Chapter 64: Heaven and Earth Refine Qi!

Ye Qin surveyed his surroundings; the gray mist seemed to have increased a bit, thick and almost becoming substantial, and the space had expanded considerably.

Besides that, there were no other noticeable changes.

Ye Qin still couldn't figure out what these gray mist-like things were; perhaps because his realm was insufficient, he still couldn't see them clearly.

"I never expected that, with my time running out, I could still enter this extraordinary meditative state again."

Before this, Ye Qin had wanted to enter many times, but he never managed to grasp how.

This extraordinary meditative state is truly too profound, as if it contains the ultimate truth of heaven and earth, elusive and incomprehensible; aside from the first two successful times, it has never appeared again.

This made Ye Qin empathize with the ancient sages, who likewise had spent their lives in vain pursuit; such obsession is indeed unpleasant.

But now, at the brink of life and death, he again got to experience such an opportunity; one must say fate is truly humorous.

Upon reentering this mysterious state, Ye Qin felt a sense of things being unchanged while people have changed.

Thinking of this, Ye Qin inexplicably felt a bit amused.

"I have thus been reborn, and finally walking toward death here is also not a bad destination; in this light, it can be considered having a beginning and an end."

Having said that, he suddenly froze in place.

What is life?

What is death?

Must death necessarily be the end?

Could death be another kind of beginning?

In the void, a voice thundered, shaking the entire space, incessantly questioning Ye Qin's original heart, stirring up huge waves in his mind.

Ye Qin froze instantly, countless frames flashing through his mind, all of them the bits and pieces of his arrival in this world.

From the very beginning, he had brushed past life and death.

Whether it was the severe injury from being struck by lightning, or later being chased by the Eagle Falcon and nearly becoming other animals' prey, he always hovered on the line between life and death.

"Within life there is death, within death there is life; life and death alternate, cause and effect cycle."

Upon saying this, Ye Qin suddenly startled, and already had an enlightenment in his heart.

"My first understanding of the Dao came because of life!"

At that time, Ye Qin had just transmigrated and been reborn into this world as a small snake on the brink of death; to survive, he tried every way to enter the path of cultivation to heal his injuries.

By a twist of fate he entered this meditative state, and thereafter he explored and opened up a unique cultivation path.

"Now reentering this place is because of death."

With his time at hand, Ye Qin, at his final moment, let go of everything, setting life and death aside, could face death calmly, thereby his inspiration greatly increased, and he reentered this space.

To him, the outcome is no longer important; what matters is the process.

What does life matter, what does death matter!

He observed the White Bone, paid homage to the Taiyin, glimpsed the Great Dao; all of this had long since transcended life and death!

Could it be that all this can be denied merely because of death?

Zhuangzi said: "The great mass bears me with form, toils me with life, idles me with old age, and comforts me with death. Therefore, those who nurture life do so to nurture death; thus death is the rest of life, and it is precious for one to attain life and enjoy death."

In Zhuangzi's view, death is a good thing.

Human life and death are fundamentally transformations of each other, a circulation of the one qi of heaven and earth; only thus can all things continue to operate.

If there were only life and no death, the cycle of heaven and earth would lose its effect, and the earth would fall into chaos.

They have only relative meanings, merely different states of existence; thus speaking of "life" and "death" are just different perspectives from different standpoints.

"I understand! Only by transcending life and death in accordance with nature can one be one with the Dao and endure eternally."

"Life and death are inherently a unified whole; both are indispensable existences!"

After realizing this, Ye Qin finally understood; previously he feared death, so the Third Realm could never be broken through—this was the crux.

All because he had confined himself, gradually narrowing his path, making the road ever tighter.

He sought life, not knowing that death is also part of the process of life.

Having cultivated the Dao, he ought not fear life and death; indeed, regardless of life or death, one should gain insight, for death is also cultivation; if one cannot face it calmly, they will only head toward extinction.

All things come from non-being, arise from being, and return to non-being from being,

Life is likewise, a natural process; human existence between heaven and earth is one with heaven and earth; heaven and earth are natural things; human life is also a natural thing.

Most people in the world fear death; few can face it calmly.

But for nature, death does not mean an end; blossoms and leaves wither, fall onto the soil, and become fertilizer nourishing this land.

The withered tree will sprout new buds again next year.

Some plants, to better absorb nutrients, will have parts of their roots and stems naturally die off, actively welcoming death.

They do this merely to survive better; though it looks like death, it also brings new life.

"I have understood."

As Ye Qin's words fell, his pupils gradually dispersed, and his eyes became lifeless.

He calmly welcomed the arrival of death.

The organs inside his snake body rapidly aged and depleted, lacking any Spiritual Power, drying up like a vast desert.

A human-shaped White Bone also slowly coalesced into form, but this time its bones were dim and lusterless, its silhouette also becoming exceedingly faint, merely a vague outline.

As if it would scatter with the wind in the next second.

And that sliver of moonlight, its radiance grew dim beyond belief, as if covered with a thick layer of gray, its original brightness long gone.

The shadow of death enveloped them.

As the source of Ye Qin, his life had reached its end; the White Bone naturally likewise, and would, with his demise, once again turn to nothingness, drifting amidst heaven and earth.

In this chaotic space, the gray mist began to surge, as if affected by some unknown influence, crowding close to Ye Qin.

He drew a long breath; within the gray mist, it seemed something was inhaled by Ye Qin into his body, something imperceptible to the naked eye.

It is exactly this moment that lets Ye Qin experience a sudden enlightenment, as if something were constantly wandering through his meridians.

The gray mist continually nourished Ye Qin's exhausted body, infusing a hint of vibrant life into his body permeated with deathly qi.

Like a seed, it slowly took root and sprouted.

Before, Ye Qin constantly used spiritual qi to resist these deathly qi in order to oppose death, therefore his body was continually depleted without receiving any nourishment, and could only head toward exhaustion.

But now, after he gave up, these deathly qi were instead transformed by vitality—life turning into death, death turning into life.

What people cling to is the visible phenomenon of life and death in the whole; in truth, a person is constantly flowing through the formless, signless cycle of life and death.

The Confucian school takes following and exhausting life and death as the Dao; the Buddhist school takes understanding and ending life and death as the Dao; the Daoist school takes transforming life and death to achieve no life and death as the Dao.

Ye Qin, however, takes entering life and death to be born from the cycle of life and death as the Dao!

His heart felt a loosening; that layer of shackles was finally broken by him personally, as if something were pouring out.

At the very last moment of life, he penetrated the Great Dao.

Thus he was able to step into the Third Realm—Heaven and Earth Qi Cultivation.

(End of chapter)