Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

Zhang Zhiwei sat cross-legged under a four-pillared stone archway that was about nine meters high and twelve meters wide.

The archway is carved with reliefs of the Three Pure Ones and auspicious clouds and mythical beasts. The couplet reads, "The immortal mountain is safe and sound, its Taoist spirit renowned as the dragon and tiger; the scenic spot is filled with the sounds of nature, free from any foulness, and is hailed as the capital of Taoism."

This is the ritual gateway to Longhu Mountain, and believers who come to Longhu Mountain to burn incense will pass through here.

With people coming and going, countless traces have been left behind. Therefore, Zhang Zhiwei has been sitting here for a while, contemplating the past and present, and witnessing the birth and rise and fall of Taoism.

He had seen Taiping Daoists wrapped in ochre headscarves, holding up wooden banners, shouting with fervent faith, "The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise."

It was an era of widespread poverty and the collapse of faith in the divine order, where divine and royal power were locked in a power struggle over the corpses of starving people.

He saw the sons of the Wang and Xie families from the Jin Dynasty, dressed in loose robes, drinking wine, playing the "Guangling San" melody, and taking Wushi San (a type of traditional Chinese medicine)...

This is an era where metaphysical discussions collide with the brevity of life.

He saw that during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Taoism and Buddhism competed for incense offerings, and refugees wore straw sandals as they trudged across the frozen Huai River.

…………

The spiritual imprint of every era is filled with the tug-of-war between reality and illusion.

These experiences, though seemingly unreal and similar to scenes in the interior, are actually fundamentally different.

The inner vision is a projection of one's own spirit. What you experience in it can never exceed your own cognition, much like a memorable dream.

It is unrealistic to expect to gain experience, broaden one's horizons, and temper one's character through inner cultivation.

However, this method works. Although he did not explore it in depth, his spirit streaked across that space and time like a shooting star. Although brief, it left a unique mark on him, imprinting his spiritual imprint on one era after another.

At this moment, his destiny spans the past and present, and his already immense weight is increasing exponentially.

Going back a thousand years, all the way to the present, his spiritual imprint is like footprints covering every era, but at the same time, the imprint of each era is also in his heart.

In that instant, he seemed to transcend the barriers of time and space, becoming a thousand-year-old man, connected to every era.

This is a completely new form of spiritual practice.

If one relies solely on travel and experience to hone one's subjective understanding, the effort is too weak and inefficient. It is difficult to truly cultivate a powerful subjective understanding that transcends objectivity. It requires a significant investment of time, perhaps decades or even centuries, to achieve any real progress.

His current approach can be described as doing the opposite.

To follow the natural order is to be mortal; to defy it is to be immortal.

If there is a timeline connecting the past and present in this objective world, the ordinary method of cultivation is to move forward along this timeline, while his method is to move backward against the timeline.

Of course, he is also moving forward, which does not conflict with his understanding of the past and present.

As his understanding deepened, the Qi around Zhang Zhiwei became increasingly ethereal and intangible.

This ethereal quality does not mean that others cannot perceive his Qi.

This ethereal feeling comes from the naked eye, because if a keen observer were present, they would notice that Zhang Zhiwei's soul seems disproportionate to his young body.

He possesses an ethereal quality that seems to have existed since time immemorial.

In fact, the former Left Gate Master also had a faint sense of this feeling about him—a youthful body with a weathered soul. That's why he had the nickname "Great Ying Immortal."

At this moment, Zhang Zhiwei's feeling far surpassed that of Zuo Menchang.

This miraculous change is not only reflected in the strength of his subjective thinking, but also in his life. After all, subjective thinking depends on life; they are interdependent. The strength of subjective thinking naturally leads to the improvement of life.

At the same time, it is also reflected in his magic, after all, magic also contains the aura and divine will of the caster.

With such significant progress in his subjective understanding, Zhang Zhiwei's divine intent in his magic naturally became even more profound and unfathomable.

In fact, Zhang Zhiwei has already reached the realm of "Tao".

The realm of "Tao" is actually the realm of Dan Gong cultivation, which is returning to emptiness and uniting with "Tao".

Zhang Zhiwei didn't think too much about this realm. He stood up from under the archway, his tall figure of 1.9 meters making him exceptionally conspicuous in this era.

It was at this moment that the pilgrims passing by noticed him, wondering when this big Taoist priest had arrived here and why they hadn't noticed him before.

Although Zhang Zhiwei was a big mouth, he wasn't so big that he would just start talking to a few strangers. He turned around and left the archway, returning to the Celestial Master's Mansion.

When he passed by Zhengyi Temple, he saw a group of young Taoist priests sitting cross-legged at the entrance, and a young Taoist priest standing in front of them, instructing them on their cultivation.

The young Taoist priests were meditating with their eyes closed, unaware of Zhang Zhiwei.

The young Taoist priest in charge of teaching was greatly surprised when he saw Zhang Zhiwei and quickly said:

"Brother Zhi... Zhiwei... why are you here?"

Not all disciples of Longhu Mountain were Zhang Jingqing's disciples; there were also differences in their relationship. Zhang Zhiwei only felt the Taoist priest in front of him looked familiar, but couldn't recall his name. He nodded.

"Just wandering around. Is this a new novice?"

"箓生" refers to a Taoist priest who has not yet met the standards for ordination.

This is similar to the practice of the Sanyi Sect in testing disciples in the lower courtyard when they are recruited; it is a selection process.

The ordained monks came from various backgrounds; some were recommended by different temples.

Some came to become disciples because of their reputation, while others were young people with good aptitude whom the Taoist priests of the Celestial Master's Mansion met during their travels and were brought back directly. Zhang Zhiwei and Tian Jinzhong were disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion in this way.

Don't underestimate Tian Jinzhong just because he seems unremarkable; it depends on who you compare him to.

In Longhu Mountain, with Zhang Zhiwei and Zhang Huaiyi, he could only be Xiao Tian.

Once outside of Longhu Mountain, ordinary cultivators would have to call him Master Tian.

“Brother Zhiwei, they’ve all just entered the mountain. I’m still teaching them how to practice the Dragon Tiger Inner Elixir Technique!” the young Taoist said.

The Dragon-Tiger Inner Alchemy Technique is also a basic cultivation method of the Celestial Master's Mansion, but it has no special effects and can only cultivate one's life force.

This is basically the first thing that new monks who have just entered Longhu Mountain encounter.

As for the Golden Light Mantra... that's an introductory technique, and only Taoists who have entered the sect and been granted a talisman are qualified to practice it.

The monks who were meditating with their eyes closed opened their eyes to look when they heard the conversation between Zhang Zhiwei and the young Taoist priest.

Becoming a registered student is equivalent to having one foot in the circle of extraordinary people. Most of them have heard of the great name of Little Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei.

Some of the Taoist priests even came to Longhu Mountain to become Taoists because of Zhang Zhiwei's reputation. When they saw Zhang Zhiwei, they were naturally very excited and immediately stood up to greet him.

Zhang Zhiwei was never one to put on airs, and besides, a considerable number of the disciples present would join the Celestial Master's Mansion and become his juniors, so he naturally wouldn't ignore them and greeted them. The group of disciples were so excited to be able to get close to their idol and even talk to him that they completely ignored the young Taoist priest who was instructing them.

Zhang Zhiwei looked at the young Taoist priest and said, "You go and rest first. I will teach today's cultivation class!"

The reason for this idea is that when Zhang Zhiwei was honing his subjective skills, the last scene he "observed" was a scene from when he and several fellow disciples were children when they were ordained as monks.

Now that he had seen new students with talismans, he was moved by the sight and decided to stop and see what kind of talent these students possessed.

The young Taoist priest readily agreed, but instead of leaving, he stepped aside, somewhat curious about how Zhang Zhiwei would instruct him.

When the students heard that the Little Celestial Master was going to personally instruct them, they were all instantly energized, as if they had been injected with chicken blood. Who didn't know that the Little Celestial Master was nicknamed the "human embodiment of opportunity"? To receive his guidance was an absolute stroke of good fortune.

Some aspiring Taoists even wanted to become Taoist priests just to get closer to the Little Celestial Master and learn from him, but they never expected to receive guidance before even formally entering the Celestial Master's Mansion.

Of course, there were also a few students who were not previously in the circle of extraordinary people. They did not know Zhang Zhiwei, or they had only heard bits and pieces of information from other people. At this moment, they all looked at Zhang Zhiwei with curiosity.

However, with their keen eyesight, apart from noticing that Zhang Zhiwei was unusually tall, they couldn't see anything else extraordinary about him.

"Alright, sit down. Now, let's begin the lesson," Zhang Zhiwei said.

The monks quickly returned to their previous positions and sat cross-legged in meditation.

Afterwards, Zhang Zhiwei explained the key points of the Dragon Tiger Internal Alchemy Technique to them again.

What he said was actually not much different from what the young Taoist priest said, except that he made some modifications to some key points to make it more accessible and easier to understand, so that even people with low levels of education and limited literacy could understand its meaning.

After explaining the key points of cultivation, he instructed the disciples to meditate and cultivate on their own.

The group of disciples immediately entered a meditative state.

While they were practicing, Zhang Zhiwei was also observing them.

The Dragon Tiger Inner Alchemy Technique has no special effects; it is the simplest method of cultivation, and simplicity often means safety.

Among these registered practitioners, some may have originally been part of the circle and had already obtained Qi in advance, so they made rapid progress in cultivating the Dragon Tiger Inner Alchemy Technique. However, most registered practitioners are still in the stage of comprehending Qi.

Obtaining Qi is both difficult and easy.

If one is born with perfect constitution, there is no need to explain any principles; one can break through them simply through cultivation.

Even if one is born with deficiencies, but has good meditation skills, one can easily obtain Qi.

If one's innate abilities are average, and one's mind is restless and unable to calm down, then it will be quite difficult, and some external stimulation may be needed.

The various trials and tribulations during the ordination ceremony, such as running for seven days and seven nights without sleep, have this effect.

Of course, if you have average talent and a restless mind, you generally won't be able to persevere to that stage unless you have some outstanding strengths.

Zhang Zhiwei scanned the room, his gaze sweeping over Lu Sheng one by one.

With his current level of insight, he can clearly see the amount of innate Qi in these little guys' bodies, as well as their mental fluctuations.

The more intense the emotional fluctuations, the lower the level of calm, and the more restless the mind becomes.

Those little guys who had already obtained Qi had decent amounts of innate Qi within them.

As for meditation... well, it's only so-so.

Moreover, judging from their behavior during practice, they have specifically practiced meditation.

If you've practiced meditation and are still like this, it either means you weren't serious about practicing stillness, or you have a poor ability to calm down, or neither of these is true.

However, one of the little guys who hadn't yet obtained Qi actually had the most abundant innate Qi among all the ordained disciples, even ranking among the best in the Celestial Master's Mansion.

What's most remarkable is that although this kid's level of meditation is very low, his mental fluctuations are exceptionally calm.

This shows that he had a relatively high starting point in stillness, but he had not undergone specialized training, so his level of stillness was not high.

Moreover, judging from his breathing, he doesn't seem to have any prior experience with Qi cultivation; he must be a beginner.

Zhang Zhiwei said, "Don't be nervous, relax and calm your mind. Distracting thoughts are like the wind, they will blow away the Qi in your body."

"Close your eyes and feel your body. Don't rush. Don't focus on the practice itself, and don't think about how to sense the Qi."

"Focus on your breathing, don't try to control it, just pay attention to it."

"To calm down, it is actually very simple. You don't need to do too much. Just watch your breath. You don't need to do anything. Just watch your breath and you will gradually calm down. This is called the method of observation, or the method of breathing."

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

“You restrain your consciousness, just watch it, let it come and go without responding to it.”

"It will eventually calm down because it can't do anything to you. At that time, you will be at peace and inactive."

"By facing the myriad delusions with tranquility and inaction, one can ultimately attain freedom."

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

Zhang Zhiwei's voice seems to have a kind of magic; those who hear it feel the noisy environment around them suddenly calm down, and their restless hearts are instantly soothed.

They started doing as Zhang Zhiwei had instructed.

Soon, their breathing became more and more even, especially when they inhaled, as if something was being drawn into their stomachs from the outside along with the air.

As they exhale, the air they just inhaled begins to sink, all the way down to the bottom of their stomachs.

Throughout the entire process, they remained observers without interfering in the slightest.

With each breath, their attention naturally shifted to the bottom of their stomachs.

They sensed that there were many water-like substances sloshing around inside.

This is... Soon someone realized that this place is the lower dantian, and that water-like thing is actually qi.

Upon realizing this, he felt a surge of vitality, and the Qi in his lower dantian began to transform into a warm current.

“Qi…Qi…I can feel Qi!” a boy exclaimed.

Zhang Zhiwei nodded, confirming his earlier assessment. He asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Fang Qianhe," Lu Sheng quickly replied. (End of Chapter)