Chen Yun suddenly came to his senses.
He finally understood why he couldn't refine the Yang Shen with the spiritual light granted by the West Mother.
The reason is that he neglected the most important character of the refining Yang Shen, "Xu".
The stage of refining Yang Shen in the general internal Daoist school is called "refining spirit and returning emptiness".
In the Zhonglu sect, refining Yang Shen is included within the realm of "refining spirit and uniting with the Tao".
In fact, if separated to speak, it is also "refining spirit and returning emptiness" and "refining emptiness and uniting with the Tao".
"Refining spirit and returning emptiness" is also known as the Upper Gate or Nine-year Gate, referring to a state of transcendence.
It is the third stage of internal alchemy cultivation.
After passing the "Refining Qi to Transform into a God" stage, one enters the advanced stage of Daoist cultivation.
This cultivation process differs from the "active" stage of the first gate and the "exchange between existence and non-existence" stage of the middle gate. It is a process of practicing effortless methods, entering great stillness and meditation, internally observing and stabilizing, nursing and warming with lactation, and refining the pure Yang God.
That is to say, the focus shifts from physical cultivation to spiritual cultivation from the previous stages.
This means that the focus shifts from divine powers to Daoist powers, further nurturing and tempering one's Yang Shen until it eventually escapes the body.
According to the system of internal alchemy cultivation, refining Yang Shen will take nine years.
The first three years are the nursing stage, and the following six years involve transcending the body and immersing in the scenery, gradually growing stronger and developing.
Chen Yun did not pay attention to the cultivation of the following six years, but focused on the refinement of the nursing stage.
In this stage, regardless of the Zhonglu sect, or later schools like the Wuliu sect and Sanfeng sect, a crucial concept is mentioned, which is the "Xu" character.
Chen Yun pondered to himself, "The 'spirit' is inherently ethereal for ordinary people; it is itself 'empty.' How can I refine it with the 'real'?"
So, how can one refine the Yang Shen within the "empty" state?
Master Zhang Sanfeng said, "At this point, it is true emptiness and true stillness. It may take one or two years, up to ten or a hundred years, to break through the emptiness and merge with it, becoming one with the void. This is the achievement of refining spirit and returning emptiness."
Therefore, the return to emptiness cultivation is a true stillness, true vacuum, and truly empty Daoist alchemy cultivation.
What is true stillness?
True stillness refers to the state of the mind during alchemy practice where there is not a single trace of extraneous thought, which means that the absence of thoughts itself is true stillness.
The "Qingjing Jing" says, "When desire does not arise, the mind is naturally still; when the mind is already still, the spirit is not disturbed; it remains constantly pure and still."
It can be seen that constant purity and stillness is true stillness.
What is true emptiness?
Xiao Tingzhong of the Yuan Dynasty said, "Returning to the original and recovering the true essence is true emptiness."
The alchemical state of returning to silence, formlessness, and desirelessness during alchemy practice is true emptiness.
What is truly empty?
Lǚ Dòngbīn once said, "The absence of any object in the mind is true emptiness."
This is a form of emptiness that is believable, actionable, and achievable through cultivation.
What is truly true emptiness?
Zhang Boand said, "The Golden Dan has no center from which it comes, and it is truly true emptiness."
The "true emptiness" in true true emptiness refers to a state of being empty yet not empty, non-existent yet not non-existent, where there is no ego or objects in the mind, a state of alchemy cultivation.
What is truly empty?
Bai Yuanchan said, "Forget form to cultivate qi, forget qi to cultivate spirit, forget spirit to cultivate emptiness. It is the single character of forgetting that is truly empty."
This concept of forgetting form, qi, and spirit is a believable, actionable approach that can lead to tangible results in cultivation. It originates from Zhuangzi's theory of "sitting forgetfulness."
Chen Yun was very clear that, normally, even if one practices entering a state of stillness, it is extremely difficult to achieve "emptiness."
Therefore, to enter the "empty" state, it requires enormous effort for an ordinary person to attempt.
"I don't need to go through all that trouble."
Looking into his eyes, there was a trace of nostalgia in Chen Yun's gaze. "Before, the ancestor let me experience 'emptiness'. Under such a state, I felt nothing in the world, as if I had a soul without a body, without thoughts, and without time and space existence. It felt like I had never existed at all."
It is a state where the heart is still and the thoughts are ceased, the body is like dry wood, the heart is as still water, the intention is as cold ashes, there's no thought arising, and there's no intention to return to the center. The world is utterly silent and both mind and body are forgotten. It's a magical realm that feels like life or death, vaguely vague, darkly dark.
"As long as I can achieve this, I believe I will truly be able to refine the Yang Shen."
Chen Yun didn't know if his guess was correct, but over these years of cultivation, based on experience, he believes that his guess should be correct.
He decided to try it and see if he could enter the true "emptiness" realm to see if he could be stimulated by the spiritual light and thus successfully refine the Yang Shen.
Thinking about it, Chen Yun closed his eyes and eliminated all distracting thoughts in his mind.
He could easily achieve this without spending much time.
However, he found it difficult to transition from having no distracting thoughts to truly entering the state of "emptiness."
"How can success be achieved on the first attempt? There's no need to rush, take it slow."
Chen Yun maintained a good attitude and continued to try to enter the state of "emptiness."
The "emptiness" state is a transcendence beyond the physical body and mind, a feeling of unity with the universe.
Ordinary people often feel various sounds or their own thoughts intruding when practicing the "emptiness" state.
Chen Yun knew how to deal with these "sounds" and "thoughts"; simply ignore them.
This is actually something many people understand, as the first step in learning meditation is to learn stillness and observation.
Chen Yun was now behaving like a young acolyte who had just started learning meditation, with a heart as pure as a child's and thoughts never arising.
Gradually, he felt his body become light and comfortable, as if it had no weight.
Suddenly, while practicing the "emptiness" state, Chen Yun felt that his body was floating up by itself.
If a normal person were to experience this, they might believe that they are truly floating up, but in reality, upon opening their eyes, they would find themselves still seated in the same place.
This is the first sign of entering the realm of emptiness, known as "body as floating."
This indicates that the cultivator has transcended the limitations of the physical body and begun to touch a higher level.
Chen Yun did not feel any joy, nor did his heart stir.
Because he was very clear that the current state of himself still felt "body as floating."
He had not yet entered the realm of "alive and dead" extraordinary emptiness.
He continued his practice of entering the state of "emptiness."
As time passed slowly, he experienced even more extraordinary sensory perceptions.
For example, Chen Yun felt as if he were standing in the vast universe, where he could see countless stars shining and the trajectories of planets moving.
For instance, he later sensed that he had transformed into a quantum particle, shrinking to the microcosm, where he could see the existence of atoms and molecules.
All sorts of sensations, changing and unpredictable.
He might feel as if he were towering above everything, like a towering mountain.
He might feel tiny and insignificant, like a speck of dust.
Even more so, at times, Chen Yun could perceive that his limbs and senses had moved, and he couldn't tell left from right or up from down.
These were not the most affecting factors for Chen Yun to enter the state of "emptiness."
The most affecting were sudden bursts of light or rumbles in the silence, which could not help but make one's spirit quiver.
Most people would be somewhat disturbed by it.
Chen Yun did not because he knew that this was a minor view in the state of "emptiness," not the real thing, and not the goal.
Or these are the reactions and adaptations of the mind to the state of "emptiness," not the "emptiness" itself.
Chen Yun has experienced the true realm of emptiness, knowing that it is a state without form, without sound, without direction, without time, without space, without discrimination, without right and wrong, without joy and sorrow, without self and other.
Emptiness, brightness, purity, freedom, non-action, and non-self are the true realm of emptiness.
To truly enter the realm of emptiness, one must let go of all attachments and infatuations, not favoring or hating any small scene. One should simply focus on maintaining stillness and calm.
Chen Yun naturally understood these principles and continued without distraction.
Gradually, he found that the small scenes were becoming fewer and lighter until they completely disappeared.
…
Suddenly, Chen Yun "disappeared."
What disappeared together with him were not only himself, but also all material things within the myriad realms.
Chen Yun entered the realm of no soul, no body, no thoughts, and no sense of time and space for the second time.
Heaven, earth, and all things do not exist.
The past and future have never appeared.
Perhaps it only took a moment.
Or perhaps it had already been thousands of years.
One day, Chen Yun felt that he had "awakened" from the realm of nothingness, and stars of light appeared in front of him.
He was now in a state where the heart was still, thoughts ceased, the body was like dry wood, the heart was as still water, the intention was as cold ashes, there was no thought arising, and no intention to return to the center. The world was utterly silent and both mind and body were forgotten. It felt like life or death, vaguely vague, darkly dark.
Suddenly, a miraculous light appeared from the void.
This bright light seemed to be guiding him something, and a warm "energy" enveloped his entire body.
After this warm "energy" enveloped him, Chen Yun felt an electric shock, with his whole body prickling, but he felt extremely comfortable and the sensation was indescribable.
Yes, he experienced "sensation" in the void.
This is a very profound state.
Everything should not exist, so "sensation" should not either. However, he felt it.
Chen Yun felt a sense of "while everyone else is drunk, I am awake; while the world is polluted, I am pure."
As if the existence or non-existence of the world is of no importance to him.
The only thing important is that he is constantly warming up in the void.
It's as if spring has passed and summer has come, with the temperature gradually rising.
When the "temperature" reaches a certain point, Chen Yun suddenly felt a desire to soar freely in the void, travel thousands of miles, change infinitely, and follow his heart's wishes.
He instinctively wanted to "soar."
Fortunately, Chen Yun "awakened" at this moment, stopping the soar.
...
In the tent.
Chen Yun truly awakened.
With his eyes closed, he felt the presence of all things in the universe.
All physical sensations also returned to his consciousness at this moment.
Chen Yun closed his eyes and pondered silently: "Just now, I almost left my body, which is a suboptimal method. My teacher once said that when the cultivation reaches a certain level, some cultivators might stop there, enjoy their freedom in space, soar thousands of miles, tread on the clouds, overlook mountains and seas. Or they may play among people, change countless times as they wish. They disregard their bodies as if they were dirt, abandon them completely, either leaving them in huts or on wild mountainsides. They leave their bodies behind and flee far away. This is a method for rapid achievement, and most cultivators are satisfied with this point. However, this method is still suboptimal; although they have achieved enlightenment, they have not realized the Great Dao."
Here, it is explained that abandoning the physical body without achieving the Yang Shen is a low-level method.
The true method of realizing the Great Dao is to be a man of great ambition, who does not seek immediate results and willingly engages in slow cultivation.
The Yang Shen can leave but does not; when cultivated to the point where Yin is exhausted and Yang is pure, the Yang Shen becomes complete and then can be led and nurtured.
The physical body can be abandoned but not discarded; conserve one's original spirit, and subject it to thousands of refinements and burnings. Forget that it is like the void, and cook it with pure fire. The form, flesh, bones, and muscles all dissolve together, and the form and spirit are reunited as one.
This is called refining the void and merging with the Dao. The form and spirit are both exquisite, and merge with the boundless Dao that permeates all changes and exists everywhere. There appear hundred thousand billion incarnations, with miraculous abilities to dispel clouds and mist, move mountains and fill seas. Only at this point can one say that they have realized the Great Dao.
Chen Yun pursues the fruit of great transcendence and freedom, and naturally would not learn any rapid achievement methods.
While checking his condition, he recalled a profound truth in Buddhism.
It is called: "Form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form. Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form."
Anything with form and can be touched is collectively referred to as "form," while things in the spiritual realm are called "mind."
"Form is emptiness" means that "matter" is empty.
Therefore, when Buddhism cultivates to a certain level, it will discard the "filthy flesh bag."
In the concept of Buddhist cultivation, form is emptiness.
In any case, whether to leave the physical body or not is the same for the "Shen" method. Why should a "physical body" be a burden?
At this thought, Chen Yun laughed lightly, "This is a minor method. A person's whole body possesses the laws of heaven and earth. How can 'Shen' become the heavens and earth? How can it illuminate the Great Dao?"
After contemplating for a moment, he focused his attention back on himself.
Just now, he truly entered the void. The spiritual light given by the Xiwangmu was stirred by his excitement, and he practiced himself again.
Of course, Chen Yun wanted to check how his cultivation was progressing.
To his surprise, just by using the "spiritual light" for this one-time cultivation, his original progress of "one quarter" had actually advanced to about "half."
"The results of this one cultivation are actually better than what I've achieved in the past ten days!"
Chen Yun slowly opened his eyes, looking deeply moved, "The spiritual light given by the old ancestors indeed greatly helps me refine the Yang Shen!"
He couldn't help but sense the condition of his primordial spirit.
The next moment, he "saw" that his primordial spirit was a bright red, as if it had refined many impurities.
Chen Yun's face took on an odd expression, "Based on the current progress, I can complete the work that others take three years to refine impurities and warm the Yang Shen in just three months, and then spend six more months to complete the nine-year period."
As stated in the "Zhonghe Ji": 'When for nine years and three months there is constant stillness, one becomes a god.'
As long as he can complete the nine-year period and refine out the Yang Shen, he can truly break through to become a god.
Ordinary people need nine years to cultivate, but it only takes him nine months.
At this moment, Chen Yun finally understood how awe-inspiring the cultivation level of the Xiwangmu truly was!
The old ancestor had only granted him a bit of spiritual light to aid in refining the Yang Shen, yet it could shorten the progress by ten times. One can imagine the boundless extent of the great method.
Chen Yun couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "I always thought that I had reached the threshold of immortality, a high level of internal energy refinement. I thought it was already a very high cultivation. But today I have learned that even if I reach the threshold of immortality, I cannot glimpse the profound and incomprehensible realm of the ancestors."
He knew that he was getting closer to the realm of immortality.
However, Chen Yun currently faces a problem that is not a troublesome problem.
That is that he is on the brink of immortality and needs ample time to cultivate quietly.
And now, the Qidan army is engaged in a great battle with the Later Jin army.
He can't really quiet down and focus on cultivation to break through to the realm of immortality.
If an ordinary practitioner encountered such a situation, they could simply tell the Qidan Emperor and then go back to cultivate quietly.
For himself, however, that is not an option.
Because the Qidan's invasion of the south and the war against the Later Jin was caused by himself, even the Jade Emperor is preparing to participate.
If he were to leave at this time, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Chen Yun furrowed his brows and pondered deeply, "How can I obtain enough time for quiet cultivation?"
