Self-struggle starting from Douluo

Chapter 237 Nether Poison Fire
Laying the foundation and practicing oneself, refining essence into Qi, refining Qi into spirit, refining spirit to return to emptiness, and refining emptiness to merge with the Tao, these are the five stages of practice described in Neidan!
To explain this clearly, we must first understand the evolution of the concept of practice.

During the Hongmeng period, humans had simple minds, without any distractions. They were able to communicate with heaven and earth and comprehend the mysteries of nature.

Hence, there is the statement at the beginning of "Huangdi Neijing": "People in ancient times lived to be a hundred years old and were still active", because they "followed the laws of yin and yang", "were in harmony with the art of numbers", "ate and drank in moderation, had regular daily routines, and did not overwork, so their body and spirit were in harmony".

Later, with the development of the times, people's minds became more complicated, with all kinds of desires and distracting thoughts. Once there are too many, the world will be blocked, so Taoists have always advocated that people's hearts should return to simplicity.

But can people’s hearts really return?
Since human hearts cannot return to their original simplicity, then we should start to manage their hearts, sort out various distracting thoughts, evolve these distracting thoughts into unique concepts, and use these concepts to nourish our own Qi, which is why there is the term "Qigong practitioners".

Mencius’s “I am good at nurturing my great and righteous spirit” is one of them.

A hundred schools of thought contend, that is, a hundred schools of thought, a hundred schools of thought, and a hundred schools of thought.

Although there were arguments and no one could convince anyone else, all the schools of thought recognized one thing, that is, their ultimate goal was the same.

With the development of the times and the introduction of Buddhist concepts, various concepts have begun to merge with each other. Taoism says "embrace the origin and maintain unity", Confucianism says "hold on to the middle and be consistent", and Buddhism says "all things return to one" - this "one" is the ultimate goal.

"One" means single, which is the same as "Dan"! The Tao has no counterpart, so it is called Dan!
The sky gets one and becomes clear, the earth gets one and becomes peaceful, the valley gets one and becomes full, and people get one and become long-lived!
The theory of inner alchemy was derived from this!

The initial "foundation building and self-cultivation" means, in the words of ordinary people, self-discipline and self-cultivation, managing one's own words, deeds, behavior, and mental state.

Why is it called “self-cultivation” instead of “cultivating the mind”?
Because others cannot see a person's heart, even he himself cannot see it clearly, but a person's words and actions are vivid in our minds!
To cultivate oneself is to cultivate the mind. This is self-discipline and self-cultivation, and is also "laying the foundation and training oneself."

If a person requires and manages himself with "integrity" for a long time, over time, he will have an "integrity" heart!
With an upright "heart", one can cultivate an "upright" spirit, and even his mental state will be "upright" as well!
The mental appearance of such an upright person would make a sneaky villain feel guilty at a glance.

People who have been in high positions for many years are also like this. Their mental state is so bad that ordinary people dare not look directly at them.

Through one's own behavioral philosophy, one can develop a strong aura, and this kind of momentum will replenish the spirit. This is "refining essence into qi, and refining qi into spirit"!
……

In real practice, a person holds a secret book of fire attribute and cultivates "qi" of fire attribute. After refining the qi and transforming it into spirit, the soul also has fire attribute.

This is also "refining essence into Qi, and refining Qi into spirit."

But if a person’s soul is of the fire attribute, then his qi will naturally also be of the fire attribute.

This is also “refining essence into Qi, refining Qi into spirit”, but the order is different.

Those who follow the rules are ordinary people, those who go against the rules are immortals, it's just a matter of turns.

The normal practice of fighting spirit is to continuously improve while the fighting spirit subtly nourishes the soul and strengthens the "god".

However, the "Dharma-phase" reversed this order and instead released the "primordial spirit" directly, allowing the fighting spirit to be poured directly, which would naturally continue to strengthen the primordial spirit and strengthen the soul!
……

Qing Huan believed in peace and harmony, and seldom encountered people or situations that required him to resort to force. As a result, although he had cultivated the magical elixir and obtained the Dharma image, he had few opportunities to put it into practice.

But as the queen of the snake people, Cai Lin is destined to have no shortage of battles due to the situation of the snake people.

Cai Lin put Qing Huan's theory into practice and then counterattacked...

While explaining Cai Lin's doubts, Qing Huan himself also gained a deeper understanding of "Dharma" and even spiritual practice.

However, while Qinghuan was talking excitedly, Cailin kept staring at Qinghuan with her bright eyes without blinking.

Qing Huan felt a little uncomfortable after being stared at, so he asked, "Do you understand?"

Cai Lin's eyes sparkled as she said, "I like to see you talking freely, you are so charming!"

Qing Huan's face suddenly darkened and he asked, "Are you out of your mind?"

"Yes." Cai Lin admitted frankly, "Ever since my bloodline evolved, I feel like I'm becoming less and less like myself... You said that I originally had a companion soul in my body, and now it's merged with me, is it because of this?"

Qing Huan was stunned and thought: "The fusion of two souls... It involves the soul, which is too profound. I am not qualified to understand it." Cai Lin said: "Don't worry, I'm here, you can study it at will."

Qing Huan: "..."

……

In the next few days, Cai Lin really stayed by Qing Huan's side all the time, which made Xiao Yixian a little dissatisfied.

Fortunately, the Alchemist Conference was about to begin. Xiao Yixiang was very interested in it and watched almost every show. When she came back, she excitedly told Qinghuan about it.

Three-drug.

Even though Little Medical Fairy's soul strength is not high, her ability to perceive the toxicity in medicinal materials is far superior to those alchemists participating in the conference.

In addition, she had been with Qinghuan for a long time and her horizons had broadened, which led her to look down on the alchemists who attended the conference.

"Even I can sense that the properties of the medicinal materials have not been fully integrated, but that guy actually started to make pills... He deserves to fail and explode the furnace!"

The Little Medical Fairy said confidently, "I feel that even if I go up, I can succeed in refining it."

Qing Huan looked at her with amusement and said, "Then you can ask Ya Fei for some herbs and try to make them yourself!"

The Little Medical Fairy pursed her lips and said helplessly, "Okay, I admit that guy's flames are very powerful, but I still can't refine the herbs... When can I officially start refining the herbs?"

"You shouldn't ask me this question, but ask yourself." Qing Huan shook his head and said, "Whether you can refine the herbs depends on your control of the flames."

The Little Medical Fairy was unconvinced and said, "If I had a suitable strange fire... no, as long as I had a third-level beast fire, with my current level of fire control, I would be able to refine those medicinal materials."

"Starting with the difficult and then moving on to the easy will solidify your foundation..."

Qing Huan hesitated for a moment, thinking of Yao Chen's Bone Spirit Cold Fire and Xiao Yan's Blue Lotus Earth Core Fire. The original flame was originally a part of himself, so why should he give up the easy and choose the difficult?
Just like Xiao Yan, who clearly had a strange fire, but deliberately used beast fire to refine medicine. Is this really necessary?
The strange fire is its own ability, its own advantage...

After thinking for a while, Qing Huan placed the book in front of Xiao Yi Xian and said, "Take a look."

The Little Medical Fairy took it blankly and read out, "The Netherworld Poison Fire, ranked 20th on the Strange Fire List, exists in the Netherworld Poison Swamp. After being infected by the poisonous miasma covering the sky in the poisonous swamp for tens of millions of years, the flames have consumed the endless poisonous miasma...

It takes a hundred years to become a spirit, and a thousand years to take shape. When it is fully developed, its color is green, and it moves through the poisonous miasma like a will-o'-the-wisp.

Since the flame itself is a poisonous miasma that feeds the soul, it contains a deadly poison. If you are touched by a spark for a moment, you will be poisoned..."

As she read on, the Little Medical Fairy became excited and her eyes lit up.

Throwing away the book, he grabbed Qing Huan's arm and said excitedly: "Qing Huan, this strange fire is tailor-made for me... I want it!"

This book is a collection of the Mittel family. Qinghuan was also surprised when he first saw this book. He did not expect that he could see the location of the strange fire from a book.

Yes, the location of the Netherworld Poisonous Fire is marked in the book. It exists in the Netherworld Poisonous Swamp!
But thinking about it carefully, it seems normal. Why would you want a poisonous fire? You have to know that swallowing a strange fire is a life-threatening situation.

An ordinary alchemist would not want a poisonous fire. Not to mention the harm of the Netherworld Poisonous Fire to oneself, does the poisonous fire alchemy mean that one wants to eat dead people?

A poison master would not want it even more. No one knows the horror of poison better than a poison master. Normally, he has to be very careful when preparing poison to prevent himself from being poisoned, let alone swallowing a poisonous fire into his body.

Xiao Yixiang herself has a poisonous body, and dreams of becoming an alchemist. Under Qinghuan's guidance, she has learned how to adjust the balance of toxicity... which is perfect for the Netherworld Poison Fire!

"Okay then. Once Yafei gets the alchemy furnace and finishes refining the medicine, we will set off to the Netherworld Poison Swamp."

(End of this chapter)