Chapter 229: Two Worlds Spirit Shrine (Too sleepy yesterday, lost the perfect attendance)

Refining a flying sword earlier was perfectly proper, but refining this Three Sovereigns Ten Thousand People Umbrella is a heterodox path, one could even say it is an evil and crooked path.

The Three Corpse Demon Insects, thinking these three old demons were the San Guan Da Di, reported to Xu Jia, but they became lost in the illusion, momentarily reversing their sense of self and losing their original heart.

Those wishes, as well as desires, whether good or evil, are all a matter of a single thought.

However, it truly aligned with Xu Jia's philosophy of treasure refining: the inner three demons, the outer three demons, and the collusion between inner and outer demons, is exactly "Calamity."

Yet this treasure happens to be a treasure for "Crossing Calamity," a treasure of Merit from the blessings of ten thousand people.

Once this Dharma treasure was born, it caused the infinite Crossing Heaven Realm in the void to tremble; one does not know how many Heavenly Demons were tempted, Yin Demons were attracted, and Realm Demons were guided.

For a time, without Xu Jia needing to summon them, many demon heads appeared.

Only those Heavenly Demons with profound cultivation realms were not deceived by Xu Jia, seeing that this was a treasure-refining process and not a summoning into an Inner Heaven and Earth, so they stopped in their tracks.

Only many formless demon heads with shallow cultivation realms, one and all, were lured into the umbrella, corresponding to the wishes of the ten thousand people, transforming into the Desire Thoughts of all living beings.

For a time, the world within the umbrella evolved, becoming even more extravagant, blissful, and filled with infinite illusions.

Originally, the commoners' wish was: "To find a wife," but after being covered by the Heavenly Demons, it became: "Ten or eight would not be too many."

Originally, the commoners' wish was: "To be able to eat one's fill," but after being covered by the Heavenly Demons, it became a hope to eat things that fly in the sky, run on the ground, swim in the water, mountain delicacies and sea treasures, the eight rare delicacies, and golden and jade-like food...

It is nearly equivalent to "Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism," namely Heavenly Principle and Human Desire.

Proper wishes are "Heavenly Principle," the direction of the hearts of the ten thousand people, while Heavenly Demons, Yin Demons, and Realm Demons are "Human Desire," various improper thoughts.

Waiting until there were ten thousand and eight hundred demon heads, meaning three thousand six hundred demon people residing in each layer of the umbrella, Xu Jia opened his mouth and made a vow: "This poor Daoist shall make a vow to bestow upon you all Dharma Treasures, to eliminate the Three Poisons and increase wisdom!"

Those demon heads discovered they had been deceived and could not get out, so they cursed one after another, and upon hearing Xu Jia vow to transform them, they mocked him: "As long as living beings still have desires and still have demands, we will never be transformed by you!"

Xu Jia turned a deaf ear, merely chanting scriptures again; regardless of these outer demons, there were still some hungry ghosts and Yellow Turban ghost demons in his belly that had not yet been transformed.

After Xu Jia's Inner Landscape produced the Long Life Root, his Earth Immortal cultivation was considered stable, and thus the second realm register after the Human Immortal Register, the "Earth Immortal Register," was born; this register allows one to "enter and exit Blessed Lands, governed by a True Person."

It caused Xu Jia's Primordial Spirit to grow in age, changing from the appearance of a three or four-year-old to that of a six or seven-year-old Daoist child, with a clear and spiritual appearance, complete wisdom, and having pacified all the Body Gods.

Those three thousand-plus hungry ghosts, as well as the five hundred Yellow Turban ghost demons, having lost the bewitchment of the Three Corpse Demon Insects, all settled down.

Xu Jia sank his spirit into his Inner Landscape and saw the fruits growing on that Earth Spirit Root, the Ginseng Fruit Tree, and secretly thought: "These are transformed from my Innate Essence Qi Spirit, the Three Treasures. Eating them can prolong life; within the Inner Landscape Heaven and Earth, it can also be considered immortality."

So he picked one, dissolved it with Dharma Water, and sprinkled it toward those hungry ghosts.

Those hungry ghosts, having received the alms of the sweet dew Dharma Water containing Xu Jia's Innate Essence Qi Spirit, were instantly transformed completely and attained great fortune, turning into boys, attendants, or maidservants, all of the Heavenly Being class, filling the palaces where each Body God resided.

At the same time, they chanted scriptures along with the Body Gods, bestowing power upon Xu Jia himself.

Xu Jia picked another Ginseng Fruit and shared it with Yu Yaosheng and those Yellow Turban ghost demons.

He used the same method of dissolving it with Dharma Water, and each drank a small sip; instantly, their Yin Life was extended, their spirits became clear and refreshed, and the ghost-demon transformations on their bodies began to dissipate, turning into the appearance of normal people.

Yu Yaosheng was even more overjoyed: "We no longer need to worry about being eroded by the Dharma Realm, dissipating into heaven and earth, and we no longer need to worry about no one remembering us!"

Xu Jia chuckled: "I will first send you to the altar; I will set up three Bingma Jars for you, arrange Water and Fire Pool and Marsh on the left and right, set up a Drill Ground in the middle, and then secure some weapons and armor for you."

Xu Jia said: "This poor Daoist is not raising you as wild soldiers, but as orthodox Daoist altar-protecting troops; although you cannot compare to true Heavenly Soldiers and Spirit Generals, you are still first-class in the Desire Realm."

"You must patrol the Dharma Realm; if you see those scattered dust-like spirits that are usable, capture them and refine them together. If you see those that are causing trouble or harming people, deal with them according to the law. If there are outside Evil Masters who have their own troops that you cannot handle, you can notify my disciples and followers."

"This subordinate obeys!" Yu Yaosheng knelt and kowtowed.

Xu Jia then transmitted two registers to him, the so-called "Desire Realm Inspection Immortal Talisman" and "General Register," saying: "I now appoint you as the Roaming Brave Colonel of the Yushan Administration, in charge of five hundred troops, with the duty of patrolling mountains and crossing waters, and protecting the territory. I permit you to come and go freely within the administration without needing to report to the City God or Earth Deity."

"This subordinate obeys!"

The next moment, this Yellow Turban Qu Shuai became an Altar Troop and Horse Colonel; even though he was not a general, he was still very happy.

Xu Jia was tired after doing all this, so he spat them out from his Inner Landscape Heaven and Earth and ordered the Chicken Juezi Mountain Deity, Luejue Shen, to take over from him.

When Yu Yaosheng saw Luejue, he secretly thought: "So the Heavenly Master already has such a good general under his command!"

But seeing those wild soldiers patrolling the mountains and crossing waters, he secretly thought: "Although these wild soldiers are stronger than ordinary ghosts, they are quite limited, and they have not learned battle formations. I was able to be a Qu Shuai in the sect because I learned battle formations, which can make the Dharma Power of Heavenly Soldiers and Spirit Generals work in one place, only then having infinite power."

So he asked Luejue with peace of mind: "Where is the Heavenly Master's administration?"

"Although it is called Yushan, it is not Yushan County, but the entire area around the Huaiyu Mountain Range. Currently, only Dexing and Yushan counties are governed, but generally speaking, Xinzhou will be soon too."

"Only two counties currently? The two counties are not large in the world of the living, but once they fall into the Dharma Realm, they are ten or a hundred times larger than in the world of the living; one hundred li in the world of the living is several thousand li in the Dharma Realm."

Yu Yaosheng said: "According to the layout, one county needs three thousand troops stationed, two thousand troops patrolling, and five thousand troops to explore the surroundings of the Dharma Realm, find some Yin mineral deposits, connect the rifts to You Ming, and establish gates, passes, and fortresses. After all, besides the ghost cities of the City God, our Daoist city of our Daochang must also be established. We cannot just let the Heavenly Master preach in the world of the living; we must also preach in the Dharma Realm and in You Ming. Since we have the authority of the Heavenly Master, we have the ability to establish our own offices and connect directly to reincarnation."

"Although the Heavenly Master has a Blessed Land in his belly, that is something only those with great Merit and great opportunity can enter to enjoy longevity. We must establish a Dharma Realm Blessed Land so that the believers and followers who believe in the Heavenly Master can enter directly after death, rest and recuperate, let their obsessions dissipate, and naturally reincarnate when the time comes."

As he said this to Luejue, Luejue's eyes lit up. Xu Jia had secured him the god position of a third-rank Underground Lord to govern the Chicken Juezi Mountain Dharma Realm, but the current management situation was not improving. Now that he had such a person, he could ask for much advice.

Xu Jia returned home to rest, but he was not sleeping; after reaching the Earth Immortal realm, sleep was no longer necessary, unless practicing the Sleep Technique.

It was just that he had dispersed the Innate Essence Qi Spirit of two Ginseng Fruits, so he was somewhat depleted. If they were to grow back, he feared it would not be possible without two or three months of effort.

"This Inner Landscape Heaven and Earth only has this one Ginseng Fruit tree, which can only maintain the Earth Immortal Inner Landscape. My body's divinities are numerous; if they exceed too much, there will not be enough to share. If I want to construct an Inner Landscape Heavenly Court, I must find other methods to nurture Long Life Precious Medicine."

"This Ginseng Fruit tree, according to the interpretation of alchemy scriptures in Journey to the West, is the Grass Returning Pellet, which is a False Pellet, a Small Success Medicine, not a Great Success Golden Pellet. A Great Success Golden Pellet requires the Nine Revolutions Seven Returns of Taishang Laojun."

"Using Sun Wukong as the Primordial Spirit, he ate Flat Peaches, Golden Pellets, Ginseng Fruits, pear-like fruits, Fire Dates, and countless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures; in fact, they were all Small Medicines for each organ."

"The Ginseng Fruit is condensed from my original Essence Qi Spirit, the Three Treasures; perhaps I need to condense the Heavenly Three Treasures and the Earth Three Treasures. Only with such a Spirit Root can I absorb the essence of heaven and earth and the mysterious hunger of the sun, moon, and stars."

"The Ginseng Fruit is an inner medicine and is very precious; it must not be given to others recklessly, otherwise, it will damage my Daoist Practice and Merit, and the loss will outweigh the gain."

"I must obtain some outer medicine to be able to bestow favors upon all living beings."

Outer medicine is selfless, only the "Sun, Moon, and Star." The Sun, Moon, and Star are constantly emitting light to nourish the earth. Only when the earth absorbs the light of the Sun, Moon, and Star can it nurture all things, and only when humans absorb the Qi of all things can they become the leaders of all spirits.

If Xu Jia wants to construct a Spirit Root of heaven and earth in his body other than the Ginseng Fruit, he needs to work on the outer medicine, the Heavenly Three Treasures: Sun, Moon, and Star.

Just like plants that can directly perform photosynthesis, Xu Jia also needs a Spirit Root that can directly collect the three lights of the Sun, Moon, and Star to synthesize Precious Medicine.

In Daoism, there is the "Double Running Technique," which is a method for collecting the Mulberry Fruit of the Sun and the Osmanthus Seed of the Moon.

It is rumored that when Xu Xun Tianshi learned the Dao, he first obtained it from Wu Meng, then from Chen Mother, and later from the Sun and Moon Star Lords who descended from heaven. Only then did Xu Tianshi achieve great success in Daoism, slaying the Flood Dragon and controlling the waters, and finally ascending with his whole family.

Xu Jia grew the Ginseng Fruit tree by borrowing the placenta and umbilical cord of his Innate Primordial Spirit, but he did not know how to construct a medium to communicate with the three lights of the Sun, Moon, and Star, so he could only collect and refine diligently, adopting them together at the times of Zi and Wu.

Xu Jia did not encounter this situation in his previous life, so the stage of crossing the river by feeling the stones of his previous life was already over; now it is the stage of crossing the river by himself.

However...

Xu Jia covered his head with the Three Sovereigns Ten Thousand People Umbrella, sat in meditation, and then connected to the shrine from his past life.

Soon, Xu Jia had already arrived in that layer of space, but there was more than one shrine here now; there were already two, and the second shrine was precisely the newly built "Xu Shigong Temple" in Dexing.

The two shrines appeared to be in the same space, but in reality, they connected to two different worlds.

And for the first time, Xu Jia possessed his own "image" in this space, observing from a third-person perspective rather than a first-person perspective, picking up those Wish Power Copper Coins and tossing them into the Merit Box.

One could see that in this layer of space, Xu Jia's image was translucent, appearing like a wandering soul, yet there was a halo behind his head; it was neither like being in reality nor like being in the Dharma Realm.

"Quite a lot of Wish Power Copper Coins have been obtained recently!"

There were many copper coins scattered in front of the two shrines, and besides the copper coins, there were also some scattered Wish Power Silver Money and Wish Power Gold Money, though the quantity was not too great.

Xu Jia touched them and realized that he did not need to put them into the shrine; he could utilize them directly himself, provided he constructed a "Wealth God" among the Body Gods of his Inner Landscape.

The Wealth God Cavity is in the Hall of Impression; physiognomy books say that if your Hall of Impression is black, blue, purple, or red, these are all different displays of fortune.

Xu Jia had internally refined the Body Gods of the five viscera, as well as the Jiujiang Shuidi and the Tiangang Great Sage, none of which involved anything above the neck, and even the Sun and Moon gods in the Eye Palace were mere phantom shadows.

This is because once the Body Gods of the head are condensed, they will enhance the six senses, and the six senses will compete with the Primordial Spirit for sovereignty.

For instance, if you refine the Ear God, you will believe what your ears hear; if you refine the Eye God, you will believe what your eyes see. But in fact, both eyes and ears will deceive you; they are inherently biased—the eyes only want to see what is beautiful, and the ears only want to hear what is pleasant.

The Tao Te Ching states: "The five colors blind the eye; the five tones deafen the ear; the five flavors dull the palate; racing and hunting madden the heart; rare goods hinder one's conduct. Therefore, the Sage provides for the belly and not for the eye, so he discards the latter and chooses the former."

Zhuangzi says: "The Emperor of the South Sea was Shu, the Emperor of the Beihai was Hu, and the Emperor of the Center was Chaos. Shu and Hu often met in the land of Chaos, and Chaos treated them very well. Shu and Hu plotted to repay the kindness of Chaos, saying: 'All people have seven orifices to see, hear, eat, and breathe, but this one alone has none. Let us try to chisel them.' Each day they chiseled one orifice, and after seven days, Chaos died."

These two scriptures, when combined, are the key to cultivating the "Primordial Spirit."

Chaos is the "Primordial Spirit."

Only when the Primordial Spirit can control the six senses and five perceptions can one complete the cultivation of the "Upper Origin Eight Sceneries."

Xu Jia's Primordial Spirit currently looks no older than six or seven, belonging to the "not yet an adult" stage, so it will be deceived by the six senses and five perceptions, listening to one-sided words and believing them, unable to suppress the masses.

In fact, most Primordial Spirits are "middle-aged," such as the many Emperors of Taoism, who are all middle-aged or even elderly in appearance, representing "at forty, one has no doubts" or even "at seventy, one follows one's heart's desire without overstepping the rules."

Even when the Primordial Spirit is an adult, it is still prone to being misled by the six senses and five perceptions, or falling into desires or sentimentality, unable to break through dilemmas or achieve liberation.

Therefore, although Xu Jia sensed that he could seemingly spend this Wish Power Gold Money, he suppressed the urge and did not intend to immediately cultivate the Ming Tang Cavity to nurture a Wealth God; otherwise, if he raised a Wealth God like a golden toad, Xu Jia himself would be affected and begin to become greedy for wealth, calculating gains and losses.

Putting the Wish Power Gold Money down from his hand, Xu Jia walked near the shrine from his past life and touched the divine statue. This statue was withered and coated in gold powder, but it was not the size of a real person; rather, it was scaled down in proportion, just like the shrine.

The moment Xu Jia touched the shrine, the next instant, the voices of one hundred thousand, or even one million people, appeared in his mind, shaking his Primordial Spirit for a moment.

These were the heartfelt wishes of the believers who had come to worship the god and make requests.

Xu Jia had previously let his heart handle Xu Jidi, but he could not touch the Golden Body; he could only sense the Golden Body and occasionally perceive some intense wishes.

When Xu Jia had ascended the Heavenly Gate before, he had touched it and was shaken away the next instant. Now, touching it again as an Earth Immortal, he knew that the True Person, the Primordial Spirit, the Body Gods, and over three thousand Heavenly Humans were all assisting in processing the information and wishes, sorting them into categories.

Deities exist to process these things, and furthermore, Xu Jia's Body Gods were all formed by imitating the True Gods of Heaven and Earth.

Although these wishes were piled up in the hundreds of thousands or millions, once they touched Xu Jia, they were received by his Body Gods and Inner Landscape.

(End of this chapter)