Yu Song looked at his room.
He was in a small study, table in front of him, inkstone, brush and white xuan paper.
"I don't know how I landed here… it seems even without focusing, as long as one has a fascination, one will follow it through."
Yu Song travelled through the river of reincarnation. Although he doesn't know why, he didn't forget his memories. When he arrived in this world, he learned quickly that this world was in the ancient times. Fortunately, he was born in a family of scholars and was able to live well.
He learned from his father and entered the imperial academy, where he became a refined scholar. In fact, there were more diligent students, but among all the students, he was said to be the most refined and scholarly person.
There was no other reason, he simply had great enthusiasm for the ancient classics even before he transmigrated, and he recited the most known classics on a daily basis. In fact, he didn't agree with many of them, but he agreed that the ancient people were very far sighted and poetic, which is why he called himself a poetic scholar many times.
Even after he finished the academy, he didn't take the imperial examinations but took examinations from the academy to earn the title of a scholar. Afterwards, he retreated back to his own home in the capital, where his parents raised him.
If he didn't have an older brother, he would have to take the examination to earn a title, as a scholar wouldn't be able to keep the status of his father who is an official. His parents were unhappy of his unambitious behaviour, but when he settled down in his home, he taught his two younger brothers and the children of other officials, through which he was able to support his family and even assist his older brother occasionally.
During this whole time, he enjoyed his life, but now, he was in a unique situation.
Like usual, he was in his study, like a ritual he chanted three classic chants from Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. He wasn't partial and liked all kinds of ancient scriptures, he even rhymed together different parts to make it fit more with his own morality. As an old saying once said "Those that learn from me shall live, those that copy me shall perish."
He changes his chants regularly and the current ones were summarised to be awakening the human mind and setting the foundation for eternity.
The start is from the buddhist platform sutra, which is "The mind is the Bodhi tree, The body is the mirror stand. Clean it constantly without letting dust cling.", followed by a vers from the first chapter of the tao te ching "The tao that can be told is not the eternal tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name." and finally the confucian chant of the doctrine of the mean "Harmony is the universal path. The superior person practices moderation and achieves harmony."
The weird thing for Yu Song was that as he was chanting it, his whole body felt extremely clear. After finishing it fully, he realised something – his body seemed to reflect a slight green hue, as if he was a mirror in a forest, there was a hidden meaning in his heart as if he understood something but couldn't define it, while his whole self-felt satisfaction from the depths of his mind, as if the weird sensation of travelling was finally removed, which made him feel harmonious with the world.
As an avid reader of novels in his past live, he knew his state was special.
The classics that he chanted casually every day since his birth for over sixteen years has transformed into a foundation in his body, heart and mind, which reflect the physical state, the emotions and his wisdom.
There were many stories about immortals in this world, but he just brushed it off. At first he was till interested and asked, but when he heard the stories, he quickly realised that they were more exaggerated that anything he ever read, so he paid it no heed.
But now, he felt that these stories might be true. Not that the immortals were truly like they told him, but rather the fact that there were immortals in this world.
Now the issue is, he wanted to know what kind of cultivation method he practiced that made him able to cultivate. Having realised the truth, he remembered that when he was five years old, some people visited his family and the family of others, gave him some tools to hold, and when there was nothing, they just left.
At that time, his mind was dizzy, and he was far from the current state of enlightenment. If he had to describe it, he would say he was like a person with a mental illness that would only occasionally have clear moments. Only his mental instinct of reciting the chants kept him going all along, and when he was eight, he finally left the dizziness in the past.
Still, he knew that he probably didn't have the basic requirements to cultivate, so he probably didn't take the orthodox route of cultivating with spiritual roots.
Thinking of this, he remembered some side remarks he read that there were numerous unorthodox ways of cultivation, and he was probably unintentionally cultivating one such. The three ways of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism have different teachings, but in essence they aim at self-enlightenment and enlightenment others from oneself.
Having chanted his whole life, he was enlightening him all the time and had an extremely solid foundation. When he finished his academy just last year and began teaching others, he found the joy in teaching people, and if his guess was right, he probably received feedback from this.
It's just that although he liked teaching, he was more of a mentor that would give advice than a teacher that would sit by you all the time. Fortunately, through his own refining of the three paths, he cultivated a path unique to his own, where he cultivates himself and becomes a guide for others when they are troubled.
Yu Song sighed, but he was happy deep in his heart. "Who doesn't want to be an immortal? Others want to wield swords, but it's much more interesting to chant a few things and change the world with your words."
As he said this, he concentrated his mind deeply, felt his own state and repeated the chant "Namo Amituofo" many times. With each chant, the surroundings became more peaceful, the dust that accumulated slightly over night seemed to dissipate, the brush that was cleaned started to shine even and there was a general positive energy in the room that seemed to evoke a focused mind.
"The ancients don't lie, and chants evoke truth. A simple chat that tries to eliminate negative energy has such a large effect even though I just started…" Even though Yu Song didn't have any knowledge whatsoever, his heart told him that the orthodox way of cultivation was very close to the truth.
If one had to measure, he was a first step qi-refiner.
But the paths of cultivation are different after all. He was enlightened in the three essences of body, heart and mind, and naturally if one had to compare, he was like a qi-refiner but also like someone that has already completed qi-refining.
He tried looking into his inner self and calculated that as long as he influenced the world in a large way, he would be able to advance. The influence would then become his foundation and based on it, he would be able to derive other abilities. In general, he would gradually advance, but his foundation would be based on this, the orthodox term would be foundation building.
"The second stage… this is also the limit about which I can feel, if I want any more, it won't be possible no matter how enlightened I am."