Chapter 190: Opening the Apertures

Su Ru's eyes narrowed slightly, and she said uncertainly:

"Misfortune is what fortune relies upon, and fortune is what misfortune hides within; could it be that he has had an awakening?"

Tian Buyi appeared before the youth like a ghost, placed his hand on his shoulder, and channeled his energy to investigate his internal condition. Seeing that there was nothing abnormal, he said in a deep voice:

"Our Daoist teachings say that a person is originally complete, like a bright mirror covered in dust; lost in external appearances, one becomes trapped in a situation."

"When the apertures open, it is like parting the clouds to see the moon; one can observe the laws of all things, sit in a room and know the affairs of the world, and understand the principles of spring and autumn by observing a single leaf."

He stared fixedly at the youth before him:

"Those who first attain enlightenment see that all things share the same root. You and I, flowers and stones, all bear the same Qi of heaven and earth, like rivers returning to the sea, all streams sharing the same source."

"With such a clear state of mind, one can draw out the essence from the phenomena of the world like reeling silk from a cocoon, gradually becoming in harmony with the Dao."

"I will now impart to you the incantations for the first layer of the Jade Purity Realm of the 'Great Ultimate Profound Clarity Dao' to see if you have truly had an awakening."

"The child hasn't eaten yet, why are you in such a rush? I never see you urging these good-for-nothing fellows to cultivate on ordinary days."

Su Ru stopped the impatient Tian Buyi and spoke softly to Zhuang Buran:

"Number Seven, sit down and eat quickly."

"Yes."

After the youth sat down, Tian Buyi gave a sheepish laugh and coughed lightly:

"That's right, eating is more important."

And so, except for Zhuang Buran, even though Su Ru had said with her lips that she wasn't in a rush, she, like the others, felt like she was eating the most tasteless meal of her life, clearly having placed all her thoughts and attention on a certain someone.

Quietude Hall.

After Tian Buyi imparted the incantations for the first layer of the Jade Purity Realm of the "Great Ultimate Profound Clarity Dao" word for word, he stood with the others not far away.

Suddenly, the expressions of those present became strange, as they sensed that the youth sitting cross-legged before them had entered a state of meditation in an instant, letting go of all mental restraints and worries, and guiding the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body to circulate through the Great Heavenly Cycle.

And in the depths of Tian Buyi and Su Ru's eyes, waves arose; they discovered with extraordinary keenness that between the youth's every breath, his distracting thoughts dissipated as easily as thin mist, and he exuded a sense of being thoroughly integrated with heaven and earth from the inside out.

Most people can cultivate the first layer of the Jade Purity Realm within the first year; it is about sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and guiding it into the body to achieve the effect of nourishing life, with the main purpose being to breathe in unison with heaven and earth, and thereby perceive the creation of heaven and earth.

Although they had been prepared, they could not help but be shocked; he understood as soon as he heard it and became proficient as soon as he practiced, immediately opening all the pores of his body to guide the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body to circulate along his meridians, beginning to temper and stabilize his body's original Qi and internal meridians.

"This is no ordinary awakening; his heart is focused on one state, his spirit is condensed and his Qi is settled, like still water reflecting the moon, clear without waves, undisturbed by external affairs, his heart naturally clear and tranquil."

Tian Buyi perceived in detail that the youth was unhurriedly guiding the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to circulate through seventeen Great Heavenly Cycles within his body, and could not help but say in a low voice:

"This kind of awakening is likely to have reached the level where reading scriptures is like meeting an old friend, without needing a hundred years of enlightenment to be thoroughly connected, almost touching the foundation of the Dao."

When he perceived that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had circulated through thirty-six Great Heavenly Cycles within the youth's body, and his meridians were already stabilized, allowing him to cultivate to a higher realm.

Tian Buyi completely abandoned his usual stern expression and excitedly and agitatedly told the youth the incantations for the second layer of Jade Purity.

The cultivation process of the "Great Ultimate Profound Clarity Dao" goes from easy to difficult; most people can cultivate the first layer of the Jade Purity Realm within the first year, but from then on, the profound difficulties begin to appear.

An ordinary person usually takes five years to cultivate the second layer, and the third layer is a watershed; those with slightly poorer aptitude remain stagnant there for a lifetime, and it is not uncommon for better ones to cultivate for fifty or sixty years.

When Tian Ling'er and the others suddenly saw the Qi in the youth's body vibrate slightly, and his body became like a pool of soft, boneless, light, and free clear water, the shock on their faces became even more intense.

As soon as he heard the incantations for the second layer, he immediately understood the essence, instantly opening up the lower dantian, refining the spiritual energy introduced into his body, and transforming it into original essence in his meridians, nourishing his whole body.

When Tian Buyi saw that the youth was gradually entering a better state in the second layer of the Jade Purity Realm, he could not help but be even more overjoyed, feeling that this was the rebirth of Patriarch Qingye, and he could not help but recall his experiences in his mind.

His secular surname was Ye, and he was originally a poor scholar. Although he was exceptionally gifted, he failed the examinations repeatedly. Later, by chance, he was accepted as a closed-door disciple by Wufangzi, the tenth-generation leader of the Qingyun Sect, at the age of only twenty-two.

After entering the sect, within just one year, he understood and mastered all the sword techniques and Dharma paths taught by his master Wufangzi, standing out among all the disciples.

Another year later, even Wufangzi could only barely manage a draw with him by relying on his profound cultivation.

Wufangzi was both shocked and delighted, and decisively took out the ancient scroll passed down by the patriarch and gave it to Qingye to study on his own.

Qingye then went into seclusion in the Huanyue Cave on the back mountain of Tongtian Peak, and this seclusion lasted for thirteen years before he broke out.

But he saw that Qingye's hair and beard were all white, his face was smiling, and his body had a clear light as he walked out slowly, as if he had already become an immortal.

Afterwards, Qingye officially became a monk, taking the surname Ye from his family and the character Qing from Qingyun, hence the name Qingye.

Then, in a single day, he actually caused all the foreign enemies of the six peaks of Qingyun Mountain to be put to death. Since then, the strength of Patriarch Qingye's Daoist magic and the ruthlessness of his methods became famous throughout the world for a time, and the Qingyun Sect also became very powerful.

Another year later, Wufangzi passed the position of leader to Qingye, and from then on, the Qingyun Sect flourished.

Within fifty years, it was already the pillar of the righteous path, and two hundred years later, it was already the leader of all the sects of the righteous path.

Tian Buyi thought of this, and then looked at his little disciple who had fallen into an ethereal state of forgetting both things and himself, and roared excitedly in his heart:

"My Dazhu Peak has produced a dragon!"

The crowd watched intently for more than an hour with extremely complicated feelings, when Tian Buyi suddenly began to speak the incantations for the third and fourth layers of the Jade Purity Realm.

It was because the youth had caused the spiritual energy of heaven and earth introduced into his body to transform into essence Qi in his meridians, which had already accumulated to the point where the essence Qi was like substance, and the essence Qi in the meridians of his whole body was like a surging river, reaching a point where the second layer could not be advanced any further.

The first to third layers of the Jade Purity Realm of the "Great Ultimate Profound Clarity Dao" are the foundation of all techniques, and the difficulty is gradually deepening. Unlike the first two layers of guiding Qi and refining Qi, the Dharma formula of the third layer is original Qi.

It has focused on cultivating the Great Ultimate original Qi, so that when one cultivates to this realm, one will thoroughly see the level of the cultivator's aptitude. Those with extraordinary talent often break through like a hot knife through butter, breaking through to the fourth layer of the driving objects realm in one fell swoop.

And those with mediocre aptitude can only hover around this realm, finding it difficult to make any progress, and it is not uncommon for those with slightly better aptitude to cultivate for fifty or sixty years.

But he saw the youth's Qi flourish, and almost in an instant, he used his spirit as fire and his original essence as material, refining the Great Ultimate original Qi from it, and his whole body was surrounded by a vague power of thought, which was breaking into the third layer of the original Qi realm, that is, entering the fourth layer of the driving objects realm.

Since then, he has had the foundation of all laws and can simultaneously cultivate other strange techniques and wonderful methods as well as cultivate his own magic treasure.

Tian Ling'er and the others' eyes were wide round, as if they were about to fly out of their sockets, and their whole faces became stiff, clearly frightened.

In a short period of time, he actually changed from an ordinary person who didn't know what cultivation was to an immortal in the eyes of secular mortals, who could fly through the air, move as fast as lightning, and shake the heavens and earth, destroying mountains and breaking rivers.

The work of one night actually surpassed their years, decades, or even hundreds of years of hard work. This really tested people's mentality, and they couldn't believe that there was such a shocking thing in the world, and it happened right before their eyes.

It should be known that among the current disciples of Dazhu Peak, Song Daren has the deepest cultivation, having cultivated for hundreds of years, and is only at the fifth layer of the Jade Purity Realm, and the rest are at the fourth or third layer.

And Tian Ling'er also received careful teaching from her parents since she was a child, and only then did she cultivate to the fourth layer of the Jade Purity Realm at the age of thirteen.

The more they thought about it, the more tears of bitterness they had in their hearts, feeling that people really couldn't be compared with each other. If they continued to compare, they would just want to hit their heads and die, to save themselves from being too useless.

Before long, the Qi around the youth gradually converged, and he slowly opened his eyes, only to see the crowd with complicated expressions on their faces.

"The heart aperture is clear, and all things reveal themselves."

Tian Buyi suddenly appeared before the youth, pressed on his shoulder, and could not help but laugh heartily, venting all the grievances of these years:

"Hahaha, what a great awakening, to have heaven-sent talent, capable of what others cannot!"

"Alright, don't act so crazy here." Su Ru hurried forward:

"Number Seven broke through to the driving objects realm in one fell swoop, is his foundation solid?"

"It couldn't be more solid, as if everything was a matter of course, appearing extremely natural."

When Su Ru heard this, she felt relieved. Just now, she was only shocked and didn't have time to remind him that cultivation must be steady and solid, and one must not be impatient and reckless. Of course, it was also because she couldn't imagine that someone could be so brave and diligent as soon as they came into contact with the path of cultivation.

However, what everyone didn't know was that under the natural rhythm of the Qi exuded by the youth, which integrated into his life.

His internal self had always been upholding the observation of his original heart, like a bright mirror reflecting things, clearly and without attachment, but he had blocked all his thoughts and consciousness, taking his own body as a world, and seeing his own nature alone.

It was surprisingly a dual cultivation of two methods, using one mind for two purposes to cultivate the "Great Ultimate Profound Clarity Dao" and the "Great Brahma Prajna".

The former focuses on perceiving the nature of heaven and earth, thereby tempering and stabilizing the body's original Qi and internal meridians, while the latter emphasizes perceiving oneself, not caring much about the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and focusing on the tempering of the human body itself.

It is a method that emphasizes the body controlling the creation of nature, and the other focuses on realizing one's own nature. Although they are diametrically opposed methods of cultivation, they can also complement each other's shortcomings, which can be said to be complementary.

(End of chapter)