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

Upon realizing this, Li Chang'an was naturally delighted, because this method carried no risk whatsoever.

He certainly didn't intend to risk forcing his way through a process that could be accomplished without any risk.

However, this method may not work for others.

Because others do not have the awareness of the intermediate state to see themselves, they are certainly not as fast as him in the cultivation of life and nature, and it is also difficult for them to deal with the various delusions accumulated from maintaining rebirth in reverse for a long time.

Therefore, he did not strongly urge Lu Lin to do the same, but only reminded her to never forget to temper her life force while cultivating reversal of life.

Lu Lin solemnly stated that she would remember it.

In fact, Lu Jin has been exploring the path of reversing life over the years. Compared to before, he now pays more attention to tempering life, so Lu Lin's cultivation of sexuality and life is quite good.

In the past, Lu Lin was Lu Jin's hope for the revival of Sany. That heavy expectation fell on Lu Lin's shoulders, putting him under great pressure.

But now, with Li Chang'an's appearance, Lu Jin has shifted his hopes to Li Chang'an.

With the pressure greatly reduced, Lu Lin's state of mind became more peaceful, and her cultivation progressed even faster than usual.

As for Li Chang'an, he doesn't feel pressure at all.

However, Lu Jin was also worried about putting pressure on Li Chang'an, so he did not mention the phrase "forgetting oneself and the world" again during these hundred days.

Li Chang'an himself mentioned this matter to Lu Jin and explained the changes in the trajectory of his Qi circulation after entering a state of complete absorption in the external world several times.

Lu Jin was shocked when he heard this. He inquired about the details carefully and then compared it with the Qi circulation method passed down by his master. He found that it was almost the same, with only slight differences in some details of exerting force.

Lu Jin was a very meticulous person and did not make any arbitrary judgments based on this difference, such as whether Li Chang'an's method was ineffective or whether the method passed down by his master was wrong.

He tried it out himself and found that the details of Qi circulation that Li Chang'an had comprehended through enlightenment were slightly more forceful than those passed down by his master.

With his current level of cultivation, his Qi circulation is naturally unimpeded.

However, if it is someone who is a beginner and whose meridians are still relatively weak, it may cause some damage to the meridians.

The reason for this difference is not that Li Chang'an's method of circulating qi is wrong; in fact, circulating qi in Li Chang'an's way is more efficient.

However, Li Chang'an's method was only the most suitable for him.

The method of circulating qi left by Master Zuo Ruotong is more moderate, gentler, and more suitable for everyone.

It's not hard to guess that this must be the version that the master improved after many experiments, making it the most suitable for the vast majority of ordinary disciples.

Upon realizing this, Lu Jin felt even more deeply the painstaking efforts his master had made back then.

Li Chang'an finished his thoughts, slowly stood up, and walked out of the cave.

When he finished his meditation, he also stopped the reverse life force that he had maintained for thirty days.

He sensed a hint of fatigue, and although he could still keep going in his current state, there was no need to.

Rather than focusing on the duration of the practice, he placed more emphasis on the efficiency of the practice and its impact on himself.

If this continues, the effect of tempering one's spirit and energy will be much less, while the damage to the mind and spirit will become more and more obvious, and more and more delusions will be generated. Undoubtedly, it will be a losing proposition.

"A balance between work and rest is the key to success."

Li Chang'an rubbed his temples, squinted to adjust to the sunlight, and planned to go back inside for a long nap, but halfway there he bumped into Lu Lin and Lu Linglong.

"Brother Chang'an, come on, let's go out and play together!"

Lu Linglong, dressed in a pink dress, stood on tiptoe, waving her chubby little arms and shouting happily.

"Yes, Senior Brother Chang'an, it's the weekend, let's go boating!" Lu Lin, the taciturn one, also extended an invitation.

"OK!"

Li Chang'an said that after ending his reversal state, he was supposed to rest for a while, but thinking that he had been cultivating in a monotonous way since coming to the Lu family and hadn't had a chance to explore properly, he decided to go out and play with the two little ones and enjoy the scenery of Suzhou.

"Yay! Chang'an, you're finally willing to go out and have fun! Good heavens, you've been staying home alone every day, I was worried you'd get sick from being so cooped up!"

Lu Linglong kept talking, her little mouth chattering away like a little lark.

Lu Lin, standing to the side, wore a gentle smile.

In fact, Li Chang'an was not a particularly friendly or approachable person.

His reputation in the Lu family is not good. Many of the elderly and children in the Lu family think that he is a loner, very aloof and cold, without any social skills or special hobbies. He seems to be very busy, but no one knows what he is busy with.

The reason why Lu Linglong and Lu Lin came to visit him today was arranged by Lu Jin.

Lu Jin also felt that Li Chang'an was becoming somewhat unsociable, so she asked Lu Linglong and Lu Lin to spend more time with him whenever they had free time.

Lu Lin and Lu Linglong had approached him several times, but Li Chang'an had rejected them most of the time. However, they didn't expect him to agree this time.

The three of them happily went out to play.

Li Chang'an's first impression of Suzhou was that there was more water than roads, so they went out by boat.

They used Lu's boats.

As they were leaving, the elders of the Lu family smiled and said, "You three little girls are going out to play. Be careful, just wander around the city's waterways, don't paddle too far!"

Lu Lin hummed in agreement, jumped onto the boat first, skillfully untied the rope from the bow, took the long bamboo pole, and turned around to reach out to Lu Linglong.

Lu Linglong didn't need him to catch her at all. The little girl was very strong-willed. With a kick of her short legs, she jumped off the shore with a "Heave-ho!" making the boat rock violently.

"Ouch! Slow down!"

Lu Lin was somewhat helpless, so she quickly used a bamboo pole to brace against the stone bank and stabilize the boat.

Li Chang'an smiled, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and landed gently on the stern of the boat like a falling leaf, without causing even the slightest sway.

"Wow! Brother Chang'an is so handsome, and he landed so steadily!" Lu Linglong clapped her hands.

Li Chang'an had little experience rowing, so Lu Lin was the one who rowed the boat.

Despite his young age, Lu Lin, who grew up in a water town, is a first-rate boatman.

He stood at the stern, holding a bamboo pole with both hands, skillfully and steadily pushing off the water.

With each push, the small boat broke through the water and glided forward nimbly.

Li Chang'an stood at the bow of the boat, looking around. White walls and black tiles, small bridges and flowing water unfolded before his eyes in layers.

It was around the turn of the millennium. If viewed from a future perspective, the city at this time seems to be shrouded in a filter of bygone days, exuding a sense of everyday life.

Lu Linglong sat comfortably on the wooden plank in the middle of the cabin, her pink hair swaying in the wind.

She was clutching a handful of lotus pods she had bought before leaving home. She had already eaten two, and there were still bits of lotus seed coat stuck to the corners of her mouth. She looked adorable.

"Chang'an, look! There's an old lady over there washing clothes with a washing stick!" Lu Linglong pointed to the stone steps on the shore.

Li Chang'an glanced in the direction she pointed, and hummed in acknowledgment.

"Cousin, look! There are words in that archway!" Lu Linglong exclaimed, pointing to a single-arch stone bridge ahead.

Lu Lin also looked up and saw three characters carved on the stone bridge. The strokes were blurred and he couldn't make out what they said. He looked at them for a while but couldn't figure them out, so he shook his head and focused on rowing the boat again.

"Hey, you two, are you out here to have fun or just laze around?!"

Lu Linglong angrily broke off two lotus seeds from the lotus pod and threw them at Lu Lin and Li Chang'an.

Lu Lin was hit on the shoulder, but she just smiled and wasn't angry. She just silently rowed the boat.

Li Chang'an reached out and caught the lotus seed, then ate it.

"Hmph, they look like two pieces of wood."

Lu Linglong came to a conclusion: she decided to ignore these two boring guys for the time being.

She turned around, leaned over the gunwale, and stretched half her body out to look at the scenery in the water.

Occasionally, small fish would swim by in the water, and she would stretch out her arm to try and catch them, but each time she would just miss, and her sleeve would get half wet.

The small boat rowed slowly, and a low stone bridge appeared ahead.

"Heads down, let's cross the bridge," Lu Lin called out, bending down slightly at the same time.

With a gentle push of the long pole, the small boat glides through the bridge arch.

Just then, Lu Linglong, who was playing in the water on the side of the boat, suddenly twitched her little nose twice. She smelled a fragrance, looked up, and saw a stall selling plum blossom cakes on the bridge. The sweet aroma wafted over with the river breeze.

She jumped up excitedly, shouting, "Cousin, Brother Chang'an, plum blossom cake!"

Lu Lin was still rowing the boat, which was about to enter the bridge arch.

Li Chang'an took out a few coins from his pocket, lightly leaped onto the bridge, and bought three plum blossom cakes from the old man selling them.

After making the purchase, Lu Lin's small boat slowly emerged from the other end of the bridge arch.

Seizing the opportunity, Li Chang'an leaped down and landed lightly on the deck, dividing the plum blossom cake in his hand among himself and one piece for each person.

"Wow! Thank you, Brother Chang'an!"

Lu Linglong took it and ate it in small bites, her cheeks bulging like a little hamster.

Lu Lin ate while rowing the boat, a simple and honest smile on her face.

The boat moved forward slowly.

Standing at the bow of the boat, Li Chang'an suddenly smelled a fragrance again, faint and wafting from somewhere.

At first, Li Chang'an thought it was osmanthus, but then he felt it didn't look like it.

Later, he saw a woman washing clothes by the river. It was the smell of soapberries, but unexpectedly, it smelled quite nice mixed with the water vapor.

The boat traveled a little further, and he saw someone on the shore setting up a large iron pot, boiling reddish-brown syrup, in which round taro balls were rolling around. It was a specialty snack of Jiangnan called sugar taro.

Li Chang'an jumped up, bought a few more portions, and shared them with his two friends.

While eating the dessert, he suddenly recalled two lines of poetry by Bai Juyi: "In Yangzhou post station, I dreamt of Suzhou, dreamt of flower bridges and waterside pavilions."

There are no flowers right now, but the reflection of the pavilion is definitely there.

After finishing her dessert, Lu Linglong leaned against the ship's railing, stretching out her legs and reaching for the water with her toes, but her short legs just couldn't reach it, she was just a little bit short.