Lin Ming said, “Martial arts are divided into two major parts. First cultivate the martial path, and then grasp the principles to attain enlightenment. To cultivate the martial path is to cultivate the body. To enlighten oneself is to cultivate the soul. Master often said that the life was a boundless sea of bitterness. Cultivating was the path of traversing the waters. To cultivate the body was to build a boat that could cross the sea, and cultivating the soul was to create oars to move the boat.”
“If one does not cultivate the body, then the boat would not be steady or strong; a storm would easily capsize it. If one does not cultivate the soul, then their motivation and will would not be enough, and even if their predestined death was near, they would be unable to arrive at the distant shores.”
“But the cultivation of the body and the cultivation of the soul is the difference in transition from the houtian to the xiantian stage. Before houtian, the martial artist will cultivate the body, after xiantian, the martial artist will cultivate the soul.”
“After xiantian, cultivating the soul! As soon as Muyi heard this he was startled, and felt that he would faint. No wonder all these years which he had been practicing he had actually been unable to take that tiny step. He realized that he had been headed the wrong direction the entire time. He had not imagined the xiantian stage to be like this. He muttered, “And what is the meaning of xiantian?”
Lin Ming said, “Master once said that the answer lies in how a baby breathes in the womb. He said that ‘when humans are babies in the womb, they cannot breathe through their nose or mouth, but must depend on the mother to give them sustenance through their connection only. This is how they breathe. This is the characteristics of xiantian. After the human is born then they can breathe through the nose and mouth. This worldly air is filled with impurities that gradually accumulate. This is the characteristics of houtian. In the xiantian stage the soul enters a state of incomparable tranquility and peace. They body changes the way they interact with their surroundings and the soul becomes aware of the world and is able to communicate with nature, even being able to actuate the power of the heavens and earth with soul force. That is the true xiantian. But from houtian to xiantian one must cut off every root in order to pa*s through and return to the state of being in the womb.”
“So…I see…that’s how it is…” Muyi muttered under his breath. His eyes showed both admiration and dismay. This young boy casually tossed out a few words that were akin to ancient enlightenments. If this boy had these teachings, guided by the top tier xiantian skill manual, then he would soon become a martial arts master!
The sects and clans were able to rely on their heritage and legacies; a martial artist that tried to fumble his way through would not find it possible to think of these things. Muyi lamented, “How laughable! To think that I reached pulse condensation at thirty six years of age and then reached houtian at fifty years of age, and afterwards I spent sixty years exhausting all my efforts to step into the xiantian realm! And I had been wrong the entire time! I had started down the wrong path all this time! I have wasted sixty years! Lamentable! Truly lamentable!”
Muyi face was excited and yet his emotions were complex. Lin Ming stood at the side and watched, his heart sighing. This old man did not inherit the legacies and yet had wanted to step into the xiantian boundary; this was naturally hopeless. One needed the legacy and understandings of a sect to accomplish this, but which sect would not stubbornly control their secrets from spreading?
Not only that, but from houtian to xiantian one needed to return their soul to a state of being in a womb. This required the most precious and rare of medicines. These medicines methods of production and rare materials were tightly controlled by the sects. Not to mention the common people, but even the royal family could not purchase it!
So even if Lin Ming told Muyi these memories of his, even if he wanted to use them to advance into the xiantian stage, it was simply not possible.
Therefor Lin Ming said, “Senior, I will say frankly that master once said that if one does not have the support of a clan, even if one obtained a skill manual that allowed them to enter the xiantian stage, it would still be impossible.”
Muyi said, “I know…I know…it’s just that I have long striven to reach the xiantian stage. It is my life long wish. Even if I cannot achieve this wish of mine, but to at least let me see its direction and to know where I was wrong, then I can also die in peace and without regret.”
Even though Muyi said these words easily, the tone behind them was lonely. Lin Ming also unavoidably sighed with emotion. If he hadn’t obtained that mystical magic cube, then perhaps he too would be like Muyi,