Chapter 19: White Bone Contemplation's Marvelous Explanation

This thought had just arisen when Ye Qin dismissed it; cultivation emphasizes steady progress, step by step, and he could feel that although he had made great progress.

However, White Bone Contemplation has not yet been cultivated to the utmost.

If that is the case, contemplating other things would inevitably cause distraction; even with excellent talent, one cannot achieve parallel progress, and instead would suffer loss from greedy advancement.

It would be better to first bring White Bone Contemplation to perfection, then proceed to the next step.

What he needs to do now is, before leaving this state, to consolidate his cultivation level and maintain his realm.

Contemplating the myriad things of nature might also bring him great benefit, but cultivation stresses gradual progress; the future is long, and he is not in a hurry.

"In this state, his perceptiveness has significantly increased; perhaps he can try to deduce some future directions and methods of cultivation..."

Ye Qin muttered to himself, having an idea, he began to try to deduce his own cultivation method!

By the time Ye Qin opened his eyes again, it seemed that more than ten minutes had passed.

One must know that the ancients, fortunate to gain sudden enlightenment in meditation, would comprehend great works in just a few minutes; yet his single meditation session lasting over ten minutes is already extraordinary, the credit going to the snake spirit's human wisdom.

This extraordinary sudden enlightenment gave him much information; Ye Qin organized and summarized it, constantly reflecting and pondering.

"Based on the insights from the meditative state and a summary of the subsequent cultivation path, I can tentatively divide the early-stage cultivation realms into three phases: Free Contemplation, Forging the Body with Creation, and Refining Qi with Heaven and Earth."

"I am currently in the Free Contemplation realm, and the core of this realm is to contemplate any object, making it my sole \"Origin Contemplation Object\"."

"When one can imagine the contemplation object without the slightest deviation, vividly lifelike, unable to distinguish reality from illusion, then the contemplation realm is achieved and one can advance to the second realm!"

"As for the latter two realms, for now they are merely some ideas; however, one must reach them before knowing and practicing them, so I will not consider them for the time being..."

Of course, cultivation certainly is not limited to these three realms; this is what Ye Qin deduced from his current situation, and there may be many more later, which he does not yet know.

He also does not know the specific effects of each realm, which requires further exploration.

Perhaps all this will only become clear to him after he attains these three realms.

"It must be said, each time entering the \"meditative\" state brings great benefit. The first time he entered, he found the opportunity for cultivation. This time, he deduced the early-stage cultivation direction. He does not know when he will next have such an opportunity to feel the \"meditative\" state."

After sighing and sorting everything out, Ye Qin felt assured in his heart, unlike before when he was completely in the dark, knowing nothing.

He also had a general cultivation direction and scope.

In terms of time and perceptiveness, the present Ye Qin is only a step away from the second realm; as long as he pierces that paper window, taking one more step naturally is not difficult.

Recalling the earlier contemplation imagery, although it was true, Ye Qin always felt that something was lacking.

"What exactly is lacking?"

Ye Qin pondered deeply, the previous images continually surfacing in his mind; he glanced at the white bone beside the cavern and compared them carefully.

The snake's pupils rippled with faint waves, flashing a fleeting light, finally letting him find the difference.

The white bone he contemplated was too perfect; precisely this perfection became the greatest flaw.

The white bone inside the cavern had rotted for a hundred years; although it had not undergone wind or sun exposure, the bone quality was decayed, inevitably showing yellowed and blackened spots.

Besides that, countless snakes, insects, rats, and ants had crawled over it, leaving tiny wormholes; if not observed carefully, they are hard to detect.

The real skeleton cannot be called perfect; it cannot achieve a truly lustrous white like jade, but instead gains a touch of realism.

Ye Qin nodded in sudden realization: "That's it; it is because the white bone I contemplated has no flaws, lacking what should exist in reality, that makes it slightly insufficient."

"Because my Origin Contemplation Object is too distorted! I need to return to simplicity and truth!"

Originally his intention was to strive for perfection, to do the best possible, but he did not realize that sometimes a slight flaw is exactly what is needed.

It is like the world needing a gap; with a crack, light can shine in.

The Great Dao is fifty, Heavenly Derivation forty-nine.

Even the Heavenly Dao cannot achieve perfection, let alone him.

After understanding this principle, Ye Qin only felt his mind suddenly open, enlightened; the hazy white mist before his eyes was finally blown away by a great wind, and his spirit platform became clear and bright.

Ye Qin crawled to the side of the white bone, feeling as if he had made an important decision in his heart.

To reach the realm of perfection, one must personally engage in the task; merely looking is not enough.

Before, he was blinded by a single leaf, misled by the literal meaning; the cultivation of White Bone Contemplation is not only about the eye.

The so-called contemplation, besides sight, actually also relies on touch; more accurately, one must mobilize all five senses of the body.

Using the eyes to see, having the body to touch, using the heart to feel, and so on—none of these can be omitted.

Previously, he worried about offending the white bone, so he always observed from afar; but now, having understood the principle, everything is different.

"I apologize for the disturbance; I hope the young lady will not blame me. If you have a spirit in heaven, and if you can help me achieve perfection, I imagine you would understand my conduct and be willing to assist me."

Ye Qin straightened his body, then bent toward the white bone.

That posture was like a person bowing.

Afterward, he climbed onto the white bone, coiling around it loop after loop.

Within the white bone were interwoven black snake scales; the two contrasting colors created a strong visual impact.

Like yin and yang, constantly evolving, they faintly formed the pattern of the Taiji Bagua.

The white bone represents death, the yin principle; Ye Qin represents new life, the yang principle.

The black and white interchanged, resembling a reversal of life and death; the magnetic field within the cavern also subtly changed.

Feeling the cold sensation coming from below, Ye Qin felt as if a string in his heart had been plucked; his snake body continually coiled and uncoiled on the white bone, exploring back and forth.

Even the minute wormholes between the bone seams and the barely discernible cracks were all seen by him, giving him a more direct perception and experience.

Finally Ye Qin stopped, at the white bone's abdomen—the position of the dantian—and coiled himself into a circle.

The dantian is where the elixir of internal alchemy manifests in Daoist practice.

The ancients called vital essence the Three Treasures, regarding the dantian as the place to store the vital essence; thus they valued the dantian greatly, as if it were the "root of life and destiny."

This is also why Ye Qin ultimately chose to remain here in the meditative state.

The white bone, the black snake— they appear harmonious.

One yin, one yang is called the Dao.

Ye Qin contemplated the white bone again; this time he was inside the white bone, his mind naturally deducing, 206 scattered bones appearing before his eyes, following the black-and-white pattern, constantly shifting and changing.

Taking the Supreme Ultimate Eight Trigrams as a base, receiving the pull from Ye Qin's sea of consciousness, countless bones flew together in an orderly fashion, first the toe bones, then the leg bones, then the thoracic cavity, and then the skull.

A complete White Bone appeared before his eyes; it was more real than the White Bone previously imagined.

It seemed as if it had experienced countless vicissitudes; the dark-yellow hue in the bone joints spoke of its past history, and even the minute details of worm-eaten holes and cracks showed no omission.

Even if one were to pick bones out of an egg, no flaw could be found.

This is completely the materialization of that White Bone in the cave; perhaps it is even the true form present.

Ye Qin could no longer tell reality from illusion; he didn't know whether he was now in the cave or in a meditative state.

When the true is false, the false is also true; from nothing comes something, from something returns to nothing.

Or perhaps everything is merely his dream?

Whether true or false was no longer important; Ye Qin only felt that before his eyes suddenly opened up, as if the stone that had been blocking his heart could finally be moved.

He stared at the White Bone, and the White Bone stared back at him; both remained silent, and time flowed by bit by bit.

(End of chapter)