Blue, Red and White Dark Abyss Cauldron

Chu Xiaomu and Yang Dou arrived at Dashuping early to wait. At about three quarters after the evening hour, the invited people arrived one after another.

As expected, Huai Xiaomeng also came. He only greeted Huai Fucao and others, but ignored Chu Xiaomu and Yang Dou.

Bai Qizheng came over hunched over with the help of a cane and said, "Asking about the spirits is a big event in the village. I heard that the process is extremely dangerous. I asked you to come here to guard the technique. You must protect the real bodies of Fucao and Xiaomu. You must not be careless. You must remember this."

Everyone agreed in unison.

Bai Qizheng gave a general explanation of the key points in the process of guarding the technique, and everyone memorized them one by one.

Then he said to Huai Fucao and Chu Xiaomu, "In the past few days, two strange things have happened on our Baihua Island. One is that the trees on Yeyangling broke without wind, and the other is that wild bees suddenly disappeared. These are ominous omens. Our priority in asking the spirits is to save people, but these two strange things make me feel uneasy. After you two ask the spirits to find a way to save people, you should find out the reasons for the disappearance of Yeyangling and the wild bees as soon as possible, and distinguish whether it is a good or bad omen, so that we can feel at ease."

Huai Fucao said, "Don't worry, clan leader. I can take care of this."

Bai Qizheng gave a few more instructions and then urged everyone to set off.

Huai Fucao had already prepared several bundles of dry firewood and two large bags of miscellaneous items, and asked people to carry them on their backs.

Chu Xiaomu knew that these must be items used to consult spirits, so he asked him for advice, and Huai Fucao explained them one by one.

A group of about seventeen or eighteen people, carrying torches, walked towards the east of the village.

After walking for about two hours, it was almost midnight.

Huai Fucao measured the terrain in the dim light, looked at the stars in the sky, and then found a slightly open space. He said, "Let's set up a spirit formation here to ask the spirits. It won't be so easy after the time is up."

Then he told everyone to clean up the weeds and thorns, and then he chose more than a dozen places within a radius of about 20 feet around the open space to build a small fire, and told everyone not to let the fire go out.

He then took out a dozen thin ropes made of grass or tree bark, and tied them around some large and small trees around the open space. Then he took out from his bag blocks of gold, silver, copper, iron, various wood blocks such as pine, cypress, beech and sandalwood, red, blue, black and white jade stones, etc., and scattered them around the open space according to their yin and yang attributes.

During the period, he explained to Chu Xiaomu in detail the reasons for choosing these places, which are called the "Ten Scattered", namely "Life", "Positioning", "Earth Fire", "Zhaojin", "Jieqi"... Chu Xiaomu was confused.

Finally, he took out a handful of strange-looking dry grass from a bag and said, "This is Yinyun Shi grass, which is very magical. All other objects in the spirit formation can be replaced by similar items, but this grass is indispensable." He only explained its properties and functions.

He added: "Although this grass is magical, it is not very rare. Most of them grow near water and can also be found under large rocks in the shade. I found these at the bottom of Raofeng Cliff."

Chu Xiaomu remembered it carefully.

After everything was done, Huai Fucao began to explain the key to entering the spiritual realm.

He said: "All things in the world, although they are one, are actually divided into two. There is heaven and earth above, the sun and moon in the sky, water and fire below the ground; the air is divided into yin and yang, and the seasons are divided into cold and hot; there are male and female human spirits, and male and female birds and beasts. Therefore, the 'realm' also has two kinds, the real and the virtual. The real realm can be sensed by the eyes, ears, mouth, nose and six orifices, while the virtual realm, that is, the spiritual realm, can be seen by the mind."

"After the mind is opened, one can enter the spiritual realm, but it is not easy. For example, people can read and write, but it is difficult to write a brilliant article that will shock the world and move the gods and ghosts; people can wield guns and sticks, but few can fight against lions, tigers and leopards. Why? One is that the talent is not strong enough, the foundation is not strong enough, and the skills are not familiar. The second is that they have not found the right tools to assist."

"People with a strong spiritual body and a deep spiritual foundation can enter the spiritual realm without the help of any external objects. People like you and me who are just beginning to learn the secrets need to go through a spiritual formation to enter."

"To enter the spiritual realm, you need to remember three words. The first is 'emptiness'. Only by letting go of emptiness can you open your mind, and only by opening your mind can you enter the spiritual realm of nothingness. The second is 'separation'. The spirit body is separated from the physical body. If you want to enter the spiritual realm, you must not hesitate or be involved in anything. The third is 'guard'. You must be empty and guard your mind, and guard the spiritual platform from dispersing, otherwise the spirit body will be damaged, which is very harmful to the body. I asked so many people to help us ask the spirits, and it is also in response to this word 'guard'."

He also roughly talked about the specific application method of "Xu Li Shou".

It took Huai Fucao almost an hour to finish explaining the key points to pay attention to when entering the spiritual realm. Huai Fucao then lit the yarrow and placed it in the middle of the open space, and pulled Chu Xiaomu to sit beside him.

He said, "I will take you into the spiritual realm for the first time. You just need to feel it and don't have to memorize it. It won't be that difficult to enter next time. After entering the spiritual realm, you can't run around or talk too much. Just follow my arrangements. But my energy is not good enough. I can only support you for half an hour at most. You can only rely on yourself from now on."

Chu Xiaomu nodded. At first, he was still thinking that if he failed, he could try again. But when the time came, he couldn't help getting nervous, thinking that this kind of thing was not as simple as trying again if he failed.

Huai Fucao also instructed everyone not to let the fire go out, not to touch the various objects laid out, and not to disturb the two people who were asking questions about the spirits, otherwise the spiritual realm would collapse and the people asking questions about the spirits would return to reality.

After that, he took out the potion used to open the heart acupoint yesterday, mixed it with half a bowl of water, and said, "Your heart acupoint has just been opened, and your spirit body is weak. You have to use the rootless water again, otherwise it will take a lot of time."

Chu Xiaomu drank it as he was told.

The yarrow burned slowly, producing a wisp of curling white smoke.

Although there was a light breeze in the mountains, the white smoke did not dissipate with the wind. Instead, it grew thicker and thicker, enveloping Huai Fucao and Chu Xiaomu. After a while, their figures were lost in the smoke.

After a while, the smoke seemed to have life, and slowly grew a dozen tentacles, winding along the straw ropes towards the small fires, while the white smoke in the middle did not fade at all.

Everyone was amazed when they saw it. Yang Dou even shouted loudly, as if he had seen a terrifying monster.

In a trance, Chu Xiaomu saw a blurry figure standing in front of him, vaguely it was Sophora japonica.

The surroundings were hazy, as if in a white fog, but much clearer. The air was slowly surging with various colors, and it was impossible to tell how far or near they were. Some were wisps, like water meeting a river bend, swirling and flowing; some were piles and clusters, like clouds blown by the wind, floating and agile; some were individual flowers and lamps, like dim lights in the wilderness, unpredictable. It was truly fantastic and magnificent.

He could also make out the rocks and trees, but they were all very blurry and it was hard to make out the details. He thought it was because his eyes were blurry, so he rubbed them with his hand, but he still couldn't see clearly.