My apprentice is a little weird?

Chapter 407: Discussion and Punishment

The jujube tree in the yard swayed gently, and the leaves cut through the bright sunlight, leaving only a few golden rays that sprinkled down, shining on Yin Li's face, making her look particularly dreamy.

Her eyes, as bright as stars, widened and stared at Jiang Yan without blinking: "Really? You can..."

"Well...but I don't have anything to exchange with you, I..."

Jiang Yan waved his hand and said generously:

"I, Jiang Yan, am not the kind of person who haggles over every penny! Although I am a wandering cultivator in the mountains with no support, I still have integrity!"

"You and I have a good relationship, so why not teach you for free?"

Yin Li's eyes were red with emotion. She could feel that Jiang Yan was not lying and he really wanted to teach her.

It should be noted that in this world of cultivating immortals where everyone cherishes what they have, there are very few people who are willing to selflessly share their own insights into the Tao with others.

It is even more unheard of in this era.

That's why Yin Li was so excited and even felt guilty.

"He's so kind to me, but I have nothing to repay him. It's really..."

Suddenly, she suddenly had an idea and recalled what Jiang Yan had just said. "Self-cultivator... From Jiang Yan's tone, it seems that he has some grudges against self-cultivators. Can I invite him to join my sect..."

Jiang Yan didn't know what Yin Li was thinking, but the seed of "desire to have a sect" had been planted, and he would need to keep hinting and reminding Yin Li. After guiding Yin Li to complete the "investigation" task, Jiang Yan could only wait and see what kind of flowers would bloom.

For now, it would be better for Jiang Yan to comfort her.

He raised his hand and beckoned to Yin Li to come forward. Yin Li came over and sat opposite Jiang Yan obediently, putting her thoughts aside and sitting on a bench as seriously as a primary school student.

"You ask, I answer. I'll first figure out your needs and then prescribe the right medicine. Got it?"

Yin Li nodded rapidly: "Understood."

"First question, what were you doing just now? Why did I feel that my spiritual wisdom body was ineffective at that moment?"

"You know, ever since I suddenly awakened this physique when I was a child, no one can do anything to me, not even me. I can only let it spread on its own."

"This has also led to not many people daring to approach me since I was a child. Even Master has to concentrate and calm his mind when interacting with me, not daring to have any distracting thoughts. Even so, it would take me several years to see Master once..."

Jiang Yan muttered to himself, "What kind of copy of Shen Ming is this? Even I have some unspeakable dark thoughts, let alone others. It seems that the owner of Huayinfang must have a hard time facing Yin Li."

Thinking of this, Jiang Yan interrupted Yin Li.

"I know your problem. You want to control your uncontrollable physique, right?"

"Right! Don't use too much force, just don't let it hurt other people. Just like you did just now!"

"Oh... I just used the formation here to do it. As for how I did it..."

Jiang Yan weighed his thoughts and decided to use the most easily understandable words in the world of immortal cultivation to explain it from the simplest to the most complex.

Of course, this is just an idea, just a possible way of thinking. The monks in the secondary world are not stupid, they just lack a direction or a touch of inspiration.

"My method is different from the mysterious techniques in the immortal cultivation world. It is relatively simple and crude. But you need to understand two simple concepts: subjectivity and objectivity."

Yin Li frowned. With her understanding, she only understood the meaning of the words when she first heard them. She asked tentatively, "My Self and Others?"

Jiang Yan neither nodded nor shook his head, but took out a spiritual plant from his storage bag.

"This is a nine-leaf ice lotus."

"Those who have just entered the Dao of Alchemy often complain that the Nine-Leaf Ice Lotus is as bitter as Phellodendron, but they do not know that the elders who practice the Dao of Mysterious Yin see it as sweet rain. The same spiritual plant can produce a thousand different flavors on the tip of the tongue due to the different constitutions and cultivation methods of the users. This is subjective cognition."

"But the third volume of the sect's Compendium of Spiritual Herbs clearly states: Nine-leaf ice lotus grows in extremely cold places, its stems contain frost marrow, and its flowers contain moon spirits. No matter who picks it, the veins of the plant preserved in the black jade box will show nine silver lines - this is a constant law given by the way of heaven. This is an objective fact."

Yin Li seemed to understand something, and felt vaguely that there seemed to be some kind of secret hidden in these words. Although she had not realized it yet, it would definitely be of great benefit to listen to it.

Jiang Yan did not stop and spoke again:

"Decades ago, all the casual cultivators in Lingxiang Territory were terrified when they heard about the red-eyed wolf monster, because it had once torn a Huanxu cultivator to pieces, and they would avoid it if it hurt its own kind. But Chengfeng Sword Sect issued a notice that the monster had an old wound in its throat, and it would cough up blood for three breaths when it encounters the Yin Qi of the Yin hour - this is the chance to kill it. This is a subjective judgment."

"According to the Demon Codex, which is widely used in the world of immortal cultivation, the hardness of the Red Eyed Wolf Demon's teeth and claws is equivalent to that of a mid-grade magic weapon, and the energy storage of its demon elixir is comparable to that of a cultivator who has refined his spirit and turned it into a god. Therefore, it is classified as a third-rank great demon. Even if that great cultivator who has refined his spirit and turned it into a void is on the verge of death, the iron rule of the classics will not be changed. This is an objective rating."

"Cultivator A, who was in the tribulation period, encountered a tribulation of the inner demon. His illusions were filled with scenes of tragic deaths of his fellow Taoists, and his Taoist heart was almost shattered. However, cultivator B, who was also in the tribulation period, saw the grand scene of himself unifying the world in the lightning, and almost indulged in it. This is a subjective experience."

"According to the observation of the Tianji instrument, the intensity of the two thunder tribulations is the same as the "purple thunder" level. The difference is that cultivator A practiced the "Taishang Wangqing Jue" but hid his emotions, while cultivator B practiced the "Tianmo Strategy" but had the delusion of dominating - the thunder tribulation is like a mirror, it did not change, but only reflected the deepest rebellion of the cultivator. This is the objective truth."

As the words fell, the wind stopped and clouds came. The warm sun was obscured by the clouds and the surroundings gradually became gloomy.

Jiang Yan and Yin Li were both unaware of this. The former asked:

"Do you understand my explanation?"

Yin Li nodded absentmindedly, and after a long while, she spoke as if she had realized something: "The ego can be subjective, but the subjective is not the ego..."

Jiang Yan nodded: "The boy is teachable, so let's proceed to the next topic."

He stretched out his hands and moved them randomly in the air, pulling out two wisps of air of different colors.

One is spiritual energy, the other is gray and dead energy.

Jiang Yan looked at Yin Li and asked, "What is the difference between these two energies?"

Yin Li looked at the two auras blankly: "Isn't it just spiritual energy and dead energy? What's the difference?"

"Yes, there is no difference."

After saying that, Jiang Yan put his hands together, and the two auras were forced to soften into one. The spiritual energy was gentle and did not compete with each other. It was gradually stained by the death energy and turned grayish white, emitting a hint of coldness.

“The universe is objective, and there is no difference between life and death. The universe is not benevolent and treats all things as straw dogs. The “self-subjective” is the subjective awareness of the mind and nature cultivation. The two are opposite but also compatible.”

“Just as heaven and man come together to establish the foundation for all things, the essence of spiritual practice is to make the subjective self fit in with the objective nature of heaven and earth, and ultimately reach the state of ‘subject and object are one’, that is, to be in harmony with the Tao.”

"In this, the heaven and earth are transformed by the innate Qi, and all things are derived from it, and ultimately return to the Tao. This is an objective fact."

"Although I have been somewhat doubtful about the last one recently..."

Jiang Yan muttered to himself, but Yin Li suddenly felt his hair stand on end for no apparent reason. The sky was still the same as before, without any change.

She looked around carefully and found that the sky was clear and the surroundings were unusually quiet, without any danger, as if the terrifying experience of a hint of murderous intent just now was an illusion.

Gudong~

Swallowing hard, Yin Li felt a faint sense of escape in her heart. She felt that she still liked the current situation. In fact, there was no need to return to normal...

But seeing Jiang Yan's attitude of 'You must listen to it, I'll make you learn from me today', she still backed off and chose to follow her heart.

Seeing that Yin Li could barely keep up with the pace and had roughly understood the prerequisites, Jiang Yan continued:

“Now that you understand the subjective and the objective, you can apply various concepts to yourself and carry out the most correct practice process.”

"The first step is to observe the Qi breaking the appearance. Through the cleansing of the mysterious vision, look back at the body and mind inside and outside, and realize that the objective colors, sounds, smells, tastes and touches are all the flow of Qi. Reach the state of losing the self, let go of the "intention" (prejudice), and transcend the opposition between right and wrong."

"When you reach this stage, your body and mind will reach an unprecedented tranquility, but this stage is very difficult. Nowadays, the world of immortal cultivation practices the law instead of the mind. The Taoists say that cultivating both the body and mind will not break through a hundred calamities, and this is the case."

"The second step is to see through the appearances and see the original mind. Then, take the mind as the Dao house and awareness as the key. You need to "let go of desires" and "clear your mind" to generate reactions with the objective Dao Qi."

"When the body and spirit react in sync with the heaven and earth, a certain degree of subjective and objective unity is achieved. At this time, the practice will achieve an effect as if assisted by God. You will no longer be bound by the rules of sitting and breathing. You can practice in every move, action, sitting, or lying down."

"When it comes to the third step, it is the opposite of the second step. The subjectivity of the self can no longer be in sync with the objectivity of heaven and earth. It is necessary to make a cut and polish the subjectivity. Because the cultivator who has reached this step has basically stepped half a foot into the first half of the realm of refining the spirit and returning to the void, refining the spirit..."

"If the subjectivity at this time is in sync with the heaven and earth, it is tantamount to courting death. The objective heaven and earth are far beyond the subjective endurance of an individual. The heaven and earth are inherently ruthless. If the subjectivity is forced to be in sync, it will no longer be able to sit high on the spiritual platform. When the day of returning to the void comes, it will be the time for the subjectivity to become objective."

"In the world of immortal cultivation, it is often said that if one engraves one's own will on the path one practices, one will achieve the state of returning to the void. As long as one's own path is not destroyed, one will be immortal and indestructible, and will not be destroyed by a hundred calamities."

Jiang Yan paused, feeling that he had strayed off track, but for some reason he felt like he had to get something off his chest, so he didn't care and continued:

"But this method cannot be called 'crude', it is simply a model of powerful bricks flying. Because there is no clear exploration, it only relies on oral and mental transmission of mysterious and obscure exercises to practice, and the result is that it is extremely difficult to advance to the stage of refining spirit and returning to emptiness."

"Those who can achieve the ancient method of returning to the void are those who are born with extraordinary spirituality, are favored by heaven, and have extraordinary luck. In other words, they are lucky."

“If you practice using the method I mentioned, even if you can’t say you can achieve 100% success in refining the spirit and returning to emptiness, at least 99% is not a problem.”

Yin Li was already confused at this moment. How could one... practice like this? Then what did I practice before? Could it be that I am alive today just because of my good luck?

She looked up blankly, and for a moment she felt it was a bit absurd. The experiences of the past few days really felt like a lifetime ago...

So she asked in a daze: "Then... Teacher Jiang, how should I solve my problem?"

Jiang Yan raised his hand and gave him a ruler! Yin Li held her head with both hands and shrank her neck, seeing Jiang Yan's serious face.

"Why are you in such a hurry? I haven't even gotten to the point yet. If I were to go straight to the end right away, would your stupid brain be able to understand?!"

Yin Li curled up into a ball and made a sound of grievance. Jiang Yan was not really angry, but he was reminded of the public lecture he gave at the Ancient Immortal Sect and couldn't help himself for the moment.

"I don't know how they are doing now..."

He shook his head, suppressed the disappointment in his heart, and continued:

"The Tao was not invented by monks. It is out there, and exists objectively."

"When a cultivator refines his spirit and returns to the void, his subjectivity has been honed to be extremely tough, and the path he has cultivated has also initially engraved his subjectivity, temporarily possessing some power to influence the objective."

"Then the next step is to refine the void and merge with the Dao. You will know how to merge with the Dao even in the literal sense. I will summarize it into two points."

"Subjective transcendence, the practice of sitting and forgetting and selflessness; objective return, shattering the void and merging with the Tao. Giving up the subjective attachment to the "body" and "consciousness", allowing the objective Tao Qi to flow naturally, like "an empty boat sailing on the river", without subjective control but merging with the water flow"

Yin Li spoke weakly at this time: "Isn't this the case that the subjective is overwhelmed by the objective... Teacher, didn't you say before that the subjective of an individual cannot compete with the objective of the world?"

Hearing this, Jiang Yan not only did not scold her but reached out and rubbed her head, scaring Yin Li so much that she shrank her neck like an ostrich.

"Children can be taught~"

"You are right. Once a person's subjectivity comes into contact with the objective world, it will be instantly assimilated by it. But... I didn't say to give up subjectivity? I just said to give up the subjective attachment to the body and consciousness."

Jiang Yan stopped talking after he finished speaking, and then stared at Yin Li, the meaning was self-evident. This is the question I gave you, if you can't answer it, you can wait to be beaten!

Yin Li was sweating profusely! Her mind was spinning like crazy, and then it crashed...

"This...I...this..."

Under Jiang Yan's increasingly disappointed gaze, Yin Li finally remembered it from her memory. It was not everything Jiang Yan had mentioned before, but the sentence she had summarized and speculated and murmured subconsciously.

"The id may be subjective, but the subjective is not the id!"

"Yeah~ Not bad, not bad. It seems your little brain can still work."

"You should understand that a solitary Dao cannot exist. Therefore, Dao is not alone but intertwined with many great Daos of heaven and earth. You must know that any subjective consciousness contact will inevitably involve other great Daos and will naturally be easily assimilated by Dao."

"At this time, the subjective engraving of the Great Dao by the Return to Void Realm will have an effect. In the early stage of Refining Void and Combining Dao, it is necessary to polish and deepen the subjective engraving of the Great Dao by the previous realm."

“When self-awareness is sufficient, cut off your own subjective thoughts to achieve a state of emptiness and selflessness. At this time, your subjectivity is inspired by the Great Dao, and you can be in harmony with the Dao without taking the initiative. You don’t have to worry about involving other Great Daos, because this is not a subjective conjecture, but the pull of the Great Dao itself.”

“When the integration with the Tao is successful, the second step of being in tune with the Tao will take effect. The subjective consciousness and the objective Tao will be mutually transformed and in tune with each other. When it is visible, it is “form” (subjective individual), and when it is hidden, it is “qi” (objective heaven and earth), achieving “qi and form are one”.”

"At this time, subjective initiative and objective regularity will reach a perfect balance, and I will be the world!"