In the future, Earth becomes a relic of the mythical era.

Chapter 298: The Laws of Heaven and Earth?

Xie Lingxin has now officially joined the Taiqing Palace.

From then on, he truly lived a life of quiet contemplation.

During the day, I attend classes at the academy, and after class, I go to Laoshan to chop firewood.

After chopping wood, he would listen to the old Taoist preach, and after the preaching, he would either cultivate himself or tinker with the Primordial Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Having lived in the Great Zhou Dynasty for so many years, he was already very skilled at, and even somewhat obsessed with, the art of furnace firing.

I spend most of my time on it.

It was very fulfilling.

He wasn't completely unaware of the commotion in the four cities, but he simply didn't care.

Because he simply can't squeeze out any time.

Wouldn't it be better if he used that time to chop down a few more trees or tend the stove a little longer?

They also began to put the refining of the Blood River Iron Strategy Nether Bell, which they had been longing for, on the agenda.

They are trying to get him blood plasma.

I originally thought that the blood of a million people was nothing in the Federation.

However, it is surprisingly difficult for an individual to obtain one.

Because human blood is subject to extremely strict federal control.

Blood is the essence of the human body, connecting the physical body and the mind.

He can use human blood to refine treasures, and others can use human blood for other things as well.

In an era when Taoism flourished, there were countless things that could be done using human blood.

Just like many heretical practitioners who use human blood to refine their skills.

He asked Fatty Orange for help, sought assistance from the "Tian Ce Mansion," and even posted a reward on Bai Shi Tong (a popular online forum).

They contributed money and then spent it all.

But let alone a million, they haven't even raised ten thousand.

There's no other way but to collect them slowly.

Fortunately, this wasn't something he urgently needed; he just needed something to refine when he was working in the furnace.

Since he couldn't refine this thing, he turned his attention to other things.

Having previously stolen heavenly secrets and defied the innate, he gained many insights from the correspondence between the "Inner Observation Sutra" and "Journey to the West."

All the accumulated knowledge and experience exploded at that moment, breaking through two barriers in one fell swoop.

However, there were still some fragmented insights, not all of which were fully understood. There were only vague understandings, lacking only a moment of inspiration to break through.

It is known that "Journey to the West" integrates the three religions and contains profound truths.

All sorts of mysteries and changes may hold hidden meanings.

They also forged the Innate Eight Trigrams Furnace, the Golden Cudgel, and the Ginseng Fruit Tree, even though they were a bit too watery.

How could he not be envious of all the wonders inside?
These are merely the various abilities of a monkey, such as the Great Celestial Immortal Technique of the Great Dao, the Somersault Cloud that travels 108,000 li in a single somersault, the Earthly Fiends' ability to evade the Three Calamities, also known as the Seventy-Two Transformations... and so on.

That would make him drool.

There are also all sorts of rare treasures and wondrous techniques.

Purple-gold gourd, Vajra ring, Yin-Yang dual-energy bottle, human seed bag, three-pointed double-edged knife, banana leaf fan, golden rope...

It manifests as the laws of heaven and earth, has three heads and six arms, and can transform into countless forms...

No matter which one he gets, who is he afraid of?
So he was in a daze, constantly pondering things for no reason.

He actually figured out some tricks of the trade.

Moreover, there's quite a bit of skill involved.

such as……

Law heaven and earth!

A dozen or so lines from the *Inner Insight Sutra*:

“Observe this body closely, it comes from nothingness.”

"When conditions are right, essence and energy are accumulated, and spirit descends through karma, and life is born in harmony. Following the laws of heaven and earth, yin and yang are contained and exhaled, and the five elements are divided to correspond to the four seasons."

"Eyes are the sun and moon, hair is the stars, eyebrows are the canopy, head is Kunlun Mountain, arranging palaces and pavilions, and settling the spirit..."

To put it bluntly, it means that humans come from nothingness and must return to nothingness.

In this process, the head represents the heavens, the feet represent the earth, yin and yang are harmonized, and the five elements are reversed.

Place it in your heart, introspectively visualize, with your heart as your spirit, your eyes as the sun and moon, your hair as the stars, your eyebrows as a canopy, and your head as Kunlun Mountain...

It speaks of introspection and contemplation of the divine creation.

By placing it within the body, one gathers the essence of heaven and earth, making the body the spirit. Similarly, the eyes become the sun and moon, the hair becomes the stars, the eyebrows become the canopy, and the head becomes Kunlun!

This is the true manifestation of the law of heaven and earth!

Listening to Liu Ruozhuo talk about the way of the furnace and cauldron, I learned that the human body is a furnace and cauldron, and the most important things are the fire and the great medicine, both of which come from the human body.

The three superior medicines are essence, qi, and spirit.

Essence, Qi, and Spirit, responding to Heaven and Earth, harmonize and transform, thus becoming the Great Medicine.

The so-called "following the heavens and imitating the earth" means that the head follows the heavens and the feet follow the earth.

It is also formed by the interaction of essence, energy, and spirit with heaven and earth, and their harmonious transformation.

He heard Liu Ruozhuo say that his true body was one with heaven and earth, which was why he could live forever.

In Buddhism, this physical body is called the Dharma body!

It is the true nature of self.

If this Dharma body is transformed into a great body, the great body will fill the void and become one with the primordial energy of heaven and earth.

That means it can be as big as it wants, as big as it can be, big enough to be as big as heaven and earth, and as big as Kunlun!

But understanding something is one thing, realizing it is another.

This single supernatural power still presents him with many problems. His Dharma body transforms into a massive form, especially as described in the novel "Journey to the West": "tens of thousands of feet tall," "holding two three-pointed, double-edged divine swords, just like the peaks of Mount Hua," and "wielding a Ruyi Jingu Bang, which is like the pillar supporting the sky atop Mount Kunlun!"
The amount of vital energy medicine needed is far more than hundreds of thousands or even billions.
It is impossible to do this by relying solely on one's own vital energy and spirit.

But if we want to obtain it from outside, how do we do it?

Drug use? Or cannibalism?
Perhaps they are all the same approach.

In this light, it makes some sense that the monsters in "Journey to the West" are all as big as mountains and can devour a city or even a country in one gulp.

But this is certainly not the Great Way of "following the laws of Heaven and Earth".

In *Journey to the West*, there is a passage where the Monkey King recounts: "Within my body lies the elixir; seeking it from the outside is futile. I introspect and sit in tranquility, where the sun and moon, the elements of Kan and Li, intertwine within me. After three years of perfect purity, I attain an immortal body, unlike ordinary mortals who suffer torment..."

This coincides with what he read in the "Nine Cauldrons Elixir Classic", what he read in the "Inner Observation Classic", and what Liu Ruozhuo said.

It means "inner reflection is worse than external learning".

However, the monkey's theft of pills, peaches, and wine constitutes "outside theft."

This is indeed a contradiction.

After finishing chopping wood that day, he went to Taiqing Palace to listen to Liu Ruozhuo preach, and then asked the question that had been bothering him:
"Teacher, I once read in a book that there are three levels of illness: 'suffering' is a seasonal illness, 'old age' is an illness of the years, and 'death' is a physical illness."

"The former is treated with herbal medicines, while the latter two are treated with two types of medicines: internal alchemy and external alchemy."

"The inner alchemy is divided into three grades: superior, middle, and inferior, each grade having three levels. The superior grade is the essence, qi, and spirit, which is the great medicine and the great elixir."

"External alchemy also has three grades: superior, middle and inferior, and each grade has three levels. The superior grade is the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, the Dragon-Tiger Great Elixir, and the Golden Elixir Rejuvenating Elixir."

"But the book says: External alchemy is not unusable. When a person who cultivates Tao awakens in his later years, his foundation is not very solid. He can use metals and minerals to help him receive his true energy over time and refine his form to live in the world."

Xie Lingxin paused slightly, then asked doubtfully, "Is it true that external elixirs should not be used unless one's foundation is weak or one has not yet achieved the Dao of Old Age?"

"But according to what the teacher said, the Taiqing sect cultivates the Golden Elixir Dao, but is also extremely skilled in the External Elixir Dao. It is said that the Taiqing Heavenly Venerable can also refine the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, which can make people ascend to heaven on the spot and become immortals."

"Should we use this external elixir or not?"

Liu Ruozhuo glanced at him, chuckled, and said slowly, "If you are diligent and devoted, cultivating yourself day and night, you can avoid illness, trouble, and misfortune."

"But this path is difficult; if we fail, all our previous efforts will be in vain."

His eyes were deep: "Like the old Taoist, although he has lived for tens of thousands of years, he has accomplished nothing. So, although longevity is good, it is just prolonging the years and it is difficult to achieve anything."

"How difficult it is to have desires, to obtain them forever, to regain one's youth, to transform and ascend to immortality!"

"It is nothing more than gathering the five elements, harmonizing the four symbols, the roar of the dragon and the howl of the tiger, the husband leading and the wife following, the jade cauldron boiling soup, and the golden furnace blazing fire..."

He paused, noticing the confusion in Xie Lingxin's eyes, and then smiled, "These are the internal and external alchemy methods you mentioned."

"As long as we do not stray from this righteous path, why should we be bound by internal or external alchemy?"

"Whether it is internal alchemy or external alchemy, one must understand yin and yang, be deeply versed in creation, be careful in applying extraction and replenishment, and maintain proper balance and fullness. In this way, one can naturally obtain the primordial pearl with form and return to the true nature of Taiyi."

"In this way, even a short while can ensure endless pleasure, so why waste time?"

Xie Lingxin still didn't understand: "Teacher, but you said that as a furnace cauldron, one naturally possesses innate true fire and great medicine, and there is no need to seek them externally."

"Why do you now say you don't care about insiders or outsiders...?"

"Hahahaha...Foolish child, have you not heard of being blinded by a leaf?"

Liu Ruozhu chuckled softly and flicked his whisk.

Xie Lingxin felt a sudden dizziness, and then...

Then the world really did turn upside down and spin endlessly.

The surroundings were no longer within the Taiqing Palace, but rather... an endless expanse of the Great Void!

That is, the void of the universe, where countless stars revolve endlessly, without distinction between up and down, without end.

The two sat in the void of the universe, without any support or refuge.

so amazing!
He couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, is this true or false?"

Liu Ruozhuo smiled and asked, "Is it true or false?"

"You say this is both outside and inside the body?"

Xie Lingxin asked uncertainly, "Outside the body?"

Liu Ruozhuo laughed again: "You are also familiar with introspection and the methods of divine creation. How could this not be the world in my heart?"

"Hiss~ Is this within the teacher's consciousness?"

Xie Lingxin gasped.

But Liu Ruozhu shook his head again: "How can it not be true? My body is finite, but my heart is infinite."

"If the body can shatter the void, how can the mind not penetrate heaven and earth?"

"When the heart is in harmony with heaven and earth, what difference is there between inside and outside?"

Ah!
Xie Lingxin suddenly felt enlightened!
leave!
In short, all this boils down to one sentence: Before you break through the twelve barriers, just focus on your cultivation and stop overthinking!
Once the twelve barriers are broken, the body merges with heaven and earth, the mind connects with heaven and earth, and there is no distinction between the inside and outside.

To be sure, he asked again, "Teacher, once one has attained the innate state and one's body and mind are in harmony with heaven and earth, can one then use external alchemy to aid in cultivation without any concerns?"

"Innate" is an ancient term for a title or class.

Liu Ruozhu stroked his beard and pondered: "That's not entirely wrong, but we still need to be careful with the timing and application of the ingredients. Remember the four words 'nourish the righteous and maintain the fullness'."

I understand. It means that one must be cautious when refining elixirs and take drugs in moderation; too much of anything is as bad as too little!
Liu Ruozhuo smiled and said, "Have you realized something?"

Xie Lingxin's eyes darted around, his expression lively; who couldn't see the excitement in his heart?

Xie Lingxin didn't hide anything and directly shared what she had realized.

If you've already paid homage to a teacher, why not ask them for help when you have questions?

He was right after all.

Liu Ruozhuo stroked his beard and pondered for a moment before saying, "I have heard of this divine power of 'manifesting heaven and earth'."

"However, these are just fictional tales from ordinary people's lives, and should not be taken seriously."

"But what you've realized isn't without reason..."

"The path of supernatural powers is no ordinary technique. If you truly wish to comprehend this supernatural power, firstly, your mind and body must be in harmony with heaven and earth,"

"Both of these, if one can find a divine ability that allows one to absorb the primordial energy of heaven and earth, might be able to apply this knowledge to other situations..."

(End of this chapter)