The Earth Is My Dantian

Chapter 32: Cultivating the Psyche through Observation and Meditation

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The Puppetry Technique has been around since ancient times, and it was originally developed by the Mohists. However, as time went by, the Puppetry Technique had slowly been lost, and it was very rare to see it now. Ye Sheng was surprised that there was still someone who knew this technique within Jixia Academy.

There were quite a number of people in the canteen, and they were all students who had come to eat. You could spot a teacher from time to time, but they all went into private rooms. The main dining hall was filled with only students.

“Students aren’t allowed into the private rooms. No matter who you are, as long as you come here for a meal, you must remain within the main dining hall. Everyone is treated the same way,” said Fang Conglong.

Ye Sheng nodded and suddenly asked him, “You saw your teacher today. When do classes actually start?”

“We start tomorrow. Our class tomorrow will be on cultivating the culture of Daoism, cultivation techniques, refining Qi, and focusing the spirit. Do you want to come with me?” asked Fang Conglong.

Even though Ye Sheng had not signed up as a disciple to any of the teachers, he could sit in on any of their classes. Everyone would learn the same thing, but if he had any questions or doubts, he would have no teacher or mentor to answer his questions. This difference was quite significant.

Ye Sheng thought about it and replied, “I’ll go with you tomorrow.”

Just then, the food was served. The fragrance was overwhelming, the dishes looked gorgeous, and everything was extremely delicious. The rice was plump and bright, and it looked as if there were crystals in the bowls. It was very different from ordinary rice.

Fang Conglong and Ye Sheng immediately started eating. Once the rice had gone into his stomach, Ye Sheng could feel a warmth spread throughout his body that activated his muscles, Qi, and blood. When he closed his eyes, he realized that his psyche seemed to be moving.

He was at the Psyche Nourishing Level First Stage, so there was no way he could fully solidify his psyche, and it still was a little fuzzy. However, it was able to see inside his entire body and was very alert and intelligent.

“These Qi-filled foods are really extraordinary. This one bowl of rice makes me feel as if I had eaten an entire bull,” exclaimed Ye Sheng.

The rice came with both vegetables and meat, and everything was pretty delicious. Ye Sheng let himself go and ate seven bowls of rice at one sitting. He was radiating with Qi from within, and his skin had gotten all red. It looked as if he had been exposed to the sun for days.

“Brother Ye, you’ve definitely eaten way too much,” said Fang Conglong in horror.

Ye Sheng waved his hands and said, “No need to worry. This huge amount of Qi is enough to rejuvenate my entire body.”

After eating, Ye Sheng went back to the area near his house and started to practice his boxing along the river.

The Rolling Rocks Boxing Technique was a very basic boxing technique, but Ye Sheng wielded it powerfully and naturally.

The surging power of the technique was accumulative, so each punch he delivered was pretty powerful. His boxing stance was aggressive, and his moves cut sharply and loudly through the wind.

Zhou Meiren was in his room resting when he heard the noises outside. He walked to the window and saw that Ye Sheng was practicing his boxing.

“He’s just brawn and no brain,” muttered Zhou Meiren as he sat back down. His breathing was even as he absorbed Qi. From time to time, he would look out the window at the scenery, and he’d glance at Ye Sheng.

The sky gradually darkened, and the river water made gurgling sounds as it flowed past their house. The singing of the birds merged with the chirping of the insects at night, and it was altogether pleasant.

After Zhou Meiren had finished one cycle of absorption, he opened his eyes to find that Ye Sheng was still by the riverside. He was standing up straight, but he wasn’t practicing his boxing anymore. Instead, he was breathing in and out deeply, and the spot between his brows was becoming redder and redder.

“What’s wrong with this fellow? After he’s finished practicing, he still doesn’t want to come back in to rest? What is he doing? Showing off his good figure?” muttered Zhou Meiren as he got up and walked away from the window.

Because he walked away too soon, he didn’t get to see that just as he left Ye Sheng opened his eyes and a wisp of black air shot out from between his brows. That black air contained the toxins from his psyche.

“Call the Wind!”

Ye Sheng spoke this command softly. The spot between his brows became warm, and a mighty gust of wind suddenly started blowing. It didn’t cover a large area, but it was fairly strong. A rock that was about half a yard wide was caught up in the wind, became suspended in the air, then crashed heavily into the river. All this happened very quickly.

KEBOOM!

This crash made huge waves in the water, before the flowing river washed over it once again.

“Not bad, this was a huge improvement from the first time I tried. And this is the effect I get despite not knowing how to control my psyche. Once I master that, I’m sure Call the Wind! will be able to destroy an opponent on my same level with one move.” A look of joy lit up Ye Sheng’s eyes.

He had finally seen the power of his Daoist incantations.

After he was finished cultivating, Ye Sheng returned to his room and looked through all the rewards he had gained that day.

He had received ten Daoist incantations, activated his psyche, and reached Psyche Nourishing Level First Stage.

Tonight, he had practiced his boxing, consumed his Qi, and pushed his cultivation level to the peak phase of Acquired Level Third Stage. He just needed a little more time to break through to Fourth Stage.

This was only his first day at Jixia Academy, but Ye Sheng had already reaped many gains. He shut his eyes and went to sleep.

He had used up a lot of energy today, and he had not learned how to use his psyche to make up for sleep yet, so he really needed to rest.

The next day, Ye Sheng woke up very early to practice his boxing by the river once again. Once he was finished practicing, he jumped into the river to wash off all the filth that had been purged from his body, and went to look for Fang Conglong to go to the Daoism Hall with him.

The various faculties within Jixia Academy gave lessons at different venues, and these venues had different names.

The teacher at Daoism Hall today was Priest Qingxu from Dragon Tiger Mountain, the teacher who Fang Conglong had become a disciple of.

There were many seats inside the Daoism Hall, a total of 365 seats, but there weren’t too many disciples. In total, there were only 40 of them.

All 40 of them were new students who had chosen Daoism to study. Ye Sheng was the only who hadn’t chosen Daoism.

Fang Conglong and Ye Sheng sat down, and Priest Qingxu appeared less than 15 minutes later.

Priest Qingxu was an old man who looked as elegant and unreal as a deity. His hair was gray and white, while his beard was entirely white. He was wearing the standard clothing of a Daoist priest and was quite casual in his manner. He walked up to the podium and sat down to speak.

“Daoists cultivate with the aim of becoming one with the universe and of being free of one’s self. Daoism starts with nourishing the psyche, then eventually allowing the psyche to leave. This is a very difficult process. All of you are new disciples to Daoism, so the first step you must take is to nourish your psyche. Today, I will teach all of you how to nourish the psyche,” said Priest Qingxu.

All the disciples looked at Priest Qingxu and paid close attention.

Priest Qingxu used his hand to cut through the air and sent a surge of his psychic energy out. A painting appeared in the air, and the person in the painting was one of the forefathers of Daoism, Laozi, also known as the Heavenly Lord of Dao and its Virtue.

“All of you are intelligent people, observe and mediate on the painting of Laozi, then shut your eyes and continue to observe and meditate in your own minds until Laozi’s painting appears. Once that happens, you will have gotten through the very first stage,” said Priest Qingxu.

“Teacher, what’s the fastest time it’s taken to complete this observing and meditating process?” asked one of the students.

Priest Qingxu smiled and replied, “Out of all the students I’ve taught, the fastest one to achieve this did it in one hour.”

“Then what about the slowest?” asked another student.

“One month,” said Priest Qingxu in a flat voice. He was clearly not as pleased with this result.

Ye Sheng looked at the painting and fell into deep thought. He used his psyche to observe and meditate on this painting. He felt that everything seemed blurry and covered by a fog. But once his psyche started to give out energy, the blurriness disappeared, and Ye Sheng was able to see the painting of Laozi properly.

He shut his eyes and discovered the painting of Laozi in his mind. As the painting of Laozi appeared, he also saw demons appearing. The gates of h*ll opened, and thousands of demons and devils poured out from there and threatened to swallow Ye Sheng’s psyche.

BAM!

Ye Sheng wasn’t afraid of this. His psyche exerted a great force and made a noise that shattered all the demons from h*ll, and his mind was left with only the painting of Laozi.

The painting of Laozi slowly started to change, and thus became a method of cultivating the psyche through observation and meditation.

Ye Sheng had grasped it, and he had done it in less than ten minutes.