Chapter 18: Visualizing Deities
Shi Feizhe looked at this copy of the 《Dark Spring Divine Shadow Record》 with satisfaction. The manual was filled with simplified characters, internet slang, and a large number of pinyin abbreviations.
It even changed “Youyi” （there is） to “U1”, “Wuguan” （irrelevant） to “Wugua” （no melon）, and abbreviated “Zhenqi” （True Qi） to “ZQ”.
Even if aliens came, they wouldn’t be able to understand this manual.
The Jianghu is a turbulent place. If he were to die somewhere, the expression on the person who found this book would be priceless!
Stretching, Shi Feizhe looked at the manual with smug satisfaction.
Only when he looked up did he realize that it was getting dark. The other people in the accounting room were already urging him to get off work and go eat.
He had been transcribing all afternoon without realizing it.
Ah, slacking off until dinner time, these comfortable days are truly nostalgic!
Shi Feizhe smiled and went to eat with the people from the accounting room. After a day of work, he also learned their names. One was called Zhang Lianglong, and the other was called Wang Chengfeng, both from Three Talents Town.
The dinner, which he hadn’t eaten for a long time, filled Shi Feizhe’s stomach. He couldn’t help but sigh with contentment. Being full was truly blissful.
After finishing his meal, Shi Feizhe walked towards his rented room. Only then did he realize that Three Talents Town became even livelier at night.
Some were people who had spent the day looking at the Stele Forest in Three Talents Manor returning to the town, while others were workers returning from the manor. In addition, there was no curfew in the town, and the taverns, gambling dens, and brothels were all open, making it different from the hustle and bustle of Yiyang City.
The nights in Yiyang City were filled with closed shops and the sounds of fighting.
Back at his rented room, the elderly landlord couple had already gone to bed.
With a full stomach, Shi Feizhe could finally officially start cultivating the 《Dark Spring Divine Shadow Record》!
From escaping Yiyang City, encountering Hua Xiaomei, to arriving at Three Talents Town, he had gone through many twists and turns. In the end, he learned about the 《Dark Spring Divine Shadow Record》 from Hua Xiaomei. Without Hua Xiaomei, he didn’t know when he would have been able to obtain a martial arts manual.
Even if he had obtained a manual, without the food from Three Talents Manor, Shi Feizhe wouldn’t be able to cultivate the “Blood and Qi Barrier” training method.
There was no way around it, he really couldn’t practice martial arts without a full stomach.
“A poor scholar, a rich warrior.” To temper one’s blood and Qi, not only did one need a large amount of meat, but also medicinal baths to complement the training. Only then could one cultivate successfully.
This first stage alone had stopped many people in their tracks. Martial artists were fond of fighting. It was hard to say whether it was because only through struggle could they obtain the resources for cultivation.
The 《Dark Spring Divine Shadow Record》, corresponding to the Blood and Qi Barrier, was divided into four training methods: Rewarding Good Fist, Punishing Evil Leg, Yin Law Stance, and Inspecting Walk.
Shi Feizhe started with the Rewarding Good Fist. It was a wide and open fist technique, with a balanced internal energy, mainly for strengthening the body and improving physical fitness.
As soon as he started practicing the fist technique step by step, Shi Feizhe was drenched in sweat. His current physical fitness was too poor. He was really lucky that he hadn’t been killed by that palm strike before.
The Punishing Evil Leg was a method that stimulated the body with high-intensity training. It required a basic level of physical fitness and medicinal baths to avoid injury. Otherwise, practicing the Punishing Evil Leg for a while might actually damage the body.
The Yin Law Stance required a certain level of physical fitness and flexibility, which could only be achieved after practicing the Rewarding Good Fist and Punishing Evil Leg to a certain extent. Combined with a special breathing technique, it induced vibrations in the bones and meridians, thereby strengthening the blood and Qi.
The Inspecting Walk was a special fist technique training method that could only be practiced after achieving some proficiency in the first three methods. Shi Feizhe didn’t quite understand it yet. He needed to wait until he reached that stage, when both his mindset and body would be different, before he could truly grasp it.
After barely practicing the fist technique three times, Shi Feizhe was drenched in sweat, his limbs weak. He could only sit in the courtyard, gasping for breath.
He knew he had reached his limit for the day. Martial arts required daily practice, “through the three coldest periods of winter and the three hottest periods of summer,” to reap the benefits. He wasn’t some cheat who could level up instantly and keep practicing forever!
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With his current physical condition, it would probably take him a few months to improve.
Fortunately, he was now a working ox, with a stable environment and income. He figured that if he worked at Three Talents Manor for a few years, he would have the means to protect himself.
He couldn’t practice the Blood and Qi Barrier technique, but he could still visualize deities and cultivate the “Essence and Spirit Barrier” technique.
He had fallen asleep while visualizing the other night, so he couldn’t fall asleep this time!
He went back to his room and carefully studied the visualization method. He read everything thoroughly, from how to calm the mind and gather stray thoughts, to how to visualize the Sea of Consciousness, and how to use the spirit to depict deities. After rereading it several times, he finally began to attempt it.
Sitting upright on the bed, Shi Feizhe held his palms facing upwards, silently gathering his thoughts. However, human thoughts were constantly in motion. Only the dead had no thoughts.
There was a shortcut to this step, which was to constantly think about one thing, to focus on this one thing, and thereby gather stray thoughts.
In the visualization method, the natural focus was on the first of the Ten Kings of Hell, King Qinguang.
Slowly, slowly, Shi Feizhe felt himself calming down. There was only darkness in his mind, with a single point of light faintly shining.
According to the visualization method, this point of light was Shi Feizhe’s “light of nature,” his “light of spirit.” It was Shi Feizhe’s “self,” his “divine essence”!
At this moment, Shi Feizhe’s “divine essence” had not yet manifested, it was just a ball of light.
What he needed to do was to use his “divine essence” as a brush to depict the image of King Qinguang. Then, by imagining himself as King Qinguang, he would transform his “divine essence” into the King of Hell, who controlled life and death in the mortal world and fortune and misfortune in the underworld!
King Qinguang’s image was that of a man with leopard eyes, a lion’s nose, a long beard, wearing a square crown, and holding a tablet to his chest with his right hand. Shi Feizhe carefully controlled the “divine essence” light, bit by bit, and began to outline the appearance of King Qinguang.
There were two methods for visualization and depiction. One was to first depict a part of the deity, such as an arm or a leg, and then gradually complete the rest. The other was to directly draw a rough sketch and then gradually fill in the details. There was no difference in effectiveness between the two. The ultimate goal was to make the visualized deity increasingly detailed, until it was lifelike!
Shi Feizhe chose the second method. He planned to first use a few strokes to outline the general appearance of King Qinguang.
The result… he failed.
His “divine essence” light moved, gently cutting through the darkness of his Sea of Consciousness, but it was unable to leave a mark.
He tried several times, even switching to a different depiction method, but it was no use.
What was going on?
Could it be that there was something wrong with his visualization method? Shi Feizhe exited the visualization state and took out the 《Dark Spring Divine Shadow Record》 to carefully examine it again. After reading it several times, he finally discovered a few words he had overlooked.
“Unite with the divine”!
These four words meant that one had to merge their consciousness with the deity they were visualizing. In other words, their worldviews had to align.
When ordinary people visualized deities, it was very easy for them to identify with the deity. But Shi Feizhe didn’t believe in gods!
How could he identify with a deity if he didn’t believe in them?
Especially the Ten Kings of Hell. There was only one image in his mind.
That was a monkey sitting on the throne in the Hall of Hell, stepping on the King of Hell with his boot. The King of Hell pleaded repeatedly, “Great Immortal, please spare me! Great Immortal, please spare me!”
What should he do?
He couldn’t possibly visualize a monkey!
What to do when faced with difficulties? Activate his world-shaking wisdom!
