Chapter 10

After being illuminated by the light, the content of the book was deeply etched in his mind. The light had imprinted the text within his heart, but as a result, the divine power attached to the book had completely dissipated. From now on, it would no longer have the effect of making things unforgettable at a glance.

"Nature leads to divinity, life leads to immortality."

Chewing on these words, Qiu Yan's gaze swept over the book, and a sense of enlightenment flowed through his heart.

"This 'divinity' does not refer to deities or gods, but to the mind and spirit; and 'immortality' does not mean ascending to heaven, but rather climbing a high mountain, reaching the peak with the physical body, and achieving an imperishable form."

The first few pages of the book outlined the general principles, which had been imprinted in Qiu Yan's heart by the light. However, he now flipped through the pages and read them aloud, pronouncing each word clearly—

"Nature is reason, heart, spirit, intention, and virtue; life is law, breath, qi, form, and function. Nature and life are the foundation, seeking existence and survival."

"A cultivator seeks the Dao, first seeking long-term existence and life. If the Dao fruit is not achieved, and the spirit and form are extinguished, then the Dao in this life is hopeless. Therefore, one must first prove long-term existence and life to have the opportunity to achieve the Dao."

"As the saying goes, long life and long sight. If you do not have long life, no matter how far or deep you see, it is like a tree without roots or water without a source, ultimately turning into a mirage."

The opening of the book clearly stated the goal of cultivation, which was primarily to achieve long-term existence and life, even putting the pursuit of the Dao aside for a moment.

"Nature and life, if there is no life, what can be used to seek the Dao? The book speaks plainly, but truly."

Thinking this, Qiu Yan flipped to the beginning and took a careful look. The book provided some explanation of the cultivation of nature and life, including cultivation methods.

"Nature leads to divinity, cultivating the mind, thoughts, and soul."

As he read through the lines of text, they matched the memories he had just imprinted in his mind. Qiu Yan gradually grasped the key points of the cultivation of nature and life.

"The book says that the cultivation of nature involves the stages of Opening the Apertures and Condensing the Soul. The first step is to open the apertures, and only by entering the stage of Opening the Apertures can one be considered to have entered the door. Then, by circulating one's thoughts and touching the essence of the mind, until the three souls manifest, can one advance to the stage of Condensing the Soul. These are the two realms of the cultivation of nature."

Qiu Yan slowly turned the pages, reading each word carefully.

"The methods of cultivating nature are varied, including the One-Mind Method, the Spirit-Residence Method, the Inner-Viewing Method, the Meditation Method, the Silent-Chanting Method, and the Sitting-Forgetfulness Method. However, the book does not provide detailed explanations, but it does record a cultivation method called the 'Lying God Inner Technique,' which involves the Spirit-Residence, Meditation, and Silent-Chanting methods."

Flipping further, he came to the specific content of the 'Lying God Inner Technique,' which was profound and mysterious. As he read, it resonated with the memories in his heart, and he felt a slight stirring.

The entire technique was profound but concise, occupying only two pages.

After the technique, the book described the next realm of soul cultivation, the Condensing the Soul stage.

"The three souls are different... The description of the Condensing the Soul stage is clearly not detailed enough, and it does not even list specific methods for condensing the soul. However, this is understandable, as the Condensing the Soul stage is a more advanced step, and there are clearly deeper mysteries involved, which would not be easily revealed to an ordinary person."

This book was not intended for the divine being but for the scholar's incarnation, an ordinary person. Qiu Yan remembered this and continued flipping through the pages.

"Life leads to immortality, cultivating the flesh, bones, and body."

The content had now moved on to the cultivation of life.

"The book provides a very specific introduction to the cultivation of life, unlike the 'Lying God Inner Technique,' which is profound and mysterious. It even includes specific cultivation methods."

However, after flipping through a few pages, Qiu Yan shook his head.

"Compared to the cultivation of nature, the introduction to the cultivation of life, though detailed, is not in-depth. It mostly includes simple methods for strengthening the body, without involving specific techniques. However, it does provide some direction for future cultivation. The cultivation of life mainly involves strengthening the body. The first step is the Foundation-Building stage. Once one develops hidden strength and internal power, which can stimulate the entire body and make the seven souls tremble, one can advance to the Soul-Refining stage, sequentially refining the seven souls. Unfortunately, it does not mention what the benefits of refining the seven souls are."

"The Foundation-Building stage and the Soul-Refining stage seem to correspond to the Opening the Apertures and Condensing the Soul stages of the cultivation of nature, but there are no techniques as rigorous as the 'Lying God Inner Technique'..."

After a moment of thought, Qiu Yan had a sudden realization.

"Right, the City God gave me this book for my flesh incarnation. In her view, I, as a scholar, have a weak body and have passed the best age for foundation-building. No matter how much I practice, I probably won't achieve it. Therefore, although both the cultivation of nature and life are introduced, the focus is still on the cultivation of the mind."

Having understood this, Qiu Yan flipped back to the page that recorded the 'Lying God Inner Technique.'

"Since that's the case, I won't divide my attention. I'll first study this technique. If I can achieve something, it will give me a foothold in this world's cultivation."

The 'Lying God Inner Technique' was profound and mysterious, involving Daoist terminology and referencing classics that Qiu Yan had read.

Fortunately, Qiu Yan had already memorized the text through the divine light and could recall all the memories after inheriting the scholar's body.

Skimming past the ornate language, he quickly grasped the key points, his finger tracing the words on the page—

"Residing the spirit means residing the spirit within the body. Every organ and joint in the human body has a spirit residing in it, with 36,000 apertures, ten as a whole. One must reside in them daily, continuously, without forgetting, and without moving the original mind."

Staring at this sentence, Qiu Yan pondered silently and soon understood the general meaning.

"The spirit within the body is not a deity but the mind. A person has limbs and bones, and with a thought, they can control them, which is the mind reaching every part of the body. This method of residing the spirit is to make these thoughts and the mind concrete, imagining them as individual 'spirits,' and then..."

Thinking this, his gaze fell on the next few lines—

"Meditating on my spirit, the spirit contains light, illuminating the entire body. The intention circulates, gathering at the crown of the head."

"This section refers to imagining the 'spirits' that have been conceived and moving them to the top of the head. The mind is formless, so one must first conceive the spirit and then imagine moving it. Each step is illusory and beyond imagination. If I hadn't come to this world and truly become a local deity, I probably wouldn't believe it."

Thinking this, he turned the page and his gaze fell on the last few lines, which were some mantras that the cultivator must silently recite during the process of residing the spirit and meditating.

"This text aims to standardize the process of residing the spirit and meditating. The so-called silent mantras are like the laws of Shang Jun and the orders of Sun Wu, restraining the mind and thoughts to prevent them from wandering and losing their effect."

Just as a cultivator must control the qi within their body, the cultivation of the mind and nature also has methods and rules, not allowing for chaotic conception. Otherwise, it is easy for the mind to scatter, leading to minor memory loss or, in severe cases, soul damage.

"This method of restraint is essential in both the cultivation of nature and life. In Buddhism, it is called the Dharma Wheel; in Daoism, it is called the Heavenly Circuit; and in Confucianism, it is called the Court of Conduct."

After reading the 'Lying God Inner Technique' several times, Qiu Yan gradually had a plan.

"The principles and methods may sound profound, but the key is to put them into practice. I might as well try it now. The first step is to clear the mind of distractions..."

Thinking this, he sat cross-legged, clasped his hands, and placed them on his knees. With a thought, he cleared the distractions from the scholar's mind.

For an ordinary cultivator, achieving this step is not easy and often requires many actions and repeated attempts to enter a state of tranquility. The City God had given him a wisp of smoke to help him calm his mind, but as a deity, Qiu Yan could easily separate his mind from his incarnation, so he achieved it in one step.

After entering a state of tranquility, the next step was to conceive the spirits within the body.

Qiu Yan's thoughts changed, and he first meditated on the five major spirits.

The five major spirits, as recorded in the 'True Proclamation,' are the two hands, two feet, and head.

The 'Lying God Inner Technique' focuses on the spirits within the body, with the five major spirits as the main points. One must imagine a green aura enveloping the head, red auras emanating from the hands, and white auras under the feet.

This step is not difficult for an ordinary person, but the human mind is limited. Imagining the five major spirits of the limbs and head is manageable, but increasing the number would lead to neglecting one for the other. The 'Lying God Inner Technique' requires conceiving 3,600 spirits throughout the body!

This is not something an ordinary person can achieve. To truly accomplish it, one must have a mind that is completely free of distractions, and make the conception and meditation of spirits a habit, practicing daily and constantly remembering, spending years, decades, or even several decades to achieve it.

If Qiu Yan were just an ordinary scholar, he would have no time for reading and taking the imperial exams if he wanted to achieve results with the 'Lying God Inner Technique.'

Fortunately, for Qiu Yan, this was not a problem. As he conceived the spirits, a white light emitted from a scroll on the table, enveloping his entire body like a water curtain.

In the next moment, tiny points of light appeared beneath his flesh and bones, like stars.

Soon, as he silently recited the mantras, the light slowly moved, gathering along the surface of his body and quickly concentrating at the top of his head.

The light beneath his crown became increasingly dense.

Gradually, it approached a critical point.

Dazed!

Qiu Yan's true self and incarnation both felt a moment of dizziness, and the white light enveloping his body flickered. Then, a ball of light leaped out from the top of his head!

The light ball first shone brightly, then dimmed, and finally disappeared.