Volume 1: The True Dragon of Purple Void – Chapter 15: The Fusion of Buddhism and Taoism

As soon as Xianyun and his disciple Tianyu left Hong Kong, they stopped using any means of transportation. Starting from Guangzhou, they headed north. According to Xianyun’s plan, they would then turn northwest and proceed downward, passing through Sichuan and Guizhou, then through Hunan and Zhejiang, before finally returning to Nanjing. During the day, they visited the bustling cities and famous historical sites along the way; at night, they practiced flying by controlling qi using hidden paths; and in the early hours, they meditated to absorb the essence of nature, cultivating their bodies and minds to regain energy for the day. Sometimes, if they missed a city, Xianyun would deliberately take Tianyu to camp in the mountains, where they ate simple meals. Over more than a year, Tianyu had completely shed his former life of luxury and ease as a wealthy young master. He had grown taller and stronger, his skin tanned from constant travel. Under Xianyun’s guidance, his mind had expanded greatly. It would be hard to associate him now with the once foolish and stuttering idiot from the Chu family—instead, he carried a bright expression and deep eyes, sometimes with a glint that made it hard to look away.

That day, the sun rose slowly from the east, and its rays shone down through the sky. On the summit of a mountain, the misty clouds, illuminated by the golden light, created a magnificent scene…

On the mountain peak, Chu Tianyu shifted slightly on the straw mat. His eyes, which he slowly opened, sparkled with intensity. He felt a strong flow of energy throughout his body, and his meridians felt relaxed. He realized that his cultivation of Xuanqing Zhenjie had made further progress after a night of hard practice and absorption of the natural energy here, far exceeding his second master’s expectations.

He stood up. Before him was a thick fog, rendering everything invisible—it was as if he were in a sea of clouds.

As Chu Tianyu admired the beauty of the sunrise over the sea of clouds, he suddenly heard his second master’s gentle and kind voice: “Tianyu, the master has gained some insights. You need to continue meditating. Go explore on your own. I’ll call you when I wake up.”

The voice seemed very close, but Tianyu knew his second master was communicating with him from the opposite mountain peak. He was used to this. Besides teaching him the Cloud Gate Divine Skill, his second master mainly focused on helping him understand nature and temper his mind. It was common for his second master to sit in meditation for two or three hours at a time when he had insights—Tianyu had gotten used to it.

The mountain wind in the early morning was brisk. Tianyu circulated his qi, immediately feeling an abundance of energy within him, a warm sensation spreading throughout his body, bringing great ease and comfort. But then, his stomach growled, signaling hunger.

Chu Tianyu was not like his second master, who had basically reached the state of seclusion; he was still growing and needed plenty of food. Just as he was about to take out some dried meat to eat, a fragrant aroma suddenly reached his nose, as if it were right beside him.

Out of curiosity, Chu Tianyu gathered his energy, causing the mist to disperse and revealing the surroundings within three feet of him. Following the scent, he continued forward and soon reached the end, where there was a sheer cliff below. The aroma indeed came from there. Chu Tianyu summoned his Xuanqing True Qi and leaped down. If anyone had seen this, they might have thought the child was desperate enough to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff!

Although he jumped, Chu Tianyu did not fall rapidly. Instead, his body was wrapped in a green aura as he descended slowly. Wherever he went, the mist was pushed aside. Following the scent, he finally saw a red-fruited Silver Tree with a strong aroma at a protruding part of the cliff. Upon closer inspection, the fruits were fully ripe, with bright orange-red skins, resembling wild apricots—this was the source of the aroma. During his journey with Xianyun, he had learned about Taoist elixirs and magical herbs, which were essential lessons taught by Xianyun.

So, though Chu Tianyu didn’t know the exact name of these fruits, he knew they must be rare treasures. By chance, they happened to be ripe at just the right time, and he was lucky enough to discover them. Just as he was about to pick them, he suddenly remembered what his master had said: such rare treasures were usually guarded by snakes, insects, or other supernatural creatures, and harvesting them required specific techniques and steps. Otherwise, all efforts would be in vain.

Chu Tianyu made up his mind and cautiously approached slowly. When he got close to the tree, suddenly, two beams of light—black and white—shot out from cracks in the rocks beneath the platform and rushed toward his face.

Just as he was about to use his energy to resist, his entire body glowed with golden light, and his breath accelerated rapidly. He could clearly feel the Dragon Core inside him trembling as it moved, as if excited and joyful, or resonating with something else.

In a flash, as the two beams of light neared his face, the golden light around him suddenly formed a golden dragon head, which opened its mouth and swallowed the two beams!

The two beams of light, seemingly full of spiritual energy, instantly changed direction and fled back to where they came from. The light trails left in the air could be vaguely distinguished by Chu Tianyu’s gaze—the white one resembled a crane, and the black one resembled a turtle.

Just as the black and white lights disappeared, the golden dragon head plunged downward in vain, twisting restlessly a few times before dispersing back into golden light, enveloping Chu Tianyu and gradually being absorbed into his body. Chu Tianyu was also stunned by this sudden change. After thinking for a while, he deduced that the guardian spirit might have been defeated by the dragon energy within him and fled back. Not quite sure what to do, he decided to wait until his second master finished meditating before asking further. Having resolved the issue with the guardian spirit, Chu Tianyu looked at the bright red fruits on the tree. He wanted to pick one to taste first, then use the pill bottle given by his second master and the methods taught to harvest and preserve them. Unexpectedly, as soon as he stretched out his hand, the golden dragon head reappeared, leaping above the branches and drawing in the air from above. The fruits below seemed to wither instantly, falling one by one and forming a stream of air that spiraled upward, all of which was completely absorbed by the golden dragon head. Once absorption was complete, the golden dragon head returned to Chu Tianyu’s body, carrying this red energy straight to the cave where the dragon core lay… After more than a year of spiritual development, Chu Tianyu had already become someone with a profound understanding of the mind. Though still somewhat confused by this anomaly, he knew he should focus on his spiritual center and use his energy to help the dragon core absorb the energy from these spiritual fruits. He sat down on the spot, closed his eyes, slightly opened his mouth, pressed his tongue against his palate, placed his hands on his knees with fingers slightly bent, interlacing his middle fingers and thumbs, palms upward. He inhaled gently and exhaled slowly. After three inhalations and three exhalations, the energy slowly rose to his dantian, passing through the qi sac and Zhangmen, surrounding the heart and lungs, traveling through Zhongting, Huagai, and Xuanji, reaching the Baihui point at the top of his head, then descending back to the Yongquan point at the soles of his feet. This cycle repeated, circulating through all the major and minor meridians and acupoints in his body, driving the energy and aiding the rotation of the dragon core. At first, the dragon core absorbed the energy from the spiritual fruits very slowly, causing Chu Tianyu to feel impatient and a tightness in his chest. Fortunately, since childhood he had been trained in Buddhist meditation techniques, along with the transformations brought by the cultivation of his meridians and dragon energy. So, by slowing down the flow of his energy and using the newly acquired Xuanqing true energy as a catalyst, after three complete cycles, these sensations gradually disappeared, and he entered a state of unity with the universe and self-forgetfulness.

In the realm where heaven and man converged, Chu Tianyu circulated his vital energy for countless cycles. He only knew that when the last trace of the spiritual fruit’s energy was absorbed by the dragon core, and once the absorption was complete, the originally purple dragon core had turned purplish-red and grown significantly in size. Just as Chu Tianyu thought his efforts had achieved perfection, the dragon core suddenly stopped moving and began spinning rapidly in place. As it spun faster and faster, with a “pop” sound, its outer layer peeled off and instantly turned into energy, spreading throughout his body along with the energy he had been striving to cultivate. The dragon core then returned to its original size and resumed its original orbit, its color shifting back to pure purple, only now with a deeper hue.

Although Chu Tianyu couldn’t see these specific changes, he could still sense the dragon core absorbing and digesting the energy from the fruit. Meanwhile, the airflow released by the dragon core after digestion spread throughout his body without lingering or being controlled by his internal energy. He tried using the Mysterious Clear True Energy to guide and control it, but since this energy was too gentle, it had little effect. He then switched to the Shaolin Zen Energy, but it was too aggressive; before it could make contact, it drove the airflow away.

Anxiously, he tried several different mental techniques in succession, but to no avail. The airflow acted like a little squirrel, playing a game of push-and-pull with Chu Tianyu. Though Chu Tianyu had been practicing since childhood, he still had a childlike mindset. At that moment, ignoring everything else, he simply wanted to “catch” that energy flow!

After chasing for another while, he returned empty-handed. His internal energy was always too rigid or too soft. Just as he was frustrated, he suddenly remembered how he had subdued those criminals in Hong Kong back then. However, his second master had also said that combining this technique with internal energy was feasible, but mixing different types of internal energy was extremely difficult. Thinking this, he decided to try first by using the Shaolin Mind Method, then gradually summoning Xuanqing True Qi to protect the outer layer, and moving forward slowly. At first, he couldn’t control the strength properly—either the two energies got entangled or remained far apart. Tianyu, with his stubborn nature, kept trying over and over again until the two energies could function as he envisioned: with the internal energy from the Yi Jin Jing as the core and Xuanqing True Qi providing protection, combining hardness and softness for a truly remarkable power. Soon, he forced that restless energy into one place. Tianyu was overjoyed and propelled the two energies forward in a charge. The moment they made contact, with a loud “boom,” Tianyu felt his internal organs twisting violently, his meridians and blood vessels stretching to the point of rupture. He struggled to regulate them, but as the three streams of energy collided and shot throughout his body uncontrollably, Tianyu instantly lost consciousness. As he lost awareness, a purple glow suddenly intensified within him—the dragon core emitted immense energy, protecting and repairing Tianyu’s damaged meridians while sending out a trace of energy to control the three streams of energy. Everything vanished within the purple light, then faded away, and everything returned to calm…

It was unknown how long passed before Chu Tianyu slowly opened his eyes, exhaled the stale air from his lungs, and stood up from the ground. As soon as he stood, he felt that the energy within him was completely different from before—smooth, powerful, and clear-minded. The strangest part was that he hadn’t practiced any techniques at all, yet his body had become light, giving him the feeling of “about to float away on the wind.”

Moreover, only one type of energy was flowing within him now—reminiscent of Buddhism and Taoism, filled with the natural energy of heaven and earth. Just as he was puzzled, he suddenly saw his second master sitting behind him, eyes closed, in deep meditation. Realizing then that it was his second master who had helped him through the danger, Tianyu felt a wave of fear and regret for his recklessness earlier.

Xianyun finally opened his eyes as well. Seeing his master still by his side, Chu Tianyu was overjoyed. Noticing his master’s tired expression, he knew it was because of him. Apologetically, he said, “Second master, you’re awake. It’s all Tianyu’s fault. Just now I…” Without waiting for his master to ask, he recounted everything in detail—from discovering the strange fruit to forcing the integration of the energies.

Xianyun was also greatly surprised. He had been sitting in meditation, trying to gain insights, when suddenly he sensed two streams of energy from the heavens and earth—appearing and disappearing intermittently—coming from the mountain peak where the being from the heavens resided. He quickly focused his energy to sense that aura and transformed his form, flying on qi to reach the raised platform he had discovered in that realm. Unfortunately, it was already too late; the being from the heavens was already transforming that energy. Xianyun could only first carefully examine the bare branches without any fruits, only to realize that what the being had found was actually a Millennium Red Fruit. This fruit blossomed and bore fruit only once every thousand years for a brief period, and it was guarded by a spiritual essence. It seemed the two energies he had sensed earlier were emitted by that spiritual essence.

If no one picked the Millennium Red Fruit, it would turn into energy with the wind at the moment it ripened, nourishing the guarding spiritual essence. It appeared that the being from the heavens had, by chance, obtained the refined essence derived from this fruit and was meditating there to absorb it.

So Xianyun sat quietly nearby, protecting it, until the being failed to control its energy, its internal qi became chaotic, its breathing became rapid, and its complexion turned purplish-red. In shock, Xianyun quickly placed his hand on its back and used his energy to protect its meridians. Yet as soon as his energy entered its body, it was repelled by a powerful force. Xianyun naturally recognized this as the might of dragon energy, which he knew he could never oppose. He quickly retreated and tried to resolve the situation with his own energy, but still suffered from the backlash, causing his own qi to become chaotic. He had to use his energy to restore balance, almost sustaining internal injuries.

Fortunately, the being from the heavens was lucky and blessed. From what it described, it seemed it had used the power of its dragon core to forcefully refine and absorb those forces, combining them with its own dragon energy to create a unique aura. Xianyun then asked the being to try controlling its energy again, and the result matched his expectations. He once again sent his energy into the being’s body to investigate. A pure, strong, and balanced aura rushed towards him. Though prepared, he was still shocked by this continuous aura within the being’s body. In shock, he realized that, despite such hardships, the being had already reached the realm of “Three Flowers Converging at the Summit” and “Five Elements Uniting in Harmony.”