Chapter 5 – Road to Cultivation
“I am the supervisor of the Saxi Pavillion. New worker Fang Yuan, this is your plate!”
After the vessel entered Qingyang Sect, Fang Yuan separated from the rest of the new entrants. He was sent to an old palace on a shorter, distant mountain where he met a tall and thin man with thievely-eyes. He was the steward; a green robed old man surnamed Sun, who had served as a worker in the Qingyang Sect for decades. He oversaw more than ten servants such as Fang Yuan.
He issued Fang Yuan some items. One of which was a special plate of the Qingyang Sect. Another was a green robe for servants that was made of an unknown material. There were also two pills to strengthen one’s body and a damaged scroll with cultivation methods. He spoke of the rules as he led Fang Yuan into the palace.
“This is where we eat. There are three meals a day. Over there is where you may retrieve your compensation each month. Remember to come on time at the end of every month. Over there is where Qingyang Sect disciples cultivate. You are not allowed to barge in. Although there is no rule prohibiting you from entering the back mountains, there are many ferocious beasts that live there. If you don’t want to feed them with your own flesh and blood, you probably shouldn’t go…”
This Steward Sun wouldn’t stop once he started talking. Fang Yuan had listened patiently in the beginning, but he couldn’t help being distracted as time went on. He would constantly glance at the Qingyang Sect’s entry level cultivation method and the two qi pills. Meanwhile, Steward Sun didn’t care if Fang Yuan listened. He just continued with excitement as if he only cared about his happiness from talking.
“Brother, can we also cultivate?”
Interrupted Fang Yuan as Steward Sun was introducing a puppy that looked like a cat, from a dog raised by a little woman, who sold tofu in a village, that was ten kilometers away from the base of the West Qingyang mountain.
“Of course. Didn’t I give you the qi-training method and pills?”
Steward Sun laughed and said, “We live deep in the mountains where we have to suffer harsh winters. If we didn’t have any cultivation base, then our bodies wouldn’t be able to endure it. The immortals gave us some qi techniques for this reason. Some servants were too lazy to train. When a rainy day came, their joints hurt so much that they couldn’t move. So…”
“Then… can servants become Qingyang disciples?” followed up Fang Yuan with a key question that he had waited to ask with great expectations.
“Become a Qingyang disciple?”
Steward Sun was surprised. He looked at Fang Yuan’s cheerful appearance and suddenly paused a moment. Afterwards, he shook his head and laughed. “Our Qingyang Sect does have such a rule. It is said that three thousand years ago, a sect leader rose from the position of a servant. From that time on, this rule was passed down. If servant disciples could train their qi to greater than three layers before the age of eighteen and pass the elders’ test, he could officially enter the Qingyang Sect for cultivation…”
“So envoy Qiao didn’t lie to me…”
Fang Yuan finally found some relief and his expression became relaxed as well.
Steward Sun seemed to want to say something, but seeing Fang Yuan’s happy expression, he held it back. He continued on the path ahead while narrating an introduction for Fang Yuan. He spoke of everything from rules to the relations between people, and even each elder’s likes and dislikes without leaving anything out. This continued until they reached the back of the large palace in the mountain valley. In front of a dilapidated room next to the base of the mountain, he laughed and said, “From now on, you will live here. Your duty is to clean the Changming Hall in front of the mountain. No one lives there now, but this job cannot be ignored. Otherwise…”
“This younger brother understands!”
Fang Yuan readily agreed. He quickly learned that he needed to interrupt in order to communicate with this Steward Sun effectively.
“Well, now that the sun is setting and Brother Fang has just entered the immortal’s realm, why don’t I go fetch two bottles of liquor and cut half a kilogram of pork head. One is to welcome you and second is so I can continue introducing you to the people in our sect…”
“There is no need for Brother to do that for me. I want to clean the room a bit today. Why don’t this little brother treat older brother in a few days…”
“Haha, good. You said it. Remember that we must talk and drink later. We won’t stop until we’re drunk…”
Fang Yuan just invited him casually out of respect, but this Steward Sun was overjoyed. He talked for a while longer before reluctantly leaving.
Fang Yuan thanked him and entered the room in front of him. The inside was old with a simple layout. Just a narrow bed, a desk, a chair, and a dresser. There was also a candle with spider webs on top of the desk. Who knows when the last time it was lit. Fang Yuan took out a flint and lit the candle. With its dim light, he cleaned the room before sitting down.
He will probably have to live here for a while. Fang Yuan didn’t mind. He came from poor circumstances. His home with his uncle and aunt was not much better. At least this room looks well-built and won’t leak rain. The only bother was the wind within the mountains. After sitting for a while, he could feel the cold and quickly stood to close the window.
“Steward Sun was right. The wind chill is heavy in the mountains. Normal people will not be able to endure this!” thought Fang Yuan silently. His gaze fell upon the cultivation manual on the desk and his eyes brightened.
“Well then, let’s start cultivating and suppress the cold!”
The essential part of cultivation is meditation and breathing. Fang Yuan was no stranger to this as Mister Zhu had taught him before. But because of the immortal’s rules, Mister Zhu couldn’t teach him the actual cultivation method. Thus, this was his first contact with the mysterious method of cultivating qi!
He had studied the principle in lecture before.
The practice of cultivation is to breathe in heaven and earth to change one’s bodily attributes. With each step one will learn to control the energy of the world.
There are six realms of cultivation: refining qi, foundation establishment, golden core, nascent soul, immortal ascension, Mahayana.
The first step is refining qi, which is to attract spiritual power into the body to change the body’s attributes. To accomplish this goal, one must first experience the qi that is present throughout creation yet cannot be touched. The training method states this clearly. It also explains in great detail how one can attract this qi so that it may be guided through the body.
Fang Yuan’s memory was quite good. After reading the manual a few times, he was able to write down the first chapter of guiding qi. Then, he went through it carefully in his heart. He confirmed that he understood it thoroughly. He sat on the bed in the lotus position, altered his breathing and tried to clear his mind.
This was not easy to achieve. Distracting thoughts filled his mind. His mind was a wild horse, unable to be tamed.
But Fang Yuan preserved with patience. He knew that such a matter could not be rushed. If he fails one time, he just has to try a second.
He spent this first day in the Qingyang Sect repeatedly trying to establish focus. Fang Yuan didn’t even know how many times he failed, nor did he remember. It was only until the next morning, when the songs of birds and insects woke him, that he realized he had fallen asleep. Smiling bitterly, he admitted that cultivation is really not easy!
Unable to achieve the manual’s “calm, quiet and open-minded” state, it was naturally impossible to sense the qi in the universe. He had no choice but to get up for work and wait until nighttime to continue.
Just like this, Fang Yuan quietly began his life with the immortals. During the day, he would clean the Tianji Hall (tl: not sure why this is different from what the steward mentioned before). Even though it was just one hall, there were nineteen rooms within the front and rear compartments. Besides these were the statues of the main hall and the sutra collection in the side hall. He had to sweep, clean and fix tiles. The sum of his work every day was exhausting and backbreaking.
What he looked forward to was cultivating at night.
Even though the beginning was extremely difficult, he still preserved.
For the next few days, he was unable to control his mind nor feel the existence of qi. He also didn’t use the training pills from the immortals to boost his body. He had learned from Mister Zhu that the foundation to cultivation is to feel the heaven and earth and refine qi through meditation.
No matter how great the pill, it is still just a supplementary tool. He didn’t want to start his road to cultivation with the power of pills.
He made up his mind that he wouldn’t use a single pill until he was able to refine his first strand of qi!
Fang Yuan trained continuously for eight days. Even though he could not fulfill the requirements mentioned in the manual in the beginning, on the ninth day, he inadvertently entered a mysterious state. He felt as if his body disappeared and became integrated into the universe, floating within its waves…
Under this state, he breathed according to the cultivation manual as he always did. Unconsciously, there seemed to be a faint, untouchable power entering his body from the universe. Even within the cold confines of the mountain, he felt a hint of warmth like a little snake swimming inside his body that made him forget the cold wind around him.
Fang Yuan sat for the entire night. When he opened his eyes, the room was filled with light!
“I… I refined my first strand of qi?”
Fang Yuan couldn’t believe what had happened when he realized there was a change within his body.
“I finally stepped onto the road to cultivation?”
He anxiously surveyed his body according to the cultivation method and felt a hint of qi power. He immediately started laughing.
A laugh full of satisfaction!
Chapter 5 – Road to Cultivation
“I am the supervisor of the Saxi Pavillion. New worker Fang Yuan, this is your plate!”
After the vessel entered Qingyang Sect, Fang Yuan separated from the rest of the new entrants. He was sent to an old palace on a shorter, distant mountain where he met a tall and thin man with thievely-eyes. He was the steward; a green robed old man surnamed Sun, who had served as a worker in the Qingyang Sect for decades. He oversaw more than ten servants such as Fang Yuan.
He issued Fang Yuan some items. One of which was a special plate of the Qingyang Sect. Another was a green robe for servants that was made of an unknown material. There were also two pills to strengthen one’s body and a damaged scroll with cultivation methods. He spoke of the rules as he led Fang Yuan into the palace.
“This is where we eat. There are three meals a day. Over there is where you may retrieve your compensation each month. Remember to come on time at the end of every month. Over there is where Qingyang Sect disciples cultivate. You are not allowed to barge in. Although there is no rule prohibiting you from entering the back mountains, there are many ferocious beasts that live there. If you don’t want to feed them with your own flesh and blood, you probably shouldn’t go…”
This Steward Sun wouldn’t stop once he started talking. Fang Yuan had listened patiently in the beginning, but he couldn’t help being distracted as time went on. He would constantly glance at the Qingyang Sect’s entry level cultivation method and the two qi pills. Meanwhile, Steward Sun didn’t care if Fang Yuan listened. He just continued with excitement as if he only cared about his happiness from talking.
“Brother, can we also cultivate?”
Interrupted Fang Yuan as Steward Sun was introducing a puppy that looked like a cat, from a dog raised by a little woman, who sold tofu in a village, that was ten kilometers away from the base of the West Qingyang mountain.
“Of course. Didn’t I give you the qi-training method and pills?”
Steward Sun laughed and said, “We live deep in the mountains where we have to suffer harsh winters. If we didn’t have any cultivation base, then our bodies wouldn’t be able to endure it. The immortals gave us some qi techniques for this reason. Some servants were too lazy to train. When a rainy day came, their joints hurt so much that they couldn’t move. So…”
“Then… can servants become Qingyang disciples?” followed up Fang Yuan with a key question that he had waited to ask with great expectations.
“Become a Qingyang disciple?”
Steward Sun was surprised. He looked at Fang Yuan’s cheerful appearance and suddenly paused a moment. Afterwards, he shook his head and laughed. “Our Qingyang Sect does have such a rule. It is said that three thousand years ago, a sect leader rose from the position of a servant. From that time on, this rule was passed down. If servant disciples could train their qi to greater than three layers before the age of eighteen and pass the elders’ test, he could officially enter the Qingyang Sect for cultivation…”
“So envoy Qiao didn’t lie to me…”
Fang Yuan finally found some relief and his expression became relaxed as well.
Steward Sun seemed to want to say something, but seeing Fang Yuan’s happy expression, he held it back. He continued on the path ahead while narrating an introduction for Fang Yuan. He spoke of everything from rules to the relations between people, and even each elder’s likes and dislikes without leaving anything out. This continued until they reached the back of the large palace in the mountain valley. In front of a dilapidated room next to the base of the mountain, he laughed and said, “From now on, you will live here. Your duty is to clean the Changming Hall in front of the mountain. No one lives there now, but this job cannot be ignored. Otherwise…”
“This younger brother understands!”
Fang Yuan readily agreed. He quickly learned that he needed to interrupt in order to communicate with this Steward Sun effectively.
“Well, now that the sun is setting and Brother Fang has just entered the immortal’s realm, why don’t I go fetch two bottles of liquor and cut half a kilogram of pork head. One is to welcome you and second is so I can continue introducing you to the people in our sect…”
“There is no need for Brother to do that for me. I want to clean the room a bit today. Why don’t this little brother treat older brother in a few days…”
“Haha, good. You said it. Remember that we must talk and drink later. We won’t stop until we’re drunk…”
Fang Yuan just invited him casually out of respect, but this Steward Sun was overjoyed. He talked for a while longer before reluctantly leaving.
Fang Yuan thanked him and entered the room in front of him. The inside was old with a simple layout. Just a narrow bed, a desk, a chair, and a dresser. There was also a candle with spider webs on top of the desk. Who knows when the last time it was lit. Fang Yuan took out a flint and lit the candle. With its dim light, he cleaned the room before sitting down.
He will probably have to live here for a while. Fang Yuan didn’t mind. He came from poor circumstances. His home with his uncle and aunt was not much better. At least this room looks well-built and won’t leak rain. The only bother was the wind within the mountains. After sitting for a while, he could feel the cold and quickly stood to close the window.
“Steward Sun was right. The wind chill is heavy in the mountains. Normal people will not be able to endure this!” thought Fang Yuan silently. His gaze fell upon the cultivation manual on the desk and his eyes brightened.
“Well then, let’s start cultivating and suppress the cold!”
The essential part of cultivation is meditation and breathing. Fang Yuan was no stranger to this as Mister Zhu had taught him before. But because of the immortal’s rules, Mister Zhu couldn’t teach him the actual cultivation method. Thus, this was his first contact with the mysterious method of cultivating qi!
He had studied the principle in lecture before.
The practice of cultivation is to breathe in heaven and earth to change one’s bodily attributes. With each step one will learn to control the energy of the world.
There are six realms of cultivation: refining qi, foundation establishment, golden core, nascent soul, immortal ascension, Mahayana.
The first step is refining qi, which is to attract spiritual power into the body to change the body’s attributes. To accomplish this goal, one must first experience the qi that is present throughout creation yet cannot be touched. The training method states this clearly. It also explains in great detail how one can attract this qi so that it may be guided through the body.
Fang Yuan’s memory was quite good. After reading the manual a few times, he was able to write down the first chapter of guiding qi. Then, he went through it carefully in his heart. He confirmed that he understood it thoroughly. He sat on the bed in the lotus position, altered his breathing and tried to clear his mind.
This was not easy to achieve. Distracting thoughts filled his mind. His mind was a wild horse, unable to be tamed.
But Fang Yuan preserved with patience. He knew that such a matter could not be rushed. If he fails one time, he just has to try a second.
He spent this first day in the Qingyang Sect repeatedly trying to establish focus. Fang Yuan didn’t even know how many times he failed, nor did he remember. It was only until the next morning, when the songs of birds and insects woke him, that he realized he had fallen asleep. Smiling bitterly, he admitted that cultivation is really not easy!
Unable to achieve the manual’s “calm, quiet and open-minded” state, it was naturally impossible to sense the qi in the universe. He had no choice but to get up for work and wait until nighttime to continue.
Just like this, Fang Yuan quietly began his life with the immortals. During the day, he would clean the Tianji Hall (tl: not sure why this is different from what the steward mentioned before). Even though it was just one hall, there were nineteen rooms within the front and rear compartments. Besides these were the statues of the main hall and the sutra collection in the side hall. He had to sweep, clean and fix tiles. The sum of his work every day was exhausting and backbreaking.
What he looked forward to was cultivating at night.
Even though the beginning was extremely difficult, he still preserved.
For the next few days, he was unable to control his mind nor feel the existence of qi. He also didn’t use the training pills from the immortals to boost his body. He had learned from Mister Zhu that the foundation to cultivation is to feel the heaven and earth and refine qi through meditation.
No matter how great the pill, it is still just a supplementary tool. He didn’t want to start his road to cultivation with the power of pills.
He made up his mind that he wouldn’t use a single pill until he was able to refine his first strand of qi!
Fang Yuan trained continuously for eight days. Even though he could not fulfill the requirements mentioned in the manual in the beginning, on the ninth day, he inadvertently entered a mysterious state. He felt as if his body disappeared and became integrated into the universe, floating within its waves…
Under this state, he breathed according to the cultivation manual as he always did. Unconsciously, there seemed to be a faint, untouchable power entering his body from the universe. Even within the cold confines of the mountain, he felt a hint of warmth like a little snake swimming inside his body that made him forget the cold wind around him.
Fang Yuan sat for the entire night. When he opened his eyes, the room was filled with light!
“I… I refined my first strand of qi?”
Fang Yuan couldn’t believe what had happened when he realized there was a change within his body.
“I finally stepped onto the road to cultivation?”
He anxiously surveyed his body according to the cultivation method and felt a hint of qi power. He immediately started laughing.
A laugh full of satisfaction!
