Chapter 759 The trouble with cultivation lies in oneself
Xiang Bao was full of determination in his heart, and returned home full of vigor and steady pace. He was completely different from yesterday. Fortunately, it was already late at night, otherwise acquaintances might have bumped into him, and they might have thought that he had had some adventure.
After closing the door, Xiang Bao took out the "Sword of the Stars Instructed by Immortals", immersed himself in the spirit, and began to look at the "Ten Thousand Stars Map".
Dots of stars shine, rising and falling with bright light, drawing mysterious and complex trajectories, forming a picture that is like a reflection of the starry sky, deep and brilliant.
After just one glance, Xiang Bao felt dizzy, his temples were bulging, and his ears were buzzing. However, after he had the previous epiphany, he did not retreat. Instead, he focused his energy on He stood on the most eye-catching Beidou and carefully observed and memorized the movement trajectories of these seven stars.
After a few breaths, Xiang Bao lay down from sitting cross-legged. His face was pale, his eyes were dull, and his mind was almost exhausted. He felt that he was too tired to move a finger, he was so dizzy that he wanted to hit the wall, and he seemed to be about to faint. , but he still forced himself to hold on, recalling the star trajectories he had just observed one by one in his mind, so as not to forget.
Bright lights appeared in his mind one after another, but what he could remember was less than one-tenth of what he had just observed. When the recall was over, Xiang Bao finally couldn't hold on anymore and fainted.
When he woke up, it was already high in the sky. His head was swollen. After thinking about it for a while, he found that he had not forgotten the trajectory of the stars he had remembered. He immediately jumped up and danced happily.
In a happy mood, Xiang Bao took the medicinal soup and began to exercise. As soon as he punched and kicked, a sudden burst of hot air was generated in the bone marrow, breaking through from the peak of physical exercise to the Qi nourishing stage.
Good things happened one after another, Xiang Bao was really elated, and in the dead of night, he began to try visualization.
The way to visualize the Iron Sword Sect is to visualize a giant sword standing tall in the Purple Mansion. It transforms the inner energy, exudes sharp golden energy, and nourishes the soul.
Xiang Bao finally visualized the giant sword, but suddenly he noticed that there was a ferocious and disgusting black centipede coiled on top of the giant sword, with teeth and claws. In an instant, he retreated from the visualization.
"Could it be that heretic ghosts and gods invaded the soul?" Xiang Bao remembered the records of the exercises and decided to go to the sect to ask the elders for advice tomorrow.
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After a few days, Xiang Bao was mixed with joy and sorrow. He was happy that he had finally mastered the "Beidou" move in "The Immortal Sword of the Stars" by relying on his imagination. What he was worried about was that during the visualization, if he could feel calm and calm. The black centipede will not appear if you use the incense stick, but if it doesn't appear, it will definitely come.
"The family's money is limited, and just eating to nourish the Qi is a huge expense, and these calming things are not cheap. According to Master Wang's words, if we continue to rely on these things until our souls can leave the body, we really can't afford it, unless we will Spend half the time practicing swordsmanship and do those high-paying sect tasks." Xiang Bao was walking on the street and thinking about it. As he walked, he suddenly found that he was near the City God's Temple.
Xiang Bao suddenly laughed at himself: "That senior Taoist priest is a wandering Taoist priest, why is he still here for you to ask for advice?" Although he was thinking this in his heart, Xiang Bao still couldn't help but walked in, just to take a look.
But as soon as he entered, Xiang Bao found the young Taoist priest sitting peacefully under the statue of the City God. Seeing him come in, he said humorously: "My dear Taoist temple, your hall has turned dark again. It seems that you have encountered another disaster."
Xiang Bao scratched his head, his face turned red, and he said with embarrassment: "Taoist Master Mingjian, I have some questions about my practice that I would like to ask for help. Is that possible?"
"Tell me and listen." Shi Xuan replied calmly.
Xiang Bao quickly told the story about encountering the black centipede in his visualization, and finally said: "I don't know where the heretic ghosts and gods are. Taoist priest, do you have any way to get rid of them?"
"If you want to get rid of it, you must first find the heretic ghosts and gods. Hold a charcoal stick in your hand. When visualizing, once the black centipede appears, immediately imagine hitting it with the charcoal stick, so that the charcoal stick in your hand will follow. Swing it out, hit it, and determine its location." Old God Shi Xuan said in the tunnel.
Xiang Bao had never heard of this kind of method of finding heretic ghosts and gods. It was simply mysterious. However, with the "Star Sword taught by Immortals" in front of him, he had great trust in this Taoist priest and quickly took one and burned the remaining ones. Hold the charcoal stick in your hand, adjust your mood, and start to visualize.
No surprise, the black centipede was still entrenched on the giant sword. Xiang Bao followed the Taoist leader's instructions, visualized a stick of charcoal, and struck it.
Just as he was hit, the world was spinning, and Xiang Bao withdrew from his visualization.
He quickly looked to see what the charcoal stick in his hand had hit, but what shocked him was that the charcoal held in his right hand only made black marks on his left hand and the skirt of his clothes, without any other foreign objects.
"Taoist?" Xiang Bao looked at Shi Xuan in confusion.
Shi Xuan smiled softly: "Don't you understand yet?"
Xiang Bao was at a loss. He lowered his head and looked again, and suddenly an idea flashed: "That heretic ghost and god, is I myself?!"
Shi Xuan smiled and said nothing.
Xiang Bao quickly visualized again. This time when the black ferocious centipede appeared, he thought it was him, so he continued to visualize without panic or fear.
Calmly, the black centipede gradually became docile, retreated from the giant sword, and then became lighter and lighter until it completely disappeared.
After a while, Xiang Bao opened his eyes. In his opinion, the young Taoist priest in front of him was really omnipotent. He thought to himself: "Is it a master of the soul, or a senior of the same level as the golden elixir master?"
After thanking him happily, Xiang Bao really couldn't find anything he could do to repay this senior Taoist priest, so he could only secretly make up his mind to spend an hour every day to listen to the Taoist priest's instructions and serve him.
After solving the hidden dangers of visualization, Xiang Bao happily returned to the sect and met Uncle Wang who had given him guidance before.
Uncle Wang saw Xiang Bao's happy look, which was so different from his dejected look just now, and couldn't help but curiously asked: "Xiang Bao, aren't you worried about the centipede anymore?"
Uncle Wang is young, elegant, and easy-going. Many disciples ask him for advice. He is the most popular elder in the sect. That's why Xiang Bao specifically went to ask him for advice before. Now that he is the one asking him, and he is almost a child, He was not wary, so he happily replied: "It has been solved."
"How did you do it?" Uncle Wang was very surprised. Could it be that Xiang Bao met some kind of master? This kind of inexplicable visualization problem is not something that little Yunliucheng can solve.
With a bright smile, Xiang Bao recounted the process of consulting the Taoist Priest on this issue: "...The Taoist Priest's method is really mysterious and unexpected, but the effect is surprisingly good. The nephew immediately understood that the centipede was himself. Confused by distracting thoughts.”
Uncle Wang frowned as he listened. After hearing what Xiang Bao said, he shook his head: "Xiang Bao, you were deceived. You unconsciously waved the charcoal stick in your hand while you were visualizing. More than 80% of the time, you may have touched it." To yourself, but you can be considered a blessing in disguise and have completely solved your major worries."
Xiang Bao was speechless for a moment. He recalled how he held the charcoal bar at that time. The more he thought about it, the more certain he became. Apart from throwing it forward, no matter how he did it, he would get a black mark on his body.
He couldn't believe it, and murmured to himself in frustration: "The Taoist Master is actually a liar...how could he be a liar!"
Uncle Wang looked at Xiang Bao's appearance, sighed, and thought to himself: "It's not a good thing for a senior monk to meet a wandering Taoist by chance."
Xiang Bao walked to the City God's Temple in despair. The image of the tall Taoist priest in his heart suddenly collapsed. He wanted to ask himself whether the Taoist priest's advice was a scheming trick from beginning to end, and he was deceiving himself.
When Uncle Wang saw this, he was afraid that he would suffer from the Taoist priest just because he was nourishing his qi, so he followed quietly so that he could rescue him at the critical moment.
When he arrived at the Chenghuang Temple, Xiang Bao saw that the young Taoist priest was still sitting upright, so he walked up to him and asked with some trembling and expectancy: "Senior Taoist, the charcoal stick just pointed out the magic of heretic ghosts and gods, was it a trick on me? Come to think of it, kid. Go ahead, the charcoal strips will most likely be on your body, instead of being transformed by heretic ghosts and gods?"
"Don't you understand yet?" Shi Xuan asked without answering.
Xiang Bao was stunned: "What?"
"Which problem in visualization is not your own?" Shi Xuan stood up leisurely.
Xiang Bao and Master Wang who came from behind were stunned for a moment, recalling the exercises and records in the classics. It was clear that as long as you concentrate on yourself and do not have distracting thoughts or random thoughts, there is no way for outsiders, ghosts and gods to take advantage of the gap. At this time, most monks tend to forget this and resort to things that calm the mind and calm the energy. Anyway, they can still practice until the soul leaves the body.
"It turns out that what the Taoist Master wants to tell me is that since the charcoal strips will most likely get on your body, then the problem of visualization is naturally your own." Xiang Bao suddenly realized, and Master Wang remembered what happened during the visualization and began to I feel like I'm on the wrong track.
Shi Xuan put his hands behind his back and walked to the door of the City God's Temple, leaving his last words: "From the beginning of physical training to the integration of Taoism, are all the problems in cultivation not the same?"
"The trouble in practicing cultivation lies in yourself!"
Xiang Bao's mind was buzzing, as if he had suddenly realized something, but also as if he didn't understand anything. Uncle Wang was sweating profusely and his face was pale.
The trouble in practicing is one's own. Shi Xuan's words were not just a reminder to Xiang Bao and Master Wang, but also to himself.
After Shi Xuan left for a long time, Xiang Bao and Uncle Wang came back to their senses. They looked at each other. For a while, they felt that this sentence was really a small statement with infinite meaning. For a while, they felt that it was easy to understand. It was as if it had not been said. Who said it? all know.
"From body training to harmony, it's such a big tone." Uncle Wang remembered Shi Xuan's words just now, and said in confusion and shock, "Who can have such a tone, could it be..."
"True immortal, or heavenly immortal!" Xiang Bao took over the conversation and muttered to himself in a daze.
Scenes like this happened everywhere in Yu Yutian, sometimes it was a young Taoist priest, sometimes it was a white-haired old man...
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Inside Shixuan Cave.
After three hundred and ninety years of collection, countless "auras of enlightenment" gathered in Shi Xuan's chest, and the talisman and seal characters were surrounded by each other, falling into them from time to time, causing them to emit a light that seemed black and white.
When the last two Taoist characters flew in, the formless aura immediately twisted and changed, gathering and taking shape.
After burning a stick of incense, the entire quiet room was filled with the light of smart wisdom. A thin book appeared in Shi Xuan's palm. The simple patterns on it merged into three seal characters: "Tao Te Ching".