Chapter 280: Chapter 172: Three Flowers and Five Gases
Translator: 549690339
[All cultivators in the world strive for longevity through Qi refining.]
Qi refiners refine the Celestial Spirit Qi of Heaven and Earth, absorbing the essence of the sun, moon, and stars into their bodies, and merging with their body’s essence and soul.
Heaven and Earth, sun and moon are everlasting; thus, those who consume Qi can achieve immortality.]
Lu Yuan was flipping through the Taiping Dao Book in his hand, looking at the opening chapter, which introduced the essence of cultivation. Seizing the essence of Heaven and Earth, refining Qi for longevity.
This was the general principle.
As he turned the pages, the content varied.
[The realm of cultivation is divided into four steps: Qi Refining, Qi into Spirit, Spirit Returning to Void, and Void and Dao Fusion. It also mentions the concept of Three Flowers Gathering and Five Qi towards Primordial.
Qi Refining realm.
At the beginning of a cultivator’s Qi refining, they gather Celestial Spirit Qi of Heaven and Earth, refine the essence of the sun and the moon into their bodies, and merge it with their five internal organs. As a result, the essence within their body merges with the essence of the sun and the moon, transforming it into the Five Elements Qi.
Once the Five Elements Qi is refined, they have achieved the Immortal Path Entry stage. At this point, they begin to shed their mortal bodies and enjoy a lifespan of 200 years.
Refining two strands of Five Elements Qi further deepens the foundations of the Immortal Path. At this stage, the mortal body is halfway shed, and the lifespan increases by another 100 years.
Refining three strands of Five Elements Qi establishes a foundation for the Immortal Path. The body forms a small world of the Five Elements within, attaining minor success in magical powers, and enjoying a lifespan of 500 years.
Refining four strands of Five Elements Qi, the Five Elements approach perfection, the Dao foundation stabilizes, and the lifespan increases by 100 years.
Refining five strands of Five Elements Qi, the Five Elements reach perfection, the Dao foundation matures, the magical powers achieve major success, and the lifespan increases to 800 years. This is called Five Qi Towards Primordial.
After reaching the Five Qi Towards Primordial stage, the essence in the body transforms into Five Elements Qi, and the Immortal Path foundation reaches perfection. At this point, one is ready to refine Qi into Spirit.
To cultivate this realm, one must refine their soul into their Dao foundation, nourishing it with the Five Qi, and cultivating the Yin Spirit. In doing so, they can form a flower atop their head, becoming a True Man of Immortal Path and entering the realm of Three Flowers Gathering.
A True Man is an Immortal.
Immortals are divided into three types: Heavenly Immortal, Earth Immortal, and Human Immortal.
When a cultivator refines Qi into Spirit, they must form a single flower on the top of their head. This flower is called the Person Flower, and those who attain this realm are referred to as Human Immortals.
Once a Human Immortal is achieved, they can enjoy a lifespan of 3,000 years and boundless freedom.
Afterward, a cultivator can refine Spirit and return to Void, forming the second flower on top of their head. This flower is called the Earth Flower, and those who achieve it are known as Earth Immortals.
When an Earth Immortal is achieved, they can enjoy a lifespan of 10,000 years and witness mountains, seas, and the cycle of life.
Finally, a cultivator achieves Void and Dao Fusion, forming the third flower on top of their head. This flower is called the Heaven Flower, and those who attain it are known as Heavenly Immortals.
Once a Heavenly Immortal is achieved, their lifespan becomes indefinite. They may live for tens of thousands of years, or even tens or hundreds of millions of years. It is not impossible to live even longer.
Thus, the wonders of the Immortal Path are embodied in Three Flowers
Gathering and Five Qi Towards Primordial.]
After finishing the introduction, Lu Yuan couldn’t help putting down the book and furrowing his brow in deep thought.
“Three Flowers Gathering, Five Qi Towards Primordial, so this world’s cultivation follows this path.”
Lu Yuan’s fingers traced over the Taoist book, glancing at the lines describing the cultivation realms. A wave of emotion welled up in his heart.
Although not many words were written in this introductory chapter, just a little over a thousand, it already laid out the cultivation concept and Immortal Realm, providing him with a direction for the future.
In fact, the theories of Three Flowers Gathering, Five Qi towards Primordial, Qi refining, Qi into Spirit, Spirit Returning to Void, and Void and Dao Fusion were all mentioned in the numerous Taoist Classics Lu Yuan had read in the past.
However, the content was mostly abstract or descriptive, without giving any guidance on how to achieve these realms.
Merely providing names and meanings without any practical guidance seemed pointless.
Therefore, Lu Yuan didn’t pay much attention to these terms and realms before, treating them as mere imaginative hypotheses.
Things one couldn’t achieve were useless, no matter how much they read or studied. It would just be a waste of time.
However, little did he know that after encountering true Immortal Techniques, he realized the truths mentioned in the Taoist Classics were accurate.
“Actually, I did have some speculations about this before. After all, so many
Taoist Classics mentioned these realms with high consistency. It would be unlikely to be a hoax.
The True People who were rumored to have ascended also claimed to have condensed Five Qi and Three Flowers.
But in the Taoist Classics, there were no specific cultivation methods described related to them. Even if one read those texts, they would be of no help.”
Lu Yuan thought of the thousands of Taoist Classics he had read, and once again realized the Dao Veins’ monopoly on Immortal Techniques.
Without practical cultivation methods, even if you were given Taoist Classics and guided on a path, what could you do?
You still couldn’t cultivate to be an Immortal.
You could only look at the achievements of your predecessors and envy them.
“Fortunately, now I have Immortal Techniques and can begin cultivating, no longer relegated to the realm of mere envy.”
Lu Yuan felt slightly comforted, but then frowned as he remembered something: “Previously, when I read the ‘Yunxiaozijingmingqianxuanjing,’ I calculated that the successive generations of Ziyun Dao Masters could live for roughly 200 years.
With such a lifespan, based on the knowledge of the Three Flowers Gathering and Five Qi towards Primordial realm, doesn’t this mean that the past generations of Ziyun Dao Masters basically only achieved the realm of refining one strand of the Five Elements Qi?
Even the 7th -generation Ziyun Dao Master Yun Xiao Zi, who wrote this scripture, seemed to have mentioned that he established his Immortal foundation, formed Heaven and Earth within himself, and then ascended on clouds.
But according to this description, this is nothing more than the achievement of three Qi, barely establishing a Dao foundation and having a small in-body world of the Five Elements. Moreover, his magical powers had only achieved minor success.
Could someone with this level of strength actually ascend on clouds?”
Thinking of the ‘Yunxiaozijingmingqianxuanjing’ that had once greatly broadened his horizons, Lu Yuan felt even more that something was amiss when comparing its contents to the Taiping Dao Book he was reading now..