Journey to the West: The Mountain Shaker

Chapter 13 My Destiny is Mengji 1

Let's go back to the time when the sun rises.

When the first ray of sunlight shone directly in, Cai Fei felt something—in his mind, he did feel a faint warmth in his lower abdomen, but that was all.

He couldn't be sure whether this was truly the ignition of the innate fire, or if his expectations were deceiving him.

Not far away is the spirit field, and nearby grows the Flaming Sun Grass. It also cultivates some brown-striped mole crickets that like to eat fire. At dawn in early autumn, a few mole crickets chirp in the spirit field, which further highlights the tranquility of the training ground.

In the distance, the sound of bells could still be heard. Six chimes signaled the time, echoing through the valley. As the bells reverberated, a line of poetry suddenly popped into Cai Fei's mind: "All sounds are silent here, except for the sound of bells and chimes."

stop!

If this continues, their thoughts will drift further and further apart!

The warmth in his lower abdomen seemed to have disappeared. "Let's start over," Cai Fei sighed inwardly, took a deep breath, and pulled his mind back to his lower abdomen.

But perhaps because he couldn't sit still, or perhaps it was just the nature of a three-year-old, Cai Fei, who was concentrating intently on his dantian, suddenly felt an itch on his back.

Just bear with it.

Reason told him that when people can't sit still, it's just a feeling, much like the warmth in their abdomen—it's all just in their imagination.

However, it wasn't just my back that was itchy; soon, my armpits and knees also started to itch.

Keep enduring; it's just an illusion!

As long as you focus your attention on your lower abdomen and don't get distracted, these itches will disappear!

Unfortunately, often the more you try to concentrate and the more you tell yourself not to get distracted, the less effective it becomes.

Cai Fei felt itchy all over and couldn't help but twist his bones a few times, trying to get rid of the tiny bug that probably didn't even exist. But this twisting made things worse. Not only did he feel itchy, but he also felt uncomfortable all over, with soreness and swelling everywhere.

Never mind, never mind...

The child couldn't resist and started grabbing everything in sight, completely ruining his efforts and getting mud all over his head, face, neck, and back.

"You should be glad that the plants around here are Sunflower Grass, which repels mosquitoes, otherwise you would have been bitten to death long ago," Li Zhu said leisurely. "But there are still bugs. If you don't believe me, take a look at your right knee."

"Smack!" There really was a small centipede near his knee, and Cai Fei quickly slapped it to death.

"Alright, sit up straight. Grandma Kong should be here soon. A genius should act like a genius," Li Zhu reminded him.

Cai Fei rubbed his hands together, dusted off his clothes, and tried to get rid of the mud on his body. He then focused his mind, straightened his back, and continued meditating.

Sure enough, Grandma Kong found it a short while later, holding a bunch of insect-repelling herbs in her hand.

The little baby, covered in mud, sat in a small ditch, his face a patchwork of black and white, looking both comical and adorable, yet his posture was perfectly poised, like a dignified and majestic elephant.

Grandma Kong found it both adorable and frightening. After hesitating for a moment, she decided not to disturb him. She simply divided the insect-repelling herbs into several portions, gently placed them around his body, and quietly went back.

The sun shone with countless golden rays, and the vast clouds in the east were dyed into a magnificent and glorious sunrise. As the sun moved higher and higher, the best time for the cultivators was slowly passing by.

Perhaps it was thanks to the insect-repelling herb that Xiao Cai was able to sit in meditation for a long time this time. At first, he was still a little lost in thought, but he quickly gathered his thoughts and carefully sketched the shape of his dantian in his mind, imagining that a ray of sunlight suddenly ignited that spark of innate fire.

However, it seemed like a very long time had passed, and nothing had happened; there wasn't even the slightest warmth in my abdomen.

Actually, if one could truly be free from worries, sitting quietly for an hour every day wouldn't be bad, like fishing, Cai Fei thought helplessly. For some reason, a fishing rod and a pond of ripples inexplicably appeared in his mind.

Taigong fished, and those who were willing took the bait.

Cultivation is nothing more than this. The so-called "neither intentionally nor unintentionally" probably means that one should not give up pursuing something, but one should not be attached to pursuing it.

If one can enter the Tao in this life, that is certainly good. But if one cannot enter the Tao, does that mean one's life is necessarily a failure?

It seems that in my previous life, there were no cultivators in the entire world. Could it be that everyone in that world was a failure?

It should be: having this is certainly a pleasure, not having this is equally acceptable.

Let go of that insistence that it must be done, and in the midst of a state of mental confusion, a small flame slowly lit up in the dantian.

A warm sensation swirled in my dantian and then quickly spread throughout my lower abdomen, leaving a warm and comfortable feeling, like soaking in a hot spring, but a hundred times more so.

Is that all?

Cai Fei was both surprised and delighted, but as soon as he became aware of it, the flame in his dantian instantly went out, and the previous sensation vanished without a trace.

"Very good, try again, just hold on for a few more minutes." Li Zhu's voice echoed in his mind, calm and seemingly without joy or surprise.

"Okay." Cai Fei replied, took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and then slowly entered the state he had just been in.

Many things are like this: the first time is difficult, but once you have the experience, you can follow the path when you do them again.

Five minutes later, the primordial spiritual fire reignited, and a warm sensation slowly spread from his lower abdomen to his entire body.

Cai Fei felt a warm sensation all over his body, as if he were in an endless space, sitting cross-legged on a vast ocean, or floating in a deep blue sky. Golden light radiated around him, and every cell in his body was open and exhilarated. He was in a state of great joy and inexplicable happiness.

Time seemed to pass in an instant, yet it also seemed to pass for a long time. This warm and comfortable state seemed to melt something—melting a small hole in Cai Fei's body. Then, Cai Fei felt as if some tiny things in the air were floating in, lightly adhering to the area around his dantian.

Spiritual energy?

As soon as Cai Fei had a thought, figuring out how to absorb these things, they began to drift into his body.

Without opening his eyes or paying special attention, Cai Fei could clearly see some tiny things floating into his body—mostly small wisps of air, and a small portion of things that looked like rays of sunlight. The former should be spiritual energy, and the latter was the essence of the sun.

They drifted slowly in from a hole near the dantian. Without explanation, Cai Fei realized that this hole was the so-called Qihai acupoint.

In absolute terms, quite a few small creatures drifted in; in just a short while, Cai Fei felt that dozens or even hundreds had entered.

But in terms of the space that could hold them, these few things were utterly insignificant, like a few dozen specks of dust drifting into a hall that could seat hundreds of people.

Following the direction of these small air masses and the rays of sunlight, Cai Fei saw that spark of innate fire.

That tiny spark of light hung suspended in the air, bright, dazzling, and warm, like a candle flame—or perhaps it was because I imagined it as a candle flame that it took on the shape of one…

It was a strange state. Cai Fei felt that he had thought a lot, but at the same time, he seemed to have thought of nothing. Some boundless thoughts rose and fell like bubbles in a lake.

In a daze, my soul seemed to rise into the air and enter a huge space. My consciousness seemed to stand in mid-air, looking around at the vast blue sky. Below was a calm and peaceful sea, without end.

Is this the sea of ​​consciousness?

Standing alone between the sea and the sky, the boundless grandeur made one feel extremely small. However, before Cai Fei could have any thoughts, his consciousness jumped and he suddenly found himself above a small island.

This is a small island with a cliff on top and a lush wetland at the bottom. Among the gray and white rocks on the cliff face, lies an ugly little leopard.

This little creature's fur was mottled, patchy with yellow and white, resembling a mangy head covered in sores, except for a small area on its forehead that was relatively smooth, dotted with yellow speckles.

The moment I saw it, my consciousness became clear without any apparent reason, and in an instant I knew its name—Mengji!

The Mengji Beast, also known as Mengji, is named so because it can access people's dreams.

This is a rare natal beast related to dreams!