Under One Person: Starting with the Dual Cultivation of Body and Soul

Li Chang'an glanced at it and saw that it was Wang Yangming's "Writing My Thoughts After Waking Up".

As spring awakens from its slumber, the river sun shines brightly; the river clouds have all flown away, leaving the Chu mountains green.

Leisurely observing the state of things reveals their vitality; quietly comprehending the secrets of heaven leads to profound understanding.

The Way is found in both danger and ease, and joy is found wherever one goes; when the mind forgets, fish and birds naturally follow their forms.

There's no need to seek the stories of the ancient sages, just listen to the melody of the waves crashing against the ground.

"What a fine poem, what beautiful calligraphy!" Li Chang'an exclaimed.

Lu Jin smiled slightly: "The calligraphy is unremarkable, but the poem is excellent. Chang'an, do you know what makes this poem so good?"

Li Chang'an thought for a while and said, "The beauty of Wang Yangming's poem lies in the words 'leisure' and 'stillness.' Only when the mind is 'leisurely' and 'still' can one forget oneself and the world and comprehend the mysteries of heaven and earth."

And that was exactly what he realized last night.

Lu Jin nodded approvingly and said, "Chang'an, you have good comprehension. However, in self-cultivation, learning, and investigating things to acquire knowledge, it is not only necessary to understand the principles, but more importantly, to truly reach that state. If one can truly forget oneself and the external world, it will undoubtedly be very beneficial to cultivation."

"Grandpa is right, this state is indeed beneficial for cultivation."

"Look at what you're saying, have you experienced this yourself?" Lu Jin asked casually.

Li Chang'an nodded: "Yes, I just got into that state last night."

Lu Jin's smile froze on his face. He stared at Li Chang'an for several seconds, as if he hadn't heard clearly.

"What did you say? You said you entered a state of complete absorption in your meditation last night?"

"That's right!"

Li Chang'an nodded.

Lu Jin's hands trembled slightly. He put the brush back on the brush holder, turned around and stared at Li Chang'an, not knowing what to say for a moment.

The state of forgetting oneself and the external world is something that all those who cultivate themselves know the true value of.

This is not a state you can enter at will; only those with extremely high levels of meditation skills can enter this state.

Moreover, it's not 100% certain, only a possibility. This state is rare and hard to come by; many practitioners may never enter it in their entire lives.

Once you enter this state, there's no need for deliberate guidance; the Qi within your body knows where to go on its own, and it moves extremely quickly.

The effort put in one night is equivalent to several months of hard work by an ordinary person.

But that's not the most crucial point.

Most importantly, in this state, it is easy to perceive some extremely profound truths.

Things that you can't understand no matter how hard you try will flow in like water.

When he was young, he also experienced a state of complete absorption in the world, which is why he entered the second realm at a young age and surpassed his senior brothers Shuiyun and Changqing, who were nearly twenty years older than him at the time.

However, after the incident at Sanyi Gate, he never entered that state again.

Not even once.

And now, his newly accepted disciple is telling him that he entered this state of cultivation last night.

Lu Jin took a deep breath: "Chang'an, how did you get in? Did you sense any opportunity?"

He understood how difficult this was, so he wanted to preserve this opportunity.

Li Chang'an thought for a moment and said, "Yesterday I was reading the Qingjing Jing (Classic of Purity and Tranquility), and there was a sentence in it: 'The human spirit loves purity, and the human heart loves tranquility.' I was quite moved by it, so I tried to calm my heart and calm my spirit. Then I entered that state."

Lu Jin was stunned after hearing this: "It's that simple?"

"Yes, it's that simple."

Li Chang'an nodded. He didn't intend to talk about the intermediate state between death and rebirth.

Lu Jin remained silent for a long time before letting out a long sigh.

"Knowing is easy, doing is hard; knowing is easy, doing is hard. So many people have studied the *Qingjing Jing* (Classic of Purity and Tranquility) to death and still gain little. Yet you, with just a feeling in your heart, can forget yourself and the world. Truly, the younger generation is to be feared; the younger generation is to be feared indeed!"

Lu Jin could only sigh that the gap between people is sometimes greater than the gap between people and dogs.

He composed himself and then asked, "In that state of complete absorption, what specific feelings do you experience?"

Li Chang'an thought for a moment and said, "I didn't feel anything. I just felt that when my mind calmed down, all sorts of thoughts fell away, and I naturally entered that state."

Lu Jin nodded in agreement: "That's right. If you forget both yourself and the world around you, you naturally won't feel anything."

He paused, his eyes becoming fervent:

"So what did you gain?"

Li Chang'an said, "When I ended this state, I found that the Qi in my body, without my control, had added a section of Qi circulation trajectory on the basis of the original microcosmic orbit."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin leaned forward abruptly.

"Where do these Qi circulation paths lead?"

"The belt meridian encircles the waist and returns to the gate of life!" Li Chang'an said, gesturing with his fingers on his body.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin's eyes widened, and she grabbed Li Chang'an's shoulders with both hands, so forcefully that Li Chang'an took half a step back.

His voice trembled: "The belt meridian winds around the waist, returning to the gate of life—that's right, that's right! This is part of the Qi circulation trajectory for constructing the first major cycle of reverse life!"

Lu Jin was so excited that she was incoherent, and her fingers were trembling.

"Chang'an, you actually figured out a part of it on your own without your grandfather's instruction."

"This is simply..."

"This is simply..."

He couldn't continue.

Although Li Chang'an only grasped the part that the sages of the Sanyi School had already put into practice.

But this is fabricated out of thin air.

It's a complete fabrication out of nothing!

Li Chang'an was able to grasp the earlier content without any guidance.

That means he was able to figure out the later parts of the content without anyone's guidance.

What the three levels of reversal of life lack is the method of cultivation in the later stages.

This is such a pleasant surprise.

Chang'an must be the person Master was talking about who came after him.

Lu Jin's eyes reddened at the thought of Sany's potential revival.

"Grandpa, you..."

Li Chang'an was speechless at Lu Jin's antics. How could someone so old be so easily moved to tears?

If you're like this, you can't blame the old Celestial Master for making you cry back then!

"Hahaha, Grandpa is happy. Grandpa is easily moved."

Lu Jin blinked hard and laughed loudly, "Chang'an, are you still confident you can get into this state?"

"I feel that if it's quiet enough, it's still possible," Li Chang'an said.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin was overjoyed.

"Okay, okay."

He said "good" three times.

After calming herself down, Lu Jin took out a small box from her pouch and carefully opened it.

Inside was a dark, thumb-sized pill with a rough surface and a faint sheen of oil.

"Chang'an, this is the Marrow Cleansing Pill that Grandpa told you about last time. Smell it."

Li Chang'an took it and brought it close to his nose.

A refreshing medicinal fragrance wafted in; it wasn't pungent, but rather cleared my mind.

"What do you smell?" Lu Jin asked.

"It's a little bitter, a little sweet, I can't quite put my finger on it," Li Chang'an replied.

Lu Jin explained, "That's the smell of He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum). The Marrow Cleansing Pill is an essential medicine for our San Yi Sect."

"In alchemy, the principles of monarch, minister, assistant, and guide must be followed."

"The principal ingredient is the core ingredient."

"The assistant medicine is used to enhance the efficacy of the principal medicine."

"Adjuvant herbs assist the principal and assistant herbs in enhancing their efficacy and restraining their toxicity."

"The role of medicine is to guide and harmonize, delivering the medicinal power to where it should go."