Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

It's not about life or death, but a much bigger problem... Zhang Zhiwei pondered for a moment, then said:
"It sounds very profound, and I may not be able to answer it. However, please feel free to speak, Master Zuo. My master is still here. If there is anything I cannot answer, I can ask him for help."

Master Zuo shook his head and said, "I have already consulted the Celestial Master, but he did not answer and just kept shaking his head. In the end, he told me to come to you to discuss the Dao and see if I could gain anything."

Recalling the scene when she asked Zhang Jingqing for advice, Zuo Ruotong still felt a little strange. The Celestial Master did not answer, not because he could not answer, but because he seemed to have some unspeakable secret.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhiwei immediately understood what was going on. His master was not one to hoard his knowledge; his silence must have involved matters within the Heavenly Master's Code, which he couldn't answer.

“In that case, please speak, Master Zuo,” Zhang Zhiwei said.

"Young friend Zhiwei, do you still remember the three suggestions you gave me when we discussed Taoism on the back mountain of Sanyi last time?" Zuo Ruotong asked.

"The pain is still fresh in my mind!" Zhang Zhiwei said.

His first suggestion to Master Zuo was to learn from the Quanzhen Longmen sect and draw on their method of cultivating both body and mind to make up for the shortcomings of the Three Ones.

The second suggestion is to find a way to continue the process of reversing the natural cycle.

From cultivating spirit to transforming qi, it becomes cultivating qi to transform essence... The ritual is constructed, and the temporary qi-transformed body is transformed into a permanent flesh and blood body.

In this way, although there is no way to reverse the process and return to the innate Qi, transforming the acquired Qi into the innate body is also a way to transform the acquired structure into the innate wholeness.
The third suggestion is to seek opportunities externally.

The Reverse Rebirth Triple Stage emphasizes cultivating oneself back to the state of primordial Qi, but after reaching the third stage, the entire body has already been transformed into Qi, and there is nothing left to cultivate.

Perhaps one can use one's own true qi to harmonize with the creation of heaven and earth, and see if one can find an opportunity to break through to a higher realm.

After much deliberation, Zuo Menzhang finally abandoned the first two suggestions.

Firstly, if we learn from Quanzhen Longmen, wouldn't we completely lose the Sanyi style?

After learning to the end, does one have to switch allegiances and become a member of the Quanzhen School of the Three Realms?

He can't do such a thing.

As for the second one, it sounds very tempting, and perhaps Zhiwei can actually do it.

But for this old-school senior, it was far too far-fetched; he had absolutely no clue what to do.

Moreover, even if it succeeds, the reverse life state will be lost.

It can be said that this has completely changed the ultimate concept of the entire Sanyi Gate.

This is something he also finds difficult to accept.

As a disciple of the Three Ones, even though his dream of ascending to immortality was shattered, he still wanted to continue on the path based on the existing theories. If the third level didn't work, then the fourth level would, rather than starting from scratch.

Therefore, the left gatekeeper ultimately chose the third suggestion.

Seek outward, rely on absorbing the essence of heaven and earth to replenish yourself, in order to find a viable path.

This suggestion is conservative, but its strength lies in its stability.

After all these years of depletion, his innate Qi is almost gone, and he doesn't have many years left to live.

Even if the first two suggestions are good, they are useless if you don't have the life to put them into practice.

Over the years, he has been working toward this goal, benefiting greatly and getting better and better.

Zuo Ruotong continued, "Over the years, while I have been tempering my life force, I have also been seeking externally, absorbing primordial energy to replenish myself, hoping to reach the state of primordial fullness that people are born with."

"Because this is undoubtedly the closest to the state of a person's original nature, the state of primordial Qi, and it brings us one step closer to the goal of the Three Ones."

"Therefore, even though I am guarding a treasure trove of the essence of heaven and earth, I only take what is necessary to replenish myself and never take more than a fraction of it."

"After completing the project, perhaps because I stood higher and saw further, I vaguely grasped the direction of the future, but I could never take that step. It was like looking at flowers through the fog, always unclear."

“Young friend Zhiwei, your comprehension far surpasses mine. Please give me some pointers.”

"Master Zuo, please speak!" Zhang Zhiwei sat up straight, listening attentively. He was quite interested in Master Zuo's insights after merging with the creation of heaven and earth.

Zuo Menzhang said, "The problem lies at its source."

"Most cultivation methods in the world, taking Quanzhen Neidan as an example, all begin from Jing to Qi, and from Qi to Shen."

"That is, the steps that Taoists often talk about: 100 days of foundation building, refining grains into essence, refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, and refining spirit into emptiness."

"As the saying goes, going with the flow is mortal, going against the flow is immortal. The mystery lies in the reversal. It is to refine the grains we eat into essence and blood, refine essence and blood into qi, and then use qi to nourish the spirit... This is a method of cultivation that goes against the natural order."

"It can be said that more than 90% of the cultivation of life in the world follows this path. It's just that there are differences in the details between different sects, and our Sanyi Sect is no exception."

"But then a thought suddenly occurred to me: this was wrong from the very beginning."

Why does our Sanyi Sect emphasize achieving immortality through reversal of fate?

"If the cultivation methods are the same as other sects, why use this name?"

"Is it just because of the effect of the Reverse Life state technique?"

Master Zuo shook his head and said, "I don't think our ancestor would be so narrow-minded."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhiwei instantly understood what the Left Sect Leader meant and said:
"I understand what Master Zuo means!"

"You mean to say that the 'reverse' in the Three Ones Sect's reversal to immortality should not only refer to the reversal in cultivation, but also to the reversal compared to other sects."

"Other sects follow the path of refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, and refining spirit to return to emptiness."

"If the Trinity Gate moves in reverse..."

Zhang Zhiwei pondered for a moment. The highest level of the Quanzhen system is Refining Emptiness and Uniting with the Dao. Even if the Three Ones Patriarch wanted to go against this, he shouldn't have gone against it. He had already attained the Dao, so what was there to go against?

Considering that Lin Zhao'en, the founder of the Sanyi School, was a disciple of the Confucian sage Wang Yangming, his starting point when he founded the Sanyi School must have been very high. Given that it was a high starting point...
Zhang Zhiwei said, "If we want to go against the flow, it should be from emptiness to spirit, and from spirit to qi."

"However, the next step certainly cannot be from Qi to essence, because the ultimate goal is to transform into primordial Qi, and should be to unite with the Dao through Qi."

"In this way, it corresponds exactly to the three realms of reversing life, rather than the three techniques of Qi transforming into flesh, Qi transforming into internal organs, and Qi transforming into the whole body." (ps: This isn't entirely made up; it's based on the mental cultivation method of the Sanyi Sect, the prototype of the Sanyi Sect, with some modifications.)
"My young friend Zhiwei is very talented." Zuo Ruotong was overjoyed, which was exactly what he wanted to express.

He continued, "But the current situation is that I'm struggling with this step from the void to the divine, which is the entry point of the first level of the new reverse rebirth three levels."

"Because when other schools cultivate, they all go from existence to non-existence. Essence, Qi and Spirit are present, while 'emptiness' is non-existent. There must be a way to start cultivating from essence, Qi and Spirit."

“But the Sanyi School starts from nothing, from the vague concept of ‘nothingness’ of ‘emptiness’.”

"I'm trapped in this 'nothingness' and don't know where to start!"

The Left Gate Master sighed, "It's truly shameful to say. I've cultivated the Reverse Rebirth Triple Realm my whole life, but at crucial moments, I always fail to see things clearly."

Zhang Zhiwei comforted him, saying, "It's nothing. People are always unable to see clearly or understand things they are obsessed with, or they complicate simple things. This is actually normal."

"Does young friend Zhiwei have any clues?" Master Zuo asked hurriedly.

"Yes!" Zhang Zhiwei nodded. "I have a good idea!"

The Left Gate Master was overjoyed. He had a premonition that he would get some ideas from Zhang Zhiwei, but he also thought that it would be like before, with the two of them discussing the Dao for several days and nights before there would be a result. However, he did not expect that he would get an answer as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Does Zhiwei mean that the idea I just proposed is really feasible?" Master Zuo asked somewhat uncertainly.

After all, this was just a bold idea of ​​his, and it had not been proven.

“Although I haven’t tried it, I think… it’s still somewhat feasible…” Zhang Zhiwei paused and said, “You could even say that your Sanyi Ancestor has grand ambitions, not only wanting to reach the heavens in three steps, but also wanting to have your cake and eat it too.”

"Achieving success in three steps, having both fish and bear's paw?" Master Zuo sat upright, leaning slightly forward: "Please enlighten me, young friend Zhiwei."

This gesture startled Lu Jin and Li Muxuan, who were constantly watching the scene.

Isn't this how the fellow disciples usually listen to their master's lectures? Why is the master acting like this too? Could it be...?

The two exchanged a glance. They were naturally aware of their master's discussion with Senior Brother Zhang. Last time, their master broke through to the third level of the Reverse Life Realm after discussing the Dao with Senior Brother Zhang. Could there be some new gains this time?
There was surprise in both of their eyes. In a sense, their master's gain was equivalent to their gain.

As for the question of whether it was shameful for the master to ask a junior like Senior Brother Zhang for advice, that was completely irrelevant. In their eyes, Senior Brother Zhang was already a being who had taken a half-step into the realm of immortals, and he was no less than the sect leader of Wudang who had ascended to immortality.

At the head table, Zhang Jingqing smiled faintly, while the others had different expressions and quickly held their breath, trying to hear what they were talking about.

Strangely, no matter how sharp their senses were, they could only see Zhang Zhiwei and Zuo Ruotong's mouths opening and closing, but could not hear a sound. Even when Zhang Huaiyi secretly used the supernatural ability of hearing the wind from the divine mask, it was the same.

This was actually Zhang Zhiwei's intention; he used a little trick to disrupt the changes in the surroundings.

After all, it's not good for outsiders to hear such secrets concerning the inheritance of the Sanyi Sect.

"Master Zuo, the reason you're confused is because you're too involved to see things clearly! You're overcomplicating everything," Zhang Zhiwei said with a smile. "The greatest truths are the simplest; many things require subtraction, not addition!"

"Thinking too complicatedly... the greatest truths are simple... subtraction..."

Zuo Ruotong muttered to himself, these words resounding in his mind. He seemed to have grasped a wisp of inspiration, but upon closer examination, this wisp of inspiration in his hand broke like a fragile straw.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhiwei continued, "In fact, in my opinion, the internal alchemy technique of refining the spirit and returning to emptiness is very similar to the concept of the first level of reversing life that you have proposed."

Zuo Ruotong asked in surprise, "You mean that the cultivation of reverse life is similar to the cultivation of sorcerers, with a very high starting point, and the first level is equivalent to the Refining Spirit and Returning to Emptiness in the internal alchemy? Isn't that a bit too difficult?"

Zhang Zhiwei said, "You can't compare them like that. These two are not equivalent. It's just that it applies some of the theories of Refining the Spirit and Returning to Emptiness. But even so, it's still more than a hundred times more difficult than ordinary internal alchemy!"

"Please explain in detail, young friend Zhiwei!" Zuo Ruotong said hurriedly.

Zhang Zhiwei pondered for a moment and said, "The philosophy of your Trinity Sect is that human life originates from the formless and imageless Great Void."

"When a person is born, his nature and destiny are one, which is the innate Qi. Later, it evolves into the three treasures of essence, Qi and spirit, and then into the four limbs and the whole body."

"As the three treasures are constantly consumed, the limbs and bones also age, and so life dissipates."

"Therefore, you must reverse this process, allowing your essence, energy, and spirit to return to their original state, to revert to the primordial Qi, and to return to the Great Void."

Zhang Zhiwei asked Master Zuo, "What do you think this Taixu is? The Immortal Realm?"

Zuo Ruotong replied, "It's definitely not some so-called immortal realm. Human life comes from the Great Void, and in a sense, the Great Void should be heaven and earth."

“I think so too,” Zhang Zhiwei nodded: “The Great Void is the objectively existing heaven and earth.”

"There's another question," Zhang Zhiwei asked Master Zuo, "After a person is born into the world, besides the depletion of their essence, energy, and spirit, the loss of their innate Qi, and the aging of their physical body, what other effects will occur?"

Upon hearing this, Zuo Ruotong pondered what other implications might arise.

After pondering for a long time, he suddenly realized: "And everything in this world shapes our consciousness at all times, such as benevolence, righteousness, morality, propriety, integrity, and a sense of shame!"

“That’s right!” Zhang Zhiwei said, “This point has been influencing and shaping you since the beginning of your life, until the primordial Qi is exhausted.”

"If you only train your body back to the original state of primordial Qi, but do not train your consciousness back, your form and spirit cannot be unified, and you will naturally not be able to transform the acquired structure into the innate primordial chaos."

Upon hearing this, Zuo Ruotong's eyes widened slightly, and she suddenly realized, "I understand now. This point is consistent throughout the entire process, which is why the patriarch chose to start from this path."

"The meaning of 'from emptiness to divinity' is actually to liberate one's own consciousness from the shaping of heaven and earth, to restore one's true self, and to cultivate one's true nature."

"On this basis, proceed step by step, and use the Three Ones Method to train the body back to normal and transform it into Qi."

"If the body can be trained back to the state of primordial Qi, and one's own consciousness can also be trained back to the state before it was shaped by the objective world, then form and spirit can be united, and the acquired construction can be completely transformed into the innate wholeness."

"The result is that one can maintain the reverse life state permanently without needing to circulate qi or expend mental energy."

"When you reach the point where Qi transforms the skin and flesh, the skin and flesh will be in a permanent state of Qi transformation."

"When you reach the point where your internal organs and bones are transformed by Qi, then your internal organs and bones will always be in a state of Qi transformation."

"If one can completely train one's consciousness back to the state it was at birth, and then train the body back to its original state as well, then one can completely return to the Great Void?!"

"In this way, it corresponds perfectly to the words left by the patriarch: 'My true form is vast and empty, and because it is vast and empty, it can move the void!'"

Thinking of this, even though Master Zuo remained calm and composed, he couldn't hide his excitement. But then, remembering what Zhang Zhiwei had just said, he quickly composed himself and asked:
"Young friend Zhiwei, what did you mean by saying that the Patriarch wanted to have his cake and eat it too?" (End of Chapter)