Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 349 Individual Insights: The Void Elixir Method and the Yin-Yang Elixir Method

Seated in the chaos, embodying the Great Dao.

Using the five characters from the book to commit crimes and the "Kanli Jiji Dan" to embark on the path of cultivating life force, Wu Cheng'en deduced Taoist methods while simultaneously using his own story to prove them.

Sun Wukong represents "heart", which is also "nature".

His title is "Heart Monkey," symbolizing the restless, untamed heart of an ordinary person, capable of soaring to the heavens and diving into the earth.

"Escaping from the Eight Trigrams Furnace" is a test of the mind, "being trapped under the Five Elements Mountain" is a test of the mind's stability, and finally, on the journey to the West, the arrogance of the mind is gradually worn away, reaching the state of "the mind returning to righteousness".

Zhu Wuneng represents the "kidneys," which is also "life."

His title is "Wood Mother," which is associated with "Kidney Water," the source of life force for mortals, but also the easiest to indulge in appetite and lust.

His spiritual practice involves constantly fighting against his own desires, which is a difficult hurdle that must be overcome in the process of "cultivating life".

Sha Wujing represents "true nature," a stable state of sexuality.

His title is "Huang Po," and his main role is to harmonize the "heart" of Wukong and the "kidney" of Wuneng.

He is kind and taciturn, symbolizing the composure and harmony needed in spiritual practice.

At most, they would say something like, "Eldest brother, second brother is right," or "Second brother, eldest brother is right."

Stop mocking Sha Wujing for being incompetent; harmonizing the heart and kidneys is his most fundamental function.

The white dragon horse represents "intention".

Carrying Tang Sanzang on his journey westward symbolizes the unwavering willpower required for spiritual cultivation.

Tang Sanzang represents the "subject of cultivation" or the "Daoist body".

He is the core of the entire team and the bearer of the "Golden Elixir".

As an ordinary person with no physical strength, he symbolizes an untrained cultivator.

He needs the combined efforts of Wukong (heart), Wuneng (kidneys), Wujing (nature), and the White Dragon Horse (intention) to reach the Western Paradise; the journey cannot be complete without the help of any one of them.

The eighty-one tribulations symbolize the various internal and external obstacles and trials that must be experienced in spiritual practice, and are the necessary path for "life" to be repeatedly tempered in the mortal world.

Tang Sanzang's weakness and compassion are precisely the parts that need to be constantly tested and sublimated in the process of cultivation.

The entire journey to the West is the process of the "Golden Elixir" being formed.

The [Earth Official's Realm], which simulates everything, can conduct scientific experiments, and naturally it can also conduct metaphysical experiments. By cooperating with the world in the book, it can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Wang Cheng and Wu Cheng'en, one providing theoretical support through years of practice, and the other offering a practical path, with the primordial Qi as a "guide" to ensure that one would not go astray.

After an unknown period of time, the world in the book, which had gradually taken shape since the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, had been reforged into earth, wind, water, and fire, and had completely returned to chaos.

Only the two people's location, the Crescent Moon Three Star Cave and the Five Villages Temple, which symbolize the "heart" and "kidney" of the world, remain unchanged, surrounded by a hazy gray mist.

It circulates and rotates, like a Tai Chi pill.

The two, who were in a state of enlightenment, suddenly opened their eyes and said in unison:

"Thus, the spirit, qi, and essence interact with each other; if they flow in accordance with the natural order, one becomes a human; if they flow against the natural order, one produces the elixir."

What is the order of things? One begets two, two begets three, three begets all things. Thus, emptiness transforms into spirit, spirit transforms into qi, qi transforms into essence, essence transforms into form, and form becomes human.

What is meant by reversal? All things contain three, three returns to two, and two returns to one. Those who understand this principle cultivate their spirit and guard their form, nourish their form and refine their essence, accumulate essence to transform into qi, refine qi to unite with spirit, refine spirit to return to emptiness, and thus the golden elixir is formed!

The words fell.

Boom! ! !

With a deafening roar, this world within the book re-evolved, centered on the "heart" and "kidneys," instantly creating the heavens and earth and giving birth to all things.

From the first chapter, "The Spiritual Root Nurtures and Gives Birth to the Source of Mind and Nature, Cultivating the Great Dao," it evolved all the way to the last chapter, "Returning Directly to the Eastern Land, the Five Saints Achieve Immortality."

It symbolizes the completion of the merits of the Golden Elixir cultivation.

From then on, this book, "Journey to the West: The Legend of Exorcising Calamities," was no longer just an ordinary book about gods and demons; it was a secret Taoist text that surpassed all other lineages in the human world, a supreme treasure for cultivation!
At this moment, Wu Cheng'en and Wang Cheng also became the pioneers of the "Golden Elixir Path".

As long as one enters this book and lives as Tang Sanzang on the journey to the West, one can obtain the Taoist insights left behind by them.

call--!
With a gentle breeze, the two figures vanished without a trace.

When they opened their eyes again, they were back on the summit of Mount Zhuzi. Under the tree, an old man and a young man stood up, looked at each other, and then burst into laughter.

"Hahaha"

Laughter echoed through the mountains, but from the direction of the vast eastern ocean, ghosts and gods wept, and blood rained down from the sky. Both of them heard frantic babbling in their ears.

I subconsciously felt that there was some enormous, indescribable creature crawling, moving, and moving about in the darkness beside me.

It was unclear whether the vocal organ was a mouth or something else, but it emitted a sticky, low roar, with a terrifying, fishy stench that seemed to seep into one's very bones.

However, both of them had already witnessed such a scene in the book "The Book is Complete and the Gods and Demons are Startled" and "The Inner World of the Spiritual Journey". They remained calm and the strange phenomena disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the other person's performance, they both nodded to each other in unison.

As fellow practitioners who have embarked on the same path, even though it was only our first meeting, we felt as if we had already become close friends despite our age difference.

Wu Cheng'en cupped his hands in greeting to Wang Cheng and said with a smile:

"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on your initial understanding of the Yin-Yang alchemy. Longevity and immortality are within reach."

Wang Cheng was being modest:

"I should congratulate you, fellow Daoist, on comprehending the Void Elixir Method, obtaining the Primordial Qi, and embarking on the cultivation of life force, thus taking a step further than I have."

The two jointly created the Golden Elixir Path, sharing a single consensus:

This method does not refer to refining external material elixirs, but rather uses the human body as a "cauldron" and one's own essence, qi, and spirit as "medicine."

Through different alchemical practices, a "golden elixir" is condensed within the body, thereby achieving a state of unity between body and life, and transcending life and death.

If there's no medicine in the furnace, and the cauldron is only boiling in vain, it will only deplete one's original essence, energy, and spirit; the more one practices, the faster one will die.

However, despite having the same external conditions, the two people still gained different insights.

The difference lies in where this "great medicine" comes from.

In their combined vision, alchemy comprised three schools:
[The Self-Purification School: The medicine lies within oneself; one only needs to "refine oneself." Everyone inherently possesses the elixir of immortality, but deluded people waste it in vain.]

The downside is that while one may possess an extremely high level of skill, they lack the corresponding abilities, making them vulnerable to being killed easily, or even becoming someone else's elixir for rapid accumulation.

The Nine Heavens Void School: The medicine is in the void, and one needs to "inspire" the primordial Qi at the very beginning of one's cultivation.

The downside is that the qualification requirements are too high; 99.99% of people can't even pass the initial entry stage.

[Dragon Tiger Yin Yang School: The medicine is borrowed from another's home, requiring "replenishment" or "attracting" external true yang. Internal medicine is the same as external medicine; internal and external communication must both be unobstructed.]

The downside is that it requires a cultivation partner or constantly absorbing external aids for cultivation, making it extremely resource-intensive.

Wu Cheng'en possessed a wisp of primordial Qi, which naturally led him to comprehend the "Nine Heavens Void School"; Wang Cheng, based on the "Golden Chamber Techniques for the Bedchamber" and with the dragon and fox in his household, comprehended the "Dragon and Tiger Yin-Yang School".

Of course, whether it is the Pure School or the Yin-Yang School, when they reach a certain point in their cultivation, they may suddenly be able to summon the "Primordial Qi" from the heavens above and ascend to heaven in one step.

There are no strict boundaries between the three schools, and they can completely borrow each other's methods to cultivate.

"pity."

While excited, the two couldn't help but show regret in their eyes.

"No matter which method of alchemy it is, there is a major premise."

Our understanding is insufficient. To begin, we must first cultivate both life cultivation and spiritual cultivation to the peak of the fourth grade, reaching the minimum requirement of achieving the same goal through different paths, before we can even begin to enter the field.

Otherwise, we wouldn't even be able to light a fire in the stove.

It mirrors the development of a nation.

One must first have the "great medicine" to complete the initial capital accumulation before embarking on the path of "cultivating both body and mind".

To truly achieve success in cultivation and refine a [First-Rank Golden Elixir], one might need to reach the level of a First-Rank official in both one's spiritual cultivation and life cultivation.

Based on what Wang Cheng saw and heard in the hall at that time, he noticed that among the three layers of ancestral tablets, even the First-Rank Heavenly Consort was only at the very top of the middle layer, not the highest layer.

He had a premonition that the Golden Core Path might be the only way for him to glimpse anything beyond the first grade.

Wang Cheng pondered:

"The Great Wall of Curses has begun to crumble; time is of the essence."

The current goal is to quickly gather five items to fill the filth box, complete the filling process, and then make several more transactions with Fuyao to obtain enough pills to catch up on the cultivation of life force.

Then, with the talent of an immortal, he would advance to the upper three ranks!

(End of this chapter)