The Great Way to Truth, Starting from Jiazi Laodao

Chapter 97: Heavenly Gang and Earthly Evil Acupoints, the Unity of Heaven and Man
The next morning, after breakfast, Xuanming said goodbye. Hai Fengming gave him several packets of five-flavor tea. Xuanming did not refuse, he really liked it.

Before leaving, Xuanming took out an invitation and handed it to Hai Fengming personally, inviting him to attend the promotion ceremony of Qiuzhen Temple in early spring next year.

Under Hai Yannian's lingering gaze, Xuanming led the donkey away, stepped out of the alley, walked through the long street, and even the worldly air on his body slowly dissipated. When he walked out of the county town, only a trace of it was left. When he returned to Qiuzhen Temple and rode a deer to climb the mountain, the worldly air was completely gone, as if all the worldly things had been washed away, leaving only two sleeves of clean wind and a clear heart of Taoism.

Zangdao Peak, Daoyuan.

The spiritual deer and the black bird had disappeared, and they all went to show off to their friends... and share what they saw and heard after coming down the mountain.

He took out the spiritual water and watered the spiritual roots. Looking at the spiritual pine seedlings that were only three inches tall, Xuanming had an idea and tried to water them with the rhyme of Tao. He failed at first, but after several attempts, it actually worked.

However, the Dao rhyme can only be used for watering once a month. Normally, you still need to use the dissipated Dao rhyme to subtly influence your spiritual roots, gently and without stimulation. Otherwise, it will be easy for the spiritual roots to become weak and unable to be replenished.

Even so, Xuanming was already relieved.

After resting for a day, when the moon was bright and the stars were sparse at night, he sat cross-legged in the thatched cottage and reviewed what he had gained from this trek down the mountain.

The first step is to refine the secrets and distinguish the primary from the secondary; the next step is to practice the Zhoutian Yangshen Jue.

Look up at the stars in the sky and look down at the lights of thousands of homes. Sparks are all acupoints. The former are high and untouchable but dazzling, while the latter are short and touchable but dim. However, both can dispel darkness, one illuminates the night sky, the other lights up the world. Warmth, coldness, size, etc. are all brilliance. The mystery of sparks is nothing more than this.

A sense of Taoism gradually spread out, Xuanming was immersed in cultivation, and had a true understanding of the two kinds of stars, heaven and man. Catching insects: no longer floating on the surface like before, the acupoints that were temporarily suppressed last night were stirring again.

This time, he followed the mysterious feeling in his heart to open up the acupoints. The thirty-six vast meridians were like turbulent rivers, and the pond-like acupoints along the rivers expanded and gradually became lakes of varying sizes. The stars in the sky twinkled and starlight fell, and the lights on the earth flickered and emitted faint light.

The two lights blend together, carrying the breath of the nine heavens and the human world, and converge at the acupoints in the body. The opened acupoints become even more mysterious. The Mana River is shining with stars and the lights in the Mana River are bright. Heaven and man converge here, and the mana seems to have an indescribable spirituality.

The newly opened acupoints are also becoming extraordinary, and the meridians and rivers are becoming wider. Xuanming's body is beginning to possess the two kinds of auras of heaven and man, which nourish his body, refine his magic power, and nourish his soul.

---

There was no conversation for three nights. On the morning of the fourth day, when the sky just began to pale, the door of the room creaked open and a white-haired Taoist priest stepped out, facing the rising sun in the east, holding a whisk, and looking very energetic.

During this practice, he opened up thirty-six new acupoints. Adding the accumulation over the past year and a half, he has opened up a hundred and eight acupoints to date, matching the number of Heavenly Gang and Earthly Evil. His spiritual perception has increased by one hundred and eight feet, and is estimated to be second only to Hai Fengming, a cultivator who has reached the threshold of spiritual practice. His physical body and magic power are also several times stronger.

After relaxing, Xuanming sat cross-legged in the air and continued to collect the purple air of the morning sun. He never slacked off because of the breakthrough, because he knew that unexpected enlightenment was the result of inevitable accumulation. Without accumulation over time, it would be difficult to have the enlightenment that comes to the heart.

Half an hour later, after finishing his practice and having breakfast, Xuanming went into the Sutra Building to read the Sutras and gain enlightenment. Now, no matter whether he came or not, Changfengzi would prepare tea and burn incense on the table on the third floor. Perhaps he had gotten used to it, or perhaps he had been waiting for him to come.

As more and more disciples were qualified to go to the second floor to study sutras and consult classics, Xuanming moved the reading place to the third floor half a year ago. The books on this floor are precious and only the elders of the third generation and the guards are allowed to enter.

Slowly going up the stairs, Xuanming glanced at Changfengzi out of curiosity. This kid was still reading the first part of the book on formation experience. In fact, with his understanding of formation, he should have completed comprehending the book a long time ago. Now he takes it out to read from time to time in order to review what he has learned and learn new things.

Sitting at the table on the third floor, sipping a cup of tea, Xuanming holds the scriptures and contemplates the principles. Until now, when he contemplates the scriptures, he is no longer obsessed with the number of them, but the quality of the principles. He believes in a natural process, and when he has accumulated enough, he will open the "Huangting Zhongjing Yujing". If not, he will continue to comprehend the principles.

Besides reading scriptures and seeking enlightenment, Xuanming would spend more time fishing among the mountains and rivers on the mountain, relaxing his mind and letting his spirit enter the mountains and rivers. He would also seal his magic power and hike up the mountain, walking in every corner of Fuyun Mountain like an ordinary person.

At the foot of the mountain, he sets up a stall to tell fortunes at irregular times. Whether he can catch a fortune depends entirely on fate. Sometimes he sets up the stall for several days, and sometimes he disappears for several days. He changes into various identities, walks through the streets and alleys of Fuyun Mountain, and experiences the world more deeply.

The old servant who was despised by everyone might be him, the rich master who was surrounded by people might be him, the woodcutter who chopped wood and carried it to the market to sell it and was very stingy might be him, the shameless old man who spent money lavishly in Chunfeng Tower and only listened to the music and watched the dance might be him, and the man who quarreled with the fierce old woman on the street and was beaten by a rolling pin and ran away in fear might be him.

He once fished by the river, lighting a fishing fire until dawn; he once cheated in a gambling house, using ten taels of silver to bankrupt his entire family; when he was serious, he was a great Taoist priest, and when he was not serious, he was an old bastard. He once tricked a child into giving him a string of candied haws, and beat a rich and unkind clerk with a sack for three nights in a row. He once gave laxatives to a brothel madam, and treated typhoid fever for a dirty old beggar. He roamed the world as he pleased, laughing, scolding, and enjoying the dust.

———When the grass and trees withered and the mountains were covered with snow, Xuanming suddenly came to his senses. Unknowingly, autumn had ended and winter had arrived.

In winter, Fuyun County is less bustling as people stay indoors and seldom go out. Fuyun Mountain is also quiet in winter with few insects or birds singing. All things are in hibernation and the world seems silent.

During this season, Xuanming seldom went down the mountain except for taking his disciples to provide porridge and medicine to the common people. He was either practicing his supernatural powers, reading scriptures to gain enlightenment, or entering the mountains and rivers to meditate.

On the day of the winter solstice, heavy snow fell everywhere. Xuanming was in high spirits and walked out of the courtyard to fish on the river that had not yet completely frozen, while his mind wandered into the clouds, just like before.

Xuan Ming waited patiently, letting the snow wet his clothes and his hair the same color as the sky and the earth. As the snow fell heavily, he seemed to have turned into a snowman, blending into the white snow scene, but he seemed unaware.

The riverside has been completely frozen, but Xuanming still hasn't moved. He doesn't know when he entered a strange state. This time, he has a deep sense of unity between man and nature. His spirit enters every corner of Floating Cloud Mountain, as if he has completely merged with the mountain below his feet, breathing with it and experiencing its joys and sorrows.

A day and a night is a breath for Fuyun Mountain.

One season is like a breath of air in Fuyun Mountain.

When spring comes, all things awaken and come to life.

When autumn comes, all things wither and life returns to its origin.

Summer and winter are the beginning and end of a breath, the cycle of inhaling and exhaling.

The four seasons are like the different moods of the mountains: the brightness and gentleness of spring, the passion of summer, the hearty and generous autumn, and the calm and self-restrained winter.

The deeper he understood the unity of man and nature, the more Xuanming suddenly felt that the mountain had life. To be more precise, all things have spirits, both intelligent and unintelligent. Besides, who can guarantee that the mountain has no intelligence?

Heaven and earth are unkind and regard all things as stupid dogs!
In the past, he had a superficial understanding of this statement; but now, he has a deeper understanding and realization: the great way is natural, all things are created equally, and the generation and changes of all things are mysterious.

This mystery is spirit, the common basis of all things, and the unity of man and nature. Most of the time, it can only be understood intuitively.

---

The snow fell for a whole day and a whole night.

Xuanming sat cross-legged in the snow for a day and a night.

When the snow stopped, he didn't wake up.

On the Cangdao Peak, Changning, who was delivering breakfast, no longer searched as she did in the past. She carried the food, bowed to the empty Wendao Temple, and left calmly. She had long been accustomed to her master's absence at night, and could accept it even if he disappeared quietly for a month.

Click!

In the evening when the snow stopped, the sound of breaking water on the river surface could be heard.

A koi carp and a green turtle pushed open the ice and swam around Xuanming's boat. At the same time, Xuanming also seemed to break through the ice, break free from his restraints, and see the light of day again. In a trance, a ray of light bloomed in front of him, dazzling.

At this moment, Canglong Mountain shook, and a tremendous energy flowed from the main into the branch, using the unity of nature and man to baptize the earth veins of Fuyun Mountain, reshape the spiritual veins of Fuyun Mountain, and then merged into Xuanming's body.

(End of this chapter)