Chapter 508: I Can Teach You

Everyone was puzzled as to why Teacher Zhang would say such a thing, each looking bewildered.

"Nonsense?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head: "Look at this passage: 'Release all true qi within the body through the various acupoints, coordinate with the soul, and condense into form.' In normal cultivation, true qi within the acupoints is gathered into the dantian, accumulating grains of sand to build a tower, accumulating little by little to make a lot, and then utilized. But this method causes true qi to dissipate, power to dissolve, no different from dispersing one's cultivation... If you really do this, how can you make progress? Even if you originally had strength, following this method would make you weaker and weaker!"

"This..."

Everyone was stunned.

It was common for true qi to flow throughout the body, circulating through the acupoints and dantian; only then could a cultivator become physically strong and free from all ailments.

How did it become dispersing cultivation in his mouth?

"When you put it that way... it really does resemble dispersing cultivation!" The Pavilion Master Sai was dumbfounded.

There was no problem with true qi flowing through the acupoints, but if it was released from the acupoints, doing so quickly was indeed a method of dispersing cultivation.

"Right!" Seeing someone agree, Zhang Xuan nodded with satisfaction: "You're making us slowly disperse our cultivation, like boiling a frog in warm water, and once our strength is weak, you'll catch us all in one net!"

The Heaven's Path Library had already written out all the flaws of this manual; picking a few and offering opinions was extremely simple.

"Lies and nonsense! Releasing true qi through the acupoints allows it to merge with the soul, enabling the soul to leave the body and exist independently. Otherwise, since you haven't reached the Harmonious Spirit realm, your soul power is weak; without true qi protection, how can you walk independently?"

The voice snorted.

When one's cultivation reached the fifth level of Mortal Transcendence, Harmonious Spirit realm, soul power surged dramatically; even if not a soul shaman, the soul could leave the body and exist without interference. If one's strength was insufficient, one could only use true qi for protection—how did that become dispersing cultivation in his mouth?

"True qi protecting the soul? That sounds nice, but let me ask you, what does it mean for true qi to surge from the Convergence Spirit acupoint? The Convergence Spirit acupoint is where a person's spirit gathers; if true qi surges from here, at best it causes dizziness, at worst death. If I'm not mistaken, if one truly cultivates this method, even if the soul leaves the body, the physical body will be severely injured, or even die!"

Zhang Xuan said.

The voice stopped.

The most important point in guiding the soul out of the body was the death of the physical body; only then could the soul break free from its bonds and roam freely.

Of course, as long as the soul returned to the physical body, it could still restore the heartbeat, effectively 'reviving' again.

"Take my cultivation as an example: I am at the first level of Mortal Transcendence, the Life Extension realm. Even if I succeeded in guiding my soul out of the body, with spirit and flesh separated, and the soul and body no longer unified, to maintain a normal appearance and not be discovered by outsiders, I would have to take pills every day to sustain it, wouldn't I?"

Without letting him continue speaking, Zhang Xuan snorted and said.

Even if it was originally your own soul, after spirit and flesh separate and the body enters a false death, it becomes foreign. Without taking medicine to sustain it, sooner or later the body's vitality will be extinguished, rigor mortis will set in, and you'll be discovered.

This was like a kidney transplant in his previous life; even if it was your own kidney, taken out and put back in, rejection would still occur, and without medication, it would eventually fail.

"You... how do you know?" The voice was stunned.

This was a secret of soul shamans, never spoken of; how could an outsider know?

"Never mind how I know. According to this Soul Guidance Art, guiding out the soul, if your cultivation reaches the Harmonious Spirit realm, it can alleviate a lot, but... even if your strength reaches your level, do you dare to go out on a thunderstorm day? Do you fear thunder?" Zhang Xuan continued.

"I..."

The voice seemed to tremble.

The soul belongs to yin, thunder to yang; even a soul shaman, when traveling using their own body, must avoid thunder and cannot act like ordinary people.

This, like the rejection just mentioned, was a taboo among soul shamans... This fellow deduced all this just by glancing at the Soul Guidance Art... Was it real or fake?

"Not to mention thunder, take nighttime: every midnight, when the world's yin energy is heaviest, when yin energy penetrates the body, don't you feel an unbearable itch all over, and only by leaving the body can you relieve the distress?"

Knowing that the flaws recorded in the Heaven's Path Library were correct, Zhang Xuan smiled lightly, hands behind his back, standing before the stone tablet, and spoke slowly.

"Soul shamans rely not on the physical body; what does it matter if the body is uncomfortable? As long as the soul is unharmed, it's nothing!"

As if struck again, the voice snorted.

"You're right: a soul shaman's strongest point is the soul; even if the physical body is destroyed, it's nothing—you can simply repossess another body and live forever... But without the protection of the physical body, can you really withstand... the Five Declines of Soul Power?"

Zhang Xuan counted on his fingers: "The Decline of Repossession, the Decline of Time's Flow, the Decline of Battle, the Decline of Yang Scorching, and the most terrifying, the Decline of the Five Senses!"

"You... know the Five Declines of Soul Power?"

The voice no longer had its previous composure.

"The Decline of Repossession means that when repossessing a body, power naturally declines, dropping at least two major levels; thus, unless absolutely necessary, you won't repossess."

"The Decline of Time's Flow means that the contradiction between spirit and flesh cannot be fundamentally resolved; the soul will automatically decline over time. To avoid becoming weak, you must constantly cultivate, train relentlessly!"

"The Decline of Battle means that when using soul power in battle, cultivation automatically weakens; therefore, your specialty is soul power seduction, bewitchment, and creating terrifying illusions, but you rarely actually fight."

"The Decline of Yang Scorching, as I said earlier, you dare not contact thunder or anything with strong yang energy; once you approach, it automatically weakens the soul."

"Of course, although the first four declines sound terrifying, they can still be avoided. The most terrifying is the last one... the Decline of the Five Senses!"

"Humans have five senses and six consciousnesses; they know shame, right and wrong, honor and disgrace, good and evil. But the soul cannot have these; love hurts the heart, emotion hurts the soul. Once there are emotions, the soul will fluctuate violently, causing power to automatically decline..."

Zhang Xuan smiled lightly, lifting his eyelids: "Am I wrong?"

"You, you..."

The voice was terrified.

Heaven's way is fair; although soul shamans, even with insufficient cultivation, can have a lifespan unimaginable to ordinary people, they also suffer pain that ordinary people cannot understand.

They cannot love, cannot hate, with many restrictions, living in darkness, a fate worse than death.

But... the Five Declines of Soul Power were the unspeakable flaws of soul shamans; even the Master Teacher Academy back then couldn't understand them—how did this fellow know?

Just from reading the Soul Guidance Art once?

If so, his understanding of techniques was too profound!

"You... saying this is useless. Whether martial artist or soul shaman, cultivation is a struggle against heaven; how can it be smooth sailing? The soul has Five Declines, cultivation also has Five Calamities: Heaven, Earth, People, Wealth, and Dharma. Since it's the same, might as well cultivate the soul and have infinite lifespan!"

After the shock, the voice recovered and snorted.

As long as one cultivates, safety cannot be guaranteed; one will always encounter various battles, and casualties are inevitable.

Someone had calculated that out of a thousand martial artists, at least nine hundred and ninety-nine would die before reaching the peak of Mortal Transcendence—truly one in a thousand.

Although the Master Teacher Academy suppressed wanton fighting, reducing it, battles between factions, open and covert struggles, competition for treasures, and cultivation going awry were all calamities for martial artists, causing countless deaths.

"Infinite lifespan? Is a soul shaman's lifespan truly infinite?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head: "Even if you constantly cultivate to resist the Decline of Time's Flow, can you really bear that loneliness? If I'm not mistaken... your physical body has long since rotted away! Without the nourishment of the physical body, even if you survive, you suffer daily torment, in agony!"

"Not to mention other things, take every noon, when yang energy is strongest, the needle-like stabbing pain—are you used to it? If not for this underground palace hidden beneath the pool, the darkest place, do you think a mere mass of soul could have survived until now?"

"You, you..."

Hearing this, the voice could no longer suppress its terror, trembling more and more violently.

What the other said was correct.

The soul could live indefinitely, but... the physical body could not.

A soul separated from the physical body, even hiding in the darkest place, would suffer daily torment at noon, a fate worse than death.

In fact... he had thought of death many times, but unfortunately, in soul form, physical attacks were useless, and he couldn't kill himself; he could only linger on.

"Is this technique flawed? Is it not worth learning?"

Seeing his voice lose composure, Zhang Xuan continued.

"It is flawed, but... no technique can be without defects!" The voice roared.

"You're wrong! Look at this line in the Soul Guidance Art: 'Without thought, without desire, the soul flows through the Celestial Pillar acupoint, exits through the Convergence Spirit acupoint...' What effect would it have if changed to 'Condense the soul, gather the spirit, break through the Convergence Spirit acupoint, and exit through the Celestial Pillar acupoint!'"

Zhang Xuan said.

"The Celestial Pillar acupoint belongs to yang, the Convergence Spirit acupoint to yin; if the soul exits through a yang acupoint, it naturally carries yang nature, not completely dominated by yin energy. The Decline of Yang Scorching could be minimized, even... eliminated?"

The owner of the voice was a powerful soul shaman, having studied souls for countless years. Hearing the modified incantation, he muttered repeatedly, then suddenly froze.

Although the other had only changed a few words, it transformed the technique, using one's own yang energy to nourish one's own soul, thus reducing or even eliminating the Decline of Yang Scorching.

Swapping the order of the two acupoints made the soul of the successfully guided soul shaman even stronger.

"But... such a modification requires extremely high true qi purity; the true qi must be very pure. Otherwise, the Convergence Spirit acupoint is narrow, and the soul carrying true qi would definitely be unable to pass through..."

After being stunned, he felt it was impossible to achieve.

A soul shaman's soul carries true qi; if the true qi is not pure enough and full of impurities, passing through the Convergence Spirit acupoint first would be impossible.

"Zhao Ya, show him your true qi!"

Without answering his question, Zhang Xuan turned and instructed.

"Yes, teacher!" Zhao Ya stepped forward, flicked her finger, and a stream of true qi shot out.

"This..."

Feeling the purity of this true qi, the voice trembled.

"Can it pass through the Convergence Spirit acupoint?" Zhang Xuan smiled.

"It can... but not everyone's true qi is so pure..." The voice was somewhat subdued.

"No matter. Want to learn? Become my disciple!"

Zhang Xuan smiled lightly.

"I can teach you!"