Chapter 29: The Three Fires of Heaven, Earth, and Man—The Path of Incense and Spiritual Cultivation

Chen Yushu knew very well that he was not a genius.

The reason he had managed to attain entry-level mastery of the Medicine King Stance in just one day was thanks, primarily, to the attribute panel.

Yet the attribute panel was not omnipotent. It too required adherence to certain rules: only each complete session of cultivation would yield a corresponding increase in experience points.

But every cultivation session also consumed energy.

That was why, at most, he could only practice three or four times a day.

“So, if I want to quickly advance my stance technique, the best method is to purchase Nourishing Essence Decoction.”

Chen Yushu recalled the effects of the Nourishing Essence Decoction.

A single portion would allow him to train more than nine times, saving him a great deal of cultivation time.

But purchasing the decoction required silver.

At three taels of silver per portion, the seven taels he had gotten from Li Pei would, at best, buy him two portions—not even enough to raise his stance technique to a proficient level.

“It seems that aside from adapting to life in the pharmacy, I’ll have to find a way to earn some silver as well.”

Lost in thought, Chen Yushu finally rose and ended his practice. After washing up, he returned to Room Three.

It was worth mentioning that Xu Hao had returned.

After spending two nights away, he came back on the third day, yet for some reason he seemed even more haggard than before.

Fortunately, no more spirits harassed him at night, and his complexion soon recovered, though he spoke little and remained inconspicuous.

During this period, Chen Yushu did not idle either. Every evening, once everyone was asleep, he would use a mnemonic to induce self-hypnosis and enter meditation, cultivating the White Tiger Visualization, gradually conjuring the image of a white tiger in his mind.

After three days of experimentation, he found that if he made full use of his time, he could enter a meditative state three times a night.

Each session would last about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, followed by a rest of approximately an hour.

Three sessions per night, until dawn.

So, after nearly ten sessions over three days, the white tiger image he visualized had become quite complete.

Not only were its outlines clear, but its limbs, tail, mouth, ears, eyes, and nose were all vividly defined.

The only thing missing was the eyes.

As the saying goes, to bring a dragon to life, one must dot in the pupils. Only when the eyes were complete would the white tiger be truly finished.

He had tried before, but always felt the image lacked a certain spirit.

This time, he had deliberately studied the illustration in the “White Tiger Visualization,” copying the depiction of the eyes, and he felt much more confident.

“Let’s begin—visualize and cultivate!”

Chen Yushu formed the mnemonic gesture, hypnotized himself, and quickly slipped into deep sleep.

He then called upon a spark of inspiration in his mind, following the established form of the white tiger image, and dotted in the tiger’s eyes.

He visualized the pupils appearing in the whites of the eyes, imbuing them with spirit.

One eye complete, then the other.

The moment both pupils were formed—

A resonant hum echoed in his mind.

Chen Yushu felt his spirit jolt, his mental strength surging for an instant, and at that very moment, he emerged from his meditative state.

Remembering something, he immediately focused his mind on the attribute panel.

Immortal Art: White Tiger Visualization: Entry Level (1/100)

“As expected!”

He had reached entry level!

After three days of painstaking visualization, the moment the white tiger’s eyes were formed, he had finally achieved entry-level mastery of this cultivation art.

A look of immense delight broke across Chen Yushu’s face.

He had entered the path of Immortal Arts!

Although he did not feel a dramatic increase in strength, he clearly sensed that his spiritual power was much greater than before.

His “spirit” was now much stronger.

And the exhaustion from previous visualization sessions had also been restored.

“Yin Walkers cultivate by first strengthening the ‘spirit.’

Many techniques require formidable willpower to be performed.

As long as a Yin Walker’s spirit is strong enough, flourishing to the utmost, he can ignite his own ‘Three Fires of Heaven, Earth, and Man.’

First the Heavenly Fire, then the Earthly Fire, and finally the Human Fire. These three fires correspond, and among Yin Walkers, this is also called burning incense.

Heavenly Incense, Earthly Incense, Human Incense!

People even use this as a way to gauge each other’s cultivation and attainment.

Lighting one stick of incense is referred to as having the attainment of one incense stick; two sticks, the attainment of two.”

For a Yin Walker, once one stick of “Incense Fire” is ignited, he gains the means to resist spirits barehanded, able to use the incense fire to “burn” specters, no longer left helpless.

These fragments of knowledge flashed quickly through Chen Yushu’s mind.

They did not come from the White Tiger Visualization itself, which was purely a method for cultivating the spirit.

Rather, this information was gleaned from the “Li Chao’s Encounters with Ghosts,” an account that described the practices of Yin Walkers.

According to it, Li Chao—Li Pei’s grandfather—had, thirty years prior, already attained the level of one incense stick. Once, while walking at night, he was harried by an imp who clouded his vision and trapped him in a ghost maze.

Li Chao then used the “Heavenly Fire,” spitting it out in one breath.

Not only did he break the ghost maze, but he also destroyed the imp entirely.

As for Chen Yushu, having just reached entry level in the White Tiger Visualization, he could now “see ghosts” and was considered to have a strong “spirit,” but he was still far from being able to ignite the “Heavenly Fire” and light the “Heavenly Incense.”

“There are differences even among those with strong spirits.

The weakest merely meet the minimum requirements to begin cultivating as Yin Walkers.

The strongest can directly ignite the ‘Heavenly Fire’ and ‘Heavenly Incense,’ naturally possessing the attainment of one incense stick from birth.

I am not the weakest, but I’m certainly not among the strongest either.

There is still a long way to go before I can ignite the ‘Heavenly Fire’ and ‘Heavenly Incense.’”

Chen Yushu was under no illusions about himself.

He knew that his mental strength had surged only because of his awakened memories, still far from those innately gifted with spiritual attainment.

“But there is no rush.

Now that I have entered the White Tiger Visualization, with each session my skill will grow and my spirit will strengthen.

Bit by bit, as days turn into months, my spirit will become vigorous enough to ignite the three fires of Heaven, Earth, and Man, and attain incense-fire cultivation.”

Chen Yushu looked forward to this with great anticipation.

He knew well that only after attaining incense-fire cultivation could a Yin Walker hope to wield a “magical instrument.”

He currently possessed a Soul-Severing Ruler, but without incense-fire cultivation, it was nothing more than a lifeless object in his hands.

With incense-fire attainment, he could use his cultivation to activate it.

Though it would surely take great effort, it would nonetheless grant him an extra trump card should he encounter any spirits.