Evening, Hongfu Garden.
Dark clouds rolled in with a wild gust of wind, pressing overhead, as if rain could fall at any moment.
Just entering the complex, Zhang Fan looked up at the sky, only to spot a person standing atop the nearby building.
His gaze dropped—crowds had gathered below.
"Bro, don't jump yet, give my livestream some traffic... Hey everyone, look up above my head..."
"Have you got any humanity left? Bro, listen to me, go jump at the next complex, I'm thinking of buying a building there."
"The world's going to shit... You up there, are you jumping or not? My shift's almost over."
A chorus of noisy voices rose up, setting the atmosphere perfectly.
"Another jumper?" Zhang Fan glanced over, barely surprised anymore.
Every year, someone jumped from this building. Scientifically speaking, the place just wasn't 'clean'—an earth-bound spirit lingering around, needing a replacement every year.
Because of this, Hongfu Garden counted as one of the cheapest communities in the old city—even the rent was much lower.
On this, Zhang Fan had to admire his dad's foresight, somehow picking such a feng shui hot spot. Over the years, it really saved them a lot on rent. Every time the landlord tried to raise the price, someone would always end up jumping off.
BANG...
Just as Zhang Fan reached the building entrance, a violent crash sounded behind him.
"There goes another one!" Zhang Fan sighed.
Inside, the apartment was pitch black. He flicked on the dim lamp, illuminating shabby furnishings, and in the corner sat a big red-and-blue woven bag...
Clearly, it was Zhang Lingzong's luggage.
"He's been back?"
Zhang Fan put down the groceries he'd just bought: marinated ox tongue, pig head meat, shredded mixed salad, and some duck bits... These dishes were already considered luxurious for their family.
"Sorry, the number you dialed is currently unavailable..."
Hearing no reply, Zhang Fan set down his phone and rummaged through his own bag, pulling out a small booklet. On its cover, three bold characters read: "Dao Secret Record."
He'd gotten this up on the mountain, left by Xia Weisheng—recording Daoist knowledge, cultivation methods, and taboos.
"At least I picked the right lineage," Zhang Fan murmured softly.
He was luckier than most; with his primordial spirit awakened, he could cultivate and peer towards longevity.
What a rare blessing.
Taoist Po Jie had said, these days, only one in a hundred thousand people ever got the chance to awaken their primordial spirit.
Zhang Fan would never let this chance slip by; he practiced hard—not seeking to become immortal just yet, but at least to reach High Skill level, so he could restore the primordial spirit depleted by his awakening of Divine Techniques.
By then, he could even help train Xia Weisheng a bit.
"High Skill... that's Xia Weisheng's realm, isn't it?"
Zhang Fan flipped the booklet open, searching for the Inner Core Chapter.
The so-called Inner Core Method was much like those inner power manuals in martial arts novels.
For Daoists, once the primordial spirit revived, it would never easily fade again.
Unless the consciousness grew restless, constantly burning away the Yang Qi among the three treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit—once the Yang Qi withered to its limit, the primordial spirit would return to dormancy.
That's why, in ancient times, Daoists liked to retreat deep into the mountains, far from the red dust—no outside distractions, no stirring thoughts, and so the consciousness couldn't make mischief.
Back then, even Sakyamuni sat under the Bodhi tree for forty-nine days, thoughts extinguished, before suddenly attaining enlightenment and becoming Buddha.
Modern people can't exactly leave society to live in the mountains.
So, in addition to suppressing their consciousness, constantly strengthening the primordial spirit became especially important.
How to strengthen it?
By relying on Inner Core Technique, gathering medicines into the body, refining True Yang, and nourishing the primordial spirit.
Among Daoist methods, the most common 'medicine' was Spiritual Qi—Ancestor Master Chunyang called it Celestial Light in the Taiyi Jinhua Principle.
This was also widely recognized as the purest Daoist Great Medicine.
Aside from that, other techniques gathered Sun and Moon Essence as medicine, like the Sun Crow Moon Rabbit Technique.
There were also plenty of skills using external cores, cultivating inner medicine with outside substances—for instance, the Pill Mother Qi Transformation Method.
Or techniques that draw on one's own Essence Qi as medicine, like Laojun Mountain's Three-in-One Rejuvenation Method.
After gathering the medicine, use the body as a tripod furnace, refining Yang Qi to nourish the primordial spirit.
This is the Daoist Inner Core Method: the more Yang Qi the primordial spirit possesses, the stronger the body becomes, enough to cultivate and use all kinds of Skill.
Especially Great Skills like Five Thunders Righteous Method—not only do they require innate comprehension, but also vast True Yang to wield, and a robust body to contain them.
Clearly, Xia Weisheng wasn't just gifted, but dominated the practice of Inner Core Techniques as well.
"Truly all-encompassing!" Zhang Fan read for a while, head spinning.
He was naturally most drawn to the orthodox Daoist method of refining Spiritual Qi as medicine.
Even so, these Inner Core Methods had countless intricate branches.
In the end, among all the Inner Core Techniques from Zhenwu Mountain, he chose an ancient, unique method called:
North and South Sect Origin!
"The North-South Sect Origin overturns the hexagram, morning and evening fire time aligning with the heavenly axis. If one masters this immortal skill, enlightenment comes in a day and you walk the Way of Heaven." Zhang Fan pondered carefully.
The human body reflects the hexagram as 'lower north, upper south; Kun is north, Qian is south'—this is the innate positioning.
"South is the Upper Dantian Mud Ball—belonging to Separation Fire. North is the Lower Dantian Sea of Qi—belonging to Kan Water..."
"Celestial Light enters the body, Holy Embryo condenses, taking Kan and filling Li; the marvel lies in inversion, innate position returning to source..."
Honestly, among all the Inner Core Methods, North and South Sect Origin stood out as extraordinarily unique—but as for why...
As of now, Zhang Fan couldn't really say.
"Hmm!?"
Right then, Zhang Fan turned to the last page of the Inner Core Chapter—where a special technique was marked in red...
"Divine Demon Holy Embryo!?" Zhang Fan glanced over, "It can even use stray thoughts as Great Medicine for refining?"
Zhang Fan's expression shifted; any cultivator knows stray thoughts are the greatest danger...
Yet the Divine Demon Holy Embryo Method was seriously bizarre, but all that followed were a few brief comments...
The fiercest in the world, neither orthodox nor evil, through the ages, we are never tainted.
"There really are such miraculous Inner Core Methods in this world." Zhang Fan mused. Whatever was next, he couldn't read further.
It only said: practitioners of Divine Demon Holy Embryo have one clear trait—they never sleep.
The ancient texts say: when essence is full, desire fades; when spirit is full, sleep disappears... All because these practitioners' primordial spirits grow unfathomably strong.
THUD...
Just then, a door shutting snapped Zhang Fan's thoughts back. He stuffed the booklet under the pillow and walked out of his room.
Zhang Lingzong came in; years on construction sites, selling his strength to support the family, had made him both gaunt and wiry, his skin dark and rough. But his eyes remained remarkably clear, nothing muddied by middle age.
"Dad..." Zhang Fan called softly.
Zhang Lingzong turned, froze.
"What is it?" Zhang Fan was puzzled.
"Half a year gone, you've lost weight," Zhang Lingzong replied offhand.
"Let's eat, I bought food."
Between father and son, no real topic seemed to exist—dinner passed in heavy silence.
"Dad, I've graduated now. You don't need to work construction anymore," Zhang Fan said as he ate, head lowered.
Zhang Lingzong said nothing, just grunted in response.
"So this time, you don't have to leave..." Zhang Fan pressed on.
"We'll see. Finish your food." Zhang Lingzong scooped a few bites, then set down his chopsticks and headed for the bedroom.
"Don't clean up, I'll do it later."
No sooner had the words left his mouth, the door slammed shut. Zhang Fan looked up at the closed door, feeling nothing much.
Zhang Lingzong's years of struggle and drifting, with no friends around, had made him so withdrawn.
...
Late at night, Zhang Fan tidied up the home, hauling out a pile of trash.
Checking the time, it was already after midnight.
"Dad, I'm heading out to dump the trash."
Zhang Fan called quietly at the door, no answer. At this hour, he must be asleep.
He picked up the trash and quietly slipped out.
Pale moonlight poured through the window into the bedroom, and on the desk stood two bottles of sleeping pills…
The lean figure leaned by the window, drawing out a cigarette from the pack, breaking off the filter...
Watching below, Zhang Lingzong saw Zhang Fan's figure and murmured, "Really grown up now..."
As he finished speaking, a flame flickered to life, lighting the filterless cigarette. He took a slow drag, exhaling smoke that veiled his face.