From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

Looking at it from Jiang Liu's current perspective.

The difficulty in cultivating Dan Shi lies in perfectly combining Qi poison with the circulation of Qi throughout the body. This is extremely difficult because if not done properly, Qi poison will circulate throughout the body along with the circulation of Qi, leading to poisoning, erosion of meridians, and even death.

But once you enter the gate, it's equivalent to learning the Dan Shi ability, which kills without leaving a trace.

Why?

This is because all those who cultivate Qi must have a clear circulation of Qi throughout their body. If it weren't, they wouldn't be able to release supernatural abilities, let alone cultivate Qi!

The foundation of Tang Clan's martial arts is Qi poison. To cultivate it, it's not enough to just build it with Qi; it also requires the use of appropriate medicines.

Furthermore, the Qi poison only manifests when using abilities, meaning it's constructed outside the body using Qi. During cultivation, specifically when practicing the circulation of Qi through the body's meridians, it's not allowed to circulate internally within the body—

The practitioner himself was poisoned first!

Generally speaking, Tang Sect disciples who cultivate Qi Poison need to use the Spleen Earth Qi and Liver Wood Qi to perform the Earth-Wood Flowing Method to isolate the Qi Poison from direct contact with the five internal organs, muscles, bones, and meridians; otherwise, they will be corroded by the Qi Poison.

However, the cultivation of Dan Shi involves the complete and thorough integration of Qi Poison cultivation into the process of the Zhou Tian cycle. It is difficult to get started, but once you get started, you have mastered it.

Therefore, one needs to see through life and death and be free from worries before starting the cultivation process. Otherwise, if hesitation arises in one's mind, one may not be able to control it properly during cultivation, causing the meridians of the whole body to be invaded by Qi poison, ultimately leading to death and the dissipation of one's spiritual path.

The principle behind the formation of Dan Shi is that after a practitioner perfectly integrates the Qi Poison Technique into the circulation of Qi, their own Qi becomes perfectly round and unified, without leakage or leakage, almost merging with nature. Therefore, others feel as if the aura of the person performing Dan Shi has disappeared.

Only by cultivating a state of mind similar to "primordial chaos" can one perfectly control the Qi poison and use it to create those "pills" that seem to coexist with nature and are not sensed by anyone.

But it is only approximately equal to Hunyuan.

It is similar to Hunyuan, but it is not Hunyuan, let alone just a trace of its artistic conception.

Jiang Liu holds the Dharma Image Seal, which has the Dharma of seeing all things. It is not a Dharma of observation, but surpasses the Dharma of observation. Furthermore, the first step in cultivating the Dharma of Refining the Form of the Sun and Moon is to cultivate a pair of eyes that can see the moon halo and the sun's glow. How could he not see the existence of Dan Shi?

As for breaking the Dan Shi technique?

This leads us to the principle behind how danshinone (丹噬) works on the human body...

# Chapter 429 How to Break the Pill Devouring Technique

The name "Dan Shi" contains the word "Shi," which clearly indicates that this thing can devour the protective Qi of the body, as well as other protective measures based on Qi.

How is it possible to do this?

The reason is simple, and it is still based on the concept of "mixed origin".

One cycle of Qi circulation is one primordial state, or in other words, one perfect circle.

The ability, Dan Shi, is based on the concept of circulating Qi throughout the body. It also carries a trace of the "circulation of Qi" and can naturally attract Qi.

However, Dan Shi itself will also be consumed when it destroys other people's protective measures based on Qi.

After all, Dan Shi only has the characteristic of devouring Qi; it cannot convert the Qi of others into energy to maintain the existence of Dan Shi itself.

Once the Dan Shi (a type of energy) penetrates the human body, this trace of energy, which is similar to "Hun Yuan" (primordial chaos), will come into play. The moment it touches the meridians, it will immediately spread to all the meridians in the body and focus on destroying the three Dan (energy centers) of the human body.

Just as the process of cultivating the elixir is a process of allowing the Qi poison to be completely integrated into the circulation of Qi throughout the body, the Qi flows from the upper dantian to the middle dantian, then flows to the lower dantian, and finally returns to the upper dantian along the Du meridian.

Just as the Sanyi Sect focuses on the Three Elixir while neglecting the other six of the Three Passes and Nine Apertures, the Tang Sect's Dan Shi is also like this.

The only difference is that the way the three pills are used is different from the reverse life three-stage method.

The interpretation of the fourth chapter of "Journey to the West" by some Taoists in the world of "Under One Person" is that the Mind Monkey's resignation, that is, leaving the Ren meridian, is the process by which the Jade Emperor sends the god Juling from the upper dantian and the god Nezha from the middle dantian to the lower dantian, forcing the Mind Monkey, who has escaped to the lower dantian, to return to the Heavenly Court under the stimulation of Venus.

Among them, Venus is Taibai Jinxing, which is also called Jinjing in Taoism and is known in medicine as the sensory transmission effect.

Regarding this interpretation—

Admittedly, Qi cultivation does involve circulating Qi throughout the body, but forcibly combining it with the story of this chapter is a typical case of drawing a target before shooting an arrow, a far-fetched connection that ignores the fact that the Giant Spirit God and Nezha were defeated by Sun Wukong, and forcibly claims that the Mind Monkey was forced to the lower dantian.

The "mind monkey" is the heart, and the "flower and fruit waterfall" corresponds to the heart in the human body. The waterfall that flows backward and the undercurrent under the stone bridge in the cave that leads directly to the East China Sea clearly refer to the flow of blood in the heart.

Without a doubt, no matter how disheveled the mind-monkey was, it returned to the middle dantian, calming its mind and settling its will within the water curtain of the heart. If the mind-monkey had truly gone to the lower dantian—

That means you've gone to the underworld!

Therefore, although Jiang Liu did not cultivate Dan Shi, he roughly understood that the Tang Clan disciples cultivated Dan Shi according to this principle. They simply compared the Qi poison to the Mind Monkey, first letting it "relinquish its duties," using the Lu Men point as a reference, first forcing it to the middle dantian, then having the Marshal of the Middle Altar use his magic to force it to the lower dantian, and finally stimulating it to return from the Du Meridian to the upper dantian, thus forming a cycle.

No wonder Dan Shi's cultivation was fraught with peril, with only nine deaths and one life.

Without him.

Although Qi Poison is not a true ape, at the moment a cultivator compares it to a ape, the spirit within the five internal organs, circulating throughout the body, will also infuse it with a trace of intention without the cultivator's knowledge, giving Qi Poison a true "unruly" quality of the ape.

In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong was never satisfied and refused to be the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses. The Giant Spirit tried to chop him with an axe, but the Great Sage easily knocked him numb with a single blow. The Great Sage, who was all-powerful at the Three Altars Sea Assembly, was no match for the unruly Monkey King. He was struck in the arm by the Monkey King's staff and could no longer fight back, so he was defeated.

In the end, the Jade Emperor had no choice but to grant the Monkey King the title of Great Sage Equal to Heaven on the advice of Venus, thus quelling the trouble.

Obvious.

When explaining the principles of Qi cultivation in this chapter, these Taoists completely ignored the definition of "mind-monkey," constantly belittling it and focusing only on Qi cultivation, while neglecting the enlightenment of mind and nature.

The restless mind is the mind itself!

and so--

The restless mind finds its way!

If one's mind is not at peace and one's Qi is not flowing smoothly, how can one become the Great Sage Equal to Heaven?

It's like the Monkey King on his journey to the West wearing the golden headband. Although he was restricted, the path to the West was his own choice and his own will!

Otherwise, based on Tang Sanzang's letter of dismissal, neither Guanyin nor Buddha would have been able to speak up for him. Even if Pigsy went to plead with him, Monkey could have simply ignored him and remained the carefree demon king.

and so.

The Qi poison is likened to a restless monkey, and if it is constantly forced downwards, it will inevitably erupt and fight to the death against the "Giant Spirit God" and the "Great God of the Central Altar Sea Assembly".

This is the fundamental reason why cultivating the elixir requires enduring nine deaths and one life.

Unable to withstand the resistance of the unorthodox "mind monkey" of Qi poison, death was the only outcome.

If you withstand it, then you've successfully completed the process.

Based on this.

Although the Dan Shi cultivated had a trace of the perfect balance of the universe and was in harmony with heaven and earth, it was ultimately just a killing technique, not the righteous path.

However, what the Tang Sect sought was not to reach the heavens, but to kill.

When Dan Shi enters another person's body, it immediately seeks out the meridians and spreads outwards. The root cause is that the "Qi Poison Heart Monkey" erupts, turning the other person's body and world upside down!

The destruction of the Three Elixir was caused by the "Mind Monkey," a manifestation of the poisonous Qi, which wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace and disrupted the Underworld. The Heavenly Court and the Underworld joined forces to resist this "Mind Monkey," destroying the Flower and Fruit Water Curtain, ultimately leading to a lose-lose situation.

That is, the moment the pill enters the body, it spreads throughout the whole body, first invading the upper dantian and then eroding the lower dantian. The order of these two dantians can be reversed. The key is that the person who has been poisoned by the pill is desperately cultivating his life force, that is, stabilizing his five internal organs, trying to suppress the "Qi poison heart monkey". This causes the middle dantian to be unable to withstand it, and in the end, the three dantians shatter and the meridians are broken.

It can be said.

The situation of having a slim chance of survival after cultivating the Elixir of Life is actually the same as the situation of certain death after being poisoned by the Elixir of Life.

The reason why Tang Clan disciples who cultivate Dan Shi have a glimmer of hope is because they have been exposed to and adapted to poison since childhood, and have an understanding and research on Qi poison.

Unfortunately, none of them were Buddha, and they couldn't truly suppress the restless mind!

The other non-Tang Clan members had almost no understanding of Qi Poison, only knowing that it was poisonous... Therefore, they naturally had no way to deal with Dan Shi, who used Qi Poison as a tool to refine the Heart Monkey.

But once you understand this principle, dealing with Dan Shi becomes much simpler.

Like a flowing river.

The moment the pill enters the body, all the pills are gathered in the chest and abdomen. With the circulation of the five energies, they can be suppressed, obliterated, and refined.

Without him.

This is because Dan Shi is like a mind ape forcibly sent into the Bagua Furnace to be refined, integrating Qi poison into the circulation of Qi. Even if it is perfect, it still fills the mind ape with a belly full of anger, that is, it makes Dan Shi full of an invisible "poison".

To make a simple, blunt, but not entirely accurate, comparison of the process of cultivating the Pill Devouring technique—

Qi poison = restless mind

Meridian circulation = Bagua furnace

Qi circulation = Six Ding Divine Fire

Cultivating the Dan Shi involves throwing the Mind Monkey into the Eight Trigrams Furnace and slowly refining it with the Six Ding Divine Fire.

If the refining fails, it means that before the forty-nine days are up, the Monkey King violently breaks open the Eight Trigrams Furnace, the furnace shatters and the person dies; there is no other possibility.

Successful cultivation is not without its dangers, for the mind is filled with rage. If one is not careful, even Laozi (the Supreme Lord Lao) could fall head over heels!

When the Tang Clan uses the Pill Devouring Technique, they send the "Poisonous Heart Monkey" filled with rage into another person's body, allowing it to wreak havoc within that person's body.

Once this "Qi Poison Heart Monkey" erupts, without the Buddha's method of "refining the demon and saving the emperor," no matter how high one's own skills are, "no god can stop it."

Not to mention, this "Qi Poison Heart Monkey" is an external one, not the heart monkey of the person who was poisoned by the pill, so it is even more unscrupulous in its destruction.

In short, Jiang Liu's method of breaking the Dan Shi was similar to the Buddha's method of refining demons and saving the emperor. He gathered the five elements of Qi in his chest, and in the process of rotation, they converged into one, transforming into a five-element mountain, which obliterated the demon.

In Journey to the West, the unruly Monkey King needs the help of the Mantra of Calming the Mind to be completely subdued.

However, Dan Shi is just a kind of pure and uniform Qi poison, and it cannot be considered a true Mind Monkey. It can be suppressed and refined by the Five Elements Mountain.

# Chapter 430 Why could only Buddha be the one to subdue demons and save the emperor? Because it's his specialty!

"You think breaking the Dan Shi technique is easy?"

Tang Jiaren didn't have mind-reading abilities, but he felt that Jiang Liu was mocking the Tang Clan's unique skills, and his eyes widened in fury.

"I say, old man, you're so old, why are you so short-tempered?"

Jiang Liu chuckled and said, "Besides, you and Li Ding came to assassinate me. Now that you're outmatched, what's wrong with me mocking you? Do you expect me to be killed by your Dan Shi?"

Tang Jiaren said no more.

Afterwards, Jiang Liu also planted nine talismans on Tang Jiaren, sealing his nine orifices and preventing him from circulating his Qi.

After the two were taken away, Jiang Liu continued to answer the questions of those present regarding cultivation, daily life, and work...

···

"The Tang Clan is nothing special!"