strokinit Chapter 49 The Cycle of Life
Chapter 49 The Cycle of Life
With a thought, the Three Elements Mirror appeared.
On the mirror, the "Assist Cultivation" option was emitting a faint glow.
[Assisted Cultivation]
[Note: Activation will provide precise guidance]
Gu Shenyan looked at the line of text and secretly made a plan in his mind.
Speaking of which, Princess Bai gave me seven Spirit Gathering Pills a few days ago.
With the synthesis capabilities of the Three Elements Mirror, if these pills were combined into one, the effect would certainly be far superior to taking them individually.
But after much deliberation, he ultimately suppressed the idea.
Those seven pills were just enough for seven days.
If synthesized, although the quality will be improved, it can only be used once or twice.
Moreover, he had no idea what the specific effects would be after the synthesis.
It would be better to store the source energy first, just in case.
The current "assisted cultivation" mode also requires the use of source energy; drawing talismans alone is simply not enough.
Moreover, he had already made up his mind that once he had earned enough money by drawing talismans, he would go to Princess Bai's place to see if there was any way to stock up on more pills or other spiritual items for synthesis experiments.
That will be the time when the power of the Tri-Element Mirror is truly unleashed.
Having made up his mind, he chose "assisting cultivation".
[Activate assisted cultivation?]
"Activate".
In an instant, a soft light burst forth from the Three Elements Mirror.
The light was not dazzling, yet it could penetrate deep into the soul.
Gu Shenyan felt a sudden clarity in his mind, and his consciousness became extremely clear.
Immediately afterwards, a mysterious feeling rose from the bottom of my heart.
He could clearly sense the flow of the four elemental forces within his body.
The power of the earth, steady and substantial, resides in the lower dantian;
The power of water is supple and enduring, flowing through the middle dantian;
The power of fire, blazing and violent, guards the upper dantian;
The power of the wind, light and elusive, permeates all eight extraordinary meridians.
However, these four forces were like four unruly horses, each going its own way and difficult to reconcile.
Following the key principles of the "Four Elements Breath Regulation Method," Gu Shenyan attempted to guide them onto the same trajectory.
But even at the very beginning, they felt there were many obstacles.
The earth's power was too heavy to be moved;
The power of fire is too violent; once activated, it will backfire.
While the power of the wind is agile, it is also too elusive and fails to grasp the key points.
Only the power of water, because he had awakened his merman bloodline, was something he could barely control.
But how can the power of one element alone drive the other three?
Just as they were struggling with this problem, the Three Elements Mirror lit up again.
Lines of text slowly appeared on the mirror surface:
[Host detected practicing the "Four Elements Breathing Technique"]
[Analyzing...]
Analysis complete.
[Advantages of this method: quick to learn, balanced development of the four elements, and solid foundation]
[Disadvantages of this method: The four elements are in a chaotic battle, difficult to reconcile, resulting in extremely slow subsequent cultivation speed]
[Recommendation: Use the host's strongest water-elemental spiritual energy as the primary driver to propel the circulation of the other three elements]
The specific plan is as follows...
Gu Shenyan looked at the detailed instructions on the mirror and suddenly understood.
No wonder Father Moore seemed so hesitant to speak when he explained the "Four Elements Breathing Method".
It turns out that although this method is easy to learn, it will cause difficulties in subsequent cultivation.
Ordinary practitioners all have their own preferred elements.
Some people are born with a strong fire element, while others are born with an abundant water element.
However, the "Four Elements Breathing Method" requires the simultaneous activation of four elements, which means that none of them can truly exert their power.
It's like four horses pulling a cart; if they each exert force in different directions, the cart will naturally be unable to move an inch.
However, if the strongest horse is led by the others and the other three follow, they can work together and achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Following the plan provided by the Three Elements Mirror, he began to readjust the circulation of spiritual energy within his body.
First, he activated the water elemental energy.
Under his guidance, that power slowly rose from his middle dantian, like a gentle stream flowing along his meridians.
It first went to the lower dantian and encountered the heavy earth power.
According to common sense, water and soil are mutually exclusive and should be mutually repelled.
But at this moment, guided by the Three Elements Mirror, Gu Shenyan found a clever angle.
The Tao Te Ching says, "The highest good is like water, which benefits all things without striving."
Water is able to encompass all things because it knows how to go with the flow.
He no longer tried to forcibly suppress the power of the earth, but instead used the gentleness of water to guide the earth's sinking.
Just like a stream encountering a boulder, it doesn't crash into it head-on, but instead goes around the boulder and continues on its way.
In this process, the stream will carry away the mud and sand on the surface of the boulder, and over time, it will smooth the boulder.
Sure enough, when he guided it in this way, the heavy earth force began to loosen.
It seemed to be carried by the water flow, slowly rotating.
Although it was extremely slow, it finally moved!
Gu Shenyan was overjoyed and continued to follow the guidance of the Three Elements Mirror.
The water and the earth rotated, the two forces combined, and continued upward.
Upon reaching the upper dantian, one encounters the raging power of fire.
Water and fire are incompatible; this is the natural order.
However, the Book of Changes also says: "After completion, there is success; small gains are favorable; initial good fortune ends in chaos."
The hexagram "Ji Ji" (既济) represents the harmonious interaction of water and fire.
Water is above and fire is below. Although they are mutually destructive, they can also counterbalance each other and achieve a delicate balance.
Following this principle, Gu Shenyan stopped directly channeling water-elemental spiritual energy into fire.
However, it allows the water to flow around the flames, like water at the bottom of a cauldron or fire in a pot.
Water warms the fire, and fire boils the water; the two are interdependent.
The raging fire power gradually calmed down as it was enveloped by the water.
It stopped darting around and instead began to slowly rotate in the direction of the water flow.
Three forces combined into one!
Finally, there is the unpredictable power of the wind.
Wind is formless and intangible, making it the most difficult to grasp.
However, Zhuangzi said:
"If the water is not deep enough, it will not be able to support a large boat."
If the wind does not accumulate sufficiently, it will lack the strength to support large wings.
Wind needs water to carry it in order to show its power.
Gu Shenyan condensed the three forces of water, earth, and fire into a torrent that surged through the eight extraordinary meridians.
Sensing the call of the torrent, the force of the wind actually moved closer on its own.
It merges into the torrent, making the entire force lighter and faster.
The four elements have finally come together as one!
At that moment, Gu Shenyan felt a jolt within his body.
The four forces, which were originally fighting independently, have now formed a cycle:
Water flows with the earth, fire rises from the earth, fire transforms into smoke and dust, and wind amplifies the water's force...
Life goes on endlessly, in a never-ending cycle!
This is the true "Four Elements Breath Adjustment"!
[Currently in a special state called "Life Flow," the absorption rate of spiritual energy has greatly increased.]
[Estimated: At the current rate, a spirit core can be formed within two months, and the candidate can be promoted to apprentice.]
Time passed by, second by second.
Inside the meditation room, Gu Shenyan sat cross-legged, his body radiating a faint halo.
Within that halo, four colors could be faintly seen swirling:
Blue, red, yellow, and black correspond to the four elements: wind, fire, earth, and water.
They no longer fight individually, but coexist harmoniously within his body in a mysterious way.
They sat there for a full two hours.
As the sun began to set, Gu Shenyan opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath.
That breath lingered and did not dissipate, transforming into a white ribbon in the air that remained for a long time.
This is a sign that the body is full of spiritual energy.
He looked down at the Three Elements Mirror.
【Source Qi Consumption: -2 (Green)】
[Remaining: 4.2 (Green)]
[Cultivation Duration: 2 hours]
One point of green source energy is consumed every hour.
But the gains he made each hour were equivalent to the hard work he had put in over the previous few days!
A surge of anticipation welled up in Gu Shenyan's heart.
He will be able to condense a spirit core in just two months.
Then, you can officially hunt for your own "life fire"!
He stood up and stretched his stiff muscles.