Li Yundong burst into laughter, pressing his palms together. “Amitabha. What this master says is excellent. I offer my respects!”

Su Chan giggled. “What nonsense are you spouting? What monk calls himself ‘this humble one’?”

Li Yundong grinned slyly and asked tentatively, “Aren’t you a disciple of the Buddhist path?”

Su Chan paused, a flicker of thought crossing her mind. Although her sect had ties to the Buddha and her techniques and artifacts were certainly derived from Buddhist lore, her sect was neither Buddhist nor Daoist.

Su Chan shook her head. “Who said I’m a Buddhist disciple?”

Li Yundong looked genuinely surprised. “Then are you a Daoist disciple? Immeasurable Longevity Buddha! Greetings, Daoist friend.”

Su Chan burst out laughing. “Idiot! I’m not Daoist either!”

Li Yundong was confused. “Not Buddhist, not Daoist. Could it be you are my wedded wife?”

Su Chan giggled, her cheeks flushing, and spat, “Pah! Shameless! Who wants to be your wife!”

Li Yundong smiled and pulled Su Chan into his embrace. “Then what do you want to be?”

Su Chan and Li Yundong had grown increasingly intimate, and such embraces were now commonplace. She nestled into his arms, her body soft as water, pliable as boneless silk, and smiled, “Isn’t it best for little Chan to be your lady, my lord?”

Li Yundong was overjoyed. He pointed to his cheek. “Come, give me a kiss.”

Young lovers lost in affection never tire of such things. Su Chan planted a loud kiss on Li Yundong’s cheek. Li Yundong, emboldened, pointed to his lips. “Here, you can’t favor one over the other.”

Stirred by the potent masculine energy radiating from Li Yundong, Su Chan’s eyes grew hazy with desire. She murmured seductively, “My lord, do as this little lady asks, and afterwards, this little lady will give you a reward!”

Li Yundong gazed at Su Chan’s charmingly alluring appearance, his heart deeply moved. He released his hold and laughed, “What must I do?”

Su Chan stood up, motioning for Li Yundong to resume his cross-legged position. Composing herself slightly, she said, “Close your eyes, and then look again at the vital essence within your five major organs.”

Li Yundong, thinking of the reward Su Chan promised after this exercise, obediently complied. However, his senses were far from pure, and his mind kept drifting to scenes of later intimacy with Su Chan, preventing him from quickly entering the state of meditative energy circulation.

Seeing this, Su Chan used her fingers to trace down Li Yundong’s spine from top to bottom.

The human spine resembles a fish skeleton. Once all the flesh is eaten, the spine remains as a long central bone with ribs branching out on both sides. The spaces between these ribs manifest in the human body as indentations, much like valleys between mountains. The center of the earth, within the body, is where the essence gathers—the confluence of qi and blood energy. This location corresponds to the Lingtai Acupoint.

Su Chan located the Lingtai Acupoint, closed her five fingers like a bird’s beak, and gently pecked at it.

Su Chan had never before had a dual cultivation partner. This knowledge and these cultivation techniques were all learned from her master or gleaned from traversing ancient cultivation texts. She clearly remembered her master telling her: the Lingtai Acupoint is a vitally important nexus, akin to the Huagai Acupoint on the chest—a crucial pass or stronghold. Many outer disciples of cultivation sects often lightly tap their own spines with a small wooden mallet during daily life; they are striking precisely the Lingtai Acupoint.

Li Yundong’s mind had been filled with blurred, mosaic images, making his vital energy naturally volatile. But when Su Chan tapped his Lingtai Acupoint, he instantly shuddered. It felt as if a basin of cold water had been suddenly poured over his head. The boiling heat that had been surging in his lower abdomen was instantly suppressed.

Li Yundong let out a long breath. The scorching internal heat dissipated, and his mind and body settled instantly.

With this stillness, Li Yundong quickly entered the state of inner vision. His energy refinement was already perfected; with guidance, tasks like inner viewing and visualization were natural processes, flowing smoothly without hindrance.

Noticing Li Yundong’s relaxed brow, slightly closed eyelids, and slow, deep breaths—clear signs that he was in inner vision—Su Chan softly and slowly said, “You can see the essence within your five organs. Now, slowly try to guide that essence towards your upper Dantian, your head.”

Although Li Yundong was in the state of meditative energy circulation, he could hear Su Chan’s words with perfect clarity. When he attempted to draw the essence of his five organs upward, he found the five distinct pools of colored essence utterly immovable, like boulders.

Li Yundong couldn't help but frown slightly. Su Chan immediately sensed the difficulty he was encountering and gently instructed, “Don’t try to move the organs’ essence with sheer willpower. First, mobilize the primal Yang qi from your lower Dantian in your abdomen. Then, guide your primal Yang qi to slowly circulate around the essence of the five organs. This internal essence will naturally follow your primal Yang qi. Once you move the five essences, then you can guide that combined force up towards the upper Dantian.”

Li Yundong followed Su Chan’s instructions. He mobilized a thread of the purest primal Yang qi from his lower abdomen. This primal Yang qi moved slowly inside him like a warm, wispy filament. As this warmth approached the five distinct, colored clusters of essence within his organs, Li Yundong indeed felt the previously immobile essence begin to tremble faintly. Soon after, faint wisps of multi-colored essence began to drift toward his primal Yang qi.

Li Yundong felt these five essences mingle with his own primal Yang qi. Wherever he directed his primal Yang qi, the essence of the five organs followed, just as a general commands his soldiers, with effortless control!

Su Chan saw Li Yundong’s brow relax and knew he had grasped the secret. A smile bloomed on her own face.

While Li Yundong gained knowledge of cultivation techniques from Su Chan, Su Chan was simultaneously confirming her own past studies through Li Yundong. In this process of verification, Su Chan gained new insights into what she had previously learned.

The path of dual cultivation was not merely about the carnal union of man and woman; its principles were profound, vast, and boundless.

Su Chan watched Li Yundong’s face shift color—white, then red, then black, then blue. She knew this indicated he was guiding the colored essence of the five organs toward his head.

What was the ‘Five Essences Returning to the Source’ (Wu Qi Chao Yuan)?

The five essences, as the name suggests, are the vital energies of the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys—the qi of the body’s five major organs. Practitioners cannot rely solely on cultivating their meridians. No matter how strong the qi in one’s meridians becomes, it is merely superficial energy compared to the vital essence stored within the five organs, like a river compared to the sea.

Once a practitioner perfects the cultivation of their five organs, not only does their inner body become immensely strong, but their external appearance also transforms, becoming extraordinary. Most importantly, the qi within the meridians can be temporarily exhausted and cannot generate true qi on its own, whereas the five organs are the innate microcosms spoken of in cultivation methods; they can create their own qi and store vast reserves of it.

The concept of ‘Returning to the Source’ (Chao Yuan) has two layers. First, it signifies that the essence of the five organs is innately drawn and guided by the body’s primal Yang qi—a passive meaning. Second, it means that if a cultivator wishes to refine the essence of the five organs, they must gather this essence to the head—an active meaning.

What do the essences of the five organs converge towards? They converge towards the ‘Source’ (Yuan). This Yuan is not only the source of the body’s primal Yang qi but also the vital core meant to be refined in the body's most crucial area: the upper Dantian, the seat of the brain, the 'primordial leader.'

Su Chan stared intently at the changing colors on Li Yundong’s face, her expression slightly tense. She knew that if Li Yundong could successfully return this essence to the five organs, it would signify that he had completed the ‘Inner Vision’ task—the highest level of the second major realm of cultivation.

The process of refining qi is fraught with danger, like a child wielding a hammer—a slight misstep could send the hammer crashing onto his own head, shattering his skull.

But Li Yundong was no child; he was a man imbued with divine strength, a veritable strongman. Wielding the hammer was naturally second nature to him.

Su Chan watched the colors on Li Yundong’s face cycle nine times before gradually returning to normal. The five pools of essence slowly retreated back into the body along with the primal Yang qi.

Su Chan was overjoyed. She knew Li Yundong had successfully completed the Inner Vision task and could move on to the next step: “Now, try to visualize your qi internally. See what shape your qi takes. What form can you imagine it holding?”

This question baffled Li Yundong. Could the internal essence change shape like a Transformer, morphing into whatever he wished?

Yet, when he attempted to focus, he was shocked to find himself feeling weightless, suspended in a boundless sea of clouds. These dense, overlapping layers of mist completely blocked out all surrounding light, resembling a massive steaming cage.

Li Yundong tried to raise his hand to look at it, only to realize he had no hands, no feet, no head, no body—only ethereal nothingness!

Struck by shock, Li Yundong’s heart panicked, cold sweat drenched him, and he stood paralyzed with fear until a distant, echoing voice drifted down from the direction of his celestial crown, gentle, warm, and reassuringly familiar: “Don’t be nervous. This is your microcosm, your Lingtai world. Try to visualize; see what you can conceive in this world.”

Visualization (Guan Xiang) was the foundational skill for cultivators entering the true path, and it was a task that most severely tested a practitioner’s innate talent and comprehension.

Visualization tested a cultivator's ability to manipulate qi, the power of their intent, and their inherent enlightenment and creativity. The more complex the object one could visualize, the higher their enlightenment and talent; the simpler the visualization, the lower the native talent.

Li Yundong gradually calmed his mind and began to attempt visualization.

Beside him, Su Chan watched Li Yundong with intense nervousness, not daring to blink. She knew that aside from Foundation Establishment, this was the most critical threshold for a cultivator.

Foundation Establishment separated mortals from cultivators, but visualization further divided those who sought cultivation into geniuses, average talents, and fools. These different classifications determined the height of their eventual cultivation achievements.

In this exercise, even the living immortal elixir within Li Yundong could not aid him. Only his natural cultivation talent could decide his ultimate success and attainment.

“What will he visualize?” Su Chan bit her lip, staring fixedly at Li Yundong.