Chapter 112: The Way of the Ancient Qi Refiner
In this era, Yu Wenzhi can be regarded as a figure who left a significant mark. After all, Yang Guang was killed by his military rebellion, and Li Mi was also defeated by him and his Xiaoguo Army. He also proclaimed himself emperor for a short period of time and indulged in the life of an emperor.
But, killing him is killing him.
Anyway, Guangshen, the most extravagant man in history, had already started to act rotten, reveling every night and living a life of drunkenness and debauchery, and only cared about happiness but not sorrow. Whether he lived or died, it would not change the fate of the Sui Dynasty.
At worst, Ouyang Feng can take action himself and kill a big dragon.
At this moment, Ouyang Feng's lips corners were raised, his eyes were smiling, and he was in a very happy mood.
Although he had fought with Yu Wenzhi for nearly two hours in order to explore the "Ice Mysterious Power", from the afternoon until dusk, he had not had such a great time fighting for a long time.
Although Yu Wenzhi was unable to withstand the thirty-six consecutive critical strikes of his "Hunyuan Wuji Gong", he had actually fought against him on equal terms with his conventional fighting style before that.
With Ouyang Feng's current martial arts skills, he couldn't find an opponent in the main world or the world of the two heroes who could last for two hours under his conventional fighting style.
Seeing the gentleman's happy look, Shan Wanjing couldn't help but feel relaxed and happy. She walked beside Ouyang Feng with her hands behind her back, her steps light as a lively deer, and asked:
"Sir, have you learned the Mysterious Ice Power?"
Ouyang Feng nodded slightly, "Ice Mysterious Energy is quite profound. After fighting for two hours, I finally figured out its essence."
"Congratulations, sir, you have acquired another unique skill that is worthy of being the guardian of your sect. Sir, where are we going next?"
"Go to Danyang City. Rent a yard and study the secret of longevity. You have just acquired the Mysterious Ice Power, so you need to study it carefully. Take this opportunity to look for the Demon Sect's spies and see if you can find any clues about Bian Bufu."
After deciding their itinerary, the two returned to Danyang City and stayed in an inn for one night. The next day, they went to the market to find a broker and rented a small courtyard in a secluded part of the city to settle down temporarily.
Ouyang Feng began to delve into the mysterious power of ice, extracting its essence and integrating it into the "Hunyuan Wuji Gong".
At the same time, he was also waiting for an opportunity to "reflect the skills" so that he could decipher the oracle bone script of "The Secret of Immortality".
After Guangchengzi comprehended the "Atlas of the God of War", in order to point out a way to heaven for future generations, he wrote the "Secret of Immortality" based on his insights from the comprehending the "Atlas of the God of War".
Because the "War God Atlas" has no text and only forty-nine relief pictures, many of the insights are "understood but not expressed in words". Even with Guangchengzi's ability, he cannot express all his insights with words or pictures. Therefore, the information recorded in the "Eternal Life Secret" must be much less than Guangchengzi's own insights.
But even so, the more than 7,400 oracle bone inscriptions of the Changsheng Jue are by no means dispensable.
It’s just that later generations couldn’t understand the oracle bone inscriptions, and couldn’t even make sense of the seven pictures, so they couldn’t comprehend the deep meaning behind them.
Ouyang Feng knew how to look at and edit those seven pictures, but he was by no means satisfied with that.
He also had to decipher all of the more than 7,400 oracle bone inscriptions, because these were definitely all the insights that Guangchengzi had gained after comprehending the Atlas of the God of War that could be expressed in words.
If you don't understand the words and just practice by looking at the pictures, then it is purely luck. You will know the results but not the reasons.
Only when you understand the text and combine it with the diagrams can you truly practice the secret of longevity.
As for how to decipher it, it is not difficult.
Now that the complete secret book has been copied, when the "Tongtian Baojian" is used to reflect the skills, there will be no loopholes or flaws, and all the secret codes and secret languages can be cracked. As long as the "reflection skills" are used once on the complete secret book, all the oracle bone inscriptions can be translated into understandable text without any misunderstanding of the information due to different times.
When Ouyang Feng was comprehending the martial arts.
Shan Wanjing was also digesting the gains from the fight with Fu Jun'er. She usually took care of Ouyang Feng's food and daily life, and went out from time to time to look for Yingui Sect's spies.
Theoretically, the Yingui Sect's spies could be found in any brothel in any city.
As a big city along the river, Danyang naturally has brothels.
However, Shan Wanjing had been a traitor for a long time, and the information she knew about the Yingui Sect was seriously outdated. When looking for hidden men, she could only use the Yingui Sect's mental methods that she had practiced before to sense the same kind of qi.
Of course, this search was not very effective. After spending half a month, no Yingui Sect spy was found in Danyang City.
"Sir, Wan Jing is incompetent. I'm afraid we won't be able to find the Yin Gui Sect's hidden man."
That day, Shan Wanjing gained nothing again, and when she came back to report, she couldn't help feeling a little frustrated.
"That's fine. I know where an important chess piece of the Yin Gui Sect is. If you can't find any clues, just go find that person and ask."
"Sir, you are still very powerful."
Shan Wanjing was already used to her husband's "foresight", so she responded softly and said with a smile:
"Although we haven't gotten any news about the Yin Gui Sect, Mr.'s reputation has spread recently. It seems that all the people in Danyang City know that Mr. killed Yu Wenzhi. Now, Mr.'s reputation is spreading along the ships traveling east and west, up and down the Yangtze River, and even to both sides of the Yangtze River. It may not be long before the whole world knows about this and spreads Mr.'s reputation for killing Yu Wenzhi."
“It’s not just good news, is it?”
"Uh, yes, sir, he is wanted..."
Yu Wenzhi was appointed General of the Right Guard and was Yang Guang's confidant. He was also the face of the Yuwen clan, one of the four major clans. If Ouyang Feng killed Yu Wenzhi, both Yang Guang and the Yuwen clan would react strongly.
The speed at which news spreads in the Twin Dragons world is far beyond that of normal ancient times. It had only been half a month since Ouyang Feng killed Yu Wenzhi, but the Sui court's arrest warrant and the bounty offered by the Yuwen clan had already spread throughout the martial arts world.
However, with the current control of the world by the Sui Dynasty, whether it is the wanted order by the Sui court or the bounty offered by the Yuwen clan, it poses almost no threat to a nearly solitary martial artist like Ouyang Feng. Instead, it will only boost his reputation.
After talking about wanted bounties for a while, Ouyang Feng said:
"The secret of immortality has been deciphered, and I have gained some insights into how to practice..."
Half a month later, he finally figured out the "Reflection Technique". Ouyang Feng then used the Tongtian Treasure Mirror to reflect the complete secret book and deciphered the more than 7,400 oracle bones, getting a glimpse of the practice experience written by Guangchengzi.
The text describes the idea that "the human body is one Tai Chi, the heaven and earth are one Tai Chi", as well as the experience of "refining essence into qi, and essence into spirit". The human body is one Tai Chi, the heaven and earth are one Tai Chi, which means that the human body is regarded as a small Tai Chi, and the heaven and earth outside the body are regarded as a big Tai Chi. It tells how to discover the treasures of the human body, make the human body Tai Chi and the heaven and earth Tai Chi harmonious, use the inner scene of the human body to respond to the outer scene of the heaven and earth, and achieve "harmony between man and nature", so that the human body and the heaven and earth are not divided into you and me, so that the originally limited and tiny human body can also be as infinite as the heaven and earth.
The "essence" in "refining essence into qi" does not specifically refer to the essence of the human body, but also includes the essence of heaven and earth.
Guangchengzi recorded in detail in the text of Changsheng Jue the methods of how to sense, absorb and refine the essence of heaven and earth, and how to use the refined "qi" to develop the treasures of the human body. He pointed out that as long as one can refine the essence into qi, one can naturally use the gains from refining the essence of heaven and earth to feed back to the primordial spirit, and practice the way of "refining qi into spirit".
Yes, the secret of longevity does not contain any special method for nourishing or refining the spirit, but there is no need for such a method either, because as long as one can refine the essence of heaven and earth, one can naturally use the "qi" obtained to "refine qi into spirit."
This is also the reason why, although Kou Xuxiu practiced the art of longevity and only cultivated the method of refining Qi without any method of refining the spirit, he still possessed such a powerful spiritual perception and even realized the "Moon in the Well" method. His spiritual perception is like the human body's magnetic field radar. As long as anyone touches their mental alert range, they will automatically sense it. Even the assassins from the Demon Sect's Butian Pavilion cannot launch a successful sneak attack on them.
Only by comprehending the text and combining it with the diagrams, can one know that the "Secret of Longevity" is actually the way of the ancient Qigong practitioners.
Although there are no strange or tricky skills, and it does not involve any martial arts, magic, or even special spiritual methods, as long as you practice Qi seriously and develop the treasures of the human body, you will naturally have some supernatural powers, such as keen five senses and spiritual perception, strong physical fitness, a long lifespan, and so on.
In an ideal situation, if one could practice all seven diagrams simultaneously and achieve the great perfection of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, then attaining immortality would not only be within reach, but at least the path would be clear and the prospects would be broad.
Unfortunately this is almost impossible.
The requirements for aptitude of the Seven Diagrams practitioners were abnormally high. Even Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, who were the protagonists of the era and had such good aptitude that everyone praised them and felt sorry that they had missed the best age to practice martial arts, could only match one diagram each.
Ouyang Feng also didn't know his own aptitude, and which kind of heaven and earth energy could match him.
But it doesn’t matter.
He had already learned the method of sensing, absorbing and storing thunder essence from the "Dragon Subduing Sound", but he did not have the method to refine it.
Now he has obtained the method of refining the essence of heaven and earth from the Secret of Longevity.
Including the method of sensing and absorbing the seven kinds of essence of heaven and earth, namely "Yin Yang and the Five Elements", which corresponds to the Changsheng Jue, Ouyang Feng can now access a total of eight kinds of essence of heaven and earth.
There were eight kinds of essence of heaven and earth. Ouyang Feng really didn't believe it. With his aptitude, he couldn't even match one of them.
Anyway, what he has to do next is to integrate the Qi refining method of Changsheng Jue into Hunyuan Wuji Gong, and then find a way to prevent the essence of heaven and earth from conflicting with the true Qi in the human body. Then, he will try various essences of heaven and earth one by one, find the one that can match his own, and refine it with Hunyuan Wuji Gong, so that his Wuji true Qi can achieve a "qualitative change."
Even though he can only match one kind of essence of heaven and earth now, he believes that as his root aptitude continues to improve and as the Hunyuan Wuji Gong continues to be deduced and upgraded, the types of essence of heaven and earth that he will be able to refine in the future will surely increase.
After briefly telling Shan Wanjing about his understanding of the "Eternal Life Secret", Ouyang Feng said:
"My technique is special. In the future, I can directly use my true qi to refine the essence of heaven and earth without any conflict. But your technique cannot do this. Therefore, if you want to practice the Art of Immortality, first of all, you must make sure whether you can match a certain kind of essence of heaven and earth. If not, then the Art of Immortality will not be available to you for the time being. If you can match it, you will need to face the second test."
He looked at Shan Wanjing and said lightly:
"Are you willing to give up your power?"
"Ah?" Shan Wanjing was slightly stunned, "Does it have to be dispersed?"
Ouyang Feng said solemnly:
"It is necessary to disperse the power. When the essence of heaven and earth meets the true energy of the human body, it is like dropping cold water into an oil pan, which will instantly boil over and splash oil everywhere. But this is only the 'contact' stage, the reaction is relatively mild, and it can be stopped in time without getting hurt.
"If you try to refine it forcefully, the reaction will be ten times more violent than this. The meridians of a mortal cannot withstand such a violent reaction. Breaking the meridians, destroying the dantian, and wasting all the power are the least of the consequences. There is a high possibility of sudden death on the spot."
Shan Wanjing thought for a moment and asked:
"Then I only absorb a little bit of the essence of heaven and earth each time, so that the reaction between the essence of heaven and earth and my own true qi is not so intense, and it is maintained within the range that the meridians can bear. Will this work?"
"You're not wrong."
Ouyang Feng nodded slightly. This was also one of his ideas about refining the essence of heaven and earth.
He has undergone four sessions of "Zhenlin Ganlu" to strengthen his muscles and body. The strength of his meridians is far beyond that of ordinary people, and his ability to withstand is much stronger than other warriors of the same level, so he can make this attempt.
But Shan Wanjing does not have such conditions.
Although the "Tiantian Spirit Seed" has the effect of strengthening the muscles and tempering the body, it needs to be carried with you for three to five years. Only after long-term subtle influence can it be equivalent to the effect of taking a drop of "Zhenlin Ganlu".
Furthermore.
"I have had experience in taking in the essence of heaven and earth, and I know very well that once the essence of heaven and earth enters the human body, there will be various abnormal reactions. No matter how much essence of heaven and earth is taken, the abnormal reactions of the body's meridians are the same. Therefore, we cannot judge whether the amount of essence of heaven and earth is appropriate based on the severity of the abnormal reaction.
"You have never refined the essence of heaven and earth before, so you don't have enough experience to judge whether the amount is appropriate. Once you start refining, you can no longer stop. You can only refine it to the end until you succeed or fail. Therefore, if you make a mistake in judgment, the consequences will be irreversible."
He was not exaggerating. The amount of essence of heaven and earth absorbed was extremely difficult to control. It would be fine if you did not refine it after absorbing it. Anyway, if you felt something was wrong, you could immediately expel the essence of heaven and earth from your body.
But once the refining begins, the consequences will be either success or injury, or even death.
"Uh……"
Shan Wanjing was also conflicted for a while when she saw how cautious he was.
But after struggling for a while, she was startled again:
"Sir, are we... thinking about whether to cook or grill the fish before we even catch it and even prepare the fishing rod and bait?"
Hearing her words, Ouyang Feng also smiled to himself, "Yes, I haven't confirmed whether you are suitable for practicing the Changsheng Jue yet. It's a bit early to say this now."
"May I ask, sir, how can I be sure whether I have a destiny with the Art of Immortality?"
"That's not difficult. There are methods of analysis in the text of the Changsheng Jue."
This is the benefit of deciphering the oracle bone inscriptions.
As long as one uses the methods recorded in the Changsheng Jue text to sense the seven kinds of heaven and earth essences of Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, one by one, one can judge one's own aptitude and whether one can match with any of the heaven and earth essences.
If none of the seven match, then it means that one’s aptitude is insufficient and one cannot practice the art of longevity.
Ouyang Feng then taught this method to Shan Wanjing and asked her to start trying it.
(End of this chapter)
