70: Chapter 70 The Integration of Primordial Spirit and Physical Body

Qingyuan sat cross-legged in the courtyard, his face full of tension.

Lu Mingyuan sat opposite him, without saying a word.

It was the second day after his seclusion ended. Xuanweizi had said that he should teach his martial nephew a few moves. Lu Mingyuan had thought about it for a long time and decided to start with the most basic—Drawing Qi into the Body.

Qingyuan had come to Zhongnan Mountain specifically for this.

But at this moment, Qingyuan's heart was thumping like a drum.

He had seen the phenomenon yesterday with his own eyes. That pillar of light, those seven-colored rings filling the sky, and that power that made heaven and earth change color—all of it was created by this "Junior Martial Uncle" who looked only a few years older than himself.

Could he really learn the things taught by such a person?

"Quiet your mind," Lu Mingyuan said.

Qingyuan hurriedly focused his mind and closed his eyes.

"Have you ever learned Drawing Qi into the Body?"

"I... I have. But I never succeeded."

"How did you learn?"

Qingyuan thought for a moment. "When I was in my hometown, a Traveling Taoist taught me. He said to focus the mind on the Dantian, visualize Qi entering through the Baihui when inhaling, and returning to the Dantian when exhaling. I practiced for three years but felt nothing."

Lu Mingyuan nodded.

"What he taught was correct. But you missed one thing."

Qingyuan opened his eyes, his face full of confusion.

Lu Mingyuan looked at him and said slowly, "What were you thinking in your heart while you were practicing?"

"I was... I was thinking about the Qi. Thinking about where it enters, where it goes, and where it stops."

"While you were thinking, where were you?"

Qingyuan was stunned.

Where was he?

He was thinking about the Qi, so naturally... he was inside his own body?

No.

He suddenly became a bit confused.

Lu Mingyuan did not continue to ask. He just looked at Qingyuan, waiting for him to think it through himself.

After a long time, Qingyuan said hesitantly, "My mind... was thinking about the Qi. But I... I seemed to be watching that mind that was thinking about the Qi?"

A flash of approval appeared in Lu Mingyuan's eyes.

"You divided yourself into two. One thinking, one watching. The one thinking is you, and the one watching is also you. But have you ever wondered—are the watcher and the thinker one person or two?"

Qingyuan opened his mouth but could not say a word.

Lu Mingyuan stood up and walked to the old cypress tree.

"You failed to draw Qi for three years not because your talent is poor, but because you separated yourself. The mind is thinking, the body is doing, and there is a layer in between."

He turned back and looked at Qingyuan.

"Drawing Qi into the Body is not about the mind leading the Qi. It is about the body and mind together welcoming the Qi in. Where the mind goes, the body follows. Where the body follows, the Qi arrives."

Qingyuan half-understood.

Lu Mingyuan walked back in front of him and reached out his hand.

"Hold it."

Qingyuan held his hand. That hand was warm and dry, possessing an indescribable power—not physical strength, but something else.

"Close your eyes and feel my hand."

Qingyuan closed his eyes.

Lu Mingyuan did not speak or move. He just let him hold it.

Holding that hand, Qingyuan initially felt only warmth. But gradually, he felt that hand "speaking"—not actual words, but a very faint substance passing through from that hand. It was very light and soft, like a spring breeze or mountain mist.

It traveled up his arm, to his shoulder, to his chest, and to his Dantian.

In his Dantian, there was a sudden warmth.

Qingyuan opened his eyes, his face full of shock.

"That... that is..."

"That is Qi." Lu Mingyuan let go of his hand. "It is not my Qi that entered your Dantian. It is your own Qi that has been awakened."

Qingyuan stared blankly at his own hand.

Three years. He had practiced for three years and felt nothing. But just now, simply by holding a hand, he had felt the Qi.

"Do you understand?" Lu Mingyuan asked.

Qingyuan thought for a long time and suddenly understood a little.

"My mind was always thinking about the Qi. But my body did not know what it was thinking. The mind and body were not together."

Lu Mingyuan nodded.

"Cultivation is about making the body and mind become one person again."

Qingyuan continued his practice.

Lu Mingyuan walked back to his room and sat down on the couch.

While teaching Qingyuan just now, he had suddenly remembered something.

For all these years, he had been saying "the heart is the Xuan Shu." But what was the relationship between the heart and the body?

Daoism emphasizes Spirit, Buddhism emphasizes Heart, Confucianism emphasizes Qi, and Martial Arts emphasize the body. He had traveled to so many places and learned so many methods, but no one had ever told him—what exactly is the relationship between Spirit, Heart, Qi, and Body?

Are they one thing, or four things?

He closed his eyes and looked inward at his Dantian.

That mass of Wanxiang True Qi hung quietly, warm and glowing. But beside that light, there also sat a tiny Primordial Spirit.

The Primordial Spirit was watching him.

He was watching the Primordial Spirit.

Suddenly, he remembered Qingyuan's state just now.

Qingyuan had divided himself into two—one thinking, one watching.

What about himself?

He was watching the Primordial Spirit, and the Primordial Spirit was watching him. Was this not one watching and one thinking?

If the heart was watching the Primordial Spirit, then where was the heart?

If the Primordial Spirit was watching the heart, then where was the Primordial Spirit?

He suddenly understood a little.

It was not that the heart and the Primordial Spirit were separate. It was that he had divided himself while watching.

Just as Qingyuan had divided himself into two while drawing Qi.

But the real him was neither the one watching nor the one being watched.

It was the one "watching the watcher and the watched."

He opened his eyes and looked at his hand.

The hand was made of flesh; it could feel cold, heat, pain, and itching. But while teaching Qingyuan just now, what that hand had transmitted was Qi and also the Heart.

Qi and Heart came from the same place.

Where was that place?

He closed his eyes again, not looking at the Primordial Spirit, nor the Dantian, nor anything else.

He just sat there.

As he sat, he suddenly "felt" it.

The thing he "felt" was not the Primordial Spirit, not the Dantian, and not the Wanxiang True Qi. It was something earlier and deeper than all of those.

It was the Body.

It was that body that had always been breathing, always been beating, and always been living.

He had never thought about the "Body."

For all these years, he had been cultivating the heart, realizing the heart, and questioning the heart. He thought the heart was the root and the body was merely a vessel. Like a rider on a horse; the horse is a horse, the person is a person, and the person rides the horse, not the horse riding the person.

But at this moment, he suddenly discovered—

It was not so.

Body and heart were never two separate things.

The horse was not just a horse, and the person was not just a person. A rider on a horse is not a person riding a horse, but the "oneness of horse and rider."

For all these years, he had been cultivating the heart and casting the body aside, thinking that if the heart arrived, the body would naturally follow.

But the body had not arrived.

The body had been waiting all along.

Waiting for him to look back.

He opened his eyes and stood up.

He walked to the center of the room and stood still.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.

When inhaling, he "felt" Qi coming from all directions—from his pores, his mouth and nose, and every single cell. That Qi surged into his body, into his Meridians, into his Dantian, and into that mass of Wanxiang True Qi.

The Wanxiang True Qi brightened slightly.

When exhaling, he "felt" Qi coming out from the Wanxiang True Qi, from his Dantian, from his Meridians, and from every single cell. That Qi flowed throughout his entire body, feeling warm and comfortable, as if soaking in warm water.

Inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly could no longer "feel" his breathing.

It was not that he stopped breathing. It was that his breathing and his body could no longer be separated.

He was breathing, and the breathing was him.

He then "felt" his heartbeat.

Thump, thump, thump.

With every beat, the Wanxiang True Qi would flash. When it flashed, the Primordial Spirit would also flash.

Heartbeat, Wanxiang True Qi, and Primordial Spirit—three things, one rhythm.

He was watching them.

No.

He was no longer "watching" them.

He was them.

The heartbeat was him, the Wanxiang True Qi was him, and the Primordial Spirit was him.

There was no watcher and watched, no thinker and thought.

There was only him.

The whole of him.

In his Dantian, that mass of Wanxiang True Qi suddenly blazed with light.

It was not just a little bright; it was as bright as a sun.

Light surged from the Dantian, flooding toward his limbs, his entire frame, and every inch of his skin. Everywhere it went, those once-blocked Meridians and once-sluggish Acupoints were all burst open.

The light surged to the top of his head, and his head glowed.

The light surged to the soles of his feet, and his feet glowed.

The light surged to his fingertips, and his fingertips glowed.

From head to toe, from inside to out, everything was glowing.

He stood there, his entire body emitting light.

Suddenly, the Primordial Spirit moved.

The Primordial Spirit stood up and walked out of the Dantian step by step. It did not go upward, but outward—into the Wanxiang True Qi, into that mass of light.

As the Primordial Spirit entered the light, the light became even brighter.

Reaching the absolute peak of brightness, it suddenly went dark.

The light was gone.

The Primordial Spirit was gone.

The Wanxiang True Qi was also gone.

Only he remained.

Standing in the middle of the room, his entire being was thoroughly clear.

He looked down at himself.

The body was still the same body. But he knew it was different now.

Before, he had lived inside the body.

Now, he was the body.

Body was heart, and heart was body.

Primordial Spirit and Physical Body merged into one.

Outside the window, the sky had darkened again.

Lu Mingyuan walked to the window and pushed it open.

Above the main peak of Zhongnan Mountain, rings of light appeared once more. This time, they were not seven-colored, but nine-colored. The Nine-colored rings rotated slowly, larger, brighter, and more spectacular than yesterday.

In the center of the rings, a pillar of light shot straight into the clouds. Within the pillar of light, a figure was faintly visible—it was himself.

No, it wasn't a figure; it was his "Body."

His Body was as vast as heaven and earth.

His Body was heaven and earth.

The pillar of light lasted for half an hour before gradually dissipating.

Cultivators within a thousand-mile radius all saw it.

Some were amazed, some silent, some terrified, and some joyful.

On Longhu Mountain, Immortal Master Yu Shu gazed toward Zhongnan Mountain and said softly, "Body Integration Stage... he moves so quickly."

On Wudang Mountain, the Pavilion Keeper stroked his beard and smiled. "Merging the Primordial Spirit and Physical Body, this is the true Foundation Establishment."

On Mount Qingcheng, Perfected Master Changkong stood upon Wenjian Cliff, silent for a long time. Only after a long while did he murmur, "Songyun, did you see? After nine hundred years, someone has reached this step."

In the Shaolin Temple, Zen Master Huijue was sweeping the fallen leaves in the courtyard. When the phenomenon appeared, he paused, looked up, and then continued sweeping. Stroke by stroke, the leaves gathered into a pile, only to be scattered by the wind again.

At Yuelu Academy, the old teacher who was lecturing stopped mid-sentence and gazed out the window. It was a long time before he said, "This young man's Dao is complete."

The phenomenon faded, and heaven and earth returned to tranquility.

Lu Mingyuan stood by the window, motionless.

He suddenly remembered Xuanweizi's words.

"Cultivation is like walking a path. Walk the path under your feet well, and you will naturally know how to walk 'afterward'."

He did not know how to walk "afterward."

But he knew that the path under his feet was the right one.

The sound of light footsteps came from behind him.

He did not turn around.

Xuanweizi walked to his side and gazed at the distant mountains with him.

"Congratulations."

Lu Mingyuan shook his head. "This Disciple does not dare to rejoice."

"Why?"

"The further I walk, the longer the road feels."

Xuanweizi smiled.

"Then that is correct. Only those who feel the road is long can walk far. Those who feel the road is short will eventually stop walking."

He turned and walked outside.

Reaching the door, he suddenly stopped and said without looking back:

"That child Qingyuan has made no small progress today. As his Junior Martial Uncle, don't just focus on your own path."

Lu Mingyuan was startled, then gave a bitter smile.

Indeed, there was still a martial nephew to teach.

He looked out the window, then looked at himself.

Even though his body and heart had merged, life must still go on.

Teach what should be taught, learn what should be learned, and walk what should be walked.

Nothing was different.

But he knew that everything had changed.

In the evening, Qingyuan came to knock on the door.

"Junior Martial Uncle, Grand-Uncle Master asked me to call you for dinner."

Lu Mingyuan opened the door and came out.

Qingyuan looked at him and was suddenly stunned.

"Junior Martial Uncle, you..."

"What is it?"

"You seem to have... grown taller?"

Lu Mingyuan looked at himself, then at Qingyuan.

"No."

"But to this Disciple, you look taller." Qingyuan scratched his head. "Also, the way you walk is different from before."

"How is it different?"

Qingyuan thought for a long time but could not think of how to describe it.

"It's just... a bit like Grand-Uncle Master."

Lu Mingyuan smiled.

He walked toward the East Wing.

Qingyuan followed behind, muttering as he walked.

Walking into the courtyard, he suddenly stopped and looked down at his hands.

When he was practicing this afternoon, he seemed to... feel the Qi circulate a small loop in his Dantian.

It was just a small loop, and it moved falteringly, but it really had circulated.

He looked up at Lu Mingyuan's back.

That back, in the sunset, was gilded with a faint golden edge.

He suddenly understood a little.

Cultivation is not about chasing after someone.

It is about following someone.

Follow, walk slowly, and one day, you will walk onto your own path.

He quickly caught up.

The sunset fell upon both of them, feeling warm.

In the corner of the courtyard, the moss on the rim of the old well had grown a layer deeper.