Lord of the Desert

Chapter 515 The Flow of Returning to the Sea
The footsteps had barely stopped when they returned.

"Hong Fan?"

The door opened, and an elderly man in his sixties or seventies with gray hair entered; he was tall and thin, walked swiftly, but his eyes were unfocused.

"It is me, your eyes?"

Hong Fan was slightly taken aback.

"A certain family member suffered eye injuries from poisoning while on field duty years ago. After repeated attempts to treat the wounds failed, they took charge of managing this place for over twenty years."

The old man smiled and returned.

"A five-story building, tens of thousands of books—how could you possibly remember their locations?"

Hong Fan couldn't help but ask a question.

"You don't need to remember everything."

The old man laughed it off nonchalantly, completely oblivious to the sensitive nature of the matter.

"The martial arts manuals in the pavilion are all categorized according to their attribute types. Each book on the shelf has a brass plaque engraved with its title. Although I can't see them, I can feel them."

As he spoke, he pulled out a thread-bound book made of mulberry bark paper from his pocket, with the five large characters "Blazing Fire Explosion Classic" written in regular script on the cover.

"Take a look, I'll wait outside; by the way, what I'm giving you now is a copy, call me after you've finished reading it all, and I'll get you the original so you can compare it."

The old man explained as he backed away.

"Just letting you know in advance, the comparison was originally only for a quarter of an hour. It's not that I'm deliberately being stingy, but most of the books in the pavilion are quite old, so I want to minimize the wear and tear."

Hong Fan nodded upon hearing this, and then, remembering that the other person couldn't see, quickly added, "Thank you for your trouble."

The wooden door closed.

He took a deep breath and turned the page; the awe-inspiring general outline was right there.

[Externally, it seizes the spirit of heaven, relying on the pearl of the Purple Palace for ninefold return; internally, it refines the vitality, relying on the flame of the red furnace for samadhi.]

……

It is without birth or death, without obstruction or regression;

By being sincere and truthful, one can subdue all evil.

Thoughts exist outside the body; all phenomena are subject to endurance.

Thus, the three realms are clear and pure, reaching the pinnacle of human perfection; thus, one relinquishes existence to attain emptiness, exploring the principles of heaven.

A heart burning with unwavering loyalty, transcending the ordinary to the sacred.

Hong Fan quickly skimmed through the section below Yuan Ci and confirmed that it was no different from what he had obtained from Xu Guinian in Xijing. Then, with a sincere heart, he devoted himself to studying the section starting from the peak of Xiantian.

The method for refining the five internal organs using the Fiery Blaze Manual is called "Rebirth of the Embryo".

In short, it means guiding high-concentration innate spiritual energy and fiery true essence through the meridians and collaterals, like amniotic fluid enveloping and soaking the five internal organs, and then using corresponding visualization methods to gradually transform them.

This method places high demands on the practitioner's innate distribution density and carrying capacity of the meridian system, and its difficulty far exceeds that of unblocking the meridians in the innate stage.

It all comes down to destiny stars and the Dragon Soul Tree.

Hong Fan had already mentally prepared himself for this.

After the Primordial Magnetism comes the Three Realms of Heaven and Man.

The method for attaining the "unity of heaven and man" is called "Realizing Truth in Fire".

After reaching the peak of the Yuan Magnetic state, the True Yuan Blazing Fire is used to continuously burn from the outside in, from the skin and flesh to the bone marrow. After each minor damage, the body is stimulated and restored with Pure True Yuan.

Having endured countless pains and discomforts, the body becomes as harmonious as heaven and earth, experiencing neither discomfort nor unease, thus shedding the mortal and revealing the true self.

The method for proving "I am the only one who is supreme" is called "interdependence of mind and thought".

First, focus on your breathing rhythm, and by "replacing all other thoughts with a single thought," you will naturally attain "stillness."

In meditation, one should further practice "awareness." The first principle is "not afraid of thoughts arising, but only afraid of being slow to become aware," meaning being sensitive to every single thought. The second principle is "neither continuing nor following," meaning ensuring clear awareness while truly allowing one's mind to neither identify with nor follow random thoughts.

As one's control over one's thoughts increases and distracting thoughts are extinguished, one can enter the next level of meditative absorption. By repeatedly traversing the eight levels of meditative absorption, one can finally reach the Vajra state of "the mind is unmoved and no thought arises," at which point one can freely draw upon external spiritual energy through the mind's perception of reality.

The method for attaining the realization of "manifesting countless thoughts" is called "Four Aspects of Contemplation." Although it is called contemplation, in Hong Fan's view, it is more like a kind of mental training.

The first step is called "taking the image"—imagine a unique image (such as a blazing celestial being) until it clearly appears in your mind when the thought arises.

The second step is called "purification"—eliminating impurities, clarifying boundary lines, and leaving only a three-dimensional and pure image.

The third step is called transformation—making the image freely scale and come alive (such as making the fiery celestial being walk and change color).

The fourth step is called "using imagery"—engaging with the imagery, guiding it to connect with the true essence, and obtaining feedback.

After completing the four steps, once the mental image of death transforms into life and the command is given, one will naturally attain the supernatural power of true essence and spirit.

Having described the cultivation and attainment of the three realms of gods and humans, the scriptures were nearing their end, yet the matter was not yet concluded.

According to the records of the Martial Arts Academy, there are more than twenty martial arts manuals that can reach the three realms of Heaven and Man, but only a small number are considered to have the opportunity to break through to the Martial Saint level—this requires that the martial arts manuals at least record theoretically feasible ideas.

The last three pages record the creator's vision for "renouncing existence to attain emptiness, with a heart as pure as fire":

From birth, humans receive information from the outside world every minute and every second. Through cognition and learning, they continuously accumulate knowledge and experience, thus taming the outside world.

But the process of domestication is also a process of being domesticated.

Because of the various habits accumulated later in life, people are molded and degenerated into "tools," losing more possibilities. To become a martial saint, one must grind away these acquired habits and return to the freedom of intention.

The method is quite simple.

In the realm of the Heart Eater, there is a special flame called "Heart Eater Black Flame," which is a remnant of the Heart Eater Demon King after his fall and is also the reason why the Impermanent Realm erodes humanity.

Once the practitioner reaches the peak of the Celestial Realm, they will plant the Heart-Eating Black Flame in their dantian and nurture it. They will then use visualization to direct their will to burn, gradually forgetting all the common sense they know about this body—existence and non-existence, lightness and heaviness, purity and turbidity, birth and death—until their understanding of martial arts diminishes and they interact with the external world purely through willpower.

Thus, according to the descriptions in the classics, one should be able to achieve the martial saint realm where "true essence does not reside in the dantian, and its movement does not require meridians; the fire arises from the thought."

So, is this theoretically feasible?

Hong Fan remained silent for a long time after reading it.

This method is too abstract in its description and too risky to execute.

He had already seen the fate of those who played pranks—they hadn't completely lost their humanity, and their martial arts were still intact—so how could they possibly reach the realm of a martial saint?
Of course, Hong Fan knew that he was still far from the peak of the Celestial Realm, and it was normal that he could not comprehend it. The important thing was that since he was already here, he should memorize the martial arts manual word for word.

Half an hour later, with the mental capacity of a congenital martial artist, he had memorized the entire martial arts manual perfectly.

After the old deacon brought the original and confirmed that there was no difference between the two, Hong Fan was completely relieved.

His years of hard work have finally borne fruit, and his path of cultivation for the foreseeable future is now clear, but he does not seem to feel the joy he imagined.

Two days ago, a brief moment of tenderness with Xiao Chu helped Hong Fan recover some of his composure, but the anxiety of his lack of strength did not lessen in the slightest.

A world where impermanence is constantly recurring is illusory.

But that journey wasn't.

Compared to them, the Primordial Celestials are nothing special, and even the Martial Saint is reduced to a basic goal.

A quarter to noon, He Xuanyan accompanied Hong Fan to the main entrance, bowed to him, and then left.

The carriage was still parked in the alley, with Shen Hong waiting beside it.

Hong Fan walked down the stone steps with dragging steps, hesitated for a moment, then turned around and approached the bronze lion guarding the gate, gently touching its shiny front paws that were still damp.

It wasn't that he was particularly attached to the Martial Arts Academy, nor did he ever intend to stay in the Eight Departments for long.

Life's end is like a river flowing back to the sea; with each bend, one has one less choice.

The tiger-eating beast was stupid and couldn't remember the passing days and months, so it snorted to urge them on.

Hong Fan looked up upon hearing the sound and saw "True Lord Yuhua" Tian Huai standing quietly under the statue inside the gate, seeing him off.

The two remained silent, exchanging glances.

A gust of wind blew by, rippling the green grass in the cracks of the wall.

The carriage emerged from the alley, its red flags fluttering on the stone slabs, its hooves moving swiftly, the clatter of its hooves like the tinkling of bells.

Hong Fan changed out of his purple auspicious cloud robe inside the carriage and sat by the window watching the pedestrians and shops flow by, feeling momentarily lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)