Notes on Longevity

Chapter 58 Holding a whisk, I come to the mortal world; I will return to it.

Twenty years of literary and commercial history, the fifteenth day of the first month of spring, early morning.

A gentle spring breeze sways ten thousand branches, and the sun shines on the billowing robes of young men.

Ping An and Yu Yan closed their eyes and sat cross-legged on the edge of a cliff in Zouma Mountain, with Qing Shui behind them.

He held a whisk and nodded slightly as he looked at the two of them. Then he began to pace back and forth behind them, chanting, "Put your palms up on your knees."

As Qingshui spoke, Ping An and Yu Yuyan demonstrated: "Close your eyes, feel your breath, listen to your heartbeat. Take a deep breath, swallow the air into your stomach, open your mouth slightly, and exhale. Repeat this process. This is called breathing exercises."

"The air swallowed into the belly is the essence of heaven and earth, which is beneficial; the air exhaled is the turbid air of the body, which is harmful."

"The method of breathing exercises is a way to cleanse and transform the body, washing away impurities and giving one a pure and clean body."

“Daily repetition can cleanse the body and rejuvenate the flesh.”

"The longer it goes on, the more one can cleanse one's marrow and refine one's bones, achieving a state of rebirth and physical transformation. This is the first step towards longevity, an essential path to immortality, and the first step in cultivation."

Ping An listened to Qing Shui's words and quietly breathed in and out as he spoke. Although he did not feel as miraculous as he was told, he did feel that his body was somewhat different after repeating this for the past few days. However, when he stopped, he felt no different.

"In addition to cleansing the marrow and transforming the body, the method of breathing exercises also involves cultivating the dantian. The dantian has three parts: the upper dantian (spirit gathering), the middle dantian (qi mansion), and the lower dantian (essence area)."

“The kidneys generate vital energy, and within this energy lies the true water. If this water returns to the lower elixir, then the essence nourishes the spiritual root, and vital energy will naturally arise; this is the middle elixir.”

“When fluid is generated in the heart, there is pure Yang energy within the fluid. If this energy is returned to the middle elixir, the energy nourishes the spiritual source, and the spirit is naturally generated. This is the superior elixir.”

"True water and true qi combine to form essence, which resides in the lower elixir. Gathering spirit becomes divine, and uniting divine into the Dao leads to the return of the upper elixir."

"When the Qi of the three elixir merges and flows in a continuous cycle, the three elixir are formed and the Qi Sea gathers."

Unlike the other Taoists in Zouma Temple, Ping An spends his days reciting scriptures together and preparing for practicing magic with Yu Yan and Qing Shui, and meditation and breathing exercises are one of the steps in this process.

In addition, every afternoon Qingshui would take Ping'an to any cliff platform in the temple to practice martial arts with his senior brothers. This was the norm for many people in Zouma Temple.

In the secular world, the concept of immortals is a legend, a vague and ethereal story. But in Taoist temples, these things are truly real. And the people in the temples can be said to have unwavering faith in them.

Because there is a living immortal in Zoumaguan.

"Who is it?" Ping An asked Yu Yan, who seemed to be stirring up the world while eating a meal, from inside Qing Shui's room.

"You've seen it." Yu Yan's mouth was full of vegetables, but she kept putting more into her bowl, and even took a bite of the steamed bun in her hand.

"I've seen him before?" Ping An asked, looking at the imposing Yu Yan with a puzzled expression. When had he seen him before?

"I've seen it, it was that day, cough cough," Yu Yan said, her mouth full of steamed buns and vegetables. As she answered Ping An's question, her mouth opened and closed, and she accidentally swallowed some unchewed steamed buns along with the vegetables, coughing incessantly.

Ping An told him not to speak yet, but to drink some porridge.

Yu Yan was equally unceremonious. Seeing that his bowl of porridge was empty, he stood up, picked up Ping An's bowl, and drank it in large gulps, swallowing the food in his mouth along with it.

He watched Yu Yan wolf down her food and broke out in a cold sweat, wondering if this was really alright. Didn't his martial uncle say that one should eat less before and after practicing breathing exercises? But this...
Yu Yan quickly finished Ping An's full bowl of porridge, and then said to Ping An a little embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, junior brother, senior brother may have a big appetite."

Ping An smiled and said, "It's alright, Senior Brother, I can't eat much anyway." After spending these past few days together, he had gotten used to it. He had thought that his Senior Brother usually had the air of an immortal, but he hadn't expected him to be like this in private.

Then he looked at Yu Yan and asked, "By the way, you just said I've seen that immortal, but I don't know about him." "Hmm? Didn't Master tell you about the Old Ancestor of Yuyang?" Yu Yan looked at Ping An in confusion.

Ping An paused slightly upon hearing the word "Ancestor," and asked, "Is that the old man on the mountaintop?"

"Yes, didn't Master tell you?" Yu Yan asked cautiously.

"No." Ping An shook her head.

"That's strange. The Old Ancestor of Yuyang wants to see you, and your master taught you all this, but he didn't mention the Old Ancestor to you." Yu Yan ate her food, somewhat puzzled.

"Is there any difference?" Ping An was even more puzzled than Yu Yan was.

Yu Yan glanced at Ping An, then lowered her head and slowly ate a couple of bites of food. After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke, "I wonder if you've noticed something these past few days."

Ping An didn't understand why Yu Yan asked that: "What is it?"

“It’s like us, doing the same things at different times every day. But nothing else,” Yu Yan said, putting down her chopsticks.

"Aren't they all the same?" Ping An replied to Yu Yan with a sincere expression.

"Looks like you've really gotten into it," Yu Yan said, rubbing her forehead.

Ping An looked at Yu Yan, completely bewildered by his words. "What do you mean?"

Yu Yan waved his hand, then stood up and smiled at Ping An, saying, "You'll see when you have time to look down from the mountain."

After saying that, he picked up the sword that was placed aside and turned to leave.

Ping An watched Yu Yan's departing figure and felt very strange: What's different about this?

Don't they spend their days chanting scriptures, practicing exercises, and studying Buddhist teachings?

After Yu Yan left, Ping An didn't eat much. He quickly tidied himself up and went to the cliff platform where he practiced his skills. However, when he arrived, neither his martial uncle nor Yu Yan were there. Usually, his martial uncle would be waiting there by now.

Ping An didn't think much of it. As usual, he sat cross-legged facing the cliff top and the direction of the sunrise, and began his breathing exercises again.

On the stone platform at the top of the mountain, the old man known as the Old Ancestor of Yuyang changed his usual demeanor. He was no longer slumped there lifelessly, but sat upright, listening to Qingshui say, "This child is indeed very talented. He can learn many things after being taught them."

As he spoke, he looked at Yu Yan, who was standing beside him with a sword in his hand: "It took Yu Yan half a month to learn the breathing technique, but Ping An mastered it in no time. Besides that, he seems to have a natural talent for alchemy. The day before yesterday, I taught him the fire technique, and he learned it in one go."

"Many disciples can only use their spells once or twice because their dantian is unstable and their qi sea is empty, but he can burn for a whole night."

“This child is indeed different.” After hearing Qing Shui’s words, the Old Ancestor of Yuyang sighed and looked up at the sky: “In the past, I practiced alchemy for decades in order to seek the secret of immortality, and only then did I have such an opportunity. It seems that Ping An really has the potential to become an immortal. In the end, Zoumaguan will not be able to keep him.”

"Ancestor, what do you mean by this?" Qingshui asked upon hearing this.

"The day I first met this child, I couldn't help but utter a few words," said the Old Ancestor of Yuyang with a smile.

“I came with a whisk in hand, and now I’m going to the mortal world.” After saying this, Yu Yang, like a wilted flower, slumped down, head bowed, eyes closed, and fell into a deep sleep.

(End of this chapter)