In the Dao of Alchemy, the inner and outer paths are clearly distinct. As their names suggest, the path of the Outer Elixir refines external substances into medicines and pills, while the path of the inner core uses the human body as a Furnace Cauldron to harmonize the three treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
In this era, it is the art of the Outer Elixir that has become widespread and flourished;
the art of the inner core, constrained by innate talent and difficult to even begin, has gradually been abandoned by the major Daoist Lineages.
"The essence of the inner core art is that 'the Dao is the foundation, and Qi is the vessel.' Its specific origins are lost to time. We only know that a Daoist Monarch proposed a meditative method of 'opening the divine apertures.'"
Hall Master He listened intently; this was a topic he had some familiarity with.
