Journey to the West: The Immortal Clan Begins by Feeding Monkeys at Five Elements Mountain

Chapter 78 Perfection of Essence and Qi
Seeing that no clear winner had emerged, the crowd felt less exhilarated.

But after hearing the arrangement of "serving as deputy side by side", no one voiced any objection.

Although the fight was not decided, the punches and kicks, the intertwining of their energy, were clear to everyone and left them completely convinced.

Jiang Xi, perched on a treetop, still stood with her hands on her hips, her face tense.

Three parts resentment, seven parts defiance.

No matter how fast he could flip around or how swiftly he could throw punches, he still couldn't do anything to that wooden-stump-like kid.

She could only snort, angrily flick her braids, and reluctantly admit defeat.

Liu Zian, on the ground, remained steady, adjusting his sleeves with a humble and unassuming demeanor, as if he had expected the situation to end this way.

Among the crowd, Jiang Yi, who had remained silent until now, slowly stepped forward from the back row, looked up, and waved to the treetops.

The little girl turned her head to look at her father, then lightly leaped down, her clothes fluttering slightly, and she landed gracefully.

Jiang Yi bent down and gently touched her ribcage, his tone casual yet tender:

"Does it still hurt?"

The little girl pouted and said, "It's alright."

Jiang Yi smiled, took her small hand, and slowly walked home.

Along the way, he didn't spout any grand principles, just offered a few casual compliments, and concluded with:

"We'll kill a chicken tonight to give you some nourishment, as a way to celebrate."

The little girl's eyes lit up, the corners of her mouth turned up, her eyes darted around, and she immediately started shouting:
"Then I want to eat the old hen raised in the backyard, the meat is sure to be delicious!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yi chuckled and gently tapped her forehead: "That's for laying eggs."

Then, slowly, she added, "With your small frame, you'll be relying on it to nourish your body in the future. If you eat it, you won't even have eggs to eat one day."

The little girl paused for a moment, tilted her head back, smacked her lips, weighed the pros and cons, and finally didn't insist anymore.

After the meal, as dawn was breaking, chickens and dogs returned home from the foot of the mountain, and lights were just being lit on the mountain.

Jiang Yi led his daughter up the hill along the familiar path.

The room was neatly arranged, with a small table, soft mattress, and some odds and ends.

As soon as Jiang Xi entered the room, she squatted down and started rummaging through the pile of "treasures" that she had moved from the old house.

Small wooden carvings, small cloth dolls, and a broken copper gong with a missing corner.

Jiang Yi watched for a while, and seeing that she was having a great time, he didn't disturb her. He just smiled, got up, shook his clothes, and turned to walk out.

Suddenly, a voice came from behind: "Dad, you don't live here?"

Jiang Yi didn't stop walking; he simply waved his hand without turning his head and said:
“Your mother lives alone at the foot of the mountain. I’m afraid she’ll be scared at night.”

……

Several months have passed in the blink of an eye, spring has gone and summer has come.

Liu Xiulian takes pills and practices breathing exercises on time every day. Although no one urges her, she does so meticulously and never slacks off.

Finally, one morning, he woke up with his breathing flowing smoothly, his breath coming in and out like pearls and jade, perfectly smooth and unobstructed.

Jiang Yi checked her pulse, paused slightly under his fingers, and felt a sense of relief, knowing that she had finally broken through to the Qi Sufficient state.

The people in the house were all calm and composed. After everything was settled, they officially moved into the new house at the foot of the mountain.

However, the old house at the foot of the mountain was not completely sealed off.

When villagers come to visit and bring firewood or rice, it's impractical to stand on the mountain path and talk to them.

Besides, there are two flocks of chickens and several cows at home, which also cannot withstand the spiritual energy infused into the area.

The livestock are fed, and three meals a day are provided. The old house remains, so the life of the people hasn't been cut off, and it hasn't truly fallen into ruin.

Behind the new house, the hundred or so spirit fruit trees seemed to be growing more and more vigorously.

In just six months, he grew as if he had taken some kind of elixir.

One of the jade peach trees was particularly eye-catching. Its entire body was smooth and white, and its branches and leaves shimmered. It was already half a person tall and stood in the mountain wind like jade.

Although Jiang Yi had never planted such a spiritual tree before, he could tell what it was like by looking at its leaves and roots and comparing them with his experience of planting peaches in his early years.

Judging by its current growth, this jade peach tree will likely flower and bear fruit within three to five years.

Compared to the fifteen years the Liu family had predicted it would take to grow a tree, it was much faster.

Ultimately, this narrow, sloping land, nourished daily by the spiritual spring, is no longer comparable to ordinary yellow soil. Previously, one had to squat under the tree roots, close one's eyes, and concentrate to vaguely capture a glimpse of its vitality.

But things are different now.

If a person sits quietly in a room, he only needs to regulate his breathing for a moment, and he will feel as if there is a breeze between his nose and his breath is flowing like a thread.

That is the spiritual energy spreading out inch by inch along the roots, branches, leaves, and soil.

Although it is still a long way from the true spiritual realm where "mist rises and rain falls, and grass and trees shine".

However, in terms of "nurturing people and cultivating their spirit," it has already shown some promise.

Jiang Yi saw this and felt relieved.

This former barren hillside might actually yield some interesting results.

One day, having some free time, I noticed several fruit seedlings growing lush and verdant.

Following the instructions passed down by Grandpa Yu, they helped prune the branches and leaves.

"Don't leave low-lying areas to the east, don't leave high-lying areas to the west, go straight and leave slanted areas..."

He muttered to himself, and his hands didn't hesitate. With a few snips, he made a rather impressive cut.

As soon as the leaves fall, the fragrance spreads with the wind.

The cut leaves should not be wasted.

Orange leaves and loquat leaves are used in medicine. The tender ones are picked out and put into a small bamboo basket, ready to be used for making soup or cooking.

As for those that weren't used in medicine, he couldn't bear to throw them away, so he simply chopped them up finely and mixed them into the chicken feed.

If we can raise these old hens to be more energetic in the future, and then move them to the back of the new house to peck at insects and protect the fruit, it would be a perfect match.

Unexpectedly, the chicken feed was scattered.

The black hunting dog that had been lingering at the Jiang family's house, which was refusing to leave, suddenly lunged into the chicken coop, seemingly attracted by some unknown scent.

The chicken coop wasn't spacious to begin with, and with its commotion, chicken feathers flew everywhere.

Startled, the two hens fluttered up into the tree branches, scattering fallen leaves all over the ground.

Jiang Yi shook his head and chuckled, bending down to pick up the bits and pieces on the ground.

Just as his hand trembled twice, footsteps came from the courtyard entrance.

Looking back, I saw Jiang Ming carrying a large basket of melons and fruits, turning in from the other end of the village road and heading straight for the cold patch of land in the backyard.

The boy's figure was already relaxed, his steps were as steady as a pendulum, and his aura was as restrained as the tide receding to the bottom. He did not speak, but he was more composed than usual.

Jiang Yi squinted, his gaze lingering on the figure's back, a smile playing on his lips.

The eldest son had quietly entered the state of perfect essence a few days before his thirteenth birthday, half a month ago.

With both vital energy and essence in abundance, and breath in harmony both internally and externally, one's movements—walking, standing, sitting, and lying down—are naturally orderly.

According to what the boy said in the room, even the direct descendants of those noble families in the prefectures probably haven't made such progress.

Jiang Yi didn't say it, but he couldn't help feeling secretly pleased.

When Jiang Ming returned to the house, he scattered chicken feed while speaking slowly and deliberately, his tone not harsh:

"How's your practice of that visualization method going?"

On the day Jiang Ming's vital energy was at its peak, Jiang Yi handed him the scroll of "Taishang Laojun's Discourse on Constant Purity and Tranquility".

Jiang Ming didn't try to hide anything. He put the bamboo basket down in the corner of the yard, rolled up his sleeves, wiped his sweat, and replied:
“I practice every night, which is quite diligent... but my mind wanders and I can never settle down.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yi simply nodded, his expression calm, showing no surprise whatsoever.

She simply smiled gently and patted him on the shoulder.
"These things can't be rushed."

When Master Liu transmitted this method before, he said that when one's life force and spirit are strong, it is often necessary to combine them with one's spiritual cultivation, such as calming the mind and focusing the will, so that they can complement each other.

Jiang Ming is following the superior path of self-cultivation, which is inherently slower.

If the mind is not at peace, the spirit cannot be concentrated; this is to be expected.

There's nothing anyone else can do to help with this.

Let alone Jiang Yi, the father.

Even the one on the back mountain probably couldn't change the rules left by Laozi.

(End of this chapter)