Pathway

There were three levels of dantian in the body. The lower dantian, the middle dantian, and the upper dantian. Those were the energy centres in the body, energy needed by cultivators to achieve eternal life.

The lower dantian level started from the gathering of Chi—Lianchi level—to the golden core forming—Jindan level. All the Chi energy were stored in the lower dantian which was located near the navel, and could be opened by true mortal cultivators.

The middle dantian level began from the Nascent soul—Yuanying level—to the Celestial soul—Tianshang level. The middle dantian was located near the heart and could be assessed by true immortals.

The upper dantian level initiated at the Shensheng level—the cosmic divinity level—till infinity. It was located at the centre of the head, and could only be attuned to by the true cosmic divines.

Chi was the vital force, the vital energy, necessary for immortality. Any mortal cultivator aiming to achieve eternal life must have Chi in his or her dantian by gathering, refining and condensing it. Afterwards, the Chi would be changed into an orb, from there to a golden core, and from there to a nascent soul. This would take it all the way to become a celestial soul.

Absolute immortality would be achieved when a cultivator reached the level of emptiness, one with the universe.

From creation, mortal soul was placed in permanent limbo. Blind to the light of enlightenment. This was controlled by one of the laws of creation, incarnation law. A mortal soul lived, and a mortal soul died in order to live again. Forever subjected to the wheel of reincarnation—the samsara circle. This was the mortal law of incarnation.

It was Chi, the vital force, that could bring out the mortal soul from limbo, placing it at the navel area. After that, it would transform the mortal soul into the orb of Chi essence energy or soul energy that would travel to the heart area, changing into a nascent soul. Then the nascent soul would leave for the upper dantian where it would transform into emptiness.

There were no level of measurements to the amount of Chi a cultivator could gather into the dantian. The amount of Chi was determined by the size of the dantian and the availability of the Chi energy.

For Ju Feng, he had been fortunate from womb. His mother had used the Rainbow Womb spirit pill when he was still a foetus. And since he was a young child, he had been using the astral primal technique to cultivate along with the blue crystallines to supply refined Chi energy. Then recently, the Heavenly Root spirit pill which had taken him to the late stage of Ningchi. What more could he ask for? He was very happy about everything that had happened in his life.

He gathered himself, and walked towards the hall of the house of light. Arriving there, he quickly exchange greetings with other disciples before moving to his seat. Shortly afterwards, elder Cao Wang Xiu entered the study hall, holding a small box.

"Sorry everybody, I had to quickly tend to this."

She said as she placed the box on her table.

"Today-."

She began to say when she suddenly broke off.

"Oh, I see."

Elder Cao Wang Xiu uttered as she glanced at Ju Feng, smilingly.

"Today, It's all about sword intent. How it relates to a swords artist. Please follow me. All of you."

Elder Cao Wang Xiu took them through the back of the study hall to the house of light training field. Stationing herself at the opposite front, she continued.

"Sword intent. What does it mean to a swords artist? Everything is within your power, and your power is within you. This is the willpower. Every cultivator has it. The power to choose your own actions, and assert your own volition. We know we have this power, but why do we have to use this power? You may ask. The reason being that, there are things that propel it."

She raised one finger to indicate.

"The first is the desire. Desire is the strong wish for something to happen or to do. Will is easily associated with desire, it is the fuel that propels will."

Elder Cao Wang Xiu added another finger to the raised one.

"The second is the ability. Ability is the power that enable you to do things you do. With ability comes the will. They go hand in hand."

Then, she had three fingers in the upright position.

"The third is Perseverance. This means persistence or resolution to do something. The trait of not giving up, the will of forging ahead no matter what."

Hitting her fist against her palm, elder Cao Wang Xiu looked from one face to another.

"But the question is, why? Why do we have all these? All these things are compelled by the need to survive, the need to live. The innate driving force. This is the intent of a cultivator. And just like a cultivator, every weapon has an intent. The innate driving force imbued during its forging. Since swords are extension of a swords artist, a swordsmaster will give specific details of the needed sword to the swordsmith. And a swordsmith will be in the specific frame of mind when making a sword to imbue the necessary intent into it."

Elder Cao Wang Xiu paced up and down, then stopped at their front.

"You see, there are many intents that can be imbued into a sword. Evil intent, bad intent, specific intent, good intent and so on. Most swordsmasters prefer the general intent with more of a specific. Pay attention to how you make your sword. The intent of your sword will reflect on you and your intent will reflect on your sword too. Because your sword is an extension of you, a part of you.

She materialised her sword, and held it slightly to the front. She glanced at their faces and gave a faint smile.