Chapter 252: Shangqing Gongfa
"Okay, that's settled then. We'll go over after we've had enough fun here."
Du Ruo had no objection to this. Xiang Yuanyuan's family would have a party before the New Year. The content of the party was nothing more than calculating the profits and dividends, and then planning the business for the coming year.
Moreover, it is time for Du Ruo, the son-in-law of the Xiang family, to show up in front of other people in the Xiang family. Du Ruo even has to tell Xiang's father and mother the time and place for the two families to get together, and the date for their wedding should also be set.
"Then when do we set off?"
Xiang Yuanyuan drank a sip of the mutton noodle soup and then looked at Du Ruo.
"There's no rush anyway. Let's get some rest today and go there tomorrow. As for the hotel, there's no need to book it. Let them arrange it when the time comes."
Du Ruo peeled a clove of garlic, took a big mouthful of noodles, then threw the garlic into his mouth and started eating happily.
"Okay, it's up to you."
Xiang Yuanyuan nodded.
After the meal, the two of them walked around the streets and parks. Although Nanchong is an inconspicuous place, it is really a good place to live. The slow pace of life and all kinds of delicious food made Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan feel comfortable during the few days they spent here.
At night, the two of them were used to going to bed early and getting up early, and they had returned to the hotel around nine o'clock.
After washing up, Xiang Yuanyuan sat cross-legged as usual, ready to start her evening meditation practice.
"Wife, starting from tomorrow, prepare to practice the dynamic part of Hunyuan Yi Qigong. You have already thoroughly mastered the static exercises, and I have already started teaching you the dynamic exercises. Starting from tomorrow, you can start trying."
When Du Ruo saw Xiang Yuanyuan preparing to meditate, he thought for a moment and spoke up to stop Xiang Yuanyuan.
"Okay, but this shouldn't prevent me from meditating at night. I'm used to it now. If I don't practice, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep."
Xiang Yuanyuan sat cross-legged and looked at Du Ruo with a smile. However, what she said was absolutely right. The Hunyuan Yi Qigong was to regulate the body's essence, energy and spirit. When the essence, energy and spirit were trained to the state of Hunyuan Yi Qi, there would be no insomnia when sleeping. After meditating, one would be able to fall into hibernation naturally, and could eat well and sleep soundly.
"Well, you have mastered Hun Yuan Yi Qi. You can practice dynamic exercises in your daily life in the future. As for the evening and morning, we will start to practice something else today."
Du Ruo was still very satisfied with Xiang Yuanyuan's progress.
"Well, what shall we practice?"
Xiang Yuanyuan was a little curious. She had already tasted the benefits of Hunyuan Qigong and was now looking forward to Du Ruo teaching her something new.
"You should have seen it these days. During the Tang Dynasty, a Kun Daoist named Xie Ziran emerged in Nanchong."
Du Ruo was not in a hurry to teach Xiang Yuanyuan, but instead talked about some of what he had seen and heard in the past few days.
"Yes, I know. We saw her statue, which records some of her deeds. There are also legends about her in the county annals. But aren't these things just legends? Is it true that she ascended to heaven in broad daylight?"
Xiang Yuanyuan nodded repeatedly. She was also curious about why Du Ruo cared so much about this legendary figure, but if Du Ruo didn't tell her, she wouldn't ask. She knew that Du Ruo would never hide anything that should be told to her. Now it seemed that Du Ruo was going to tell her this.
"Let's not talk about ascending to heaven in broad daylight, but Xie Ziran does exist. It is said that she is also gifted. She has been a disciple of Shangqing Sect's Maoshan Sect Sima Chengzhen since she was a child and learned the Shangqing Dafa."
Du Ruo also sat cross-legged opposite Xiang Yuanyuan and began to explain some things about Xie Ziran. These things needed to be explained clearly, of course, in order to arouse Xiang Yuanyuan's interest.
"Shangqing Dafa can be regarded as the highest level of Qi training in Taoism, and it is very suitable for those with outstanding talents to practice. Xie Ziran is one of them. She practiced Shangqing Dafa when she was a virgin (not yet at the age of 15, but with sufficient vitality), and with her excellent talent, she skipped the foundation-building stage and became the founder of the Virgin School."
Du Ruo spoke seriously and Xiang Yuanyuan listened carefully, especially since she had seen the statue and heard the legend a few days ago. She didn't expect that Du Ruo would start teaching her these things today. It felt like a myth was walking into reality, which made Xiang Yuanyuan feel particularly unreal.
"The Shangqing method emphasizes purity and inaction. When practicing, you must have no distracting thoughts. This is the foundation of practicing the Shangqing method. You must remember this."
Du Ruo was extremely serious when he said this. This is the foundation of practicing martial arts and must be kept in mind. However, Xiang Yuanyuan has already started practicing recently, so it is not a problem for her to be calm and inactive when practicing meditation.
"Uh-huh."
Xiang Yuanyuan nodded repeatedly.
"Although you are not a virgin and cannot skip the foundation building stage directly, we are not here to become immortals. Moreover, you have consumed a lot of tonics and tonic wine since you were a child. After this period of adjustment of Hunyuan Yi Qigong, your vitality is also very full. So you just need to spend more time to achieve success in Qi training, maintain your youthful appearance, and prolong your life. I think it will not be a problem."
Du Ruo also told Xiang Yuanyuan about her advantages, giving her confidence in her practice, and finally gave her hope.
"Yes, I will definitely practice seriously." Xiang Yuanyuan's eyes lit up. What she was most worried about was that she would grow old and lose her looks, while Du Ruo was still young and strong. She didn't expect that Du Ruo would teach her such a method now. Although she still didn't believe that anyone could live forever or become an immortal, she always wanted to get closer to Du Ruo.
"Okay, I will now teach you the most important method of meditation in the Shangqing technique. Remember, calm your mind before practicing and keep yourself calm and inactive."
Seeing this, Du Ruo nodded, but still reminded Xiang Yuanyuan to always remember the most important state of mind in Shangqing Gongfa.
The most important practices of Shang Qing Gong are divided into three types: fasting (not eating grains), breathing, and meditation.
Among them, Bigu is the most difficult, which is too difficult for Xiang Yuanyuan now. It requires practicing Qigong to a very high level, and then assisted by elixirs, to achieve Bigu (not eating grains), which is actually replacing food with elixirs.
The road must be taken step by step, and Xiang Yuanyuan still has a long way to go.
In the evening, Du Ruo passed on what he had learned from his inner thoughts to Xiang Yuanyuan.
Shangqing Gongfa is a pure Taoist method of practicing Qi. The root of everything is for "Qi", which is absorbed from nature through breathing techniques, so the most important thing is the rhythm of breathing.
Of course, this is a very long process. Just like when Du Ruo practiced martial arts, he needed to change the force of muscles to the force of tendons and bones. Now Xiang Yuanyuan also needs to completely change his habitual breathing rhythm.
This process takes a certain amount of time. After Du Ruo practiced with Xiang Yuanyuan for more than an hour, they stopped.
Then he taught Xiang Yuanyuan the Taoist meditation method, which does not require visualization, but only requires calming the mind. When you calm your mind, scenes composed of various lights such as light spots, halos, and apertures will naturally appear in your mind. No thinking or thoughts are required, just observe carefully.
This is entering into a state of concentration, and concentration is divided into different levels. It is also a process of comprehending the great way of the universe. It is said that when one practices to the end, one can become addicted to it and forget about time.
Du Ruo patiently guided Xiang Yuanyuan to meditate for an hour as well, and then woke Xiang Yuanyuan up to go to sleep.
When you first start to meditate, you practice for fixed periods of time. The purpose is naturally to get the body used to it. Later on, even if you are immersed in meditation, you will wake up automatically when the fixed time is up. This is a method and trick to prevent yourself from getting lost.
Therefore, when practicing Taoist exercises, it is most important to have someone to protect you. When the time is up, wake the person up immediately and stop practicing, so that the body can form instincts.
The next morning, Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan meditated as usual before packing up and leaving.
However, along the way, Du Ruo kept reminding Xiang Yuanyuan to practice the dynamic exercises of Hunyuan Yi Qigong.
There is no direct train or flight from Nanchong to Hengdian, and it is more than a thousand kilometers, so it will take a lot of time no matter which method is used.
Of course Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan were not short of money, so they took a plane directly from Nanchong Airport, transferred in Changsha and waited for a long time, then flew to Zhejiang Province, and finally took a taxi to Hengdian.
So the two of them set out from the hotel early in the morning and finally arrived in Hengdian, it was already evening.
However, because Du Ruo kept reminding Xiang Yuanyuan to practice, the whole process was not boring, but for Xiang Yuanyuan, it was not an easy thing either.
"Why did you come here by yourself? You should have told me your itinerary so that I could pick you up at the airport in person."
At the gate of a community in Hengdian, Wu Jing was waiting here early wearing a hat, mask and glasses. When he saw Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan coming, he hurried to greet them.
As he got to know Du Ruo better, he had transformed from a national expert in bone setting with great resources of medicinal wine into a martial arts master, an internet celebrity with high traffic and strong influence in the official circles. No matter which one it was, he would value and respect him.
"We are just traveling here anyway, so why would we need a big star like you to come pick us up in person?"
Du Ruo smiled and shook hands with Wu Jing, while looking at the nearby scenery curiously.
"Haha, we are still talking about this with our relationship. Come on, I'll take you to the room."
Wu Jing led Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan towards the small building behind while chatting and laughing. Seeing Du Ruo looking around, he simply acted as a guide and began to introduce things to Du Ruo.
"This is inside Hengdian. We usually rent a room here for quiet when we come here to film. This is a view suite. We live on a high floor and can overlook the entire Hengdian. When we get here, your room is next to mine. It has been prepared long ago."
Wu Jing led the two people out of the elevator, then used the room card to open a room and let the two people check the room environment.
Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan entered the room without hesitation and looked around. Wu Jing was right, there were huge floor-to-ceiling windows here, plenty of sunlight, and it was a suite. The living room was extremely large and had everything you could need.
(End of this chapter)
