Chapter 179
Chapter 179
Through my intent, I seemed to “see” countless wisps of faint red luminous mist rising from the eastern horizon.
It resembled rosy clouds painted red by the morning sun!
But the color was far paler, and the thin, ethereal mist constantly changed shape.
Yet it was the middle of the night on New Year’s Eve.
The sun couldn’t possibly be rising!
What exactly was this faint red haze of glowing mist that only my intent could perceive?
“Is this the pure and turbid qi Master mentioned? But neither the pure qi rising toward the sky nor the turbid qi descending into the earth should logically be pale red.”
It struck me as strange.
But I needed to concentrate on opening the three great acupoints–the Niwan Palace, Jiangyuan Palace, and dantian–while maintaining the circulation of qi within my body…
I simply had no attention to spare for careful thought.
I would listen to Master and do it. That was all!
Under these circumstances, time seemed to slow almost to a halt.
I could sense the pale red haze along the eastern horizon growing steadily denser.
It seemed both infinitely distant and drifting like firelight.
The night sky overhead was pitch-black, the stars brilliant.
Then the midpoint of the midnight *shichen* arrived–exactly twelve at night, or zero hundred hours!
That instant could be called both the final second of the old year and the beginning of the new.
Boom!
A strange sound suddenly reached my ears.
At first, I thought it came from my parents and the others inside the house, or perhaps from the surrounding mountains.
But I quickly realized it did not.
“That sound… is coming from the eastern horizon!”
My mind trembled.
Within my mental perception, I seemed to hear drumlike booms resounding between heaven and earth.
Naturally, the sound didn’t truly exist.
Ordinary people couldn’t hear it, nor could average practitioners.
Perhaps…
Only practitioners from Master’s orthodox arcane lineage could!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the strange sound seemed to echo throughout heaven and earth, the red glow in the eastern sky spread toward me from afar.
It covered half the heavens.
The strange booms grew steadily louder.
When the rosy red light reached the center of the sky, it suddenly burst apart with a roar, as though an invisible force had shattered it.
And then…
I finally saw it!
The instant the red light disintegrated, it transformed into qi of two different colors.
There was faint pure qi tinged slightly blue and faint turbid qi tinged slightly yellow.
The pure qi rose toward the highest heavens.
The turbid qi descended toward the earth.
“Ah-Zhong! Use all your strength. Draw pure qi into the Niwan Palace and turbid qi into the Jiangyuan Palace. Release all the qi from your dantian and keep it circulating throughout your body.”
Master’s voice rang inside my mind, carrying a trace of urgency and anticipation.
I heard her.
But I couldn’t respond at all.
An incomparably vast, majestic presence seemed to fill my mind and soul.
The tolling of enormous bells and the pounding of giant drums seemed to thunder beside my ears.
My entire being hovered in a state somewhere between clarity and chaos.
“No! I… I have to absorb this mysterious and profound pure and turbid qi with everything I have.”
I struggled to keep myself conscious.
Following Master’s instructions, I used the Niwan Palace inside my head to absorb the rising pure qi and the Jiangyuan Palace beside my heart to absorb the descending turbid qi.
But it was far too difficult!
The qi in my meridians and acupoints was already circulating at maximum speed, yet I couldn’t absorb even the faintest trace of pure or turbid qi.
That vast presence seemed capable of dividing heaven and earth anew, separating yin from yang and replacing the old with the new!
No matter how hard I struggled, I was infinitely insignificant before the power of heaven, earth, and nature…
I couldn’t affect it in the slightest!
Much less tear a portion away and draw it into my body.
How could I describe the sensation?
To use an imperfect analogy, it was like someone who couldn’t swim at all being thrown into the flooded Chuan River and told to paddle with one hand while using the other to scoop up a dipper of water and carry it ashore without spilling a drop!
It was utterly impossible.
I sensed the pure and turbid qi constantly changing, yet remained unable to absorb any of it.
A discouraging thought flashed through my mind.
“Am I going to fail? Damn it… I’ve already sensed them. Am I supposed to let this opportunity slip away? If I miss it, I’ll have to wait an entire year!”
“No! I’m going all in.”
Steeling my heart, I bit down hard on the tip of my tongue.
Agonizing pain spread through my mouth together with the metallic sweetness of blood.
My head immediately cleared somewhat.
I linked the vital blood from my tongue to my circulating qi, instantly increasing my strength.
Yet it still accomplished nothing.
The separated pure and turbid qi followed their respective laws, one rising into the heavens and the other sinking into the earth. Not the slightest trace allowed me to guide or absorb it…
“No! It still isn’t working.”
“Wait! If I can’t absorb pure and turbid qi simultaneously, why demand perfection? Why not absorb only one?”
In that lightning-fast instant, a bold idea suddenly occurred to me.
My first attempt to absorb pure and turbid qi appeared doomed to fail. Master had said they emerged and separated for as little as four minutes each New Year’s Eve and never longer than six.
The interval was almost over!
I could actually “see” that for myself…
The pure qi had risen ever higher, while the turbid qi was already level with the ground and about to sink underground!
“Close the Niwan Palace. Detonate all the qi in my dantian through my meridians in a single instant, then close that too. Leave only the Jiangyuan Palace open and absorb the turbid qi by itself.”
That was my plan!
Master had never said whether this was feasible, but as the saying went, “The master leads you through the door; cultivation depends on the individual.” I needed ideas and experiments of my own.
I completed the entire sequence within a single breath.
But detonating all the qi from my dantian in an instant caused stabbing pain in my lower abdomen. My meridians twisted and spasmed, and my muscles convulsed.
If anyone had seen me then, they would certainly have found my expression hideously contorted!
Only the great acupoint of the Jiangyuan Palace remained open throughout my body.
I paid no further attention to the pure qi climbing ever higher…
The descending turbid qi was already level with the soil and about to sink underground!
“My final chance.”
My soul roared and screamed.
Just as all the turbid qi seeped downward and was about to vanish completely,
finally!
The great acupoint of my Jiangyuan Palace jolted violently, as though forming an inexplicable resonance.
A tiny wisp of yellowish-gray turbid qi, thinner than a strand of hair and almost imperceptibly faint, was finally peeled away and drawn slowly toward my heart.
It lingered nearby for a long time.
At last, the great acupoint of the Jiangyuan Palace absorbed it.
In that instant, a loud buzz filled my head, and my body and soul began trembling violently at the same time.
The earth beneath my feet suddenly seemed to exert a tremendous suction, dragging my entire body downward.
It wanted to pull me underground!