Chapter 174: Each Takes What They Need (Bonus chapter for Alliance Leader '20211208')

When he packed up and went out, Liu Daoran became more and more secretive. Even the silver for Fengqiwu was paid by Liu Xiaolou first, and he hid to the side and lowered his head in a thoughtful manner. Until Liu Xiaolou paid more than twenty taels of silver, he suddenly realized, said "um," and followed behind Liu Xiaolou, rubbing his cheeks with both hands while leaving the Taiping Lake Market.

Actually, it was late at night, so who could see what he looked like? Liu Xiaolou didn't understand this very well. When his teacher, Master Three Mystical, was in Tou-Tiao Alley in Wuchao Town, which time was he not chatting with Qingjie and Zhang Ma at the entrance of the alley for a long time, and greeting acquaintances passing by, which could be said to be generous and elegant? When the heroes of Wulong Mountain visited Tou-Tiao Alley, didn't they also come in groups of three or five, talking and laughing?

This is not a shameful thing. Why is it so? Even if his fierce wife at home finds out, so what? At most, it's a letter of divorce.

What does a letter of divorce count for? He will receive one in half a

Furthermore, if there were another chance to marry into a family in the future, wouldn't the probability of being selected be higher?

He was very unimpressed by Liu Daoran's evasiveness, yet Liu Daoran was equally unable to understand his grandstanding. Fortunately, they soon returned to Fanghe Peak, and this matter was temporarily put aside.

Having obtained a five-inch-long piece of Bewildering Incense, Liu Daoran naturally kept his promise and taught Liu Xiaolou the unique etching and talisman-sealing method of his sect.

He said to Liu Xiaolou, "Little brother, you have already seen me etch talisman seals before, so you must have learned quite a bit, and you've even tried it twice... Don't feel ashamed; since I let you watch, there's no harm in it. You've practiced it, so you must know that you cannot learn the Primordial Beginning and Ending Method just by looking at the technique. You must have a method for regulating true qi, otherwise, it is difficult to sustain."

Liu Xiaolou respectfully asked for advice: "I humbly request your guidance, Brother Daoran."

Liu Daoran smiled slightly: "When you watch me etch talisman seals, you stare at my fingertips. You see my fingertips emitting and retracting true qi, landing on the jade pendant, the brushwork like dragons and snakes, jade fragments flying, and thus the talisman seal appears, right?"

Liu Xiaolou nodded: "Yes. Brother Daoran, you mentioned regulating true qi—how should it be regulated?"

Liu Daoran gently turned his wrist, which was used for etching talisman seals, half a circle: "Little brother, please watch."

He saw his palm form a fist, hollow in the center. Within this hollow space, wind and clouds seemed to surge, appearing and disappearing—it was almost visible to the naked eye!

"Little brother, first pick an egg, hold it in your palm, and emit true qi from your Laogong acupoint, penetrating into the egg. Make the yolk and white inside the shell rotate—nine times clockwise, nine times counter-clockwise. Do this without stopping. After a long time, you will feel as if your palm contains heaven and earth, with the imagery of mysterious yellow chaos within."

"How long does it need to be practiced?"

"For the slow, it takes ten days; for the fast, only one day."

"How long did Brother Daoran take initially?"

"Three days."

"That's considered very fast, right?"

"Hehe, it's alright."

Thus, Liu Xiaolou went to find an egg and, following the method Liu Daoran taught him, experienced the heaven and earth within his palm and the imagery of mysterious yellow chaos.

With this practice method, the perception came quite quickly. After a day passed, he had mastered the method of regulating true qi from the Laogong acupoint and sending it through the eggshell into the interior.

By the third day, the yolk and white inside the shell began to rotate along with the true qi—nine circles to the left, nine circles to the right.

Everything went very smoothly, but he was still not as fast as Liu Daoran. It wasn't until the fifth day that he completely discarded the egg and realized the sense of heaven and earth chaos while holding an empty fist. His progress was neither good nor bad; it was considered average.

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Next, Liu Daoran taught him the second step: "The Primordial Beginning and Ending Method sounds profound, but in reality, it only has one mantra—The Primordial Nine Stars, one beginning, one ending."

The meaning of "Primordial Nine Stars" is very simple: under the condition of having heaven and earth in the palm, condense the true qi into nine clusters within this heaven and earth, like nine stars. If one starts in a state of emptiness, the true qi cannot persist after being condensed, but now that the sense of chaos has been cultivated, these condensed clusters of true qi can rely on the "chaos" to remain.

The method of condensing into clusters is also not complicated; it is the "nine clockwise" and "nine counter-clockwise" rotation method practiced earlier.

Liu Xiaolou spent one day condensing the nine stars. Faintly, one could see the nine stars surging and interacting within the heaven and earth of his palm—it was quite marvelous.

"Very interesting, incredible. Brother Daoran, am I not seeing things? Or is it a hallucination? These nine stars... are they truly in my palm? Look, they are even emitting thunder..."

"Whether it is a hallucination, you will know when you etch the talisman seal."

"How do I etch the talisman seal?"

"The second half of the mantra: one beginning, one ending."

"How is that interpreted?"

"The true qi is drawn out from the heaven and earth in your palm. Visualize the talisman seal, focusing your mind only on the starting point and the ending point. Do not think about the strokes in between; let the true qi complete them on its own. This way, the connection will be continuous, yet appear and disappear."

After hearing this, Liu Xiaolou first found a stone to try etching. However, he could never do it well. His mind would subconsciously focus on the process of the strokes in the middle, observing the effects of etching each talisman channel. In this way, he could not achieve "one beginning, one ending."

At first, Liu Daoran was still patient, occasionally reminding him of the key points. But after many days, it was still the same, and he couldn't help but scratch his head: "Little brother, this... it's very simple. Forget the process; keep your mind only on the entry and exit points of the brush."

Liu Xiaolou said dejectedly: "I know where my problem lies; it conflicts with my mystical art."

It was indeed a conflict. The Yin-Yang techniques of the Three Mystical Sects focus on the intermediate process, requiring meticulous observation of every bit of feedback to make corresponding adjustments and responses. Now, he was being asked to focus only on the beginning and the final result—could that still be called a dual cultivation technique?

This required time to reconcile, to split his habits, and to forcibly twist his subconscious behavior. Therefore, it wasn't until half a month later that Liu Xiaolou finally mastered the Heaven and Earth Beginning and Ending Method, and with his Qi Refinement Stage 5 cultivation, he completed the Dispersed True Qi Talisman Array Plate.

With this, the basic crafting of the nine-palace sub-array plates was completed. Next was the fusion of materials—that is, refining the various spiritual materials required for the illusion array into spiritual liquid and integrating them into the various channels on the talisman seal.

The two of them spent three days discussing which spiritual liquid should pass through which channel, and they completed the final design plan.

Liu Xiaolou gained a huge harvest, so he reciprocated by teaching Liu Daoran the method of melting Bewildering Incense and the logic of integrating it into the array.

Liu Daoran learned very earnestly. It took half a month to complete the final crafting of the Scenery Cloud Talisman Array Plate. This array plate was mixed with half an inch of Bewildering Incense. During the initial test, scenery clouds rose in the sky, light and shadows flickered on the cloud layers, reflecting various illusions that made people blush and their necks thicken.

Liu Xiaolou was very satisfied, but Liu Daoran was not. He frowned and said: "Too crude, too direct. It cannot be compared to the ever-changing, flesh-and-blood, and emotionally integrated nature of your Abyss-Facing Mysterious Stone Array, little brother."

Liu Xiaolou comforted him: "This is a cognitive issue. After you have more experience, old brother, you will naturally be able to perfect it more and more. Alright, it's time to do serious work. Old brother, hurry up and re-craft a Scenery Cloud Talisman Array Plate. This one is kept by my side and cannot be used to report back. There are also the Three Treasures True Qi Talisman and the Dispersed True Fire Talisman array plates that need to be rushed; the deadline is approaching."

Liu Daoran nodded: "Understood. Where are you going?"

Liu Xiaolou gave a bitter smile: "Master Tang won't stop urging me. There are many things to run for next; it's impossible for me to keep crafting array plates. Contacting all parties is my true job."

Liu Daoran waved his hand: "Go, go."

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