Chapter 137: Lecturing on Scriptures While Sitting on the Ground

Xu Jia sat directly on the ground, right next to County Commandant Chen, who had fainted after tripping over his own feet because of a mouse.

Chang Yu spread out that layer of flat, expanded snake skin, as if he were a Naga present when Sakyamuni was preaching the Dao.

The group of Daoists also sat on the ground, listening to Xu Jia's lecture.

"I shall briefly speak on your methods. Of course, you may also offer your opinions; I do not actually understand your cultivation methods very well. After all, for any technique, only through actual practice can it be verified; theory can only be theory. If there are any deficiencies, you may point them out directly."

"Chang Yu, you are the one who practices this method, and you have also had contact with their Ancestor. Do you know the specific cultivation method of the Gen Peak Qi-Ingestion Method?"

Although Chang Yu had turned into an umbrella, he still opened his mouth and hissed: "My cultivation is not so particular. I just find a place I feel comfortable in and sleep; occasionally, I come out to absorb the essence of the sun and moon."

"However, I am clear about your Ancestor's cultivation method."

The Dao of Gen Peak Qi-Ingestion takes the mountain as its teacher and jade as its medicine, drawing upon the Earth Essence to harmonize the spirit and nourish the body, achieving a concord between heaven and humanity.

First, one must choose a secluded spot at a Gen Peak—where the mountain terrain is towering, the vegetation lush, and the springs flow with a tinkling sound—to build a cultivation hut. Sit facing the main peak, with your back to the Thick Earth, the Azure Dragon on your left, the White Tiger on your right, the Vermilion Bird in front, and the Black Tortoise behind, to conform to the order of the Four Symbols.

After building the hut, observe the mountain's appearance daily, gradually merging with the realm of the mountain. Let the mind and spirit merge with the mountain's form.

Next, close your eyes and regulate your breath. When inhaling, imagine the mountain's Qi pouring in from the crown of your head like mist, following the Conception Vessel down to the dantian; when exhaling, intend for the turbid Qi to be expelled through the Bubbling Spring point and return to the earth. Repeat this until your body and mind resonate with the mountain's Qi.

Back then, your Ancestor was even wilder than me; he would hike the mountain daily, stroking stones and touching trees, drinking from springs and rinsing with their sweetness, experiencing the mountain personally.

Every day before dawn, he would reach the summit, face the rising sun, spread his arms to the four directions, take a deep breath, and let out a long whistle that shook heaven and earth, further absorbing the mountain's spirituality and blending the internal and external Qi."

Like this for decades, every time I heard him shouting there, I knew another day had passed.

The Daoists of your temple skip all this; you worship a Mountain God and draw the Gen Peak Essence Qi directly from the Mountain God, yet you yourselves lack the heaviness of the Gen Peak's divine soul and do not possess that sense of heaven and earth's natural state.

Even when consuming jade, your Ancestor was very selective—either green jade, ink jade, or red jade. Every time he obtained jade, he had to wash it clean, then chant scriptures and pray, infusing his heart's intent into the jade, and then put the prayed-over jade into a large pot to boil, adding nothing but mountain spring water.

Only after boiling it for seven days and seven nights would he take the jade to consume it."

The Daoists looked at one another, and Jingzhu Daoren sighed: "So we have missed so many steps!"

After hearing this, Xu Jia felt it was fascinating: "It's so long; how did you remember it?"

"Their Ancestor told me!" Chang Yu said: "But I always felt something was wrong with him, and I had no way to boil jade. How to boil it, and to what degree it counts as successful stone-boiling, I don't know either."

Xu Jia nodded and said: "That is indeed a field of study."

"However, according to this cultivation, one shouldn't end up turning into a jade statue. On the contrary, this is the most authentic method of refining Qi and consuming elixirs; becoming an Earth Immortal is quite normal."

"Who knows." Chang Yu said: "But he really could briefly turn his body into jade, and he could even tunnel through the earth." Xu Jia nodded: "The fact that he liked to climb mountains, view the scenery, and shout loudly shows he truly grasped the essence."

He turned his head and said to the Daoists of Shanju Guan: "You all must only do your morning and evening lessons, and aside from gathering medicine and jade, you rarely climb mountains and rivers, right? You don't pray before consuming jade, and you don't even boil it?"

"We don't boil it, but we use fierce fire to calcine it, then knock it into pieces and grind it into jade powder."

"The nature of water and fire is different; water-boiled jade is moist, while calcined jade is dry and brittle."

Xu Jia said: "If one follows your Ancestor's method—experiencing nature and merging the spirit with the mountain—it is the most typical 'Earth Immortal Dao' method, corresponding to the 'External Scene'. Over time, the place of cultivation will form a Blessed Land. With the Primordial Spirit residing in the Blessed Land, one can discard the physical body, and the Primordial Spirit can continue to cultivate, eventually ascending to the Heavenly Realm just the same."

"There is almost nothing that needs changing from me. Instead, it is your incorrect methods that are the problem. Following my method is more convenient than your Ancestor's, though I still suggest climbing mountains and looking into the distance more often to cultivate your spirit and intent."

Xu Jia immediately used the Gen Peak Qi-Ingestion Method as a reference and created the "Changchun Fa", "Ren Water Method", "Fire Essence Method", and "Lung Metal Method".

"These minor methods, if practiced individually, can all lead to becoming an Earth Immortal, but to continue on to become a Heavenly Immortal, one must coordinate the Five Elements and achieve them all together. Thus, since you are accustomed to the Gen Peak Method, you can follow the Five Elements generation cycle: Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, and Fire generates Earth; thus they generate each other."

"In this way, Gen Earth plants the Golden Mushroom, the Golden Mushroom refines the Jade Liquid, the Jade Liquid cultivates the Yellow Sprout, and the Yellow Sprout is harvested to refine pills, serving as the three treasures of Innate Essence Qi Spirit; one might just achieve the status of an Earth Immortal True Person."

"However, if any one of the Five Elements is too strong, it is very difficult to correct. If you change your cultivation method, you will inevitably feel very uncomfortable and awkward. Only by overcoming all these things can you have a chance to advance further."

"As the saying goes, the Dharma is not lightly transmitted. Fortunately, this method was originally yours, and I have received some favors from your Ancestor, so I have explained it clearly. You might think it sounds right now, but when you practice it and find it isn't quite so, there will surely be many who turn around and curse me. Therefore, I state this in advance: I have never practiced this myself, and this part is merely theory."

Zhang Zhenji stood up and said: "I have already practiced it. In the beginning, there was indeed a feeling of abdominal pain and constriction, but this is 'pain from obstruction'; it is the Earth-element primordial Qi of the spleen blocking the meridians of Qi circulation. As it gradually clears, it feels better."

The Daoists bowed their heads even lower and said: "Since the True Person is willing to open up and teach the Dharma, how could we be so shameless as to think of attacking you?"

Xu Jia nodded: "That is for the best. After all, according to normal human thinking, how could people of the righteous path mingle with monsters and strange beings? I am indeed relieved that you do not think this way."

Xu Jia said: "Alright, I have finished speaking. If there is anything you don't understand, asking Chang Yu is the same. Now that he is the acting Mountain God, but his virtue is insufficient to deserve sacrifices, you can just use a few bricks at the foot of the mountain to build a She Miao for him."

Jingzhu Daoren nodded in agreement and said many thanks.

Xu Jia was not polite either; he went straight into their scripture room and, using quantum reading, stored all the scriptures in the temple.

These scriptures were all liturgical texts, or else they were about reasoning and health preservation, or they were medical texts, pharmacopoeias, and music theory scores.

Xu Jia did not mind.

If this were a refreshing web novel, one would flip to some scripture in a corner and find a very powerful, albeit incomplete, technique that was perfectly suited for the protagonist to cultivate.

(End of chapter)