Chapter 52: Ascending the Heavenly Gate, Cutting Off Attachments (Combined)

After Xu Jia reinforced the ladder, he stood it upright.

Looking up, although it did not seem very high—only four or five zhang, totaling eighteen rungs—it perfectly corresponded to the nine-layer dharma platform. Yet, with a cold light flickering, if one were to truly step up rung by rung, one feared they might really "ascend to heaven."

Xu Jia knew that he could not climb up just yet. Firstly, he had not yet cultivated the "Avoidance of Blades and Soldiers Talisman," and secondly, even if he had cultivated this talisman, he would still need to borrow the Dharma Power of a God Immortal to be secure.

Therefore, among the two Great Methods, Xu Jia intended to cultivate the "Lvshan Ascending to Heaven Great Method" first.

This method specifically uses tables to build a dharma altar. It requires a sturdy rope tied around one's waist, lowered from a high place, to then personally hoist the tables up.

Only in this way could one finish building the nine-layer dharma altar and continue stacking upward until all nine tables were set, with the person standing in the ninth heaven.

This process is incomparably dangerous and requires the most trusted person to act as Protector; otherwise, if someone were to casually push a table or pull on Xu Jia's waist rope, he would fall from the high place and die.

It was already noon, the time when Yang reaches its peak and Yin begins to grow. The wild fruits Xu Jia had eaten in the morning were not enough to satisfy his hunger, so he immediately decided to eat some simple, coarse tea and rice at a villager's home.

After the noon hour, there was just enough sun, and there were no evil spirits in the courtyard. Although there was a large tree providing shade, it was enough to build the altar, and being close to the tree branches was actually safer.

Xu Jia made up his mind and began to cultivate the "Lvshan Ascending to Heaven Great Method."

Xu Jia first set the first table in place, checked if it was level and steady, and immediately climbed onto this table. He stacked the second table, which Niu Congcong handed up, on top. After carefully checking it, he quickly climbed up from the side to the second layer of tables. By this time, he was already as high as a person's chest from the ground, and standing up, he could see outside the courtyard.

But Xu Jia did not look around; he focused solely on stacking the third altar table.

Once the third table was stacked, from where Xu Jia stood, the height was already one zhang, and he could see the roof of the Fox Immortal Hall.

At this point, he could no longer rely on them to lift the tables and hand them up to Xu Jia. Xu Jia used the rope at his waist to hoist the legs of a square table, slowly pulling it up, then unhooked the rope from the table to continue stacking the altar.

This process was very dangerous; it was easy for his center of gravity to become unstable, and easy for his limbs to tremble.

But these were not problems for Xu Jia.

Xu Jia was as steady as an old dog, calm and composed, as he built the tables up to the fourth layer.

Standing up this time, he was completely higher than the roof. Some villagers passing by outside even discovered Xu Jia and were so shocked their hearts skipped a beat: "What on earth is he doing!"

Niu Congcong, who was below tying the ropes to the table legs, felt his hands and feet break into a sweat even without climbing up himself: "Why not just stop at this height? It's too dangerous to really stack nine layers!"

"Hoist it up! Continue!" Standing at the high place, Xu Jia felt refreshed and relaxed. Standing high meant seeing far; he did not feel much fear.

A light breeze brushed his face, feeling very refreshing.

In his past life, Xu Jia had only dared to cultivate this Ascending to Heaven Great Method in his forties, and at that time, he had been trembling with fear.

Now, in this body, which was at least in the form of a youth, doing such a "thrilling" thing actually only gave him a sense of excitement with a racing heart.

Soon, he had built it up to the fifth layer of tables, and Xu Jia became increasingly self-satisfied.

Although falling from such a height would surely be painful, it inexplicably gave one a feeling of being "closer to heaven," while the field of vision was also more expansive, creating a sense of ease like "Mount Tai collapsing before one without a change in expression."

This was just like the "Cliff Meditation" of the Zen Sect, and also somewhat like "High Places Are Cold."

In realistic terms, five tables stacked together were not very high, but for a person to climb up like this, it was a "great terror in the heart," whether worrying about gains and losses or suddenly having fantasies about what would happen if one fell.

This was the core of the "Lvshan Ascending to Heaven Great Method": to subdue distracting thoughts, to subdue Demonic Obstacles, and to disregard life and death.

Next came the sixth table. As a light breeze blew, it gave the impression that it was about to tilt and collapse. These tables were not all perfectly steady, but Xu Jia had a way to find the point of balance.

"My dear mother!" A crowd of people from the village had already gathered outside the courtyard, men, women, and children, none of whom dared to speak loudly for fear that the person would fall and lose their life.

Among them, a village elder was very anxious: "Whose child is this? What a sin! Playing like this, showing off! If something happens, who can take responsibility!"

Niu Congcong had long since locked the courtyard gate, not letting outsiders in, for fear of any accidents.

Xu Jia, on the six-layer high platform, still stood up with a leisurely stroll. At this point, he could already touch the branches of the old tree.

He reached out slightly, and the branch fell down, its leaves automatically shedding. This was the Wooden Staff that the old tree's wood spirit had promised Xu Jia last night.

Xu Jia played with the Wooden Staff for a while and threw it toward Niu Congcong: "Catch it!"

Niu Congcong did not catch it and was hit on the head, clutching his head and crying out in pain.

Hu Jinhua, however, saw the extraordinary nature of it and said in surprise: "This Wooden Staff has such natural charm."

Hu Jinhua had a sharp eye and recognized it as a Natural Dharma Artifact, but she was surprised; if this Magic Tool had been hidden in the tree, she should have discovered it long ago.

The seventh table was hoisted up. Xu Jia took hold of it, placed it carefully, and then moved onto the table. By this time, he was standing up and could already touch the branches and leaves. He could hear birds chirping and see insects. The others below, while not exactly tiny, were at least "one zhang below his raised head."

Immediately after, the eighth table was hoisted up, and he again caught it steadily, placed it, and moved onto it. It was familiar and easy; it was neither high nor dangerous.

Yet from the perspective of others on the ground, these eight tables swayed in the wind, their foundation unstable, and they could collapse at any moment.

Their hearts were already in their throats.

Only then did Xu Jia feel a sense of clarity after the excitement faded.

But what was clear was not a feeling of fear, but rather a thought: how would he get down later?

Or perhaps, was climbing these nine tables really ascending to heaven? He was still very far from the real heaven, and only two or three zhang from the ground.

The ancients said that he who travels one hundred miles is only halfway through ninety; the moment of impending success is the moment most prone to failure.

Xu Jia was stunned for only an instant before he cut off his distracting thoughts, set the last hoisted table in place, and turned around. These nine tables were like a set of building blocks, yet they were truly steady and secure, with nothing amiss.

Finally, he hoisted up a chair. Xu Jia sat on it in a grand manner, with the tree canopy overhead. If it were difficult to get down, he could still climb into the tree and use it to descend.

In this way, the tree was like a "Canopy," protecting the altar master.

Building this high platform, nine heavens away from the ground, his spirit felt light and floating, as if to rush toward the Heavenly Gate. But Xu Jia knew that if he really rushed toward it, he would fall directly to the ground and be dead or crippled.

Thus, he meditated silently, his soul also matching the nine-layer ascent to heaven. His consciousness rose from the first heaven, then the second, the third... step by step, many illusions appeared. Xu Jia also felt as if he were sensing the rhythm of heaven and earth. As his consciousness ascended to the ninth heaven, he leaped up. In an instant, heaven and earth changed, and he entered another realm.

Xu Jia's "consciousness" entered another world.

This realm was also a "Dharma Realm," but through the "ritual," it was not an ordinary "Dharma Realm," but the "Heavenly Gate Dharma Realm." That is, the legendary "South Heavenly Gate."

This was said to be the portal leading to the "Immortal World."

In his past life, when he cultivated this method, he seemed to ascend to the heavenly palace in a trance to pay respects to the Ancestor, but whether it was truly the Ancestor was open to debate.

It was just that after paying respects to the Ancestor, one could use the Ancestor's Dharma Power.

Xu Jia's consciousness crossed the Heavenly Gate and soon arrived at a space. This space was like a temple, but it contained its own universe, with no distinction of size. In the center, there was an altar, and on the altar was a Shrine.

This Shrine was as tall as a person, and its surroundings were inexplicably illusory. In the Shrine was a withered, emaciated corpse, its whole body golden and bright; it was his Golden Body from his past life.

Beside the Golden Body lay many Dharma Money, some gold and some silver, but most were Copper Coin.

Below the Shrine was a "Merit Box."

Xu Jia recognized these gold, silver, and copper coins as Divine Path Wish Power Dharma Coins, and immediately wanted to pick up a gold coin.

But this gold coin seemed welded to the surface; he could not move it no matter what, and the moment he touched the gold coin, the sound of prayers immediately reached his ears.

"Disciple begs the Ancestor to bless me with great wealth! If I can get rich, I will surely offer a heavy reward!"

……… "Disciple has indeed gotten rich this year, and specifically brings ten kilograms of gold to offer in fulfillment of my vow! To shape a Golden Body for the Ancestor."

Xu Jia secretly thought: "Just how much wealth is this? Ten kilograms of gold to offer to me?"

Fearing Cause and Effect, he immediately went to pick up the silver money, but he still could not move it.

The sound of prayer also reached his ears: "Disciple prays for Master Xu to assist this junior in achieving success in cultivation, and to enter the Dao through sensing Qi soon."

"Haha, disciple suddenly sensed the essence last night, has already entered the path of cultivation, and comes to fulfill my vow. I am willing to serve as a volunteer in the temple, sweeping and cleaning for three years, to repay the grace of Master's guidance."

Xu Jia secretly thought: "Cultivation is always led by the master, but the Achievement depends on the individual; it has nothing to do with me!"

So he put down the silver money and went to pick up the copper coins. This time he still could not pick them up, but the voice reaching his ears was: "Disciple has a grievance, but was deprived of justice by a villain, and cannot speak of it. I can only come before the Bodhisattva to lodge a complaint. If I am wrong, curse my whole family to die a horrible death; if others slandered me, please let his whole family die a horrible death!" "Hahaha, her family really met with disaster! The Heavenly Dao is clear, and retribution is unerring. Disciple fulfills my vow today and will invite the Bodhisattva's spirit tablet home to worship."

Xu Jia let go of the copper coins too: "Oh my, I don't have the ability to curse people to death; don't pin everything on me!"

It seems these Wish Power Dharma Coins are not wishes I fulfilled, so I can't use a single cent! When Xu Jia was in the underworld, he had sensed the temple-system Golden Body and knew about the various wishes within it, but he never manifested. Firstly, doing things in Dongkong Qingling Gong did not really allow for manifesting before people, and secondly, he did not yet have a proper divine office.

Now, looking at this floor full of "Wish Power Dharma Coins," he was also helpless. I didn't do anything; I can't control you getting rich, I can't control your cultivation, and I still can't control you cursing someone else's whole family to death...

But since it has already been efficacious, why can't I keep this money?

If I can't take the gold and silver, and I can't even take the copper coins, what use are you to me? Xu Jia then stopped focusing his attention on this money, severed his Greed, and instead began to stare at the Golden Body of his past life.

When a cultivator reincarnates, there is often talk of "retrieving the Dharma Power of the past life," which means finding the physical body of the past life. But in Xu Jia's situation, it is impossible to return to the original world to retrieve this Dharma Power.

Now, by utilizing the Lvshan Ascending to Heaven Great Method to break through the Heavenly Gate and arrive at the Dharma Realm of the past life's Golden Body temple, I wonder if I can directly control the Golden Body...

Xu Jia had just this thought, and the next moment, a thin line connected the center of Xu Jia's brow to the center of the Golden Body's brow.

Waves of even more complex wishes invaded him, as if ten thousand people were wishing and speaking at the same time………

Xu Jia was so annoyed by the noise that he had a headache and subconsciously severed the connection. The line at his brow snapped, and the sound of ten thousand people praying also vanished.

This gave Xu Jia a fright. After he calmed down, he understood what was going on: "The physical body of the past life is already dead and has been made into a Golden Body statue. If I link to it again, I will be annoyed to death by the Wish Thoughts of all living beings."

"Fine, fine. If I wanted to cultivate the Ghost and God Path, I wouldn't have returned to the soul to cultivate again; I would have just stayed in the underworld and climbed up... Why bother taking a side path?"

After cultivating the Yang Spirit, one is not afraid of the harassment of these wishes from all living beings, but if one truly cultivates to the Yang Spirit, one can already ascend to the Heavenly Realm, so what would the problem be?

Moreover, according to Xu Jia's experience staying in the underworld, the underworld is a behemoth that governs many worlds... Since the underworld is like this, the Heavenly Court must be the same; this is a much larger platform.

Furthermore, Xu Jia did not have much nostalgia for the past world. He had already lived for over a hundred years, and the cultivation environment on Blue Star was average. If he wanted to be determined to become an Immortal, he had to place his hope here.

Everything about Xu Jia was just a reluctance to let go of the Dharma Power of his past life.

But now that he had thought through the Cause and Effect, he also understood that "only by giving can one have virtue."

The past life is the past life, and this life is this life.

The side-door Dharma Power cultivated in the past life cannot become an Immortal, and keeping it is useless. I'll just borrow it for an emergency.

If I refine it further, I fear I will just walk the old path of my past life, and since it is also mixed with Incense Fire and wish power, it is even more complex.

Xu Jia's thoughts were smooth for a moment; he no longer fretted over gains and losses. Having abandoned a portion of his past life's Greed, he felt much more "at ease."

His wisdom grew for a moment, his mind became clear, and looking at this so-called Golden Body Shrine, it was nothing more than a corpse wrapped in a skeleton.

What else is there to pursue?

Thus, he continued to return his purpose to his original intention: borrowing the Dharma.

After observing carefully for a while, he could only make an issue of this prayer mat and the Merit Box.

When Hu Jinhua was Worshiping the Dipper to Cultivate Life, he had not yet returned to the soul, and his body and Soul still had a connection. Therefore, when he worshipped himself and made a wish, he was able to sense the Dharma Power of the past life's Golden Body.

Now that Xu Jia has successfully returned to the soul, he is a person for the second life. Taking this life as his cultivation, not speaking of the past life, and not discussing the next life, this is the Karmic Burden. Moreover, Xu Jia had just let go of his past life and gained ease, so now he perceived the Cause and Effect even more clearly.

That is to say, his own Soul and this Golden Body have already severed their "Body-Soul connection." He must personally worship it like Hu Jinhua did to obtain Dharma Power.

"Since I have been reborn and am determined to cultivate, how can I worship the past again? Even in the future, I will not worship or beg."

Then the only way is to put money into the Merit Box. Xu Jia could not pick up the Dharma Money on the ground because it had "nothing to do" with him.

Then Xu Jia could only look for Dharma Money that had to do with him.

Which Dharma Money here has to do with him?

(End of chapter)