Chapter 17: Double Body Secret Trace Yoga

Xu Jia saw that he had resolved his obsession, and his future cultivation speed would surely increase. He thought to himself: This investment was not a mistake. He then curiously asked, "I hear these juniors all call you 'Uncle', so are you a male fox?"

"Mm-hmm." The mottled fox nodded shyly.

"Then why have you always maintained the image of an old woman?"

"This disciple is used to this face. Besides, when walking in the market, people will yield to me; after all, I am an old lady who has lived a long time, and it is not easy to make a living out there..."

Xu Jia was speechless for a moment. But he also understood: why bother investigating a fox's gender? Whatever form they turn into, it is all "illusion."

So he spoke: "In these two days, I have already thought of names for you. 'Hu' (fox) is 'Hu' (surname). How about you all take the surname Hu from now on?"

"Many thanks to the Master for bestowing this surname!" The mottled one knelt and kowtowed in gratitude again.

Xu Jia continued: "That day, I tapped a strand of Dharma Power from between your eyebrows, causing a patch of strange-colored fur to grow there, which can be called a golden quality. Combined with your original mottled fur, it is like a three-colored cat, so how about I name you Hu Jinhua?"

Hu Jinhua kowtowed as if money were no object: "Thank you, Master, for bestowing this name and surname."

It was as if they had completely accepted it.

"As for you three, Yidan, as the saying goes, 'a single branch standing alone is spring,' so from now on you shall be called Hu Du Xiu."

"Erque, you are lame in one leg, but I hope you will walk a grand and righteous path in the future, so let's call you Hu Butang."

"Santou, your tail is scorched, which is like a person's broken hair; it can still grow back. But if the lower limit of one's virtue is broken, it cannot grow back. From now on, you shall be called Hu Delu."

Seeing Xu Jia bestow names upon them without getting one for himself—no Daoist name or Dharma name—Niu Congcong said repeatedly: "What about me? Give me one too. I haven't wanted to be called Congcong for a long time."

Xu Jia scolded: "Your name was bestowed by your parents. As the saying goes, 'do not change your name when walking, do not change your surname when sitting.' Why would you want to change it? These few foxes were uneducated and took me as their master; the master is like a father, which is why I gave them these names."

Niu Congcong said: "Since I am not changing my name, then give me a courtesy name."

Xu Jia nodded. In his past life, he had thousands of disciples and followers, all of whom had been assigned generation names, though there was no need to continue that here.

He said: "Very well, I will give you a courtesy name. 'Cong' means cleverness. Doubling the character implies even more wisdom. However, extreme wisdom leads to harm, so it is better to hide one's talent. How about 'Hui Zhuo' (Wise Clumsiness)?"

Niu Congcong could not tell if it was good or bad, but took it as praise for his intelligence and was very satisfied, even learning to kowtow to Xu Jia like the foxes.

Xu Jia did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"Now for the second matter: guiding your cultivation. Jinhua, I just heard you say that you are a lineage of Wild Fox Zen? Can you tell me about the cultivation method passed down to you?"

Hu Jinhua naturally had no intention of hiding anything and explained in detail: "Our branch of Wild Fox Zen originated from the Wen Hong Xuanjiao Temple during the Great Heng Dynasty. That temple was not in the Central Plains but was a secret transmission from Tibet. More than two hundred years ago, the temple was destroyed during the war, and a Fox Immortal predecessor took advantage of the chaos to obtain a secret cultivation manual."

"This Fox Immortal predecessor combined it with Buddhist practice and passed the insights to some fox juniors, and it has been passed down generation by generation. By my time, it is already the fifth generation."

Hu Jinhua then recounted their family's cultivation method. It was indeed topsy-turvy, carrying some Buddhist theories, mixed with some Daoism, and even parts of the Confucian virtues of benevolence, righteousness, rites, wisdom, and faith.

"Your method, from the foundation, looks like the path of the Double Body Secret Trace Yoga, cultivating the Three Veins Seven Wheels, but it is incomplete. The Double Body Secret Trace Yoga is a dual-cultivation method in Tibetan Buddhism; it is easy to learn but difficult to master, requiring extremely high attainment in the Dharma, which you clearly do not possess."

"You must have had some opportunity to obtain the Dharma, but it was always difficult to achieve great success, so you borrowed from each other and veered onto the Daoist path of dual cultivation of nature and life. That is also somewhat incorrect, so you returned to the instincts of demons: gathering moonlight, embodying nature, Worshiping the Dipper to Cultivate Life, to form an Inner Elixir... Hmm, it is indeed a wild path, the most heterodox of heterodox paths, pieced together, yet you actually managed to cultivate it..."

Xu Jia's insight was sharp; from a few words, he deduced the origin of this Fox Immortal lineage.

Hu Jinhua was very impressed: "Master truly knows everything. Besides our Wild Fox Zen, there is also a branch of 'Lustful Fox' that practices the dual-cultivation method of harvesting and supplementing, but they are doing much better than us..."

Xu Jia said coldly: "This yoga can at most achieve the status of a Ghost Immortal, which is what Buddhists call the Intermediate Yin Body achievement. The Primordial Spirit and spirit can gather or disperse at will, not fearing the disasters of blades, soldiers, water, or fire. It is enough to use for Possession or reincarnation, but the more one possesses, the more impure one becomes, and reincarnation involves the 'mystery of the womb'."

"That is still the proper path of Buddhist cultivation. Those Lustful Foxes do not understand the essentials of the Buddhist dual-cultivation, blindly harvesting and cutting, losing their innate Essence, and lacking True Yin and True Yang. Don't look at their temporary glory; what good end can they have later? One day, their bodies will die and their Dao will vanish; they might not even achieve Ghost Immortal status, so they are far inferior to you." "However, you do not need to practice this method anymore. I will teach you the authentic path of the God Immortal. You can establish temples and societies, accumulate merit externally and refine the spirit internally, transforming from a Ghost Immortal foundation to an Earth Immortal foundation, or even a God Immortal foundation."

Although Xu Jia was only at the Human Immortal Peak in his past life and had not reached the true fruit of an Earth Immortal, it was much better than a Ghost Immortal. He had successfully formed the elixir, and in some xianxia novels, he would count as a great cultivator of the Golden Core stage.

It was just that he had not sublimated his form or ascended with a Yang Spirit, and after failing the Demon Examination, his realm regressed, which is why he went to the underworld. However, he was different from ordinary Ghost Immortals and Yin Masters; Xu Jia was an official specifically in charge of these Yin Masters and Ghost Immortals, with a proper underworld establishment.

And the technique he was passing to Hu Jinhua, logically speaking, could also lead to the true fruit of an Earth Immortal or God Immortal.

After all, the Hu San Tai Nai of the Northeast "immortal-calling" tradition had achieved the fruit of a God Immortal. Xu Jia was not bragging. As for how many years it would take to cultivate or how many tribulations to pass, he was not quite sure.

Xu Jia explained the key points of this method and then asked: "Hu Jinhua, are you willing to cultivate together with this Niu Congcong?"

Hu Jinhua nodded like a pounding pestle: "This disciple is willing! This disciple is willing!"

He also knew that he was just a small fox spirit; where would he have the ability to establish a temple?

Even if he established a temple, how could he guard it? If one's virtue does not match one's position, there will surely be disaster. He could only cooperate with Niu Congcong.

At least it was unlikely that he would rebel against the heavens and ask Xu Jia to set up a shrine to worship him.

Hu Jinhua then formed a bond with Niu Congcong in front of Xu Jia, to study the Great Dao together in the future.

The other three foxes saw that Hu Jinhua had received guidance and asked repeatedly: "What about us?"

"Your Daoist Practice is insufficient," Xu Jia said. "Cultivate well first. When Hu Jinhua has success in practicing this method, he can guide you. Once you have achieved success, you can find suitable candidates yourselves and have them set up halls to worship you."

These foxes were then satisfied, but they were scolded by Hu Jinhua: "You have already obtained a great opportunity by listening to this method; are you still not satisfied?"

Xu Jia did not mind and went on to tell them some essentials of contemplating the essence of the sun and moon, and the techniques for exhaling the turbid and inhaling the new.

When he finished, it was already quite late, and Xu Jia could not hold on any longer and wanted to sleep.

Before returning to his room, he called Hu Jinhua over and whispered in his ear: "I have calculated that a dirty thing has followed you into the mansion. It is the evil hanging ghost I saw during the soul-returning that day. I intend to catch it like a turtle in a jar. Go and find out for me what the origin of this hanging ghost is, so I can deal with him."

Hu Jinhua was worried about Xu Jia's safety and was about to speak, but Xu Jia said loudly: "You all go now, I will not keep you."

The foxes had no choice but to leave Xu Fu through the back door. Xu Jia then had Niu Congcong draw a line on the back door with pot-bottom ash and recited a spell once.

This time, the ghost would not be able to leave even if it wanted to.

At this moment, the Sparrow Spirit chirped loudly: "Chirp chirp chirp?"

Xu Jia knew it was probably feeling aggrieved. The chirps meant: What about me? What about me? Everyone else is gone, why hasn't it come to my turn yet?

Xu Jia laughed: "You don't need to follow them; just follow me. I'll give you a name, how about 'War Eagle'? You just heard the cultivation technique; practice it yourself. Once you succeed in mimicking speech and can speak human words, I will accept you as an outer-sect disciple, how about that?"

The sparrow understood and immediately puffed out its chest, feeling very proud.

It flew away immediately, wanting to announce to its kin that it had a mighty and domineering name.

Seeing that it was no longer making a fuss, Xu Jia returned to his room.

(End of chapter)