Sleeping for a second increases my blood energy. I become the strongest sky-swallowing snake

#227 - Xuanmen sleeping skills, thunder roars!

"Though called sleeping cultivation, it is actually the art of internal alchemy."

"It is merely borrowing the state of sleep to cultivate the golden elixir."

Before being awakened by the thunder, Xu Chengxian was reading a profound Xuanmen (Taoist) cultivation manual, the 'Essentials of Sleeping Cultivation'.

He had studied this section many times.

He had gained considerable insight into these few sentences.

Especially the part that says this sleeping cultivation method is called – borrowing the false to cultivate the true.

This general outline also states that all cultivation methods under heaven can be summarized into one word: 'Stillness'.

This is the so-called simplest and easiest path!

Stillness means tranquility.

Entering stillness is also called entering tranquility.

Therefore, meditation is also called tranquil cultivation.

In the state of stillness, there can be both clarity of mind and muddled chaos.

When Xu Chengxian saw this, he was astonished.

Isn't this just like the deep sleep and light sleep he had heard of in his previous life, achieving the same result through different means?

Good heavens.

Truly good heavens!

Interesting.

Too interesting!

Continuing on, it says: Therefore, 'sleep' is called 'similar stillness'.

— Practicing according to the cultivation method while sleeping naturally produces a state of entering 'stillness', thereby absorbing spiritual energy to cultivate the golden elixir.

— The method is very easy, and the effect is very fast!

However, cultivating sleeping cultivation requires a threshold.

It cannot be practiced unless one is above the Golden Core realm.

This is because the state of entering stillness consumes a great deal of both the divine soul and the physical body. Beginners cannot control it and easily fall into the trap of the sleep demon.

In tranquil cultivation, the most feared thing is falling asleep. Therefore, one meditates all day, forcefully resisting sleep, which is called 'slaying the sleep demon'.

Xu Chengxian, while studying the general outlines of Xuanmen Taoist methods and other cultivation techniques, understood why it was necessary to slay the sleep demon.

Because all beings with intelligence have three souls.

The celestial soul, the terrestrial soul, and the vital soul.

The divine soul is the unified embodiment of these three souls.

The celestial soul comes from the Heavenly Dao, the terrestrial soul comes from the Netherworld.

The vital soul is nurtured by the essence and blood of parents and exists naturally after birth.

The celestial soul governs intelligence and clarity, and the vital soul governs the lifespan of the physical body.

Therefore, the celestial soul is also called the Dao soul, and the vital soul is also called the human soul.

And the terrestrial soul has another name, called the nether soul.

According to orthodox Xuanmen Taoist teachings, when entering stillness, the celestial soul is the guide, the vital soul is the assistant, and the nether soul is dormant.

At this time, cultivating the Dao, guiding spiritual energy into the body, traversing the meridians and acupoints, and returning to the dantian,

cultivates the path to immortality.

But if one falls asleep while entering stillness, then the celestial soul and the vital soul both fall into slumber, releasing control over the physical body and sensation of the outside world.

At this time, if one is lucky and the nether soul has not awakened, then the cultivation method will continue to run.

As long as one regains consciousness before starving to death, there will be no major problem.

But if one has very bad luck, and the nether soul takes control of the divine soul…

It will take the divine soul's Dharma form and begin to wander around randomly.

Leaving the sea of consciousness, roaming through the body's acupoints, or even directly leaving the physical body.

If it is the former, cultivation will go awry, leading to qi deviation and demonic possession, even resulting in somnambulism, with bizarre behavior, as if being possessed.

If it is the latter.

The Yang spirit leaves the body, and whether it goes to the Yin or the Yang realm is hard to say.

If the divine soul leaves the body, traveling a thousand miles in a day, the physical body loses its vitality and dies.

If the divine soul's Dharma form is not strong enough, wandering between heaven and earth, it is easily damaged.

The first to be damaged is the celestial soul.

If the celestial soul is damaged, intelligence becomes unclear.

In layman's terms, one becomes either mad or foolish.

But if the celestial soul and the vital soul are damaged but not fundamentally injured, they will be suppressed by the nether soul, resulting in the complete loss of past memories, and behavior becomes bizarre and eccentric.

However, the divine soul remains, and the physical body's vitality does not dissipate, so one can continue to live in the world.

When Xu Chengxian read this part, he couldn't help but shudder.

He hadn't heard much about this celestial soul, vital soul, and terrestrial soul.

But if he applied it to some phenomena from his previous life, he could actually explain them.

For example, somnambulism.

Shouldn't that be sleepwalking?

For example, senile dementia, Alzheimer's.

It's very similar to the state after the celestial soul and vital soul are damaged.

However, these are not what he is most concerned about.

After all, no matter how interesting they are, they are far from his current state.

What he is interested in is that the different realms of practicing sleeping cultivation and his own state are almost perfectly aligned.

The first sentence of the Xuanmen cultivation manual's outline: The Great Dao of the Innate is non-action and naturalness.

Therefore, virtuous Xuanmen cultivators use sleep to refine sleep, transforming consciousness into wisdom, gradually generating the power of stillness.

Obtaining 'stillness' is easiest, hence the saying that 'sleep' is the prelude to 'Great Stillness Vacuum'.

And the Great Stillness Vacuum is a state of being neither asleep nor awake.

Those who have mastered sleeping cultivation have their heart and breath interdependent, achieving the Great Stillness Vacuum.

Xu Chengxian had already read the methods of the Demonic Sect at this time.

He discovered that regardless of the cultivation method, there is always a sentence in the outline: Tranquil cultivation enters stillness, concentrating the mind and regulating the breath, regulating the breath and concentrating the mind.

Therefore, the ultimate goal of cultivating sleeping cultivation is still to enter stillness.

It is to gradually cultivate from truly falling asleep to concentrating the mind and regulating the breath, entering the Great Stillness.

From true sleep to false sleep, then from similar stillness to true stillness, and finally from small stillness not empty to Great Stillness Vacuum.

Because in the Great Stillness Vacuum, cultivators can reach their optimal state by breathing and exhaling to absorb spiritual energy and cultivate their techniques.

And thus have the opportunity to comprehend the Great Dao of the Heavenly Heart.

In the end, it still comes down to the three souls of heaven, earth, and man.

To put it bluntly, it is to weaken the nether soul, control the vital soul, and comprehend the celestial soul.

In orthodox Xuanmen cultivation methods, in the True Immortal realm, there is a method of beheading the three corpses, which beheads the divine will left by the nether soul wandering in the upper, middle, and lower three dantians.

But all of this requires cultivation as support.

Entering stillness through sleeping cultivation requires at least a Golden Core realm cultivator to be able to practice.

When Xu Chengxian had just become a snake and obtained the system, sleeping could increase his blood energy.

At that time, he was really sleeping.

After falling asleep, he forgot both himself and the outside world, and was completely unaware of anything.

However, as his strength increased, and he advanced to a fourth-order demon beast, especially with the improvement of his divine soul realm, entering the Demon Soul realm from the mortal soul realm,

his dormant state gradually showed some very mysterious changes as the Dharma form of divine soul condensed in the sea of consciousness, sitting high on the lotus platform.

From truly sleeping to being ignorant and unconscious, he began to enter a state of being neither asleep nor awake.

The system prompts that he could hear before falling asleep still echoed in his ears even when he was asleep.

Some experiences and memories from his previous life and this life also constantly surfaced in his dreams, and many details that he thought he didn't remember were so clear in his dreams.

Xu Chengxian almost intuitively deduced and cultivated combat skills in his dreams, thereby accelerating the process of awakening his innate combat skills and divine powers.

After this, falling asleep and waking up became more and more controllable.

He doesn't cultivate techniques, so he doesn't have to worry about qi deviation and demonic possession.

He also doesn't have to worry about wandering outside his body.

Everything is so natural.

When Lingxiao imprinted the techniques she and Ling Yunzi knew and practiced into the jade slip and gave it to him, a thought appeared in Xu Chengxian's mind at this time.

What exactly is the existence of the system itself?

"Could it be that it is my celestial soul?" Xu Chengxian thought to himself.

But he immediately denied it.

Whose celestial soul would be so stupid?

It often answers irrelevantly.

Also, the unprovoked increase in blood energy doesn't make sense.

Since he couldn't figure it out, he stopped thinking about it.

As long as he lived long enough, all problems would be solved.

Either time will give the answer.

Or he will live too long and forget the problems that bother him, or be too lazy to pursue them.

This is wisdom!

Harboring this kind of self-resolving wisdom, Xu Chengxian flipped through the jade slip, not seeking a thorough understanding of its contents, and a rare peace appeared in his mind.

The techniques were mysterious and boundless, and he became fascinated by them.

Except for sensing hunger and waking up to go out to find food,

his mind was in it the rest of the time.

Although he hadn't started cultivating, he gradually felt that if he had the opportunity to cultivate one of the techniques, he would definitely be able to progress rapidly.

The more he understood, the more he felt that the mysteries within were extraordinary, making people want to continue.

Until he was awakened by the thunder.

…

"Who is undergoing tribulation?" Xu Chengxian raised his head and looked around.

"Asking the obvious?" Dahei squatted next to him and stretched out a hoof, "Give me some blood energy to nibble on first!"

Then, it was pushed aside by a colorful snake's tail.

"Bai Lingxiao! Bai Lingyun! You two guys—"

A colorful snake opened its bloody mouth and said angrily, "You're actually undergoing tribulation together!"

"And you didn't take me with you again!"

Boom!

Rumble!

The tribulation lightning fell.