An old fox stood upright like a human, its hind legs on the ground and its front paws in a gesture of respect, and staggered toward Lin Yi.
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Chapter 166 The Path of Qi Refining
"Your esteemed presence truly brings honor to this humble abode," the old fox said, bowing with his two front paws.
Looking at the serious-looking old fox, Lin Yi smiled slightly and said, "You are too kind, sir. I heard that your family has a rich collection of books, so I came here to pay you a visit. Please forgive any rudeness I may have caused."
"You're too kind, sir," the old fox said in a very formal manner, his manners so refined that it was hard to tell where he had learned them. He was like a typical old country scholar.
Just then, a fragrant breeze blew by, and a graceful young woman dressed in pink appeared beside the campfire. She was about eighteen or nineteen years old, and her beauty was breathtaking.
"Old Tu, we have guests in the valley today," the woman in red asked the old fox.
Before the old fox, known as "Old Tu," could speak, a "chirp, chirp" sound rang out.
Among the fox cubs who had been thrown into chaos by Lin Yi's sudden appearance, three young foxes cried out and darted over, leaping and bounding around the woman in red with obvious delight. They were clearly very familiar with her.
Old Tu scolded, "Xiao Sang, Xiao Fei, Xiao Shu, stop making a scene. We have guests today. Don't be impolite. Why are you crawling on the ground with your hands? You still can't get rid of your beastly habits. You'll make the guests laugh at you."
The woman in red smiled sweetly, turned to look at Lin Yi, and said, "May I ask your honorable name, sir?"
"My name is Lin Yi, and I come from overseas." Lin Yi said, secretly thinking to himself that the woman in red in front of him should be the reincarnation of the "Fragrant Fox King," one of the eight great demon kings in the world, and the current concubine of the Emperor of Daqian, Consort Yuan.
In the secluded valley, the two men sized each other up, the campfire crackling and casting flickering light and shadow.
"Are you also a cultivator, sir?" Consort Yuan broke the silence of the night by asking.
Lin Yi nodded and said, "I am a Qi cultivator."
"A Qi cultivator?" Consort Yuan asked, somewhat puzzled.
Lin Yi said loudly, "Heaven has three treasures: the sun, the moon, and the stars; Earth has three treasures: water, fire, and wind; and man has three treasures: essence, energy, and spirit. There are immortal martial arts in the world, which focus on the cultivation of essence, blood, and physique; and there are ghost immortal methods, which focus on the cultivation of spirit, soul, and will. I want to open up another great path in addition to these two, which is the path of cultivating qi and refining truth."
Upon hearing this, Consort Yuan looked at Lin Yi in surprise. She never expected that this seemingly thin and frail young man would have such great ambitions.
"Qi is the origin of heaven and earth, the guiding principle of all things, the parent of change, and the fundamental source of life and death..."
Lin Yi spoke eloquently, secretly thinking that if he could truly promote the Great Dao of Qi Refining in this world, the position of "Master Yi" among the Hundred Sages of the Hundred Schools of Thought might have to be taken by someone else.
The more Consort Yuan listened, the brighter the light in her eyes became. It was as if a brand new door had opened before her, leading to an incredibly magical world full of unknowns.
Suddenly, Consort Yuan looked up at the sky and exclaimed, "Oh? It's getting late, I have to go back. Elder Tu, why don't you talk to Mr. Lin? Mr. Lin is a trustworthy person, I will come to see you again."
Before she finished speaking, she leaped and was thirty paces away. With a few more leaps, she disappeared into the forest.
Consort Yuan left without hesitation or delay, her departure swift and decisive.
Watching Consort Yuan's departing figure, Lin Yi thought to himself, "Consort Yuan is such a beautiful flower, she hasn't been harmed by Emperor Qian yet. Should I strike first? The identity of an imperial consort is even more exciting than that of a princess."
Yes, it's all because we're caught up in illusions.
"Sir, why don't you take a look at my collection of books?" Old Tu seemed to want to show off his collection. After exchanging a few words, he immediately invited Lin Yi to the cave to see his collection.
The fox clan's library is located in a stone cave on the south side of the valley, which is also where the foxes live. The cave is large and spacious, about five or six hundred paces in circumference, and about five or six people tall. Once inside, it feels like a palace, and you don't feel restricted at all.
The cave walls were carved with many small holes, and oil lamps were lit in each hole. The oil was of unknown origin, but it had a pleasant fragrance and produced no smoke. The light was bright, and the flames did not flicker.
The cave was surrounded by wooden bookshelves, each filled with books of all kinds: large ones, small ones, handwritten copies, lithographs, woodblock prints, and various types of paper, including bamboo paper, sandalwood paper, silk books, parchment scrolls, and even iron certificates with cinnabar inscriptions!
Beyond the four walls and dozens of large bookshelves, countless yellowed books were piled up in the corners. Some were incomplete ancient texts, others were scriptures.
This stone chamber is filled with books, conservatively estimated to contain at least 100,000 volumes.
Lin Yi glanced at the books and saw that they were all placed together without any categorization. It was as if a nouveau riche had become wealthy and wanted to decorate his home as a scholarly place, so he spent money to buy many books and arranged them haphazardly.
He walked to a large bookshelf, pulled out a book, and opened it. It was a Buddhist scripture, woodblock printed, with an old seal on the back that read "Da Chan Temple." It was an ancient book that could fetch a good price in a bookstore.
I then flipped through a few more books, and on the back of each one was engraved the seal of "Dachan Temple".
"The Great Zen Temple," Lin Yi murmured with a touch of emotion.
Zhongzhou Dachan Temple, located in the central part of the Great Qian Dynasty, is an ancient temple with a history of over a thousand years. It was once extremely prosperous, and many books record its grandeur.
It is said that in this temple, with its many halls, the young monks who offer incense to Buddha and Bodhisattvas every morning have to ride horses to get there. Hence the saying "lighting incense while riding a horse."
At the same time, this temple is also a sacred place for martial arts, a sacred place for spiritual practice, and even a sacred place for wealth.
Buddhist temples are exempt from taxes, own vast tracts of land, and enjoy a thriving incense offering. Over a thousand years, they have accumulated wealth comparable to that of a nation.
Unfortunately, twenty years ago, the Great Zen Temple was destroyed by the army for conspiring with remnants of the previous dynasty to rebel. The ancient temple was burned to the ground and its treasures were looted. It is said that the finances of the Great Qian Dynasty have become more stable than ever since.
Success and failure, rise and fall, are truly like a dream.
Throughout the ages, there has never been an eternal protagonist in the world.
This is normal, though, as monks and Taoist priests are different.
Buddhism has a strict organization and strict precepts. From the beginning, its goal was to convert believers into monks and nuns. However, the monks actually possessed a large amount of land that was exempt from taxes, causing the imperial court to lose a lot of people and tax revenue.
Whether it was the Great Qian Dynasty's attack on the Buddhist holy site of Dachan Temple in this world, or the several persecutions of Buddhism in Chinese history, the root cause was that the growth and expansion of Buddhism had seriously damaged the interests of the imperial court.
Within the Taoist community, there are numerous factions and a loose organization. In fact, those who admire metaphysics and focus on Taoist cultivation mostly practice at home, just like ordinary people. They still marry, have children, pay taxes, and have no special privileges.
Few people truly renounce worldly life, reside in Taoist temples, and practice solitary cultivation in seclusion.
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Chapter 167 What are Meridians?