Chapter Four: Taming the Restless Heart and Reining in the Wandering Mind

Explaining the Five Luminaries, the Five Elements, and the Five Viscera to Shi Yao took Xu Zhong considerable effort.

Shi Yao no longer possessed the cleverness he had displayed the day before; he even seemed somewhat dull-witted. It was simply that he had not yet employed any magic to enhance his wisdom.

“Five Luminaries, Five Elements, Five Viscera, and the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Man,” Shi Yao mused over these terms. “I understand now.”

“Then what about ‘guarding the One’? What does that mean?” he asked.

“Guarding the One?” Xu Zhong searched his memory for every book, every phrase he had ever read: “Embrace spirit and soul, hold to the One, and never part… I guard the One to reside in harmony… To gain the One is life, to lose the One is death!”

In an instant, Xu Zhong seemed to see a burst of dazzling light erupting within Shi Yao’s mind, a radiance that rivaled the sun itself.

Shi Yao was strengthening his own wisdom, seeking to comprehend every word Xu Zhong spoke.

“To gain the One is life, to lose the One is death!” As soon as he opened his mouth, a rosy glow leapt from his lips. The glow tried to flee but had nowhere to go; in the blink of an eye, he seized it and thrust it directly into his heart.

“The Five Qi return to the origin to guard the One; Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, guard the One. I understand, I see it now.”

Shi Yao appeared almost mad.

“To guard the One, one must first obtain the Five Qi.”

“Then what does it mean to ‘preserve the True’?”

Xu Zhong trembled, sensing something was wrong with Shi Yao at that moment. Within that rosy glow, there was vitality—yet it was a vitality unlike Shi Yao’s own.

“Neither giving nor taking, each at peace in its place; neither slow nor swift, each at peace in its home; able to be leisurely and at ease, thus it does not depart; guarding the One and preserving the True, then one can commune with spirits.”

“I understand, I understand it all.” With those words, Shi Yao sat down cross-legged. The moment his eyes closed, his body seemed to vanish from this world—he had entered deep meditation.

“What has he grasped?” the little fox leapt onto Xu Zhong’s shoulder.

“I have no idea,” Xu Zhong replied, shaking his head. “Perhaps this is what they mean by ‘the speaker has no intent, but the listener takes it to heart.’”

The words had come from his mouth, but how they were understood by others depended on their own fate.

“Looks like I’m still not wise enough.” The little fox hopped down from Xu Zhong’s shoulder.

Boom!

It was as if thunder had struck.

Both man and fox turned towards the source of the sound.

Shi Yao’s heartbeat had transformed into thunder, rumbling and echoing.

With every peal, clouds of black smoke spewed from each of Shi Yao’s pores, instantly twisting into little demonic creatures that bared their fangs and claws, fixing their gaze on Xu Zhong and the little fox, pouncing toward them.

The little fox gently exhaled.

A demonic wind rose, roaring fiercely, forcing the little fiends to retreat again and again, their bodies torn apart by the strengthening gales.

“They’re Miasma Demons!” the fox explained, preempting Xu Zhong’s question. “Shi Yao became a demon from a corpse. Before that, this body weathered three centuries of wind and frost, accumulating filth. With his own cultivation undiminished and spirit abundant, over time, the filth birthed its own spirit, consuming the corpse’s essence and becoming demons, dwelling in each orifice.”

“Miasma cannot survive independently, so it seeks to attach itself to us.”

Countless Miasma Demons were being forced out by the thunderous heartbeat, like a wild bull shaking lice from its back.

The “lice” leapt and scurried, searching for flesh to inhabit.

“They’ve each cultivated for a hundred years. Even a great demon like Shi Yao can’t expel them all at once. If they latch onto us, within a day they’ll suck us dry.”

Shi Yao’s cultivation was profound, his physical realm at the stage of riding the myriad things. The Miasma Demons shaken from him were all at the Five Luminaries stage.

But since the Miasma could only attach to living beings and not other things, the little fox could handle them.

The “lice” kept falling, but in the end, even the little fox struggled to keep up.

And they regenerated endlessly.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A violent wind echoed in Shi Yao’s abdomen.

Then, in a single breath, countless Miasma Demons transformed into two streams of gray smoke, surging left and right into Shi Yao’s nostrils, circulating through his airways into his belly.

“Lower your head—no, lie down! Quickly!”

Almost as the words left her mouth, two turbid and heavy breaths burst from Shi Yao’s nostrils, turning into two patches of spiritual light. Wherever they passed, grass withered and jade decayed.

Those two auras swept over their heads, finally returning to Shi Yao’s nostrils.

Within Shi Yao’s abdomen, an even greater force was brewing.

With each breath, Xu Zhong’s own vital energy was nearly uncontrollable, pulled toward Shi Yao.

The little fox plopped herself atop Xu Zhong’s head like a heavy weight, holding his vital energy in check.

“He’s refining the Miasma into Snorting Qi,” the little fox whispered in terror. If those two strands of Snorting Qi landed on them, the outcome was certain death. “No, it’s not refining; it’s innate to him.”

“He’s smoothing his cultivation realms. The Fire Luminary refines and cleanses impurities; the Metal Luminary governs breath, shattering filth, so inhaling draws in essence, exhaling expels waste. Once achieved, one no longer needs food and can subsist on wind and dew.”

Xu Zhong understood the little fox’s explanation of the wonders of the Metal Luminary.

Breathing in the cosmic mist, eating the sun’s glow.

To open the Metal Luminary’s hidden chamber meant one could extract all necessary energy from the air itself, expelling all harmful energies from the body—thus, fasting becomes possible.

“Damn it, his cultivation is too deep. He’s branded all his spells into the Five Luminaries,” the little fox said, anxious. “With each thought, a spell manifests; with its cessation, it vanishes. Sooner or later, we’ll die from his spells. That fool doesn’t even know what he’s doing.”

“But precisely because he doesn’t know, we have a sliver of hope.”

Xu Zhong realized that the little fox seemed to know much more now, no longer as dull as before.

“He’s not casting spells consciously. The branded marks are manifesting by themselves. And brands—they can be collected, refined.”

Her thoughts scattered, but she caught onto this one thread—a single hope. She turned to Xu Zhong.

“But first, I need to enhance your wisdom.” As she resolved this, the little fox spat out her demon core and instantly cast a spell.

At once, Xu Zhong felt an unprecedented clarity. All things in the world became vivid to him; truths that had once seemed obscure and complicated now appeared simple and obvious.

“You’re using your power to enhance my wisdom?” Xu Zhong asked.

“Though I, like humans, have the five viscera and can practice human arts, the paths of man and demon are different. Many spells, I simply cannot learn. I must rely on you.”

“What do you mean?” Xu Zhong was bewildered.

“Spells are never conjured from nothing. They exist in the world already. All spells are cultivated by practitioners who harvest them from the world.”

“You want me to gather Shi Yao’s spells into my Five Luminaries, just as one gathers qi?” Xu Zhong, now much wiser, understood the fox's implication.

“If he were casting spells consciously, the methods would be hidden. But now, he’s not controlling them—they're manifesting as brands. If they're brands, they can be absorbed, collected.”

Her awakened blood-memory recalled that spells could be inherited as brands, but were also deadly weapons.

Unattended brands, when they touch living beings, automatically unleash their power. If you cannot absorb and transform them, you die.

“As long as you’re clever enough, you can transform these spells into brands, imprint them in your Five Luminaries, and make them your own.”

“If you endure, it’s a great fortune. If not, we both perish.”

Xu Zhong’s wisdom grew ever faster, and he felt himself becoming increasingly intelligent.

By contrast, the little fox weakened, her fur losing its luster, the touch turning coarse.

“I’ll teach you how to subdue the Mind Monkey, tether the Will Horse, and open the Mirror Heart.”

Xu Zhong closed his eyes.

He turned his awareness inward; his heart was as calm as still water, and he saw himself standing upon a clear mirror—an embodiment of his will.

Above shone the warm sun, clouds drifting by; below lay water as smooth as glass, reflecting both inner and outer worlds.

The inner world was his bodily storehouse.

The outer world was the world around him.

Both realms existed within a single thought.

Yet this state of mind was difficult to maintain. Soon, dust settled upon the Mirror Heart, and both inner and outer worlds grew shadowed and obscure.

At that moment, whispered voices sounded in Xu Zhong’s ears.

Instantly, his thoughts were stirred by the whispers, taking the shape of monkeys leaping from his mind’s avatar, scampering wildly, beyond all control.

They leapt skyward to snatch the sun and moon, staining the clouds; they dove into the water, making it turbid and chaotic—his Mirror Heart was soon filled with smoke and miasma.

Emotions took form as wild horses, charging through the Mirror Heart, causing his mood to shift erratically—joy, sorrow, anger, grief, and more.

“Focus your spirit! Calm your breath!” The little fox’s voice rang out, distant and melodious. Xu Zhong obeyed, focusing and calming his mind.

“Let spirit condense into a single thought!”

With his heightened wisdom came extraordinary insight.

Xu Zhong quickly gathered this single thought.

“One thought gives birth—subdue the Mind Monkey, tether the Will Horse!”

This thought transformed endlessly, possessing supreme power. The miniature Xu Zhong atop the Mirror Heart slowly rose.

His body grew, head touching the sky, feet planted in the waters.

With a turn of his hand, he conjured a mountain to subdue the Mind Monkey.

The Mind Monkey was pinned beneath the mountain.

The Will Horse leapt, but fell into his palm.

The Will Horse charged, swift as lightning, but Xu Zhong's hand grew even faster, no matter how wildly the horse galloped, it could not escape his palm.

In an instant, the Mind Monkey was subdued, the Will Horse restrained.

Xu Zhong’s Mirror Heart was born anew.

The Mirror Heart reflected both inner and outer worlds; with a single thought, the source became clear.

Outside, the scene was dazzling—spiritual energy, both pure and turbid, mingled, rising as mist, falling as smoke, drifting in waves, surging and ebbing, giving rise to myriad transformations in the blink of an eye.

“This spiritual energy is what Shi Yao’s breathing manifests.”

With each inhalation, pure energy from every direction rushed into Shi Yao’s nostrils; with each exhalation, turbid energy fell to the ground.

Through breathing alone, his lungs became a great millstone, upon which countless spell-brands were engraved.

Each breath activated a brand, manifesting as a spell.

Beneath the Mirror Heart, the brands on the lungs were clear to see. When a brand was triggered, the various orifices around the lungs manifested as tiny figures, transporting these brands from lungs to airways, from airways to throat, and finally out through mouth or nose.

Xu Zhong saw it all clearly, and as his single thought took form, the orifices of his own lungs also leapt forth as tiny versions of himself, gathering these brands, sending them from his nose and mouth into his lungs, imprinting them as corresponding brands.

No wonder cultivators dreaded being observed during their practice.

Under the Mirror Heart, the path of qi within a cultivator was traceable; with careful study, one could discover their fatal weakness.

A single misstep in breathing could spell death.

“We’re saved!” The little fox was battered and bloodstained, her fur matted and wounds suffused with indelible magic.

She watched as a spell descended, turning to wind, about to blow her soul out of her body—yet it deflated like a balloon, slipping into Xu Zhong’s mouth and into his body.

Exhausted, she collapsed on Xu Zhong’s lap, gasping for breath.

Before them, spell after spell released from Shi Yao’s body, flowing ceaselessly into Xu Zhong.

At this moment, every orifice in Xu Zhong’s body came alive, each turning into a tiny version of himself, transporting spells ceaselessly, like building houses atop a foundationless ground—precarious, but still holding.

As Shi Yao sorted his own cultivation, Xu Zhong deepened his understanding of the same stages.

At the same time, spell-brands were inscribed on his heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and spleen—countless and dazzling.

“You’re truly fortunate,” the little fox said, a hint of envy in her tone. “With such an opportunity, you’ve saved yourself a hundred years of cultivation.”

Spells are often tied to one’s cultivation stage.

To wield and understand them requires accumulation and time.

At first, spells require hand seals, incantations, use of one’s spiritual energy. But with deeper understanding, the need for seals and incantations diminishes, until the spell becomes a brand engraved in the Five Luminaries; with a single thought, the spell can be activated instantly.

Now, Xu Zhong had skipped all the intermediate accumulation, branding spells directly into his Five Luminaries—not one or two, but seventy-two in all.

Ordinarily, a cultivator at the Five Luminaries stage would be considered a genius to have a dozen or so spell-brands.

But Xu Zhong had already surpassed the realm of genius.