Chapter 27 Returning the Dao to Heaven
There is a Zhelong Temple on the Baili Qingxi Mountain.

The house has white walls and green tiles, and is home to a number of old trees and green grass. The trees are ginkgo trees, with fallen yellow leaves covering the ground. A red brick path leads directly to the cottage, which has only one main room, three side rooms, and a small firewood shed. There is a small plot of farmland behind the house, surrounded by a sparse fence.

Suddenly, a person fell from the sky and landed in the courtyard of Zhelong Temple.

I didn’t expect that traveling across the world for the first time would be so exciting. I didn’t think anyone would see it.

Gu Qingyuan stood up, rubbed his bruised waist, and looked at the page of the golden book in his mind. The coordinates saved in it had disappeared. He was searching again, and he didn't know when he would find something.

"You have a big secret." An old voice came, making Gu Qingyuan shudder all over.

I saw an old Taoist sitting on the ground in the southeast corner of the courtyard. If he hadn't spoken, no trace of his presence would have been detectable.

The old Taoist had wrinkles and furrows on his face, and his dry white hair hung all the way to the ground, exuding a dead air.

"But my death is approaching, and no matter how big the secret is, it has nothing to do with me anymore." The old Taoist was a little tired and had to take a break in the middle of a sentence.

Dying soon? Really?

Gu Qingyuan circulated the internal energy in his body and felt a little more confident.

"What are you afraid of? I am not a cannibal. I just want to say a few words to someone before I die." The old Taoist took a breath and continued.

"Master, just speak frankly if you have anything to say." Gu Qingyuan sat in front of the old Taoist.

"The old Taoist has run out of energy and is suffering from the five signs of decline. I thought I would die alone, but unexpectedly I met you by chance. There are some things I want to entrust to you. Don't worry, if I have any bad intentions, you can't escape." The old Taoist seemed to have some cultivation.

"I wonder if the master has anything to say to you, kid?"

The old Taoist glanced at the place where Gu Qingyuan first appeared and said, "I am not interested in your secrets. I just want to ask you a favor."

"what's up?"

"I would like you to keep vigil for me for three days after I die."

"Guarding the casket?" Gu Qingyuan was a little hesitant. This world was most likely a world of cultivating immortals. Would this old Taoist priest come back to life?
As if he could see what Gu Qingyuan was thinking, the old Taoist chuckled a few times: "I am a practitioner of ancient Qigong. After death, my true spirit is immortal and I will reincarnate. You have great luck. I will send you off and share your luck. It can be considered a bond. Perhaps it can help me gain wisdom in the next life."

Ancient method? Reincarnation? Great fortune?
A series of questions crowded into Gu Qingyuan's mind.

"An ancient Qigong practitioner?" he asked carefully.

"Gathering Qi, refining Qi, and absorbing Qi to achieve immortality are ancient methods. Firstly, it is too difficult to practice. Without spiritual roots, one cannot become an immortal. The qualifications required are too high. Secondly, the road ahead is dead. It is not as popular as the new method of practicing alchemy, which has long since declined." The old Taoist seemed to be giving advice intentionally.

Gu Qingyuan thought for a while and then just laid it out.

"I am a country bumpkin who doesn't understand the mysteries of cultivation. I hope the Taoist priest can help me solve my doubts."

"Haha, no problem." The old Taoist looked at Gu Qingyuan meaningfully.

"The heaven and earth have qi, and practitioners gather qi to gain the foundation for longevity. The sky has pure qi, the earth has turbid qi, and people have qi. Qi practitioners survey the heaven and earth, absorb qi to achieve longevity, and refine yin and yang, the five elements, blood evil and other qi to achieve magic power. This is an ancient method."

"Later, there were geniuses who created new methods, gathered spiritual energy from the world, opened the sea of ​​energy, absorbed spiritual energy, formed elixir seeds, built the foundation of immortality, opened the purple palace, formed golden elixir, and took spiritual objects from the world to refine a golden elixir. They were called alchemists."

"The moonlight of the moon, the sun's essence, the Yuanyi heavy water, the Cangqing Wutong, there are so many spiritual objects, too many to count, you can take one or more, all of which can be used to refine magic power." The old Taoist spread his hands, and the five energies in his hands rotated, "The old Taoist refined the five elements of energy to form the five elements of magic power, which are mutually reinforcing and restraining, and are endless. If it were an alchemist, he would have to collect all the five elements of spiritual objects to succeed."

"What do you mean by 'the road ahead is blocked'?" Gu Qingyuan asked, staring at the five energies in the Taoist's hand.

"Concentrating the breath, training the qi, building the foundation, purple mansion, and golden elixir are the five realms of cultivation for the new method. The ancient method has lost its way and can only stop at the purple mansion."

Just reached the Golden Core stage? No great success, tribulation, or ascension yet? Gu Qingyuan was somewhat puzzled.

As if sensing Gu Qingyuan's doubt, the old Taoist shook his head and said, "Practicing Qi creates a pill seed. The pill seed grows stronger, and when the pill seed is opened, it becomes an immortal foundation. At this time, various magical powers appear according to different magic powers. They are called small magical powers. When the immortal foundation is complete, the spiritual veins are absorbed into the body. The immortal foundation becomes a palace foundation, which opens a small cave in the human body and condenses great magical powers to become a purple palace."

“The Purple Mansion has been around for a thousand years. If one can polish the Purple Mansion illusion to perfection, round and satisfactory, and achieve the Golden Elixir Dao Fruit, it will be extremely mysterious. Wherever there is a call, there must be a response. Once a golden elixir is swallowed into the stomach, your name will be erased from the Book of Life and Death. All things will die but I will not, and the heaven and the earth will live the same life. It is called the Golden Elixir, but it is actually the Golden Immortal.” The old Taoist said with a yearning look on his face.

It's outrageous. If this golden elixir were in any other world, it would at least be a refining and merging elixir.

Gu Qingyuan sighed inwardly.

"Why doesn't the Taoist priest practice the new method?"

The old Taoist sneered: "The new method seizes the fortune of heaven and earth and invades the mysteries of the sun and the moon. It is not like my ancient method, which emphasizes returning the way to heaven. If a cultivator of the new method dies, he will die, and not a fart will be left."

“So the new cultivators are envied by the heavens, with calamities everywhere, a murderous intent at every step, a threshold at every realm, three disasters following them, and six difficulties approaching. Even if they are a Golden Core Dao Lord, when the great calamity comes, they will die.”

Gu Qingyuan had some understanding. The ancient method was about returning the Tao to heaven, and when a whale fell, all things came to life. However, the new method directly plundered the resources of heaven and earth. To heaven and earth, it was a demon, not an immortal, and they had to bring down a disaster to subdue the demon.

Isn't this definitely an evil cultivator? Gu Qingyuan muttered in his heart and asked quickly:

"What are the three disasters and six calamities?"

"Three disasters, thunder, fire and wind; six difficulties, obstacles to knowledge and perception; cold palace; chaotic heart, entangled love; anger covering the eyes; cause and effect." The old Taoist spoke a little breathlessly, and threw out a few books and a gem.

"The ancient method, 'The Secret of the Five Elements', the new method, 'The Golden Elixir', and all the other methods and notes on refining, take them and read them yourself, don't make any noise."

Gu Qingyuan quickly picked up the book and Baoyu and looked at them in his hands.

The Secret of the Five Elements is a jade book, and the Golden Elixir and Ginseng Covenant is made of tanned leather and feels extremely smooth.

"Hold the jade in your hand. If there is a slight glow, then you have spiritual roots. You can choose between the new method and the old method. If there is nothing unusual, you can only practice the new method. After practicing Qi, you need to find a way to pass it on and plant the elixir seeds.

These secret books are a bit of a benefit to you. When the old Taoist dies, strange phenomena will occur, spiritual energy will pass through, and the five elements of magic will merge with heaven and earth. The body will separate out five elements of spiritual objects, and you can choose one to take. For the rest of the spiritual objects, except for the earth spiritual object, you need to send it to the small temple 20 miles away. The rest will be taken by three Taoist friends. You don't have to be afraid when the time comes. There is a mountain formation to cover it, and no one will notice the strange phenomena. "The old Taoist tacitly agreed that Gu Qingyuan agreed to guard the spirit and gave him detailed instructions.

Gu Qingyuan would naturally not refuse the benefit.

"What secret method is this that the Taoist priest is talking about?"

The old Taoist looked at him angrily and said softly, "There are all kinds of people in the world. Those who are favored by heaven and earth have spiritual roots in their bodies. With those spiritual roots, the magic power formed by practicing qi can be relied on. Only when the magic power refines the spiritual roots can one become an immortal foundation and break through the barriers to build a foundation.

But this spiritual root is rare, only one in ten thousand, so only geniuses can create a method to pass it on. With the guidance of a high-level cultivator, a fake spiritual root is formed, called a pill seed, and then the pill seed is polished into an immortal foundation. From then on, everyone can become a pill cultivator, and the pill method is spread throughout the world. "

Gu Qingyuan nodded in confusion, took the jade again, held it in his hand, and waited for a moment, without seeing any light. "It seems that you have no affinity with the ancient method, but you can study the "Jindan Shen Tongqi" carefully, and you may also have hope of longevity." The old Taoist said with a chuckle.

Gu Qingyuan put the "Secret of the Five Elements" into his arms and picked up the "Golden Elixir and Ginseng Covenant".

When the leather book was unfolded, it was covered with tiny handwriting.

This leather should be sheepskin!

Even with the secret book in hand, Gu Qingyuan's thoughts were a little scattered, so he quickly gathered his thoughts. This booklet only had thirteen pages. The first two pages talked about fetal breathing, and the middle seven pages talked about Qi training and foundation building. He felt a little difficult to turn to the next page.

Gu Qingyuan exerted a little force, and the page turned, which actually emitted a purple light. For a moment, he had a splitting headache, and a voice echoed. The voice sounded like that of a child, an old woman, and a young man, mixed together and chanting.

"The holy fetus of Yang Qi, the true Yin of sexual light."

"The will of the Three Corpses, the Three Taipei Yins."

"I am originally too empty, and my reach is boundless. Auspicious clouds open the door to life, and auspicious smoke blocks the door to death."

"The Way is dark and pure, the palace of great emptiness is dim and silent, the essence is pure and has no place to stay, the mind and body are all quiet and one true sect."

The Eight Directions Mantra and the Hundred-Character Sacred Scripture rushed into Gu Qingyuan's mind at the same time.

For a moment, I felt the three flowers tremble, the five elements mixed, the three souls did not belong to heaven and earth, and the six spirits flew into the underworld.

The internal organs emitted a turbid light, as if they had consciousness and wanted to escape. Gu Qingyuan raised his hand and vaguely saw a dim yellow pupil in his palm looking back at him. The eyes flickered, and it was about to transform into a golden cicada and flap its wings to fly away.

With great willpower, he closed the booklet, and all the strange things, sounds and colors disappeared like hallucinations.

"Hehehe, do you like this Purple Mansion Sutra?" The old Taoist seemed to have been waiting to see this scene for a long time. He laughed, and his face became slightly flushed.

Gu Qingyuan took a few deep breaths and said, "Excuse me, Taoist priest, is what I just saw true or false?"

"It is false, but it is also true," the old Taoist said leisurely, and he did not intend to be a riddler, and continued to preach.

“If the first three realms are the foundation, then the Purple Palace is where all the accumulation is integrated into one, and one ascends to become an immortal. The difference between immortals and mortals is so great. The Purple Palace cultivation mantra contains magical powers, and one cannot read it without building a foundation. If one does not cultivate well enough, the mantra will only confuse one’s mind, causing the magical powers to become weird and turn into inhuman magical powers and strange objects.”

The old Taoist wanted to remind him, and said in a serious tone: "If you embark on the path of immortality, you must remember one thing. The magical powers, immortal methods, and the true words of the sects all have their own status. This kind of mysterious knowledge is power."

knowledge is power.

Gu Qingyuan repeated it silently in his mind twice, and felt that these words that spanned two lifetimes had gained some weight out of thin air. Looking at the three pages of the book emitting purple light, and the last page that shone with golden light, his heart beat rapidly.

Deciding not to spy until he had established his foundation, Gu Qingyuan followed the instructions in the chapter on fetal breathing.
Spiritual practice.

Gu Qingyuan sat with his legs folded over each other, legs crossed like a lotus, his body naturally relaxed in a cross-legged meditation posture, his spine naturally erect, his shoulders relaxed but not deliberately straightening his chest, his hands naturally hanging on his knees, his eyes slightly closed, his tongue against the upper jaw, and he breathed slowly.

This breath should be divided into nine times, intermittently, like silk threads. After nine inhalations and exhalations, turn to internal breath. The body should not shake or move, and the chest should not rise or fall. This method is called the Nine-Breath Qi Subduing.

Fetal breathing is the first stage of cultivation, which imitates the state of a human body in the womb in order to receive the innate vital energy.

The old Taoist also perked up a little. He was not surprised that Gu Qingyuan entered the inner breath so quickly. He was a master of Purple Mansion and had seen countless geniuses. Not to mention entering the inner breath in a quarter of an hour, he had also seen someone draw out the innate vital energy in a quarter of an hour. But the old Taoist looked at Gu Qingyuan and gradually widened his eyes.

Gu Qingyuan seemed unaware and just practiced silently. This fetal breathing period is divided into three stages.

The first step is to enter into a state of meditation, eliminate distracting thoughts, embrace the origin and preserve the nature, clear the mind, and enter a state of inner breathing.

The second step is to draw in the Qi, using fetal breathing to draw out a breath of innate vital Qi, transforming the vital Qi into breath, and allowing it to flow through the major orifices of the body.

The third step is to open the orifices, circulate the breath, and fall into the Dantian Qi Sea orifice, open the Qi Sea, and contain the breath. When the major orifices throughout the body are opened and the Qi Sea is overflowing, you will naturally enter the Qi training stage and refine the first bit of magic power.

Gu Qingyuan already had the foundation of the celestial realm, so it went without saying that he was in a state of meditation. His innate vital energy had long since transformed into true energy, and all his body's acupoints had been opened long ago.

As he breathed, a breath of innate vital energy was brewing. He seized the opportunity and drew the vital energy. A wisp of breath rose from the spring, circulated around his body, and finally slowly fell into the sea of ​​qi in his dantian. There was already powerful true qi in his dantian, which merged into the breath like a tiger pouncing on a sheep. The breath grew stronger. After several big cycles, the sea of ​​​​qi was overflowing with breath and gradually condensed. Most of the true qi was still connected with the breath.

In less than half an incense stick of time, Gu Qingyuan opened his eyes and found that his fetal breathing was complete. He just needed to refine the spiritual object and extract the first trace of magic power.

The old Taoist's lips trembled a little: "What evildoer is here to tease me?"

"Is it difficult to achieve perfect fetal breathing?" Gu Qingyuan said to the old Taoist.

"It is not difficult to achieve perfection. Even a dog can achieve perfection if it lives for a long time. However, the state of fetal breathing focuses on nourishment, food, and supplements. The first breath of innate vitality in the human body is extremely weak. Practicing qigong is actually squeezing out one's own vitality, which will inevitably cause the body to suffer from deficiency.
You should eat spiritual rice, drink spiritual spring water, take great medicine, strengthen your breath, and open your orifices. Ordinary people do not have spiritual supplies, and it takes two or three years to see results. Even if you have spiritual rice and medicine, it still takes a hundred days. You are not like this. You can easily enter the Qi training in half an incense stick, and your breath is strengthened without the exhaustion of Qi and blood. The orifices open by themselves and draw out magic power. "The old Taoist took a breath, but couldn't help his curiosity, and used his magic power to gather in his eyes.

"I was mistaken. I didn't expect that you still have a stream of vital energy in your body. Although it is very complex and cannot compare to magical power, it is also transformed from vital energy. No wonder you have made rapid progress."

Gu Qingyuan felt that the old Taoist's glance was so thorough that even his underwear was seen through. He then looked at himself and saw how hard he had worked to refine his true Qi, but was only given a mixed review. He yearned for the immortal path even more.

"Master, you have good eyesight!"

"It's also the Taoist's fault for being too curious. Once I use this magic power, I will lose another half hour of my life." The Taoist smiled bitterly, but didn't care much.

Then the two of them talked for a few more words until the sky darkened and the sun set.

The old Taoist seemed to have regained some strength, and his face was a little rosy. Gu Qingyuan knew that the time had come.

Sure enough, after a while, the old Taoist raised his five hearts to the sky and said:
"Xu Mingyuan, an ancient Qigong practitioner, has practiced for thousands of years. Today, he dies in the void and returns his Dao to heaven."

The true practitioner of the ages, passed away in meditation.

His body suddenly transformed into a five-colored spiritual object, and a green spiritual energy was released from the spiritual object, which was so vast that it dyed most of the sky green.

There was a strange fragrance in the Zhelong Temple, new buds appeared on the dead trees, tender flowers bloomed, and the grass and trees grew rapidly, reaching knee-high in a blink of an eye.

Within hundreds of miles, wherever the spiritual energy passes, the vegetation becomes lush and the elves become wise. If a mortal smells it, all his diseases will be cured. If a cultivator swallows it, his Taoism will be enhanced. It's a pity that this place is desolate and uninhabited. The only person left is Gu Qingyuan, who was breathing in deep breaths.

Except for a small amount of spiritual energy that dissipated, most of the spiritual energy gathered in Qingxi Mountain, making the top of the mountain shine brightly. The green energy sank into the ground and was absorbed into the earth's veins. Perhaps a spiritual vein would be born after a hundred years.

It is true that when a whale falls, all things come to life, benefiting the heaven and earth, and returning the Tao to heaven.

(End of this chapter)