Hermit in the Mountains

Gu Changsheng clasped his hands together in front of him, palms touching, and rotated them counterclockwise ninety degrees. His thumbs and middle fingers bent towards his palms to form a ring, while the other three fingers naturally extended like lotus petals. His left hand was below and his right hand was above, forming the withering and flourishing seal.

Form the withering and flourishing seal, and slowly move it down to be level with the lower dantian.

Printed, thought arose.

A grayish-brown aura swirled around the ring formed by the left thumb and middle finger;

A stream of emerald green energy swirled around the ring formed by the right thumb and middle finger;

Under the control of divine sense, the gray-brown and emerald green energy flowed together, and the two forces of magic outlined a Dao seal that was intertwined with gray and green.

The moment the Dao Seal of the Withering and Flourishing Inheritance took shape, Gu Changsheng separated a wisp of his will and injected it into the Dao Seal to activate and identify the Dao patterns.

With the information carrier successfully condensed, Gu Changsheng began to import his deduced "Benming Dao Seed Method" into the Dao Seal.

He wanted to test whether anyone could cultivate the system of natal Dao seeds he created without the 'Original Dao Guide'.

He prepared four sets of experiments: humans with spiritual roots (to be determined), Yang Dashan and Zhang Yuanfu without spiritual roots, spiritual pets (a green ox and a rhubarb), and spiritual trees (a peach blossom and a plum blossom).

General Outline of the Dao Seed Visualization Techniques

The Great Dao is formless, yet it gives birth to heaven and earth; the seed of the Dao is also formless, hidden in nothingness.

It is born from thought, grows from breath, congeals from blood, and bears fruit from roots.

Using the body as a furnace, the spirit as fire, and the spiritual root as fuel, one forges the seed of one's destiny.

The Four-Step Method for the Transformation of the Dao Seed in the Stage of Dao Accumulation

First Realm: Observing the Seed of Dao - Divine Conception of the Void Spirit

Visualize a seed in the sea of ​​consciousness between your eyebrows.

At first, the seed is blurry like smoke, seemingly nothingness, and needs to be nurtured day and night with spiritual power. When the seed becomes clear in the mind like a real object, it means that the "virtual seed" has been formed.

With a mind as still as water and thoughts as sharp as knife cuts, a single illusory seed of the Dao appears within the sea of ​​consciousness.

Second Realm: Guiding the Dao Qi - Nourishing the Spiritual Embryo

Guide the spiritual energy of heaven and earth with your thoughts, let it flow from the pores of your body into your dantian, and then up the meridians to the center of your eyebrows, nourishing the illusory seed of the Dao like rain and dew.

Nourished by spiritual energy day and night, the illusory seed of Dao began to emit a faint light and show signs of sprouting.

The air becomes rain and dew, the veins become roots and tendrils, heaven and earth are the fields, and my body is the vessel.

Third Realm: Nurturing Blood - Blood Feeding Seeds

Guide your own essence and blood (not ordinary blood) into the space between your eyebrows with your thoughts, and nourish the illusory seed of the Dao with your heart's blood.

The illusory seed will greedily absorb it, gradually solidify, and transform from illusory light and shadow into a tangible entity, such as jade or wood, and transmit a rhythmic connection with blood.

A drop of blood, a destiny, with my blood I give you form.

Fourth Realm: Offering Spiritual Roots - Transformation from Illusion to Reality

The final step, and the ultimate leap that truly transforms the seed into a real one.

One must actively sacrifice one's own spiritual root—regardless of its attribute or grade.

The spirit is the bridge connecting heaven and earth; it is necessary to dismantle this bridge by hand and integrate its entire foundation into the seed of the Tao.

Upon success, the spiritual root disappeared, and the illusory Dao seed transformed into a substantial Dao seed, radiating attribute light.

Discarding the raft to reach the shore, abandoning the root to attain the Way, borrowing the false to cultivate the true, I am the seed of the Way, and the seed of the Way is me.

Precautions and Unknown Risks During the Dao Accumulation Period

I. Cultivation Posture: Five points facing upwards, spine like a pine tree, tongue touching the upper palate, and the space between the eyebrows aligned with the dantian.

The hands are formed into a mudra, with the thumb and middle finger interlocked and the other three fingers spread out like lotus petals. This mudra is called the "Withering and Flourishing Mudra," which symbolizes the control of the cycle of withering and flourishing.

2. Contemplation time: twice a day, two hours each time. Too much of a good thing is bad.

At exactly midnight (yin embracing yang), nourish your spirit with the power of moonlight;

In the morning, when the sun rises (full of vitality), the initial yang energy is the vital energy.

III. Auxiliary Resources: "Nourishing Spirit Incense" to calm the mind; "Nourishing Essence Pill" to replenish Qi and blood.

IV. Unknown Risks: Divine energy dissipates and seeds perish, Qi becomes disordered and meridians are damaged, blood depletes and the body weakens, and the sacrifice of spiritual roots is irreversible.

Following the natural order leads to becoming a human, going against it leads to becoming an immortal; the mystery lies in the reversal of fortune.

Having successfully inherited the Dao Seal, Gu Changsheng transmitted his voice to Yang Dashan.

"Mountain, relax. No matter what happens, don't resist it. Accept it wholeheartedly."

In his dazed state, Yang Dashan heard a familiar voice and thought to himself, "It's the Peak Master's voice." The next moment, without hesitation, he completely relaxed his mind, an unconscious action stemming from his trust in the Peak Master.

Gu Changsheng loosened his clasped hands, and with his right hand, he made a sword-finger gesture and pointed it at Yang Dashan's brow. A gray-green, semi-transparent Dao seal flew out from his fingertip and went straight into Yang Dashan's brow.

The Dao Seal of Inheritance appeared in Yang Dashan's sea of ​​consciousness. Gu Changsheng guided Yang Dashan's consciousness to contact the Dao Seal. In an instant, the Dao Seal of Inheritance devoured a wisp of Yang Dashan's thoughts, completed the identity registration, and gained the right to access the information inside.

Gu Changsheng transmitted the withering and flourishing seal, the incantation, and specific syllables of the mantra to Yang Dashan's sea of ​​consciousness.

"The hands form a mudra, with the thumb and middle finger interlocked, and the other three fingers extended like lotus petals. This is called the 'Withering and Flourishing Mudra,' which controls the cycle of withering and flourishing."

"Incantation and syllables: With the honored name of longevity, call forth the lineage of the Dao; with decay and prosperity as the progenitor, pass on the Great Dao of Longevity to me."

Under Gu Changsheng's guidance, Yang Dashan silently recited the incantation and memorized each syllable, his hands unconsciously forming the withering and flourishing seal.

"With the revered name of longevity, I invoke the lineage of the Dao; with withering and flourishing as the progenitor, I transmit the Great Dao of Longevity."

"With the revered name of longevity, I invoke the lineage of the Dao; with withering and flourishing as the progenitor, I transmit the Great Dao of Longevity."

......................................

As time went by, Yang Dashan's hand seals became more and more precise, his incantations became more and more familiar, and he knew the syllables of each word by heart.

When he formed the standard withering and flourishing seal, recited the incantation, and each word emitted a specific syllable, the inherited Dao seal in his sea of ​​consciousness completed its recognition and emitted a suction force that pulled his thoughts into the Dao seal.

A torrent of information about the "Dao Seed Contemplation Technique" flooded into Yang Dashan's mind.

"Dashan, carefully study the cultivation methods within." Leaving these words behind, Gu Changsheng withdrew his divine sense from Yang Dashan's sea of ​​consciousness.

He spent a few minutes condensing another Dao Seal of Inheritance and sent it into Zhang Yuanfu's sea of ​​consciousness.

The incantations, syllables, and hand gestures were passed down.

Once Zhang Yuanfu had mastered the method to activate the Dao Seal of Inheritance, Gu Changsheng withdrew from the other's sea of ​​consciousness.

He placed his hands naturally on his knees, slowly opened his eyes, and looked at the two people on his left and right.

He withdrew his gaze, calculated the consumption of his divine sense and the power of decay and prosperity, and realized that condensing a Dao Seal of Inheritance would only consume one percent of his divine sense and power, so he was relieved about his next experimental plan.

Hopefully the experiment will work. If there is still feedback even without the "Original Dao Guidance", then we will have made a fortune.

If there is no feedback, I hope that heaven and earth will bestow some merit and good fortune upon him so that he can earn a little bit of hard-earned money.

An hour later, Yang Dashan and Zhang Yuanfu woke up. When they opened their eyes, they looked tired, but their eyes were filled with surprise and joy.

The two exchanged a glance, then turned to face Gu Changsheng and knelt down, giving a loud thud.

"Thank you, Peak Master, for bestowing upon me the true method..."

"Thank you, Peak Master, for bestowing upon me the true method..."

His voice trembled slightly for two days, yet it was filled with joy.

They hadn't yet practiced the techniques in their minds, but the techniques there were so perfect that it was clear at a glance that they were genuine methods of cultivating immortality.

If they fail to cultivate successfully, they will only blame themselves for being useless, lacking cultivation aptitude, and having poor comprehension.

"Get up. The unknown risks of this cultivation method are also marked inside. Cultivate it step by step." Gu Changsheng reminded the two of the risks. He didn't want the two of them to die halfway through the process of training them.