Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 29 Da Huang Ting (Part )
Just like in the past, when our teacher Shakyamuni was meditating under the Bodhi tree and suddenly realized the Three Vehicles, and opened up another path besides the Hunyuan Yiqi and the Daluo Tianxian of the Three Patriarchs of Taoism, no one knew whether the path to the supreme enlightenment he realized could transcend birth and death.

It was through Shakyamuni's practice of his own path, enduring immense hardships, that he was able to understand the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, attaining the Great Enlightenment and becoming a supreme ruler. Only then did the world realize the boundless power of Western Buddhism, transcending the ocean of suffering. Therefore, the ultimate truth requires practice, not conjecture.

Lu Shang carefully studied the meditation techniques in the Huangting Neijing Jade Scripture until he memorized them thoroughly. He slowly raised his eyes, and his gaze rested on a line of small characters at the very front of the page: "The first of the Eight Scenery Gods in the Upper Section is the God of Wisdom, named Jue Yuanzi, with the courtesy name Daodu, and white in color."

This is the first body deity that Lü Shang sought to cultivate, and the most important of the twenty-four deities. The Shangqing school calls the deity of wisdom the "brain deity," saying it resides in the Niwan, at the root of the essence, and in charge of wisdom. It is the master of all deities, the leader of all gods, and all deities pay homage to the Niwan.

It is also said that after achieving success in brain meditation, one can purify the mind and stop desires, abandon distracting thoughts, clear the mind, and open up wisdom. The "Lingshu: Hai Lun" says: The brain is the sea of ​​marrow. If the marrow sea is excessive, one will feel light and strong. If the marrow sea is insufficient, the brain will spin, the ears will tinnitus will be heard, the legs will be sore, dizzy, and sluggish and prone to sleep.

The Daoist Canon states that the human body has 48,000 orifices and 84,000 spirits, with spirits residing in the orifices, just as the brain spirit resides in the Niwan. The reason the number of orifices differs from the number of body spirits is that some orifices contain only one body spirit, while others contain multiple body spirits residing in a single orifice.

Lü Shang considered the Brain Spirit the first step in practicing martial arts to achieve immortality. This was not only because the Brain Spirit is the master of the entire body and the core of the Body Spirit, but also because cultivating the Brain Spirit is safer than cultivating the other Body Spirits. Taoists of the Shangqing School who cultivate the Twenty-Four Spirits all begin by cultivating the Brain Spirit.

The cultivation methods of the Twenty-Four Huangting Gods, refined by successive Shangqing sect masters, had long since reached near perfection. As long as Lü Shang followed the meditation methods outlined in the Huangting Neijing Jade Sutra and cultivated his spirit step by step, even if mistakes were made in his practice, they would not harm his fundamentals.

At most, you will feel depressed for a while, but you will recover after some rest.

"Jueyuanzi, whose name is Daodu, is white in color, one inch and one fen long, and five and a half fen high." Lu Shang adjusted his posture, sitting in a cross-legged position, making seals with his hands, and naturally straightening his spine to let the breath flow smoothly throughout his body. He calmed his mind, eliminated distracting thoughts, and entered a state of meditation.

In short, the so-called meditation is that the practitioner concentrates his mind and thoughts in a quiet state to visualize the appearance, name, color and other details of the wise spirit.

In the mind, clearly outline the pure white image of the intelligent and divine Jue Yuanzi, silently recite his name "Jue Yuanzi" and the character "Daodu", use this to guide your consciousness, communicate with it, and then reach the state of spiritual restraint and wisdom awakening, and abandon distracting thoughts and filth.

After Lü Shang entered a state of meditation, he visualized the brain spirit appearing in the center of his Niwan acupoint, sitting upright and serene, his entire body radiating a brilliant aura. He wore a crown and fine clothing, his features solemn and his aura powerful. In resonance with him, a burst of divine energy emerged from the darkness, filling his entire body.

After this bit of divine energy emerged, it was as if it wiped away the dirt covering his fleshy shell, freeing him from the burden of flesh. He felt a sense of relief. Lu Shang opened his eyes in surprise and delight, taking in this completely different experience and saying, "It really works. This path is feasible!"

After taking the most critical and important first step, Lu Shang's flesh shell after marrow training and blood transfusion had a wonderful reaction with the divine energy. Under the guidance of the divine energy, the bones in Lu Shang's body made subtle and crisp sounds, and every inch of his joints was being reshaped.

The divine energy was like a lively and agile dragon and snake, moving freely through the limbs and bones. Wherever it passed, every cell in the flesh cheered and leaped for joy, greedily absorbing the nourishment brought by the divine energy.

At the same time, the flesh shell's internal organs began to spontaneously resonate with the divine energy. The rhythm of the heartbeat gradually aligned with the frequency of the divine energy's fluctuations. Each beat seemed to play a melody of life, and the gushing blood contained a surge of vitality. With each breath, the divine energy merged with the inner and outer heaven and earth, being inhaled through the mouth and nose and slowly escaping through the pores. The flesh shell seemed to have transformed into a vast furnace, constantly refining itself with the divine energy.

"It's just this feeling,"

Lu Shang glanced at the Huangting Inner Scene Jade Sutra with some doubt, muttering, "This is too intense, too intense. If just practicing the Huangting Twenty-Four Gods could have this effect, the Shangqing Sect would have long since swept the Lingbao Sect and the Louguan Sect and become the leader of the Taoist sect."

"No, is there something wrong with my repair? Or is it my own problem?"

The divine energy gained from contemplating the body and soul, and Lü Shang's own Gonggong bloodline, seemed to undergo some strange changes when the two collided. This change was beyond Lü Shang's expectations. At present, it seemed that the two complemented each other and had considerable benefits for Lü Shang himself.

But until he understood the key, Lü Shang felt something was amiss. Cultivation was a path of no return. But just as Lü Shang was trying to understand the connection, a wave of weakness washed over him. Then came a headache, tinnitus, and a limp, making it difficult for him to control himself.

"This is because you have overtrained and your body is in a state of depletion." Lu Shang naturally knew what was going on. He was in seclusion this time to comprehend the secret of Jinhua. He had not slept or eaten for several days, and his vitality had been greatly depleted.

If he hadn't focused on contemplating his body and mind, with his reborn physique at the level of a True Person, he could have endured another three to five days. However, Lu Shang was so engrossed in the Taoist practice that he didn't even consider his physical condition and went straight into contemplation.

The meditation process went so smoothly that the effect was so good that the divine energy and Gonggong's bloodline met, like oil boiling over a raging fire, causing Lü Shang's flesh to begin to transform again. However, this transformation was fueled by Lü Shang's vital energy.

"Sir, you finally woke up," just when Lu Shang was secretly regretting his mistake, Fang Zi'an, who had been squatting in front of the warehouse for some time, exclaimed in surprise and joy when he saw that Lu Shang was no longer as foolish as before.

As a member of the Linzi Fang family, Fang Zi'an was born into a family of officials and had always observed etiquette. When had he ever behaved so unceremoniously? However, Lu Shang's maddening behavior these past few days had indeed frightened Fang Zi'an.

After all, if something happened to Lu Shang, not only would Fang Zian be held accountable, but several branches of his Fang family would also be implicated. Fang Zian was not afraid of death, but he was afraid of implicating his clan. The importance of his clan was greater than his personal life and death.

Because of his fear for the safety of his house, he became so anxious when he saw that Lü Shang was not in good condition. He even crouched in front of the library door with his food box, waiting for Lü Shang to regain consciousness, as Lü Shang had not eaten or drunk for several days.

(End of this chapter)