With virtue

After finishing his practice, Zhao Yunshu stopped and sat cross-legged on the couch, reviewing his insights from the past few days of cultivation. He couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

If an ordinary practitioner were to practice this art of water and fire, they would need to take secret medicines for one or two years, along with guiding exercises, breathing techniques, and strengthening their muscles and bones, gradually nourishing their kidneys and strengthening their heart, and harmonizing their qi and blood. Only after their foundation is solid can they slowly begin to gather qi. Gathering qi is also a threshold, and entering the field is not easy.

Once you've entered the gate, when you need to gather qi as a starting point, without the help of an internal landscape to distinguish the yin qi of water and gather the yang qi of the sun, the difficulty will be enormous. Without two or three years of hard work, it will be extremely difficult to reach his current level of skill.

In just seven days, he had solidified his foundation, absorbed the essence of water and fire, and reached the threshold of the balance of water and fire.

It wasn't that he was exceptionally talented; he simply had too many advantages.

The first thing is internal observation. After others take the medicine, how the medicine works in the body, which meridian it enters, and whether there is any stagnation can all be guessed by feeling, just like groping in a dark room with your eyes closed.

He could see the internal environment directly, and once the medicine entered his stomach, he could clearly see where to replenish and where to drain.

This one step alone saves a lot of effort.

Sun Shouxin sent only top-quality medicines: Longxi Astragalus membranaceus, Lu Codonopsis pilosula, Annam Cinnamomum cassia, Minxian Angelica sinensis, and Rehmannia glutinosa that had been steamed and dried nine times. All of them were top-grade medicinal materials with strong medicinal effects. For ordinary cultivators without the ability to observe the Dharma, it was lucky if they could absorb 30% of the medicinal effects after taking such good medicine. The rest would be wasted in their stomach and intestines. If their bodies were too weak and they had poor digestion, it could even accumulate and become poisonous.

He guided the medicinal power with his inner vision, gathering almost all of its power into the Water and Fire Palaces, making it several times more efficient.

Many Taoist remedies require specific visualization techniques to be taken.

For example, the so-called "Great Elixir" made from cinnabar and mercury is poisonous if ingested without the guidance of internal meditation. It can cause serious illness or even death.

This is why Taoism has always emphasized that "the Dharma should not be passed on to six ears." It's not that the Dharma itself is particularly profound, but rather that without the combination of observing and practicing the Dharma, passing it on would only harm people.

The evil monk who sought enlightenment at Anguo Temple failed to obtain it, so he could only practice those evil and harmful spells that harmed others for his own benefit. In a sense, his resentment was not entirely without reason.

Zhao Yunshu suppressed these thoughts and stopped thinking about them.

He now has detailed training methods for the arts of water and fire, an inner vision to guide him, and good medicine to assist him. Entering the basics within seven days is a natural progression. After that, it will be a matter of grinding and refining, continuously absorbing qi and refining it, so that the art can gradually grow stronger and more profound.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

It was Sun Shouxin who hadn't bothered them for seven days.

Zhao Yun opened the door and saw Sun Shouxin standing there, the old leader with a smile on his face, but he was being very cautious.

It's clear that he came here after careful consideration.

However, despite his consideration, since he was already there, he didn't hesitate and immediately asked, "Daoist Master, the seven days have passed, what do you think...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Yunshu said directly, "Come on, I'll take you to get the tribute porcelain."

Sun Shouxin nodded repeatedly! He'd follow immediately!

Zhao Yunshu led him not along the main mountain road from last time, but along an extremely secluded path, overgrown with knee-high weeds and thorny bushes.

The two walked one after the other through the forest, winding their way through the woods, until they finally stopped in front of a steep slope.

The steep slope was covered with dead branches, and a small earthen hole about the size of a well was faintly visible below. Several clumps of dead branches were intertwined and covered it. If you did not deliberately push them aside to take a closer look, you would never be able to find it even if you walked through this place ten times in the daytime.

However, hidden inside the earthen cave were several top-quality porcelain pieces!

It's obvious that this was left by that monk!

Upon seeing this, Sun Shouxin immediately tried to pry the dead branches with his hands, and almost cut his hand in his excitement!

Zhao Yunshu pulled him away. This old man is getting on in years and is impatient, so it's better not to push him away.

"Taoist Master, this..." Sun Shouxin was pulled aside, but he still craned his neck to look into the cave, swallowing hard in his throat.

Zhao Yunshu didn't say much. He stepped forward, stretched out his right hand, spread his five fingers slightly, and gently made a stroke. The dry branch caught fire, stirring up a wave of heat!

Forced back two steps by the heatwave, Sun Shouxin watched helplessly as the clump of dry branches crackled in the flames. He stamped his feet in frustration, repeatedly crying out, "Ouch! It's burning! It's burning!"

Such fine porcelain is most afraid of open flames. If it is fired again, it will be blackened at best, and the glaze will crack at worst. At that time, let alone offering it as tribute to the military governor, it will not fetch a good price even if it is taken to the market!

Zhao Yunshu ignored him and focused on controlling the fire.

The flames surged and leaped on the withered branches, but did not spread. They merely licked the surface of the branches quickly, burning them until they were glowing red-hot, without a single spark splashing onto the porcelain.

As the last piece of withered branch turned into dark red embers, he flipped his hand, his five fingers loosely clenched, and the flames, which were over ten feet tall, rolled back like a whale sucking in water, turning into a thin line of fire, which he then absorbed into his palm and extinguished.

Only a little warmth remained; when touched, even the ashes were only warm, not hot at all!

Sun Shouxin stared wide-eyed at the undamaged porcelain in the cave, then at Zhao Yunshu, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly.

This is magic! Truly a master!

Zhao Yunshu remained calm and composed, raising his head slightly to signal him to go inside and retrieve it.

Once the old man entered the cave, he exhaled a puff of white smoke, and beads of sweat quickly appeared on his forehead. He wiped them away with his sleeve without making a sound, cursing inwardly: "I've only been practicing for seven days, and my foundation is still too shallow. It's already a bit strenuous to pretend like this. I didn't control the force well just now, and I almost sucked the flame into my sleeve and burned myself!"

But clearly, the effect was still very good.

Before long, the old man came out carrying the porcelain. He was very careful. There were eight pieces of white porcelain in the cave. The glaze was as smooth as fat and the body was as thin as paper. The lotus scroll pattern painted on the bottle was as fine as a hair. Every stroke was exquisite!

This porcelain was clearly prepared by that wicked monk long ago, just waiting for the matter to be over so he could use it to curry favor with the military governor.

When the time comes, the evil monk will probably take half the credit for Ding ware.

But now, they've all gone to Ding kiln! This Taoist priest definitely wouldn't want them!

So, he happily thanked Zhao Yunshu and hurriedly went down the mountain to report the good news.

The young Taoist priest stood there and watched him leave.

After he walked away, the young Taoist priest exhaled a few more puffs of white smoke before slowly swaying down the mountain.

After coming down the mountain this time, I will go to the kiln to see the children and instruct Old Sun to take care of the refugees, at least to make sure they don't run out of porridge.

Brother Chen left a few days ago, eager to make a lot of money in Wu County to get married.

Now that the young Taoist priest has gold and silver in his pocket and two new skills, it is time for him to be free to leap about freely.

I went downstairs to say hello today, and now I'm about to enter the world of fish!