The Other Side of Deep Space

Lao Chen shook his head and said, "I'm just suspicious. I'm not as high as a Bodhisattva. Can I point out their mistakes? It's difficult."

He studied the old art in depth, and after sorting out some threads from ancient times to the present, he found some problems. But if he really wants to point out that the immortals are wrong, it will be a bit difficult for Lao Chen.

But being suspicious and picking out possible deviations is enough to prove that Lao Chen is attentive. Of course, this is also related to the difference between the present and the past.

The ancients were affected by the background of the times and had their own limitations.

Today is an era of information explosion, with endless black technology and drastic changes. After such a baptism, Lao Chen is at the forefront of the field of old art today, and his vision is indeed beyond the inherent scope.

Wang Xuanrang told him all the problems he had. This is very important to him. In the future, he will inevitably encounter some big pits of the ancients.

Regardless of whether those ancients are dead or not, the traps and situations left behind are still in effect, and they must be strictly guarded against.

"In the pre-Qin period, the root method was the main method, which was extremely brilliant and has influenced us to this day, benefiting all those who have embarked on the path of the old art." Old Chen was neither hurried nor slow, and he sorted out the thread.

The so-called root method involves gathering qi, meditation, and internal cultivation, which has immeasurable value and is irreplaceable for improving physical fitness and strengthening the spirit.

The alchemist used the root method to enter the inner scene, which directly led to the qualitative change of the old art, crossing the natural chasm, and truly sublimating and transcending.

"The alchemist, another great achievement is alchemy, which is mainly to burn minerals in the alchemy furnace, quench the original liquid, and extract the essence, in order to obtain the final elixir and thus achieve immortality. In that period, there were few records of minerals for alchemy, but they were definitely rare treasures and divine objects in the world."

Wang Xuan was surprised, didn't the alchemist make elixir by refining medicine?

Old Chen said: "In the early days, they did mine secret ores and melt the gods that fell from the sky, but they didn't take herbs."

It was not until later, after the discovery of the inner scene, the secret road of heavenly medicine, that the alchemists began to consider melting those rare medicines!

The so-called heavenly medicine is not the medicine in the world. Old Chen mentioned a record last time. If you force yourself to get a rare medicine, you may find it in the sunset glow on the horizon above the crowds of people and the world of mortals.

It can be said that the discovery of the two secret roads of inner scene and heavenly medicine by the alchemists in succession led to a qualitative leap in the old art and led to its peak of glory.

At that time, which of the top alchemists didn't have a few divine beasts and sacred birds? When they went out, they would pull a chariot pulled by a unicorn, or travel to the East China Sea to visit friends on the back of an immortal bird.

When later generations looked through the history of this part of the old art road, they were all amazed. It is difficult to reproduce that kind of wonder.

Because, almost all the divine birds and beasts in the world have been captured and killed by the top alchemists.

"During that period, there were indeed a group of top alchemists who embarked on the road to immortality and accepted thunder bombardment, but as these people ascended to immortality one after another, the brilliance of alchemists came to an end, and it ended suddenly."

Lao Chen sighed that the alchemists had just passed their most prosperous period, but they were directly dim, which made him have to have all kinds of doubts and associations.

"Combining what is happening to you now and what I have experienced, I think the water in the inner scene is very deep, mysterious and a little scary. In addition, the heavenly medicine is too difficult to find and extremely difficult to pick. The two secret roads were gradually blocked, which is the fundamental reason for the decline of alchemists."

Lao Chen expressed his conjecture and said, "So, later, the Qin Emperor asked the alchemist Xu Shu to pick the immortal medicine, that is, the heavenly medicine. He could only go to sea to avoid disaster. I guess he also knew that he couldn't find it at this time."

The Qin Emperor wanted to live forever and wanted the immortal medicine, but it was impossible to succeed at that stage.

"I suspect that some of the great alchemists had problems, so they fell into decline. Even the alchemists who ascended to heaven may have finally realized something." Lao Chen was extremely serious. Unfortunately, his realm level was far behind those people. Even if he read all the ancient books, he could only make some guesses and could not find any evidence.

Wang Xuan frowned. Many things had happened in the past of the old art, which gave people a feeling of fog everywhere. They needed to become stronger and stronger before they could slowly approach and explore.

Lao Chen continued: "When the alchemists came to an end, they had begun to accept the herbs of the world. When refining the elixir, they would add some to it and mix it with minerals for extraction. It was at this time that the Taoists took over. In addition to special gold and stone, they began to add a lot of Zhicao and so on when refining the elixir."

According to Lao Chen's understanding, with the change of times, the later ones discovered certain problems and began to expand into other fields.

"In the early days, Taoism attached great importance to Xinzhai, which means to be clear and quiet in the heart, focusing on cultivating the mind and accumulating spiritual energy. In Taoist scriptures, it is believed that the great way is the most empty and quiet, and it is expected to be in harmony with the great way through Xinzhai."

At this point, he sighed: "However, these are too high and too far, and the requirements for the mind and spiritual realm are too high, and many people can't get started at all. Just imagine, who proposed this lofty road? Laozi and Zhuangzi! The "Tao Te Ching" mentions "reaching the extreme of emptiness and keeping quiet", and in "Zhuangzi·The World of Man" clearly explains this secret method "Only the Tao gathers emptiness, and emptiness is Xinzhai". It's a pity that it's difficult for ordinary people to go on this road."

Wang Xuan was stunned when he heard it. Is what his old colleague said reliable? He quickly checked it quietly on his mobile phone and really found that the early Taoist practice was indeed Xinzhai, heel breathing, etc., and later there were guidance, breathing, etc.

Sure enough, Lao Chen talked about heel breathing again, saying: "The secret method of Xinzhai is a bit high, and it requires a specific path to follow, so there is heel breathing, which refers to the deep internal breathing that reaches the heel."

"Zhuangzi·Da Zongshi" once recorded: "He does not dream when he sleeps, he has no worries when he wakes up, he does not enjoy his food, and his breath is deep. The breath of a true person is in the heel, and the breath of ordinary people is in the throat."

Later, Taoism made various improvements, and thus came up with more specific methods such as guidance and breathing.

Otherwise, if we follow the path of Laozi and Zhuangzi, not many people can practice. Their scriptures and books are too profound, and most people will be blocked at the beginning stage.

At this stage, Taoists pushed alchemy to a high level, using various secret methods to refine elixirs. After taking them, they can transform their own yin into yang. This shows the Taoist theory of pure yang.

"At this stage, the most important discovery of the Taoists is that they have found another secret road, comparable to the inner scene and the heavenly medicine, called the path-finding!"

The so-called path-finding is said to be to find a real road that can be walked on, but normal people cannot see.

No need to think too much, if the path-finding is successful, the effect is no less than entering the inner scene or picking the heavenly medicine, but the long years have buried the traces of the past, and now no one can find it.

Wang Xuan was stunned. According to his old colleagues, the old art is constantly changing. Even the brilliant alchemist root method may not be applicable?

"The root method is applicable and has never been outdated. The methods of later generations also originated from it. It is the foundation, so it is always splendid. However, the middle and later parts of the pre-Qin bamboo slips method can generally be used as a reference, and it is not recommended to go deeper. I suspect that it was very applicable in the pre-Qin period, but some problems may have been discovered later."

Then Lao Chen mentioned the later methods of Taoism and said: "The early Taoists used external objects to refine elixirs, and the external elixirs they refined became more and more perfect, so they were called external elixir techniques."

With the rise of Taoism and its gradual prosperity, the practice method changed again, and the internal elixir technique rose.

"Dragon and tiger fetal breathing, exhaling the old and inhaling the new is the internal elixir." This is the most direct description of the internal elixir by the ancients. The internal refers to the inside of the body, and the elixir refers to the product formed by the combination of the human body's essence, qi and spirit.

"In a sense, the old art has ushered in another change. The internal elixir has evolved and later evolved into the golden elixir, which can achieve the primordial infant, etc." Lao Chen sighed.

The representative figures of this period are Zhongli Quan, Lu Dongbin, Chen Tuan and others.

"Zhongli Quan considered the "Santong Qi" and then combined it with Sima Chengzhen's "Zuowang Lun" to deduce the inner alchemy method. His research and skills are recorded in "Lingbao Bifa" and "Zhonglu Chuandao Ji"."

Lao Chen is quite knowledgeable and speaks very clearly, which makes Wang Xuan and Qingmu listen attentively.

"It was Lü Dongbin who reshaped the peak and made it shine brilliantly. He left behind the "Lü Gong Jindan Secret" and developed the inner alchemy method to the golden elixir road."

Wang Xuan was a little confused. He understood why Lao Chen didn't talk about the realm earlier. The old art path was indeed complicated, with many expansions and changes. It was difficult to explain the levels of each period.

"At the same time, in addition to the practice of golden elixir, Taoism also developed means such as drawing talismans, which were varied and powerful. The main representatives were naturally based on the three mountains, Longhu Mountain, Maoshan Mountain, and Gezao Mountain."

"A secret road was also discovered in the middle and late period of Taoism. Unfortunately, it was very vague and not clearly recorded." Lao Chen shook his head, quite regretful.

"Sword cultivators appeared after the Golden Elixir Road, right?" Wang Xuan asked.

"Yes." Old Chen nodded.

Wang Xuan pondered, if calculated in this way, the age of the female sword fairy can be roughly estimated. She is obviously a latecomer, not an old monster in the early days.

Old Chen said: "Similarly, I think there are problems in the later road, otherwise, it would not have gradually declined and disappeared in modern times."

Then, he mentioned Buddhism again, sucking his teeth for a while, and said: "Most of the old Buddhas have abandoned their flesh bodies, which makes me a little confused!"

He even felt that it was a taboo for people who practiced the old techniques. In the end, they turned into rainbows and burned the so-called stinking skin bags, which always made people feel uneasy.

As for the so-called "flesh bodhisattva" in Buddhism, what was left was just a dead torso for future generations to admire, and it did not have extraordinary qualities. Now there are still some collections in the warehouses of relevant departments.

"What I said is only the main thread of the old art, and I didn't mention the various schools of thought. For example, the red-clothed female demon fairy who is suspected to be of the same period as the alchemist is obviously extremely powerful. It is estimated that she is not afraid of the alchemist at all, and she has even hunted the top alchemists of the feathered level."

After Lao Chen finished speaking, he summarized and said, "So, the most glorious era of the old art has not yet arrived, and it is waiting for people like you and me to rise!"

Looking at his serious look, Qingmu felt that his master would inevitably be beaten in the future. What if those ancients are still alive? Who else would he deal with?

However, before he finished his complaints, he saw that Master Wang nodded solemnly and said, "That makes sense. There was an old covenant in ancient times. I will make a new covenant in the future."

Boom!

A thunder exploded in the sky, startling Lao Chen. He quickly changed his words: "Lao Wang, do you know how to respect the predecessors?"

Wang Xuan glanced out the window. The dark clouds covered the stars and the moon. It was cloudy and began to rain heavily. He didn't believe in ghosts and gods.

Lao Chen found that it was just the change in the sky, and he calmly shut up again.

Wang Xuan asked: "Okay, Lao Chen, tell me about the realm levels you summarized, and how to divide them that are suitable for ancient and modern times?"

"The first level is fog, the second level is lighting..." Lao Chen told him that the roads corresponding to these levels are generally applicable. From the pre-Qin period to the present, all parties have been walking on them, and there should be no problems or hidden dangers.