Xuan Lingzi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This young disciple had such an out-of-touch temperament and was really not suitable for practicing Taoism. Fortunately, he is not specialized in Taoism. I hope he can calm down on the formation.
He said to Cheng Ling: "Ling'er, cultivating Taoism is about concentrating the mind and calming the breath, entering into silence, stopping thoughts, listening to the breath, and sightseeing. If you can't control your mind, you will not be able to go far on the path of cultivating Taoism, and your achievements will be limited!"
Cheng Ling chuckled. He also knew that he was lively by nature, but it was difficult to be quiet. However, I am not very interested in cultivating Taoism, so I don't care about what happens in the future.
Looking at his face, Xuan Lingzi knew that he didn't listen, so he could only sigh secretly and said: "That's the case, then I'll teach you the Tao of Formation first! But cultivation is the foundation, and monks like us can only cultivate Tao." Only by achieving great things can you increase your lifespan and gain immortality!"
Cheng Ling was not moved at all. For him, immortality was nothing special. Human beings are born to suffer in this world. He also knew that Taoist thoughts were mostly indifferent to fame and wealth, and governed by inaction. If this was the case, it would be wrong to seek immortality in vain.
However, he did not tell Xuan Lingzi these thoughts. The two had different ideas. He did not want to force a change, so he responded calmly: "Yes, master!"
Xuan Lingzi asked: "Yesterday, my master asked you to study the formation book. What did you choose?"
"Basic formation."
"Okay, what do you think?"
Cheng Ling was stunned for a moment and then started to think. But when he thought about it, he found that the contents he had read were all engraved in his mind. Although there were some things he didn't understand, they were very clear. He was secretly surprised, when did my memory become so powerful? Could it be that there was a bonus after being struck by lightning?
He then said: "It is said in the book that the stars, five elements, eight trigrams, nine palaces, etc. are arranged and combined to find the corresponding positions and nodes to form an image, and the power of heaven and earth is used to defend the enemy. It is usually divided into illusion formation, trap formation, and killing formation. Array three categories.”
Xuan Lingzi nodded. This explanation was very incisive. It was obvious that he had a thorough understanding of the basic theory of formation, so he asked: "Do you have any questions?"
Cheng Ling scratched his head and said sheepishly: "Master, I don't understand astrology, Bagua, Nine Palaces...!"
"..." Xuan Lingzi almost lost his breath. He couldn't help but wonder if it was because his life was approaching that he had lost his ability to see people. After pondering for a long time, he asked: "Then how can you dismantle those formation methods?"
"I didn't dismantle it?" Cheng Ling wondered. Seeing Xuan Lingzi's face, an idea flashed in his mind, and he understood. Then he said: "Master, are you talking about the arrangement of those small wooden sticks?"
"Yes, the changes you made to the arrangement that day were actually the changing directions of the nodes in the array. I see you are very familiar with it!"
"This...! Those changes are very simple and easy, but the disciple has not studied the stars, Bagua, Nine Palaces, etc. He only knows the five elements."
"Oh?" Xuan Lingzi raised his eyebrows and asked, "You mean you can easily see through those changes, but you don't understand astrology, Bagua, and the Nine Palaces?"
"Yes!"
Xuan Lingzi breathed a sigh of relief, that's good, he must be still young, and no one will teach him these things. If his theoretical foundation is not good, he can still cultivate it. He then said: "The master will teach you the Bagua, Nine Palaces and other directions now. As for the stars, we will observe them together at night."
After speaking, he stretched out his index finger, drew a gossip on the ground, and began to explain.
Cheng Ling was shocked when he saw that he easily drew the Eight Diagrams pattern on the stone. He thought secretly: Darling, this is a stone. Just one finger can make so many marks in the air. The master is indeed the real thing! With awe in his heart, he also listened carefully.
After a while, Xuan Lingzi became happy. Because Cheng Ling could completely remember those obscure Bagua directions as soon as he taught them, and there was no need to repeat them a second time. In less than half an hour, he finished explaining all the sixty-four Xiantian hexagrams.
I asked him a few more questions about directions, and all of them were answered fluently and accurately. Xuan Lingzi felt calm and began to explain the nine palaces and astrology again. He originally wanted to let Cheng Ling have an intuitive experience at night, but now that he saw that he was learning quickly, he started to explain it first.
One old and one young, they started teaching seriously on the edge of the cliff. Xuan Lingzi thoroughly explained the Yin and Yang, Three Talents, Four Symbols, Five Elements, Liuhe, Seven Stars, Bagua, and Nine Palaces among the basic formations.
After Kankan finished speaking, the sun went down and the moon rose, and stars appeared in the night sky. Xuan Lingzi began to ask Cheng Ling to memorize the arrangement and orientation of the stars.
Cheng Ling also learned very quickly. He could only memorize everything after reading it once. It's just that I couldn't bear it and my stomach began to growl again. Later, I yawned again and again, feeling hungry and sleepy!
He then said to Xuan Lingzi: "Master, this disciple is hungry and sleepy. Let's go here first today. Can you give me another pill to fill my stomach?"
Xuan Lingzi was helpless, seeing that he had returned to his lazy look. Thinking that he had thoroughly understood the "Basic Formation" in this day, he could only throw down a pill and let him go!
In this way, Cheng Ling settled down at the Taoist temple on the top of the mountain. Every morning, Xuan Lingzi would wake him up and teach him Qi refining for four hours, and the rest of the time would be used to teach formations.
But every time after four hours, Cheng Ling began to lie, saying that she was illegally employing child labor, and strongly demanded that working hours be shortened. And I was determined not to get up early in the morning. I had to wait until the last moment before getting up, and I had to take a nap in the middle.
Xuan Lingzi was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, but Cheng Ling spoke righteously. Speaking of the period before the age of eighteen when one is growing up, one must maintain adequate sleep and rich nutrition. He sneered at his daily diet of elixirs and strongly demanded an improvement in his diet!
Xuan Lingzi was furious, I only have five years left to live, how can I have time to wait until your kid reaches eighteen years old. With strong force, he pulled out a willow branch and beat him until he rolled on the ground. But this guy was so tough that he didn't say a word.
The next day, he was even more tired. He claimed that he was severely injured and that the stick education had seriously damaged his mind and body. If he did not improve, he would be fired.
Unfortunately, Xuan Lingzi lived to be eight hundred and five years old. He has only heard of his master chasing his disciples out, but he has never seen a disciple fire his master. Although he doesn’t know what the squid is, in short, from this kid’s mouth What comes out will not be good!
He could only compromise and let him stay in bed for three days before he was willing to practice again. Now it's better. He can't be beaten or scolded. He is no match for Cheng Ling. Xuan Lingzi is like a mouse pulling a tortoise. He really doesn't know where to start.
Finally, in desperation, after a day of bargaining, they finally agreed on six hours of daily working hours, four hours of training, and two hours of studying formations. The remaining six hours are at his own discretion and he has no right to comment.
In this way, Cheng Ling felt happy. He spent a lot of time at his own disposal, and within a few days he was familiar with the terrain on the top of the mountain. He also found a lot of wild vegetables and some small animals on the mountain, and he had two daily meals at once. As for breakfast, he was still having a tryst with Duke Zhou!
In addition, he has renovated the dishes, including spring bamboo shoots, lichen, bitter herbs, platycodon, hare, mice, cicadas, earthworms, etc., and added them to stir-fry, stew, grill, and deep-fry.
Fortunately, when he started his business, he opened a restaurant. He also passed the chef certificate for this purpose, and then renovated a kitchen in the Taoist temple. The lunch and dinner every day were full of aroma, and even Xuan Lingzi was fascinated by it. Throat rolling!
But as a result, his cultivation progress was too slow. Half a year later, his Qi refining cultivation has not yet reached the first level. Fortunately, his talent for formations is extremely high. He has memorized all the formations taught by Xuan Lingzi, and his level of formations has reached the first level.
For half a year, he often went down to play with Su Rui, and he became familiar with some of the disciples in the confrontation hall. Although those disciples looked down upon his cultivation, they were the only disciples Xuan Lingzi accepted, and they could only make excuses on weekdays.
On this day, he barely practiced for three hours, but he felt really depressed. He also remembered that he had not seen Su Rui for more than ten days, so he simply got up and stopped studying the formation. He went straight down to the top of the mountain to find Su Rui. Rui is gone!
Xuan Lingzi now turns a blind eye to him and no longer supervises him every day, but only assesses the progress every few days. Thinking about his lazy temperament, I could only comfort myself by saying that he was still young and his temperament was undecided. Maybe it would get better in two years.
Cheng Ling went down to the top of the mountain. As soon as he reached the platform area below, he saw Su Rui and several disciples walking down the mountain talking and joking. He hurriedly took a few steps to catch up and asked, "Surui, where are all of you going?"
When Su Rui saw Cheng Ling, he was also happy and said, "Several senior brothers are planning to go to the market at the foot of the mountain. I have never been there, and I want to go with them to have a look."
Cheng Ling suddenly became energetic and said, "Then take me with you. I've never been there before. It's just a good time to get acquainted with the world!"
The leading disciples didn't care after hearing this, and the group of people headed straight towards Fangshixing at the foot of the mountain.
The Fangshi at the foot of Wuxiang Mountain is just a place of communication established by the Wuxiang Sword Sect and several major families. It is not open every day, and is only open three times a month. It is a bit like a temple fair. Cheng Ling has heard the disciples of the formation hall talk about it before.
It's just boring to stay at the top of the mountain all day long. It's a good opportunity to go out and get some fresh air, and take a look at the interesting gadgets or ingredients in the city.
As a disciple of Xuan Lingzi, Cheng Ling has a high status in the formation hall and can receive ten low-grade spiritual stones every month. This is already very high. Other disciples of the Formation Hall only have five yuan per month.
As for Su Rui, he had just become an official disciple, and his cultivation and formation were still in the initial stages. In addition, his talent was limited, so he could only get one low-grade spiritual stone every month.
Now that half a year has passed, Cheng Ling has no place to spend money every day, so he just goes to visit the market and make a fortune. Therefore, he was in high spirits and even walked a little faster than before.
