Last night, the agreement drafted by Hu Yuan finally passed the review of Zhang, the sales director, and the legal department, and was finalized. Hu Yuan promptly sent the final draft to President Yuan of Baifan Company. It was not until this morning that a simple "No problem" from President Yuan finally allowed Hu Yuan to let go of his lingering anxiety.
At ten o'clock in the morning, President Yuan and his delegation from Baifan Company arrived at Jiyun Technology for an inspection. Hu Yuan and Director Zhang accompanied them throughout the entire visit, answering every single question raised by President Yuan's team in detail. From the company's cutting-edge technology to its market strategy, and from product design to quality control, every aspect was introduced meticulously. Following a comprehensive inspection, President Yuan nodded in approval, and the two parties successfully signed the contract.
After the signing ceremony, Director Zhang cordially invited President Yuan to lunch as a token of gratitude and to deepen their friendship. However, President Yuan politely declined the invitation due to urgent matters, stating sincerely that once he had some free time, he would definitely invite Hu Yuan and Director Zhang to get together.
At noon, Hu Yuan had a small gathering with several good colleagues from his department. They sat around a restaurant near the company to celebrate Hu Yuan exceeding his target for the month. The colleagues offered their congratulations one after another, and Hu Yuan smiled as he accepted everyone's goodwill, while cultivating a greater sense of modesty and caution in his heart.
In the afternoon, Hu Yuan returned to his office, diligently reviewing client files and carefully analyzing every customer's needs and potential opportunities. He knew well that as a salesperson, one must not only master the business but also understand the client's needs in order to find the best cooperation plan. At the same time, he took the initiative to contact several potential clients, hoping to meet with them in the near future to further expand his business.
By evening, Hu Yuan concluded his day's work and returned home. After a simple dinner, he sat cross-legged in his room, focusing his Divine Sense to enter the interior space of the Precious Pearl. His heart was filled with anticipation, hoping that his master would appear to answer some of the doubts in his mind. However, once his Divine Sense entered the pearl space, he found that his master was still nowhere to be found, presumably resting. With a sigh of helplessness, Hu Yuan withdrew from the pearl space and began to carefully organize the various cultivation teachings his master had once imparted to him, pondering over them deeply.
In Hu Yuan's mind, a series of foundational mental techniques and spells taught by his master flashed continuously: "The unity of heaven, earth, and human; the six harmonies of the cosmos; the unification of the six spirits..." Every one of these names was profoundly mystical. While examining the contents of these cultivation methods, Hu Yuan noticed that many of the spells were closely related to the six natural elements of the sun, moon, stars, water, fire, and wind. Furthermore, the spiritual platform, heart aperture, yinqiao, immortal bones, kidney aperture, and mystic gateway within the methods possessed an equally wondrous connection to these six elements. What on earth was the relationship among the six key apertures, the six elements, and the six precious pearls? Despite racking his brains, Hu Yuan could not come up with a definitive answer and had to temporarily drop the matter.
As the night grew deeper and the room became increasingly quiet, Hu Yuan collected his mind and calmed his spirit, recalling the teachings his master had imparted. His master had repeatedly emphasized that during cultivation, one must first clear the mind, ignore sights and sounds, and embrace the spirit in stillness. When one begins to feel a vast, dim, and ethereal state, one should gently guide the Qi to the starting point. For instance, when using the Fetal Origin as the starting point, one must first gently contract the Fetal Origin; only when the Fetal Origin feels a slight tingling warmth can the circulation of Qi begin. Alternatively, when using the yinqiao as the starting point, one must first gently lift the yinqiao until it feels a natural, slight pulsation before proceeding. Running the Qi without the aforementioned phenomena would yield no effect.
Following his master's instructions, Hu Yuan began to concentrate his mind and gather his intent, focusing his attention on the Fetal Origin. He slowly inhaled air through his nostrils, guiding his intent to the center point of the heart aperture to ignite his inner energy. He felt that continuous, delicately flowing stream of breath, and then used his primordial spirit to guide the energy down to the center of the yinqiao, up through the weilu, passing the center of the eight small holes in the immortal bones to reach the true Qi cavity, and continuing upward through the central hollow canal of the spinal cord, passing the jiaji, guannian, and yuzhen, heading from the mystic gateway—the inner mystic gateway here, not the yintang point—straight toward...
As time passed, Hu Yuan guided the Qi over and over again along the fixed route. That marvelous and profound sensation made him understand even more what his master had said: self-stillness and self-observation lead to mystery born of stillness; self-observation and self-realization lead to the manifestation of pure, still light. This state transcended worldly boundaries and entered an experience of a wondrous realm.
During this process, Hu Yuan's inner self also underwent many changes. At first, he felt flustered and agitated, finding it difficult to concentrate. Yet, through the methods taught by his master, he gradually learned how to settle his mind and banish distracting thoughts. Whenever he felt slightly fatigued, his master's voice would echo in his mind: "For a practitioner, a tranquil mind brings stability, and stability gives rise to wisdom." This teaching acted like a beacon, guiding him to advance steadily on the path of cultivation.
Hu Yuan gradually entered a state of selflessness, his intent seemingly merging into one with the heaven, earth, and nature. He felt every single aperture within his body undergoing subtle changes, every cell absorbing the primordial breath between heaven and earth. As the Qi circulated through his body, he felt a warm and pure energy gradually filling his entire being, as if all negative emotions and impurities were being thoroughly cleansed away.
In the course of his practice, many scenes from Hu Yuan's past floated through his mind: the shock of first seeing the Tianshan Ancestor, the tension and anticipation of cooperating with President Yuan, and the decisiveness and firmness when dispelling the evil entity from President Yuan's mother. These experiences made him realize the true meaning of cultivation even more profoundly: it was not merely for personal achievement and power, but rather to be able to help others and resolve the difficult problems in their lives.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a week slipped away quietly. During these seven brief days, the Tianshan Ancestor had not communicated or interacted with Hu Yuan at all. As for Hu Yuan, every day after getting off work, he would routinely eat, wash up, and then enter the mysterious pearl space with hopeful anticipation, wishing for his master to appear. Yet, every day's hope shattered like a bubble, and he could only return to his room carrying a trace of disappointment.
However, Hu Yuan was not discouraged by this; he threw himself heart and soul into his cultivation, single-mindedly studying those profound Daoist methods. He delved deeply into them, exploring unceasingly, feeling as though every moment was spent immersed in this mysterious and wisdom-filled realm. He used his heart to experience the wonders of the Daoist methods and to comprehend their true meaning, hoping only to elevate his level of cultivation.
At this moment, Hu Yuan felt that the Qi within his sea of Qi had grown even denser, as if endless elemental charm was converging. As time progressed, he felt his entire body gradually heating up, as though he were placed inside a steamer. Every pore across his body opened up, and every inch of skin and every pore was breathing. At this moment, he seemed to have merged into the space between heaven and earth, his body dissolving into minute particles scattered across the universe, blurring the boundary between himself and the cosmos.
When Hu Yuan emerged from his meditative state, the clock on the wall showed that it was already four o'clock in the morning. His clothes were soaked through with sweat, and his body had expelled a considerable amount of impurities and filth, sticky and exuding a sour, pungent odor. He got up, walked into the bathroom, and turned on the shower, letting the warm water wash over his body. During this cleansing process, he felt a breath of fresh air fill his entire being, as though all his fatigue and distracting thoughts had been washed away, leaving behind only ease and purity.
Hu Yuan knew in his heart that his cultivation had improved by a few notches. Cultivating amidst this bustling metropolis, every single day yielded accumulated results. The Qi within his sea of Qi was becoming increasingly solid, and his bodily perceptions grew even sharper. All these changes proved that his cultivation path was progressing steadily. Tomorrow, he would continue to work hard in his cultivation, striving to reach a higher realm at the earliest possible date.
Lying in bed, Hu Yuan was immersed in a deep retrospection of his recent experiences. Those unimaginable events, especially becoming a disciple to cultivate and dispelling the evil entity for President Yuan's mother, were still vivid in his mind, stirring up a tumult of emotions. It was only after taking a master that he had truly stepped into the mysterious world of cultivation. At this moment, a sense of novelty and excitement surged within his heart.
His master's teachings still echoed in his ears, and those profound lessons regarding the Dao of cultivation made his heart pound. His master had once said that in the Dao of cultivation, ethics come first and morality serves as application. Therefore, a practitioner must first rectify their heart and cultivate their moral character, which is the true meaning of practicing the Dao. Furthermore, regarding the five precepts of practice—namely, alcohol, lust, wealth, anger, and hatred—these five precepts were like the five poisons of heaven and earth. Alcohol confuses the mind, lust harms the body, wealth damages virtue, anger injures the liver, and hatred harms the spirit. Hu Yuan kept these firmly in mind, knowing that they were all obstacles and challenges along the path of cultivation. He had to firm up his resolve, guard his moral bottom line, and stay away from the temptations of these five poisons.
President Yuan's words had also left a deep impression on him. As an outstanding young man who excelled in his career and was filial to his mother, President Yuan had found a balance between his career and family. Hu Yuan pondered secretly that his own future path of cultivation should be just like this: not only pursuing advancement in cultivation, but also maintaining a clear and bright mind in worldly life, achieving self-cultivation, family harmony, state governance, and world peace.
Suddenly, the alarm clock on his phone rang, instantly awakening Hu Yuan's hazy thoughts. He quickly got up and began to wash and pack up. At a roadside food stall, he bought a jianbing guozis, a seasoned tea egg, and a cup of soy milk, quickly filling his stomach. Then, he hurried toward the subway station, ready to welcome a brand-new day.