Shushan Earthly Immortal

Chapter 442 Sealing Senses and Consciousness, A Silent Thunderclap

"Lightning disaster".

Cheng Xinzhan repeated it.

"Oh, a lightning strike."

Ji Hehe feigned surprise, but the twitching corners of his mouth betrayed that his inner turmoil was not as calm as it appeared.

"When did the typhoon and fire occur? I didn't see you locking yourself in your palace in seclusion."

he asks.

"It happened in the last two nights, quite quickly, so I didn't tell you. I had a feeling this time that the lightning strike might take longer, so I specifically wanted to let you know."

Cheng Xinzhan answered.

"oh oh."

Ji Helian responded, still looking somewhat bewildered.

"Ah! It's a lightning strike! That's not good, we should concentrate!"

Then, belatedly realizing what was happening, he spoke loudly.

Cheng Xinzhan looked at the sect leader with a strange expression.

"Cough cough."

Ji Hehe coughed twice to cover up his earlier lapse in composure, then frowned, revealing deep worry.
"The active are still, the quiet are angry, and the learned are obstacles. Considering the characteristics of the three calamities overcoming the weak, it seems more likely that you will be facing the 'Breaking Through Thunder'. But if it is this kind of thunder, entering meditation and seclusion will be useless; you might as well go out for a walk."

"Oh, my jinx might not be the 'Breakthrough Thunder'. With your quiet nature, you might even be able to withstand the 'Anger Thunder'. However, even with the 'Anger Thunder', you can't sit still. The only thunder calamity that requires meditation is the 'Extinction Thunder,' but given your personality, the possibility of you surviving the 'Extinction Thunder' is actually quite slim. What are your thoughts?"

he asks.

Cheng Xinzhan then answered,
“It seems my experience with calamities is somewhat unique. When I faced wind and fire calamities, I encountered all three tribulations in each. I fear the same thing will happen when I face thunder calamities. If the ‘Annihilation Thunder’ strikes first, leaving me completely immobile, that would be troublesome. Therefore, I must prepare for the worst.”

"what?"

Ji Hehe frowned, wondering if there was something wrong with his ears today.

Cheng Xinzhan also had doubts, because he had not seen any other people in the previous people's notes who had had similar experiences. He couldn't say whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, so he took this opportunity to briefly explain his experience of overcoming the first two calamities, and then asked...
"Sect Leader, is there any precedent for someone like me?"

"Absolutely not."

Ji Hehe shook his head like a rattle drum. This was simply a joke. If the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations were measured in this way, how many Fifth Realms would be left in the world?
"Then I don't know the reason. I haven't done anything immoral or immoral, so I shouldn't be punished like this."

Cheng Xinzhan joked.

"So, in just two nights, your lifespan increased by 360 years?"

Ji Hehe asked.

Cheng Xinzhan nodded.

Then Ji Hehe suddenly smiled, thinking of how easily he had weathered the disaster, and said,

"Perhaps, Heaven is not punishing you, but rewarding you because of your great merits."

"I hope so."

Cheng Xinzhan smiled and replied, "..."

"That's the situation now. I'm preparing to trigger a lightning calamity, but I don't know which one it will be. If it's the 'Lightning of Annihilation,' then I'll go into seclusion at the Hidden Bamboo Stele on Mount Mingzhi until I awaken. If it's just this one calamity, I'll naturally return to the Chunyang Palace after I emerge from seclusion. If the next two calamities continue to descend, then I'll leave the mountain directly. Or, if it's not the 'Lightning of Annihilation,' but something else, then I'll also leave the mountain directly."

Ji Hehe nodded and said,

"That's the only way then. Don't worry, you don't need to worry about the sect, I have a plan. Oh, by the way!"

Ji Hehe slapped his forehead, remembering something important, and said...

"If the lightning that comes is either anger or obstruction, and you are going out to experience the calamity, just tell me, and I will have Shouzhen go with you to protect you."

Cheng Xinzhan shook his head repeatedly upon hearing this.
"No, no, I'm more comfortable on my own. If I'm leaving the sect this time, I won't even bring the lion with me."

Ji Hehe then said,
"Then how about this: you just focus on yourself, and I'll have the protector stay hidden in the shadows. As long as you don't speak up, he won't show up. Is that alright?"

Cheng Xinzhan still shook his head.
"Sect Leader, there's really no need. I'm more comfortable on my own. I feel awkward if you bring someone with you, and it's not good for us to overcome the disaster. Sect Leader, let's make it clear that you won't secretly send someone to follow me. You know, if I really want to leave, ordinary people really can't keep an eye on me."

"How can that be? You child, this is different from before. Disaster relief is no joke. Don't be fooled by the ease with which you can handle wind and fire disasters; you can't underestimate lightning disasters either. You don't know when a lightning disaster will end. What if, at some moment, you transform into lightning and need to enter a meditative state? How can you manage without someone by your side?"

Ji Hehe was very anxious, so he immediately came up with another idea.
"Alright then, if you don't want to follow anyone, then don't follow anyone. Just take the Three Pure Ones Bell with you, and when you enter meditation, the immortal artifact will protect you."

Cheng Xinzhan smiled upon hearing this and said,
"Master, you've forgotten. I am now the Master of Meiji Mountain, and the celestial artifact 'Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Mirror' is in my possession. Why would I bring so many celestial artifacts with me when I leave the mountain? Moreover, after my formation, I attained enlightenment in innate earth-escape techniques, mastering supernatural abilities. I am adept at invisibility and escape, able to wade through water, enter the earth, walk through mountains and rivers without leaving a trace, and penetrate metal and stone without hindrance. This time, I will absolutely not leave the ground. If I truly need to enter a state of meditation, with just a thought, I can sink into the earth. Even immortals cannot find me; where would there be any danger?"

After saying that, Cheng Xinzhan did not make any hand seals or chant any spells. Sure enough, with just a thought, the rocks under his feet, which looked like the surface of water, seemed to actually become the surface of water, and Cheng Xinzhan's body suddenly sank down.

"what?"

Ji Hehe was surprised and quickly took a step to step on it, but the water surface had turned into rocks again, so he could no longer step on it.

When the sect leader saw that Cheng Xinzhan wanted to play hide-and-seek with him, he became interested and began searching, heading down the mountain. Now that both of them were sect leaders, they could control the mountain-protecting array. Although Ji Hehe had higher authority, neither of them could mobilize the array's power at the moment. They each relied on their own abilities, one hiding and the other searching.

After searching with his divine sense for a while without finding anything, Ji Hehe refused to give up and used his earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of escape technique) to search inside Pingdingshan. As one of the key points of the mountain-protecting array, the bizarre and wonderful sights beneath Pingdingshan were naturally dazzling, as bright as a crystal palace. However, Ji Hehe searched back and forth but couldn't find a trace of anyone. He was puzzled, because there were many restrictions beneath Pingdingshan. Although he hadn't actively used these restrictions to search for Xinzhan, if Xinzhan had encountered any restrictions during his escape, he would definitely have known.

Yet now, despite the dense array of restrictions and his unleashing of his divine sense to search inch by inch, he still couldn't find Xin Zhan's hiding place—it was truly astonishing. Although he himself had attained the Dao through the Heavenly Secrets, he was still a whole realm higher than Xin Zhan! To be so close yet unable to detect any trace of him meant that Xin Zhan's innate earth-遁神通 (earth-遁神通, a type of magical ability) couldn't be judged by ordinary magical standards.

A full quarter of an hour passed before Ji Hehe gave up. He even began to suspect that Cheng Xinzhan might have already escaped to the outside of the mountains. He returned to the top of the flat-topped mountain and tentatively said,
"Xinzhan, are you still there? I give up, come out now."

As soon as Ji Hehe finished speaking, the rocks behind him transformed into water, and Cheng Xinzhan's figure appeared.

"You've been here the whole time?"

Ji Hehe asked incredulously.

Cheng Xinzhan smiled and nodded, then said,
"Well, Sect Leader, is it possible to allow disciples to leave the mountain alone now?"

"Yes, yes, you are truly extraordinary now."

Ji Hehe exclaimed in admiration.

"Then this disciple will take his leave. I will need to trouble the sect leader to guide me for a while. Once I have overcome this calamity, I will come to fetch him."

Cheng Xinzhan said.

Ji Hehe waved his hand.

"Go ahead, just take care of yourself. Don't worry about anything in the sect anymore, I'll take care of it."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After dawn.

In Meiji Mountain, there is a bamboo pavilion with a bamboo monument.

The first time Cheng Xinzhan came here, he did not sit on the futon outside the bamboo pavilion to listen to the lecture, but instead came to the wooden couch inside the bamboo pavilion to meditate cross-legged.

He instructed the lions to guard the mountain, then activated the Hidden Bamboo Stele Formation, calmed his mind, and triggered a lightning disaster.

There are three types of lightning disasters: "annihilation lightning", "uncertain lightning", and "barrier-breaking lightning".

Unlike the wind calamity, which devours the body and kills, and the fire calamity, which erodes the mind and disturbs the spirit, the lightning calamity lies between reality and illusion. As the last of the three calamities, the lightning calamity is recognized as the most powerful and the most difficult to overcome, regardless of whether one is righteous or evil.

First, let's talk about this "Silent Thunder," also known as "Silent Divine Thunder." Once this thunder is activated, the person undergoing the ordeal will be struck by lightning, immediately becoming stiff and unable to move. Immediately afterwards, the thunder will strip the person of their five senses and six consciousnesses, plunging them into an absolute state of silence and chaos.

No one knows how long this silence and chaos will last.

Some people spent two hours surviving this calamity, but they said they waited for over a hundred years in silence; some people spent half a year surviving this calamity, but they felt that only three months had passed in silence; and some people remained forever in that silent world, never to wake up again.

To overcome this calamity, one must seek movement within stillness, and listen for thunder in silence, in order to break the stillness and pass through this calamity.

"Unpredictable Thunder" is the complete opposite of "Nirvana Thunder." This thunder is also known as "Madness Thunder," or simply "Anger Thunder." Once it sounds, it will not stop. Moreover, this thunder amplifies a person's senses; the lightning burns the eyes, the thunder pierces the ears, and the lightning stings the skin. When this thunder sounds, practitioners can no longer think of entering a meditative state, resting, or cultivating their spirit; they will only feel restless and anxious.

As for how long this state will last, it is unknown. Throughout history, there have been many people driven insane by this lightning and committed suicide.

To overcome this calamity, one must seek stillness amidst movement and find peace within the sea of ​​thunder in order to quell the raging thunder and pass through this disaster.

The last type of lightning calamity is called "Barrier-Breaking Lightning," or more precisely, "Formless Divine Lightning that Breaks Through Barriers of Knowledge and Perception." This lightning is even more mysterious, considered the pinnacle of all illusory and formless lightning. When this lightning descends, it will find and amplify the flaws in the lineage of the person undergoing tribulation. If there are no flaws, then it will create something out of nothing, causing the person undergoing tribulation to doubt the path they have learned, forming a "barrier of knowledge and perception," blocking their mind and severing their cultivation.

To overcome this calamity, the person undergoing the ordeal must attain enlightenment, fully utilize their knowledge, transform their perception into thunder, and break through the "barrier of knowledge and perception." It is for this reason that some people also call the "barrier-breaking thunder" the "heaven-opening creation thunder," meaning that it is both a calamity and an opportunity for good fortune.

This kind of lightning is the most difficult to overcome. Many people spend their entire lives trapped in it. However, the corresponding price for failing to overcome this kind of lightning disaster is also the smallest. But from another perspective, it is also the most difficult for practitioners to accept—that is, their cultivation will never make any progress in this life, and they will be blinded and obscured for life. Even if they change paths and start cultivating again, the "barrier-breaking lightning" will still be like maggots clinging to their bones, like a shadow following them. Every time a person learns a lightning strike, they will be blinded by another lightning strike.

When Cheng Xinzhan read the notes of his predecessors, he could deeply feel that lightning disasters were much more terrifying than wind disasters and fires. Moreover, there were people who were experiencing lightning disasters who wrote down their current feelings about the disasters: "I am filled with fear and anxiety, and I will not die peacefully."

However, the words of his seniors only made Cheng Xinzhan more cautious and vigilant, but they did not make him hesitate. After entering meditation, he did not hesitate to trigger the lightning calamity.

In an instant, Cheng Xinzhan felt as if he had been struck by lightning. It was as if thousands of cold ice spikes and steel nails had pierced his body, penetrated his flesh and meridians, and then pierced his bones, nailing his entire body shut and rendering him unable to move. It was a kind of numbing pain.

This feeling reminded him of the first time he underwent the Cleansing Core Tribulation. Back then, when he faced the sudden Gui Water Thunder Tribulation, he rashly used his Golden Core to receive it, and it was a similar feeling. But now, the pain was more than a hundred times worse than it was then.

Soon, amidst overwhelming pain, Cheng Xinzhan lost his hearing, then his sense of touch, and then all five senses were stripped away, completely severing him from the outside world.

Not only that, darkness surged in like a tide, engulfing everything. Soon, he could no longer see his inner world. The colorful inner world gradually faded away, even the Purple Palace dimmed, and his true spirit was locked within his primordial spirit. Even his inner world lost contact with him.

In Cheng Xinzhan's perception, only silence and pain remained.

Silence makes pain more intense, and pain makes silence more profound.

It really is "annihilation thunder".

He thought so.

Unable to hear, unable to be heard, unable to be seen, he soon lost his sense of time, and even his fleeting thoughts slowed down.

However, Cheng Xinzhan was not panicked. This feeling of being forever plunged into darkness and isolated from the world was not the first time he had experienced it. It reminded him of when he was sealed on Longhu Mountain, when even his thoughts seemed to turn into nothingness and be swallowed by the darkness. But that time, his seven spirits warned him and woke him up, but now, even the voices of his seven spirits could not penetrate this darkness.

In addition, the notes of the predecessors in the sect also mentioned that this situation is normal. The predecessors even gave it a special name, "extreme stillness and chaos". Moreover, this chaotic state will gradually worsen over time until the mind becomes rigid and unable to think. When that time comes, it will be really difficult to wake up.

The predecessors shared their experiences of overcoming calamities in their practice notes, but their accounts varied widely. Some ensured their thoughts flowed swiftly and powerfully, transforming them into thunder to break through the silent darkness and awaken; others visualized reconstruction, believing that since the "thunder of annihilation" isolated the inside from the outside and stripped away the five senses, they would reshape the world in this boundless darkness, using the sound of the new world as thunder to break through the abyss of darkness; still others used the method of pure yang concentration, adopting the idea of ​​"yin giving rise to yang," gathering their thoughts, using the yin of boundless darkness to condense a point of yang thought, and then transforming that yang thought into thunder to break through the darkness. The methods were numerous, each displaying its own unique abilities.

Cheng Xinzhan's thoughts slowly drifted back to the methods recorded by his predecessors, which he found extremely wise. But what was his own method?

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(End of this chapter)