The Stars Beyond

Chapter 25: Discovering the Mystery

The Golden Body Technique, once mastered, allowed the practitioner to attain a level of physicality beyond the ordinary. Their body would initially become resistant to blows and impervious to weapons, before eventually gaining invincibility. To ordinary people, this was perceived as something transcendent.

Wang Xuan immersed himself in practicing this technique, repeating it over and over again. In the meditative state of emptiness and silence, time seemed to stretch on endlessly for him.

In this state, he could calmly analyze and perfect the poses of physical arts, correcting any flaws that he noticed.

Despite practicing the Golden Body Technique, Wang Xuan felt a sense of transcendence. He was able to objectively observe himself with a clear mind.

“The pinnacle of meditation is reaching the Solitary Void, where my mind is fully immersed in the practice of the Golden Body Technique.”

Wang Xuan understood that this space of complete silence and emptiness was a unique realm, giving him a profound sense of reality.

Although his physical body could not be present in this realm, he could feel that his cultivation was being integrated into his physical form.

With a clear mind and a deep sense of tranquility, Wang Xuan felt as if he had transcended his own self and was able to observe himself from a higher perspective. As he continued practicing the Golden Body Technique, he made fewer and fewer mistakes, until his movements perfectly matched the descriptions in the scriptures, without any flaws.

Through the emptiness and silence, he faintly sensed his physical body undergoing various changes and flawlessly performing the Golden Body Technique.

Unlike the countless attempts and rehearsals he had made in the Solitary Void, the movements of his physical body were slow, as if it were building muscle memories of the technique.

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In a state of absolute calmness, Wang Xuan contemplated the pinnacle of meditation. He understood that a few minutes in the outside world could equate to years of time in this realm, but he wondered if he could truly bring the results of his cultivation here outside.

He believed that he could bring his spiritual insights out of this place once he left. The Solitary Void, where time flowed differently, primarily affected the spiritual level.

However, he concluded that the physical body would not be able to match the progress made in this realm. Although it was an unfortunate conclusion, it made a lot of sense. After all, the physical body was not present in this realm.

This made him wonder if it would be possible for him to accelerate the formation of the Golden Body Technique in the real world by bringing back the insights and perfect memories of this technique he gained here.

He also noticed something unusual. When he observed himself, he could vaguely sense that his physical body outside of the Solitary Void was also performing the Golden Body Technique with perfect precision. He could not help but wonder if it was simply his subconscious mind driving this movement.

With his heightened perception, Wang Xuan realized that he had overlooked something important. After spending several days in the Solitary Void, a realm he could reach in his meditative state, he unexpectedly felt fatigued. This puzzled him because it was said that one could reside in this realm for several years or even longer.

He pondered calmly, observing his own practice of the Golden Body Technique. He noticed his movements slowing down and becoming flawed.

“That’s not how it should be,” he whispered softly, feeling rather mentally exhausted.

Suddenly, two streaks of brilliance appeared before his eyes, and he understood where the problem lay. He realized that he was able to enter this realm because he had the core technique from the bamboo slips of Early Qin activated in his Hyper-Perceptive State.

Wang Xuan immediately made a change. Instead of practicing the Golden Body Technique in his exhausted state, he activated the core technique left behind by an Early Qin master once again.

He instantly felt his fatigue fade away. His mental focus and overall condition improved rapidly, and soon, his spiritual perception and acuity continued growing. His divine perception fully recovered and expanded, revealing a newfound discovery.

“This core technique is attracting mystery factors!” Wang Xuan quickly made a precise judgment. A type of complex factors was scattered throughout the Solitary Void.

He could sense them drifting down into this realm, like manna from heaven. They were nourishing the Solitary Void and his mind. As time passed, he noticed that not only his mind but also his physical body, which he could vaguely sense, seemed to be changing.

He realized that describing this phenomenon as the pinnacle of meditation was no longer sufficient. It had to be elaborated with the concept found in the Inner Landscape of the Yellow Court.

“This is the Taoist’s Inner Landscape of the Yellow Court—a state of absolute emptiness and stillness that resided in the vivid moments of emptiness and clarity where one could pick up mystery factors.”

The Inner Landscape, as silent and empty as a barren land, had the ability to attract substances that were highly beneficial to the body and mind. Wang Xuan only realized now that the roots of the Old Arts lay in the Inner Landscape.

He became further convinced that the most appropriate path to unlock the secret techniques of the Early Qin master was through the Inner Landscape. He even began to suspect that the origin of the Old Arts was somehow related to it.

To cultivate the techniques left behind by the Early Qin masters, one must be able to enter this realm in Hyper-Perceptive State in order to receive the mystery substance.

Over time, fewer people were able to reach this realm, causing the Old Arts to fade away. As a result, the strength of future generations paled in comparison to the masters.

To practice the advanced core techniques in the bamboo slips of Early Qin, one had to reach the pinnacle of meditation and stand in the Inner Landscape Ground. This proved to be a challenging threshold that many people could not overcome.

Wang Xuan soon felt the changes in his physical body and realized that it was pointless to keep the core technique activated as there was enough mysterious substance gathered in the Inner Landscape.

As he continued to practice the Golden Body Technique, he observed that the effects were even better than before. He executed every move of the technique flawlessly in the Inner Landscape. With each passing day, his physical arts also showed remarkable improvement.

At the same time, he could feel his body being nourished, and the Golden Body Technique advancing with each movement. To his amazement, he discovered that the mysterious substance he obtained from the Inner Landscape could be absorbed by his body in the real world. This meant that the fruits of his training in the pinnacle of meditation could be fully manifested in reality.

Despite Wang Xuan’s unwavering composure and transcendental state, the discovery caused a fleeting emotion to course through him, only to be swiftly erased. Once again, the Inner Landscape returned to a serene stillness.

For two years, Wang Xuan diligently practiced the Golden Body Technique in the Inner Landscape. Whenever he felt exhausted, he would run the core technique from the bamboo slips of Early Qin to replenish the mystery factor and nourish this place.

As a result, he reached the second layer of the Golden Body Technique, observing remarkable changes in his physical form as he shed a layer of skin. This remarkable progress was attributed to the acquisition of the mysterious substance from the Inner Landscape, which harmonized the improvement of his spiritual realm with his physical body.

During this time, he also attempted to practice the other physical arts recorded on the golden pages. He was unable to resist the temptation as those were arts left behind by the founder of Taoism. Unfortunately, he soon realized that he had underestimated the difficulty of mastering those techniques as they were too intense and could even cause internal injuries.

“The ignorant is fearless” was all Wang Xuan could think of when he reflected upon his earlier practice of physical art prior to entering the Inner Landscape. In this realm, he gazed upon himself with an enhanced perception, bordering on transcendence, and uncovered a startling revelation.

While practicing this type of physical art, even the slightest hint of pain was a sign of actual internal injury. In the Inner Landscape, Wang Xuan could clearly see subtle bleeding on his internal organs. Such injuries were so faint that they could easily be ignored and would require sophisticated instruments to detect in the outside world. However, for those who practiced physical arts, these injuries could accumulate over time and have unimaginable consequences.

Initially, Wang Xuan had mistaken the pain as something he could endure and push through, gradually adapting to it. Now, he realized that he had almost crossed into a dangerous zone in the past.

“I see. The physical arts in this golden book can only be mastered by coming to the Inner Landscape.”

Wang Xuan observed that when there was a subtle internal bleeding, the mysterious substance in the Inner Landscape gathered and rejuvenated the affected organs until they were completely healed.

As expected, the prerequisites for mastering the physical arts in this golden book passed down by Zhang Daoling were incredibly demanding. Without gaining access to the Inner Landscape, one would never be able to practice these extraordinary arts.

After two years of practice, Wang Xuan had only managed to perfect the first engraving on the first golden page. Unlike in the outside world where he attempted to practice all of the several engravings on the first page, this time he focused solely on one specific engraving.

Through constant internal bleeding and two years of dedicated practice, he was able to perfect the first diagram. Whenever he performed this technique now, his internal organs were no longer susceptible to injury.

“What a challenging technique to perfect!”

Wang Xuan realized that this type of physical art was not suitable for him in his current state. It was an achievement he had attained through suffering constant injuries.

If the first diagram was already so challenging, he could only imagine how much more difficult the subsequent diagrams would be. Therefore, he decided to focus on improving the Golden Body Technique. He planned only to delve into the arts left behind by Zhang Daoling when his cultivation realm was higher.

Time passed swiftly in the Inner Landscape. After three years of diligent practice, Wang Xuan’s Golden Body Technique reached the third layer. He could feel that with just a few more months of practice, he would perfect the third layer.

During this time, a strange sensation surged through his heart. He immediately sensed that his time in the pinnacle of meditation was coming to an end, and he would soon be returned to reality.

As expected, sounds began to invade the Solitary Void. He could hear his own heartbeat, the gentle wind outside the window, and the distant noise of cars passing by on the streets.

The Inner Landscape Land dissipated, and Wang Xuan’s mind returned completely to reality. The first thing he noticed was the changes in his body. He had shed two layers of skin. His new muscles were strong and resilient. His physical condition had significantly improved and was now stronger than before. In the real world, he had attained the third layer of the Golden Body Technique.

He glanced at the time and was astonished to find that despite spending five years in the Inner Landscape... only a few minutes had passed in the real world!