"Have you completed the foundation building?"
Looking out the window, Wang Zaixi had a strange expression on his face as he looked at Chen Yun inside.
He had just heard Ning's message passed, surprised and immediately rushed over to see if it was true.
At this moment, although Wang Zaixi had not used true qi to enter Chen Yun's body for a check, he observed that Chen Yun's eyes were clear with a faint, barely noticeable blue glow, which was clearly indicative of the completion of foundation building.
This is the Daoist saying of "green eyes and square pupils are immortals."
Generally, after completing the hundred-day foundation building, the central meridian will open, and there will be several changes in the body.
Firstly, the eyes will have a faint blue glow, and secondly, there will be a certain degree of "renewal of the body and transformation of the soul."
For instance, if a person's bones were not growing well before, they will gradually become "straight" along with the completion of foundation building.
Additionally, the skin will become fair and smooth as time progresses.
The phrase "color immersed in moisturizing, bones become stronger" describes this.
At the moment, Chen Yun has just completed foundation building and only his gaze has changed.
The other changes will come gradually, as if they are not too easy to notice.
Wang Zaixi had long since reached the level of an upper-tier cultivator, with profound cultivation, so he could naturally see Chen Yun's changes at a glance.
Chen Yun replied in a respectful tone, "Yes, Master."
Wang Zaixi asked back, "Do you know that Master Cai Rujin is the most talented person among those who have ever practiced in our dojo since its establishment?"
Chen Yun didn't understand why he had to say that, shook his head and said, "I don't know."
Wang Zaixi sighed, "It took him such talent a whole month to complete the foundation building, and you... I remember it's only been more than twenty days since I taught you the foundation building skill."
There is another thing he didn't say, that is, Cai Rujin successfully completed the foundation building in a month and also took four foundation-building pills.
Then what about Chen Yun?
According to Wang Zaixi's knowledge, besides the one plant of Yin and Yang Xingchen grass given by Zheng Wenshu, there seem to be no other external aids.
Such talent is truly astonishing.
Chen Yun remained as humble as ever, "Maybe my luck was good and I accidentally succeeded."
Wang Zaixi stared at him for a long while before slowly saying, "You had Ning's disciple pass on a message, I assume you want to learn the refining technique of transforming essence? Don't mind me saying, our school selects young cultivators to assist with teaching and cultivation methods. One reason is indeed the need for manpower, but there's also the intention of selecting potential inheritors of the tradition. Otherwise, hiring some permanent workers would be better; why disperse them after five years? Since you have successfully completed foundation building, I should pass on the refining technique to you. Well, today I just happen to have some free time, so I'll teach you the essence refining method properly."
Chen Yun was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, Master."
Wang Zaixi hummed and asked, "Do you know what is meant by refining essence in the valley?"
Chen Yun shook his head, "I don't know, please teach me, Master."
Wang Zaixi, moving his fingers along the wooden railing of the window, spoke clearly, "Before refining essence in the valley, you need to understand what essence is. Essence can be divided into prenatal essence and postnatal essence. Prenatal essence is inherited from your parents and comes with you since birth, hidden in the kidneys. Postnatal essence is the water and grain refinement that turns into essence. That is to say, after a person eats, through the stomach and spleen, it generates water and grain refinement. Whether you are actively cultivating or not, water and grain refinement will generate postnatal essence under the action of stomach and spleen, but actively cultivating will generate more postnatal essence."
These are all valuable pieces of knowledge, and Chen Yun listened attentively, tilting his head to one side.
"The essence generated by the spleen and stomach in the water and grain digestion is transmitted to all the organs, shapes, and orifices of the body to maintain their normal operation. The postnatal essence continuously supplements the kidney essence, and kidney essence can generate vital energy, which is the original ancestor qi of all the organs, shapes, and orifices of the human body. Vital energy promotes human growth. For example, abundant heart qi can push blood circulation throughout the body, abundant lung qi can promote the smooth operation of internal Qi. If the postnatal essence cannot transform gas efficiently, it cannot nourish organs and tissues, resulting in decline of physical energy. This is part of refining vital energy from refined essence. I'm just telling you this now; you don't need to pay attention to it."
Wang Zaixi's explanation is very meticulous.
While listening, Chen Yun nodded slightly and listened attentively as well.
"What we as cultivators need to do is to turn the water and grain refinement as much as possible into postnatal essence, filling the kidney essence at the same time, nourishing our bodies and strengthening our physique. One day, when we can achieve the state of 'radiant and full of vitality' where qi and essence permeate the entire body, then we have completed the refining of essence in the valley. This process of transforming water and grain refinement into postnatal essence is called 'refining essence in the valley.'"
Wang Zaixi said this and asked, "Postnatal essence cannot be exhausted all at once. If we do nothing about it, it will make the body restless, exposed, and wasteful. Therefore, we need to conserve our essence. Do you know how to conserve essence?"
Chen Yun shook his head, "I don't know."
Wang Zaixi tore off a piece of wood bark and wound it around his fingertip to play with, "The kidneys can conserve essence, but what the kidneys store is prenatal essence. We want to store postnatal essence. That is, after refining essence into qi in the future, postnatal essence will be transformed into prenatal essence. Therefore, postnatal essence is generally not stored in the kidneys but in the eight extraordinary meridians, especially the task and du meridians are the best places to conserve essence."
He did not immediately reveal the secret method but instead gave a very serious and detailed explanation of the principles and precautions of refining essence in the valley.
This explanation took one hour.
Chen Yun roughly understood the principles, which roughly meant using secret methods to actively transform postnatal essence and nourish the body after eating food, laying a foundation for refining essence into qi in the future.
If foundation building in one hundred days is like digging a foundation pit, then refining essence in the valley is the actual process of laying the foundation. It requires injecting matter into the empty foundation, and this matter is postnatal essence. In essence, it is still about building a foundation.
Eventually, Wang Zaixi completed the explanation.
He asked, "Understood?"
Chen Yun nodded and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Master. I get the general idea."
"Alright." Wang Zaixi threw away the broken and tattered wood bark he had been playing with and reached out with his hand, causing a book to appear out of thin air. "This is 'The Essence Refining Art.' Read it carefully. If you have any questions, let someone pass on a message, and I will come tell you how to do it."
In general, the fixed workers learn cultivation methods without the obligation of their personal disciples teaching them. At most, they might occasionally give a hint or two.
It can be said that by doing so, Wang Zaixi has become half a teacher to Chen Yun.
Alternatively, some teachers may not teach as carefully as Wang Zaixi has taught Chen Yun.
Chen Yun took over "The Essence Refining Art" and said with gratitude, "Thank you so much for your kindness."
Wang Zaixi waved his hand and said nothing, then turned and walked slowly away from the place.
Only after Wang Zaixi left did Chen Yun turn around and sit down on the stool, opening "The Essence Refining Art" to read.
The first sentence that caught Chen Yun's eye seemed to be the preface: "The kidney, the master of sealing and concealing, is the foundation of self-cultivation and the place where essence is stored."
Below that was another outline, which Chen Yun silently recited: "Only by accumulating emptiness does one gather the Dao, and by gathering emptiness, one generates spirit. By condensing spirit, one transforms it into qi, and by gathering qi, one forms essence."
When he read here, he paused and wondered, "Why should it be refining qi into essence? How can 'The Essence Refining Art' write condensing spirit into essence and gathering qi into form?"
Chen Yun was somewhat confused and continued to read on.
The next were lines of a slogan, which Chen Yun read carefully, word by word: "The essence of the sun, the brilliance of the moon, the blend of two energies, generates all things... The spleenqi, raises its clear qi, lowers its turbid qi... All of this is not outside the three substances of spirit, qi, and essence. Therefore, these three substances respond to each other... One becomes two, two becomes three, three becomes all things. Hence, emptiness becomes spirit, spirit becomes qi, qi becomes essence, essence becomes form. Form is when one is complete... All things contain the three. The three return to two; two return to one. Those who know this way please keep their minds calm and shape in check; nourish their shape and refine their essence; accumulate essence into qi; refine qi to blend with spirit; refine spirit back to emptiness; then the elixir tablet will be formed."
This "The Essence Refining Art" is about 6,000 to 7,000 words.
Chen Yun had read carefully, and by the time he finished, half an hour had passed.
After reading, he fully understood why the outline wrote "condense spirit into qi."
"Before their parents were born, there were no six senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and thought. Therefore, cultivators must practice the Dao of origin in reverse. They must close the six senses and ignore all sounds and thoughts. All vision, hearing, thinking are just spirit retreats from the essence spirit; they are led by recognition spirit. All of these are simply Six Senses fantasies. Therefore, relying on theories about vision, hearing, thinking is not a way to attain enlightenment."
Chen Yun pondered silently, "The 'Essence Refining Art' mainly consists of two parts: one is the refining of the valley to generate postnatal essence, and the other is using postnatal essence to nourish the body. Essence is like qi, so one needs to condense spirit into qi. If one cannot condense spirit, it will be impossible to control the stomach and spleen or generate postnatal essence."
Chen Yun continued to study "The Essence Refining Art."
"The Essence Refining Art" is divided into static and dynamic practices.
Static practice is for refining and generating more postnatal essence through the process of refining the valley, while dynamic practice is for nourishing and strengthening the physical body and constitution.
What is static practice?
Static practice usually adopts a sitting, standing, or lying posture, or walking is also acceptable.
Regardless of the posture, the key principle is to maintain a state of tranquility.
This tranquility is not just about being quiet, but about achieving a state where one's eyes cannot see, one's ears cannot hear, one's mind cannot know, and one cannot see or hear anything. One must maintain a state of spiritual calmness, carefully guarding the internal and closing the external world. One must rely on the inner spirit to govern all changes within the body.
All functions of the human body are restored in a state of extreme tranquility. Everything in the universe grows from a state of stillness.
This is what Laozi said: "If a person can maintain constant purity and tranquility, the heavens and earth will all be returned to harmony."
Dynamic practice is simpler, mainly involving practicing martial arts.
The purpose is to accelerate the absorption of postnatal essence by the body, making it strong and healthy.
As Laozi said, "Motion is the foundation of stillness."
Therefore, one should not just practice meditation without movement. Movement strengthens the body, while stillness calms the mind.
Knowing only meditation, not practicing martial arts to strengthen the body, prolonged meditation will lead to physical weakness and illness.
How can a sick body carry the Dao?
A weak body often falls prey to evil influences, which is what previous sages said: "Stillness meditation and spiritual cultivation lead to exhausted qi."
Chen Yun suddenly recalled that Master Xuyun, a famous Buddhist monk in the Republic of China, had suffered a serious illness after emerging from meditation, almost losing his life. This was the consequence of only knowing static practice without dynamic movements.
"What is meant by 'movement generates yang, and inaction leads to the stagnation of qi and blood' is that when the body's yang qi is insufficient, entering a deep meditation state can lead to easy corporeal transformation if the state persists for too long. Therefore, movement is necessary."
Finally, he understood why the transmission of the Dao requires disciples to practice martial arts. Practicing martial arts is a way to generate yang and strengthen the body. If the body is not strong, yang cannot be generated, making it difficult to enter deep meditation. Even if one occasionally enters a state of deep meditation, it is still in a state of confusion.
"And practicing the Five Elements Fist is to better absorb postnatal essence."
Chen Yun nodded thoughtfully.
The method also specifies the breathing techniques for practicing the Five Elements Fist, which are completely different from what Chen Yun practiced according to the movements.
It was only then that he realized that the Five Elements Fist he had practiced before only had "shape," but not "mind."
"No wonder there was no effect after practicing for so long."
Chen Yun knew that it was not because Wang Zaixi was hiding anything, but because the practice of the Five Elements Fist with breathing and retention of breath would consume postnatal essence.
He did not succeed in foundation building at that time. If he consumed a large amount of postnatal essence, his body would collapse.
It has to be said that Wang Zaixi indeed teaches with great diligence, and a step-by-step approach can achieve the best cultivation effect.
Chen Yun is very grateful to Wang Zaixi.
Let's study "The Essence Refining Art" again.
He did not rush to try it out but continued to ponder the cultivation method.
Only after he was certain that he understood the content correctly did he prepare to give it a try.
