Ziwei Immortal Path

Chapter 76: The Eight Meridians of the Palace
Hearing this, Monk Li completely collapsed, almost going crazy, his face full of anger, unable to bear it any longer, he cursed:
"You little bastard, you're going too far! Come here and kill me with your sword! I'll feel sick if I even look at you again!"

Xu Boyang closed his eyes, pursed his lips, and was not moved at all.

This added fuel to the fire. Monk Li was furious and could not help cursing. After he opened his mouth, he would not close it again. All kinds of obscenities flowed out like a river, and it was out of control.

After Xu Boyang entered into a state of meditation, he simply closed his six senses and focused on breathing, not listening to what he was saying. Only after he had completed twelve cycles of meditation did he stop and open his eyes.

Monk Li was lying on the stone table like a puddle of mud, his mouth full of white foam, he was panting, his eyes were wide open, his eyeballs were still moving, and he was breathing out two breaths from his nostrils. He looked at Xu Boyang with a face full of helplessness and sadness, and said slowly:
"I, I... I really admire you. Even at this moment, you still have the mind to practice Qigong and meditate. Well, you come and kill me with a sword. But before you die, tell me your name so that I can rest in peace."

"You only remember to ask my name now?"

Xu Boyang smiled and stood up, clapped his hands and said:

"Do you remember that from beginning to end, you never asked my name. You kept talking about how you would repay me, saying you would be my slave, my servant, and work like a slave for me. I was wondering at the time why you didn't even ask my name? Is this how you act towards someone who saved your life?"

Monk Li was heartbroken at this moment, having already lost all hope. He looked at the smiling white-robed man in front of him, snorted coldly, and said:

"If I take back your Dharma body, you will be a dead man, a dying man. Why bother with this?"

Xu Boyang clapped his hands lightly and said:

"That's exactly what you said! A real man stands tall and true, and he always keeps his word. Things have come to this point, what else is there to be afraid of? Wouldn't it be great if you openly admitted that you wanted to kill me?"

"Very good, very good. Senior Li has finally found his original intention. Now we can finally sit down and chat and listen to his anecdotes."

Monk Li sighed and said:
"Ask whatever you want to ask, and then give me a quick death! Use your magic weapon to shine on Polo! Otherwise, I might still be in this state of half-death!"

"You want to die so badly? No hurry, no hurry, let's talk first."

Xu Boyang sat back at the stone table, pondered for a moment, and asked,

"Well... just tell me about your story, starting from Qingshen, and how you went from being a Taoist disciple to becoming the monk Li, and then from the monk Li to becoming the scholar Li, or the Taoist Li?"

Monk Li sneered:

"You didn't believe anything I said before. Why do you think I'm really a Qingshen person, really a Li Daoist? Couldn't I be Li Monk, or Li Confucian scholar?"

"hehe!"

Xu Boyang laughed, his eyes moved, glanced at the stone couch, and said lightly,
"I can naturally judge your words. I'm not blind, so I can naturally distinguish right from wrong. You learned the strange secret method of Buddhism that allows you to switch bodies. You are naturally Monk Li. I don't know how you got the other two Dharma bodies that allow you to switch between them at will. Forgive my limited knowledge, but this is truly something I have never seen or heard of."

"But you're too partial. Open your eyes and take a good look at your three Dharma bodies. The scholar is ordinary and sloppy, but he looks passable. The monk has a pointed face and monkey cheeks, and looks like a thunder god. His clothes are also tattered. He is far inferior to the other two."

"Only this 'Li Dao Ren' has been meticulously maintained. His hair is smooth and shiny, and his beard is neatly trimmed. Although he is older, he has an immortal-like appearance and is quite upright. At first glance, he looks like a Taoist master, with the air of an immortal."

"So, Senior, I don't want to hear you constantly talk about how mediocre the cultivation of these two Dharma Bodies is. If I'm not mistaken, the weakest of your three Dharma Bodies should be this body of yours, right?"

Monk Li's expression grew increasingly grim. He had never imagined that the young man before him had such a sharp eye and meticulous mind, able to discover flaws from these minor details. He sighed softly and whispered,
"I, Taoist Li, thought I was incredibly smart and had lived to be a hundred years old, but I never expected my eyesight to be worse than a young man's. I've tried to draw a tiger but ended up drawing a dog instead, earning myself the ridicule of others."

Xu Boyang shook his head and said:

"As the saying goes, everything turns to its opposite when it reaches its extreme. Actually, you didn't have to explain to me at length about the realms of Confucian cultivation and abilities before. Perhaps I was still a little confused, but you were so detailed that it made me feel very strange. It wasn't until I saw these two Dharma bodies that I suddenly realized that all you said was foreshadowing for future use."

"You're afraid that I don't understand the realm of Confucian cultivation, and you're afraid to believe how weak you are as a Li Confucian scholar, so you don't dare to help you change your body. In fact, there's really no need to do that. Some things will become worse if you overdo it, and it will become a flaw. Of course, I believe what you said about Confucianism and Taoism."

"I don't think you're capable of making it up right now."

Monk Li's eyes dimmed as he shook his head slightly, saying, "Let's not talk about it anymore. You're amazing. With what you said, I'm completely exposed today and completely shattered."

Xu Boyang chuckled and said:
"You were careless today and were stabbed in the back. You were seriously injured and could not recover. You were so angry that you regarded me as a lifeline. You wanted to take back your Dharma body and avenge this so much that you were blinded by hatred and lost your mind."

"To be honest, if it weren't for this, I might really be harmed by you."

"In fact, I never thought I was smart. The world is so big, and there are so many talented people. I am just passing by and struggling through it."

"When I was a mortal, I traveled the world and encountered many bad people who cheated and deceived me. Fortunately, after I embarked on the immortal path, I could fly into the sky and hide underground, and I met more kind-hearted people. Speaking of which, you are the first bad person with a relatively malicious mind that I have encountered since I embarked on the immortal path."

Monk Li raised his eyebrows and shouted, "What nonsense! What do you want to know?"

"Okay, since you don't want to speak up, I'll ask you one by one."

Xu Boyang stared into his eyes, his gaze as deep as water, and asked slowly,

"What kind of spiritual energy is contained in this purple gourd?"

Monk Li had not expected that he was so meticulous and relentless, constantly clutching at the purple gourd. Seeing his gaze approaching, it was like a knife or a sword, piercing his eyes. At this point, everything was over, there was no need to hide anymore, so he could only grit his teeth and say:

"Eight single [Fire of Separation] spiritual energies separated from heaven and earth, refined for a full seventy-seven forty-nine years, and then combined into one, named [Flame of Renewed Light]!"

Xu Boyang opened his eyes wide, his heart pounding, and asked, "A pure and righteous spiritual energy?"

All his hard work had gone to waste. Monk Li was extremely heartbroken and cried out:
"That's right! The true [Separation Fire] main vein. Those things like [Black Gold Glass Fire], [Fire Tree Qihua], and [Fire Hidden in the Sleeve] are just separated spiritual energy. This is the one and only [Separation Fire]!"

Seeing Monk Li's distressed expression, Xu Boyang suppressed his inner excitement, took a deep breath, and pretended to be calm. He asked, "Forgive my limited knowledge, but may I ask what you are doing with all this spiritual energy?"

"doing what?"

Monk Li laughed bitterly and asked in a tone full of reluctance:
"In pursuit of the Great Dao, I, Taoist Li, have endured the separation of my wife and children, betrayed my family, wandered the land, lived under the care of others, and even entered the outer sect, feigning madness and foolishness. I have endured the cold of spring, the heat of summer, the harvest of autumn, and the storage of winter. I have toiled for a hundred years, and now, just as I was about to achieve my goal, I never expected that in the end, I would be taken advantage of by a little kid in a white robe like you. I will never be able to close my eyes in peace!"

"What?! What do you mean?"

"The Way of Heaven collapsed, the immortals vanished, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth fell apart and fled everywhere. The eight great immortal palaces of Tianyong City were destroyed, the three thousand Taoist scriptures were completely lost, and the Taoist methods of the eight palaces were scattered throughout the sea."

"Think of the Lingxiao Sect of Qingshen Yuchuan Commandery, which boasts of being a branch of the Huaiyou Immortal Clan and the orthodox [Lihuo] sect. Little does it know that Ling Xuanzhen is deceiving himself. What does his Lingxiao Sect really have? It's just a few unorthodox methods like [Fire Hidden in the Sleeve] and [Black Gold Glazed Fire]."

"This is merely a branch of the Lihuo main vein, not even the Lihuo main vein, so how can it be considered orthodox? Otherwise, why hasn't Ling Xuanzhen been in the late Huangting stage for so many years and still not reached the Purple Palace?"

"If you want to truly inherit the [Lihuo] lineage, you must gather the eight separate [Lihuo] spiritual energies into one, obtain the [Lihuo] main vein, then seek out the spiritual energies of the other seven veins of the Li Palace, cultivate them separately, and finally build an immortal foundation. Only then can you obtain the true inheritance of the Immortal Palace, the [Lihuo] of the Li Palace!"

When Xu Boyang heard Monk Li's heart-wrenching words, he was shocked beyond words. Recalling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that had just appeared in his cave, he was extremely shocked and could not speak for a while.

"Boy, do you know why I call you Li Daoren?"

Monk Li laughed bitterly, a look of loneliness and desolation on his face.

"Because my surname is Ling, many years ago I was the pride of the Ling family, the largest clan in Yuchuan. I was also the chief disciple of the Lingxiao sect of the Yuchuan Immortal Sect!"

"Because I knew the secrets of the Immortal Sect, disobeyed the orders, and refused to use the branch spiritual energy to build my foundation, I was eventually abandoned and persecuted. This led to my downfall, my family being destroyed, and I was hunted down by the four Qingshen Immortal Sects!"

"So I called myself Taoist Li, wandering around, roaming the world like a gnat, and dedicated my life to pursuing the immortal method of Li Palace!"

Xu Boyang found it unbelievable and asked, "So, you really haven't established your foundation yet?"

Monk Li laughed bitterly and said:

"In my entire life, I have pursued the path to immortality, to attain the Dao and become an immortal, and to obtain the true Ligong Immortal Technique. I have suffered such tragic consequences, changed my name, and hidden myself from place to place. If I hadn't achieved my long-cherished wish, how could I have hastily established my foundation?"

"Boy, I'll tell you a secret."

"As long as you use any single spiritual energy to guide the spirit into the Yuan and build the immortal foundation, instead of the Eight Palaces Righteous Path and the Seven Meridians Spiritual Energy, even if you supplement it after building the foundation, you can only reach the late stage of foundation building through cultivation in this life. Through various other ways, you can at most achieve the early stage of Huangting. After that, your cultivation progress will be slow and almost stagnant. You will never be able to achieve the Purple Mansion!"

"This is why Qingshen has only had one Purple Mansion True Person for all these years!"

"But this secret will forever be hidden by the Immortal Sect. Very few people know it. If it is not used by the Immortal Sect, they will be killed to silence them!"

"Nothing else. If this matter were to spread, there would surely be many Qingshen cultivators, like me, who would leave Qingshen in search of the Great Dao in pursuit of enlightenment and immortality. From then on, Qingshen would fall apart, and the world would be in chaos!"

Xu Boyang listened silently and said:

"You're exaggerating. It's true that people in this world cultivate immortality and seek longevity, but not everyone has this talent. According to Taoist scriptures, Huang Ting Yu Shi has a lifespan of nearly four hundred years, can call the wind and rain, and is omnipotent. How many Yu Shi are there in Qingshen?"

"Today, for most people, Qingshen is a place where great waves wash away the sands. Foundation-building Taoists have become the most powerful among men, and can even rule a region. If one can become a Huangting Feathered Taoist, then he is second only to the emperor and above ten thousand people. It is already a dream that countless people dream of. How can one still dream of becoming a Purple Mansion True Person, which is one in a million?"

Monk Li laughed heartily and said, "Who doesn't want to stand tall on the mountaintop? Who doesn't want to attain the Purple Palace? Those cultivators who only think about settling down and living a comfortable life, sitting back and waiting for death, are fools worse than pigs and dogs!"

"Talent? If you don't have talent, you'll have to make up for it with your life! Think about me, Taoist Li, who is incredibly gifted. To find the lost spiritual energy and the lost Dao methods among various factions, I've spent hundreds of years traveling everywhere, seeking refuge with outer sects, becoming a scholar, becoming a monk. To refine and fuse spiritual energy, I'm not afraid to spend most of my life under a volcano. If everyone in the world had my determination and perseverance, there would be no worries about not being able to attain the Purple Palace Dao, or even higher!"

"in this case."

Xu Boyang said slowly:
"Except for [Yan Yao Chong Guang], which is the orthodox spiritual energy of Li Palace, the rest of [Chi Yan Shan Ju], [Chi Yan Sui Feng], [Yan Bo Ni Lu], [Shan Yin Ye Xue], [Chun Feng Yi Shui], [Xiao Han Zheng Lan], and [Qian Yang Yan He] are all branches of Li Palace. The others are fine, but [Shan Yin Ye Xue] and [Chun Feng Yi Shui] actually belong to the Li Palace [Li Huo] lineage. It's really strange!"

Monk Li was surprised that he actually knew this and couldn't help asking, "How did you know that [Shanyin Night Snow] and [Spring Breeze Yishui] belonged to the Li Palace? I only discovered this secret after reading through ancient books from various schools."

Xu Boyang was a bit amused and said, "You've treasured it so well, is it that hard to guess? Didn't you say that there are eight spiritual energies in the Li Palace? Adding these two, wouldn't that make it exactly eight?"

Monk Li suddenly realized that it didn't matter anymore and laughed heartily:
"You never thought of that! Even I never imagined that these [Gen Kan] and [Xun Kan] would eventually become [Li Fire] belonging to the Li Palace!"

"Boy, you thought you were cultivating water, but in fact you were cultivating fire!"

Xu Boyang didn't take it seriously and simply asked, "Since you've already gathered all the spiritual energy from the Li Palace, why don't you build your foundation? Don't tell me you don't have a method that corresponds to spiritual energy."

Monk Li couldn't help feeling proud:
"Why do you think I'm so desperate to cultivate the orthodox [Lihuo]? Who hasn't had a little adventure? When I was young, I accidentally came across half of a scripture called 'Lihuo Yuqi Xuandao Jing', which is the Taoist method of the Lihuo main vein [Yan Yao Chongguang]! This is an immortal book. According to the instructions in the book, practicing to Huangting will have no problem!"

"But unfortunately, this scripture is incomplete. Apart from the second half, there are still some smaller chapters. The other small chapters on the spiritual energy of the seven meridians of the Li Palace are all hidden in various families in the country. I spent a lot of time and energy to get them all!"

Thanks to book friend Yue Rongjin for the monthly ticket!
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(End of this chapter)