On the last day of September, the final day of golden autumn, Yun Qi bid farewell to everyone.
The villagers gathered at the entrance of the village to see him off.
A small white dog wagged its tail at Yun Qi's feet, jumping around and trying to bite the seal, completely oblivious to the sadness of parting.
The Red-Crowned General also perched on the cat thorn at the village entrance.
Yun Qi felt that this rooster was not far from becoming a demon.
Waving goodbye to everyone, Yun Qi disappeared into the mountains.
The deeper he ventured into the mountains, the fewer signs of human life he encountered.
After traveling another two to three hundred miles southwest, he entered a vast, untamed forest with no villages in sight.
After another five hundred miles, there were still no signs of human habitation, but the number of demons gradually increased.
A massive serpent coiled around the mountain, its poisonous breath forming a green cloud that enveloped the area.
A black tiger with wings soared through the sky, its wings creating a hurricane that uprooted ancient trees.
Strange fish leaped from the marshes, preying on the large birds in the sky.
Yun Qi moved stealthily, avoiding these powerful demons.
Thanks to Bai Long'er's keen senses, they were always able to evade the most formidable creatures.
As Yun Qi continued his journey, it began to snow.
He calculated the date and realized it was already early December.
However, he had heard that the southern wilderness was warm in winter and rarely saw snow.
But today's snowfall was heavy, with flakes as large as goose feathers.
It was quite a coincidence that he encountered such a snowstorm.
"Chirp—"
Yun Qi whistled.
A white figure darted from ahead and stopped in front of Yun Qi.
It was a white dog, pure white with no other colors, except for the pink flesh visible on its nose, ears, and mouth.
This was Bai Long'er, the dog gifted to him by the Miao village.
It had grown quite tall, now reaching up to Yun Qi's knees.
Bai Long'er sat in front of Yun Qi, wagging its tail and panting.
Yun Qi patted the dog's head, "Good dog, find us a place to stay."
The dog understood and darted off again.
Soon, the dog returned, wagging its tail to signal Yun Qi to follow.
The dog had found a cave, sheltered from the wind, with trees in front, making it quite hidden.
Yun Qi knew that the cave the dog had found was likely empty, but out of habit, he flicked a spark of fire into the cave, chanting:
"Purify!"
Inside the cave, the spark exploded into a raging flame, transparent with a warm, yellowish hue.
This was the new Three Flavors True Fire he had cultivated.
After the true fire purified the dampness and any potential evil spirits in the cave, it automatically condensed back into a small spark, hanging in the air, illuminating the cave with a warm, gentle light.
Yun Qi and the dog entered the cave.
Yun Qi found a rock to sit on and took out a piece of cloth from the cave's stone, handing it to the dog.
The dog took the cloth in its mouth and laid it out near the cave entrance, then comfortably lay down on it.
The cave, now warmed by the true fire, was cozy.
The dog stretched out its limbs, exposing its belly to the warm cloth, humming contentedly.
Looking at the size and color of the cloth, it was clear that it was part of the包袱 (包袱:包袱) Yun Qi had brought from the sect, a perfect example of making the most out of waste.
Outside, the snow fell heavily, obscuring the view with a white haze.
Yun Qi took out a leather wine pouch from the cave's stone, opened the stopper, and took a swig.
When he left the Miao village, he had refused all other gifts from the villagers, except for the white liquor.
The old village chief had joked that they would need to brew more next year, or else they wouldn't have good wine to offer when Yun Qi returned.
"Gulp—"
The wine traveled down his throat, warming his body as it spread through his stomach.
"Ah—"
Yun Qi let out a satisfied burp, feeling completely at ease.
The wind blew the snow into chaos, but Yun Qi's mind was clear.
He knew exactly what to do next.
Now that the deity in his heart mansion had formed, his visualization method not only allowed him to absorb the fierce Yang Fire of the sun but also enabled him to ingeniously absorb the Three Flavors True Fire.
Opening the heart mansion was a natural progression.
Yun Qi estimated that it would take no more than one to three years, with little deviation.
There was no need to think of shortcuts to shorten this time.
Now, he needed to focus on the next mansion.
With the heavy snow sealing the mountains, Yun Qi was in no hurry to continue his journey, giving him ample time to ponder deeply.
He had first opened the heart mansion, using the Yang Fire of the sun to define its nature, aligning with the concept of "fire in the void," which symbolized the transition from nothingness to reality.
The next step was to consider what would emerge from the fire.
According to the basic principles of the Five Elements' mutual generation and restraint, fire generates earth, and while fire restrains metal, it can also refine metal.
As for water and wood, fire and water are incompatible, and their interaction would result in mutual destruction.
However, the balance of fire and water, the harmony of Kan and Li, speaks of the coexistence of opposing forces, returning to the primordial chaos, where Yin and Yang merge into one.
It is a coexistence, not a mutual generation.
Fire touching wood would burn it, and the interaction of fire and wood would only fuel the fire, which is not conducive to the growth of the wood mansion.
After much thought, it seemed that opening the earth and metal mansions after the fire mansion aligned with the essence of the Five Elements.
Fire generating earth forms the foundation of the Five Elements, but it seems somewhat ordinary.
Fire generating metal, though more radical, aligns with the concept of refining true gold in fire, making the metal within the fire sharper and more refined.
The essence of the Golden Elixir also states:
"The moon hides the Jade Rabbit, the sun hides the Crow, with the Turtle and Snake coiled together. Coiled together, life is firm, and a golden lotus can be planted in fire. Gathering the Five Elements and reversing their use, once the work is complete, one becomes a god or immortal."
The concept of "planting a golden lotus in fire" is the most resilient and steadfast, representing the fundamental nature of seeking immortality and aligning perfectly with Yun Qi's pursuit of the path to longevity!
Thus, fire generates metal, and the lung mansion should be opened!
Furthermore, considering the rotation of Yin and Yang, the Yang Fire in the heart corresponds to Yin metal in the lungs.
Among the heavenly stems, Xin belongs to Yin, so Xin metal should be paired with Bing fire.
Thus, the lung mansion should absorb the Yin metal energy of the moon.
Yun Qi exhaled deeply.
Before leaving the mountains, He Bingkun had told him that by transforming celestial phenomena into the Five Elements, his path was set.
Now, with his heart set on the Dao, the balance of Yin and Yang, and the duality of the heavenly stems, his path to the Dao had become even broader!
But just as Yun Qi's mind settled, his body suddenly trembled!
Yin metal!
It was Yin metal!
Yun Qi slowly extended his left hand, and a flash of light from the cave stone on his wrist revealed an object in his palm.
It was a small bamboo basket woven from purple bamboo, about the size of a fist.
He picked up the basket and poured out its contents.
It was a beetle, two inches long, its body like black jade, its wings like dark gold, with a slightly raised horn.
It was the Unicorn Rhinoceros Beetle, a metal-element creature that excelled at controlling corpses and belonged to Yin.
It was Yin metal!
Yun Qi looked at the beetle corpse, recalling the repeated warnings from Monk Sukong before he left the sect:
"The art of raising corpses should not be taken lightly..."
"The Unicorn Beetle can control dragon corpses to ascend to heaven..."
"Belonging to metal... the beetle corpse..."
Could it be that when Master saw the Palace of Light in the mountains and in my mind, he had already foreseen that my next step would be to open the lung mansion?!
Was the gift of this golden beetle corpse a deliberate reminder?!
Yun Qi couldn't be sure.
He had initially set this matter aside, much like the arts of alchemy and artifact crafting, but now it seemed he couldn't ignore it for long.
Metal is the essence of earth, and corpses in the earth are Yin objects of mourning.
If he truly sought Xin metal, raising beetles and seeking corpses might indeed be a viable path.
When the time came, with the Pleiades in his heart, having a golden corpse as the lord of the lung mansion might not be such a bad idea!
This chapter was short, but it really made my head hurt!
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(End of Chapter)