Journey to the West: Starting with becoming an apprentice of the Nine Heavens Demon-Subduing Patriar

Above the cloud path, three beams of light run parallel.

"Your Majesty," the tortoise general couldn't help but ask, "which demons and monsters did you descend to the mortal realm to subdue this time?"

"The beast tide outside Tongchuan Prefecture."

The Emperor's voice was calm: "The method of controlling the beasts is a secret Buddhist technique for controlling the mind. The ones who set up the scheme were a few wandering monks from the West, carrying ordination certificates from Mount Ling, and at the very least, they were Arhats."

The two generals, the tortoise and the snake, exchanged a glance, and their anger flared up instantly.

"The Buddhist sect has gone too far this time! Driving demons to attack human cities, causing countless deaths and injuries, does this deserve to be called compassion?"

"I was just looking for a place to vent my anger."

The snake stirred with a chilling aura of black water around it: "A Arhat, is it?"

"Don't blame us brothers for being impolite," the tortoise general slowly added, his black armor clanging.

The Emperor listened from the front without uttering a word, only uttering four words in a low voice.

"These are all karmic obstacles."

Three golden rays pierced the night and headed straight for Tongchuan Prefecture.

……

The main hall on the summit has returned to silence.

Lu Shanjun stood before the throne, lost in thought for a long time.

Until familiar footsteps came from the palace gate.

The old Taoist priest, lifting the hem of his robe, stepped over the threshold, stroking his beard as he went, looking as if he hadn't had enough. Just now, the snake had sent him back to the mountain with a ray of golden light; he had seen the whole scene in the clouds from beginning to end.

"Master Daoist."

Lu Shanjun turned around, lifted his robe and bowed, but was caught by the old Taoist priest.

"This incredible opportunity for me was earned by the Daoist Master after sixty years of arduous waiting. This kindness..."

"Stop."

The old Taoist rolled his eyes: "I have two paths: one is to stand guard in heaven, and the other is to be reincarnated and enjoy happiness. Standing guard is boring, and enjoying happiness is tedious, so I'd rather not have either."

He spoke casually, but the wrinkles around his eyes were full of laughter that he couldn't hide.

"We'll see."

The old Taoist priest, with his hands behind his back, strolled to the palace entrance, gazed at the night sky where the Emperor had departed, and slowly said, "I waited sixty years for the guidance, only to have my own ancestor descend to earth to take me as a disciple. This is something I can boast about for three generations."

"Worth it! Absolutely worth it!"

He suddenly turned around.

"Mountain Lord".

"This junior is here."

"I'd like to have a drink."

That night, in front of the main hall, a demon and a human drank four jars of spirit fruit wine until they were empty.

The old Taoist priest drank until late into the night, then, clutching his wine jar, insisted that according to seniority he was the Emperor's grand-nephew. Lu Shanjun forced him to drink the last bowl before he finally fell into a deep sleep.

……

Three days later, Lu Shanjun went into seclusion.

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, two Daoist scriptures hung silently, their azure and purple hues reflecting each other. A familiar azure panel then unfolded.

Name: Lu Shanjun

Race: Tiger Demon (White Tiger variant)

[Cultivation Level: Refining the Spirit and Returning to Emptiness (Initial Formation of the Yang Spirit)]

[Technique: Lesser True Martial Qi-Inducing Technique (Perfect 100/100)]

【The Classic of the Elixir of the Mysterious Emperor: Water and Fire in Harmony (Beginner Level 0/300)】

【Mysterious Heaven Water and Thunder Technique (Beginner Level 0/300)】

[Annotation: This is a direct transmission from the Demon Slayer, the Great Dao is as deep as the abyss. The road is long, do not rush.]

Lu Shanjun stared at the two lines of numbers, his eyelids twitching.

0/300.

0/300.

Back then, a single "Qi-Inducing Technique" only required a hundred levels of proficiency to be considered a beginner, and he still complained that it was too slow. Now that the Emperor himself has revealed this great technique, the threshold has tripled.

"...As expected of the founder's work."

He clicked his tongue, far from panicking, a sense of reassurance instead arose. He understood the principle that the higher the threshold of a cultivation technique, the deeper its foundation.

After calming myself down, I first studied the alchemical texts.

The more I studied, the more alarmed I became.

In the past, the method of cultivating Qi was to connect a tube to heaven and earth, allowing pure Qi to enter and impure Qi to exit, in a straight line. This alchemical text, however, treats the entire body as a universe to be governed.

Qian and Kun are the cauldrons. The Niwan point on the top of the head is the Qian cauldron, and the Qihai point below the navel is the Kun furnace. Once the cauldron and furnace are established, all the meridians in the body become pathways.

Kan and Li are the medicines. The spiritual liquid in the heart is the true Yin in Li, and the true fire in the kidneys is the true Yang in Kan. These two great medicines rise and fall, and they rely entirely on the true intention as the medium. In Taoist books, they are called "Huang Po".

The timing and temperature control are extremely delicate.

A day has twelve two-hour periods, corresponding to the twelve hexagrams. At midnight, the first yang returns, and the yang fire advances.

At noon, the first yin energy arises, and the yin energy recedes.

The hours of Mao and You (5-7 AM and 7-9 PM) should be neither increased nor decreased; this is called bathing. Even the slightest deviation will ruin the entire furnace.

Lu Shanjun sat down according to the proper method, concentrated his mind into the Qi acupoint, and used his true intention as a medium to guide the heart fire to slowly sink down and the kidney water to slowly rise up.

At first, the two energies went their separate ways and ignored each other.

He wasn't in a hurry; he simply breathed evenly and deeply, as if a gentle breeze was blowing and the bellows were opening and closing.

After an unknown number of hours, a warm sensation suddenly appeared in his dantian.

The two elements of water and fire gently touched in the central palace.

It's like drinking a sip of old wine warmed by a charcoal fire in the dead of winter; a warm feeling spreads from the center of the body, soothing every part of the body and making every orifice and meridian feel clear.

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, the panel flickered slightly.

【The Classic of the Elixir of the Mysterious Emperor: Water and Fire in Harmony (Beginner Level 1/300)】

One week, one bit of skill.

Lu Shanjun slowly exhaled.

The breath emanated three feet from the body, condensing and not dissipating, with a faint layer of watery light enveloping a line of fire patterns, intertwined endlessly.

Great idea!

That's truly a great method!

After only one cycle, he realized that this technique was vastly different from what he had learned before.

The Qi-Inducing Technique cultivates "qi," while this alchemical scripture cultivates "self."

Each time water and fire interact, the spirit becomes more solid, the physical body becomes more transparent, and even the Yang spirit is nourished and becomes more lustrous.

Three hundred turns... What will it be like when it's all finished?

He suppressed his burning desire and turned to the second volume.

The very first sentence of "The Mysterious Heaven Water and Thunder Method" tells him to sit up straight.

"Thunder does not come from outside; thunder resides within oneself."

He followed the law, carefully diverting a wisp of his inner fire and gently placing it into the thick mass of water in his dantian.

"Crackling sound."

A soft sound came from deep within my lower abdomen, muffled, like a small thunderclap through ten layers of cotton blankets.

Immediately afterwards, a thin wisp of lightning shot up along the meridians, reached the tip of the right claw, bounced once, and then went out.

A small tuft of hair on the tip of the claw was burnt.

The hall reeked of burning.

【Mysterious Heaven Water and Thunder Technique (Beginner Level 0/300)】

Lu Shanjun glanced at Jiao Mao, then at the panel. Far from being annoyed, his tiger-like eyes shone with an alarming intensity.

All beginnings are hard.

All that's left is the word "liver".

The path to heaven has been paved for him by the patriarch, and the door has been opened for him.

The rest depends on whether he can handle the strain.

Lu Shanjun sat cross-legged in the center of the main hall, slowly closing his tiger eyes.

Outside the palace, the east was already turning white.

The first incense of the new day is rising gently from the Zhenwu Temple at the foot of the mountain.

……

Day two.

"Thunder is the drumbeat of heaven and earth, the stimulation of yin and yang."

"People hear thunder in the heavens and thus believe that thunder is in the sky. Little do they know that the human body is a microcosm, with the kidneys being the North Sea and the heart being the South Fire. Water and fire, when these two energies interact, create thunder, lightning, and thunderous outbursts."

Therefore it is said: The human body itself possesses thunder and lightning; why seek it externally?

After reading the three sentences, Lu Shanjun unconsciously straightened his back.

He recalled the old Taoist's words. Taoist priests who summon thunder in the human world draw talismans, present petitions, and perform rituals, inviting the thirty-six generals of the Thunder Department, essentially borrowing fire from someone else. The talisman burns, creating a great spectacle, but when the thunder departs, their palms remain empty.

That's called Ke Lei.

Guests will eventually have to leave.

A purple aura circulated, and as the Taoist book was turned further down, it revealed a divination hexagram.

Kan is above, Zhen is below.

Yunlei, Tun.

"Tun represents the beginning of all things. Thunder is hidden at the bottom of the water, moving in the midst of danger. Its form is not seen, but its sound is heard first. It is the first sound of all things opening up the world."

"Therefore, our family's thunder magic does not involve setting up an altar, burning talismans, or knocking on the thunder gate. It only uses the water in the dantian (lower abdomen) as a basin and the fire in the heart as a guide. The fire enters the bottom of the water, and the water and fire interact. After a long time, a sound will naturally arise from within."

"This thunder was born of me, grew up with me, is as responsive as my own arm, and will never betray its master."

Lu Shanjun read on, word by word, feeling a surge of warmth in his heart.

Along the way, he suffered too much from "borrowed things." The incense offerings were borrowed, the vows were borrowed, and even the golden light that could manifest itself under the midday sun was supported by tens of thousands of people at the foot of the mountain, one stick at a time.

No matter how warm your clothes are, they are still just clothes.

Now, finally, there's something that will grow from our own blood and bones.