Concentrating as he held his breath while visualizing a universe void of anything, Li Xuan gradually sank deep into meditation and once again entered into a state of being one with nature.
At this time, he had once again begun training in Xing Yi Magic Fist. After running through the three sets of the Twelve Xing Yi Forms like he had done before, he continued his meditation.
During his meditation, he began to focus his perception towards the light element. The light element’s counterpart was the Xing Yi Eagle Form.
Eagle form users possessed the most fierce and zealous characters. Equipped with the proficiency in searching as well as extremely sharp eyesight, its exterior is Yang while its interior is Yin. Within the abdomen, it brings about the rising of Yang qi within the kidney to the brain. In accordance with the Red Book, it pa.s.ses through the three gates and grows within the Ni Wan, manifesting itself as an eagle in the fist. Its fist procedure allows true essence to feed back to the brain, illuminating the eyes. Acting contrary to this procedure prevents true jin from transferring to the four fingers, increases Yang fire, disorients the head, and turns the eyes bloodshot. Practicing this form enables one to restore pure Yang qi, and its benefits are great.
“Xing Yi Eagle Form, Eagle Cry to the Heavens, Startling of the Nine Suns’ Sacred Light!”
“Sacred Light, namely sunlight, Yang, abundant Yang, Eagle form users, sharp and arrogant, antisocial, solitary, as mysterious as a king, upholding the admiration of all living things, possessing the will to soar to the Ninth Heaven. The meaning of an *eagle soaring to the sky, of fish gliding through the water, is exactly this….”
(*TL: citation from Mao Zedong)
Li Xuan was most affected emotionally by the eagle form. As a martial emperor, being able to have the likeness of an eagle in both body and mind could be considered have truly reached the peak. The eagle was a solitary king, the overlord of the skies, while Li Xuan was a lone expert, aloof and solitary as he scaled the mountains to the utmost height.
In regards to eagles, Li Xuan had once intentionally hung over the precipices in mountain ranges to observe them in his past life. He knew that once an eagle reached a certain age, its beak would become heavy and dull. It would then break and chip away its own claws and beak on the precipice walls to transform itself, to give birth to a new growth of claws after breaking them and growing out a sharp beak once more. In the same situation, perhaps the eagle would instead die due to losing its ability to hunt because of its dull claws and beak. At that time, they would soar through the air in circles, looking for a deep pit into which they would directly plummet into and die in.
These points shocked the Li Xuan of the past world tremendously. Was he not like this as well?
Gradually immersing himself into the solitary realm of a king, Li Xuan murmured to himself in his mind:
“Your fierce eyes gaze icily upon the world in disdain,
The blood-colored, desolate mountains and rivers once contained your aspirations.
Could it be that this tragic world,
Cannot hold back your solitary soul either?
You have pledged yourself to the excitements of every pa.s.sing day.
You have already fiercely surpa.s.sed the surging, great rivers Changjiang and Huanghe,
You have already soared beyond a myriad of mountainous plains,
The primitive savagery beckons to your wild nature,
The fragility of life is your disdained concession.
Even the mournful calls of wailing,
Are unable to bring back the brilliant sun emperor from its oblivion.
When you understood the helplessness of your inability,
You folded up your dauntless, feathered wings,
Continuing to stick out your valiant, obstinate head!
My heart will never perish.
My dreams will never be extinguished.
In the sweeping, pervasive night of twilight,
Coldly questioning this entire world with a reserved arrogance,
Who is willing to journey with me,
The eagle cries to the heavens!”
As Li Xuan murmured to himself, his entire person directly transformed into an eagle. An enormous amount of light elemental energy filled his whole body and mind as he began to emit a radiance similar to that of a brilliant pearl.
At this time, Li Xuan did not know that the large commotion happening within his private cultivation room had attracted Feng Yeyuan’s attention.
She walked over worriedly and entered into the magic formation, stopping at a place that wasn’t far from Li Xuan’s side.
As she silently watched, those phrases suddenly soaked and permeated into her mind. Going into a slight daze, she immediately entered into an indescribable state that seemed as though she had been momentarily enlightened.
“Hooked talons and gliding wings aim towards the waning moon,
Overlook the earth and laugh at the common people.
It is hard to dissolve the profound depth of a heroic heart,
Standing at the ends of the earth, matchless.
Howling waves and roaring seas dance below,
Lofty mountain peaks claw the ground in prostration.
Fast as lightning, startling the prey,
The sun sets in the west, revealing a lonesome figure!
….”
As he recited, Li Xuan genuinely morphed to an eagle, to the point that because his bones were able to transform to a certain extent, Li Xuan’s entire person was like an eagle. Linking this form with a projection of his soul, he soared through the skies of this world.
Xing Yi Magic Fist was no longer confined to the restraints of intent and form, but had instead re-attained the intrinsic quality of naturality accompanied with a sense of effortlessness.
I am an eagle; the eagle is my force, and I embody it in its absolute form.
At this moment, the process was no longer a forceful compression of light elemental energy, but rather a natural transformation of the light elemental energy into liquid as it formed a swirling vortex, beginning to show the initial form of Encompa.s.sing Dan.
In this situation, Li Xuan was completely immersed in enlightenment. After the light system suddenly reached its limit during this phase, it directly switched to the darkness system.
The corresponding form of the darkness element—Xing Yi Horse Form, immediately congregated to begin its own process.
Xing Yi Horse Form. Horse form users are the most just of beasts. They possess swift hooves, and know to compensate goodness. Stemming from the heart source, it manifests itself within the fist as a horse. Its fist procedure follows a set principle of intent. Going against the fist procedure renders one’s intent futile and overdraws one’s qi, while also making the actions of the hand and feet uneffective. A sage stated: sincere intent results in an upright heart, and an upright heart bestows direct truth. Such direct truth ensures that the strength gathered within the fist is not done in vain.
“Xing Yi Horse Form, Ten Thousand Stampeding Horses, Sounds of a Hundred Calamities’ Slaughter!”
At once, the eagle transformed into a horse. As ten thousand horses stampeded, a myriad of darkness elemental energy began to congregate to form a roaring sea of countless horses. The image conjured by the extraordinary amount of darkness elemental energy transformed to display an innumerable amount of departed spirits in the form of skeletal horses. They roared, went into a frenzy, slaughtered, and destroyed!
The darkness system was also naturally cultivated to its conclusion, and was soon followed by the spatial system of magic.
It was impossible for spatial elemental energy to turn into a liquid state due to a problem existing concerning the fissures of s.p.a.ce. However, this previous difficulty became exceedingly simple in Li Xuan’s current state.
The corresponding form of spatial magic was the *Xing Yi Tai Bird Form. Tai Bird form users possess the most direct character, and no other bird can match it. It instinctively erects its tail upwards, giving it a force that exceeds even the horizon beyond the clouds. When it descends with its two claws, it reveals a form of a predator catching its prey. It possesses a capability within its abdomen that can a.s.sist the functions of the liver and lung, and is able to loosen the obstinate, solid qi within the liver. Manifesting itself within the fist as a Tai Bird, all of its actions are dexterous and nimble, and it is able to fully utilize the force contained within its pelvic region. Its fist procedure loosens the liver, results in an alert mind, grounds the abdomen and gives birth to one’s Dao. An erroneous procedure burdens the two shoulders, restricts the body, and one’s Qi is unable to flow smoothly. The《Fist Record》states that the art of the Tai Bird requires great mental strength and clear confidence, and wholly relies on the terminal pervading spirit. Although the lunar rabbit travels far, its rising and descending can overturn life! Training the Tai Bird Form and striving to practice it can clear the heart, ground one’s core, and allow one to attain their Dao.
(*TL: in chapter 37, the author specifically links dimensional magic with the Tai Bird, not spatial magic. I looked back, and I definitely wasn’t wrong in the fact that Li Xuan is actually cultivating spatial magic. He is not cultivating dimensional magic, so presumably, the author made a mistake and the corresponding form for spatial magic is the Tai Bird rather than the Monkey. Dimensional = 位面, Spatial = 空间. The author has been using 空间 all this time, not 位面. Hopefully this clears up soon. I won’t change chapter 37 until I know what is correct.)
“Xing Yi Tai Bird Form, Ethereal Cloudwing, Heart’s Transformation into the Universe!”
Li Xuan gained enlightenment, and his dantian immediately turned into a state similar to the primordial state of the universe. Nine planets suddenly began to revolve around the soul sun—the core formed out of Li Xuan’s soul, which abruptly ruptured and scattered apart. At the same time, the nine elements which had been transformed into planets also burst, and these explosions began the cultivation that immediately resulted from Li Xuan’s first enlightenment—the universe’s first Big Bang.
Bang!
His soul shuddered, and his mind was horrified. At this moment, Li Xuan left his of enlightenment while being one with nature, but he clearly sensed that the primal spatial energy that had burst forth in that instant had given birth to a black hole the size of an atom!
Although this black hole disappeared as fast as it had come, the miniature universe was completed in just a split second!
However, after the conscious Li Xuan realized what he had done, cold sweat involuntarily emerged on his forehead.
When he sensed his own dantian, he found his soul core emitting a fantastic, dazzling radiance that circled around the nine big ‘planets’, and these nine liquid forms had also completely stabilized.
As of this moment, the dantian’s solar system was completed!