[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-pure-yang":3,"chapter-pure-yang-pure-yang-chapter-21":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Pure Yang!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2267121,4427,"Chapter 21: Eating Qi, Not Dying; Great Night Not Bright","pure-yang-chapter-21",21,"\u003Cp>More than a month has passed since returning from Zhenwu Mountain; Zhang Fan spends his days submitting resumes and practicing the Northern and Southern Sects Source method in seclusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, he felt frost clinging to his upper body while his lower body burned as if with true fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, that unbearable sensation has gradually faded, replaced instead by a warm, tingling feeling… like sunlight pouring through every pore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially when embracing oneness and entering stillness, he perceives the subtle transformations within his body—his essence sinks like a coin falling, floats as if a divine steed leaps into the sky, his conscious spirit grows calm, his primordial spirit returns to emptiness, and he sees lotuses blooming everywhere, only to vanish instantly as snowflakes swirl across the heavens…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Fan knows these are all the external phenomena produced as his primordial spirit grows stronger, absorbs energy, and returns nourishment to his physical form after successfully gathering medicine and reversing back to true yang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ancient alchemical texts say that as yang energy increases and the primordial spirit strengthens, one may perceive ten thousand external phenomena—seeming real yet not real, seeming false yet not false, mysteriously empty and profound, containing all things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, Zhang Fan’s primordial spirit is growing stronger and gradually breaking beyond the lowest form of perception—the senses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—beginning to perceive sights ordinary people cannot see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides this, Zhang Fan’s body has undergone significant changes; the strengthening of flesh and blood, the sharpening of wit and agility, are secondary…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In recent days, each night he feels his root energy surging, reversing nine times, leaving him as if trapped in a furnace, restless and on the verge of madness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Fan knows this is due to his excessive essence and qi; his kidney water boils and must be refined by heart fire, harmonizing Kan and Li to preserve his primordial essence and prevent leakage—this is the method of refining essence into qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then can this physical vessel grow stronger, the cauldron transform, and the primordial spirit naturally benefit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is what Daoists call “cultivating both nature and life”—cultivating the primordial spirit while refining flesh and blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the Pure Yang Ancestor said: “Cultivating nature without cultivating life is the first illness of cultivation; cultivating life without cultivating nature leaves a thousand eons of yin spirits unable to attain sainthood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cultivating both nature and life is inherently inseparable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, Zhang Fan’s need for food has greatly diminished; when he first practiced the Northern and Southern Sects Source method, he still needed to eat once a day, but now, even without food or drink for two or three days, he remains spirited, vigorous, and full of vitality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ancients said: “Food is heaven to the people.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Food determines the path and method of evolution, equally vital for ordinary people and cultivators alike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alchemical texts say: “Those who eat meat are brave and fierce; those who eat grains are wise and clever; those who ingest qi are divine and long-lived; those who eat nothing are immortal and divine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though ordinary grains and meat can nourish flesh and blood, strengthen sinews and bones, and sharpen the senses… due to humanity’s innate bodily structure and digestive system, prolonged consumption inevitably produces impurities that harm essence and qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, ancient Daoists and monks practiced not eating after noon, keeping the body in a prolonged state of purity and emptiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even modern science is gradually discovering the benefits of fasting; after twelve hours, the liver depletes its last glycogen reserves, and the body begins burning fat for energy—hence the popularity of the 16:8 diet, based on this principle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, the body enters ketosis, effectively reducing inflammation and greatly benefiting the brain, metabolism, and cardiovascular system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After twenty-four hours of fasting, the body triggers autophagy, converting damaged old proteins into usable amino acids, renewing tissues, repairing the body, and resisting aging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, while our bodies depend on food, they are also bound by it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cultivation, therefore, begins by transforming “food”—the heaven-given necessity—by turning the light inward, swallowing spiritual qi, thus reaching the state of “those who ingest qi are divine and long-lived”; as cultivation deepens, one may even achieve fasting without food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Further still, one may attain the state of ancient alchemical masters: “those who eat nothing are immortal and divine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That is a realm only land immortals can glimpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Refining longevity, refining longevity… the path of cultivation is truly wondrous.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On this day, Zhang Fan awoke from cultivation, sensing his body’s changes, feeling utterly unbelievable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this continues, even if true immortality remains out of reach, at least he will outlive ordinary people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, due to awakening his spiritual power earlier, Zhang Fan had already exhausted much of his lifespan; now, through diligent cultivation, he is merely recovering his losses—otherwise, he might live even shorter than ordinary people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dying young is very much within reach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn…” Zhang Fan thought of his own predicament and spat in frustration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others who awaken spiritual powers rejoice and host feasts for all; for Zhang Fan, it is like being struck with a terminal illness. After all, he has cultivated for such a short time—he barely qualifies as a Qi Gong cultivator, like a newborn infant wielding an ultimate divine weapon, the danger obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s enough for today.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Fan ended his cultivation and prepared to leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Broken Precept Daoist had recommended him a job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Logically, having fused the Zhenwu Jade Tablet, Zhang Fan should have remained on the mountain—safe and able to cultivate simultaneously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now that I’ve come down the mountain, if I want to reach the High Skill rank quickly, I should get a job.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every time Zhang Fan recalled his brother Broken Precept’s advice, he felt deeply strange…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this age, even working as a salary slave can lead to immortality!?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Night Not Bright Cultural Co., Ltd…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is a cultural company specializing in Daoist-themed products.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Fan interviewed for the position of website management and maintenance: three-month probation, one day off per week, four thousand yuan monthly salary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an environment where graduate students are everywhere and college graduates are worth less than dogs, this pay is already decent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These days are not like ancient times; as Broken Precept Daoist said, even cultivators must blend with the world, eat, get foot rubs, and earn money…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Broken Precept Daoist said that if Zhang Fan got hired, his cultivation would rise noticeably in the short term—and he’d earn money to support himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Night Not Bright… Great Night Not Bright… this is a Daoist secret phrase…” Zhang Fan mused over the name, then suddenly remembered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the Zhenwu Ancestor discussed methods of cultivation with or without birth and death, he once said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rootless tree, flowers without root, shadowless and formless, hard to depict.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nameless, yet called, seized into the furnace of creation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ignite the threefold celestial fire, refine emptiness, return to the Great Nothing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Visit the Immortal Capital, receive the heavenly talisman—only then is one a true man.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Once the conscious spirit stirs violently, Great Night Not Bright invites heavenly retribution.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Great Night Not Bright” describes violent stirring of the conscious spirit—even with Golden Core-level cultivation, one may instantly lose everything, destroyed by calamity, as if heaven and earth plunged into darkness with no hope of emergence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is the greatest calamity cultivators fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the primordial spirit enters Great Night Not Bright, cultivation regresses and vanishes, even memories are lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That day, while reading the Dao Secret Records, Zhang Fan had seen this phrase when studying the Divine Demon Sacred Embryo method…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The most deadly of all, the Divine Demon Sacred Embryo, gathers thoughts as medicine—must enter the Great Night Not Bright state!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For cultivators, it is a nightmare; for those who comprehend this method, it is an inevitable path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, one can see how perilous this method is, how terrifying this path—beyond ordinary imagination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Night Not Bright… why does this name sound so ominous…” Zhang Fan muttered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before cultivation, Zhang Fan felt nothing; now, he finds it unsettling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm? This company is in Taoyuan Square?” Zhang Fan froze, his expression turning increasingly strange.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taoyuan Square—that’s one of Yujing City’s most infamous cursed places; locals call it Taoyuan Corpse Square.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1375,"2026-06-19T21:05:40.312Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","40a2a5648125e8e1c223f3d2c0a8fd5b4778032f124a1534bf22c0a2f2732f8f","pure-yang-chapter-22","pure-yang-chapter-20",520,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fpure-yang-cover.jpg"]