Chapter Eighteen: The Inner View

“You’ve done very well. Since your body is now fully nourished by the breath and you’ve managed to create this Palace of Radiance, your mind power must also be ripe. The next step is circulating the breath.”

“Please instruct me, Master.”

Wen Sukong smiled and nodded, then said to Yunqi, “Now, gather your thoughts. No matter what you see next, do not let your focus scatter.”

“Yes, Master.”

Sukong, the feather-robed master, stood on a solitary isle in a world of darkness. She glanced around and spoke to Yunqi, “This world is not truly like this. Soon, you will behold the genuine miniature universe of the human body.”

With a hand seal formed at her chest, Sukong unleashed a surge of brilliance. The light radiated intensely from the seal, forcing Yunqi to shut his eyes.

The Palace of Radiance before them now lived up to its name.

After a moment, Yunqi adjusted and slowly opened his eyes. The sight before him almost made him forget to breathe.

Where they stood, violet light swirled and the darkness was gone. Farther out, myriad colors shimmered, as though a river of stars flowed in the heavens.

Around the violet sphere of the Palace of Radiance clustered many smaller globes of light. To the lower left and right were two azure spheres, and just ahead below, two misty gray ones. Beneath these, silver light intertwined and, further down, a massive yellow bar-shaped light rose up, towering like a high building.

Yunqi walked to the edge of the floating isle he’d created and looked down. Beyond the yellow sphere stretched an even vaster space, where five enormous globes of light dominated his vision, colored red, green, yellow, white, and black.

Beyond these five were countless tiny points of light, and myriad shining pathways connecting them all.

As Yunqi observed the distribution of lights and the course of the shining paths, understanding gradually dawned.

“This is my physical body?”

Those five colored globes corresponded to the locations of the five vital organs. The two azure, two gray, and the silver spheres near the Palace of Radiance matched precisely with the positions of the ears, eyes, and nose.

The network of tiny globes and radiant lines outlined the shape of limbs and torso.

Sukong nodded. “These spheres are your major apertures, and the shining paths are your energy meridians.”

She pointed below, explaining one by one, “There you see the apertures for ear, nose, and throat—called the Wind House, Thunder House, and Cloud House. In inner alchemy, these three are thought to correspond with celestial phenomena.

“Those are the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys—called the Heart Palace, Wood Palace, Earth Palace, Metal Palace, and Water Palace, each aligned with the five elements of the cosmos.

“That is the eye aperture, the Grand Hall of Yin and Yang, mirroring the dualities of heaven and earth.

“And where we now stand is your Spirit Aperture, known as the Purple Gate—the realm of thought, source of mind power.

“However, since you have yet to open any apertures, they appear as undifferentiated globes. Once you begin to open them, the sight will be altogether different.

“Just now, I used the ‘Illumination Spell’ to reveal your internal world. Soon, I’ll teach you the incantation so you can perform this inner vision yourself.”

Yunqi thanked her.

Sukong flicked her finger, sending a bead of golden light before them. The light spread into an intricate diagram of dots and connecting lines.

“Can you see it?”

Yunqi studied the image. “The dots seem to be apertures, the lines meridians—is this the path for circulating breath?”

Sukong praised him. “Indeed, this is the Diagram of Circulating the Breath Through All Channels. Because it resembles a star chart, it is also called the Wandering Stars Chart. Never reveal this diagram to others. Should someone acquire it and strike your key apertures in a duel, at best your magic will leak away, at worst you might lose control utterly.”

Yunqi nodded, committing it to memory.

“Now, use the Five-Syllable Incantation to draw in breath.”

Yunqi understood. He thought dual focus might be difficult, but upon trying, found it within his grasp: part of his mind remained in the inner world, the rest controlled his body, which still sat with eyes closed. He was about to rise when Sukong’s voice in his mind reminded him, laughing,

“No need to stand—simply imagine the movement within your inner vision and keep your physical breath in sync.”

Though uncertain, Yunqi did as told.

In his inner world, Yunqi stood with feet apart, chest relaxed, back extended, knees slightly bent—the posture of the ‘He’ syllable incantation.

Imagining exhaling, he silently recited the ‘He’ syllable, and his physical body exhaled as well, followed by inhalation.

Ah!

Yunqi started in amazement—his body had truly drawn in the fire breath!

“The inner vision and the physical body are always one—don’t think of them as separate worlds,” Sukong said with a smile. “Look, here comes the breath.”

In his inner world, Yunqi followed her pointing finger. Sure enough, a stream of fiery red breath appeared from nowhere and surged into the Cloud House at the throat.

“The vital breath drawn in, whether through mouth or nose, ultimately enters the throat aperture, the Cloud House, also called the Twelve-Storey Pavilion. You take in external breath, swallow internal saliva. The vital breath must pass through the throat to enter the body. In the future, when your power reaches a bottleneck and you wish to progress, you must open the Cloud House and unblock the Twelve-Storey Pavilion.”

Yunqi nodded, watching the fire breath in the Cloud House gradually dissipate. “That’s how it is—before, the breath I drew in would enter the five organs, then merge into flesh and blood. Now, after drawing breath, it just slowly vanishes.”

Sukong smiled. “Had your organs and flesh not been properly nourished, the breath would be pulled away the instant it entered the throat. How could you circulate your energy then? Come with me!”

She seized Yunqi’s arm and, in a flash, they soared from the floating isle to the base of the Twelve-Storey Pavilion.

Only now did Yunqi realize how vast the throat aperture was—the yellow sphere before him was at least a hundred fathoms tall!

“Do you know how to thread a needle?” Sukong asked.

Yunqi did not understand.

“Now, you are the needle; the vital breath is the thread. You must bind the breath, guiding it with your will wherever you wish—where the mind goes, so goes the energy.

“Now, use your mind to lead the breath and follow me.”

With that, Sukong flew away from the Twelve-Storey Pavilion.

Yunqi linked his will to the breath. Having built the Palace of Radiance in his mind, he was now adept at using mental power. As a fisherman nets fish, as a woodsman bundles firewood, as a raftsman floats logs downriver, or as a mystic on Yin Mountain captures clouds, Yunqi wrapped the vital breath with his mind and dragged it along.

Sukong’s voice called from ahead, “Don’t stop drawing breath!”

Yunqi understood, again multitasking with the ‘He’ syllable. Torrents of fire breath poured down from the top of the Twelve-Storey Pavilion like a waterfall, surging from behind and pulling from ahead, making it much easier to draw the breath along as he followed Sukong.

She led the way, instructing as she moved:

“First, knock at the Heart Palace; then turn to pay respects at the Crimson Palace. Next, reverse along the Conception Vessel, passing the navel, descending past the Yellow Court without entering it; then shift to the Governing Vessel, ascending past the perineum, coccyx, Life Gate, Great Vertebra, Jade Pillow, up to the Crown, then brush past the Purple Gate, return to the Twelve-Storey Pavilion, and after passing through, return to the Heart Palace.”

Thus, Sukong led the way above, Yunqi trailed with the vital breath below, descending then rising, reversing through the Conception and following the Governing, passing twice through the Twelve-Storey Pavilion, and finally halting at the gates of the Heart Palace.

“This is called circulating the breath through the whole body. What remains behind you is the vital breath, refined and mixed with your own essence, which becomes your magical power.”

At the Heart Palace gates, Sukong spoke as Yunqi looked back. The mighty torrent of fire breath that had first appeared at the Twelve-Storey Pavilion was gone, leaving only a veil-like red mist.

He touched the red mist—neither quite water nor air, warm and comforting.

As he released it, the mist drifted away, circling the Heart Palace.

“Since you haven’t opened the Heart Palace, you can’t store magic power yet. This magic will dissipate within forty-nine days,” Sukong explained, then continued:

“This route is called the ‘Single Aspect Minor Heavenly Circuit of Fire.’ Besides fire, there are also circuits for wood, water, metal, and earth; beyond the five elements, there are also wind and thunder aspects. In addition to the single aspect circuits, there are dual aspect circuits such as Heart-Kidney Fusion, Wind-Thunder Interweaving, and Wind-Fire Traveling Together. After dual aspects come the rotation of the five elements.

“All these are called Minor Heavenly Circuits. Beyond them is the Middle Circuit, which requires guiding the forces of yin and yang and opening the Yellow Court. Beyond the middle lies the Grand Circuit, which requires moving the primordial spirit, traversing the Crimson Palace, Yellow Court, and Purple Gate. Each cycle draws in vital breath by the riverful.”

Yunqi could hardly imagine what the inner world would look like when running the Grand Circuit.

“Moreover, when you achieve the Inner Vision Spirit, the circulation of breath will be handled by the spirit itself, and your magical power will accumulate faster and greater.”

Yunqi’s longing grew.

“Now, I bestow upon you the ‘Inner Vision Sutra of the Hundred Apertures’ and the ‘True Diagram of Yang Fire and Yin Talisman.’ The former analyzes the innate and acquired attributes of the body’s apertures; the latter is the main diagram for circulating breath between heart, kidney, and the five organs. You may study them on your own.

“In addition, I grant you the ‘Guangcheng Command of the Void-Inspired Incantation.’ It contains forty-nine glyphs, each a spell. Study them well—for the power of the incantation depends on your understanding of each glyph and the depth of your own magic. If you can truly comprehend them, you can use the glyphs to illuminate your inner world.”

***

“I have now taught you the methods of inner vision, breath circulation, the inner world, and the circuits of the body. Go back and reflect upon them. Also, feel free to study other breath-drawing arts and incantations, or begin training in forging treasures and alchemy. When you deem yourself ready, report to the External Affairs Institute—you may go out into the world for experience. Above all, opening the palaces is most urgent.”

With these words, Sukong vanished from Yunqi’s inner world, and his mind withdrew from the vision and returned to his body. He opened his eyes to find the bamboo pavilion empty—his master gone. Yet, in his arms lay three jade slips.

“Press the slip to your brow and enter your thought within. You may then read its contents. The key to the slip is the very ‘Single Aspect Minor Heavenly Circuit of Fire’ pathway just now. Remember—never reveal these arts to others.”

Sukong’s voice echoed through the bamboo grove.

Yunqi rose and bowed. “Your disciple will remember. Thank you, Master.”

***

Yunqi carefully collected the three jade slips and returned to his quarters.

He was filled with emotion. After more than two hundred days of cultivation, he had finally attained magical power. He could not wait to try it out.

He first picked up the slip inscribed with the seven characters of the ‘Guangcheng Command of the Void-Inspired Incantation.’ These, too, were written in cloud script, but after two hundred days frequenting the library, the young Daoist had mastered most of it.

Following Sukong’s instructions, he pressed the slip to his brow and closed his eyes. This time, with no ‘Illumination Spell’ from his master, his mind again sank into a world of darkness.

He was unconcerned and simply focused. Sure enough, in a certain corner of the dark world, he sensed a glimmer of light.

He gathered his thoughts and charged into that light.

Here it was bright, utterly unlike the previous void. Amidst a white mist floated many glowing points, some large, some small, of various colors.

After watching for a while, Yunqi realized this was the diagram of the body’s apertures.

He moved the points with his mind, following the sequence: Cloud House – Heart Palace – Crimson Palace – Navel – Yellow Court – Perineum – Coccyx – Life Gate – Great Vertebra – Jade Pillow – Crown – Purple Gate – Cloud House – Heart Palace. When the last point shifted, the white mist dispersed.

As the mist faded, forty-nine golden characters appeared in seven rows and seven columns, filling the space. All were in cloud script.

He scanned them and recognized: Fix, Manifest, Swift, Seal, Forbid, Rend, Birth, Flood, Burn, Suppress, Touch, Transform, Trap, Respond, Scatter, Conceal… and others.

He wanted to try. After some thought, he chose the character for ‘Burn,’ since his only magical power was of the fire aspect, making success more likely.

He focused on the ‘Burn’ glyph. Instantly, his mind was pulled into a world of flames—a land of molten volcanoes below, red clouds and fiery rain above, a vision of purgatory.

As his mind entered, the flames in the heavens twisted and formed a hand gesture—a left hand, forefinger pointing straight at him, the other four fingers curled into the palm.

“Burn!”

A syllable rang out in the inferno, and the whole purgatory began to surge. Listening to this sound, Yunqi felt his mind being scorched to nothingness.

He hurriedly broke free, retreating from the purgatory, back to the world of the jade slip, then the darkness of his inner vision, and finally out to the external world.

Yunqi’s eyes snapped open. The jade slip fell from his hand, sweat streaming down his brow.

He picked up the slip, gasping. The memory of the fiery hell and his mind burning still chilled him.

Had he not spent nine months building the palace and refining his mind, just that one moment would likely have made him lose consciousness.

After a long time, he calmed himself, reviewing the hand gesture and syllable again and again in his mind.

He stood, looked around for something suitable, then left his quarters, went to the furnace across the way, and pulled out a piece of wood.

He placed the wood in the center of the courtyard and stood ten paces away—not daring to go farther. With feet apart, he slowly raised his left hand, pointing the forefinger to the sky, curling the others into his palm.

Yunqi fixed his gaze on the wooden stake, while his mind drew upon the single thread of magic around his Heart Palace.

He dropped his hand, forefinger leveled at the stake, channeling his magic to the fingertip, then out from the tip to the stake. At the same time, Yunqi uttered the syllable:

“Burn!”

As soon as the word left his lips, the wood burst into roaring flames. The flickering firelight reflected in Yunqi’s eyes, dyeing his pupils a brilliant crimson.