Mastering Oneself, Mastering the Enemy

How could he look like he was going crazy just after a few words? How utterly fragile; how could he possibly survive in the path of the sorcerers? No wonder he had practiced for decades and was still less proficient than his wife, Tian Xiaodie, who was just a beginner...

Zhang Zhiwei inwardly muttered a few words of disdain, sighed, and said, "Brother Zhuge, if you insist on viewing everything in absolute terms, it becomes terribly boring. To put it simply, after you have thoroughly studied the Four Disks of Heaven, Earth, Man, and Spirit, and completely mastered the Craft of the Mysterious Gate, you can attempt to leap out of the game defined by these Four Disks and examine yourself."

"Then you will discover that there is a far greater game within your own body. Once you take control of this internal game, you take control of yourself. Once you have mastered yourself, when you step back into the grand pattern of Heaven and Earth, you will no longer just be staring blankly. You will be able to move a thousand pounds with four ounces, lead the cosmic cycle with your innate nature, envelop the transformations of the cosmos, and transform yourself into the king!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhuge Yunhui looked as though he had been struck by lightning. This perspective undoubtedly shattered his worldview and subverted his entire understanding of sorcery.

He blurted out, "Senior Brother Zhang, you are saying there is a larger game inside our human bodies? That our previous cultivation was actually just meant to better understand this internal game within our own flesh, so as to master it, and thereby master the heavens and earth? I don't know whether this is true or false, but Senior Brother Zhang, you clearly haven't mastered the Four Disks or thoroughly understood the Mysterious Gate—how on earth did you manage to control this so-called internal game of the human body?"

Zhang Zhiwei explained, "Didn't I just say? All great paths lead to the same destination. Controlling the structural pattern of the human body is not limited to the path of sorcery alone. Master one method, and you master ten thousand. Otherwise, why do you think those ancient masters were proficient in every single art?"

Zhuge Yunhui clutched his head, his eyes covered in bloodshot veins. "I beg Senior Brother Zhang to resolve my doubts. I am utterly lost, even more lost the more I listen. My mind is in complete chaos, like mush, and it feels as though I've lost the ability to think. Please guide me, Senior Brother Zhang!"

Looking at Zhuge Yunhui's state, Zhang Zhiwei thought that if he were to act like a riddle-speaker, this kid would surely go mad.

However, preaching the Dao to others is, in a way, reflecting upon oneself and preaching to oneself. Since he had started talking, he might as well continue.

Zhang Zhiwei said, "Since you want to know, I will tell you. Do you remember when I first stepped into your Mysterious Gate formation, you assigned me to the Gate of Death? That is an extremely ominous geomantic position. After you reminded me, I began to introspect and examine what kind of impact this ominous geomantic setup had brought upon me."

"As a Daoist priest who primarily practices internal alchemy, I have achieved a modest accomplishment in the cultivation of nature and life. I am capable of internal introspection, knowing the changes within my own nature and life like the back of my hand. My five viscera and six bowels, meridians, skin, blood vessels, and blood are all as clear to me as the lines on my palm."

To Zhang Zhiwei, this was no difficult feat, because he had already cultivated the Golden Light Spell to an extremely profound realm, allowing it to precisely cover his internal organs and meridians. Naturally, he had absolute clarity over everything inside his body.

Zhang Zhiwei continued, "I could clearly perceive that as I stood upon the Gate of Death you arranged for me, an external force of Qi invaded my body and caused certain effects within me. Although these effects were extremely minute—so subtle as to be barely detectable—they were nevertheless present."

"As someone who pursues the perfection of both nature and life, I naturally could not tolerate flaws in my 'life.' Therefore, I circulated my Qi to permeate my five viscera and six bowels, concentrating my intent and spirit to inspect it bit by bit."

"Immediately, I discovered that the Qi invading my body followed a fixed route. It entered through my Baihui acupuncture point, traveled down along my spine, and in the process, every single time this invading Qi passed through one of my vertebrae, my body exhibited an extremely subtle reaction."

"Why do I say it was extremely subtle? Because my nature and life are too powerful, while the Qi within the Mysterious Gate formation you set up is too weak. Thus, its influence on me was very limited and could hardly produce any substantive effect. However, two specific areas were different."

"When this stream of Qi passed through my sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae, I keenly sensed a trace of anomaly originating from my lungs—the innate metal Qi of the lungs within was stirring!"

"This wasn't because my lungs were injured, but rather because what I cultivate is the Yang Five Thunders from the Five Thunders Orthodox Method, which starts cultivating from the heart and lungs. Consequently, I am particularly sensitive to these two parts, the heart and the lungs."

"At that time, a question arose in my mind: just by passing through my sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae, this Qi could affect my lungs? Does that mean the sixth and seventh vertebrae represent the lungs? The lungs correspond to the element of metal in the Five Elements, so what about the rest?"

"I began a much more detailed and minute introspection, and then I discovered that these tiny wisps of Qi, when impacting my spine, triggered a chain reaction, causing minute influences on my five viscera, six bowels, and even the extraordinary meridians."

"This is precisely why people situated in ominous geomantic positions contract all sorts of strange ailments. It is nothing mystical or esoteric; in essence, it is external Qi interfering with the body's operations."

"When analyzing a matter, I like to peel back the cocoons layer by layer until I arrive at the simplest answer. I began to map these influences one-to-one with my vertebrae, chaining them together, and obtained some very interesting results."

"As everyone knows, the human body is differentiated from primordial innate Qi. Primordial Qi permeates every corner of our bodies and is the fundamental basis for sustaining life."

"And the primordial Qi located along the spine is the most fundamental unit within this operational system. Therefore, if the spine is injured, the whole body becomes paralyzed, and when the primordial Qi on the spine is affected by external Qi, it causes the entire body to malfunction."

"After mapping the twenty-four vertebrae one-to-one with the five viscera and six bowels—with the five viscera representing the five elements—I used this rule to assign the five elements to the twenty-four vertebrae..."

"In the end... I discovered a pattern that was both complex yet easy to understand: the operational pattern of the primordial Qi within my body was roughly similar to the Mysterious Gate arrangement you set up outside. However, in terms of detail, the internal game within my body was infinitely more complex than your so-called Four Disks!"

"Therefore, I began to use the external Mysterious Gate pattern to mirror myself, analyzing the corresponding points between my body and the external Mysterious Gate pattern, using my five viscera to match the five elements within your formation..."

"And as I mentioned just now, the Qi in my twenty-four spinal segments forms the most basic primordial Qi units that construct the human body's pattern. Through mapping, I found that the Qi in these twenty-four spinal segments is identical to the twenty-four solar terms in your Mysterious Gate pattern."

"My first cervical vertebra corresponds to Major Snow among the twenty-four solar terms; my second cervical vertebra corresponds to Minor Snow; the third corresponds to the Start of Winter; the fourth corresponds to Frost's Descent; the fifth corresponds to Cold Dew; the sixth corresponds to the Autumn Equinox; and the seventh corresponds to White Dew. These are the seven cervical vertebrae."

"Meanwhile, my first thoracic vertebra corresponds to the End of Heat; the second corresponds to the Start of Autumn; the third corresponds to Major Heat; the fourth corresponds to Minor Heat; the fifth corresponds to the Summer Solstice; the sixth corresponds to Grain in Ear; the seventh corresponds to Grain Buds; the eighth corresponds to the Start of Summer; the ninth corresponds to Rain Water; the tenth corresponds to Clear and Bright; the twelfth corresponds to the Spring Equinox; the thirteenth corresponds to Waking of Insects..."

"As everyone knows, you sorcerers need to set up a Mysterious Gate formation using the twenty-four solar terms. These twenty-four solar terms constitute all the changes within your formation; thus, the solar terms are the units of time within the game."

"I do not understand how the twenty-four solar terms within your formation operate, nor do I need to understand them. I only need to understand myself!"

Zhang Zhiwei reached out and made a grasping motion in the empty air, causing the solar terms within the Mysterious Gate pattern to immediately churn violently:

"I stepped into your Mysterious Gate formation, and the internal game within my body suffered an attack from your formation. To a certain extent, didn't your Mysterious Gate formation also step into my game? Since you can attack me, I can naturally attack you in return!"