According to the records of Taoist scriptures, during the first time of soul projection, people would feel "mountains shattered, earth levelled."
Chen Yun is experiencing such a feeling at this moment.
At this moment, he realized that he was one with the heaven, earth, and all things.
In other words, at this moment, he feels that there is no universe or earth, nor is there any living beings or myriad of beings, even himself does not exist.
That magical sensation allowed him to know for the first time what it means to be "without self in humans, and without self in the law."
This phrase originates from the Buddhist scriptures, which means that all phenomena arise from causes and conditions and are interdependent, without substance. While actions have an effect, they are not permanent; while inactions are permanent, they have no effect. The law of no self is one of the three marks of the Dharma, known as the law of no self. The three marks are important doctrines of Buddhism to determine whether Buddhism is ultimate. Knowing that all phenomena arise from causes and conditions and have no inherent essence is the insightful view of a Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism, which can overcome ignorance and attain Bodhisattvaship. The wisdom that fully understands this truth is called two-no-self wisdom.
In fact, Taoism also has similar terms.
That's the term proposed by Laozi, "The human follows the earth, the earth follows the sky, the sky follows the Tao, and the Tao follows nature."
In summary, this is the true "law of heaven and earth."
"Is this really the true feeling of 'law of heaven and earth'?"
Chen Yun knew that this was a rare opportunity for him to have a profound insight.
He dared not be negligent in the slightest, and he focused his mind to sense this feeling.
In that instant, he seemed to see the tracks of the Great Dao in operation once again.
Before this, he accidentally entered a state of "heaven and man in harmony," and the tracks of the Great Dao operating, were clearly exposed before his eyes.
Chen Yun tried hard to remember it, but he could only recall half of its appearance.
Although he only remembered half of its appearance, it's much better than remembering a little bit before.
This made Chen Yun feel indescribably moved inside, based on the current form of observation, he wanted to remember all the tracks of the Great Dao, as long as he cultivated out Yangshen, should be able to remember all.
He was truly curious about what the tracks of the Great Dao represented.
In the next moment, this feeling suddenly disappeared without a trace.
He returned to the real world.
Before him was still the pitch-black cave.
Niu Dali is standing at the entrance of the cave, protecting it with a serious expression on his face.
And his mortal body was below.
It's very much like when the Yin spirit leaves the body.
The difference is that after the Yin spirit leaves the body, one cannot control the mortal body.
At this moment, Chen Yun felt that his "consciousness" had already floated in the void, but he could still control his mortal body.
This is fundamentally different from the situation when immortals in Northeast China project their Yuan Shen (the spirit).
Chen Yun remembered that when numerous immortals in Northeast China projected their Yuan Shen (the spirit), their mortal bodies appeared lifeless, as if all the power had been drained and gathered inside the Yuan Shen.
He has not encountered such a situation when his Yuan Shen (the spirit) leaves the body.
In fact, he felt that when he manifested a six-inch golden body, it was somewhat similar to the situation when numerous immortals in Northeast China projected their Yuan Shen (the spirit), which required drawing all their strength and manifesting a six-inch golden body, and also possessed wonderful methods and abilities.
"My Taoist 'Yuan Shen projection' is different from that of external religions; it is not about drawing out the essence, qi, and spirit from the body to condense into a Yuan Shen."
Chen Yun carefully recalled, "This is the real Yuan Shen projection for me. In the future, I can refine the Yuan Shen and put it back into the ancestor's pores, until one day the yin ends and yang is pure, achieving a pure Yang without any Yin Yuan Shen, that is Yangshen."
Yuan Shen projection is absolutely an exhilarating realm.
However, at this moment, Chen Yun did not feel exhilarated, on the contrary, he had a little bit of confusion in his heart.
"Why do I feel that my strength has not significantly improved? It seems that the power inside is still half a step to the realm of land spirit, without the 'dominant power' of absolute strength?"
This left Chen Yun extremely puzzled.
As his first Yuan Shen projection, everything depends on his own exploration, of course, he doesn't know what's going on now.
Chen Yun is preparing to explore.
Suddenly, he felt a surge of movement in his Yuan Shen.
It seems like it is continuously absorbing spiritual qi from the void.
Yes, it's not absorbing from the outside world, but from the void.
This kind of mysterious spiritual qi seems to be not any of the spiritual qi from the heavens and earth, or even like the "ancestral energy" born from the self-cultivation of the pure Yuan Shen (white slave delicate).
Chen Yun had a vague feeling that the more "ancestral energy" he could absorb, the more beneficial it would be to himself.
After thinking it over, he decided not to pay attention to whether the Yuan Shen was absorbing the ancestral energy or not. Instead, he started to get familiar with the process of Yuan Shen projection.
Chen Yun carefully looked at himself, suspended above his mortal body.
At this moment, the mortal body had its eyes tightly closed and normal breathing.
Not like the Yin spirit projection which is on the edge of death.
It's as if whether his Yuan Shen projects out or not has no effect on the normal functioning of his mortal body.
Chen Yun felt the differences from Yin spirit projection, which made him even more curious.
Can he communicate with Niu Dali in this state?
He remembered that during Yin spirit projection, he could not communicate with others.
Maybe it was because the strength of his Yin spirit projection was weaker at that time.
In fact, the Yin spirit should be strong enough to communicate with people.
Thinking of this, Chen Yun shouted towards Niu Dali, "Brother Niu."
Niu Dali seemed to sense something, and looked at Chen Yun's Yuan Shen direction immediately.
He was astonished and asked, "Mr. Chen, have you successfully projected your Yuan Shen?"
Chen Yun saw that Niu Dali could indeed hear him speaking, and his curiosity grew. He replied, "I have indeed successfully projected my Yuan Shen, Brother Niu. Did you see anything when you looked towards the direction of my Yuan Shen?"
Niu Dali shook his head and said, "My eyes can easily see even the ghosts of hell, but I cannot see your Yuan Shen. I only sense that you are transmitting divine thoughts to me, so I looked in that direction. In fact, in my eyes, there is nothing there."
You can sense my transmitted thoughts, but you can't see the condition of the Yuan Shen?
Chen Yun suddenly thought of the saying, "Form is given by the gathering of qi, and energy is scattered."
If Niu Dali can't see the Yuan Shen, could it be because he is now in a "scattered qi" state?
Chen Yun felt that it was very likely to be the case.
He was thinking about how to "gather to form."
As soon as this thought was born, he felt that the spiritual qi around him was gathering towards his Yuan Shen.
Immediately thereafter, Chen Yun instinctively sensed that he had "manifested" himself!
As expected, Niu Dali exclaimed in amazement, "Mr. Chen, this is your Yuan Shen! It looks like a one-third, one-fourth, and one-fifth baby. It also emits a strong divine light. Such a divine light fills me with reverence. I even have a feeling that if you wish, you could just think about it and destroy me, my Yuan Shen! Indeed, it is too powerful!"
Oh, it's indeed "scattered into qi and gathered to form"!
Chen Yun finally understood why Niu Dali couldn't see his Yuan Shen earlier; it was because it had not been "manifested."
He wanted to try moving, but he felt a huge "attraction" coming from his mortal body, as if it didn't want his Yuan Shen to leave the body too far.
Chen Yun tried to struggle desperately, but he could not break free from the shackles of his mortal body.
Seeing this, Niu Dali warned, "When the Yuan Shen first projects out, it's like an infant, delicate and weak. It should not be walked on as it's still learning to walk step by step. Only when it can move in and out freely can it show its power. Mr. Chen, since you have just projected your Yuan Shen, you haven't yet become accustomed to the 'water nature,' so it's best not to move too far from your mortal body."
Chen Yun also sensed it and replied, "Yes, I just tried to see if my Yuan Shen could be free and easy."
Niu Dali laughed and said, "No rush, take your time. Once you're familiar with the 'water nature,' the Yuan Shen will naturally be able to cross over mountains and rivers."
Chen Yun, while absorbing the ancestral energy from the void, said with a bit of confusion, "Although I have projected my Yuan Shen, I still don't feel any significant increase in my cultivation. Brother Niu, do you know why this is?"
Niu Dali was taken aback, "I'm not aware of this, the old ancestor never told me either."
Alright, it seems I have to figure it out by myself.
Chen Yun floated there, deep in thought and contemplation.
According to his current cultivation level, it seems he has not reached the realm of ground spirit.
Shouldn't the Yuan Shen projection naturally lead to the realm of land spirit?
Then why does it seem there is a huge chasm between his current power and the realm of land spirit?
Unfortunately, no matter how much Chen Yun thinks about it, he can't figure out a solution.
He had thought that using the original essence of Baonujiao's Yuan Shen to forcefully advance to the realm of Yuan Shen projection was an incorrect cultivation method, which led to his Yuan Shen projection but no strength improvement to the realm of land spirit.
This thought lingered in Chen Yun's mind for a long time.
Only after an hour later, when his Yuan Shen seemed to have absorbed enough ancestral energy and started "evaporating," did he have to return his Yuan Shen to his mortal body, and then he understood what had happened.
Chen Yun feared that the ancestral energy his Yuan Shen had just absorbed would be wasted, so he immediately returned his Yuan Shen to his mortal body.
The next moment, a magical thing happened!
Chen Yun felt that as soon as the "heavy shackles" were put on his Yuan Shen, the ancestral energy he had previously absorbed began to spread to every inch of his four limbs and hundred joints.
Instantly, a powerful force surged and swelled within him.
Before the time of a single breath, the Jindan strength had doubled!
Chen Yun was stunned at the time, "Ah? My strength doubled in just one breath?"
He had thought that he might have sensed wrong.
But as he was stunned for a moment, the ancestral energy his Yuan Shen had previously absorbed kept adding to his own strength, making him much stronger in a short period of time.
It was about half an hour later when all the ancestral energy was fully integrated into his own body.
Chen Yun clearly sensed that he was filled with an unparalleled force within his body!
At this moment, although there was still a tiny little gap to the realm of land spirit, it was already infinitely close.
Chen Yun suddenly had an epiphany, "It seems that Yuan Shen projection can indeed naturally lead to the realm of land spirit, but it just requires a bit of time. This state is a bit like when I just broke through to the realm of immortal, where my strength would increase day by day. Within a year, I could reach the early stage of the realm of immortal."
That means, in fact, he has already entered the ranks of land spirits, but he still needs a time where his strength will increase day by day.
Chen Yun did not know how long this gradual increase would take.
However, since he had sensed that after his Yuan Shen projection, his entire body's strength had significantly increased.
Then, he feels that it should not take too long to climb from the ranks of land spirits to the true realm of land spirits.
...
Because of the continuous increase in strength, Chen Yun did not leave the cave after Yuan Shen projection.
He planned to let his Yuan Shen become familiar with "water nature" first, and wait until his strength increased to a certain level before continuing to explore Mao Dong Mountain.
However, the next day, he found that his strength was no longer increasing.
At that time, terrible Chen Yun was scared.
He thought there was another problem.
He tried to project his Yuan Shen out again.
Then the same thing happened as before.
When Chen Yun's Yuan Shen projected out for an hour, absorbed enough ancestral energy, and returned to his mortal body, his strength began to increase significantly again.
At this moment, Chen Yun roughly understood the secrets of the Yuan Shen's magic.
The realm of land spirits is different from the realm of immortal spirits.
The realm of immortal spirits is equivalent to the mortal body becoming a spirit.
It can naturally do nothing.
Let the mortal body power increase to a certain level within a certain period of time.
The realm of land spirits is equivalent to the soul becoming a spirit, so one needs to project the Yuan Shen out every day to absorb ancestral energy in order to enhance one's own strength.
Time went by day by day.
After three to four days of testing, Chen Yun found that the Yuan Shen could absorb a certain amount of ancestral energy each day.
Once this limit was exceeded, not only would it no longer absorb, but the strength would also continuously decrease.
More accurately, without the protection of the mortal body, his Yuan Shen currently cannot be exposed to the real world for a long time.
Of course, this state can be improved.
For example, during the first time the Yuan Shen projection a few days ago.
Chen Yun could only let his Yuan Shen last in the outside world for about an hour.
But yesterday, when he tested, his Yuan Shen could already last for a little more than an hour and a half.
After these days of familiarization, he has roughly managed to let his Yuan Shen move within a range no more than ten kilometers from his mortal body.
Chen Yun believes that it will not take long to reach the level of moving freely across mountains and rivers.
...
Days went by one after another.
Chen Yun and Niu Dali had not left the cave.
On this day, Chen Yun had just returned to his mortal body after projecting his Yuan Shen to absorb the ancestral qi.
Suddenly, he sensed that the internal powers were seeming to condense into a single force, starting to undergo quantitative changes that could lead to qualitative changes!
"Mmm?" Chen Yun pondered silently: "Could it be that I am about to truly enter the realm of land spirits?"
He wasn't sure if his guess was correct, and he didn't practice the fourth turn of the "Chen Master's Internal Elixir Script," but simply sensed the changes within his body.
The elixir qi continuously condenses and compresses, becoming thicker and thicker.
This situation lasted for a long time.
The condensation and compression of the elixir qi seemed like an infinite abyss.
It's impossible to see when it will stop.
Chen Yun suppressed all distractions and quietly awaited the end of the change.
Finally, after a grayish light outside came in waves the next day, all the elixir qi within his body had undergone "qualitative change"!
At this moment, Chen Yun felt as if he had been completely transformed.
As if his Yuan Shen, mortal body, and all of his spiritual essence had been completely integrated into nature.
He knew he had ascended to the realm of land spirits!
