Under One Person: Starting with the Dual Cultivation of Body and Soul.

Lu Jin was so excited that she was incoherent, and her fingers were trembling.

"Chang'an, you actually figured out a part of it on your own without your grandfather's instruction."

"This is simply..."

"This is simply..."

He couldn't continue.

Although Li Chang'an only grasped the part that the sages of the Sanyi School had already put into practice.

But this is fabricated out of thin air.

It's a complete fabrication out of nothing!

Li Chang'an was able to grasp the earlier content without any guidance.

That means he was able to figure out the later parts of the content without anyone's guidance.

What the three levels of reversal of life lack is the method of cultivation in the later stages.

This is such a pleasant surprise.

Chang'an must be the person Master was talking about who came after him.

Lu Jin's eyes reddened at the thought of Sany's potential revival.

"Grandpa, you..."

Li Chang'an was speechless at Lu Jin's antics. How could someone so old be so easily moved to tears?

If you're like this, you can't blame the old Celestial Master for making you cry back then!

"Hahaha, Grandpa is happy. Grandpa is easily moved."

Lu Jin blinked hard and laughed loudly, "Chang'an, are you still confident you can get into this state?"

“I feel that as long as it’s quiet enough, it’s still possible,” Li Chang’an said.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin was overjoyed.

"Good good."

He said "good" three times.

After calming herself down, Lu Jin took out a small box from her pouch and carefully opened it.

Inside was a dark, thumb-sized pill with a rough surface and a faint sheen of oil.

"Chang'an, this is the Marrow Cleansing Pill that Grandpa told you about last time. Smell it."

Li Chang'an took it and brought it close to his nose.

A refreshing medicinal fragrance wafted in; it wasn't pungent, but rather cleared my mind.

"What do you smell?" Lu Jin asked.

"It's a little bitter, a little sweet, I can't quite put my finger on it," Li Chang'an replied.

Lu Jin explained, "That's the smell of He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum). The Marrow Cleansing Pill is an essential medicine for our San Yi Sect."

"In alchemy, there is a principle of 'principal, assistant, adjuvant, and guide' in the process of

"The principal ingredient is the core ingredient."

"The assistant medicine is used to enhance the efficacy of the principal medicine."

"Adjuvant medicines assist the principal and assistant medicines in enhancing their efficacy and restraining their toxicity."

"The role of medicine is to guide and harmonize, delivering the medicinal power to where it should go."

Chapter 35 Elixirs

Lu Jin took out a dark, black root and placed it on the table, saying:

"This aged He Shou Wu is the principal ingredient in the Marrow Cleansing Pill."

"Polygonum multiflorum is poisonous if it's not aged long enough, and eating too much of it can cause liver failure. It's only medicinal when it's aged long enough."

"Only he shou wu that is over a hundred years old can nourish the liver and kidneys and replenish essence and blood, so it is the chief of marrow cleansing."

Then, he took out several medicinal herbs, placed them on the table, and introduced them one by one:

"There are three herbs in the minister's medicine... they assist the monarch's medicine!"

"There are also three adjuvant herbs... They are for correcting imbalances and preventing the Polygonum multiflorum from being too strong and harming the body."

"The two ingredients are the guide; without them, this pill would be like a pile of loose sand, each going its own way and never reaching its destination."

Li Chang'an counted: "One ingredient for the monarch, three ingredients for the minister, three ingredients for the assistant, two ingredients for the adjuvant... a total of nine ingredients?"

Lu Jin nodded: "Yes, nine is the extreme of yang numbers, which is in line with the secrets of heaven. The refining of the Marrow Cleansing Pill requires the medicinal materials to be steamed and dried nine times. Steam once, dry once, repeat nine times to bring out the medicinal properties. Then use the rootless water at midnight to boil it over high heat and simmer it over low heat for seven days to make the pill."

“It sounds a bit complicated,” Li Chang’an said.

"It's not complicated."

Lu Jin said, "Our Sanyi Sect is not a sect that mainly cultivates external alchemy. We have very little knowledge of external alchemy. The few pills we have are only used to assist in cultivation."

"The effects of this Marrow Cleansing Pill will end after three months. However, there are some new pills to assist in cultivation."

Lu Jin looked at Li Chang'an and said seriously, "Chang'an, Grandfather can help you refine the pills. But Grandfather hopes you will refine them yourself. After all, this is your own cultivation."

In Lu Jin's view, Li Chang'an was destined to shoulder the heavy responsibility.

Some crucial things, of course, need to be taught step by step.

If he had simply prepared these things for Li Chang'an for convenience, wouldn't they have been lost after Li Chang'an's death?

"Grandpa, please help me get an alchemy furnace," Li Chang'an said.

"That's for sure. Your empty room was originally intended for alchemy."

Lu Jin said, "Come, let me explain some details about alchemy to you in more detail."

That day, Lu Jin explained the method of refining the Marrow Cleansing Pill from beginning to end.

From how to identify the age of medicinal herbs, to the timing of nine steaming and nine drying processes, to the importance of taking water at midnight, to the timing of switching between high and low heat, he taught everything in great detail.

Li Chang'an listened and took notes simultaneously; his photographic memory allowed him to etch every detail into his mind.

But the decades of experience Lu Jin shared in his words couldn't be mastered simply by memorizing them. He planned to try refining one sometime.

Over the next few days, Li Chang'an's schedule became fixed.

In the morning, he followed Lu Jin to learn how to make medicine. Lu Jin would teach him step by step how to identify herbs, prepare medicines, and control the fire...

During breaks from refining medicine, Lu Jin would intersperse his explanations with details about the circulation of Qi. He would explain which meridians were most active at which times of day, and which acupoints required extra attention during Qi circulation.

In the afternoon, there was a class on traditional Chinese culture. Lu Jin would talk to him about the classics of the three religions, with Confucianism being the most important, and occasionally Buddhist and Taoist scriptures would be interspersed as references.

In the evenings, Li Chang'an would return to his room to study, either meditating and practicing the Reverse Rebirth Triple Technique, or practicing the Yuyang Sword Technique in the courtyard.

Lu Lin was also cultivating the Reverse Life Triple Realm, but their schedules were completely out of sync.

Lu Lin goes to school during the day and only practices cultivation with Lu Jin when she comes back at night.

The two of them spent almost no time together, one during the day and the other at night.

This was arranged intentionally by Lu Jin; both sides were equally dear to him.

If two children have different aptitudes and progress at different times, it's inevitable that one will be favored when they are taught together.

Rather than that, it would be better for him, as the great-grandfather, to work a little harder, teaching one during the day and another at night, so that both of them could receive the best guidance.

In the past few days, Li Chang'an encountered a problem when he entered meditation.

Even though he tried very hard to calm his mind and clear his head, perhaps because he was deliberately trying to achieve that state of complete absorption, he always fell just short.

However, although he couldn't enter the state of complete absorption, Li Chang'an's level of tranquility was still very high, and his cultivation speed remained fast.

That morning, Lu Jin was teaching Li Chang'an how to refine medicine.

The medicinal soup in the alchemy furnace was bubbling away, and the whole room was filled with the bittersweet aroma of Polygonum multiflorum mixed with Polygonatum odoratum.

Lu Jin poked at the embers in the stove with a bamboo skewer and asked casually:

"Chang'an, have you... entered that state again these past few days?"

Actually, he wanted to ask every day, but each time he swallowed the words back, afraid of putting pressure on Li Chang'an. But today he just couldn't hold back anymore.

Li Chang'an shook his head: "Perhaps it's because I'm trying too hard, and I always fall short."

After listening, Lu Jin sighed: "It's Grandfather's fault for putting pressure on you. If Grandfather hadn't brought this up, and you hadn't paid attention to its importance, you might have been able to go back in."

Li Chang'an laughed and said, "It's not your fault, Grandfather. Even if you hadn't said anything, I would have known the benefits of this state."

Lu Jin said, "Chang'an, you have trouble calming down because you're trying too hard to enter that state, so you can't, right?"

Li Chang'an corrected, "I didn't consciously think about it. But the thought just pops up from time to time."

“That’s being a bit obsessive,” Lu Jin said. “Because once you have this thought, even if you don’t consciously think about it, it will pop up from time to time.”

As he said this, images of his master and fellow disciples flashed through his mind.

He wasn't consciously thinking about them when he said those words, but their figures just appeared out of nowhere.

This is a common occurrence for him.

He often thinks of them when he sees beautiful things, wishing they were still here.

This is actually an obsession. He understands all too well what an obsession is, so he doesn't want his disciple to develop an obsession because of it.

As for how to break free from obsession, he wasn't very good at it. Not only did he fail to break free from his obsession, but he also turned it into a delusion, a demon in his heart.

However, precisely because he is deeply involved in this matter, he has also done a lot of research on it.

"Chang'an, your grandfather will teach you a method. Thoughts are both powerful and weak. If you try to suppress them, they become incredibly powerful."

"But as long as you see it, face it, even if you do nothing, it will slowly fade away on its own."

"It's like the surface of water; if you try to manipulate it, it will become turbulent."

"But if your consciousness sits high above your mind, just quietly observe it, let it come and go as it pleases, and do not respond to it. It will eventually return to peace because it is helpless against you."

"And at that moment, you are at ease."

"By facing the myriad delusions with non-action, one will eventually attain freedom."

"You, in your freedom, are not a withered piece of wood; you, in your freedom, are capable of anything."

Chapter 36 Cave Mansion

After Lu Jin finished speaking, she looked at Li Chang'an and asked, "Any clues?"

"I've got it, thank you for reminding me, Grandpa!"

Li Chang'an said that although he did not consciously think about "entering a state of complete absorption" when he was cultivating, he understood the benefits of entering this state.

Therefore, during his practice, these distracting thoughts would occasionally arise.

Whenever it appears, he tries to distract himself by chanting "Amitabha" or "Infinite Heavenly Venerable," but even if he manages to distract himself, it will reappear after a while.

Ultimately, the problem is that he didn't confront it; he kept trying to transform it and escape from it. When you avoid its appearance, in a way, that's also a form of response.

This time, he wanted to try it out. When the thought popped up, he neither tried to transform it nor suppressed it. Instead, he focused his attention on the thought and quietly watched it.

"It's good that you have a clue. By the way, Chang'an, speaking of which, Grandfather also entered a state of complete absorption in the world a few times, and even consulted your advisor."

“Your master told me that the secret to entering this state is to find the feeling of becoming an infant, returning to the womb, and returning to the innate state. Why don’t you try to find that feeling?” Lu Jin suggested.

“Returning to the womb and becoming an infant…” Li Chang’an said thoughtfully, “The state before an infant is primordial Qi, so an infant should also be considered a kind of primordial state.”

“That’s true,” Lu Jin said. “Lao Tzu said in the Tao Te Ching, ‘Concentrate your vital energy and attain gentleness, can you be like an infant?’ This means that the state of an infant is the state in which the vital energy flows most freely.”

"Buddhism also says, 'To be without mind is to be like an infant.'"

The Confucian philosopher Mencius said, "A great man is one who does not lose his childlike heart," meaning that truly powerful people are those who retain a childlike heart.

“All three religions have this saying, so there must be some truth to it. Grandpa is old and can no longer imagine what it must be like to be an infant, but Chang’an, you are still young, so you can try to experience it.”

“Grandpa, I’ll think about it carefully next time I practice Qi circulation,” Li Chang’an said.

"Well, you'll have to decide for yourself in this kind of situation."