Chapter 149: Thunder Method

“The part about linking and cultivating an Essence Spirit can be copied from the records in the Primordial Qi Great Grappling. But what about the most basic cultivation method?” George felt like his head was about to grow a size larger.

Since that irresponsible guy Isadoro ran away, George had been worried about the Thunderbird Spirit inside his body. After all, if this problem could not be solved, George would find it hard to calm down and cultivate.

It was already the third day after George made a deal with Isadoro. It seemed that because the Essence Spirit had communicated with him once, the information streams did not cause any major trouble for George during the next two days. At least George did not dream anymore during these two days, and it felt like everything had returned to normal. But in fact, George knew this was just a temporary phenomenon. Maybe it was a buffer period created by Isadoro to help George, just as Isadoro said, George could try to solve the problem using the resources he currently had.

However, because of the procrastination from the previous day, the official duties for these two days were quite heavy for George. But what made George happy was that the new plan modified by Ketterwell and others was approved in one go.

‘Whether I should take a risk or not! I always feel like this approach is moving further and further away from the existing path. But if I fail, will it cause even more serious consequences? After all, there have always been many predecessors who sacrificed themselves to create a new cultivation method! Will I also become one of them? So, should I wait for the Druid’s solution mentioned by Isadoro?’ George was very hesitant about his choice. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something and made a decision. ‘First of all, I don’t know how long it will take for Isadoro to get the method from his familiar Druid sect. Besides, whether that method is actually effective for my current situation is another matter! Not to mention the problems with the Druids themselves. For example, do their magic techniques have very strict restrictions? I can’t accept most of them.’

Druids are bound by traditional vows. Their armor is limited to non-metal armor like leather. They are restricted from wearing other types of armor. Although they can learn how to wear full plate armor, doing so would violate their vows and prevent them from using Druid abilities. Similarly, Druids avoid carrying processed metal items because this goes against the natural way they believe in. Such restrictions would be very fatal for George, who follows the path of a Knight. If the method Isadoro gave George really had such restrictions, George would not use it even if it was effective. For George, who was about to go to the battlefield, this would definitely be a suicide act.

“It looks like I really have to gamble this time. Let me carve out a path for myself! As Mr. Zhou said, ‘In fact, there was originally no road in the world. When many people walk on it, a road is formed.’ Although the true meaning of this sentence has nothing to do with my current situation. But just looking at the literal meaning, it is quite fitting!” George said with some self-mockery. Sometimes, this inner conflict and struggle really require giving oneself an excuse to make the final decision.

“Thinking it over and over, in the end, I still have to find a suitable method from the Taoist classics I knew before crossing over to solve the current situation! What should I choose! This needs to be carefully considered.” After muttering to himself, George fell into deep thought again.

Unexpectedly, another two days passed while he was thinking. Of course, George did not have a moment to rest during these two days. First, the first phase of the new dock construction at the port officially began. As the highest leader of the territory, George had to go there personally to preside over it. He also learned from the face-saving projects before crossing over and held a soil-filling ceremony. At that time, it seemed to have a quite good effect.

Then, news came back about a shortage of salt in the North. Although this was somewhat within George’s expectations, he could not estimate exactly when it would happen. With the arrival of the news, the price of salt in Bolerum Territory began to rise. On the first day, the purchase price increased by about one-third. George began to make arrangements for the corresponding preparations, deciding to clear the stock after the purchase price rose by seventy percent.

On one hand, the warehouses in the territory were really full and could not hold much more, after all, this was the production area of salt, and a large amount of sea salt was transported from the salt fields every day. On the other hand, it was the way to share profits. After all, eating alone always attracted a lot of jealousy. Since I had already cut a big piece of the cake from this round of salt price increase, I had to leave some soup and water for the caravans going north. Besides, if the price was raised too high, once the freight advantage of the relatively nearby distance was offset, it would no longer be a seller’s market. It was better to take action during the time period that was most favorable to us.

As for other daily affairs, a lot of time was also needed to handle them. With the increasing prosperity of commerce in Bolerum Territory, the increasing number of outsiders, and the increasing frequency of caravans, the tasks that the local government needed to be responsible for and handle became more and more numerous. In fact, George had already started arranging to recruit new government officials. With the existing staff of the City Hall, it seemed that they were becoming increasingly insufficient. It was like a machine that was already running at overload. If no solution was found, no one knew when it would break down.

However, finding suitable candidates in this era was not that easy. After all, this was not like the situation before crossing over where millions of university graduates took the civil service exam! The high cost of knowledge caused a shortage of talent, and the time George had spent supporting and training those members was still too short. For now, most of them had not been able to complete their basic studies. Some members with exceptional talent still had opportunities for further learning and improvement, and George did not want to force them to grow prematurely. So, finding candidates with enough knowledge that George could trust was a not-so-small problem.

After nightfall, George in the bedroom seemed to have made up his mind: “Thinking it over and over, in the end, the possibility of successfully using the Thunder Method is relatively high. After all, the Thunderbird’s Essence Spirit is also related to lightning. But even though both are lightning, the meanings they represent are not exactly the same! In this world, lightning represents only a kind of energy manifestation. But in Taoism, lightning is more about the evolution of the supreme Yang energy between heaven and earth, even embodying the will of heaven and earth.”

‘Forget it. Whether it works or not, we have to try to know. Just imagining here without taking action, we cannot know what the result will be! So, which Thunder Method should be chosen as the cultivation method?’ George fell into indecisive thought again.

In the world before crossing over, the earliest Thunder Method was a Taoist technique that claimed to summon wind and thunder, subdue demons and monsters, pray for clear weather or rain, and stop floods and droughts. It originated in the Northern Song Dynasty and flourished in the Southern Song Dynasty. This method integrated internal alchemy with talismans and spells. It emphasized meditation, visualization, and internal alchemy cultivation, as well as prayer rituals, talismans, and spells. It was a fusion of various Taoist techniques; but it emphasized internal alchemy cultivation as the foundation and talismans and spells as the application.

Its ideological basis was the theory of heaven-human resonance. It believed that the human body was a small universe. Each part of the human body corresponded to the great universe. The head represented heaven, the feet represented earth, the four limbs represented the four seasons, and the five viscera represented the five elements. Its essence, energy, and spirit all communicated and resonated with heaven and earth. However, this communication and resonance were based on the primordial Qi. Once a person was born, they entered the postnatal stage, and their essence, energy, and spirit gradually became stained with various desires and impurities, unable to resonate with heaven and earth. They must cultivate to remove these impurities and return to the pure state of the prenatal stage, that is, reach the highest realm of internal alchemy cultivation, before they can trigger the resonance effect. That is, to combine my Qi with the Qi of heaven and earth, and to combine my spirit with the spirit of heaven and earth. In this way, summoning wind and thunder, getting rain when asking for rain, getting clear weather when asking for clear weather, there was nothing that could not be achieved.

According to the records in the classics, the core of the internal cultivation kung fu in the Thunder Method was to deeply and truly feel the impact of weather changes on the internal body in a state of concentrated mind and tranquility—that is, to compare the human body to heaven and earth and achieve mutual resonance between heaven and man.

No matter which school of Thunder Method, internal cultivation was the foundation, and external application was the branch. Thunder originated from the five elements. “If humans can gather the Qi of the five elements to form the Five Thunders, then the Thunder Method is the way of the prenatal stage, and the Thunder God is the spirit within me.” In the practice of the Thunder Method, there was a concept of establishing the pole, that is, the Great Ultimate was born from the Non-Extreme. The Non-Extreme was the primitive state. The primordial chaotic Qi moved from the Non-Extreme to generate the Great Ultimate, and only then could it be used. This meant that the elixir Qi was full, and movement led to application.

There were many schools of Thunder Method. In terms of Thunder Methods, there were Shenxiao Thunder, Yushu Thunder, Dadong Thunder, Xiandu Thunder, Beiji Thunder, Taiyi Thunder, Zifu Thunder, Yuchen Thunder, Tai Xiao Thunder, Taiji Thunder, etc. In terms of schools, there were Shenxiao School, Qingwei School, Tianxin School, and many other schools, with many branches. Each school’s Thunder Method had its own characteristics.

Among them, the most famous “Five Thunder Righteous Method” in the folk belonged to the Tianyi Gate Thunder Method of the Shenxiao School. It was divided into three steps: “Five Thunder Evil Method,” “Five Thunder Righteous Method,” and “Five Thunder Dao Method,” collectively known as the “Five Thunder Righteous Method.” When cultivating the Thunder Method in the Tianyi Gate, one started with the Evil Method because the method itself had no distinction between right and evil; the key lay in how the person mastering the method used it. When cultivating the “Five Thunder Evil Method,” the cultivator’s personality and temper became strangely abnormal. After the Evil Method was mastered, one began to cultivate the “Five Thunder Righteous Method.” When practicing this method, the person’s temper became extremely explosive. After the Righteous Method was mastered, one cultivated the “Five Thunder Dao Method.” At this time, the person’s personality became calm and peaceful. This process was the process of “entering the right through the evil, cultivating the Dao through the right, and combining with the Truth through the Dao.”

In the Shenxiao School, the cultivation of the Thunder Method especially emphasized sitting in meditation. For example, sitting with closed eyes and a quiet heart: calming the mind and spirit, sitting with legs crossed, keeping the back straight, holding the fingers firmly, and storing the spirit, and so on. With internal cultivation combined with talismans and spells, the Thunder Method could be used well to drive away evil and avert disasters.

The Qingwei School absorbed the theory of internal alchemy and formed its unique internal cultivation method. It divided the process into three stages: refining Essence, refining Qi, and refining Spirit. Refining Spirit into Qi was also called “refining the form.” At the same time, its application also involved Taoist rituals such as changing the form and refining the dead. However, the more well-known “refining the dead” relied on the mage’s primordial spirit internal cultivation to refine the souls of the dead with fire and water, so that the illnesses of the dead in the Yang world could be cured.

“Those classics claimed that the reason the Thunder Method could ‘combine my true Qi with the creation of heaven and earth’ and ‘exhale to form clouds and rain, and sneeze to form thunder and lightning’ lay in the daily practice of ‘nourishing the vast Qi’ and internal alchemy cultivation. But I couldn’t cultivate many of them! The restrictions were really too many. Why did I think about so many things? I should just try which one works first! In the vast majority of past cases, cultivation did not produce any effect. I don’t know if it was a problem with my own cultivation level or something else. The System couldn’t even materialize it. But now the situation has changed, and I have to try it once even if I’m being forced to do something I don’t want to. If it’s still the same as before, I’ll have to find another way.” George, having sorted out his thoughts, began to frown secretly. In fact, George, who was familiar with Taoist classics, had never thought about using the Thunder Method in the past! But because of the differences in the laws of heaven and earth, whenever he cultivated in the past, he would always receive a System prompt saying “Insufficient cultivation conditions.” Even the most basic Eight Great Divine Spells had undergone mutations, let alone such relatively profound methods.

However, it was unknown whether it was because George’s cultivation level had significantly improved or because he had the help of the Thunderbird Essence Spirit this time. A significant part of the past restrictions had been lifted: “Wow! The Five Thunder Righteous Method can actually be cultivated! It makes sense. Thunder originates from the five elements, and the five elements correspond to the five viscera. In a sense, the Five Thunder Righteous Method is the foundation for cultivating many other Thunder Methods. As for the side effect of a drastic change in personality during the cultivation process, my Doumu Yuanjun Visualization Method has already reached a small success, so it can suppress it. As for the Tian Gang True Mechanism that the Shenxiao lineage values most, the Zhou Tian Star Chart in the Sea of Consciousness is also a ready-made substitute. If that’s the case, then let’s try it right away!”

In the original transmission of the Shenxiao School’s cultivation method, the cultivation of the “Tian Gang Method” was highly valued. During the cultivation of the method, one had to find the direction of the Tian Gang according to a specific method to cultivate, absorb the righteous Qi of the Tian Gang, and make the internal and external Tian Gang one, achieving spiritual communication and true cultivation.

The Tian Gang Method was the pivot of the Taoist methods, as well as the cornerstone of the Thunder Method and the entry key for cultivating the Thunder Method. Without understanding the Tian Gang Method, the Thunder Method could not be discussed.

The Tian Gang was divided into external Tian Gang and internal Tian Gang. Externally, it referred to the seventh star of the Big Dipper, the Break Army Star, also known as the Great Saint of Tian Gang. In Taoist methods, the cultivation of the Tian Gang meant finding the direction where the Tian Gang was located, using the internal Tian Gang in the human body to face the external Tian Gang in the universe, making hand mudras, reciting secret mantras, and visualizing with the mind, cultivating through the three correspondences of the three secrets. In this world, the Big Dipper Seven Stars did not exist. Fortunately, the Doumu Yuanjun Visualization Method that George cultivated, which condensed the Nine Emperors, was a relatively feasible alternative method.

Heaven has the Tian Gang Star, which controls life and death, governs Yin and Yang, and creates life. Those who know it live, and those who are ignorant of it die. Humans have the Tian Gang Acupoint, which is the key to the body. For true cultivation and body nourishment, the human Tian Gang Acupoint communicates with the Tian Gang Star internally and externally through the blood vessels, achieving a Tian Gang Qi armor to avoid evil, cut through barriers and open orifices, fill with spiritual particles, and combine with the Dao to achieve Truth.

Since he found that there were no obstacles in cultivation, George began formal cultivation. Because this body had already fully developed, George prepared to start from the Kidney Water according to the method of the birth of Yang. As the saying goes, the East Wood Thunder is in the Liver Palace, the South Fire Thunder is in the Heart Palace, the West Mountain Thunder is in the Lung Palace, the North Water Thunder is in the Kidney Palace, and the Central Earth Thunder is in the Spleen Palace. In internal skill cultivation, the Five Thunders belong to the five viscera. Only when the Qi of the five viscera gathers and converges into one can it reach the Great Dao and master the wonderful use of the Five Thunders. This was called “Gathering the Five Thunders,” which also referred to the realm where the internal cultivation of the Thunder Method reached the state of “Five Qi Returning to the Origin.”

While controlling his own Spiritual Qi to nourish the kidneys, he visualized the Northern Thunder King Wu Xi in his mind. At the same time, he first curled his index, middle, and ring fingers, pressed the thumb on the tip of the index finger to pinch the Hai pattern, then curled the little finger to hide the nail and pinched the corresponding mudra. When the Kidney Water was full and about to overflow, he guided it to nourish the Liver. At the same time, he visualized that it had changed to the Eastern Divine Transport Thunder King Yan Fu, and the hand mudra also changed accordingly. Then, one by one, it was Liver Wood nourishing Heart Fire—Southern Divine Transformation Thunder King Zhuo Bin, then Heart Fire burning Spleen Earth—Central Divine Swift Thunder King Zhao Jian, and finally Spleen Earth generating Lung Metal—Western Divine Power Thunder King Gao Hui to conclude.

Following the description in the “Illustrated Meaning of the Principles of Taoist Methods”: “Five Qi Returning to the Origin, unstained by a single dust, able to be clear and pure, is called impermeable. The Liver is the Wood of the East Soul, the Lung is the Metal of the West Soul, the Heart is the Fire of the South Spirit, the Kidney is the Water of the North Essence, and the Spleen is the Earth of the Central Palace. Therefore, when the sage does not look with his eyes, the soul returns to the Liver; when he does not listen with his ears, the essence stays in the Kidney; when he does not taste with his tongue, the spirit stays in the Heart; when he does not smell with his nose, the soul stays in the Lung; and when his four limbs do not move, the intention stays in the Spleen.” George could be said to have completed his first cultivation of the Five Thunder Righteous Method step by step, without any surprises or dangers.

At the same time when this cultivation was completed, the Thunderbird Essence Spirit in the Sea of Consciousness suddenly resonated with the five viscera on the physical body. At this point, George finally knew that he had gambled correctly. Although the effect now might not be very obvious, in the long run, it would definitely solve the problem of the Thunderbird Essence Spirit from the root.

Moreover, he found that the cultivation of the Five Thunder Righteous Method here was not only the cultivation of the Thunder Method but also a workout for his five viscera. This was exactly “cutting off the five leaks, remaining silent and unmoving as the body of the Dao, and responding and connecting as the function of the Dao, which is the wonderfulness of the Five Thunders.”

Most importantly, through this cultivation, George found that his body training level also improved. Traditional Chinese Medicine said: The Liver combines with tendons, the Heart with vessels, the Lung with skin, the Spleen with flesh, and the Kidney with bones, which are the five bodies. The Heart manifests as sweat, the Lung as nasal mucus, the Liver as tears, the Spleen as saliva, and the Kidney as spit, which are the five fluids. The Heart’s will is joy, the Liver’s will is anger, the Spleen’s will is thought, the Lung’s will is sorrow, and the Kidney’s will is fear, which are the five wills. The Liver desires sour, the Heart desires bitter, the Spleen desires sweet, the Lung desires pungent, and the Kidney desires salty. These five desires combine with the Qi of the five viscera and also correspond to the five flavors. The Heart’s brilliance is in the face, the Liver’s in the nails, the Spleen’s in the lips, the Lung’s in the skin and hair, and the Kidney’s in the hair, which are expressed through the five brilliances. This made the strengthening of the five viscera drive a whole-body evolution.

“I didn’t expect that the Five Thunder Righteous Method would have such benefits. It looks like, after all, the previous hidden dangers have been lifted, and the day when the Jade Pillar Golden Body Technique reaches completion will come even earlier.” George’s mood was exceptionally pleasant.