In the Zhi Fu Hall, outside.
"Chen Yun just left, and Zheng Wenxi arrived right after."
Zheng Wenxi asked, "Just now I passed by and heard that Chen's younger brother is looking for a talisman?"
"Master," said Cai Rujin, bowing, "Just now, Master Chen..."
"He carefully explained the whole process."
After listening, Zheng Wenxi lowered his head and pondered for a moment, and then said casually, "Prepare all the talismans that Chen's younger brother mentioned. Prepare two to three sets for each kind."
Cai Rujin was a bit confused and said, "Master Chen mentioned that he wants to make them by hand. Is it inappropriate for me to take over?"
Zheng Wenxi laughed and said, "Master Chen has been under the care of our master for a month or two and has not yet refines out true qi. It is likely that the teachings of our master are not about technique, but rather the true essence of great law. Law and technique have many differences. Technique can be directly cultivated by imitation and application, but law needs to be understood in its subtleties. As it happened, Master Lu encountered the Fire Dragon True Man at the age of forty-nine and received from him the 'Tian Duan Sword Technique' as its true essence. Master Lu took fourteen years to understand it, but still did not understand the art of immortality. Later, at the age of sixty-three, Master Lu was enlightened by our master and comprehended 'Jiu Shen Yu Shu', thereby gradually deepening his power and achieving Dao."
In Taoist mythology, immortals passing down their cultivation is very casual.
Some immortals need to test the character of those they are passing down their cultivation to.
For example, Zhong Lijun tested Lu Dongbin ten times.
However, some immortals are not like that. They might pass down their great law to you simply because they take a liking to you and are in a good mood, who knows?
For example, the Fire Dragon True Man passed down 'Tian Dun Sword Technique' to Lu Dongbin.
For instance, Zhao Gongming passed down Chen Yun the path of refining body and accumulating qi through chess.
Such things may seem absurd and unconventional, but they do happen from time to time.
Cai Rujin naturally knew that, but he knew that Master Chen said these stories were not about passing on cultivation.
Upon hearing this, he seemed to understand something, "Master Chen, what you are saying is that Master Chen will not understand the art of immortality and refine out true qi in the short term?"
"Yes," said Zheng Wenxi, shaking his head. "Even Master Lu took fourteen years to understand the art of immortality. Although Chen's younger brother is talented, without three or five years of effort, it is unlikely that he will be able to comprehend the secret art of immortality."
This is not because Zheng Wenxi disdains Chen Yun.
On the contrary, this statement has already greatly "elevated" Chen Yun.
As a great master of Taoist alchemy, Lu Dongbin also took fourteen years to understand it. Zheng Wenxi's statement that Chen Yun can comprehend it in three or five years is indeed highly estimated.
Cai Rujin naturally understood this, and he immediately replied, "In that case, I will quickly prepare the talismans that Master Chen needs."
...
"Inside the courtyard, the Red Building."
Chen Yun immediately locked himself up again and began to ponder over the 'Po Huo Zheng Dao Ge' once more.
He sat in front of the window, deep in thought, "Who knows the mysteries of the heavens and earth, and then the sun and moon rise and set? There is no Yang and Yin, nor Dragon and Tiger, nor Black Crow and White Rabbit all heading east or west?"
This sentence, Chen Yun can roughly understand it.
Kan Li Long Hu is a metaphor.
The origin of medicinal herbs naturally has no fixed position.
Medicinal herbs refer to the self-existing great medicine within the human body.
Great medicine can nourish the five hardships and seven injuries of the body, invigorate bones, stop hunger, withstand cold and heat, benefit the spleen and stomach, moisten the heart and lungs.
"If we speculate according to the Taoist cultivation realm of 'refining essence into Qi,' this great medicine should refer to the true Qi refined from primordial essence. Only by refining essence can one give birth to what is called true Qi."
Chen Yun meditated earnestly, "But the origin of medicinal herbs naturally has no fixed position, what does this mean?"
He then recalled the following verses of the mantra: "Not liver, not lungs, not heart or kidneys, not spleen or stomach, nor gallbladder and essence. Not thought, not meditation, nor action, nor in the upper, middle or lower three fields. Not along the spine to Kunlun Mountain, not essence and fluid. Not bladder and five organs' souls, this substance originates from the body."
The approximate meaning of this sentence is: The great medicine is neither within nor without the body, but it is born within the body.
Here, Chen Yun is still confused.
However, as he chanted the next verse of the mantra, he seemed to understand something vaguely.
The next verse of the mantra is: "In the four seasons, keep summer and autumn and winter; Who recognizes primordial before the earth? Two substances mixed weigh a pound; The New Moon and Full Moon are each their own number. They cycle through day and night without stopping; At the right time, picking them knows the old and tender."
"Two substances mixed weigh a pound?"
Chen Yun blinked his eyes, "If my guess is correct, this sentence is the crux, and the next few verses of the mantra are all serving this sentence."
But the question remains, which two substances are being referred to here?
He knows that the answer should be found in the 'Po Huo Zheng Dao Ge'.
Chen Yun pondered over the verses of the mantra before that.
Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his mind, "Who knows the mysteries of the heavens and earth, and then the sun and moon rise and set?"
The three treasures of heaven are the Sun, Moon, and Stars. The three treasures of the human body are the heart, spleen, and kidney.
If I haven't mistaken, the Sun and Moon in the Daoist scriptures often stand for the heart and kidney.
The next line is "Nor the Kan and Li, nor Dragon and Tiger, nor Black Crow and White Rabbit to the west and east," which seems to negate the idea of referring to the heart and kidney.
"Wait a minute! What are you thinking so much about? I already know that refining essence into Qi is refining primordial essence into Qi. The question I need to clarify now is, what should be used to refine essence into Qi, and how can Qi be stored?"
Chen Yun suddenly thought of a saying: "A thousand volumes of books may be falsely transmitted, but a single word of true transmission is enough."
The "Song of Breaking Illusion and Righteous Path" is a theory, more like a summary of cultivation experience, and naturally does not contain any methods.
However, it does not contain any cultivation methods, and after all, it is Zhong Li's method, and it always mentions "true transmission".
And this "true transmission" is precisely "two substances mixed weigh a pound".
Since it is refining essence into Qi, one of these two substances must be the essence.
"A jin" is a term for internal cultivation, also known as "two eight," which is equal to 16 liang, an ancient unit of weight.
Taoist internal alchemy believes that when a person is born, they inherit 360 grains of qi from the heavens and earth, which is the number of a full circle of heaven, plus the 24 grains inherited from their parents, totaling 384 grains.
It corresponds to the numbers of Yi's hexagrams and yi jin, the ancient unit of weight.
Out of the three hundred and eighty-four yao, there are one hundred and ninety-two yang yao and one hundred and ninety-two yin yao.
Therefore, internal alchemy believes that the two kinds of qi, yin and yang, in the human body must be matched to each other, just like water and fire reaching each other, which requires that both be balanced.
"Yin and yang combination? The primordial essence is stored in the kidney, which is water, and the heart is fire. When the kidney water and heart fire are stimulated, the great medicine is born?"
Chen Yun felt he had guessed right.
For ordinary people, the heart fire is something intangible and elusive.
However, for cultivators, the heart fire can be controlled and ascended by spiritual cultivation.
The kidney water is the same.
When they are combined, true qi is born.
This is not the same as "Not within the body, but within the body" ?
The heart fire refines true water. As long as the fire reaches the appropriate intensity, it will inevitably refine out true qi.
That corresponds to "They cycle through day and night without stopping, picking them at the right time knows the old and tender," doesn't it?
Only when the fire is just right can true qi be born.
If the fire is too weak, it is impossible to refine essence.
However, if the heart fire is too strong, not only will it not refine essence, but it can also harm the body.
Therefore, refining essence requires a harmonious combination of yin and yang and the balance of water and fire.
"Once we figure out what the two substances are that together weigh a pound, the rest will be much easier to handle."
Chen Yun thought to himself, "As for how to store the true qi, the 'Song of Breaking Illusion and Righteous Path' also says, 'Gradually harmonize it into the Kên palace, try to gently move the celestial mechanism.'"
Kên means mountain. The so-called still and quiet true lead, the medicine is not collected but collects itself, all relying on the harmony of the Huang Po.
Huang Po is an internal alchemy term, referring to the spleen.
The spleen, being able to nourish the other organs, is called the "Huang Po."
The Kên palace refers to the middle palace.
However, there are two explanations for the middle palace.
One refers to the middle palace below the heart, and above the navel.
Sometimes the lower palace is also called the middle palace, because it is located in the middle of the human body.
Chen Yun believes that here, the Kên palace refers to the middle dantian.
Because the Huang Po must be harmonized.
The Huang Po is relatively closer to the middle dantian.
As long as the Huang Po harmonizes the true qi, there is no need to deliberately collect the medicine. The great medicine will naturally be collected by the body and eventually stored somewhere.
The middle palace is the place to refine medicines. To "hide the medicine," it is still necessary to go to the Chéng Tíng.
The "Song of Breaking Illusion and Righteous Path" points out: This is the law of water and gold combined, true lead and mercury that crystallize in the heavens and earth. Only this level of fire can be determined as the Golden Pill. The decision is made entirely based on the mutual connection in Huang Ting.
Chen Yun studied the "Song of Breaking Illusion and Righteous Path" for half a day, combined it with the "art" of "hundred days to lay the foundation," and other techniques such as "refining grain into essence," and finally determined the cultivation technique to be: genuine fire burning the body to refine true water, genuine qi is born, and the medicine is collected naturally.
...
Time passed day by day.
Unconsciously, six days had passed.
During this time, Chen Yun consulted numerous Taoist sutras and medical texts as references, and gradually gained some understanding of the core idea of "genuine fire refining true water."
At the same time, he finally understood why his master had been teaching him Taoist sutras and medical skills all along. It turned out that all of these were closely related to cultivation, and he could not help but feel that his master had put in a lot of effort.
The basic steps have been established, with the core still being the refinement of true water by divine fire.
Chen Yun tried each step on himself to ensure that the cultivation would not cause any problems.
That day, it was raining lightly outside.
As usual, Chen Yun sat in front of the window, picked up a piece of paper and a pen, and began to write his own method for immortality.
"Yin and yang combination, condensed into the great medicine."
"People are born from their parents' essence and blood, mixed (coupled) to generate their physical form. The great medicine is born from the interaction of heart fire and kidney water, and it is the great medicine that descends, the qi exchange."
"There are two orifices beneath the tongue, the left connecting to the heart and the right to the gallbladder. True qi flows through them to connect with the spirit and brightness. Therefore, if there is unrest in the body, there will be a dryness of saliva beneath the tongue, as it is due to the depletion of true qi. At the beginning of practice, one should seal these two orifices with the tongue to prevent true qi from escaping outward, in order to connect with spiritual water... Couples gradually plan together. When vital energy flows smoothly, yin and yang are greatly harmonized, and heart and kidney interact; hence it is said that they gradually plan together..."
Shortly, Chen Yun wrote down the method of immortality that he had understood in full on the pages.
Once the draft was determined, he wrote "Chen Chong's Internal Alchemy Formula" on the top, and signed it as Chen Pu.
Of course, this is still a theory.
It should be suitable for oneself.
He was able to write down the immortality technique so quickly because "Song of Breaking Illusion and Righteous Path" is an experience.
Chen Yun did not use the normal human thinking of "forward reasoning," but rather used the "reverse reasoning" approach, starting from cultivating the Golden Pill and then working backwards step by step.
This thinking is similar to that of a jigsaw puzzle.
Forward reasoning is like pieces of the puzzle scattered haphazardly on the side, and people will eventually put them together to form a pattern.
This method is extremely mentally taxing, requiring the pieces to be pieced together one by one, which naturally takes more time.
Reverse reasoning is different, you know what the final pattern of the jigsaw puzzle looks like, and then step by step, you can naturally understand where each piece should be placed.
Therefore, Chen Yun worked out this set of internal alchemy technique in just about six days.
And this set of internal alchemy has a core point, which is to imagine oneself cultivating a golden elixir.
Chen Yun does not know what a golden elixir is.
He imagined that the golden elixir was a tangible entity, like dew drops.
At present, he is not sure if the set of internal alchemy he has thought of will work.
He still needs to practice formally, let the true fire and true water interact, and see if he can really generate true qi.
After finishing writing, Chen Yun thought to himself: "Then I will try it. I hope the theory can work."
