Inquiry about immortality

Chapter 2515 Yin Shen
"I still have one question. The scriptures say that the altar is the foundation for the Daoist court to exist in the world. However, I have read the Taiyi Lingshu Scripture and it seems that there is no mention of casting an altar. I wonder when you started to build the altar and how to cast it?" Qin Sang asked.

Senior Zhou patiently explained, "In the ancient war, the Divine Court was destroyed, and the Dao Court went into seclusion. There were many powerful enemies outside, who always coveted the remnants of the Dao Court. In this critical moment of survival, in order to protect themselves, they had to make changes and change the outer altar to the inner altar. Only then did the Taiyi Lingshu Scripture come into being, giving rise to the pure spiritual cultivation lineage. With the inner altar, there is naturally no need to build an outer altar. Moreover, it is not yet time for the Divine Court to emerge, so I cannot confer ordination upon you."

Qin Sang said worriedly, "Senior just taught me that if I want to slay demons and save my people, it is not something I can do alone. I imagine there are many fellow practitioners who, like me, are devoted to the Dao Court and have the determination to slay demons, but without an altar, they cannot be ordained. I am worried that they will not recognize the Taiyi Lingshu Scripture."

Once you understand the lineage of Daoist teachings, you can see the difference between the *Taiyi Lingshu Jing* and the Daoist teachings.

The foundation of the Daoist court lies in talismans and magic. From the first Shenxiao council, which established the Daoist court and the divine court, with the Shenxiao as the supreme authority and the Thunder Department as the most powerful, to the second Shenxiao council, which greatly changed the laws and the Daoist system, established the Tian Shu Academy, and deduced the gods of the Dou Department, and then to the third Shenxiao council, which established the Beiji Exorcism Academy, with the true gods, heavenly gods and earthly deities, and the three realms guarding the area, the final structure of three major official registers, two academies and one government was formed, bringing the Daoist court to its peak.

No matter how it evolves, the fundamental principles remain the same: talismans and ritual texts are always the foundation of Taoist practices. However, the Taiyi Lingshu Jing completely abandons these, making it hard to believe that it is a direct descendant of the Taoist court.

"This is not difficult. You can still build the altar and have your disciple place the spirit relic inside it..."

Senior Zhou patiently and meticulously instructed Qin Sang on how to proceed.

Upon hearing this, Qin Sang thought to himself that this person indeed knew the Daoist court very well. Apart from failing to confer ordination, this method was almost indistinguishable from the real thing. In the future, he could place disciples who cultivated the "Taiyi Lingshu Scripture" into altars in various places and hide them in Daoist temples.

In the future, the Five Thunder Sect openly practiced thunder magic while secretly implementing the "Taiyi Lingshu Scripture." They used both methods concurrently. In times of crisis, if they were still unable to contact the Daoist court, they would establish a spiritual network and seek assistance from Qianzhou.

"I will now teach you the method of casting altars, so listen carefully..." Senior Zhou was teaching you the orthodox altar casting method of the Daoist court.

Qin Sang took notes carefully. It was almost time to disconnect, and both of them felt that the conversation was not yet over.

After agreeing on a time for the next contact with Senior Zhou, Qin Sang regained her composure.

As the spiritual light gradually faded, Qin Sang sat cross-legged on the altar, recalling the exchange he had just had. He might have overacted a bit in some places, but given that he was born in a place plagued by demons and surrounded by them, living a precarious life, this kind of behavior was in line with his identity.

Feeling that there were no major flaws, Qin Sang's expression relaxed slightly. He put away the Du Gong Seal and sealed the altar again.

……

The Five Thunder Sect's headquarters.

Qin Sang sat cross-legged in meditation, the text of the *Taiyi Lingshu Jing* flowing through her mind. Although she hadn't actually practiced it yet, Qin Sang had been collecting various cultivation methods and was no stranger to spiritual practice.

Actually, the "Fire Seed Golden Lotus" he had previously cultivated could also be considered a spiritual cultivation method, but its origin was questionable, and it was difficult to manage one's energy effectively, so he abandoned it. Qin Sang had never forgotten the "Fire Seed Golden Lotus," because this method had not only helped him escape danger many times, but also held great potential if one disregarded the part about the Qilin Source Seed's possession.

After all, this method was very likely created by a Qilin in the Mahayana stage.

If Qin Sang were willing to spend some time further developing the "Fire Seed Golden Lotus," he might be able to create a superior cultivation technique at the Refinement of Emptiness level. In fact, Qin Sang had indeed considered attempting to develop it if necessary.

Keep your mind focused inward and observe your primordial spirit in stillness.

The first three levels of the "Taiyi Lingshu Scripture" roughly correspond to the three realms of Qi Refining, Foundation Building, and Golden Core in Dharma Cultivation. The content is very simple, and Qin Sang had already thoroughly understood it. At this moment, his cultivation was a natural progression, and he reached the peak of the third level in one fell swoop.

Within the Purple Mansion, Qin Sang's primordial spirit was covered by a layer of Buddhist light, and she was also wearing a Dharma robe. The spiritual light of her primordial spirit itself only flickered slightly before quickly returning to calm. Compared to before her cultivation, there was no obvious change in her appearance.

The next fourth stage is of utmost importance, equivalent to the Nascent Soul stage of a cultivator. From this stage, one must begin to construct the spiritual core. If the entire cultivation method is likened to a tall building, the most perfect and solid foundation must be built at this time.

The first step is to concentrate all the divine sense power to the extreme and refine it into threads. This step tests the cultivator's control ability. Everyone's ability is different, some are solid and some are loose. Qin Sang, who is cultivating the fourth level of the technique in the Void Refining Realm, naturally did it with ease and refined the divine sense into real threads of divine sense.

Then these threads must be used to weave the 'Spiritual Pivot', a step that is extremely complex. If one is a cultivator of this level, it will inevitably take countless years to refine it.

Even when Qin Sang was cultivating, he had to stop from time to time to think carefully.

The reason is simple: constructing a spiritual core cannot be done step by step. Many aspects of the cultivation method are vague, and only a few words can outline the essentials. There are no absolutely correct answers in cultivation. Cultivators need to flexibly adjust according to their own talents and comprehension in order to create a spiritual core that best suits them.

During cultivation, a cultivator's understanding of the Great Dao will be reflected in their spiritual core, and the difference in aptitude and comprehension will become apparent at this time.

The path to enlightenment is endless, so Qin Sang also encounters problems, and sometimes hesitates and wavers. Whenever this happens, Qin Sang recalls a certain sentence from Senior Zhou, which always guides him out of his confusion.

His intuition was correct; those words were indeed profound and insightful. However, Senior Zhou's words were all far-sighted, aimed at preventing cultivators from going astray. Ultimately, however, cultivation still depended on the cultivators themselves.

At this moment, Qin Sang's primordial spirit was completely unrecognizable, transformed into a monster, like an unbreakable tangled ball of yarn. The limbs, torso, head, and every part of the primordial spirit were completely scattered and intertwined, indistinguishable from one another.

Constructing the Spiritual Pivot is not about creating a core within the primordial spirit, but rather about reconstructing the entire primordial spirit in a peculiar way.

When constructing the Spirit Pivot, Qin Sang encountered a problem.

With a glint of light in his eyes, the spiritual fire lotus platform formed by the "Fire Seed Golden Lotus" spun out, illuminating the cave.

After the Qilin hatched, the Spirit Fire Lotus Platform remained unchanged.

Qin Sang slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the Spirit Fire Lotus Platform, lost in thought. Although he had absorbed various kinds of spiritual fire during the cultivation of the Spirit Fire Lotus Platform, it was now inseparable from his primordial spirit.

He now faces two choices: either integrate the Spirit Fire Lotus Platform into the Spirit Pivot, or shatter the Spirit Fire Lotus Platform and completely abandon his previous accumulation.

Without hesitation, Qin Sang immediately abandoned the second option. The Spirit Fire Lotus Platform could be considered a link between him and the Qilin. In the future, when he found the Qilin's origin, he might need the Spirit Fire Lotus Platform to help him refine the Qilin's origin, so he had to preserve it no matter what.

Integrating the Spirit Fire Lotus Platform into the Spirit Pivot was far more difficult than expected. First, it required Qin Sang to be very proficient in both techniques and to find the point of convergence between them.

After pondering for a long time, Qin Sang gradually came up with an idea. Although the Taiyi Ling Shu Jing was domineering, it also had a strong inclusiveness. He could regard the Linghuo Lotus Platform as a part of himself, or as a special talent, and thus deduce the Ling Shu that could accommodate the Linghuo Lotus Platform.

Doing so might lead to an unstable foundation and create hidden dangers for the future. If the Taiyi Lingshu Scripture were Qin Sang's main cultivation method, she would certainly be extremely cautious. However, Qin Sang only used this cultivation method as a tool and did not intend to continue cultivating it after breaking through to the Integration Stage.

Without hesitation, Qin Sang began to deduce. The cave was silent except for the flickering firelight. After a long period of calm, the firelight suddenly dimmed, and the Spirit Fire Lotus Platform burst apart, turning into clusters of flames that floated around Qin Sang.

Even after dispersing, these flames maintained the shape of the lotus platform. Then, under Qin Sang's guidance, the flames moved, merged, and solidified, eventually turning into strands of spiritual fire, like ignited threads of divine consciousness, returning to Qin Sang's Purple Mansion.

Looking at Qin Sang's primordial spirit now, amidst the chaotic tangled threads, some brightly colored silk threads are mixed in, very eye-catching, yet not jarring.

With the biggest problem solved, the rest of the progress accelerated.

Qin Sang was somewhat worried that the Taiyi Ling Shu Jing and the Ziwei Jian Jing would conflict. Although the Ziwei Jian Jing was not a spiritual cultivation technique, the natal spirit sword had to be nurtured in the primordial spirit and would also separate the sword soul to form the Seven Souls Killing Array. Fortunately, this situation did not occur.

The cultivation continued for an unknown period of time, and no one came to disturb them. After an unknown amount of time, Qin Sang finally completed the construction of the Spiritual Pivot.

His primordial spirit has returned to normal, but its inner workings have undergone tremendous changes. The way his spiritual threads are arranged is very similar to talismans. The Taoist talismans are also a kind of 'talisman', but the two cannot be compared.

After the Spiritual Pivot was forged, Qin Sang immediately felt the changes. His connection with heaven and earth became significantly closer, as if a spiritual spring of heaven and earth had been planted in his primordial spirit. It would not be unreasonable to call it the 'Heart Altar'.

Qin Sang continued to focus her mind, and with enough effort, she easily crossed the next barrier.

"So this is the Yin Spirit..."

Qin Sang muttered to herself, "Watching others' descriptions is ultimately not as good as experiencing it firsthand."

Having studied the *Suwen Jing* and comprehended the great principles of Yin and Yang, Qin Sang chose to explain it using the principles of Yin and Yang, making it easy to understand the meaning of the term "Yin Shen" (Yin Spirit).

Everything in the world is a balance of yin and yang. For example, in a person, the soul and the physical body are yin and yang respectively. After one begins to cultivate, the soul is called the primordial spirit, but its essence remains unchanged.

Most spiritual practitioners must relinquish their physical body and exist in the world as their primordial spirit. Those who are purely yin and have no yang are merely ghosts, while those who are a mixture of yin and yang are yin spirits. So where does 'yang' come from?

The answer is that 'yang' comes from heaven and earth!

The Dharma cultivator manipulates primordial energy and controls heaven and earth. The physical cultivator pursues the goal of becoming one with heaven and earth, and must refer to heaven and earth. The spiritual cultivator, however, borrows the 'yang' of heaven and earth, making heaven and earth a part of themselves, or rather, making themselves a part of heaven and earth, achieving perfect harmony!
No wonder that spiritual cultivation leads to the realm of Yang Shen, where one's spirit travels freely and is unpredictable.

A flash appeared between his brows, and his Yin spirit left his body, appearing exactly like Qin Sang. He wore a robe transformed from Yin-Yang armor, which concealed the Buddhist light.

Qin Sang's understanding of Yin and Yang is now vastly different from before, and the Yin-Yang Armor is no longer as crude as it once was; the surface of the robe now shimmers with a subtle sheen.

Although Qin Sang's primordial spirit power had long surpassed that of a Nascent Soul cultivator, this was the first time she had transformed her primordial spirit into a Yin spirit.

The Spiritual Body represents three different cultivation paths. Apart from some special techniques, most inheritances involve choosing one. However, regardless of the technique, during the cultivation process, as the cultivation realm gradually improves, the cultivator will undergo an overall transformation and leap, thus other aspects will also improve simultaneously.

For example, although Qin Sang did not specifically cultivate spiritual techniques, even if he only used the power of his primordial spirit, a spiritual cultivator who had formed a Yin spirit would not be his match. However, despite his powerful primordial spirit, it did not transform into a Yin spirit or a Yang spirit.

Whether it's the Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, and Void Refinement realms of Dharma cultivation, the Embryo Realm, Inner Landscape, and Outer Landscape realms of Body cultivation, or the Out-of-Body Realm, Yin Spirit, and Yang Spirit realms of Spiritual cultivation, the names of these three realms directly describe the changes that occur in the cultivator during the cultivation process.

From the Nascent Soul stage to the Integration stage and merging with the Dao, the cultivation in between is a gradual approach to the Dao, and the same applies to physical and spiritual cultivation.

Generally speaking, Dharma practitioners eventually unite with the Dao through their Dharma body, physical practitioners eventually unite with the Dao through their physical body or Dharma form, and spiritual practitioners unite with the Dao through their Yang spirit. This is because during the cultivation process, practitioners approach the Dao and are also influenced by it. When practitioners comprehend different Daos, different changes will naturally occur, which will be reflected in their nascent soul, physical body, and primordial spirit, respectively.

Of course, this is just the most common situation.

Within each spiritual body, different methods and lineages manifest differently. For example, the "Fire Seed Golden Lotus" cultivates a spiritual fire lotus platform. Some power cultivators merge their bodies with the Dharma form, while others focus on tempering their physical bodies. Daoist cultivators don't even need to specifically form a nascent soul, because their foundation is the "talisman"!
Essentially, in these three realms, the purpose of a cultivator's practice is to achieve harmony with the Dao after reaching the Integration Stage.

Qin Sang cultivated the "Taiyi Lingshu Jing" and actively comprehended its Dao. At the same time, his primordial spirit was influenced by the Dao, and after breaking through his realm, it naturally transformed into a Yin spirit.

People say that when the sun is high in the sky during the summer, the Yin spirits should be feared and avoided. In reality, these Yin spirits are not the same as the Yin spirits of the past. The realm of the Yin spirits is comparable to that of the Transformation God realm, so how could they be so fragile?

The Yin spirit turned around in front of Qin Sang, and their eyes met. This feeling was very strange, but Qin Sang had already experienced it when she possessed both the Dharma form and the Dharma body at the same time.

Just as they were about to fully comprehend it, the restrictions outside the cave were suddenly activated.

Bai Ying'er's voice came in, "Disciple greets Master! Protector Yu has sent a message, Master summons disciple?"

Qin Sang's spirit returned to her dantian, waking from her meditation. She hummed in agreement and said, "Come in."

The cave door opened by itself, and Bai Ying'er quickly walked in.