Chapter 16: Herbal Cleansing Sutra (I)

The sun slowly rose from above the valley, and birds flew and chased each other in the forest in the valley; as time passed, the sun slowly moved to the center of the valley, and then slanted towards the top of the mountain on the west side of the valley, until the evening, slowly sinking behind the mountain, the earth was shrouded in darkness, and only the autumn insects made chirping sounds one after another.

Time passed day by day, and eight or nine days had passed since Li Yan started practicing. Li Yan would open the door for a while except for eating and washing every day, and the door was basically closed.

In the room, Li Yan, who was already wearing a black long gown, sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, his eyes slightly closed, his hands formed a hand seal on his abdomen, and breathed evenly. After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes and frowned. He has been practicing diligently for eight or nine days, but still has not been able to stimulate the Qi in Dantian. During this time, he also asked his teacher, and the answer given by Master Ji Jun was that the entry-level practice varies from person to person, and it can take three to five days at the least, or ten days or half a month at the most to stimulate the Qi in Dantian. The most taboo in the practice is to be impatient and irritable, and one must calm down and calm the mind. However, it has been almost ten days, and he can no longer find the so-called practice feeling, and he can't help but feel a little discouraged.

He simply got out of bed, opened the door and walked out. Looking at the sky that was slowly getting dark, he walked slowly in the valley, thinking about the meaning of every sentence and every word in the formula. As he walked and thought, he suddenly heard a trickling sound. It turned out that he had come to the pool without realizing it. Listening to the sound of the mountain spring slowly flowing down from the cliff, looking at the upper half of the valley where the dark moon cast a cold light, the sound of the water flow kept circling in his heart. He suddenly seemed to feel something in his heart. Just like that, he stood here motionlessly. After an unknown period of time, he suddenly felt as if there was a kind of coolness in his body that echoed with the sound of the water flow. He immediately sat cross-legged by the pool. The "breath guidance technique" that had been lingering in his mind for the past few days followed his heart naturally. Not long after, a black gas appeared on his face. After the black gas appeared on his face, it did not appear strange, but there was a feeling of cold and deep water lightly covering it, with a hint of transparent color.

At this time, Li Yan didn't know this. He only felt that the sound of the flowing water filled his mind, and with each breath, it began to fill his body. Suddenly, he felt a coolness rising from his Dantian, and began to slowly move along the meridians guided by the "breath guidance technique". Every time he passed a place, the coolness of the meridians in that place would appear, but he didn't feel cold, but instead felt like a fish swimming in the sea. In this way, every time this cool air moved around in the meridians, the Dantian would feel even cooler, making the Dantian more and more cool.

In the stone house on the east side of the valley, Master Ji also sat cross-legged behind the table with his eyes closed in meditation. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, a smile appeared on his face, and he said to himself, "Finally, I feel the air of heaven and earth? It seems that I can prepare herbal medicine. It's really exciting." After that, he slowly closed his eyes again.

After a long time, Li Yan slowly opened his eyes. The valley was still there, and the trickling water on the cliff was still there, but the moon had disappeared above the valley. It was already midnight, and he was hesitant. The nights in the mountains in autumn were very cold, but Li Yan did not feel the coldness from the outside at all, because the coolness in his body was even stronger, but he did not feel any discomfort in his body. Instead, he felt sharper and lighter. However, he remembered that the "breath guidance technique" said that the energy in Dantian should be warm, but why was it the opposite? Did he make a mistake in his practice? If so, would he be like his senior brother before? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Just as he stood up hesitantly, he suddenly felt the coolness in Dantian stagnant and became uncomfortable. He was stunned, and a voice rang in his ear, "Li Yan, you have finally completed the entry, which is really good."

Hearing this voice, he was startled and turned around to see a man in a black robe standing silently behind him. Then he was relieved because the voice was the teacher's voice. He quickly bowed, "Teacher, you haven't rested yet." He felt a little surprised that the teacher's internal strength was so profound. He just had some changes in his body, but he knew it immediately. It was really amazing.

Although the moonlight in the valley had gone, under the starlight in the sky, Li Yan could vaguely see the teacher's face with a faint smile. He hesitated and continued, "Disciple, disciple, I am not sure whether it is successful."

"Oh? Master feels the breath of your stimulating Dantian Qi, it should be so." Master Ji Jun said calmly.

"But, disciple, it is not as the formula says, Dantian produces warmth, but a little coolness." After saying that, Li Yan's face showed uneasiness.

After hearing this, Master Ji was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "I haven't explained this to you in detail. The Qi-inducing technique is just to stimulate the Qi in the Dantian. When each person is stimulated, they will feel sour, numb, itchy, cold, hot, etc. Generally speaking, warmth and heat are the most common. Therefore, the formula I gave you only lists the common feelings, so you don't have to worry about this." After hearing this, Li Yan heaved a sigh of relief, and his worries disappeared. He thought to himself, "It seems that in the future, I can just ask the teacher directly about these things. I am just scaring myself by making wild assumptions."

As if he could see Li Yan's expression clearly in the dark night, Master Ji chuckled and said, "You have been very tired these days. You don't need to practice anymore today. Go to bed early. You can formally practice the 'Mu Yin Gong' method tomorrow."

"Yes, teacher, then I'll take my leave." Li Yan was delighted to hear this. In this way, he has entered the door and is qualified to practice the real method. He actually has the urge to practice the method immediately, but he also knows that this matter cannot be rushed. Moreover, although he has not consumed much physical strength in the past ten days, his mind is indeed exhausted. So he walked towards his stone house. After he walked a few steps, the uncomfortable feeling in his Dantian suddenly subsided a lot. He couldn't help but secretly admire the teacher's deep skill. He didn't have this feeling before when he didn't have any internal breath. Now that he has this little bit of internal breath, he also feels the pressure brought by the teacher.

Watching Li Yan's disappearing figure, Division Master Ji also turned around and disappeared from the spot. When he reappeared, he had already arrived in his own room. He flicked his sleeves behind him, and the door closed silently. He sat cross-legged behind the table again, his face changing from gloomy to bright, and he pondered in his heart, "It turns out that the first thing he sensed from the energy of heaven and earth was water. In this case, the black energy he saw the most when he tested the needle last time was true, so practicing the wood-based exercises is not the best choice. Fortunately, he has mixed spiritual roots, and according to his last experience, Judging from the performance, the green gas is still there, second only to the perception of water, and it can also be cultivated, but this time will definitely be longer. I don’t know if I can suppress this poison until he succeeds in cultivation. "

After thinking for a moment, Master Ji shook his head and smiled bitterly, "It is a great fortune to be able to wait for the second person to arrive. I am thinking too much. Can I get a better result than this? Then, let's start tomorrow. In any case, my body can't wait any longer. "Thinking of this, he closed his eyes and entered into a state of meditation.

On the morning of the second day, Li Yan woke up and felt refreshed. His mood was like the blue sky outside the window in early autumn. After breakfast, he came to the teacher's house early. Just like last time, as soon as he arrived in front of the stone house, Master Ji's voice came out, "Is it Li Yan, come in"

Although Li Yan only occasionally went out of his house a few times in these days, he roughly knew that his teacher would go out every few days. On weekdays, he always practiced behind closed doors in this stone house in the valley.

Li Yan went in for another half a day. After he came out, Master Ji also walked out slowly, called Chen An and Li Yin to give them some instructions, and then he went straight to the second stone house. Not long after, Chen An and Li Yin came to Li Yan's room with an exquisite copper furnace. Li Yan followed the teacher's instructions and waited in the room. When he saw them coming, he asked them to put the copper furnace in the house. His stone house was also spacious, so he could just find an open place to put it down.

This copper furnace is about half a person tall, made of fine copper, with a copper glow all over. The bottom is a solid jade base. There are three purple dragons carved around the furnace body, with their heads raised upwards, forming a lifting shape. There are several hollow places between the dragon body and the furnace body, and the scene inside the furnace can be vaguely seen. At this time, the furnace is already red, but I don't know what fuel it is, but

There is no smoke coming out, and there are waves of heat surging out of the furnace body.

About a quarter of an hour later, Master Ji walked out of the second stone house, his gray face looked a little tired. Chen An and Li Yin then entered the stone layer and soon brought out a copper basin from the stone house. There was also hot air coming out of the basin. Then they carried the basin to the back of Li Yan's stone house and placed it on the three dragon heads of the copper furnace. After bowing to Master Ji and Li Yan, the two closed the door and walked out.

Master Ji came to the copper furnace, smiled on his tired face and said to Li Yan, "Have you memorized the mantras I talked about this morning?"

Li Yan also stood in front of the copper furnace and responded respectfully, "I have memorized them."

"Well, although there are not too many mantras in each level, the meaning is profound and subtle, and you must understand and comprehend them. I have spent half a day to solve your doubts, so that you can fully understand the use of the first level of mantras. The rest depends on your own hard work. As the saying goes, 'The master leads you to the door, and the practice is up to you.' This is an eternal truth." Master Ji nodded and said.

"Disciple should practice diligently. Thank you for your guidance." Li Yan replied respectfully.

At this time, the copper basin on the copper furnace was already steaming out. Looking closer, you can vaguely see a lot of herbs tumbling in the juice under the smoke in the copper basin, and they are emitting blue-black air, which is lingering on the copper basin.

"Well, the preparation of these herbal medicines is a secret method of our sect. This pot of herbal medicine can be used repeatedly for seven days. After seven days, these herbal medicines lose their effectiveness and need to be prepared again, but the amount will increase by several percent. After repeating this forty-nine days, your meridians will go through the process of marrow washing and meridian cutting, and finally become extremely strong. Only such meridians can withstand the domineering internal force of our sect later. As far as the meridians are concerned, the work of these forty-nine days alone is not much less than that of the second- and third-rate masters in the martial arts world. For ordinary people to reach this level, it is impossible to achieve it without nearly ten years of work. Our sect can reach this level through the secret method of meridian washing, but it is also extremely painful during this period. Those without great perseverance cannot complete it. You have to get through all of this one by one. Do you understand?" At this point, the voice of the military division became stern.

"Disciple knows, I will definitely live up to the teacher's expectations." Li Yan looked at the teacher with a firm look. He had been told about this repeatedly in the morning. He was also a man of strong will and knew that there was no such thing as gaining something without hard work. The martial arts of this sect were so overbearing that the practice must be harsh. He had already prepared for this.

"Okay, then you can start. I will guard the gate for you outside the house for the next few days. If you have any problems, I will help you in time." After saying that, he said no more, opened the door and walked out, then closed the door again from the outside, sat cross-legged on the stone table outside the house, and closed his eyes to meditate.