Why is my Hundred Lifetimes Book different?

Qi is produced by heaven and earth.

Using spiritual power as a medium, cultivators build a bridge between themselves and the Qi of heaven and earth, thereby possessing all sorts of wonders.

The essential text on the cultivation of the mortal world's energy, transmitted by Zhuge Sheng, states that although the energy of the mortal world exists in heaven and earth, it is primarily found in the human heart.

When Ren Qingshan was browsing through ancient books in the Zanggong Pavilion, he did see similar ideas and opinions, but he had never seen any specific cultivation methods.

From theory to practice... naturally, it requires the pioneering efforts of wise cultivators.

Staring blankly at him, Ren Qingshan read the method.

The myriad mortal realms of Qi:

First, one must immerse oneself in the world, experience love and hate, fame and fortune, joy and sorrow, and life and death, living like an ordinary person, feeling and absorbing the atmosphere of the people around them amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, experiencing desires, anxieties, joys, and sorrows... absorbing all kinds of emotional waves and fully absorbing the essence of the mortal world.

Secondly, after experiencing joys and sorrows, one begins to detach oneself, using the fire of passion to refine one's vital energy, regarding one's own experiences and the various beings one observes as "medicinal materials" for alchemy, and using "karmic entanglement" as fuel to help it burn.

Ultimately, realizing that "I am the mortal world, and the mortal world is me," I condense a vast mortal energy within the torrent of humanity, which engulfs the vast mortal world, and my heart remains in supreme clarity.

As for the power of this Qi...

Once the Qi of the mortal world is formed, it possesses three characteristics:

First, it can manifest various forms of beings, simulate the aura, emotions, and techniques of any person, and even briefly become that person.

Second, once the Qi is formed, it is impervious to all other Qi. This is because the mortal world is the most chaotic and complex place. Any attack that enters the Qi field of the mortal world will be like a mud ox entering the sea, dissolved by the rolling mortal world. Furthermore, it can shield the secrets of heaven, rendering any divination ineffective.

Third, in a single thought, one can arouse the seven emotions and six desires of others, causing them to unknowingly develop inner demons.

Looking at these...

Ren Qingshan was suddenly filled with fear.

The difficulty of this kind of cultivation is enough to make one's scalp tingle just thinking about it!

How many years does it take to experience the mortal world?

How many more things must one go through before one can detach oneself from the mortal world?

The most dangerous aspect of this method lies in...falling into depravity.

Once one falls into depravity, the path will come to a complete halt.

"I only wanted to break through to the third level of Qi Refining, but I never expected it to be this hellishly difficult!"

"But it was my own choice."

"The Wuji Spirit is extremely difficult to obtain, and Qi is even more difficult. It requires an iron will, truly an iron will."

"Four years ago, I had that fearless, relentless, and self-assured spirit. But after these four years, it has been somewhat dampened."

Ren Qingshan realized his fear of difficulty and immediately reflected on himself.

A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger because it does not know how powerful a tiger is.

If one has ever witnessed how powerful a tiger is, one will naturally be afraid; upon seeing it, one's legs will go weak.

however……

Even if you're afraid, does that mean the tiger isn't powerful?

Thanks.

"When I one day rise to prominence and proclaim my glory to the world, I will surely honor you as my teacher, sing your praises, and pass on your teachings!"

He sent a divine thought, and Ren Qingshan gave him a deep look before turning and leaving.

……

Ren Qingshan told Qian Zhongchun that he was going out for a while and then left Zhenbei City.

Qian Zhongchun knew that the Liang family had indeed wronged Ren Qingshan regarding the Nine Heavens Thunder Qi, so he simply said that he would leave now and was welcome to return at any time.

After leaving Zhenbeicheng, the waterway traversed a vast expanse of water. Ren Qingshan traveled for an unknown distance before arriving at a small town.

This is a small town where ordinary people live; a quick scan with divine sense reveals no spiritual energy whatsoever.

Previously, Ren Qingshan would have considered such a place a remote and worthless backwater.

But now...

He suppressed all his spiritual power, determined to live like an ordinary person, freely roaming the mortal world.

The market was filled with all sorts of people and a variety of atmospheres.

An old fisherman, a butcher selling meat, an old woman selling vegetables, a peasant woman buying cloth, a man carrying manure, chickens, ducks, geese, cattle, horses, and sheep, a peddler carrying a load, an old man riding in a sedan chair, a yamen runner holding a fire stick, an abandoned child carrying a broken bowl, the aroma, the stench, the smell of sweat, laughter, noise, shouts, cries...

Countless auras transformed into a torrent of turbid air, rolling and crushing towards Ren Qingshan as he actively sensed them.

He felt a kind of vulgarity, a kind of filth, a kind of annoyance, a kind of bitterness.

But in contrast, there is vitality, wildness, and the creation of all things to nourish people. Every living individual, regardless of their level of strength or mental cultivation, has their own will and strives to live before death.

This is the mortal world!

Some people flock to it like moths to a flame, while others fear it like a tiger!

"where do you come from?"

A burly man passing by saw the boy standing in the middle of the road, looking like a dazed man. He immediately grabbed the boy by the collar and asked him rudely.

Ren Qingshan frowned slightly, his eyes sharp, but he quickly looked away.

"A stranger, someone who fled here."

Since we are in this mortal world, we should experience everything with the mindset of an ordinary person. Why kill a scoundrel?

"Outsider? Where?"

"Even immortals can't cross the Tongtian River, how did you manage to get across?"

Zhenbei City is protected by the Tongtian River as a natural barrier, and is also separated from immortals and mortals by an array.

"I'm hungry, sir. Is there any work you can do?"

"I'm strong, very strong!"

Ren Qingshan's face lit up with a fawning expression as he rolled up his sleeves and showed off his newfound arm.

"Ha, what did you call me? You've got some sense, kid, looking for work to do. Come on! Follow me!"

Ren Qingshan followed him. It turned out that this burly man was a thug in the local gang.

The so-called "fighting gangs" are gangs that use force to act as bodyguards and thugs, a scourge on the people and a lackey of the government.

This kind of profession...

Ren Qingshan instinctively disliked it and even wanted to reduce it to ashes with a wave of his hand.

But... what good would killing them do?

Wildfires cannot burn them all; the spring breeze brings them back to life. Wherever there are people, they will continuously spring up.

Ren Qingshan became a low-level thug in the underworld.

Following this burly man named Li Laosan, they served him tea and water every day, roamed the streets, bullied and monopolized the market, and committed all sorts of evil deeds.

He lived with a bunch of smelly, burly men, spending his days eating meat, drinking alcohol, fighting, and playing cards.

Such a life, filled with both good and bad, made Ren Qingshan feel that he was being tainted by the world little by little, his mind and nature gradually changing, with greed, anger and ignorance increasing day by day.

He had clearly become one of them, behaving frivolously and rudely, and speaking vulgarly and obscenely.

This day.

I drank quite a bit of alcohol last night.

Li Laosan kept insisting on going to a brothel, and the group took out all the money they had and pooled it together, but it wasn't enough, so they gave up in disappointment.

"Damn it, you, come into my room!"

With his arm around Ren Qingshan's shoulder, Li Laosan staggered back to his room, drunk.

Ren Qingshan remained silent.

Is this...is this trying to break me up?

The onlookers burst into laughter, offering encouragement and even showing interest in trying it themselves.

Ren Qingshan got up and ran, but someone blocked the door in advance, opened his arms, took out a broadsword, and blocked him with a cold glint.

The suffering of this mortal world...

Ren Qingshan felt something and shook his head with a smile.

"Let's go! It's just money, I'll take you to find it, and then we'll go have some fun."

"really?"

Everyone was immediately interested.

"Is that a lie? I'll rob them! The government offices just collected this year's taxes, and the money was just deposited into the treasury yesterday! Come on! I'll set it on fire! You take the money!"

Ren Qingshan's evil intentions rose in his heart, and he let his emotions surge.

Upon hearing this, the group was stunned.

Robbing the government?

How many heads?

"You little brat, you're asking for it!"

"Tie him up! Go report him to Master Liu!"

"Tie him up! Let me bend over first! Brothers, together!"

Not daring to offend the government, the group decided to target the weakest link and immediately set out to tie up the arrogant young man.

Ren Qingshan snatched the knife and chopped off five or six heads, one after another, until blood flowed like a river.

Seeing the corpses strewn all over the ground, Ren Qingshan sat there for a whole night.

In this mortal world, there are countless truths and countless sufferings, some of which are even contradictory. Being humiliated is suffering, and so is killing.

All beings suffer. Some endure humiliation and hardship, some are content with modest wealth, some pursue fame and fortune, some live in seclusion in the mountains and seas. Some do evil, some do good, some indulge in desires, some abstain from desires. Some are alone and destitute, some have many wives and concubines and a house full of children and grandchildren. Some kill and set fires and wear gold belts, some repair bridges and roads but have no remains. Some sit in high halls but cannot eat or sleep peacefully, some curl up in dilapidated temples and sleep soundly.

In the end, all that's left is a pile of bones.

The mortal world is without form.

It's just needless worry.

It's not just about the word "endurance".

That night, a touch of crimson appeared inside Ren Qingshan's body.

Leaving the town, he was dressed in tattered clothes, carrying a broken bowl, and walked straight ahead.

As Ren Qingshan walked step by step, his mind became clear and empty.

Neither good nor evil.

Everything is an experience.

At a ferry crossing, he helped an old man row his boat for several months, enduring the exploitation and extortion of gangs on the water and the wariness of the old man's children. After curing the old man's grandson who was seriously ill and almost died, he chose to leave again.

He carried a medicine flag, like a wandering doctor, going from street to street, curing many patients and seeing many who were beyond saving. He was sincerely grateful and prostrated himself in gratitude, but he was also once kicked out of the house and treated as a fraud.

He saved a caravan of merchants who were nearly buried alive by a landslide. The merchants, who were extremely wealthy, wanted to marry their daughter to their savior in gratitude and even taught their son-in-law how to manage the family business. Ren Qingshan accepted the offer without hesitation. He experienced the joys of marriage, sleeping with his beautiful wife by his side, the pleasures of love, the joys of wealth, the anxieties of childbirth, and the joy of having a child... all came one after another.

However, because he had been helping his father-in-law to improve his health, his father-in-law unexpectedly remarried, taking two concubines and having two sons. From then on, he, the virtuous son-in-law, was treated badly at home, and was subjected to all kinds of suspicion and suppression. His wife and children also suffered at their parents' home, so they separated from the family.

A horse-drawn carriage was traveling on the official road.

Ren Qingshan was driving the cart, with his wife and son inside.

His wife's surname was Wang, and her given name was Shuzhen. She was as gentle and virtuous as her name suggested. Apart from being a little weak-willed, she was good in every way.

My son's nickname is Shitou (Stone), and his given name is Wangchen (Forget the Dust). His surname used to be Wang, but now it is Ren.

Ren Qingshan drove the car, feeling a peaceful happiness.

Over the past few years, the amount of worldly energy within my body has increased day by day. The energy condenses into lines, the lines knot together, and gradually grows to a length of ten feet.

However, a great terror followed closely behind.

Because I gradually felt myself sinking into depravity.

In particular, the bond between his wife and son is something they still don't know: their husband, their father, is actually a monk!

Sometimes, Ren Qingshan even felt that maybe it was better to just live a peaceful and happy life, which didn't seem like a bad thing.

With his cultivation at the second level of Qi Refining, he would become a guardian immortal master, backed by an immortal sect, raising a wife and children, in order to plan for future development.

But the sharp, unwavering Dao heart was like a blade, tormenting him day and night!

"Using passion as the vital energy, and cause and effect as the fuel"...

At first glance, these words didn't seem like much, but now that I've personally experienced them, I feel a burning passion within me!

……

"Ren Qingshan, come back quickly!"

"He has Qi! Ranked tenth, the Seven Killings True Qi!"

"Hurry up, I'll hold off the pressure for you. This Qi, no matter who comes, can't take it away! I'm the one who calls the shots in the Liang family now."

"Even Hongchan is waiting for you, waiting for you to refine the Seven Killings True Qi, so that you can get married to her."

A divine thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

Ren Qingshan's hand, which was gripping the reins, suddenly tightened.

This is a message sent by Qian Zhongchun using the Immortal Sect's telepathic communication method.

Immortal sects transmit their voices regardless of distance or space. They transmit divine thoughts directly through the Qi Refining Talisman, but it is quite costly, requiring three thousand spirit stones per transmission.

Counting on my fingers, it has been almost five years since I left the Liang family, and I have not contacted anyone.

Unexpectedly, he still remembered his promise from back then.

Seven Killings True Qi?

Liang Hongchan... is she also waiting for me?

Various possibilities rapidly unfolded in Ren Qingshan's mind: If he were to return to the Liang family now, and if what Qian Zhongchun said was true, he could refine the Seven Killings True Qi and marry Liang Hongchan. Naturally, his wife and son could also go with him. After all, having multiple wives and concubines was common. As his cultivation level increased day by day, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to obtain a Dao Refining Talisman for his son.

But what have I been striving for these past five years?

Ren Qingshan felt pain.

Fate may deny you what you desire most.

But just when you've completely given up hope, have found another path, and are about to succeed, it suddenly appears again, disrupting your resolve.

Ren Qingshan went through all of this, then suddenly opened his eyes, shook his head, and smiled.

"The Seven Killings True Qi is not the Qi I need."

"The Liang family is not the path I want to take."

"In this vast world, I am the world, and the world is me!"

At this moment, Ren Qingshan suddenly realized that the speed at which the ten-thousand-foot-long mortal qi formed threads in his dantian suddenly increased, as if it resonated with his current state of mind.

The true qi of this previous era is truly mysterious and wondrous. The cultivation of one's state of mind is completely unlike the experience one should have at the second level of qi refinement.

……

"Ah Zhen, I have something to tell you."

"Shall we go back and meet my parents?"

A warm smile appeared on his lips as Ren Qingshan spoke leisurely into the carriage.

"Alright, my husband, please speak."

A woman with delicate and graceful features, holding a beautifully sculpted child in her arms, spoke with a smile.

"Actually... I am not an ordinary person, I am a cultivator! The kind that can fly, but I can't burrow underground yet, I haven't learned any burrowing techniques."

Ren Qingshan said frankly.

"What?"

She looked bewildered and tense.

A moment later, Ren Qingshan enveloped his wife and children with his spiritual power, transforming them into a streak of light that flew into the sky. As he flew, he recounted his experiences over the years.

It is both a narration and an examination.

Passion and karma, like a furnace of heaven and earth, burned fiercely as Ren Qingshan examined his heart.

At the same time, the formation speed of the myriad mortal qi within his body soared rapidly, already forming a net-like structure, only one step away from completion.

……

Seven days later.

Shanyang County, thousands of miles away.

"Mother! Father!"

"I, Ren Qingshan, am back!"

A clear, melodious voice rang out outside the Ren residence.

Ren Jiaping was dressed in fine silks and satins, with a jade pendant at his waist. His temples were slightly gray, and he had a large belly, making him look like a landlord.

Seeing his grown-up son, the pride of the family, and the woman and child he was with, his eyes suddenly reddened, tears streamed down his face, and his body trembled violently.

The butler next to him quickly helped him up.

Ren Lishi, adorned with jewels, strode out from the inner courtyard, covering her face with a silk handkerchief, her eyes already blurred with tears, and let out a startled scream.

My son!

Looking at his parents, Ren Qingshan smiled, but his heart was churning.

From fighting the tiger to meeting Zhuge Sheng for the first time, pleading with Liu Yunsong, fighting Yang Wanli, burying Zhang Xiuyan alive, Wanli setting up the bowl, the gambling in Zhenbei City, three years in the Immortal Prison, the sorrow of a rogue cultivator, five years in the mortal world, the suffering of all living beings...

Although she is not even twenty years old, it feels like she has already lived half her life.

Now, he has returned to his hometown with his wife and children to see his parents again.

Ren Qingshan's eyes were neither sad nor happy, but exceptionally calm.

A dazzling red light suddenly shot into the sky, dyeing half of the sky over Shanyang County red, like a sudden explosion of sunset clouds, causing ripples across the heavens and earth.

At this moment...

The myriad worldly energies have been formed!

In this world, we experience the mundane necessities of life: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea; joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, worry, fear, and apprehension.

From sinking into depravity to detachment.

From resisting cause and effect to accepting cause and effect.

From the torment of passionate love to the enjoyment of it.

From experiencing the world, to seeing through its illusions, and then to immersing oneself in it...

The path to immortality and the path to humanity are both the same path!

Immortals and mortals are all human beings!

The mortal world is without form.

Therefore, there is no self.

Without self, there is nowhere one cannot go, no one one cannot see, and nothing one cannot do.

……

……