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

Chapter 95 Cultivation Realms and Goals [Please Subscribe]

Lu Linglong's father and Lu Lin's father appeared instantly beside Wang Zhenqiu, and dragged him away from the left and right.

However, instead of throwing him out like the Tang Clan did, they sent him back to his original position.

Lu Linglong, who was busy calculating money, looked at this scene with a surprised expression.

"Brother Chang'an, our family wouldn't treat guests like this, would we? What did that entertainer do wrong?" Lu Linglong asked, puzzled.

“I’m not quite sure either. Why don’t you ask Grandfather?” Li Chang’an said.

Lu Linglong glanced at the scene at the elders' table: "It seems there's something going on. We might have missed something exciting. There are a lot of people there now. I'll go ask Grandpa tonight and find out for you."

“Okay!” Li Chang’an nodded.

The martial arts competition on the stage continued, and Li Chang'an watched for a while.

During this time, many people came to toast him, wanting to get to know him.

He didn't really like the occasion, so he got up and left.

Watching Li Chang'an's retreating figure, Lu Lin felt a pang of envy. He also wished he could leave as gracefully as Li Chang'an, but as a member of the Lu family, he couldn't do that.

Lu Lin wasn't the only one who envied Li Chang'an; Lü Liang did too.

Lü Liang was a man who both respected, loved, and feared his grandfather. He was very good at reading people and would often glance at his grandfather.

He thought to himself, "After several matches, the way Grandfather looks at Li Chang'an has changed."

"This is the kind of look my grandfather has never given when looking at the villagers. Perhaps this is the image of his ideal descendants."

"I wish that one day, Grandpa would see me that way too."

……

No one on the scene said anything about Li Chang'an's departure.

After all, they had competed in so many matches, so it was normal for them to go back and recuperate.

Some of the younger generation felt it was a pity that Li Chang'an left too early, and they didn't have a chance to get to know him.

After leaving the venue, Li Chang'an returned to his quiet room.

He hasn't had his morning prayers yet today because he has to attend a ceremony.

He closed his eyes and began to enter a state of being alive, his breathing gradually becoming shallower.

First, the sensation in my hands and feet faded, then in my limbs, then in my torso, and my heartbeat slowed down, becoming a soft beat only after a long time.

The Qi flows freely within the meridians, unnoticed and unobserved.

He was like a stone that had sunk to the bottom of the water; the light, sound, and wind on the surface of the water were no longer relevant to him.

His body was like withered wood, his heart like dead ashes, with only a sliver of spirit remaining still and silent.

In this state, one can better perceive oneself by using the awareness of the intermediate state (bardo).

For Li Chang'an, this competition was only a low-intensity activity.

His life was not harmed in the slightest, and his sexual function was even slightly improved.

This improvement was so small that even those who had progressed far on the path of enlightenment might not be able to detect it, let alone ordinary practitioners. However, Li Chang'an sensed it through the awareness of his intermediate state.

The reason for his promotion was mainly because he displayed his divine abilities in front of others during the competition.

Some people developed a genuine respect for him, and his true nature brought them joy.

And he received this glimmer of joy.

Therefore, his sexual function improved.

The world is a place where we refine our hearts; this is what we cultivate.

Regarding spiritual practice, many people say that one should seek one's true self and one's original mind.

But the true self and one's true nature are very broad concepts, just like a person's temperament. They are not just one aspect, but a multifaceted entity, capable of experiencing joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

Just like Li Chang'an's true nature, he loves tranquility, peace, and also the ability to manifest divine power.

He may have other hobbies, but he hasn't discovered them yet.

This process of excavation is the process of seeking truth.

Therefore, seeking one's true self does not mean turning oneself into a wooden person devoid of emotions and desires.

Instead, it's about discarding the desires created by the outside world and finding your true inner self.

Then, just like cultivating a hobby, do what you love, and let this true nature take root and sprout in your life until it flourishes.

If a practitioner is constantly in a state of severing all emotions and desires, then they have definitely gone astray.

However, maintaining this state is very necessary in the early stages of practice.

Only in this state can one better find that faint, genuine inner nature.

Therefore, at a certain stage of cultivation, Li Chang'an would suppress his emotional fluctuations very little, and he would be very inhuman.

But gradually, his true nature will return, and he will become more and more human.

This is a process of returning to simplicity.

Li Chang'an slowly opened his eyes. In the past few years of cultivation, he had always had his own goal, which was to find his true nature and become a real person.

To find one's true nature, one must first let go of all worldly delusions, emptying oneself of all thoughts and desires.

Then, your truest self will be fully revealed.

Reaching this stage, which is what the Old Celestial Master meant when he was teaching the filthy members of Quanxing about their mountain-climbing adventure, signifies a certain level of achievement.

This state of being should be somewhat similar to the Buddhist concept of the emptiness of the five aggregates.

Speaking of the emptiness of the five aggregates, Li Chang'an couldn't help but think of Wu Man, the sorcerer of Quanxing.

This man, nicknamed "Unknown Layman," was a monk who entered monastic life three times and returned to secular life three times. He could recite Buddhist scriptures and doctrines fluently and was a highly respected monk.

However, because he could not break through ignorance and could not see that the five aggregates are empty, he fell into the trap of self-destruction, causing all kinds of trouble and killing innocent people.

He even killed Wang Ai's grandfather and a large number of Wang family experts.

Finally, with the help of Wugensheng, he saw through ignorance and realized that the five aggregates are empty. After laughing for three days and three nights, he went to the Wang family to die in order to absolve himself of karma.

It is said that after this person died, the Wang family built a temple and pagoda for him, and Wang Ai's father even became a monk because of it.

After Wu Manzhao realized that the five aggregates were empty, the comment on that page of the story for him was: "I have exhausted my birth, established my holy life, done what I had to do, and know that I will not be reborn."

Li Chang'an was familiar with this sentence. In recent years, he had studied many classics of the three religions, including Buddhist scriptures. This sentence was a description of the Arhatship in the "Samyutta Nikaya".

The original text should be: "Thus, bhikkhu, one who is liberated of mind, if he wishes to realize it himself, can realize it himself: I have no birth left, I have lived a holy life, I have done what I had to do, and I know that I will not be reborn. Just as one contemplates impermanence, so it is also suffering, emptiness, and non-self."

In other words, Wu Man of Quanxing ultimately attained the Arhatship.

"My next goal in cultivating my sexuality is to reach the state of Arhat. Although it may sound strange to use the term Arhat, the Sanyi School is a lineage that integrates the three religions, so it is normal to use some of their theories."

"As for life cultivation, although the improvement of life cultivation is not slow when practicing in the state of the living dead, it is still somewhat lacking compared to sexual cultivation. Perhaps we need to seek a new path."

Li Chang'an can accept specializing in one area while cultivating both body and mind, but he doesn't want to specialize too much.

Chapter 96 Zhang Zhiwei's Admonition [Please Subscribe]

In the guest room of the Lu family, Zhang Lingyu was adjusting his breathing. He had left his seat and returned to his room after his match with Li Chang'an.

The old master then exchanged views with his fellow practitioners before returning to his guest room.

The two guests' rooms were right next to each other, and as soon as the old master returned, Zhang Lingyu in the next room noticed.

He went into his master's room and knelt down as soon as he entered.

“Master, I have failed you. I never expected to lose so badly. It is a disgrace to our sect. I am truly ashamed of my years of cultivation and the help of my fellow disciples.”

Zhang Lingyu felt very guilty. His master had asked his senior brother to give him the talisman, and he still lost.

Zhang Zhiwei glanced at Zhang Lingyu and asked calmly, "Do you want to beat him?"

Zhang Lingyu paused for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "Of course, this disciple wants to win."

“If you want to win, then go all out to win. Use the lightning talisman to strike him down,” Zhang Zhiwei said.

Zhang Lingyu lowered his head even further: "This disciple is worried that winning would be dishonorable, and would tarnish the reputation of our sect and our master."

Zhang Zhiwei felt somewhat helpless; sometimes he truly couldn't understand his disciples' thoughts.

If you want to do something and are capable of doing it, why not do it?

Is it so difficult to control one's mind and body?

It's such a simple thing as eating and drinking, but they insist on making it so complicated.

Zhang Zhiwei said, "You are too concerned about gains and losses, too worried about how others evaluate you, and too worried about your image. Your thoughts are like the water in a lake, constantly being disturbed by stones from the outside world, creating ripples. Therefore, you can never see yourself clearly at the bottom of the water. You need to calm yourself down. Only when the surface of the water is calm will the answer become clear!"

"This disciple cares too much about what others think..."

Zhang Lingyu said in a low voice, "But didn't the teacher on the mountain teach us that we can use a bronze mirror to straighten our clothes, use history as a mirror to understand the rise and fall of dynasties, and use people as a mirror to understand our gains and losses?"

"I have always used others as a mirror to reflect on myself, so as to correct my bad habits and mistakes. Have I been wrong?"

Zhang Zhiwei looked at him irritably: "This sentence is meant to help you see the other person's shortcomings and strengths, find fault with them, and then reflect on whether you have the same fault or strength yourself. That's what it means to use others as a mirror."

"I'm not suggesting you find fault with yourself based on what others say. You're using others as a mirror, and the image reflected in that mirror isn't the real you, but rather how others see you. That's why you don't know what you want."

Zhang Lingyu fell silent, pondering what he wanted.

"Do you want to become stronger, Lingyu!"

Zhang Lingyu paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "I want to become stronger."

Why do you want to become stronger?

“I…” Zhang Lingyu was stunned for a moment.

What he really meant was that by becoming stronger, he would be more befitting of the identity of a top disciple.

But he had a vague feeling that if he revealed this reason, his master would definitely be disappointed.

He paused, then changed his words, saying, "It's to defeat Li Chang'an and get back at him for what we lost this time."

Zhang Zhiwei was dissatisfied with this answer: "So, is it about defeating him, or getting revenge?"

“Defeat…” Zhang Lingyu hesitated.

He wasn't actually that enthusiastic about "defeating Li Chang'an".

His primary concern remained restoring his master's reputation and the reputation of the Celestial Master's Mansion.

So he changed his tune again, saying, "I want to get revenge."

"How do you plan to get revenge?" Zhang Zhiwei asked again.

"After returning to the mountain, I will definitely practice the Golden Light Mantra even more diligently..."

Zhang Zhiwei interrupted him: "It's difficult to regain this position by just practicing the Golden Light Mantra."

Zhang Lingyu was taken aback.

Then Zhang Zhiwei continued, "Only by cultivating thunder magic can one have a slight chance."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lingyu was overwhelmed with emotion.

Thunder magic holds special significance within the Celestial Master's Mansion, and it is only passed down to those who are likely to inherit the position of Celestial Master.

Could it be that Master intends to appoint me as the next Celestial Master?

With nine senior brothers ahead of me, what merit do I possess?

At this moment, Zhang Lingyu felt not joy, but trepidation.

"What's with that expression?" Zhang Zhiwei noticed his change in expression.

Zhang Lingyu lowered her head, her voice trembling slightly:

“Master, I dare not even entertain such thoughts. I have several senior brothers above me, all of whom are virtuous and highly skilled. I am the last to join the sect and the least experienced. In terms of both character and ability, I am far inferior to my senior brothers. I am truly unworthy of this great responsibility.”

“I wasn’t planning on teaching you right now. Thunder magic isn’t something you can just learn whenever you want,” Zhang Zhiwei said.

"what?"