I Cultivate Immortality With Scientific Thinking

Chapter 2: The Law of Spiritual Energy

"On the first year of transmigration, May 6th. What is scientific thinking? Scientific thinking does not refer to the periodic table of elements or atomic quantum, but rather a method of understanding the world.

Although I was just an ordinary college student in my previous life, after being exposed to education for over a decade, I have gained some understanding... Simply put, it involves observation, thinking, experimentation, and summarization.

For example, Newton noticed the falling apple, and through thinking and experimentation, he summarized the three laws of mechanics. Darwin traveled the world, observed countless species, and ultimately summarized the natural law of 'survival of the fittest'...

Therefore, in order to gain knowledge of this world, observation of phenomena is an essential condition. Only by observing corresponding phenomena can we engage in thinking and subsequently summarize corresponding theories.

However, 'spiritual energy' itself is intangible and cannot be observed. But based on the information I currently understand, it can only be interfered with at the Qi Refining Stage. In other words, cultivation is the key now..."

"On the first year of transmigration, May 15th. I heard that the sect arranges for cultivators to give lectures to us disciples every three months. Last time, I hadn't joined the sect yet, but this time I can go and listen.

After all, those cultivation techniques distributed by the sect have left me quite confused. And before awakening my memories from my past life, I didn't study seriously, so now I don't really understand the meaning of those techniques. If I were to cultivate recklessly, it would lead to problems."

"On the first year of transmigration, May 16th. Azure Dragon chases the tiger, the red bird meets with harmony. Adjusting luck, fire chases the bird palace, cinnabar enters the abdomen, the body surges. The profound meaning of the Five Elements is difficult to comprehend, the dragon and tiger hide within Kan and Li...

Hmm... Can someone explain to me what he's talking about?

I can understand each individual word, but when they're put together, I have no idea what it means!!!

I, Lin Chen, have gone through nine years of compulsory education and scored over 130 in the Chinese language section of the college entrance examination. Although my abilities are a bit lacking after entering university, how can I not understand what he's talking about? Can't he explain it in simpler terms?"

But now I understand one thing, the cultivation of the Qi Refining Stage in this world is different from what I knew before... I originally thought it was Qi Refining at the first level, second level, third level, and so on, but I was corrected by the Fellow Daoist next door...

What he meant was that cultivation is the evolution of the essence of life, progressing from one stage to another. Low-level cultivators cannot accurately quantify it.

In addition, personal dantian reserves and physical qualities differ, so there is no very clear division between Qi Refining Stages. It is more inclined to differentiate based on the stage of cultivation, divided into 'Nourishing Qi', 'True Condensation', 'Qi Cyclone'... Uh, according to our transmigrator's understanding, isn't it Early Stage, Mid Stage, and Late Stage of Qi Refining?"

"But that's not important. What's important is who can help me interpret this cultivation technique? I never thought that my grand plan of combining science and cultivation would be stuck at this place!"

"On the first year of transmigration, June 1st. Thanks to the Fellow Daoist next door, with his help, I have read many books and finally understood the meaning of the cultivation technique...

But I unexpectedly learned that he is the top scholar of the mortal dynasty. I heard that in their region, due to its vast territory and large population, coupled with the lack of spiritual roots, the sect does not put much effort into testing their aptitude. So, in order to obtain the test for cultivation aptitude, one must pass the imperial examination?"

"Oh, this? I suddenly feel like I'm in a poor region that's even more exam-oriented..."

"Anyway, that's not important. What I'm more concerned about now is the meaning of the interpreted cultivation technique... I thought I would understand it once it was interpreted, but who would have known..."

"Envelop the embryonic form of the great medicine with heartfire, directly into the pill cauldron, then use the three flowers of the human body to return to the middle dantian's vermilion palace chamber, plant the golden lotus in the fire, and transform a strand of primordial qi into True Qi."

"......No, the human body is made of flesh and blood. Where does the fire come from? Where does the cauldron come from? Even the dantian, I secretly went to the place where the sect handles corpses, dissected several experimental materials, and have never seen it!"

"Damn it! How did those transmigrator predecessors transmigrate and start cultivating directly? This is not scientific, no, this is not cultivating immortality!"

"First year of transmigration, September 10th. Phew... these three months almost killed me."

"In order to understand the meaning of the cultivation method, I took advantage of the time when the disciples of the same year were sleeping nearby, used a sleep-inducing incense to make them fall into a deep sleep, and then sneaked in to touch their bodies, used a spirit stone to buy an inner vision talisman to observe their dantian, and finally understood what the cultivation method was talking about..."

"What is this 'establishing a furnace and placing a cauldron,' 'breathing in the sun and moon,' 'dragon and tiger, kan and li'? In the end, it's just absorbing spiritual energy into the body and retaining it for personal use."

"But spiritual energy itself is formless and intangible. Only those with spiritual roots can sense it, but they cannot touch it. Therefore, they must rely on something to keep it in the body."

"Among the mortals in this world, they can generate real substances such as 'inner energy' and 'vital energy' through methods such as supplementing food, strengthening the body, and breathing techniques."

"Cultivators continuously consume spiritual pills or come into contact with spiritual energy, causing their inner energy and vital energy to react with the spiritual energy, gradually acquiring the characteristics of spiritual energy..."

"After transformation, the inner energy and vital energy with spiritual energy characteristics are collectively referred to as 'True Qi'!"

"And because True Qi can react with spiritual energy, cultivators can directly absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into their bodies."

"This process is about constantly contacting the vital energy and spiritual energy within the body, gradually transforming the vital energy into True Qi with spiritual energy characteristics. This is also known as the 'nurturing stage.'"

"With this True Qi that belongs to oneself, it can be continuously refined or infected with ownerless spiritual energy. This is what is called 'True Condensation,' which is the condensation of True Qi."

"As for Qi Cyclone? It should be transforming the True Qi Cyclone in the body into a Qi Cyclone, which can store more spiritual energy, thus achieving the True Qi liquefaction and impacting the Foundation Building Stage."

"So, Qi Refining Stage, whether divided by layers or stages, ultimately means converting the ownerless spiritual energy between heaven and earth into controllable spiritual energy for cultivators, that is, True Qi!"

"...This is what transmigrators can understand! Look at those cultivation methods, what 'lu,' 'ding,' 'jiangguan,' 'essence.' In my previous life, without ten years of cultivation experience, who could understand them!"

"Second year of transmigration, June 12th. Is this the 'True Qi' that only Qi Refining Stage cultivators can condense?"

"It seems like light but not light, like water but not water, flowing and mysterious, without substance but with clear perception..."

"According to the records, this True Qi, or true qi, is a kind of secret medicine for Daoists to nourish their own bodies, strengthen their qi and blood, and refine essence and transform qi."

"Cultivators can rely on it to nourish their whole body, cultivate their character, and as long as they are not seriously injured, they can easily live for over a hundred years!"

"Although I have just cultivated my own True Qi and cannot practice techniques or arts yet, I can use True Qi to draw talismans, refine pills, observe internally, nurture vitality, and practice higher-level Immortal Dao techniques and arts!"

"But speaking of it, True Qi, truly qi? This term is really interesting."

"I remember in my past life, although there was also a mention of the three aspects of essence, energy, and spirit, the concept of 'qi' was extremely mysterious."

"'Essence' can refer to the human body, blood, and other tangible substances. 'Spirit' refers to the soul, consciousness, and memory of the human body. Although they cannot be directly observed in the past life, the birth and development of human civilization indirectly prove their existence..."

"But 'qi' is different. Although Daoists say that the human body relies on qi to move, no one has ever seen it. Even in the field of medicine, it is only a subjective judgment and cannot provide accurate proof."

"And in reality, those so-called qigong masters are also fake. Of course, it is possible that there are true practitioners hidden among the crowd, but they do not reveal their true abilities to others. However, in my past life, I was just an ordinary person and did not have any contact with these things..."

"But this world is different. Even ordinary people, not just cultivators, have the concept of internal energy and vital energy, which can even affect reality."

"It's interesting. In a world with a structure similar to the past life, the existence of invisible but real things like internal energy, vital energy, and True Qi raises the question of why. And what kind of connection does it have with spiritual energy?"

"Now that I have advanced to the Qi Refining Stage, I can start researching spiritual energy. It just so happens that I also want to see what kind of mysteries are hidden in spiritual energy."

"Second year after transmigration, July 1st. It is well known that the three elements of combustion are combustible material, oxidizer, and ignition source."

"Although it cannot be observed, in this world, I wonder if the air I breathe is oxygen, which is the oxidizer."

"But without a doubt, in order to burn, there must be combustible material. This statement has already been verified in the mortal world."

"However, through the spiritual energy fireball created by the talisman 'Fireball', I discovered that it does not require combustible material at all. It can float in the air out of thin air! It's interesting, a combustion without combustible material..."

"Could it be that the fireball burns by using spiritual energy as fuel? But combustion consumes fuel. If that's the case, casting a fireball without extinguishing it would directly destroy a spiritual mountain, but such a situation does not exist in reality..."

"Where there is a phenomenon, there must be a reasonable explanation. Perhaps my research direction is wrong. It seems that I need to think from a different perspective..."

"But speaking of which, the consumption of spiritual stones is a bit excessive... Damn it! Why is it that no matter which world I'm in, money always flows like water?"

"Second year after transmigration, September 3rd. After continuous experiments, I finally discovered that the reason why the spiritual energy fireball can burn is that the spiritual energy can temporarily transform into a certain substance, thus becoming the material from which the fireball is born."

"However, this transformation seems to be temporary, because I found that after a large number of fireballs destroy their targets, most of the area becomes charred, with only a small part of the flames still burning. Could it be that the flames formed by spiritual energy are transformed back into spiritual energy?"

"Spiritual energy transforms into combustible material, combustible material gives birth to flames, and flames transform back into spiritual energy. Can spiritual energy, matter, and energy really undergo mutual transformation?!"

"Second year after transmigration, December 1st. Spiritual energy is truly a miraculous substance!"

"No, no, I dare not even confirm whether it is a substance. Anyway, through extensive research, I have found that under the powerful influence of various factors, spiritual energy can temporarily, and even possibly permanently, transform into any substance and possess all its characteristics!"

"Damn it! This ability is too incredible! It's comparable to the Philosopher's Stone in the Western legends of my past life! No wonder spiritual energy can give birth to True Immortals, something that didn't exist in the past!"

"Based on previous research and records, along with speculation and experiments, can I deduce a law that states, 'Spiritual energy can temporarily or even permanently transform into a certain substance and possess all the characteristics of that substance'?"

"However, within the Daoist arts, there also exist spiritual techniques such as Earth Spike Art and Binding Art. Unlike Fireball Art and Wind Blade Art, they directly utilize existing objects for attack and do not dissipate afterwards..."

"Spiritual energy is not a physical entity, yet it can influence the material existence of substances. How is this possible?"

"On the third year of transmigration, December 25th. The research is progressing smoothly. While it is undoubtedly due to my correct direction, the various records in the Azure Cloud Sect Sutra Pavilion have also been of great help to me."

"For other disciples, the experiences recorded by the predecessors of the Azure Cloud Sect regarding spiritual energy may be useless, but for me, they are truly invaluable treasures!"

"I can absorb and summarize these experiences to further improve my theoretical system!"

"Indeed, only by standing on the shoulders of the predecessors can one better understand this world!"

"But back to the point, through research and the records of previous materials, I have discovered that only spiritual energy can influence spiritual energy. And as for why there are techniques like Binding Art and Earth Spike Art that interfere with physical entities, it is because everything in the world possesses spiritual energy, allowing them to influence each other!"

"After continuous observation and analysis, I have even discovered that all things are composed of spiritual energy!"

"However, due to the varying activity levels of spiritual energy, inert spiritual energy becomes mundane matter, while highly active spiritual energy becomes the foundation of cultivation for cultivators."

"And because the activity level of spiritual energy differs in different things and regions, there are distinctions between spiritual veins and desolate lands."

"In other words, in this world, the existence is not built upon 'atoms,' but upon 'spiritual energy'!"

"I see... In my past life, people developed a brilliant technological era based on microscopic particles, and in this life, cultivators have established a vast cultivation civilization based on spiritual energy."

"So it turns out that with the development of civilization, it will eventually lead to the path of observing nature, understanding nature, and even controlling nature, right?"

"On the fourth year of transmigration, January 1st. Based on the discoveries I have made so far, I have temporarily summarized two laws of spiritual energy!"

"First: 'All things in the world are composed of spiritual energy, and the activity level of spiritual energy distinguishes between immortals and mortals!'"

"Second: 'Spiritual energy can temporarily or even permanently transform into a certain substance and possess all the characteristics of that substance due to certain influencing factors!'"

"Haha, perhaps these two laws are common sense for cultivators in this realm, but for us transmigrators with a scientific mindset, only by obtaining a foundation of theory can we derive corresponding speculations, explore and experiment, and ultimately achieve brilliant results!"

"Moreover, with these laws, I can explore the Body Refining system established on spiritual energy and the elusive souls that existed in my past life but actually exist in this life."

"I have made up my mind. From now on, proving the laws of spiritual energy, exploring the Body Refining system, and researching the mysteries of the soul will become the three major subjects on my path of cultivating the Immortal Dao as Lin Chen!"

(End of this chapter)