Shrouding the Sky: The Empress Against the Immortals

"Once upon a time, I came to learn how to wrap the tree silk, and strive to be a delicate bird and sing flowers together. Looking back at the pines in Cangshan Mountain, I am shocked that it has been a hundred years..."

The pines are green and the vegetation is lush.

A path of scattered gravel slabs branched off from the riverside road and ran down the low hills opposite the creek.

The old man led the way, and the two followed the path across the river.

He carried the fishing rod on his shoulder, rested his right hand on the fishing rod, and carried his left hand behind his back.Walking steadily, like an old turtle, walking unhurriedly, while singing loudly.

The voice of the broken gong sounds incomplete, but the old man has a rich life experience as a precipitation, and his ordinary singing voice has a special artistic conception.

Ling Song followed the old man to the foot of the short mountain.

There are seven or eight families here, all of whom live in huts with their backs against the low hills.

It was autumn, and there was an occasional cool wind blowing, and the pine waves burst on the short hills. Smoke rose from the roof of one of the houses, and soon dispersed with the wind.

Three or five children were playing a game of throwing stones in the open space, and there were laughter from time to time.

The peaceful and quiet small village has a feeling of paradise.

"Grandpa Gongyang, haven't you caught any fish yet?" Several urchins with upside-down buns ran over immediately when they saw the old man coming back, poked around the old man, and smiled playfully.

"I caught it, I caught a big fish today!" The old man stroked his beard and smiled.

His kind appearance is as contagious as Maitreya Buddha.

"Hey, grandpa, you are lying."

"That's right, I haven't seen you catch fish since I grew up."

The little ones obviously couldn't understand what he said, and felt that the old man was just teasing them as usual.

"Haha, a few small radish heads, like diced beans, still growing so big... You have all eaten the fish that the old man caught before, and you forgot so soon?" The old man laughed.

Ling Song stood by and watched this scene, suddenly envious in his eyes.

She missed the old man GUI of Baishan Village.

That old man, like the old man in front of him, is also a very kind elder.

"Huh? Grandpa Gongyang, who is she?" A child pointed to Ling Song and asked.

"She..."

The old man looked at Ling Song with a smile, "She is a little apprentice picked up by grandpa from outside, can you play with her in the future?"

"What is an apprentice?"

"The apprentice is..."

Just as the old man was about to explain, a woodcutter carrying firewood suddenly came out from the dense forest at the rear, and shouted at the urchins: "Xiaozheng, Erhu, you guys are playing naughty with the old man again, aren't you?"

Seeing this, the children hurriedly acted like birds and beasts, not daring to hang around the old man anymore.

"The children are just playing around, why are you scaring them?" The old man looked at the woodcutter, dissatisfied with the fact that he scared away the little urchins.

"A few bastards don't know the severity, isn't it because they are afraid that they will bump into you, old man?"

The woodcutter has a strong body, a tall man with a beard on his face, and the muscles on his arms are as powerful as horned dragons.

He carried two bundles of firewood and came to Ling Song and the old man. After putting the firewood on the ground, he picked up the skirt of his clothes and wiped the sweat from his face. He sized up Ling Song, quite surprised.

"This girl..."

"I met her while fishing by the river, and I picked her up to see how spiritual she is." The old man said with a smile.

Hearing this, the woodcutter looked at Ling Song with even more astonishment.

"Old man, are you going to pass on the mantle?"

"Hehe, I'm a bad old man, where do I have any mantle? I just picked someone to die for me." When the old man spoke, his eyes fell on Ling Song, very kind.

But the woodcutter seemed to have heard some joke, and said disapprovingly: "Old man, don't tease me. When I was three years old, you looked like this. Now my son is five years old, and you are still so tough.

In my opinion, for an old fairy like you, I'm afraid that you are the only one who will send someone else to die. How can anyone send you off? "

"Everyone is mortal. I am not a god, so how can I be alone?" The old man stroked his beard and shook his head, looking at life and death calmly.

He took Ling Song's hand, stopped talking to the woodcutter, and walked to the back of the village.

The woodcutter looked at the figure of the old and the young, and couldn't help muttering in a low voice: "Is it really the end? It's a pity that the two evil people in the family are close to the water, so they don't have this lucky fate."

……

The old man's residence is on a low hill behind the village.

It's just an ordinary thatched cottage, but with green bamboos and pines and cypresses, it looks so aura.

There is a spring on the side of the house, and the water output is so small that it can barely save a small pool, but it cannot form a stream.

In front of the thatched hut, there is a vegetable field reclaimed by the old man.

Coincidentally, what is growing in the vegetable field is "Song", but Zhongzhou calls it "cabbage".

"Little cabbage, put the bamboo basket at the door, and start a fire to cook." The old man put the fishing rod under the eaves of the thatched hut, and casually ordered Ling Song.

Ling Song, whose stomach was growling, was looking at the cabbage in the vegetable field and swallowing his saliva, when he heard the old man's words, he didn't even realize that he was calling himself.

Until the old man knocked a walnut on her forehead——

"oops!"

Ling Song exclaimed in pain, his eyebrows wrinkled suddenly, and his eyes were full of tears.

"If you want to learn to practice with me, but you haven't committed to me, then of course you have to work to pay off the debt. Go and light the fire, you are not hungry, but I am still hungry, old man." The old man blew his beard and stared at Ling Song unconsciously. Very dissatisfied.

"Oh!"

Ling Song pouted, "I didn't know you were calling me, Master."

Her first name is Ling Song, and her nickname is Nannan. When did she have the title of "little cabbage"?

Ling Song cursed silently.

On the way back from the small river, the old man asked her many things, but she only knew his name - Gongyang Yongming.

The other party didn't ask her if she wanted to, and just asked her to call her master.

very direct.

Coming back this way, I feel more and more like being cheated on a pirate ship...

Ling Song wrinkled his little nose. When the old man was fishing by the river, he acted like an outsider, couldn't he be pretending?
With some doubts, she followed the instructions of the other party, went to the back of the hut to bring dry firewood and weeds for lighting the fire, got into the house and started a fire on the earthen stove.

Cooking is not a problem for her.

She had already learned it when she lived with her brother before, but the craft was very ordinary.

But the family is so poor that they can't even put more salt in their food.

In contrast, no matter how good the craftsmanship is, it is of little use, and there is not much to pay attention to.

……

This was Ling Song's first full meal in several days.

Half an hour later, Ling Song, who was full, didn't need to be urged by Gong Yang Yongming, and took the initiative to return to the stove with the dishes and chopsticks to wash the pot and wash the dishes.

After cleaning, she picked up the wooden pier in front of the stove and sat down next to the old man's rocking chair.

Resting his chin with both hands, he looked at each other quietly.

She didn't say anything, but seemed to say everything.

The old man who was squinting for a nap opened a slit slightly, glanced at Ling Song who was looking at him eagerly, and said leisurely: "You said you can't sense the wheel of life, so do you know what is cultivation? What exactly are you cultivating?" ?”

"Of course it's the secret realm of cultivating the human body." Ling Song replied.

"What is the secret realm of the human body?"

"It is the potential of the physical body. The difference between monks and ordinary people is that monks can master and use their bodies more thoroughly. Ordinary people need food and water, but monks basically don't need it. They can absorb the aura of heaven and earth for their own use.

In this process, constantly opening up the secrets in the body, discovering and mastering the real 'self', and stimulating a more powerful life, this is practice. "

Ling Song finished the answer smoothly.

There was a touch of delicacy and tranquility in the bright eyes, and he sat upright on the wooden pier, waiting for Gongyang Yongming's evaluation of his answer.

Unexpectedly, Gongyang Yongming looked sideways again and again, and looked her up and down in surprise.

"Didn't you say that you only learned some fur from your brother?"

Such a level of cognitive understanding can almost serve as a teacher for new disciples in some small sects.

Ling Song nodded innocently: "Yes, my brother went to practice with the elders, and when he came back, he would repeat to me what the elders said, and then I would remember it."

"Can you remember it just by saying it once?" The old man was surprised again.

"Then why not?" Ling Song took it for granted.

She didn't realize how profound and complicated these contents were.

When she was in the small world of the ancient temple, even her elder brother Ling Su couldn't compare to her in terms of theoretical understanding of cultivation.

However, Ling Song obviously didn't know how damaging such words would be from a six-year-old child.

Gongyang Yongming remained silent on the spot.

He suddenly felt that he had really caught a big fish.

……

Seeing that he didn't speak, Ling Song couldn't help but asked cautiously: "Master, is there something wrong with what I said?"

Before Gongyang Yongming could answer, Ling Song frowned again and said to himself: "No, brother obviously said that. I remember correctly. Could it be brother who remembered wrongly?"

When Gongyang Yongming heard this, his beard stroking hand shook violently, nearly pulling off his white beard.

Good guy, is this little girl so confident in her memory?
Don't doubt yourself, doubt your brother?
He stared wide-eyed, hesitated to speak.

After thinking for a while, Gongyang Yongming felt that he could no longer teach Ling Song from the most basic things like this.

Get some intensity!
Soon, he said in a deep voice, "You didn't say anything wrong, but what you just answered was only the most superficial answer."

He picked up the tattered cattail leaf fan in his hand and slapped it lightly towards Ling Song.

A breeze blows.

"What did you feel?"

"Wind?" Ling Song blinked.

"No, it's the flow of 'Qi'."

"gas?"

"That's right, it's 'Qi'."

The old man stroked his beard and shook his fan, saying: "Cultivation is just like I just fanned the wind.

It seems that I fanned a gust of wind, but in fact, I sent part of my power to your face accurately through the flow of 'Qi', and this power gave you a cool feeling.

The appearance is 'breeze blowing the face', but in fact, my power has been transformed into something you can perceive through the action of fanning the wind. "

Speaking of this, Gongyang Yongming picked up the teacup on the small table and threw it in the air in front of him.

Whoa!
There was a puddle of water on the dirt.

He looked at Ling Song and asked, "Do you understand?"

Ling Song stared at the water stains on the ground, then looked at the old man's hand holding the teacup, and blinked: "Understood, it is to make the invisible 'power' in the body 'visible' in some way. .

It is not water that makes the soil moist, but the power of splashing water on your hands, Master. "

"..."

Gongyang Yongming's expression froze, and he fell silent again.

He just demonstrated it once! !

He was about to give another example to facilitate Ling Song's understanding, but when he asked casually, he had already summed up the answers.

How to teach this?
……

After pondering again, Gongyang Yongming suppressed the surprise in his eyes, and said without changing his face: "You can teach children. The so-called practice refers to whether it is water or wind, they..."

"Ah, Master, I understand!" Before the old man finished speaking, Ling Song suddenly clapped his hands and suddenly realized.

Gongyang Yongming's mouth froze, and he was a little messy.

No, what do you understand?
I just started talking!

But seeing Ling Song beaming with joy: "If the water that was poured just now is regarded as myself, then I got the 'strength' from you, Master, and then flew out of the cup and landed on the ground, making the soil moist.

This process is a display of strength after practice.

And the process of 'water' getting strength from you, Master, represents practice.

It's just that water and wind are both passive powers, but we are different, we actively acquire this power.

Perceive the wheel of life, open up the sea of ​​bitterness, open the secret realm of the human body, transform the aura of heaven and earth into life essence...all of these are for the purpose of obtaining power from the heaven and earth that can be used for oneself.

This behavior is practice.

Maybe there is not the only way to practice in the secret realm of the human body, and there may be new ways to cultivate in the future, but the road leads to the same goal, and the essence is to obtain power from the heaven and the earth.Isn't that right, Master? "

Gongyang Yongming: "..."

He didn't know if it was right, he only knew that this cheap disciple probably couldn't teach himself.

At least in terms of the theoretical cognition of practice, his own comprehension is far behind Ling Song.

She is only six years old!
Gongyang Yongming looked at Ling Song with a complicated expression.

……

"Master, why don't you speak?"

After Ling Song finished chatting, he found that the old man was silent, so he couldn't help asking.

"You understand very well, I'm just thinking about how to teach you next." Gongyang Yongming came back to his senses, his face became calm, but his tone was dry and a little lonely.

Although Ling Song was curious about why the old man had such a tone, he didn't think much about it.

She asked: "Master, those people say that my aptitude is poor, but doesn't it mean that as long as I can borrow enough 'power of heaven and earth', I can also become very powerful?"

Ling Song's eyes were full of hope.

"Theoretically yes."

"Since time immemorial, there have been many people who reached the pinnacle with mortal bodies. However, the hard work we have to put in during this period can be described as extremely difficult." Gongyang Yongming's eyes became a little deeper, as if he was recalling What.

"I'm not afraid of difficulties." Ling Song emphasized hastily.

She was afraid that when her elder brother stood upright in the future, she could only watch from afar.

She was even more afraid that one day in the future, after she reunited with her brother, another force like Yuhua Shenchao would forcibly take her brother away, but she could only cry helplessly.