Chapter 9: The White Sphere

The moon hung above the willow branches.

Li Chijing suddenly opened his eyes and looked at his father, Li Mutian, who was sitting beside him, sipping tea while holding a piece of cloth inscribed with the "Guidance Technique."

"Father, I have memorized the technique thoroughly over the past two months," he paused and continued, "Today is the beginning of summer, one of the eight solar terms, and it might be a good time to try it out."

"Go ahead and try it."

Li Mutian nodded and spoke slowly.

Li Chijing was overjoyed, and his three older brothers were also full of anticipation, helping to burn incense and prepare a ritual table in the courtyard.

Li Mutian then respectfully brought out the magical mirror, which he had recently carved with dragon patterns, and set it up on the table. He inserted nine incense sticks and placed some fruits on the table.

Lu Jiangxian couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed, as the incense and offerings made it seem like they were worshiping him, a dead person.

Li Chijing bowed three times and prostrated nine times, kneeling and bowing his head respectfully as he spoke:

"Disciple Li Chijing of the Li family, respectfully requests the profound and mysterious technique, to pacify the spirits and follow the Dao in cultivation."

"May the technique be effective, not in vain, and may the talisman be burned, and the body return to the Great Yin."

After speaking, he cleared his mind and activated the technique, repeatedly absorbing the natural harmonious qi.

At the same time, Lu Jiangxian's thoughts stirred, and the mirror's surface immediately shimmered with a radiant light, like rippling water.

"There's a reaction!"

Li Mutian and the others were greatly excited, staring intently at the table.

The gray mirror began to hum, and a white sphere rose from its surface, glowing brightly and illuminating the courtyard with a white light so intense that it was hard to open their eyes.

Li Chijing felt his mind go blank, and a solemn and heavy voice suddenly echoed in his head:

"Here is a disciple of the Li family, who has restrained his emotions, stopped his faults, and cut off the roots of evil. The profound and mysterious technique is granted to him, to cultivate the Dao, from the mundane to the sacred, from beginning to end, starting with the precepts and talismans, and then ascending to the true realm. The 'Treatise on the Great Yin's Breath and Wheel Cultivation' and the Golden Light Technique are granted to him."

Li Chijing quickly got up from the ground, sat cross-legged, and the white sphere leaped into his crown, causing his whole body to tremble as he was submerged in the complex information in his mind.

The white sphere imparted the technique and gently rotated in his crown, moving through his meridians, and finally settled in the lower dantian, the qi sea point.

Li Mutian and the others watched as the magical sphere entered Li Chijing's head, becoming extremely tense and anxious as they watched him sit cross-legged, close his eyes, and meditate until dawn.

When the moon set and the sun rose, Li Chijing finally trembled and slowly woke up. He opened his eyes and saw his brothers around him, their faces filled with anxiety and unease.

"Father, brothers! I have received the magical sphere and have entered the path of cultivation!" Li Chijing excitedly jumped up and hugged his father.

Li Mutian happily spun Li Chijing around, and Li Tongya and the others sighed with relief, their faces also showing excitement and joy.

"I have received a technique called the 'Treatise on the Great Yin's Breath and Wheel Cultivation.'"

After speaking, Li Chijing tried to recite the key points of the technique, but the white sphere in his qi sea point gently moved, and he suddenly lost his voice, only able to make incoherent sounds.

He was greatly alarmed, instinctively covering his mouth, and tried to speak again:

"Father!"

Seeing that he could speak again, Li Chijing sighed with relief and tried to recite the key points of the technique, but found that he could neither recite nor write them down.

"This immortal technique cannot be written or recited, it's truly amazing." Li Chijing's face changed, showing a look of distress.

"There's no need to be nervous."

Li Changhu smiled and patted Li Chijing's head, watching as his father respectfully returned the magical mirror to the table, and then said:

"By the summer solstice, we will all request the technique together."

"Brother," Li Chijing interrupted him, hesitantly saying, "It seems there are only six magical spheres."

"Only six?" Li Tongya, who was reading the "Guidance Technique," looked up at him, asking in confusion.

"I received the magical sphere, and my mind became filled with many things, such as the six realms of cultivation and the cultivation of the breath and wheel. It seems the magical mirror can only produce six spheres." Li Chijing explained frankly.

Li Xiangping nodded and comforted him, "Such a miraculous object, which can transform the essence of heaven and earth, naturally has a limited number."

Li Changhu yawned, waved his hand, and said to his brothers:

"Go back and sleep, you've been up all night and must be tired."

"You're afraid your wife will worry, right!" Li Xiangping laughed and teased him.

"You brat!" Li Changhu laughed and pointed at Li Xiangping, then whispered,

"I think Tian Yun is quite suitable."

"Brother, stop matchmaking!" Li Xiangping's face turned serious, and he turned and left the courtyard, returning to his room.

"Ha ha ha ha ha..." Li Changhu laughed and entered the front yard.

"There's a chance!"

Li Mutian stroked his beard, thinking to himself.

——

That night, the moonlight was like water.

Li Chijing sat cross-legged in the courtyard, closed his eyes, and formed a hand seal, drawing a stream of qi from his qi sea point, guiding it through his meridians, over the twelve levels of the throat, and out through his forehead.

In an instant, Li Chijing's vision brightened, and the moonlight slowly flowed toward his forehead, merging with the stream of spiritual qi.

After a short while, Li Chijing formed another hand seal, guiding the now milky white stream of qi back into his forehead, over the twelve levels, and back to the qi sea point.

After three rounds, Li Chijing opened his eyes and looked at the sky, realizing that two hours had passed.

"The speed of absorbing moonlight is too slow."

Li Chijing calculated that absorbing moonlight eighty-one times would form one strand of moonlight qi, and eighty-one strands would form the first wheel of the six wheels of fetal breathing—the Xuanjing Wheel.

Cultivating the Xuanjing Wheel means entering the fetal breathing stage, allowing the use of techniques.

"Three rounds take two hours, so eighty-one rounds will take fifty-four hours." Li Chijing thought, "Cultivating six hours a day, it will take nine days. Eighty-one strands will take two years..."

Looking at the moonlight gathered on the magical mirror, Li Chijing blinked, and an idea came to him. He sat cross-legged on the stone platform and began to cultivate.

Lu Jiangxian was half asleep in the mirror, passing the time. He had already absorbed enough moonlight, and the time in the mirror was long and boring. Lu Jiangxian, like a college student in a boring class, dozed off, sometimes closing his eyes for a whole day.

Li Chijing's spiritual qi leaped from his forehead into the moonlight on the mirror, instantly waking Lu Jiangxian, who couldn't help but smile at the sight of the young boy.

"Very clever."

Li Chijing guided the spiritual qi back to his qi sea point, feeling a cool sensation as the moonlight qi grew tenfold. This way, he only needed five or six rounds to form one strand of moonlight qi!

He was greatly excited, formed a hand seal, and continued to cultivate. He only stopped when the sky was filled with morning light, and his brothers arrived in the backyard.

Seeing his father and brothers, Li Chijing told them about what happened last night. They were both surprised and delighted, and Li Mutian sighed, burned another incense stick for Lu Jiangxian, and led the children out of the dark room.

(End of Chapter)