Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record
#13 - Chapter 13 Thick Earth Qi Circulation Technique
After the competition, the ancient sect's ruins would still take a few days to open.
Zhang Yuanjing was focused on comprehending the Thick Earth Qi Cultivation Art. One day, while reading the 《Thick Earth Cultivation Notes》, he came across an anecdote that piqued his interest.
The book mentioned a disciple with three spiritual roots—water, fire, and earth. Because their water and fire were strong while their earth was weak, their progress in cultivating the Thick Earth Qi Cultivation Art was slow. So, they had a sudden inspiration: they could draw some wood energy from spiritual plants, then use the wood energy to strengthen the fire energy, and the fire would then generate earth. This would form an internal cycle, continuously regenerating and achieving twice the result with half the effort, speeding up the progress of the cultivation art and improving the effects of cultivating spiritual herbs.
This disciple named it the "Wood Augmentation Method," meaning that the spiritual root attributes would not diminish fire but would augment wood.
Regarding the specific method of circulating energy, only a general outline was recorded: "Draw wood, strengthen fire, generate earth, assist water, the cycle is complete." However, the specifics of the cultivation process were not mentioned at all.
Zhang Yuanjing pondered without understanding. He flipped through the book several times, carefully rereading the cultivation anecdotes he had previously overlooked, but found no further mention of the "Wood Augmentation Method."
The most taboo thing in cultivation arts is subjective speculation. Without a master's guidance, even a single word's difference can lead to errors as vast as the sky.
For example, in this general outline, what is "draw," what is "strengthen," what is "generate," what is the difference between "strengthen" and "generate," and what does "assist water" mean—none of this was explained clearly. It wouldn't matter to look at or listen to this, but practicing according to it would be a big problem.
Since Zhang Yuanjing couldn't understand, he had no choice but to seek guidance from Liu Zhenxiong.
Liu Zhenxiong himself didn't practice this cultivation art, so he naturally couldn't answer. Therefore, he sought out a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator in the sect who had been immersed in this path for over a hundred years to explain it.
This cultivator's name was Wu Zhenshan. He was already over two hundred and thirty years old, his face was dull, and his body was hunched over, clearly with not many years left to live.
Wu Zhenshan was quite surprised by Zhang Yuanjing's inquiry about the "Wood Augmentation Method." In his opinion, this method was dangerous and prone to accidents. A cultivator from an upper sect had many choices, so why take this risky path? However, since the sect leader had given the order, he would do his best to answer.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, how much do you know about the theory of spiritual roots?" Wu Zhenshan didn't have many reservations and spoke directly.
Zhang Yuanjing was stunned by this question, which was considered basic common knowledge in the cultivation world. After hesitating for a few breaths, he said with some shame:
"Well, besides knowing that cultivators need spiritual roots to cultivate, that spiritual roots are divided into the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and that the purer the spiritual root, the better, I don't know anything else."
Wu Zhenshan was surprised by his honesty and looked at him with a bit more respect, laughing: "Most cultivators' understanding of spiritual roots stops there. Why did I ask about spiritual roots? Because the 《Thick Earth Cultivation Notes》's record of the 'Wood Augmentation Method' implicitly contains the basic requirements for spiritual roots, which is that one must possess earth, fire, and water spiritual roots, and there must be a unique ratio between the three to ensure that fire and earth form an internal cycle with the wood from spiritual plants, without affecting the acquisition and operation of water spiritual power.
However, the predecessor who wrote the notes probably didn't know what this ratio was. In our Thick Earth Sect, no high-level cultivator has ever specifically researched this method, after all, it's just a cultivation art for below the Foundation Establishment stage."
Seeing that Zhang Yuanjing was listening attentively, Wu Zhenshan gradually opened up: "Spiritual roots are the most mysterious thing on a cultivator's body. Over countless years in the cultivation world, countless people have researched them, but no one can truly explain them clearly.
Any part of the human body has corresponding five elements, such as the heart belonging to fire, the spleen belonging to earth, the lungs belonging to metal, the kidneys belonging to water, and the liver belonging to wood. But this kind of five-element attribute is from the perspective of function and has nothing to do with the compatibility of spiritual power.
Therefore, spiritual roots are not some kind of body organ, nor do they have special functions in the five elements. Their essence is an affinity for the spiritual power of heaven and earth. Those who have an affinity for one or more kinds of spiritual power are one in ten thousand among mortals. And among these people with spiritual power affinity, only one in a hundred can cultivate."
Speaking of this, Wu Zhenshan smiled: "Therefore, we cultivators are already one in a million to be able to cultivate. What exactly are spiritual roots? This humble Daoist has searched through tens of thousands of kinds of books and materials and has obtained three enduring viewpoints: one refers to the human soul. It is said that the spirit interacts with the qi, so it can draw qi into the body. Those without spiritual roots cannot interact with the spirit and qi, so they cannot actively guide spiritual power.
The second refers to the human dantian. This viewpoint believes that even if one cannot interact with the spirit and qi, one can still allow spiritual qi to enter the body, but it is just the difference between active and passive. The key is whether spiritual power can be stored, refined, and used after entering the body, and this depends on the dantian. Spiritual roots are a part of the dantian; a dantian with spiritual roots is a dantian that can be cultivated.
The third refers to the meridians. This viewpoint is similar to the second, but it says that when spiritual power runs in the meridians, it is transformed by the meridians with spiritual roots, so it can be stored in the dantian. However, no matter which viewpoint, no one has specifically found where the spiritual roots are or what they are made of.
"Therefore, how spiritual roots function cannot be truly explained clearly. What can be determined is that only when a person possesses a spiritual root of a certain attribute can they refine the corresponding attribute of spiritual power for their own use when importing the spiritual power of heaven and earth. Otherwise, it will be like a funnel, quickly leaking everything. The stronger the spiritual root, the faster the refining and the more one obtains; conversely, it is slow and little.
If there are two mutually restraining spiritual roots, the refined spiritual power will cancel each other out. There are two situations here: one is the situation where metal restrains wood, wood restrains earth, earth restrains water, and fire restrains metal. The former has an advantage over the latter, but it will also have a certain proportion of loss.
The second is the situation where water restrains fire and fire restrains water. This is the most special situation. When the two spiritual powers are equal, they will be completely canceled out. Therefore, single-attribute spiritual roots have always been considered the strongest cultivation aptitude, simply the darlings of heaven and earth, and cultivating corresponding cultivation arts is often as easy as walking on flat ground, progressing a thousand miles in a day."
Zhang Yuanjing nodded frequently and cupped his hands in salute: "Fellow Daoist's words are better than thirty years of secluded cultivation. Only today do I know that there are so many mysteries within spiritual roots. I am grateful for your teachings!"
Wu Zhenshan waved his hand lightly: "Fellow Daoist is overpraising me; I am just picking up the wisdom left by predecessors."
Then, he continued: "After all, single-attribute spiritual roots are too rare. Therefore, all cultivation arts will make a fuss about the utilization of spiritual roots to make them more suitable for dual-spiritual-root and three-spiritual-root cultivators to practice.
Take the Thick Earth Qi Cultivation Art as an example. The key is to cultivate earth containing water. Earth is the mother of the five elements, and water is the source of the five elements. With these two, one can nourish all things in the world. However, for cultivators who rely on spiritual roots to refine the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, cultivating earth containing water is extremely difficult. This is almost contradictory to the principle of how spiritual roots function—earth restrains water!
If a cultivator has earth and water spiritual roots, and the earth is very strong while the water is very weak, when they absorb the spiritual power of heaven and earth, once refined, all that remains is earth spiritual power. Where is the water?"
But the brilliance of the Thick Earth Qi Cultivation Art lies here. Otherwise, it can only be like ordinary earth-attribute cultivation arts—thick is thick, heavy is heavy, but it can never cultivate spiritual herbs."
Zhang Yuanjing was itching with impatience. Knowing that Wu Zhenshan would definitely explain the reasoning behind it, he still couldn't help but urge: "Then, may I ask Fellow Daoist Wu, how does the Thick Earth Qi Cultivation Art solve the problem?"
Wu Zhenshan extended two fingers and said slowly: "Two words: separate and combine. Use the five-element attributes of the body's organs to construct a spiritual power circulation route that is pro-water and suppresses earth, separating the earth spiritual power and water spiritual power absorbed from heaven and earth. Then, through special manipulation and refinement methods, make the earth spiritual power fuse rather than consume the water spiritual power, and finally form earth spiritual power containing water and incorporate it into the dantian.
The most difficult part of this cultivation art is actually the fusion of earth and water, which specifically depends on the cultivator's comprehension and control. Moreover, the higher the level of the cultivation art and the more abundant the spiritual power, the greater the difficulty."
Zhang Yuanjing quickly asked: "If there are earth, water, and fire three spiritual roots, what should be done?"
Wu Zhenshan chuckled and said: "This is why the 'Wood Augmentation Method' was created. It seems that the predecessor who created this method must have had earth, water, and fire three spiritual roots.
The most crucial point of the Thick Earth Qi Cultivation Art is the fusion of earth and water. Therefore, water cannot be too strong, because if it is strong, earth cannot fuse with water and will only restrain water, turning into mutual cancellation; water cannot be too weak either, because if it is weak, there will be little water and spiritual herbs cannot be cultivated.
The strength of water is also related to earth and fire. If there is only earth, it is just a problem of the earth-water ratio; if there is an extra fire, the relationship becomes several times more complicated, and the difficulty even increases dozens of times when actually practicing the cultivation art.
Water, earth, and fire have mutually generating and restraining relationships with each other. Water restrains fire is one type; earth restrains water is another type, but at the same time, when earth is weak and water is strong, the reaction force of water on earth will also increase; fire generates earth is yet another type.
Therefore, the relationship between spiritual roots is not only a matter of attribute restraint, but also a matter of quantitative change leading to qualitative change. When the difference in quantity is huge, the restrained can also restrain back."
Zhang Yuanjing asked somewhat pessimistically: "So complex, does that mean that only the predecessor who created this cultivation art knows the precise ratio of earth, water, and fire three spiritual roots?"
Wu Zhenshan shook his head and said: "That's not the case. If you want to talk about the spiritual root structure of cultivators who can successfully apply the 'Wood Augmentation Method,' the predecessor who created this cultivation art definitely knows it, but they are not necessarily the only one who knows it."
Zhang Yuanjing asked curiously: "Oh, does Fellow Daoist Wu also know it?"
Wu Zhenshan laughed heartily and said: "No, it's any cultivator who practices this method."
Zhang Yuanjing was immediately confused and asked puzzledly: "What do you mean by this?"
Wu Zhenshan said: "If the 'Wood Augmentation Method' can only be suitable for one spiritual root structure, then it cannot be called a method. The spiritual root structure is just a foundation. As long as one has earth, water, and fire three attribute spiritual roots, they can practice this method. The key is for the cultivator to find the best way to circulate energy according to their own situation and rely on the way to circulate energy to adjust the ratio of each attribute of spiritual power."
Zhang Yuanjing's spirits lifted, and he quickly asked: "What is the explanation for this so-called way to circulate energy?"
Wu Zhenshan said: "This involves understanding the twelve words 'Draw wood, strengthen fire, generate earth, assist water, the cycle is complete.' These five sentences, taking their essence and summarizing their outline, seem to explain clearly, but in reality, they are too abstract. When applied to specific cultivation arts, there are thousands of threads, and one doesn't know what comes before and what comes after, where to go and where to come from.
Over thousands of years, there have also been dozens of cultivators in our Thick Earth Sect who have studied the 'Wood Augmentation Method' and have gained some understanding of it. For example, 'Draw wood.' Since the cultivator does not have a wood spiritual root, they naturally do not have an affinity for wood spiritual power and cannot refine wood spiritual power.
So, how does one draw wood energy? It is to first give and then take. Input earth containing water into spiritual grass, interact and fuse it with the wood spiritual qi of the spiritual grass, and then one can carry back a small amount of wood spiritual qi. These wood spiritual qi temporarily attach to the earth spiritual power and enter the cultivator's meridians. This can achieve 'Draw wood.'"
After listening, Zhang Yuanjing initially felt that he had gained something, but on second thought, if he had to have earth containing water first, how could he practice? His fire and water spiritual roots were evenly matched, so how could he accumulate water spiritual power in his dantian?
So, he asked: "Has no predecessor tried to directly draw wood spiritual power from spiritual grass?"
Wu Zhenshan was stunned, then shook his head repeatedly: "Without a wood spiritual root, one can only import the spiritual power of heaven and earth, but that is the unity of the five elements.
If one directly draws pure wood spiritual power, first, it is impossible to succeed and one cannot draw it out at all. Second, even if one accidentally succeeds, it will cause a great burden on the meridians and easily lead to spiritual power disorder, leading to cultivation deviation. Moreover, this kind of energy circulation sequence is the opposite of the Thick Earth Qi Cultivation Art."
Zhang Yuanjing immediately reacted and realized that he had asked a somewhat counter-intuitive question, and he smiled awkwardly: "Fellow Daoist is right; I was just asking casually."
However, in his mind, this thought lingered and quickly took root.
Wu Zhenshan didn't mind and continued: "As for 'Strengthen fire' and 'Generate earth,' the two words 'strengthen' and 'generate' are different. One is relying on, and the other is transforming. Combining the two sentences means using fire to transform wood to generate earth.
Of course, these are still speculations. In reality, no cultivator in our Thick Earth Sect has found a way to circulate energy that can specifically achieve this method. The cultivator originally has three kinds of spiritual power—earth, water, and fire. Now, they are adding a fourth kind of wood spiritual power. How to harmonize these four kinds of spiritual power is more than ten times more difficult.
"As for 'Assist water,' it is difficult to understand. Assist what, how to assist? This is also linked to 'The cycle is complete.' Which kinds of attribute spiritual power participate in the cycle? Are they water, earth, fire, and wood four kinds, or is water excluded? Is water used to assist 'Generate earth,' or is it used to assist spiritual plants, or is it used to assist fire?
The most difficult part of the Thick Earth Qi Cultivation Art is the fusion of water. The problem of 'Assist water' is closely related to the fusion of water. If one doesn't understand 'Assist water,' then one cannot pass the fusion of water, and the cultivation art cannot be cultivated.
However, specifically how to 'Assist water' can only be solved through experimentation. Each cultivator's spiritual root structure is different, and the various conditions are also different. In the final analysis, it is still a matter of skillful application and depends on one's mind."
Speaking of this, Wu Zhenshan, with lingering interest, added: "Fellow Daoist Zhang, it is rare to see a fellow Daoist who is interested in the Thick Earth Qi Cultivation Art and has also discovered the key to the 'Wood Augmentation Method,' so I have said a few more words. These are all superficial speculations of mine and may not conform to the true meaning of the predecessor who created this cultivation art.
In my opinion, to understand these twelve words, the key is to understand 'The cycle is complete.' Once this so-called 'cycle' is understood, many details can be easily solved."
Zhang Yuanjing quickly got up and saluted, expressing his thanks again and again. Although Wu Zhenshan spoke relatively simply about the cultivation method, focusing more on the interpretation of the principles of the "Wood Augmentation Method," and some places were also very vague, Zhang Yuanjing still felt that he had gained a lot.
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