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

The next morning, Li Chang'an began practicing his sword.

"I retreat with my hands and advance with my body, leaping left and right like a lion."

"A tiger leaping cannot enter a dragon's den, nor can a dragon soaring into a tiger's den."

"Like dragons leaping and tigers bounding, they move like snakes, advancing straight ahead and unstoppable."

"Left and right, advance and retreat, there are feints and realities; the six methods give rise to a hundred wonders."

Li Chang'an practiced while silently reciting the incantation.

He moved like a lion cub, leaping and tumbling across the courtyard. His sword moved with him, and he turned with his steps. The tip of the sword drew arc after arc, but the end of each arc pointed in the same direction.

"The true essence of swordsmanship is not easily passed down; its essence lies in direct and straightforward application."

"If one only uses the technique of slashing and chopping like a knife, then the old swordsman of Yuyang will be laughed at."

The next second, all the arcs, all the flips, all the advances and retreats, suddenly converged. The sword was presented flatly, simply and cleanly.

The sword tip remained suspended in mid-air, completely still.

Li Chang'an sheathed his sword and stood still, slowly exhaling a breath of stale air. A slight sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead, but his eyes were clear and bright.

After finishing his sword practice, Li Chang'an went to Lu Jin's courtyard for his lesson.

The morning was spent refining medicine as usual. During the process, Lu Jin would also teach some basic cultivation principles. Since they had already refined medicine once, the process was smooth and easy this time.

Of course, this is also because the Sanyi Sect was not originally a pill-refining sect, and its knowledge of alchemy was not profound.

In the afternoon, Lu Jin gave Li Chang'an a lesson, explaining various classic texts from the three schools of thought.

Today, Lu Jin's lesson was about being a good person. After explaining the principles of being a good person, Lu Jin pointed to the small blackboard on the wall and said:

"Speaking of being a person, I suddenly remembered that Zhuangzi, a Daoist, also mentioned this. In particular, in the book Zhuangzi, people who have attained the Dao are called 'True Persons'."

"After the Tang and Song dynasties, immortals and those who had attained the Dao were called 'True Persons,' for example, Lü Zu was called 'True Person Lü.' This has led to people today thinking of Daoists when they hear the name 'True Person.'"

"Therefore, many people call Taoist priests 'True Person,' for example, the little boy that the Old Celestial Master recently took in is called 'Spirit Jade True Person.' It sounds nice, but it's actually quite ridiculous."

"Speaking of true masters, even my master, your grandmaster, was once called the Kanglong True Master by some people. He said he was not worthy of the title and asked people to call him Mr.."

"Of course, in my opinion, Master is worthy of the title of True Man."

Upon hearing this, Li Chang'an recalled Wu Gensheng's evaluation of Master Zuo—"A true master emerged from a fake Xuanmen sect."

Wugensheng was a very arrogant person, so arrogant that he divided people into four classes. He gave Zuo Menzhang such an evaluation, which shows how high Zuo Menzhang's realm was.

Lu Jin continued, "A true person is someone whose learning and morality have reached their peak. The opposite of this term is a false person. A false person is still a person, but has not reached the highest standard of human morality. In Taoism, the person who has achieved the highest level of 'humanity' is called a 'true person'."

"In Confucianism, Confucius believed that a true person is someone who has learned enough knowledge. So where does this knowledge come from?" Lu Jin asked Li Chang'an.

Li Chang'an said, "Knowledge can come from books, but it certainly doesn't come solely from books."

Lu Jin nodded and said, "That's right. Knowledge is not just words; words are merely tools for recording knowledge. In reality, knowledge comes from life experiences. And life at any time and in any place is our book."

"Therefore, Confucius said that learning is about 'observing one's faults and knowing one's benevolence,' which means that one must have thoughts, observe, experience, and reflect at all times and in all places. That is learning."

"It's not easy to reflect at the very beginning."

"But as you gradually make progress, you will naturally develop a genuine interest and joy, and you will be happy with what you have learned."

Upon hearing this, Li Chang'an nodded inwardly. Indeed, that was what he had been doing recently. He constantly reflected on his every thought, examining himself from time to time, and distinguishing whether each thought in his mind came from his true heart or from external delusions.

If it's a delusion, then transform it.

If it's a thought from your heart, then go and do it.

Gradually, even without various forms of entertainment from the outside world, he was able to find joy in the little things in life.

Isn't this a wonderful thing?

However, Lu Jin was referring to reflecting on oneself through external events, thereby gradually discovering one's true nature and achieving a joy that is not affected by external things.

Because he has the awareness of the intermediate state (bardo), he can complete this step better.

Lu Jin continued, "This is the essence of learning: always pay attention to 'time' and 'practice,' and learn anytime, anywhere."

"It is not that we are not learned just because we read books today, or that we are not learned if we do not read books. That is not its original meaning."

As Lu Jin spoke, Li Chang'an reflected on his own words and actions based on the principles Lu Jin had taught.

After class, Li Chang'an took a Marrow Cleansing Pill during dinner and then went to a cave to meditate.

Due to the unique environment inside the cave, Li Chang'an entered a state of being alive and began to temper his life force.

The state of being a living dead is a state of selflessness. To avoid becoming so engrossed in cultivation that he forgets about time, Li Chang'an sets an alarm clock.

After the alarm clock rang, he left the cave, returned to his courtyard, rested for an hour to replenish his energy, and then began practicing his sword.

Although meditation cannot completely replace sleep, it can restore oneself to a certain extent. Therefore, Li Chang'an only needs to sleep for a short time to maintain a clear mind and abundant energy.

Days passed by, and Li Chang'an continued his cultivation in an orderly manner.

Lu Linglong sometimes invited him to go out, but he always politely declined.

What could he and a bunch of five- or six-year-old kids possibly have to play?

Even Lu Lin, whom Lu Linglong called a taciturn person, felt that her senior brother Chang'an lived a monotonous life, as if he were immersed in his own world. Wasn't he bored?

But Li Chang'an wasn't bored.

Having lost the stimulation brought by external temptations, he found inner peace and a joy that came from the heart.

So although his life seemed boring, he felt very peaceful inside, experiencing a kind of joy like returning to nature after being confined for so long.

Of course, this only applies to him.

To outsiders, Li Chang'an was just a quiet, reserved guy who spent his days holed up in his own little courtyard, grinning like an idiot.

But Li Chang'an felt that they simply couldn't see through it.

He really enjoys this simple life.

In his methodical cultivation and steady progress, Li Chang'an would occasionally have a sudden inspiration and make some new progress.

That day, he thought of Feng Baobao.

Feng Baobao is constantly cultivating herself. Whether she is daydreaming, sleeping, walking, eating, or burying someone, her Qi is automatically circulating.

Could I be like that too?

But then he remembered his advisor, Zuo Ruotong.

For decades, Zuo Menzhang maintained a state of reversed life regardless of whether he was walking, sitting, standing, or lying down.

The state of reversing life is actually a very good state for cultivating one's spirit and energy.

"To be able to maintain this state for decades, no wonder Master Zuo's life cultivation is so high!"

"However, forging one's spirit and energy is like forging iron. No matter how strong a piece of iron is, it cannot withstand decades of continuous hammering. Even if the hammering force is very light, it will not work. After all, even dripping water can wear away stone."

"This also shows that maintaining a reverse growth state for decades is unreliable, but it does not completely negate this method."

"If one only maintains this state for a few months, or a year or two, and then stops to recover once they notice the wear and tear on their life force, wouldn't that maximize the improvement of their life force cultivation?"

The more Li Chang'an thought about it, the more he felt that it was highly feasible.

Other methods for cultivating life and nature, such as the River Chariot and the Golden Light Mantra, can only be practiced when one enters a meditative state. I have never heard of anyone maintaining golden light, shining like a light bulb for decades.

But rebirth in reverse is different.

There are precedents for defying natural causes.

The longest they can last for decades, while the shortest can last for ten or twenty days, or even a few months before they can't withstand it anymore.

"So it seems that the Triple Rebirth is the chosen method for cultivating life force and tempering essence, energy, and spirit."

Li Chang'an sighed inwardly. This method, which allows one to approach the state of being like Feng Baobao, who maintains cultivation at all times, is being used to pursue techniques like the so-called reversal of life to achieve the first, second, or third level of rebirth. This is undoubtedly a waste of its potential.

No matter how diligently someone practices, they can't practice 24 hours a day. If they can dedicate 12 hours a day to practice, that's already quite remarkable.

However, the reverse-life cycle can be maintained 24 hours a day. You only need to take a good rest every ten days or half a month to allow your body and mind to get a full rest and return to your normal state.

It can be said that, if used properly, this technique can be practiced much faster than other techniques.

Furthermore, the effect of tempering life in the reverse life state is inherently stronger than that of ordinary cultivation methods. In other words, if used properly, under the same aptitude, the efficiency of tempering essence, energy and spirit with the reverse life triple cultivation method is three to four times higher than that of cultivating life and spirit in other sects.

Moreover, the minimum requirement for cultivating the third level of reverse rebirth is good aptitude and high looks...

It can be said that if one focuses on using it to hone one's life skills, ten years of practice can achieve a level that many people cannot reach in a lifetime.

Thinking of this, Li Chang'an muttered to himself, "Such a significant improvement, how could those senior disciples from my previous sect not have noticed it?"

But then, the image of Lu Jin easily lifting that boulder weighing thousands of kilograms flashed through his mind.

Lu Jin probably wasn't at his full potential at that time, but even so, he still had such a significant boost.

If he were at his peak, Li Chang'an suspected he could even kick that boulder like a ball.

He suddenly felt it made sense again.

If you ignore the application of the techniques of reverse life, even if you practice for one or two decades, your life improvement may only reach the first or second level of others. The key is that you will not yet have an indestructible body that is impervious to water and fire.

This is similar to Wugensheng. Even with his high cultivation level, he can still fight on par with someone at the second level of the Reverse Life Realm without using special abilities. However, when facing firearms, he might accidentally get shot through the body by a machine gun.

However, the Reverse Life Double is not afraid of machine gun fire. From the perspective of combat power alone, pursuing the boost of the Reverse Life state is indeed more worthwhile than pursuing the Hammer Forging Life.

Moreover, the San Yi School has always emphasized that reaching the third level allows one to reverse the three and transform the acquired structure into the innate whole.

In that case, no one would choose to give up the bonus of the reverse life state in order to use it as a clumsy way to temper their life.

However, they all overlooked a premise: if one improves their life cultivation level using the Reverse Life Technique, the Reverse Life state, as a derivative method, will also be enhanced.

Without focusing on cultivating one's life force, activating the Reverse Life state will grant such a terrifying boost.

If one raises their life cultivation to the level required to activate the Reverse Life state, and then activates the Reverse Life state, how terrifyingly high would the bonus be?

Li Chang'an found it hard to believe.

Because the bonus from the reverse life state is multiplied.

True cultivation of both body and mind, once it reaches a certain level, also leads to exponential growth.

A multiplier increase... that's an explosive curve pointing straight upwards!