Taoist Shanyangzi first discussed the grades of spiritual energy in detail:
"Aura is the origin of the Immortal Way. In terms of category, it is divided into five elements, which are stored in heaven and earth. In terms of quality, there are also grades. This grade coincides with the ninth level of the Immortal Way.
The spiritual energy contained in the souls of those who live in vegetation and insects is the most crude and insignificant. The souls of mortal beasts are formed. The soul is the ninth grade of spiritual energy. The spiritual energy in the body of a Taoist disciple is the eighth grade. The Taoist official is the seventh grade... According to
And so on.
For each level of living beings, the amount of spiritual energy needed to maintain vitality can be reduced downwards. However, if you want to strengthen yourself, you must spend a lot of energy to polish the spiritual energy in your body with the essence of the sun and the moon, and slowly promote it to the next level.
In order to reach a higher level, one has to swallow more pure spiritual energy.
Therefore, high-grade spiritual energy is a great tonic for low-grade creatures, and their cultivation can progress rapidly."
When Yu Lie heard this, he immediately understood:
"So it turns out that the specific classification of spiritual energy is as high as nine levels, which happens to be consistent with the life level of living beings. In this way, the essence of our cultivation is to temper the spiritual energy in the body, causing its texture to transform, and then
Use spiritual energy to transform the physical body and soul!
This is the true meaning of Qi refining and the reason why Qi is so important to Taoists!"
There were many thoughts in Yu Lie's mind, and he soon thought of an extension:
"In this way, what I considered before is correct. If you want to quickly increase your Taoism, polishing the spiritual energy in your body will not work, nor will taking spiritual stones, because Taoist disciples can only use inferior spiritual stones.
Most of the spiritual energy in high-grade spiritual stones is also at the eighth-grade level, and only by using low-grade spiritual stones or seventh-grade elixirs used by Taoists can it grow rapidly.
In this way, in alchemy, a seventh-grade elixir can be made from eight or nine-grade medicinal materials. This process is similar to the hundreds of millions of years of polishing between heaven and earth, or the cultivation of the human body, which is improved in the alchemy furnace.
The quality of spiritual energy, is this also the true meaning of alchemy?"
Many thoughts were running through Yu Lie's mind: "Then why does the Taoist court insist on restricting the Taoists so that we cannot use higher-grade elixirs and spiritual stones?"
A bold idea jumped out in his mind: "Could it be that as Taoist Master Shan Yangzi said at the beginning, we Taoists are just a link in the food web chain. All the lower-level ascetics, for the upper-level ascetics,
, in addition to being a junior, it is also a tool used to refine the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, so as to improve the overall spiritual energy between heaven and earth?"
But before Yu Lie could think about it more carefully, Shan Yangzi began to describe another principle of Taoism:
"What is cultivating the Tao, the way of observing the sky, and the practice of adhering to the sky? This is a very mysterious statement, and I will only mention two sentences here.
The first is the way of heaven. It is nothing more than creation, nature, the universe and other substantial things, inherent things, and the principles and rules that have already existed between heaven and earth. We who practice Tao are just to discover these existing principles and apply them a little bit.
That's all.
The two are the actions of holding on to heaven. If you thoroughly understand the principle of materialism, you should know that the more any Taoism is in line with nature and the existing rules of heaven and earth, the greater its power can be exerted. Anyone who is man-made,
The conjectures of people's minds are nothing but illusions, and they are no match for the attack of reality and truth."
These words were a bit profound. Although everyone vaguely felt that Shanyangzi had broken down the truth and explained it to everyone, everyone still felt that it was mysterious.
He felt the same way about Yu Lie, whom the other party called "Tao Seed".
Fortunately, at this moment, Shan Yangzi spoke again:
"For example, some Taoist disciples said that since the true meaning of spiritual practice is to eat and eat, which is just the word 'eat', then what is the use of the classics written by our predecessors? They are just a bunch of red tape and a bunch of false doctrines?"
Shan Yangzi smiled and said, "Then I would like to ask you a question.
Why do you just think that eating comes and goes, the big fish eats the small fish, the weak eats the strong, and natural selection. This has existed since ancient times, evolved naturally from the heaven and the earth, and has not been destroyed for hundreds of millions of years.
, and the rules and principles that promote creatures to reach the highest level step by step, can actually seem crude?
And yet I just feel that an old scholar who has been an immortal for only 30,000 years, or even just a hundred years ago, has applied the 'principles' he has learned in his life of only a few decades or hundreds of years, and it does not appear crude, but appears exquisite and ingenious?
"
The other party stopped laughing and said affirmatively: "The former is inaction and the latter is man-made. The levels are incomparable.
And the latter, no matter how subtle and profound our complicated celestial rules are, specifically, they are just repeating the exposition of the former. Generally speaking, we cannot escape the idea that the weak are used by the strong.
, Fools are driven by the wise, the few are enslaved by the majority, the corrupt are eliminated by the new... all kinds of truths.
The more a person or thing conforms to the nature of heaven and earth, follows the truth of nature, is not limited to decay, and can change with the times, the more vital it will be.
It's just that the human heart is not the mind of heaven after all. It is difficult to 'see' the truth, but it can only be understood. It will inevitably go round and round, requiring long and lengthy records. Therefore, 90% of the classics written by the sages have
Most of the time, we are going in circles. But if we don’t do this often, we won’t be able to find the real truth and we won’t be able to tell it.”
Shanyangzi paused and concluded: "The word 'eat and eat' you just mentioned does sound vulgar, so it would be more appropriate to use the word 'take' instead.
This method of using form to complement form, plundering the wisdom, vitality, and good fortune of others, and accumulating it for my own use, although naked, is actually what our predecessors and sages have pointed out to us after they have repeatedly hit the wall and endured all the hardships.
Clear path."
The other party looked at all the Taoist disciples present playfully:
"In normal times, you can pay attention to the red tape and the mysteries, but when it comes to fighting, it still depends on who has the highest magic power and who can survive. If your so-called great principles are really correct, then in the battle of spells, who has the highest magic power will survive?
At that time, your magic power will definitely be superb, your spells will also be powerful, and you should be the one who survives. This is proof.
Demonstrators are the only way to test the truth and it is irrefutable."
Hearing this, those Taoist disciples who were originally ignorant were faintly touched in their hearts. Many of their faces turned red and they chanted: "I see, that's it."
"No wonder today's Immortal Way is based on the former side sects and heresies as the mainstream, but instead it has flourished and reached its peak. The so-called side sects and heresies and the orthodox true way are all man-made. Only those who are more in line with the essential laws of heaven and earth will be closer to the great road.
There is no such thing as alternative orthodoxy, only near or far!"
"Eat it here and there, no, the way to take it is to get closer to nature and the true way that conforms to the laws of heaven!"
Seeing the touched expressions on everyone's faces, Shan Yangzi smiled softly and stopped speaking abruptly.
The man waved his sleeves and said, "This sermon ends here.
I was chattering too much today, and I accidentally said so many words. If I talk any more, I will be annoying and confusing."
After saying this, Shan Yangzi swayed and floated upward, as if he didn't want to stay for a moment.
At this moment, Yu Lie suddenly took a step forward: "Taoist Master, please stay."