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

Lu Jin stared intently at Li Chang'an, recalling not only his master's dying words but also the founder of the Quanzhen School, Wang Chongyang.

This Master Chongyang called himself "The Living Dead" and even built a tomb for the Living Dead in Zhongnan Mountain to cultivate himself.

Is Li Chang'an's method of cultivating by treating himself as a corpse similar to the cultivation of Master Chongyang?

However, Lu Jin dared not say those words.

Last time, he mentioned a state of complete absorption in the external world, which made it difficult for Li Chang'an to enter that state again.

Will his revelation of Wang Chongyang and the Tomb of the Living Dead affect Li Chang'an?

Cultivation is a very mysterious thing, and Lu Jin chose not to talk about it.

But it must be said that Li Chang'an gave him a big surprise.

It's hard to believe that such insight came from a young boy.

He became increasingly certain that Li Chang'an was the successor his master had spoken of, the successor of the Sanyi Sect.

Thinking of this, he reached out and patted Li Chang'an's shoulder with great force, so much so that Li Chang'an's shoulder slumped down.

"Good, good lad, hahaha..."

Lu Jin burst into laughter, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.

"Grandpa, what's wrong...?"

"Grandpa is easily moved; he was happy."

"It's far too shallow," Li Chang'an thought to himself.

After a moment, Lu Jin's smile faded, and he said seriously, "Chang'an, have you forgotten something?"

"What is it?" Li Chang'an asked, puzzled.

"Marrow Cleansing Pill," Lu Lin whispered a reminder from the side.

"Ah." Li Chang'an immediately realized. Before coming to the cave to cultivate, he and Lu Jin were refining pills. The pills were almost finished, but no one took care of them for two days and one night.

"Is Dan ruined?" he asked cautiously.

"It's not ruined," Lu Jin said. "Grandpa is keeping an eye on it for you. This was an unexpected situation, so it's understandable. Next time, you'll have to refine it yourself."

"Thank you, sir," Li Chang'an said with a smile.

As they spoke, Lu Jin took out a medicine bottle containing many black pills, each the size of a longan. Upon opening it, a fragrant aroma of medicine wafted out.

"Here are ten pills, a ten-day supply. Take one pill each day, along with your cultivation," Lu Jin said. "You need to take the Marrow Cleansing Pills for a total of three and a half months to complete the marrow cleansing and strengthen your meridians and bones."

Three and a half months… Li Chang'an thought for a moment: “A hundred days to establish a foundation?”

Lu Jin nodded: "That's right, it's usually taken in conjunction with the Hundred Days of Foundation Building. However, this is just for convenience and doesn't have any special effects; it can be taken alone as well."

"After consuming this, will my bones and muscles reach the standard for building the first level of Reverse Rebirth?" Li Chang'an looked at the pill in front of him.

Lu Jin said, "Some people with exceptional talent can do it. But to be on the safe side, they need to hone their skills and abilities before they can try."

"To hone one's muscles and bones..."

Li Chang'an noticed that when Lu Jin mentioned "sharpening the muscles and bones," Lu Lin grimaced. He asked Lu Lin, "Is it painful?"

"It's alright," Lu Lin said with a forced smile.

This doesn't look good... Li Chang'an asked, "What kind of projects are involved?"

Lu Lin said, "The main methods are rib-slapping with an iron ruler and top-dressing with an oil hammer."

Iron ruler slaps his ribs, oil hammer pours onto his head... Li Chang'an felt that this simple and brutal method of physical training was somewhat out of place with the ethereal and otherworldly style of the San Yi Sect!

Lu Jin smiled and said, "Don't feel resistant. Tempering your mind and strengthening your body are necessary steps in cultivation. All righteous cultivators have walked this path."

"Not to mention us Sanyi disciples, even the sorcerers of the Zhuge family of the Wuhou School cannot avoid using methods like striking the ribs with an iron ruler and pouring oil on the head to temper their muscles and bones during cultivation."

"Grandpa, I understand," Li Chang'an nodded. He remembered that in the original story, Zhuge Qing had complained to his father about why a dignified sorcerer like him had to practice such crude physical martial arts. Then he got a slap from his father, who said that even sorcerers who relied on magic practiced this kind of thing, let alone the San Yi Sect, which relied purely on physical combat.

Lu Jin said, "You've been in seclusion in the cave for two days and one night, you must be starving. I'll have the kitchen prepare some food for you. Eat and get some rest, then you can go to class tomorrow."

Li Chang'an nodded, left the back mountain, and went straight to the kitchen.

Having been in seclusion for so long, previously in a state of being alive but not feeling hungry, he was unable to feel any hunger. But after ending his meditation, the feeling of hunger began to come in waves.

Strictly speaking, this feeling of hunger is also a delusion, a delusion originating from the body. He can transform it, but such a transformation is largely unnecessary. Before reaching a certain level of cultivation, not eating can lead to starvation.

When Lu Jin arrived at the kitchen, he found that the meal had already been prepared. It was a specially made medicinal meal, with the ginseng and other tonics sourced from the Gao family in Northeast China, all of which were century-old wild ginseng.

Although he was very hungry, Li Chang'an didn't wolf down his food; instead, he ate slowly and carefully. After his sexual cultivation improved, he could better appreciate the beauty of the world. Eating in small bites not only made digestion easier but also allowed him to better savor the flavors of the food.

During the meal, Li Chang'an took the Marrow Cleansing Pill.

Although the pill sounded mysterious, I didn't feel anything special after taking it; my abdomen just felt slightly warm.

However, Li Chang'an used his intermediate state of consciousness to see himself and discovered that the Marrow Cleansing Pill was slowly emitting streams of Qi in his abdomen.

This energy was very weak, and most people could not detect it at all, but Li Chang'an could clearly see it flowing along the natural circulation, nourishing the meridians of his body.

"The medicine is very mild, no wonder it takes a hundred days to see noticeable effects."

Based on the evaporation rate of the pill, Li Chang'an calculated that it might take more than ten hours to completely digest the pill.

The exact timing depends on digestive capacity. Some people who have diarrhea immediately after taking the medication may expel it before the medication has fully taken effect.

Furthermore, digestive and absorption abilities differ. It's like eating the same meal: some people gain weight, some maintain their weight, and some lose weight. This is due to differences in how well they absorb food.

The ability to eat a lot without gaining weight is an enviable skill for many people in modern society.

However, in ancient times, such people were generally difficult to raise.

In terms of cultivation, this is not a good thing either, because it means that you are relatively poor in your ability to utilize the essence of food and water.

Cultivation requires refining Qi, but where does this Qi come from?

It comes from the essence.

This essence is further divided into innate essence and acquired essence.

What is refined from the essence of the primordial spirit is the primordial Qi.

The term "innate" in "innate essence" and "innate primordial energy" signifies that things are predetermined by nature and cannot be replenished later in life.

Therefore, everyone's innate Qi is very precious. Once it is refined, it cannot be used indiscriminately and needs to be carefully maintained. It represents a person's lifespan. Once it is used up, one will suffer the five signs of decay.

Take Zhang Huaiyi, who has been causing trouble recently, for example. He has been hiding his whole life, without any illness or injury. Why would he suddenly abandon his grandson and seek death?

It means that his innate vital energy was about to be exhausted, so he wanted to have a big boob before he died.

If one's innate primordial energy is continuously replenished, one can remain immortal and eternally youthful, like the abilities of the Six Treasures Immortal Thief.

The acquired essence, which corresponds to the innate essence, actually originates from the body's six stores, or digestive system, and is the transformation and transportation of food and water acquired after birth.

Water and grains refer to all kinds of food consumed after birth.

If you can eat without gaining weight, your absorption and utilization rate of acquired essence is very low, so how fast can your cultivation speed be?

Therefore, being able to gain weight easily from eating is a great talent for self-cultivation.

Many people are confused about the relationship between acquired Qi and innate Qi.

But in reality, the two are like the relationship between a container and its capacity.

The innate Qi is the container, while the acquired Qi is the capacity.

Qi cultivation is the process of generating the innate Qi within the body and creating a vessel to hold more acquired Qi.

Therefore, the Qi used to release abilities is all acquired Qi.

If one were to use primordial Qi to exert power, it would be tantamount to breaking a cup, which would damage one's foundation.

This is also the Buddhist concept of innate capacity: those who are born with abundant innate capacity are called those with superior innate capacity, while those who are born with deficient innate capacity are called those with inferior innate capacity.

Those with superior root structure have more natural materials, making it easier to create large-capacity cups.

Those with limited natural talent often don't have much material to begin with, so the cups they create are usually not very big.

Ma Xianhong's twelve superior root types are ordered in this way.

Of course, the abilities of extraordinary people are varied and strange, and some of them require the consumption of innate Qi to be used.

For example, the tortoise-fly body technique used by Wang Ye consumes innate Qi, so this move shortens his lifespan. If he continues to use this move frequently, he will most likely not have a good ending.

……

Li Chang'an wasn't exactly a chubby guy, and he felt that his ability to utilize the power of the Heavenly Water Valley was relatively weak.

To avoid incomplete absorption of the medicine, Li Chang'an channeled his Qi to his abdomen to aid digestion. Afterward, he returned to his quiet room to continue refining his essence, Qi, and spirit.

However, perhaps because he didn't have the feeling of being in a tomb like in a cave, he didn't enter that state of being a living dead very smoothly. Since he couldn't, Li Chang'an didn't deliberately try to get into it; he just wanted to maintain a state of quiet cultivation.