Chapter 112 — Five Stars Split the Wall
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
I have already washed them clean; there is no need for you to dirty your hands again.
" Fu Qingyun asked, "What realm is the young master at now? " Shen Mu's hands burst into flame, burning the water from them.
"Still the Spirit Embryo realm," he said.
Fu Qingyun frowned slightly; the Spirit Embryo realm was rather too low, and entering the Imperial Academy would be very difficult.
Even when the Academy made an exception and admitted a scholar, it was usually a Warrior Master who had opened the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury.
With the Spirit Embryo realm alone, she feared he could not pass the Academy's examination. She had assumed he was at least at the Five Luminaries realm — after all, when she first met him three years ago, he had already been at the Spirit Embryo realm — and she had never imagined that in three years he had made no progress at all.
What she did not know was that though his realm had not risen, his cultivation had advanced enormously: his Spirit Embryo had awakened four times, the four great qi circulated freely, and the vigor of his qi was outstanding even among Warrior Masters.
"There are still two days until the Imperial Academy opens its gates. The young master ought to attempt to break through the wall, and do his utmost to succeed within those two days.
" So Fu Qingyun spoke, yet her heart was uneasy; to break through the wall in two days was truly asking too much of a man, all but impossible. Shen Mu nodded and smiled. "In two days I will surely break through!
" Fu Qingyun shooed the girls away. "For these two days, none of you are to trouble the young master.
Little fox, you stay away as well — let him comprehend to his heart's content. " Xue Hu'er had no choice but to leave with them, and as she went, the girls said to the little fox, "Sister Ling'er, we will teach you the arts of enchantment — such fun.
.
. " Ever since Shen Mu had come out of the Wasteland Ruins, he had been striving to break open the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury and enter the Five Luminaries realm; these past days, poring painstakingly over the Great Nurturing Nether Demon Scripture, he had gained no small insight.
The Scripture held the secret of opening the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury, and in it was written: "Forgetting form to nourish qi is the golden liquid; facing the scene with no mind is the great return. Forgetting form transforms qi, qi transforms spirit — this is the great Dao piercing the Three Passes.
The Crimson Palace blazes, a crescent-moon furnace; the Spirit Embryo sits still in the great Mystic Altar. Cinnabar is the blood of the red phoenix; quicksilver is the liver of the black turtle.
Golden lead is gathered into the earth cauldron; wood-mercury flies and dwells in the Mud Pill. The Flower Pool lies within the Sea of Qi; the Spirit Chamber lies within the Yellow Court.
" The golden liquid is the golden light within the golden sea of the Primordial Embryo Divine Treasury.
The Spirit Embryo sitting still in the great Mystic Altar — this Shen Mu had already refined; in his Primordial Embryo Divine Treasury the golden sea was emptied, his qi circulated, and beneath the Spirit Embryo's body the seal of the Mystic Altar had taken form.
Now in that treasury there remained only a Mystic Altar woven of qi array patterns, and at its center the Spirit Embryo. The Five Luminaries Divine Treasury is also called the Five Elements Divine Treasury; it lies between the two breasts and belongs to the heart, and the heart is also called the Crimson Palace.
The cinnabar and quicksilver of the Scripture are all metaphors.
Cinnabar stands for fire, quicksilver for water, golden lead for metal, wood-mercury for wood, and the earth cauldron for earth, corresponding to the Five Luminaries: the Fire Luminary Yinghuo, the Water Luminary Chenxing, the Metal Luminary Qiming, the Wood Luminary Suixing, the Earth Luminary Zhenxing.