Vol 1 Chapter 24 (1/2)
Volume 1, Chapter 24 – Refines Medicine in the Cauldron, Experiencing Life and Death In the Jade’s s.p.a.ce
The fire was blazing under the Dragonstar Sand Cauldron. Whenever the fire started to burn out, Zhang Yan, who sat on the meditation mat, took a pile of firewood and threw it under the cauldron.
After Princess Cao Ying delivered the Five Elemental Divine Sand, Zhang Yan went to Ai Zhongwen and exchanged the divine sand with many medicinal herbs. And after a few days, Luo Xiao immediately opened the cauldron and fired it up to refine some pills. After concocting for a dozen days, the number of pills that had been successfully concocted had reached almost a thousand pills, all of which were given to him.
Luo Xiao then put the remaining medicinal herbs into this precious cauldron before finally jumping inside. Then, Zhang Yan was responsible for covering the cauldron with its lid and taking care of the fire as to keep it moderately burning every day. The cauldron’s lid should then be opened on the seventh day. The whole process was called the ‘Medicine Refining Method’.
Originally, Luo Xiao was quite reluctant and was not bold enough to try this method. However, this Dragonstar Sand Cauldron was something that could not be sought and could only be obtained through good fortune. As long as the method was good enough, relying on the burning fire to boil the medicinal herb inside, Luo Xiao could then directly absorb the medicinal herbs’ efficacy by tempering itself in the cauldron. Cleansing the medicinal herbs’ impurities and preserving its essence. Of which can be used to rejuvenate Luo Xiao’s vitality.
According to Luo Xiao injunction, Zhang Yan had to keep the small fire unchanged as to keep the steady temperature every day. And for every seven days, he had to open the cauldron’s lid and throw in a batch of medicinal herbs. Each time Luo Xiao’s body shed a layer of dead skin, it also exerted black filth, which then filled the cauldron. After each tempering process, Luo Xiao’s imposing aura grew more powerful by at least one point. This experience really broadened Zhang Yan’s horizon.
Now, it had reached the third phase of the seventh-day timeframe. This time, according to Luo Xiao, needs a raging fire to continuously burn the cauldron. However, after a long time, even at the time the cauldron’s lid should be opened, there had neither any movements or sounds in the cauldron. There wasn’t even the slightest spiritual qi that could be sensed. Zhang Yan didn’t know whether it was because it was too excessively burned or the entire method process was yet to be completed.
Zhang Yan didn’t dare to rashly open the cauldron since Luo Xiao hadn’t asked him. He then sat down to meditate.
More than a month’s time had pa.s.sed. He had been practicing the breathing method through the day and night unceasingly, repeatedly swallowing ma.s.sive amounts of concocted pills. The concocted pills that he had consumed these days were equal to the total amount of concocted pills he had swallowed in the past.
After painstakingly practicing and condensing his True Primordial Qi, the originally chaotic qi in his body became easier to control, as if the lively ape had been tamed and became an obedient cow. As well as a firmer and steadier like black tortoise to finally reside in his Dantian. His Primordial Qi Establishment Realm had gradually stabilized. And at this point, Zhang Yan faintly felt that he should be able to practice the next cultivation step.
Zhang Yan took out the ‘Exquisite Records of the Inner Qi Profound Origins’ manual. Although he had been reading this manual for many times, he still carefully read the manual again as his hand then held the broken jade piece, before he sank his consciousness into the jade’s s.p.a.ce to manipulate his avatar.
After advancing in his cultivation, it seemed that the jade’s s.p.a.ce became somewhat different than before.
Previously, the s.p.a.ce in the jade was shrouded with some kind of misty fog, of which made him unable to distinguish the s.p.a.ce’s bottom and top, or even the four directions of this s.p.a.ce. It was as if there was nothing in this s.p.a.ce other than his avatar. He had once manipulated his avatar to walk in this s.p.a.ce in his spare time and found that this s.p.a.ce was empty and filled with a turbulent void and emptiness.
But now, he actually felt that he was in a vast s.p.a.ce and could see the bottom and the top of this s.p.a.ce.
Zhang Yan looked up and saw a faint ma.s.s cloud of fresh and refres.h.i.+ng spiritual qi. But the cloud under his feet was thick and muddy, giving off the sensation that he was stepping on the ground. This scenery was like the beginning evolution process after the primordial chaos. The previous condition in this jade’s s.p.a.ce could be described as “chaos birthed the seed like a fowl, the avatar amongst them started to dwell”. But now, the condition had changed into “the pure qi ascended and the impure qi descended, as the pair of yin and yang in the divide, the heaven and earth began to decide”.
When his consciousness entered the jade’s s.p.a.ce in the previous state, Zhang Yan realized that this avatar was a clone of himself, and was a fake. However, at this moment, the jade’s current state gave him the feeling that the moment his consciousness entered his avatar, it was as if he was really alive in this avatar. The feeling and thoughts were very vivid and clear. He couldn’t even distinguish the differences between his avatar and true body
Zhang Yan felt as if he had been struck with enlightenment. It seemed like the situation inside the jade’s s.p.a.ce was changing or evolving due to the advancement of his cultivation, which then made his avatar become more vivid and real.
While his consciousness in the true body was pondering, his avatar walked in the jade’s s.p.a.ce. However, s.p.a.ce here was very vast, as if it was boundless since he couldn’t find its end.
He secretly mused that this broken jade had other profound secrets far beyond the current phenomenon he could see right now. However, he needed to enhance his own cultivation as a fundamental condition.
At this moment, he was not in the mood to conduct any deep research regarding this matter as he then controlled his avatar to sit on the ground and a.s.sume the Overturning Five Heavenly Cores [1] posture, and began to quietly practice the method described in ‘Exquisite Record’ manual in his heart.
According to the method described in the manual, cultivators needed to gather their Qi and divide it into two. From two it would become four, and it must respectively be directed into the four main meridians. However, each strand of Qi had a different circulation method, each of which cannot have a slight deviation.
Although Zhang Yan had been long mentally prepared. However, the degree of difficulties this time went far beyond his imagination. He tried extremely hard to control his Qi and was barely able to pa.s.s through the first step. When he tried to try the second step, his mind was slightly distracted, causing his qi to become chaotic and immediately scatter randomly to various places in his body.
His heart suddenly jolted as his consciousness was abruptly sent back to his true body. He quickly sank his consciousness to the jade’s s.p.a.ce again and turned his head, founding that his avatar was on the ground and had been severely injured by qi deviation. Had he practiced the method with his true body at this moment, perhaps he would have been injured and would have damaged his foundation.
He shook his head and took a deep breath before submerging his consciousness into the jade again. With his mind, he quickly manipulated the injured avatar on the ground to stand up.
He previously thought that he hadn’t fully mastered the technique to use his consciousness to control that strand of qi. He then let the avatar’s body recover back to the previous state and didn’t rush to practice again at this moment.
The second strand of qi deviation made him start over from the beginning again, and this time he particularly paid special attention to his qi control. However, according to the method stated in the manual, he needed four strands of qi. Not only did these four strands of qi need to be circulated repeatedly through the meridians’ path, but he also could not lose control of it. But, after painstakingly insisting for almost half an hour, he finally couldn’t control it anymore. He could barely control the avatar, as it suddenly vomited blood and died.
Zhang Yan’s eyebrows twitched, he quickly retracted and controlled his qi. He threw away all his distracting thoughts and controlled the avatar in the jade’s s.p.a.ce to sit up again.
He carefully gathered the four strands of qi and carefully controlled them. But after a short while, his avatar fell once again.
However, he didn’t know that this was just the beginning of a long process of honing himself.
The fourth time, he could completely control his qi according to his wants. But suddenly, he lost control of it, causing his qi to become chaotic and scatter again, making him suffocate and die.
The fifth time. When the two strands of qi needed to be blended, he failed to simultaneously converge them to his acupoints’ gate, rending his heart and dying.
The sixth time. As he gathered his qi into the vital meridians because the qi was too impure, it resulted in an entanglement for a second with the outer acupoints’ gates, his lungs were damaged and he died.