Taoist temple came from him. "Junior brother is here?" "Senior brother." "I have extracted the five elements' spiritual charm, divided it into two parts, earth and wood, and put them in bottles." The second brother picked up two bottles. He first extracted the essence of earth and wood and dissolved it in spiritual water for preservation, and then purified the spiritual liquid. Only in this way can the illusory five elements' spiritual charm be concretized and condensed into pills. "It's a pity that we don't practice the five elements' spiritual method, otherwise swallowing the spiritual charm can help us practice. At this time, we can only increase our understanding of the five elements." "Can I just swallow it?" Lin Jue took the two porcelain bottles. Although it is said to be five elements, there are actually only two: earth and wood. "Just swallow it, but it's best not to take them at the same time, so as not to mix up the spiritual charms. And don't keep it for a long time. Although the water of the holy spring can carry the spiritual charm of heaven and earth, the spiritual charm is originally ethereal and will continue to dissipate." The second brother said, "Also, the spiritual charm cannot be absorbed by humans. Swallowing it will only make you feel as if you are in a place full of spiritual charm. After taking it, you must feel it with your heart." "remember." Lin Jue couldn't help but frowned and decided to swallow one of them when he got back. Then he took out two peach gums from his arms and asked, "Second Senior Brother, do you know what this is for?" "what is this?"
“Peach gum.” "It has quite a spiritual charm, so it should be extraordinary, right?" said the second senior brother. "This kind of thing can be used to make pills and taken together with the spiritual charm of the wood element. It's just that I don't have a pill recipe that matches it, so it's a bit of a waste. But this kind of thing can be eaten directly, so just eat it directly." "Eat it directly? Wouldn't that be more wasteful?" "As for its efficacy, it is naturally worse, but that's not the case." Second Senior Brother said calmly, "It can be eaten by itself. If you insist on refining it into a pill, isn't that another kind of waste?" "..." Lin Jue seemed to feel that something was wrong, but also seemed to feel that he was right. "understood." So Lin Jue took back the peach gum, took the two small bottles, and returned to his room. The little fox naturally followed him. "Squeak~" Lin Jue closed the door and bent down to pick it up. "Fourth Senior Brother said that you might be the descendant of a fox demon, are you?" "Uh-huh……" A humming sound came from its mouth. "Whether it is or not, it has been a few days and Fourth Senior Brother has not found your parents, so you have no choice but to follow me. Wait until your parents come to find you, then you can go back." "Uh-huh……" After a few days, it had become very familiar with Lin Jue. It just obediently let him hold it in his hand, with its tail raised to protect its vital parts. Apart from looking at him and twisting left and right in a rather helpless manner, there was nothing unusual about it. Seeing this, Lin Jue couldn't help but smile: "But don't worry too much, this place is also unfamiliar to me." The little fox continued to hum without answering. Lin Jue didn't say anything else. Fourth brother was playing the flute from somewhere, and the melodious sound of the flute floated into the room vaguely. These Taoists have too much free time. Lin Jue put aside all distracting thoughts, sat down cross-legged beside the bed, leaned his back against the bed for support, and took out two small bottles. Although the bottle cap has not been opened yet, I can already vaguely feel the spirit inside. One is thick and steady, even feeling heavy when holding it; the other is full of vitality, and taking a breath makes me feel refreshed. Then open the bottle cork. There is illusory air and light inside. It looks quite magical and dreamy. Lin Jue didn't dare to look at it any more. He took the bottle of Wood Spiritual Charm and put the other bottle back. He thought to himself that if the Wood Spiritual Charm took too long to digest, in order to avoid wasting it, he would give it to the little junior sister. Since the girl had worked so hard to help me carry half a bucket of holy spring water, and I couldn't use the Earth Spiritual Charm for the time being, what would be wrong with giving her half of it? With a carefree thought in mind, he stopped struggling and hesitated, and just tilted his head back and swallowed it into his stomach.
Suddenly my head buzzed. Everything in the room and even the room itself seemed to be moving away. Lin Jue suddenly felt that he was not in the room, but in a dense forest. There was a rich spiritual charm all around. Although it was extremely mysterious, it was also ethereal and elusive, and one had to feel it with one's heart. Lin Jue closed his eyes and remained silent, becoming one with it. This is the spiritual charm nurtured by the mountains and forests. The little fox next to him huddled in the corner of the room. The futon in the corner was its nest. Just like it did every night, it raised its head, staring at Lin Jue with its pair of black round eyes, observing him curiously. Sometimes he tilted his head to the side, as if thinking. …… It started raining outside without me noticing. This is not uncommon. It is said that there is only one sunny day every three or four days on Mount Yishan. The rest of the time it is either foggy or rainy, and more often it is both fog and rainy. Just like today. The exposed granite on the mountain was instantly wetted by the rain. The rain stirred up mountain fog, which not only obscured the Taoist temple at the foot of the mountain, leaving only a pitiful corner exposed, but also obscured the strange peaks and rocks and ancient pine trees in the mountain. The wind blew away the fog, and you could see clear particles in the fog. It was summer, and the ancient pines on the mountain were full of pine flowers, orange-red like rice grains, and were easily soaked by rain and fog. However, most of these ancient pines are rooted in the cracks of rocks and have always lacked soil. It is the nourishment of rain and fog that allows them to survive. The old pines greedily absorbed the water, passing it down through their leaves, taking root even harder, and even splitting rocks. The wild grasses in the mountains also drank their fill. The bellflowers became even more delicate after being wetted by the rain, and some were originally buds, but opened their petals as the rain and fog drifted in. With the help of this spiritual charm, with the help of the rain and the drifting fog, Lin Jue seemed to be able to feel it all. It was unknown how long it took before he opened his eyes. Two peach gums appeared in his hand. What Second Brother said might make sense. Peach gum itself is edible. Using it to make pills that can be swallowed in one gulp is a waste to some extent, even if the efficacy is increased. Perhaps this is also a state of mind and a perspective. Lin Jue should probably choose a time to cook it into Tremella and Peach Gum Soup, but not now. He suddenly felt that he needed it. So he swallowed it directly into his stomach. There was a spiritual charm blooming in his body, like an old tree blooming, like peach branches bearing fruit, like spring buds. It had no major effect, it just made him inexplicably experience this process. Sometimes I feel like I have become a tree. Finally opened my eyes again. The little fox left the cushion and lay down in front of him, staring at him with its head tilted. Lin Jue looked at it and sat still. He seemed to be still immersed in his previous insights, but also seemed to be in a pure trance.
"Boom..." A bell rang. Lin Jue stood up and walked out. The little fox followed him immediately. But just as he stretched out his hand to open the door, he stopped. After thinking for a while, he took a small step forward until his forehead and nose were close to the door. "..." Lin Jue took a deep breath, held his breath, concentrated his mind, put aside all distracting thoughts, and became one with the world. He silently recited in his heart, "Those who are in harmony are one with the world," and then continued to move forward. "..." No sound, no collision. There seems to be resistance, but it is not hard. It was as if he took a step forward against the strong wind and the curtain of water. When Lin Jue turned around, he found himself outside the door. The wooden door behind him was still closed tightly. He could even gradually hear the little fox cub saying "Huh?" in confusion at first, and then starting to hum in panic. The wood escape technique actually worked. I actually walked through the door. Lin Jue stood at the door and savored it carefully. This feeling is really fascinating. (End of this chapter)