In a dark room that was dimly lit by red wax candles sat a young boy looking at a scroll with a tired expression on his stoic face.
It's been five long years since that old man locked me in this room and told me to look at this scroll or as he put it so weirdly.
"The Bodhi visualization technique,"
I've been looking at it for hours now and it's always the same thing.
I stare at it my mind goes blank an image of a gentle Buddha would form in my mind as feelings of paranoia and a destructive desire would build up in my heart.
My body would be sprinkled with a warm Buddhist light that gave off a serene aura of compassion and peace.
Madness and compassion coexisted, the madness would be pushed into the depths of my heart as I began to lose myself in the serenity.
Then a maid shows up and smacks me upside the head which snaps me out of it after that she gives me some food and then she walks away slamming the door behind her.
After studying this thing for five years I finally understand its purpose.
It was made for only the most obsessive of cultivators as a means of cultivating for long periods of time without worrying about the side effects of full immersion.
The problem with visualization techniques is the longer you practice them the more you risk losing your sanity from staring at the boundary of heaven and earth but this technique helps you maintain maximum calmness eliminating that threat.
All cultivators face a problem and that's how to keep a calm mind in the face of the unlimited power of heaven and earth.
For many, the power was too intoxicating therefore accidents were more likely to occur.
If they weren't careful they would become directly immersed in it becoming obsessed or even going insane.
That's why this technique was made to allow the practitioner to cultivate without fear of losing their minds.
There were still problems though for example losing your sense of self and dying of Qi deprivation which is having all your Qi sapped away leaving you a dried-out corpse.
Also, there's the whole being so calm you end up sitting in one place until you starve to death.
Both of them suck but luckily those maids come in and wake me up before any of that happens which is good for me also I finally learned what they are.
There called homunculus which is just a construct made of flesh and blood in the shape of a human they're no different than robots made of living tissue.
They have no emotions and only do what the person who made them tells them to do they also require no food or sleep and can't speak.
So there perfect for manual labor and other odd jobs like cleaning or cooking suffice to say they are given detailed enough instructions.
Anyway, it's been about five years I think so when does that old man come to help break through the soul formation realm?
I don't get it anyway even after five years of looking at this scroll I don't feel much of a difference.
My thoughts are clearer, my temperament is much calmer, and my body feels lighter somehow but other than that I feel just like I did five years ago.
As for this demonic Qi, it's all gone instead it's been replaced by very pure spiritual Qi the color of freshly fallen snow.
I think it was purified by this visualization technique same with the demon's heart.
It was originally pitch black and engorged but now it's perfectly normal like any other human heart except much stronger and more efficient at circulating Qi.
I also learned about two different types of Qi which are apparently very important.
The first is this red-colored Qi circulating through my bloodstream that's called blood Qi or inner Qi.
The second is a white almost translucent-colored Qi surrounding my body called spiritual Qi or my outer Qi.
Qi comes in all forms in the earth, sky, sea, or even in the form of dreams but those two types are the two basic kinds all cultivators have.
At least that's the conclusion I've come to and I guess that's why the first three realms are so important.
The first realm cultivates blood Qi, the second realm cultivates spirit Qi, and the third realm increases your soul power.
All three are important for a future cultivator if you rush through them or mess something up your meridians will become blocked or end up covered in injuries that could hinder or even stop your cultivation altogether.
I'm fine though that old man made sure that my meridians and dantian had no hidden injuries and my body had as few impurities as possible.
In the end, I can only thank that old man for all the help he has given me so far but where is he did I miscalculate the date or something how much longer do I have to do this?
You know what who cares he will so up eventually I may as well keep studying this diagram.
I started looking at the scroll again but as I did the door flew open and a tall thin man came walking in.
This man had an ear-to-ear smile on his hairless wrinkled face as he looked at his grandson.
"Hello there Pan Huang it's about time you began cultivating for real," he said as his grin became bigger and bigger.