The moon rose over the willow tips.
Li Chijin's eyes snapped open as he looked at Li Mutian who sat beside him, holding the cloth that recorded the "Guidance Technique" and sipped his tea.
"Father, I have thoroughly memorized the spell over these two months," he paused before continuing, "Today is the Start of Summer, one of the Eight Festivals, perhaps it's time for a try."
"Go ahead and try."
Li Mutian nodded slowly and spoke in a gentle voice.
Li Chijin was overjoyed, and his three older brothers were full of anticipation, helping him to burn incense and take a ceremonial bath, setting up an altar in the courtyard.
Then, with great respect, Li Mutian brought out the Dharma Mirror, propped it up using a Chi Dragon Pattern Mirror stand he had carved himself days before, placed nine sticks of incense before it, and arranged fruits.
Lu Jiangxian couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed; the solemn offerings of incense and fruit were as though they were paying homage to him, a dead person.
In front of the altar, Li Chijin bowed three times and kowtowed nine times, kneeling with his body bowed, and respectfully began to speak:
"Li Clan disciple, Li Chijin, respectfully requests the profound and subtle Immortal Law, to govern life and soothe the spirit, in devotion to Taoist practice."
"With timing I shall declare my achievement, not betraying trust, following the Precept Talisman to be burnt and transformed, my body thanks Taiyin."
After speaking, he emptied his mind and spirit, activating the spell, consuming the harmonious Qi of nature several times.
At the same time, Lu Jiangxian's thoughts stirred, and the surface of the mirror suddenly glowed with flowing light, rippling like water.
"There's a reaction!"
Li Mutian and the others were greatly excited, staring fixedly at the surface of the altar.
But they saw the greyish Mirror hum noisily, a White Pill leaping upon it, round and shining bright, its white light flickering, illuminating the courtyard in a blinding white, so bright they could hardly keep their eyes open.
Li Chijin felt his mind go blank, thundering with noise, as a majestic and profound voice suddenly emerged:
"Here lies a scion of the Li family, who has abandoned worldly desires, sealed away faults, and severed the root of evil. Bestow upon him the profound and subtle Immortal Law, so that he may cultivate the Tao and bring forth his Daoist enterprise, moving from the ordinary to the sacred, from the beginning to the end, starting with the Precept Talisman, and then ascending to truth. Grant him one volume of the 'Taiyin Breathing and Wheel Nourishing Scripture' and the Golden Light Technique."
Li Chijin quickly scrambled up from the ground, sat cross-legged, and as the White Pill leaped up, it entered his Niwan Palace. His whole body shuddered, engulfed by the complex torrent of information in his mind.
The White Pill granted him the spell, turned gently in the Niwan Palace, traveled along his meridians, and finally settled in the Qi Sea Acupoint of his lower dantian.
Li Mutian and the others watched the Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seed enter Li Chijin's head, immediately becoming extremely nervous, watching with bated breath as Li Chijin sat cross-legged, with closed eyes and deep concentration until dawn.
When Taiyin set and the golden crow took flight, Li Chijin finally shook all over and slowly came to. He opened his eyes, and saw his brothers gathered around him, their expressions filled with anxious concern.
"Father, brothers! I have received the Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seed and have stepped through the gate of Immortal Cultivation!" an elated Li Chijin jumped up, excitedly hugging his father.
Li Mutian laughed heartily, hugging Li Chijin and turning him around, while Li Tongya and the others let out a sigh of relief, their faces also becoming excited and agitated.
"I've obtained a spell called the 'Taiyin Breathing and Wheel Nourishing Scripture'."
Having said this, Li Chijin was about to recite the key points of the spell when the White Pill in his Qi Sea Acupoint leaped slightly and he suddenly found himself voiceless, unable to utter a word.
Alarmed, he instinctively covered his mouth, then tried to call out again:
"Father!"
Seeing that he could speak again, Li Chijin let out a sigh of relief and, not to be thwarted, attempted again to recite the key points of the spell, only to find that he couldn't speak or even think them.
"This Immortal Law can neither be spoken nor written about — truly a wonder," Li Chijin's expression changed, revealing a flustered look.
"There's no need to worry."
Li Changhu smiled and patted Li Chijin's head, and then as the father respectfully took the Dharma Mirror from the table and put it away, he continued:
"When summer solstice comes, let's all ask for the spell together,"
"Big brother," Li Chijin interrupted, hesitatingly saying, "It seems there are only six Talisman Seeds."
"Only six Talisman Seeds?" Li Tongya had been carefully reading the "Guidance Technique" and upon hearing this, he looked at him with puzzlement and echoed the question.
"I received the Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seed, and many things emerged in my mind, such as the six realms of immortal cultivation, and the Fetal Breathing's Wheel Nurturing, this Dharma Mirror seems to only be able to divide into six Talisman Seeds," Li Chijin candidly said.
Li Xiangping nodded, reassuringly saying, "Such a marvelous object, seizing the creation of heaven and earth, is naturally scarce in number."
Oldest brother Li Changhu let out a yawn, waved his hands, and said to his brothers:
"Let's all go back to sleep, having waited an entire night, we're tired."
"You're probably worried about your wife!" Li Xiangping laughed heartily and teased.
"You child!" Li Changhu, straightforward as he was, laughed and pointed at Li Xiangping, then said softly,
"I think that Tian Yun is quite good."
"Big brother, stop matchmaking!" Li Xiangping's face stiffened, and he turned his head and left the courtyard to return to his room.
"Hahahahaha..." Li Changhu laughed heartily as he entered the front courtyard.
"There's a chance!"
Li Mutian stroked his beard, thinking to himself.
----------
That night, the moonlight was like water.
Li Chijin sat cross-legged in the courtyard with his eyes closed, hands forming a spell, drawing a stream of qi from the Sea of Qi Acupoint that traveled through his meridians, passing the Twelve-Storied Pavilion at his throat and emerging at his brow.
In an instant, Li Chijin's vision brightened, as the water-like moonlight slowly moved towards his brow and intersected with that wisp of Spiritual Energy.
After a while, Li Chijin formed a spell to guide the now milky stream of qi back into his brow, across the Twelve-Storied Pavilion and into the Sea of Qi Acupoint.
After repeating this three times, Li Chijin finally opened his eyes and looked at the sky—it had been two hours.
"The speed of absorbing the Power of Moonlight is just too slow."
Li Chijin carefully calculated that absorbing the Power of Moonlight eighty-one times would yield a thread of Moonlight Qi, and eighty-one such threads would form the first wheel of the Six Wheels of Fetal Breathing—the Xuanjing Wheel.
Once the Xuanjing Wheel was formed, one would enter Fetal Breathing and could cast spells.
"Three times every two hours, eighty-one times would then take fifty-four hours," Li Chijin calculated in his mind, "six hours of cultivation each day would take nine days. For eighty-one threads, it would take two full years..."
Looking at the moonlight gathered on the Dharma Mirror, Li Chijin blinked, and a spark of inspiration struck; he sat cross-legged on the Stone Platform and began to practice.
Lu Jiangxian was in the mirror, languidly passing time in a state of half-sleep; he had already absorbed enough Power of Moonlight. Time in the mirror was long and boring, and to Lu Jiangxian it felt like enduring a dull lecture in college, falling in and out of sleep, sometimes a whole day passing with just a blink.
Li Chijin's Spiritual Power leaped out from his brow, entering into the halo on the mirror, startling Lu Jiangxian awake to see the young boy before him, making him chuckle silently.
"Quite clever indeed."
But Li Chijin continued to guide the Spiritual Energy back into his Qi Sea, only to feel a cool sensation all over his body as the Power of Moonlight grew more than tenfold. At this rate, it would only take five or six times to form a single thread of Moonlight Qi!
He couldn't help but feel exhilarated, his hands forming a spell, and he continued his cultivation until dawn painted the sky and his elder brothers arrived in the backyard, only then did he reluctantly end his practice.
When they saw that the father and the brothers had arrived, Li Chijin recounted the previous night's events, everyone was astonished and delighted. Li Mutian, with a sigh of admiration, offered incense to Lu Jiangxian and then led the children out of the secret chamber.