From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

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Let alone ordinary people, even Hongjun, who stole the Dao, could hardly understand the essence of the Dao.

Therefore.

Seeing that Zhong Kui didn't understand the Daoist principle of naturalness, Jiang Liu didn't press the matter further and asked, "So, your purpose this time is to capture this exquisite ghost and the clever insect and take their treasures away?"

This is one of them.

Although he knew that the Great Sage was upright and honorable, the person in front of him was the chosen one, and it was unknown how much of his memory he possessed. Therefore, Zhong Kui first put the gourd and the jade bottle on Bai Ze's back and put them away before speaking about official business, "I have three things to do in the mortal world. The second is to capture a nine-tailed old fox in Pingding Mountain and Lotus Cave!"

Unlike the Journey to the West, the Supreme Being of this world truly wants to stop the journey to the West.

Furthermore, Jinjiao and Yinjiao were not reincarnations sent to the mortal realm by the Supreme Lord at the request of Guanyin Bodhisattva; they were truly fox spirits, the sons of the nine-tailed old fox.

Although the old fox was killed by the Monkey King, it managed to survive because it had cultivated nine tails... However, it could not withstand the Ruyi Jingu Bang and its physical body perished, leaving only its soul to linger on.

The two boys begged the Supreme Lord to send the old mother's soul into the Lotus Cave to recuperate. They also ordered the two monsters, the Fine-Eyed Ghost and the Clever Insect, who had luckily survived, to offer incense every day to help stabilize her soul so that she could later possess another body and regain a human form.

But that nine-tailed old fox was restless; for five hundred years, it had been using its cunning ghosts and clever insects to capture living people, sucking their spiritual energy and devouring their souls…

Because all living beings in the primordial world can become spirits, it is quite common for demons to eat people in the four continents. These two little demons originally only captured villagers in the mountains, and it was impossible for them to provoke the Heavenly Court to send people down to deal with them.

But the problem arose because these two little demons, by a twist of fate, regained the Purple-Gold Red Gourd and the Jade Bottle, and used them to capture the Arhats of Mount Ling who were passing through the area...

This matter reached the Jade Emperor's ears.

Although the mythology of this world is shrouded in darkness, the world on the surface remains bright and clear.

Upon investigation, the Supreme Lord found that a newly arrived attendant in the Tushita Palace was clumsy, causing the gourd and jade bottle to fall to the mortal realm...

At last.

Zhong Kui was then dispatched to capture the cunning ghost and the clever insect, and also to capture the nine-tailed old fox. The Supreme Lord gave him both overt and covert instructions not to leave any survivors.

The Primordial Saint was not afraid of the Jade Emperor, but he was still serving in the Heavenly Court. If certain matters were to be weighed, it would not look good on him.

to this end.

I can only feel sorry for Golden Horn and Silver Horn, and I must kill their mother.

With a discerning eye, Jiang Liu, who understood the intricacies of the matter, nodded slightly and asked, "And what about the third thing?"

"The third thing is that I personally petitioned the Jade Emperor to allow me to not reside in heaven, but to settle down in the mortal world, to make Yalong Mountain my home and Pingding Mountain my Taoist temple."

Without hesitation, Zhong Kui's fierce eyes revealed a hint of helplessness.

Near Zhu Zhechi, near the ink is black.

Doesn't he understand this principle?

But he couldn't bear to relinquish his position as the guardian deity of the household...

Unable to change the Heavenly Court, he had no choice but to take the path of "out of sight, out of mind," refusing to associate with the gods in heaven, and instead catching ghosts and exorcising evil spirits in the mortal world, feeding on them to cultivate himself and sustain his life.

"If you want to cultivate yourself and prolong your life, why not go to the Southern Continent? There, dynasties change, famines and disasters are frequent, there is a sea of ​​gossip and disputes, many battles and killings, and there are many lonely ghosts."

Jiang Liu joked, "But on this Western Road... there are few ghosts and monsters, but many demons. With your abilities, you are good at catching ghosts, but if you encounter a great demon, you may not even have a chance to escape."

Zhong Kui: "..."

Chapter 1454 The Samadhi True Fire is Not Fire

Zhong Kui could only respond to Jiang Liu's teasing with silence.

Seeing his reaction, Jiang Liu chuckled and said, "We've been heading west for cultivation and to subdue demons. Since there are such wicked creatures on Pingding Mountain, we should do our part to get rid of those vengeful spirits, so that people traveling east and west in the future will no longer be harmed for no reason."

Zhong Kui immediately agreed.

Firstly.

With the help of a divinely appointed person, dealing with that old fox will be twice as effective with half the effort.

Secondly.

That old fox is, after all, the mother of the two Daoist disciples, Golden Horn and Silver Horn. If she really gets rid of him... I'm afraid those two naughty boys will cause trouble for me in the future.

He was confident that he was not afraid, but he had a younger sister at home, who was his only weakness. If someone could control her, even if he was a tough guy, he would have to bow down.

However, this would force the chosen one to bear the consequences...

"Brother Zhong Kui, don't have any wild ideas. My ancestor helped settle a lot of debts back then. Now, as his descendant, I should learn from my ancestors and make some connections."

As if he could see through Zhong Kui's thoughts, Jiang Liu chuckled and said, "If there's anything I can do to help you in the future, please don't refuse."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Kui trembled with fear and quickly knelt down, saying, "If the Great Sage ever needs my help, I will do my utmost!"

The art of mind reading.

Highly cultivated immortals and Buddhas all possess this technique, but it can only be used to perceive the thoughts of mortals who do not cultivate; however, even the Buddha of the Western Paradise would find it difficult to detect any demon with some cultivation.

But this chosen one could see through his thoughts, how could he not be horrified?

"If you're going to act like this, wait until we help you subdue that nine-tailed old fox." Jiang Liu smiled, helped Zhong Kui up, and asked him to lead the way.

How could Zhong Kui dare disobey?

He neither rode a tiger nor ordered the Ghost King to carry the long sword; instead, he carried it himself and led the way with Bai Ze.

Not long after.

Then you see a cave.

"arrive."

Zhong Kui said.

"This is the Lotus Cave in Pingdingshan."

Pigsy carried his rake and faced the river.

"Flat-topped Mountain? I think this is a rocky mountain. Lotus Cave? It looks like a rocky cave to me."

Jiang Liu's eyes darted around, and under Bajie's dumbfounded gaze, he pointed to the red-lacquered iron nail door in the cave and said, "Bajie, look, there's another nailed iron leaf door inside, but I don't know how many nails are on it... Bajie, why don't you go and count them?"

"Brother, are you trying to fool Old Pig?"

Bajie seriously suspected that the monkey had already remembered his past life, so he muttered and shook his head repeatedly, "You go if you want, I'm not going."

Hu Yuan said, "Second Senior Brother, if Eldest Senior Brother tells you to count, then go and count."

Hu Jue said, "Why don't you even listen to your senior brother anymore? Could it be that you're lazy in your cultivation and are thinking about the carefree days of being a pig?"

Provoked by the two brothers, Pigsy snorted and had no choice but to go forward to scout ahead.

He walked to the door.

The door opened by itself, spewing out a beam of fire that was unbearably hot. Startled, Pigsy quickly transformed into a gust of black wind and fled outside, shouting, "Brother Pig, it's terrible! There really is a monster inside! And it can breathe fire!"

The fire was fierce yet strange; it burned without wood and could ignite without oil. It moved with the wind and swirled with the air, forming a vast circle that trapped Jiang Liu, Bajie, Hu Yuan, Hu Jue, Zhong Kui, along with their mounts and the two ghost kings.

"What should we do?"

Seeing that Bai Ze's hair was charred black and the two ghost kings' skin was torn open, Zhong Kui was also parched and sweating profusely.

"This is the Samadhi True Fire!"

Pigsy was alarmed and said to Jiang Liu, "Our eldest brother was burned by this fire and had to flee back then."

"How could the monkey of the mind be afraid of fire? It's just that the fire isn't strong enough, it only produces smoke."

Jiang Liu laughed, opened his mouth, took a breath, and the flames that covered the mountains and fields turned into a torrent, which he swallowed into his belly.

In an instant.

The scorching heat is gone, and clarity is everywhere.

Zhong Kui was increasingly in awe of Jiang Liu's abilities, yet he couldn't help but admire him: "The man chosen by Heaven is indeed incredibly powerful, not even afraid of the Samadhi Fire."

"Although this fire is fierce, how can it be considered the Samadhi True Fire? It is merely three magical fires formed by the fusion of the Heart Fire, Kidney Fire, and Qi Sea Fire."

Jiang Liu said leisurely, "The true Samadhi Fire has three aspects:"

The first is the fire in one's eyes.

The second is the fire of intention.

The third is the fire that moves with qi.

When these three types of fire are combined, with intensified focus and unwavering concentration, it is called "martial fire"; when the focus is relaxed and seemingly absent, it is called "gentle fire".

Only by cultivating the fires of both civil and martial arts can one adapt to the changes of the four seasons and six energies, thereby adjusting the intensity of the fire, refining the elixir of body and mind, and attaining the fruit of longevity.

Samadhi Fire

Although it is named "fire," it is not a real flame. Just as Taoist alchemy often uses "infant" as a metaphor, this "fire" is also a metaphor.

The fire in one's eyes refers to observing the cyclical changes of the four seasons and six qi.

The fire of intention refers to the control of intention during spiritual practice.

The "fire of Qi" refers to the process of controlling the heat based on the previous two principles, in order to refine the body and mind into a golden elixir through internal Qi.

For example, in "Journey to the West," Sun Wukong's process of using Samadhi Fire to melt five gourds of golden pills into his body was not about actually lighting a flame inside his body to refine the pills he swallowed. Rather, it was about using this set of theories on internal alchemy to cultivate himself, which was a method, and using it to refine the nine-turn golden pills he swallowed, performing the work of refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, and refining spirit into emptiness, so that the nine-turn golden pills were completely integrated with his body and mind, and only then could he forge an indestructible body.

This is why Sun Wukong in Journey to the West never used the Samadhi Fire against his enemies.

Red Boy's Samadhi True Fire in Journey to the West actually manifests as "fire," but instead of focusing on internal cultivation of mind and body, it emphasizes external power—it is a technique.

The law is the foundation, and the technique is the application.

In essence, the Samadhi Fire Technique practiced by Sun Wukong is the righteous path, but in practical application, the power of the technique is more intuitive than the cultivation of the magic.

Therefore, many practitioners, even if they obtain the methods of cultivating the Great Dao, will still be attached to the power of the techniques and neglect the cultivation of the methods.

In this primordial world, immortals, Buddhas, demons, and ghosts are more attached to techniques than to laws.

Even the Six Sages were the same.

after all--

Immortality obtained by entrusting one's primordial spirit to the Heavenly Dao through the primordial purple energy... isn't that still just a side path of An Zhu in the wall?

Yuan Shen = Pillar

Heaven's Way = Wall