278: Chapter 277: Song of the Four Seasons 278: Chapter 277: Song of the Four Seasons Hou Niao’s ntality was never one of lofty ambitions; he pursued success rates, not caring whether it was a Great Mahayana Introduction or a Lesser Mahayana Introduction.
From a probability standpoint, a cultivator at the Tongxuan Realm was, within the cultivator community, one in a hundred.
If one considered the entire human population, they were one in ten thousand; compared to six years ago when he was still a mber of the Criminal Investigation in Fufeng City, this was satisfying enough.
His cultivation ntality was a classic case of focusing on what’s in the bowl while glancing at what’s in the pot, not looking further as it would be unclear; He prepared only for the next step, as for the step after, that was a matter for the future.
Therefore, he had been searching for a Lesser Mahayana Introduction, continuously trying for years.
Only after failing to find one did he realize his path might lie with a Great Mahayana Introduction?
His principle was to work hard to achieve the next goal, not to set it far and wide.
His initial resolve lay right there in the pot beside him; as such, he couldn’t comnd Xiang Zhiwen’s perspective on initial resolve.
The “Corridor Bridge Summary” states, …blunt its sharpness, untangle its knots, soften its glare, let it blend with the dust, this is called the “Mystic Union”.
The “Elixir Furnace Formation” reveals, …cease eating grains, stop cooking, dine on mist, drink dew, reflect and thereby control what is natural.
From lead arise the five colors, from rcury the three lights shine forth, thus revealing the offspring of the Great Elixir.
Open the Red Gate, leap out of the Purple Mansion, and soar into the Moon Frog Palace.
Mix Yin and Yang in the Divine Furnace, and concoct the Vast Dharma Body.
The vastness should respond internally, remotely sensing the divine light…
The aning of these words is that each threshold on the Cultivation Path, though superficially representing a qualitative improvent, is actually compensating for the weakest aspect of the cultivator.
Especially at the crossroads between entering the Dao and the non-Dao, at the Tongxuan barrier, this is even more the case.
It manifests in two aspects, the external form, which ans the Spiritual Power in the Dantian can no longer support the cultivator’s further developnt, making the transformation of Spiritual Power into Mana an inevitable move.
The other is the internal form, pertaining to the spirit, sothing subtle, difficult to explain with words; specifically in Hou Niao’s case, it was because his Cultivation Path involved excessive cold-blooded killings, so the Heavenly Dao set up a bridge of comprehension at the Tongxuan juncture, allowing him to understand the natural cycle of life and death to balance the cultivator’s overbearing ferocity.
Similarly, a cultivator of a more gentle nature, one who cultivates character and nurtures temperant, might need a more intense environnt, a stirring bridge to match, a sort of complentarity.
In the countless balances maintained by the operation of the Heavenly Dao, this may not include everyone, but it is true for the majority.
In Hou Niao’s perception, his bridge process was extrely unusual, seemingly not recorded in any classic text.
Whether this was truly the case required testing reality; there was no other way, as this was not a problem solvable by re deduction, but rather by practice.
He exercised his eyes to open the “Purple Vision,” a skill he had never used in actual combat since he had mastered it.
For his fellow disciples also in the Tongxuan Realm, their limited Techniques did not necessitate the use of “Purple Vision.” Moreover, when fighting Upper Cultivators above the Tongxuan Realm, it was useless.
He had always lanted that learning this skill seed sowhat futile, expending so much ti and energy without an occasion to try it.
Now, it appeared his thinking had been too shallow.
A skill can never overburden its holder.
Unable to use it in battle, could it be that he would find its use when ascending to the Upper Realm?
Looking at the world with “Purple Vision” does not an one can see the true essence of the world, but rather observe more intricately, automatically filtering out distractions and seeing more of the essence.
At this stage, without Divine Sense, other senses were of little help—the bodily sensation was minimal, while sll, taste, and hearing served only as complentary.
His primary thod of observing the world relied on his vision, which was the value of “Purple Vision.”
His natural perception of Chicken Mountain began in early sumr, starting from within a zhang (3.33 m or 10 ft) of himself.
With adjusted ntality, he gradually entered a state of ditative concentration, moving from the shallow layer where he was still disturbed by birds and beasts to the deeper layer where he remained unaffected by any environntal changes.
This demonstrated the advantage of his choice of Chicken Mountain because he had achieved a harmonious coexistence with the wildlife here through frequent visits.
In the awareness of these mountain creatures, this bipedal goat was part of Chicken Mountain, albeit one who still wore a disguise and was not completely open.
This perception continued, extending from a zhang around him to as far as his vision could reach.
By the ti he felt at one with Chicken Mountain, it was already late sumr.
After experiencing the exuberant blossoming of life, he began to grasp a new understanding—the arrival of autumn and the waning of life.
Sotis animals would co to graze or play near him.
They no longer regarded him as a threat but as a companion, a silent and peaceful one.
With the onset of autumn, the leaves began to yellow, the weeds started to wither, the mountain streams lessened, and even the animals began gathering food for the winter…
The wind turned cool.
The rain, increasingly cold.
Even the direct rays of the sun gradually weakened, the warm days shortened, and the nights lengthened.
A feeling beyond words enveloped Chicken Mountain, shrouding this vast land in the desolation of life.
Hou Niao completely rged with it, as if he was a part of nature itself, accompanying its growth and decay; the environnt within the Purple Mansion similarly followed the rhythm of the external world, and the Sword Orchids began to wither.
Thus Hou Niao knew that his intuition was correct.
All was silent, and when he beca one with Chicken Mountain, even the occasional humans who entered couldn’t detect him—several woodcutters, a few herb gatherers, so scholars, and even a few cultivators who happened to pass by.
With winter’s arrival, all life went into hibernation, gestating, accumulating energy for the impending burst of vitality.
Hou Niao was also accumulating energy; he was very clear in his mind that this was his last chance to hit the brakes.
If he waited until spring to do so, he was afraid he might never experience this feeling again.
He decided to continue.
All that needed preparation had been prepared, and it was impossible to anticipate every minute detail.
Even with thousands of years of preparation, unexpected events would still arise.
Moreover, as the Daoist Record stated, when the introduction of the Great Mahayana occurs naturally, it often signifies the simplest advance to the Upper Realm—letting nature take its course smoothly, like water flows into a channel.
The Sword Orchid in the Purple Mansion had withered, showing no signs of life, but he knew that wasn’t the reality.
The cyclical rotation of life and death, prosperity and decay, was simply a natural law of the Heavenly Dao at work in this world, and he was no exception.
The long winter days passed, one after another, and after a few heavy snowfalls, even his figure was no longer visible.
But buried deep beneath, a force lay in wait, biding its ti.
The cold would eventually co to an end, and with the warming earth, signs of life on Chicken Mountain started stirring restlessly.
The first blade of grass poked through the soil, tree branches budded with new growth, mountain animals peeked in and out of their caves, and small birds chirped away…
When the first rumble of spring thunder resounded and the first drops of spring rain fell silently, Hou Niao felt his Dantian beginning to stir uncontrollably.
This feeling grew stronger and suddenly burst through so mysterious barrier, gushing toward the Purple Mansion!
The Spiritual Power throughout his body followed the path he had perceived over the year as if an invisible bridge was guiding it into the Purple Mansion, nurturing the Sword Orchid.
As it circulated through the Sword Orchid and ca back out transford into refined Mana, it flowed back to the Dantian, cycling over and over in an endless loop.
No need for Elixirs, no grueling toil, everything happened naturally and any external interference would have been out of place at such a ti.
Several hours later, the Purple Mansion Sword Orchid thrived and burgeoned with vibrant green, standing proudly like a sword!
At the sa ti, both his Dantians as well as the ridians throughout his body were completely filled with Mana, leaving no trace of residual Spiritual Power.
Hou Niao exhaled a long breath, elated and howling with joy.
Indeed,
…in a few short days, he soared high, his chest filled with the wonder of lakes and seas, his ambition as grand as the wind and clouds.
He regarded the long journey of the mortal realm as a re inch before him, the actual land in his eyes as nothingness.
Intoxicated, he rose through the sky, his clothes fluttering up a thousand ren, how much of the mortal world’s smoke and clouds mattered to him?
Below Chicken Mountain, he saw the world pure and serene, yearning to inquire about the path to immortality!
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