725 Gathering of Three Flowers IV —Flower of the Spiri (1/2)
The Three Flowers referred to the Flower of the Body, the Qi, and the Spirit.
Zhou Bao's Flower of the Body and Flower of the Qi had been condensed to completeness even though they had just condensed. Although Qing Feng was prepared for Zhou Bao's success, he could not help cursing him in his heart. After all, everyone would be jealous. And at that moment, he felt admiration, jealousy, and hatred.
But despite all of those negative feelings, he had to continue helping Zhou Bao.
Seeing Zhou Bao opening his eyes, Qing Feng forced a smile and said, ”The Flower of the Spirit is the most difficult one to condense because it involves spiritual power. You're a Human Immortal now. But even though your body, spirit, and inner Dharma powers have all been baptized by the Void Thunder Tribulation and are very pure now, they are still far from perfect.”
To gather the Flower of the Body, one needed to remove numerous protozoa hidden in the body's acupoints; and to gather the Flower of the Qi, one needed to change the scattered and weak Dharma power and perform a qualitative change. Meanwhile, gathering the Flower of the Spirit is the most troublesome one. The spirit was the source of the consciousness, which was condensed from the soul. If the spirit would be damaged, both the power and the body would be irreparable. For a practitioner, the spirit was the essence of everything.
Even if someone were to lost one's body and Dharma powers, as long as the spirit existed, this person could reincarnate, occupy the body of a living being, or even practice the ghost way among the 3,000 Great Ways. Although no one from ancient times till now had ever achieved the Earthly Immortals' Great Way through practicing the ghost way. But it was famous, and there were many ghost practitioners that had survived for countless years.
However, once a person lost one's spirit, everything was over. Even if the one's body and Dharma powers were intact, that person would only be a living corpse or a puppet.
In addition, the relationship between spirit, body, and Dharma powers was subtle.
The spirit and body were one since birth, meaning that the spirit would die with the death of the body. However, when a practitioner became an Individual Immortal and condensed a Real Body, the spirit could be completely separated from the body and be reborn by taking over the body of others. In a sense, the Individual Immortal had an eternal life and would not die as long as there was a way to keep the spirit alive.
This was, of course, the ideal situation. To any practitioner, the ghost way was a long, winding road with no end in sight. The loss of one's body was equivalent to the loss of dependence. For a very long time, the spirit would be very fragile, and it could even be dispersed by a gust of wind.
Therefore, even if a practitioner had reached the Realm of Individual Immortal, and the spirit and the body could be completely separated, the practitioner would not be stupid enough to abandon the body. After all, without nourishing the body, the spirit would slowly wither.
It was exactly because of that separation between the spirit and the body that those Individual Immortals put more emphasis on tempering the body so that it could provide more nutrients to the spirit.
When one's cultivation was at the peak of the Individual Immortal Realm, after receiving the baptism of the Thunder Tribulation, that person would become a Genuine Immortal, namely the Ghost Immortal.
The Thunder Tribulation to the Ghost Immortal Realm had two big purposes. One was to temper and purify the practitioner's body, Dharma powers, and spirit. And the other was to make a connection between the separated spirit and the body. And this connection was made of Dharma power.
The Dharma power was the result of joining the spirit and Internal Qi on the body.
The same was true for gathering the Three Flowers above the Head. It didn't matter if one started with the Flower of the Body or the Flower of the Qi, but the Flower of the Spirit was definitely the last one to gather. This was because gathering it required Dharma powers, in other words, the Flower of the Qi. Only in this way could the three be united into one.
Currently, two lotus flowers were circling above Zhou Bao's head, one sanguine and one golden, being opposite each other. Moreover, as Zhou Bao's body shook, a faint shadow rose out from between his eyebrows.
It was the primordial spirit of the Primordial Fierce Beast Demonic Ape Zhuyan, which was also Zhou Bao's spirit, and had its shape. Now, he had to gather his Flower of the Spirit from the primordial spirit.
After Zhuyan's primordial spirit appeared, it held Zhou Bao's Flower of the Body and Flower of the Qi with its hands, respectively; and sat cross-legged in the air.