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

If someone punches him, he can control the white qi to form a fist and exchange a punch with that person. He can also control the white qi to form a hand and grab that person's fist, preventing them from pulling away.

This is somewhat similar to the counterforce of the Golden Light Mantra or the Golden Bell Shield.

If you punch me, I don't need to retaliate. With just a thought, a tremor of white energy will injure you.

Once Li Chang'an mastered this application, even if he stood still, his entire body became a weapon, and any part of his body could be used for attack, defense, or grabbing.

However, the current attack range is still very small, limited to the area where Bai Qi can move, about three inches, and the force decreases the farther away it is.

Within this scope, proactive attacks are too limited; it can only be used for passive defense, and its technical significance outweighs its practical significance.

"With my current control over white qi, if I were to use the Golden Light Mantra instead, I should have reached the realm of transforming qi into form," Li Chang'an thought to himself.

Transforming Qi into form is a rather advanced application of golden light in the Golden Light Mantra. Even among the younger generation of Longhu Mountain, few have reached the level of transforming Qi into form.

The Reverse Generation Triple Technique is much more complex than the Golden Light Mantra. The difficulty of transforming white Qi into form is much greater than that of the Golden Light Mantra.

After practicing micro-operations for a while, Li Chang'an stopped and gently rubbed his throbbing temples.

Just like tempering one's life force and tempering one's body with high-voltage electricity, cultivating magical power is also a very mentally taxing task. After using his intermediate state awareness to examine his own condition, he felt that he needed some rest and relaxation.

The kind of relaxation Li Chang'an wanted was definitely not entertainment like watching TV or playing games.

In his view, watching TV or playing video games doesn't make people relax; relaxation only comes when you are focused on and immersed in awareness of your body.

Focusing on the present moment puts you in a state of low energy consumption.

Chaos and disorganization lead to high consumption.

Therefore, Li Chang'an chose to relax by writing.

He turned and went to his study, spread out a roll of white paper, picked up a stone inkstone, and began to grind ink.

Many people nowadays like to use ready-made ink when writing, for convenience, but Li Chang'an believes that serious calligraphers should grind their own ink.

Only ink ground by oneself, with its varying shades and textures, can truly reflect one's heart. Ink is like human nature; if one is impatient, it will froth.

As the ink gradually spreads in the clear water, a delicate fragrance of ink wafts through the air.

Li Chang'an smoothed out the paper, picked up the pen, suspended his wrist, and began to write.

He suddenly brought his pen down, the tip moving across the paper with fluid, graceful movements, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes lifting, sometimes pressing, all demonstrating mastery of technique.

Li Chang'an wrote the Analects. The Sanyi School is based on Confucianism and extends it with Taoism. Li Chang'an is naturally quite knowledgeable in Confucian culture.

In recent years, although he has not gone to school, he goes to Lu Jin's courtyard every day to listen to Lu Jin talk about traditional Chinese culture and the classics of the three religions.

Sometimes when Lu Jin was too busy to attend classes, he would ask his friends to substitute for him. Fang Dongtian of the Quanzhen Baiyun Temple had given Li Chang'an many lessons.

During this process, Li Chang'an began to understand why the Three Ones Patriarch used Confucianism as his foundation; it was not simply because the Three Ones Patriarch was a disciple of the Confucian sage Wang Yangming.

Furthermore, Confucianism is more accessible and down-to-earth, while many Taoist classics often start too high. If one tries to pursue a higher level of understanding without reaching that level, taking too big a step can easily lead to trouble.

First learn Confucianism for a good transition, then practice Taoism to climb to a higher level.

In fact, not only the Sanyi School, but all three religions have evolved to the point that they are no longer clearly opposed, but rather intertwined and interdependent.

Even Confucianism, from its very beginning, carried the shadow of Taoism. After all, Lao Tzu and Confucius were both teacher and friend.

The Analects contains more than 10,000 characters, so it was impossible for Li Chang'an to write it all at once.

Today he wrote a classic quote from the "Xue Er" chapter:

Confucius said: “A gentleman who is not dignified will not command respect, and whose learning will not be solid. He should uphold loyalty and trustworthiness, not befriend those who are not as good as himself, and not hesitate to correct his mistakes.”

Li Chang'an liked this sentence very much.

Come to think of it, the first time he encountered this phrase was in school in his previous life.

Back then, when the teacher was explaining this saying, he said, "'A gentleman who is not serious will not be respected.' A gentleman should be calm, steady, and dignified, instead of being frivolous and carefree all the time."

"'Do not befriend those who are not as good as yourself' means do not associate with those who are inferior to you, such as petty hooligans and thugs outside of school. Keep your distance from them."

"One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black. Only by making friends with excellent people and those who are better than you can you become stronger and go higher."

To be honest, Li Chang'an felt that what the teacher said made some sense, and that this was also the survival rule of today's society.

Even in school, students are divided into groups based on their grades. Those who do well are grouped into honors classes with strict management, while those who do poorly are placed in regular classes with looser management.

So, when Lu Jin first told him this, that was also Li Chang'an's answer.

As a result, Lu Jin criticized him. Lu Jin said that was fallacy.

Lu Jin said at the time that this was a misinterpretation of Confucius's meaning. Many people think that "a gentleman who is not dignified will not command respect" means that a gentleman should be dignified and have authority.

But in fact, they did not understand the specific meaning of this "heavy".

They thought that putting on a stern face and letting their facial muscles hang down made them "serious," and that a gentleman without seriousness would not be dignified.

This is essentially no different from blindly imitating someone else.

Li Chang'an was deeply impressed by this metaphor. The word "重" in "君子不重则不威" (a gentleman who is not dignified will not command respect) can be interpreted in many ways, but it certainly doesn't mean hanging the two pieces of flesh on one's face heavily.

Although several years have passed since that lesson, Li Chang'an remembers that sentence particularly well because of this interesting analogy.

Lu Jin later explained: "The saying 'Do not befriend those who are not as good as yourself' does not mean that you cannot make friends with people who are not as good as yourself. That is the way of a snob. If everyone thinks like that, then there will be no true friends."

"The real meaning of this sentence is that everyone should have self-respect. The 'respect' here refers to self-esteem and self-confidence."

"The West says that there are seven deadly sins, and pride is one of them. That's not wrong; people are born with a certain amount of pride. But sometimes, when faced with the unknown and danger, people lose their pride and become extremely cowardly."

"For example, one day in the future, you might be entrusted with an extremely important and dangerous mission by your sect or country."

"But because this matter is important and dangerous, you will instinctively feel fear and insecurity."

"And at this moment, you need to use your real knowledge to support yourself."

"This knowledge refers not only to the dead knowledge in books, nor only to your personal cultivation, but also to self-respect."

"Even if a person has a lot of knowledge and learning, and great strength, if he or she lacks self-respect and self-confidence when he or she needs to use this knowledge and learning, he or she will still be in a difficult situation."

"Then what you've learned is meaningless and unstable; this is what is meant by 'learning without stability'."

"Therefore, everyone must build their own personality and self-confidence, and never feel that they are inferior to anyone else."

"And the following phrase, 'Do not befriend those who are not as good as yourself,' means that you should not look down on anyone and should not arrogantly think that others are not as good as you."

"The previous sentence is about respecting yourself, and the next sentence is about respecting others. Since we should respect ourselves, we should also respect the self-esteem of everyone else."

There is no perfect person in the world. When people interact, each person has their own strengths. He may not be as good as you in one aspect, but he may be better than you in another.

"Therefore, there are two extremely important principles that you need to keep in mind when dealing with people and situations."

That is, not to dismiss someone's words because of their personality, nor to dismiss someone because of their words.

When he said this, Lu Jin used himself as an example, saying that he was one of the top ten people in the world of supernatural beings. Many of his good friends were not as strong as him, but when they encountered problems, he would still listen to their opinions carefully.

Therefore, Lu Jin reminded Li Chang'an: "Never refuse to listen to someone's good ideas just because they are not as good as you or because you have a bad impression of them. That would be wrong."

"The saying 'Do not befriend those who are not as good as yourself' means that everyone in the world has their own shining strengths. We should be good at discovering and utilizing the strengths of others, while discarding their weaknesses."

"In this process, if you discover your own shortcomings, don't be afraid to correct them. This is the essence of 'If you make a mistake, don't hesitate to correct it.' This is true wisdom!"

Li Chang'an understood these words clearly and grasped their deeper meaning.

In fact, many profound teachings of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism ultimately aim to help you find your "true self" deep within your heart.

The "gratitude" in "a gentleman who is not gracious will not command respect" refers to self-respect and self-esteem. Gratitude is about one's true nature, and respect is also about one's true nature.

This is actually the same principle as the Buddhist saying "In heaven and on earth, I alone am the most honored," only expressed in a different way.

Memories flow through my mind, and the words on my pen follow.

After completing the last stroke, Li Chang'an paused his wrist and steadily finished writing.

He put down his wolf-hair brush, took a half step back, and quietly examined his work.

The running script on the rice paper is as silvery as iron. The brushstrokes are vigorous and powerful, the rhythm is coherent, and the characters exude an extremely pure spirit. Judging by the skill of this piece alone, it is absolutely no less than that of those renowned calligraphy masters in the country.

A moment later, he casually crumpled the Xuan paper covered with beautiful running script into a ball and threw it into the trash can next to his desk.

Throughout history, countless masters have treated their works in this way when creating them.

For the masters themselves, those precious calligraphic works that many people would pay a fortune for are merely casual creations inspired by a sudden burst of inspiration; not every piece of calligraphy or painting can satisfy them.

If even renowned masters are like this, then Li Chang'an is no exception.

This is also his mindset when doing things.

If you approach each time you pick up a pen with the mindset of writing well and leaving it behind, it will be difficult to write truly good characters, and you will lose sight of the original intention of relaxing your mind and body through calligraphy.

Li Chang'an tidied up his desk, washed and hung up his brushes. He felt refreshed and invigorated after this calligraphy session, and all his previous fatigue vanished.

Chapter 122 Guidance

After putting down his pen, Li Chang'an noticed a bunch of message notifications on his phone's QQ app. When he opened them, he saw that they were all from Lu Linglong.

"Brother Chang'an, you should go check out the forums! You're really popular lately!"

"Brother Chang'an, you really defeated so many Quanxing demons all by yourself! That's amazing! Were you injured anywhere? Tell me the details of what happened."

"Brother Chang'an, someone is spreading rumors about you on the forum, it's infuriating!"

Because Li Chang'an hadn't replied, there was a series of angry bomb emojis and a GIF of someone hitting someone's head with a hammer.

"I was just practicing!"

Li Chang'an replied to the message.

"I knew it would be like this!"

Lu Linglong replied almost instantly.

Li Chang'an: "The process was nothing special. We just encountered an ambush by Quanxing. We fought back and took them down. My cousin also contributed a lot, the company's temporary workers also lent a hand, and my great-grandfather gave us some countermeasures in advance. In short, it wasn't as mysterious as people outside made it out to be."

Lu Linglong sent an eye-rolling emoji: "Wow, you explained it too hastily. I just called my cousin to ask. He said he lost his composure at the time and not only did he not help you much, but he also held you back. He feels really guilty now."

Li Chang'an: "It's not his fault. There's someone among the demons who can counter him."

Lu Linglong: "Your argument is clearly unconvincing. You all cultivate the same methods, so why doesn't that demon harm you?"

Li Chang'an: "Because my cultivation level is higher than his. Should I go over and comfort him?"

Lu Linglong sent a GIF of her waving her hand in refusal: "No way, if you go to comfort me at this time, that would be like killing someone's spirit."

Li Chang'an: "…………"

Lu Linglong: "I've already comforted him. He said he still wants to ask you for advice on how to improve his sexual skills."

Li Chang'an: "Actually, there's nothing to say. He's already done a very good job."

As they were talking, a knock came at the door.

Li Chang'an: "Speak of the devil, and he appears. We'll talk later."

He closed his phone, got up and opened the door. Sure enough, Lu Lin was standing outside, along with Lu Jin.

“Chang’an, this kid is getting a bit stubborn. You should talk to him for your grandfather,” Lu Jin said.

"What's wrong?" Li Chang'an asked Lu Lin.

“Senior Brother Chang’an.” Lu Lin’s voice was a little dry: “We’ve been back for a while now. During that time, my grandfather, father, and I have repeatedly reviewed the process back then, but no matter how we reviewed it, I couldn’t find a way to break the deadlock entirely on my own.”

“In that situation, if you hadn’t been there, I would have certainly died. Ultimately, it’s because my foundation in sexual cultivation is too weak. I’m here today to earnestly ask you for some tips on sexual cultivation.”

"Actually, after losing to my senior brother in the last competition, I analyzed every day which thoughts were completely my own and which thoughts were bodily delusions, and then I overcame them one by one."

"I discovered that I can overcome my body's desires, such as not wanting to get out of bed, not wanting to practice meditation, not wanting to use high-voltage electricity to train my body, and persevere."

"But I cannot overcome external delusions, just like the soul-summoning of that Quanxing sorcerer."

After listening to what Lu Lin said, Li Chang'an said, "You're too hasty. These things can't be rushed. You have to take it one step at a time. Actually, in my opinion, you've already done a very good job."

"What you need to do now is to gradually understand your own mind and nature through the previous methods of practice, and understand what self-thought is. Only after you understand it can you strengthen it."

"If we understand that, how do we grow stronger?" Lu Lin asked humbly.

Li Chang'an said, "External thinking can be strengthened through some stimuli. For example, if you like to eat sugar and keep eating sugar, your sugar threshold will increase. The same is true for id thinking. Simply put, it is to do what you like from the bottom of your heart."

Upon hearing this, Lu Lin exclaimed in surprise, "Doing what you truly love, it's so simple, so..."

He wanted to say happiness, but felt that describing happiness in the context of spiritual practice was too frivolous.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of!” Li Chang’an said. “Cultivation itself is a joyful thing. If you genuinely enjoy killing, then go ahead and kill.”

"Huh?" Lu Lin was taken aback.