‘Even in the world of cultivating immortals, only people with the heavenly spirit root can learn these two techniques!’
While shaking his head, Lin Yao discovered that there were also shortcuts to Heaven and Earth Visualization. The Heaven and Earth Dojo first simplified Heaven and Earth Visualization to Landscape and Country Visualization, then to Myriad Miles of Rivers and Mountains Visualization, and finally to Rivers and Mountains Visualization.
The last step was suitable for people to cultivate. It was used to find a place with mountains and rivers in reality, travel through the mountains and rivers, and outline them through meditation. Although this was still difficult, it was at least feasible.
According to a saying, by looking at the sea, one would become more broad-minded. This also applied to visualizing mountains and rivers. When the mountains and rivers were manifested in the consciousness, one’s mental strength would also increase.
Next, one had to focus on the mountains and rivers and outline more rivers and mountains in the consciousness until there was a myriad of miles of rivers and mountains.
There were lots to learn about the two main methods. After looking through them, Lin Yao had a headache and needed a break. Next to him, Elder Wei made use of this chance to add something.
“Now that you have seen the fundamental methods of the Heaven and Earth Dojo, don’t worry too much about the Heaven and Earth Furnace. So far, others have only managed to cultivate the first step through auxiliary methods. No one has successfully practiced the complete technique. We extracted and created this method from the method outline found on the legacy site. It is merely a beautiful fantasy. You can practice Heaven and Earth Visualization by visualizing rivers and mountains, but you can’t randomly visualize mountains and rivers.”
“Teacher, is there a way? Can you teach me?”
“Don’t worry, I will tell you everything. Art originates in reality but goes far beyond reality, and so does visualization. There are many great mountains and rivers in China, but the first mountain and river that you visualize must be carefully selected according to the direction you choose.
“If you are good at swordsmanship, the first mountain you visualize should be Mount Huashan. It is famous for its extraordinarily dangerous and rugged paths, and it is most suitable for swordsmanship. If you practice body strengthening techniques, you should visualize Mount Everest. When visualizing it, you must turn the world’s highest peak into Mount Buzhou. This way, when you perform defensive techniques in the future, you will be blessed by Mount Buzhou. What I visualize is…”
Before Elder Wei could finish speaking, Lin Yao used the Light-Bulb Moment and found out what he was going to say.
“Mount Taishan!”
Elder Wei was pleased that Lin Yao had guessed right. “Yes, it is Mount Taishan. It is also called Dong Yue[1]. It was regarded by the ancients as a paradise that ‘leads directly to the throne’. It became a sacred mountain for people to worship, as well as a place where emperors conducted sacrificial rites. According to a saying, if Mount Taishan is peaceful, the world will be safe and peaceful too. Many emperors offered sacrifices to Heaven on Mount Taishan, which is the sacred mountain that connects heaven and earth. I have been visualizing Mount Taishan and have also gained the ability of Heaven and Mankind Interaction. Of course, this can’t be achieved in the first stage. One will only gain this ability in the fourth stage.”
At this point, Lin Yao learned the method the Heaven and Earth Dojo used to perceive the secrets of heaven and earth. They made use of Mount Taishan to perceive heaven and earth, which was something Lin Yao had not imagined.
However, Lin Yao wanted to visualize thunderbolts more than Mount Taishan. Thus, he also asked Elder Wei about the representative of the thunder mountain and was left dumbfounded by Elder Wei’s reply.
“If you want to visualize the thunderbolt, it is best to visualize Yunmeng Marsh, where there are clouds and mist everywhere, and thunderbolts are constantly present in the deepest part.”
“Yunmeng Marsh has endless clouds and mists and constant thunderbolts in the middle? Is there such a place in China?”
Elder Wei was slightly taken aback by Lin Yao’s surprised look. “Did you study geography? Yunmeng Marsh was formed after the third spirit energy tide and was included in the textbook. Have you forgotten?”
Upon hearing Elder Wei’s answer, Lin Yao patted his head on the spot. He then remembered that this was not the original world but the Blue Planet created after the Spirit Energy Revival. The earth had undergone tremendous changes due to the Spirit Energy Revival, and at the same time, many dangerous and magical places had appeared in the world, including Yunmeng Marsh.
After talking with Elder Wei for more than half an hour, Lin Yao confirmed that Yunmeng Marsh was not the only new place on the Blue Planet. There were also other special places that had been formed, such as the vast desert where the sun shone eternally that was never dark, and the dark kingdom that was always shrouded in darkness. The mountains that were suspended in the sky, including the five mountains, had also undergone drastic changes.
‘This is really…’
Lin Yao was left speechless by the drastic changes. Now that he felt better after chatting with Elder Wei for half an hour, he once again explored the jade slip to obtain the knowledge inside. This time, there was not a fundamental technique, but a combat skill.
The first combat skill was the Heaven and Earth Brilliant Tyrannic Punch that Lin Yao had been looking forward to. After taking a closer look, he discovered that instead of calling this combat technique a boxing technique, it would be more accurate to call it Heaven and Earth Manifestation.
Unlike what Lin Yao thought, this move was not about gathering the spirit energy of heaven and earth on himself to blast the enemy with a punch. The Heaven and Earth Dojo’s diamond combat skill, the Whale-Like Engulfing Method of The North, was capable of that.
The Whale-Like Engulfing Method of The North was very strong, but this combat skill required one to have an extremely powerful physical body to carry the devouring spirit energy. At the same time, the devouring spirit energy was also heterogeneous and needed to be transformed. It was also because of these shortcomings that this was merely a diamond combat skill.
The Heaven and Earth Brilliant Tyrannic Punch was used to condense endless heaven and earth spirit energy, forming a manifestation of oneself that was magnified several times behind one’s back. This was similar to the killer move of Mr. Karate in The King of Fighters XIII.
As for why it was called Heaven and Earth Brilliant Tyrannic Punch instead of Heaven and Earth Manifestation, it was naturally because the Heaven and Earth Dojo did not have a cultivation method to maintain the manifestation for long… No, they had one. After fully cultivating a Heaven and Earth Furnace and Heaven and Earth Visualization, they could naturally condense the Heaven and Earth Manifestation. However, no one could achieve this yet.
They could only rely on the mountains and rivers meditation technique to forcibly attain harmony with the world. As a result, they could hardly condense a phantom. After the punch was delivered, the figure behind oneself would dissipate.
‘It’s yet another castrated ability.’
Lin Yao was left dumbfounded by the various abilities of the Heaven and Earth Dojo. They were indeed strong, but either they could not be cultivated, or they had been castrated so much that not many functions were left. It was no wonder the dojo was famous, but very few people joined them.
After thinking briefly about the situation, Lin Yao could understand why the Heaven and Earth Dojo acted this way. It had only been a while since the Spirit Energy Revival and they had not accumulated enough. One needed years and months of practice to succeed in mastering these techniques. It was impossible for the Heaven and Earth Dojo, which had only been established less than 50 years ago, to really possess these powerful abilities.
‘I can be considered a member of a pioneer generation.’
After shaking his head and sighing, Lin Yao looked at the last ability, Heaven and Earth Domain. It was a combat technique that was used with Rivers and Mountains Visualization. In fact, Heaven and Earth Brilliant Tyrannic Punch was also a combat skill that could be used with Rivers and Mountains Visualization.
The mountains and rivers that were visualized by the people in the Heaven and Earth Dojo were in this world, so they naturally had a slight connection to this world. Although there was very little connection, when they reached the third realm of meditation, which was the realm beyond the mind, power, or domain, they could barely affect the power of heaven and earth.
The Heaven and Earth Domain was a way of interacting with the world.
‘Only by comprehending the power realm can one cultivate. Damn it! It is yet another super-high starting point.’
There might not be many people who understood the power realm, but many people should have heard of the sword intent, saber intent, and the artistic conception of water. If they understood a certain artistic conception and applied this artistic conception to the corresponding combat skills, the power of the combat skills would reach profoundness.
Lin Yao’s Heavenly Thunder was obviously a heavenly punishment conception. Unlike other people, Lin Yao did not comprehend this heavenly punishment conception, but it was inherent in him… The descendants of many powerful villages were born with various abilities. Lin Yao, who had planted the divine trees in his heart also had this special ability.
The realm beyond the mind was power, which was the ability to spread one’s will all over the void and influence the power of the world to attack the enemy. As for the domain, this referred to the realm beyond the king level.
Only people who were titled warlords and kings would be able to reach the power realm.
‘Therefore, I still can’t practice them.’
Lin Yao had given up. The five supernatural abilities of the Heaven and Earth Dojo, which were the Heaven and Earth Furnace, Heaven and Earth Visualization, Heaven and Earth Perception, Heaven and Earth Brilliant Tyrannic Punch, and Heaven and Earth Domain all had attractive and beautiful names. However, there was no way to learn them.
Upon seeing the exasperated look on Lin Yao’s face, Elder Wei was a little embarrassed. However, he had encountered such situations many times. Geniuses were arrogant people. They did not believe that they were incapable of learning what others could not learn. The Heaven and Earth Dojo was famous, so many geniuses came to the dojo thinking of doing what others could not do. One could easily tell what would happen next. Elder Wei had been through many similar situations. In the past, he used to always put on a smile.
However, this time, he said solemnly, “Ah Yao, you are different… I am not lying to you. The country will not allow us to trick geniuses into practicing methods that cannot be practiced. This is a waste of their precious time. I used to tell them that these techniques cannot be practiced, but you are really different. You did not come to the dojo due to its fame. Instead, I found you by using Heaven and Earth Perception.
“You are very compatible with our techniques. You have learned Heaven-and-Human Oneness. Although it cannot be maintained for a long time, there is a long road ahead of you. There is a chance that you could enhance it in the future.”
Elder Wei was very sincere, and Lin Yao… was indeed moved.
He was not soft-hearted. Although the various techniques of the Heaven and Earth Dojo were challenging, all of them seemed to be based on Heaven-and-Human Oneness. Others could not practice the techniques, but Lin Yao was indeed different. After all, he had indeed learned Heaven-and-Human Oneness, which was the prerequisite.
Elder Wei might be worried that Lin Yao would not be able to keep improving his Heaven-and-Human Oneness, but Lin Yao was certain that as the Bodhi Tree advanced, the Heaven-and-Human Oneness would be able to last longer. He might really manage to cultivate these techniques.
[1] Dong Yue in Chinese refers to the eastern mountain.