He approached the stone couch once more, his hand tracing the man's arm—smooth and pliant, the flesh full, showing no sign of lost vitality. This state made one wonder if the person was truly dead or alive.

Li Muzhan’s instinct told him the man was dead, yet the body remained uncorrupted; this was true Vajra Indestructibility, not merely the martial art version. The Vajra Indestructibility Divine Art he had cultivated worked from the outside in, from being to non-being, moving from the physical Vajra Indestructibility to the indestructible, eternal state of the spirit, ultimately achieving Buddhahood.

However, this was merely a theoretical zenith, exceedingly difficult to attain. The founder of the Vajra Indestructibility Divine Art, the Divine Monk Huiguo, eventually achieved a non-decaying physical body, becoming a Maha-bodhisattva in the flesh, and no one else had reached such a plane.

People might suspect that Divine Monk Huiguo’s attainment was not solely due to the Vajra Indestructibility Divine Art, but involved other secret methods that were never passed down. It was easy for people to form such suspicions—a lack of faith in the Vajra Indestructibility Divine Art.

For Buddhist techniques, faith is paramount; insufficient belief yields insufficient results; the saying “sincerity brings forth miracles” is no mere empty phrase. He had experienced life and death, grasping the great mysteries of both.

Buddhist scriptures state: emptiness is not emptiness, existence is not existence; the Western Pure Land does not truly exist, nor does it not exist—it is a manifestation of the mind’s aspect, much like the world in his Heaven-Man-Divine Illumination Scripture. Those who devoutly believe in Buddhism have their souls drawn after death toward the Western Pure Land, from which they then enter the cycle of reincarnation; those whose faith falters fall directly into the cycle.

The importance of belief manifests as the power of the mind; the cultivation speed of believers and non-believers differs vastly. This person’s body did not decay; regardless of how much time had passed, he had clearly achieved Vajra Indestructibility—a Great Accomplisher.

Li Muzhan bowed with solemn respect, hands clasped in heshi. To cultivate to such a realm was truly worthy of reverence and admiration; it could not be achieved without immense perseverance and steadfast willpower.

Li Muzhan sighed, admitting his own inferiority to such a figure. Regrettably, he did not know this person’s name.

He turned to the stone table and picked up the yellow silk booklet from the box. The cover was blank, utterly empty.

Turning a page, five large characters sprang into view: Void Qi Attraction Art. These five characters were in ancient script, unrecognizable to the common person.

Li Muzhan had studied ancient characters because he needed to read Buddhist sutras, so he could decipher them. The five characters possessed a sweeping, dominant aura, seeming ready to burst forth from the paper.

Li Muzhan’s spirit soared, as if he saw before him an ultimate master whose presence was contemptuous and who regarded all else as nothing. He tentatively traced the five characters, absorbing their imposing might.

A powerful sense of heroism surged through his chest, making it almost impossible to contain the urge to let out a long, resounding cry. His focus was profound, and he managed to suppress this heaven-storming energy, calming his mind before reading on.

The silk booklet was not thick, only a dozen pages, but with his eidetic memory, he finished reading quickly. ……………………………………………… After finishing, he sat quietly in contemplation, then left the stone room, returning to his original spot, cross-legged on the dried grass, to ponder.

This Void Qi Attraction Art was a unique cultivation method, entirely different from conventional practice, standing alone as profoundly peculiar. Li Muzhan had never heard of anything like it and found it marvelously arcane.

Ordinary breathing exercises used the nose and mouth as portals for inhalation and exhalation, generating internal breath, accumulating it from little to much, eventually forming a cycle that unblocked the Twelve Primary Channels, allowing continuous flow. The Void Qi Attraction Art was different: it opened the Celestial Gate, drawing the Qi of the Void directly downward, pouring straight into the Dantian—simple, direct, and incredibly fast.

The power of this Void Qi Attraction Art was immense; once mastered, one’s internal energy would be nearly inexhaustible, far surpassing the Heavenly Origin Breath Technique. With this technique, internal energy cultivation advanced a thousand li a day, requiring almost no effort—truly an unsurpassed miraculous skill.

However, despite its wonder, this technique was not without flaws. Firstly, initiation was exceedingly difficult; it was hard to master.

Secondly, if the body was weak when the surging internal energy poured down, it would directly backlash and cause death. The first step of this cultivation was Core Condensation, solidifying internal energy into a Dan (Elixir).

This Dan then had to achieve a state of contraction and expansion, mimicking the breath through the nose, allowing the descending internal energy to expel the stale and absorb the fresh. Otherwise, the energy would be impure and unusable, even if drawn in.

The first step alone was formidable, akin to Daoist Golden Elixir formation. It required internal energy activation to burst open the Ren and Du Channels, followed by the descent of the ‘Jade Nectar from the Clouds’ into the Dantian, where water and fire mixed to form the Golden Core, which then required ninety-nine cycles of nurturing until it solidified.

The second step was Core Activation, bringing vitality to the Golden Core, making it pulse like a heart, ceaselessly swallowing and expelling energy to refine the internal energy—this was even more crucial. The third step was Celestial Gate Opening, employing Buddhist methods to open one’s own Celestial Gate.

This was by no means easy; without deep meditative stability and powerful spirit, it could not be achieved. Each of these three steps was an insurmountable chasm, incredibly difficult.

Thus, though the technique was marvelous, it was hard to learn—like Buddhist Instant Buddhahood or Daoist Heavenly Origin Elixir Method, easy to achieve results but hard to master the learning. While these three steps were chasms for others, they were not difficult for Li Muzhan.

His Ren and Du Channels were already clear; reforming the Golden Core now was not a challenge. The second step was somewhat harder: stimulating the Core’s vitality.

He had never attempted it, requiring extreme subtlety. The third step, opening the Celestial Gate, would also take some time.

In the subsequent days, he remained within the mountain cave, oblivious to the outside world. When hungry, he ate fish; when thirsty, he drank spring water; when tired, he circulated the Heaven-Man-Divine Illumination Scripture.

The rest of his time was dedicated to practicing the newly acquired Void Qi Attraction Art. Seven days later, the Golden Core condensed in his Dantian—his internal energy core.

Another seven days passed, and the Golden Core began to undulate and respire, coming alive, functioning exactly like a human heart—contracting and expanding—as the surrounding internal energy circulated with it, like the bellows of a forge. In the following days, he began to visualize a Tathagata seated in the lotus posture above his head, face benevolent, one hand forming a mudra, the other gently showering immeasurable light that pierced down through his crown, illuminating his entire body.

As his body transformed to resemble colored glaze, a conduit formed from his crown to his Dantian, activating the Golden Core within. The Core rushed up, entering the Tathagata’s hand, then descended again through the crown, returning to the Dantian.

…………………………………………, this was the precise method of practice. Though seemingly simple, the efficacy of the visualization varied with the individual; the stronger the spirit, the greater the effect and the easier the attainment.

Li Muzhan’s spirit was powerful, and having cultivated the Heaven-Man-Divine Illumination Scripture for so long, he was extremely skilled in the way of visualization, making the practice of this method effortless. Once he entered meditation, he remained still for a long time.

On the third day, his body became like colored glaze, and the conduit formed, consisting of three colors: red, blue, and black. Subsequently, the Golden Core, like a luminous pearl, leaped from the Dantian, directly blasting through the Celestial Gate and landing in the Tathagata’s hand, where it was illuminated by immeasurable light before falling back down.

Instantly, his head emitted a brilliant red glow, like the rising sun. The Golden Core leaped up again, breaking through the crown, landing in the Tathagata’s hand, and then returning to the Dantian.

At this point, his crown shone with white light, soft and pure, cleansing both body and mind. Next, he felt a piercing pain on his crown, as if multiple awls were stabbing through layer after layer of skull.

Finally, with a sudden puncture, his body emptied, bathing in radiant light, feeling soft and yielding like butter. He felt a circular opening appear above his head, through which immeasurable bright light shone down, connecting directly to the luminous pearl in his Dantian, making the light even brighter.

He let out a long breath—the Celestial Gate was finally open—and slowly awoke. When he awoke, he touched the top of his head; it felt as hard as before, but when he placed a dry blade of grass upon it, the grass slowly sank in.

Touching it, he realized his scalp was indenting slightly, but there was no actual hole, nor was the skin broken. Li Muzhan let out an impressed sigh, marveling at how marvelous the opening of the Celestial Gate was, managing to alter the bones of the skull from the inside out—truly no simple feat.

With these three steps complete, the Void Qi Attraction Art had reached its introductory stage, allowing him to step onto the threshold. After a short rest, he began to truly practice the Void Qi Attraction Art.

Upon entering meditation, the Golden Core leaped up, directly blasting open the Celestial Gate, then returned to the Dantian. At that moment, a pillar of Qi poured straight down from the Void, landing upon the Golden Core.

The Golden Core swallowed and absorbed the Qi from the pillar. After a long time, the pillar vanished, the Celestial Gate closed, and Li Muzhan slowly awakened from his meditation.

His Dantian was brimming with internal energy. The original size of the Golden Core, from the size of a pea, had expanded to the size of an apple, still constantly absorbing and transforming.

Slowly, it shrank from the size of an apple to a walnut, then continued to shrink until it settled at the size of an apricot. It stopped changing at the size of an apricot, pure and without any trace of impurity, a brilliant yellow as if cast from gold, exuding an aura of noble solemnity.

This was the Golden Core condensed by Li Muzhan using Earth Qi, naturally yellow, which, upon high condensation, became golden yellow—truly like a golden pill. Li Muzhan sighed deeply, a smile spreading across his face.

This small effort was equivalent to a month of hard cultivation—truly the shortest of shortcuts. He no longer had to worry about his internal energy being depleted.

……………………………………………… He had become extremely adept at controlling the Golden Core. As a result, his internal energy reserves were now several times stronger than before.

He would no longer fear going out; if he couldn't win, he could run, his abundant internal energy being sufficient for escape. He didn't rush out, choosing instead to remain in the cave to practice the Void Qi Attraction Art further, hoping to use his skill of multitasking to enable him to draw in the Qi of the Void even while in motion.

If he achieved this, he could replenish his internal energy even during combat, granting him endless power—truly exhilarating. It sounded delightful, but achieving it was not easy.

It required first entering meditation, allowing the Golden Core in the Dantian to transform into a luminous pearl and leap up to break open the Celestial Gate to attract the Qi of the Void; without meditation, it was impossible. Achieving a state of meditation while actively moving was an extraordinary skill.

Fortunately, his proficiency in multitasking was already mature. He quickly allocated one part of his mind to maintaining his movements, while dedicating the other parts to the Void Qi Attraction Art, slowly exploring and experimenting, learning from successive failures.

After seven days, he finally mastered it. Reaching this level, he could no longer suppress the heroism surging in his chest and decided to leave the mountain cave.

He had now reached the fourth layer of the Ancient Qi Cultivation Technique, completing the Heavenly Cycle flow, and opening the Celestial Gate. However, he did not know the subsequent cultivation mantra; he needed to ask Lake Master Leng Wushuang.

Furthermore, after the Golden Core grew to the size of an apple, the Void Qi Attraction Art was useless; it remained at that size, as if a bottle had been filled to the brim. Under these circumstances, further cultivation offered no benefit, so Li Muzhan decided to leave the mountain cave.