Chapter 42: Ingestion and Gathering

"How was listening to Wangji lecture on the Dao today?"

The food in the temple really did not change at all, and the taste was stable. Daoist Yunhe sat at the head and asked them.

When the junior sister heard this, she immediately put down her chopsticks: "Reporting to Master, Daoist Master Wangji lectured very meticulously, but the disciple is dull and did not understand much. But I have already remembered it all. It is just that senior brother understood a lot."

"You weren't made difficult by that old thing, were you?"

"This..."

The junior sister's eyeballs could not help but turn, she glanced at the old Daoist, and then glanced at Lin Jue, and finally answered truthfully: "Reporting to Master, Daoist Master Wangji was a bit fierce when we first arrived, but later it was fine. At noon, he even let us eat with their disciples."

"That old Daoist is just like that, his mouth is not good, but then again, cultivating the Dao is about being casual. His personality is like this. If he wanted to hide it, I'm afraid he wouldn't have reached his current state."

"Hm..."

"How many disciples did their temple recruit this time?"

"There are fifteen or sixteen."

"Are they clever or not?"

"I don't know either."

"Are they better than you two?"

"Anyway, not as clever as senior brother!"

The little girl said this without any hesitation.

"That's good, that's good." The old Daoist stroked his beard. "When you go to other places, don't lose face for my Fuqiu Temple. Although they are other Daoist temples, our two families have been on good terms for generations. If there is anything, don't get used to their disciples, and let me have some face."

"..."

The little girl heard this, but did not dare to answer, and turned to look at her own senior brother instead.

But she saw that senior brother was picking up a piece of egg, looking at the egg and frowning for a long time, and then bent down to throw it to the little fox under the table.

This little thing could not distinguish between good and bad, and ate it as soon as it was given.

"Under

Lin Jue did not know if this was the old man's way of encouraging his juniors to improve, or if he truly wanted to save face in front of an old friend; regardless, he just agreed verbally and continued doing things as he always did.

The senior brothers in the temple seemed to be much the same, each with their own personality and opinions, some listening to the Master's words and some not.

However, the atmosphere in the temple was strangely good.

"By the way, Junior brother and Junior sister," the Second Third Third Shixiong Yan Yan Xuan Yi said, "How do you feel after taking the Spirit-Shen Shen Xing Dan today?"

This sentence immediately piqued the interest of both of them.

"Replying to Second Third Third Shixiong, it was so fun, so interesting! With one light step, I could cross such a distance, and with a light tap, I could fly up. I felt like I was flying in the mountains, like I had become an immortal!"

The junior sister was both polite and very excited.

"It was even more free and unfettered than I imagined."

Lin Jue also sighed with genuine emotion.

"As long as it's interesting, that's good. The effect might not have worn off yet; by tomorrow, your legs might be very sore," the Second Third Third Shixiong said, his expression and tone very calm. "So painful that you can't walk, and you might not be able to squat down to use the latrine. If you do squat down, you might not be able to get back up."

"Ah?"

"?"

Both of them looked at the Second Third Third Shixiong.

"It's normal, because you haven't practiced spiritual methods, nor have you learned the method of ingestion. Medicines each have their own nature, and the potency of spirit pills is too great; some side effects are normal," the Second Third Third Shixiong said. "Once you practice spiritual methods or learn the method of ingestion, just one of these will be enough to handle it."

He paused for a moment:

"If you want to avoid the soreness, you can ask your Fifth Third Third Shixiong to massage and treat you."

The junior sister turned her head again to look at the Fifth Third Third Shixiong.

However, Lin Jue's attention was elsewhere, and he asked for advice: "May I ask, Second Third Third Shixiong, what is the method of ingestion?"

"As the name implies, it is the method for ingesting items and pills," the Second Third Third Shixiong said. "Pills each have their own medicinal properties; besides cold, heat, warmth, and intensity, they are also related to yin, yang, and the five elements, and some are even toxic. If an ordinary person eats them, at best they cannot fully digest the pill's efficacy, at worst they will suffer from the medicinal properties, and at the extreme, they could be bloated to death by pills with intense natures, or even poisoned to death."

"Is that so..."

"It's not just that," the Second Third Third Shixiong said. "The method of ingestion can be used not only for pills but also for poisons. After practicing it, you won't be afraid if someone poisons you while you are traveling down the mountain. Of course, how powerful a poison you can resist depends on how deep your attainments in this path are."

"Are people with Daoist cultivation also afraid of poison?"

"That goes without saying. Not to mention that many spirits and ghosts have their own poisons—toxicity is their ability—even the poisons of the mortal world below the mountain are not necessarily something every Daoist can withstand. Daoists with decent cultivation, even if they know some marvelous spells, can still be poisoned to death if they are careless while traveling the world," the Second Third Third Shixiong said. "In general, Daoists who practice the Five Elements Spiritual Method and the Yin-Yang Spiritual Method are better at resisting poison, but those who practice the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Method, if they haven't learned other skills, are not much stronger than those who haven't practiced at all."

Lin Jue was thoughtful, having more or less understood.

It seems that resisting poison is also a skill for a Daoist, one that requires extra practice, rather than being able to do everything once one starts practicing and gains cultivation.

It was just that he didn't quite understand why the Yin-Yang Spiritual Method and the Five Elements Spiritual Method were better at resisting poison than the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Method.

Not understanding was fine; he just had to ask.

"Because most of the poisons in the world are within yin and yang; the Yin-Yang Spiritual Method can harmonize with them or guide them away. As for the Five Elements Spiritual Method, it can either burn them away, dilute them, wash them away, or even turn oneself into a stone—how could the poisons of the mortal world poison a stone?"

The Second Third Third Shixiong paused again:

"If you learn the method of ingestion, you can ingest all things in the world. Taking a step back, if you go down the mountain to a place where there is no one and nothing to eat, an ordinary Daoist—unless they have learned the method of fasting and haven't reached the stage of immortality, or have other marvelous methods—would only be able to starve to death. But if you have learned the method of ingestion, you can eat grass and flowers, you can eat trees, and you can even eat mud and stones."

"Hiccup..."

The Third Third Third Shixiong beside him hiccuped and added with a chuckle: "You can also eat the food your senior brothers cook."

"What right does Third Junior Third Shixiong have to laugh at others?"

"Compared to you, the food I cook at least has the cultivation of a farm woman at the foot of the mountain."

"But you rarely cook it. The Master is of such an age, and he was so hungry from your cooking that he almost couldn't stand up after meditating; how do you have the nerve to say that?"

Upon hearing this, the Third Third Third Shixiong seemed somewhat ashamed and didn't dare to look at the Master, but he was still stubborn, so he shook his head and said: "This matter is not my fault, only the fault of Lord Wangji."

Lin Jue sat to the side, deep in thought.

Fuqiu Temple focuses on seven skills; naturally, none of them are great supernatural powers or spells that can change the world or invert yin and yang, but each has its own marvelous uses.

What should he learn first?

If he learned one or two things and suddenly felt that something else was better or wanted to learn something else later, would the other senior brothers be willing to teach him?

He had been thinking about this for several days.

But thinking about it carefully, it seemed there was nothing to struggle with.

Even if the other senior brothers didn't teach him, fellow disciples are not like the strangers one meets by chance at the foot of the mountain; there are plenty of interactions, and the ancient books would teach him themselves. Moreover, the senior brothers in the temple all have good relationships, and there is a possibility of persuading them through entreaty.

In that case, he wouldn't think about it too much.

Returning at dusk today, strolling through the mountains, treading on the pine forest, blowing in the wind and touching the fallen flowers—that feeling was truly wonderful.

"Second Third Third Shixiong, I would like to learn the method of alchemy from you first."

"You may. However, you cannot learn fire-element spells yet, so I will first pass on the pill formulas to you and teach you the general process of alchemy, what to use, and what to pay attention to. By the way, you have practiced the Qi-Nurturing Method and have five types of Qi in your body; plus, with your Fifth Third Third Shixiong to assist you, you can already learn the method of ingestion first. There is also the method of gathering; both of these are spells that require long-term practice, and besides technique, they rely on hard work to grind."

"What is the method of gathering?"

"The lower level is gathering spiritual objects of the world; the middle level is gathering the spiritual rhythm of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon; the upper level is..." The Second Third Third Shixiong paused calmly, "Eight taels of sunset glow, half a form of cloud and mist shavings."

"Sunset glow... cloud and mist shavings..."

Hearing these words, Lin Jue suddenly realized that even with this ancient book, he would probably find it very difficult to learn many spells, and perhaps most of them could only remain at the stage of understanding or mastery.

This is what the Fourth Third Third Shixiong meant by valuing quality over quantity.

"I understand."

"Let's start tomorrow."

"Good!"

Lin Jue made up his mind and remained unwavering.

That night, in the room.

An oil lamp was placed on the wooden table, illuminating the room.

A meditation cushion was placed in the corner of the room, and the little fox was lying on it, silent, its eyes moving with Lin Jue.

From next door came the sound of the Third Third Third Shixiong reciting poetry after getting drunk...

Lin Jue ignored it and sat by the table, using the light of the oil lamp to open the ancient book.

Sure enough, there was an extra page:

Xingyu Pill, also known as the Spirit-Shen Shen Xing Dan.

There are many rare and exotic beasts in the world, one of which is called the Xingxing; eating its meat can increase foot speed. This pill is made primarily from the hair or bones and meat of the Xingxing and swallow feathers; taking it allows one to travel a thousand miles a day.

An alchemy master once added two taels of cloud glow to this pill, refining it into an exotic pill; taking it allows one to step on the air and leap over cliffs. There are over two hundred spirit-walking methods in the world and dozens of escape methods, but few can match it.

Only when Lin Jue saw this did he understand why the Second Third Third Shixiong said that the method of external alchemy could be compared to spells.

There are spirit-walking spells, and there are spirit-walking pills.

No wonder so many legendary cultivators relied on alchemy to practice and become immortals, and those kings and ministers who dreamed of immortality also chose to achieve their goals through alchemy.

Lin Jue reached out and touched the page.

A voice immediately sounded in his mind.

"Xingyu Pill: the lower grade uses Xingxing hair, the middle grade uses Xingxing bones, the upper grade uses Xingxing leg bones..."

It recounted the formula for the Spirit-Shen Shen Xing Dan, explained the spiritual rhythm attributes of the pill, the coordination of spiritual energy, who it was rumored to have been invented by, and what precautions and side effects it had.

However, it did not explain the refining method of the pill in great detail. Lin Jue guessed that this might be a book of spells, and external alchemy, strictly speaking, is another path outside of spiritual methods; the author's own attainments in alchemy were not as profound as in spiritual methods. It could also be that the author recorded the common refining methods for most pills in another section, and the ones recorded here were simpler.

But Lin Jue still listened several times, digested and absorbed it for a long time, before putting down the ancient book.

The wick of the oil lamp had almost burned to the end. By the dim light, Lin Jue saw that the little fox was still lying on the meditation cushion staring at him, very well-behaved, but it tilted its head, its eyes lively, as if it could speak.

"Sleep."

Lin Jue said, then blew out the lamp.

When he woke up in the morning, his legs were indeed sore and painful, and he felt like he was floating when he walked, not daring to use force. But when he arrived at the Mountain-Moving Hall and saw that the junior sister was in a worse state than him, almost walking while holding onto the wall, he felt much better.

After finishing the chanting, he went to the alchemy room.

The Second Third Third Shixiong's expression was still calm as he sat cross-legged by the zither desk, plucking the strings casually, producing a leisurely and spontaneous sound that didn't seem to form a melody, yet every note was extremely pleasing to the ear.

Seeing him arrive, the Second Third Third Shixiong didn't say anything, just got up to put away the zither desk, walked to the side unhurriedly, opened the incense burner to smooth the incense ash, took a cloud-pattern mold to imprint the ash into a cloud pattern, and lit it. A faint woody fragrance naturally drifted through the alchemy room, and only then did he sit back down and begin to explain the path of alchemy, ingestion, and gathering to Lin Jue.

The voice was as leisurely as a zither and as peaceful as incense.