Chapter Sixty-Four: With a Bamboo Staff and Straw Sandals, Lighter Than a Horse (Fourth Chapter After Release—Please Subscribe and Vote for Monthly Tickets!)

After listening to the Patriarch’s explanation of the Thunder Method, Yun Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief. When the true fiendish energy broke through his acupoints, he had truly believed his path to immortality was cut off. Now, not only had he survived a great calamity, but there was hope for his journey to resume—a joy beyond words.

Yet soon Yun Qi thought of another problem: with his physical body decayed, how could he possibly cultivate the Thunder Method?

At that moment, he heard the Patriarch Tongxuan speaking to Wen Sukong: “But in his current state, not to mention practicing the methods—even walking will be difficult. Sukong, teach him the Staff Dissolution Method. There’s no need for me to repeat myself. Go now, both of you, and do not disturb my meditation.”

With a wave of his horsetail whisk, the Patriarch Tongxuan made Yun Qi’s vision blur. When he could see again, he found himself facing the stele inscribed “The Bamboo Sanctuary of Zhan Biyun.”

He had returned to Mount Mingzhi.

Wen Sukong showed no sign of surprise. She beckoned once, sending the red cloud along with Yun Qi’s mortal remains into the bamboo pavilion, while she herself sat cross-legged on a mat outside.

Transformed into a spiritual entity, Yun Qi sat beside his master and heard Sukong say, “You heard just now, the Patriarch has tasked me with transmitting the Staff Dissolution Method to you. This is a secret never passed on outside Mount Mingzhi. But now that you have opened your Heart Palace, you are qualified to become my true disciple. Henceforth, there is no need to call me ‘Master of Studies’; address me as Master.”

Yun Qi was delighted and replied, “Yes, Master.”

“This Staff Dissolution Method is, at its core, a means of borrowing a body to restore the soul—but the name sounds more refined. In this case, the ‘body’ isn’t a corpse, but a bamboo staff,” Wen Sukong explained.

“Our founding Patriarch said: ‘Of all things given by Heaven, bamboo is the clearest.’ He believed bamboo was born of the purest energies of heaven and earth. Pure energy manifests as wind in the sky, as lotus in water, and as bamboo on earth. He also said: ‘Between heaven and earth, all is empty and interconnected, just as a bamboo tube joins air—straight and unbending. When energy flows, it passes through; when it departs, nothing remains.’

“The Patriarch believed bamboo is the finest spiritual vessel: it can store and channel energy, drink the wind and dew. Thus, he created the Staff Dissolution Method—shaping a bamboo staff to mirror the human body’s vital points, then housing the soul within it. This allows one to leap from the fourth realm directly past the fifth, immediately attaining ascension as a Staff Dissolution Immortal, the highest among the Immortals of Corpse Dissolution.”

The notion was so esoteric and marvelous that even Yun Qi, with all his wit, struggled to comprehend it.

Ascend as a staff? And skip the fifth realm entirely? What manner of genius was their founding Patriarch?

Observing Yun Qi’s confusion, Wen Sukong reminded him, “You have seen a staff-corpse before.”

Ah, of course! Yun Qi recalled the trial on his first day at the mountain, when he had chosen a bamboo staff shaped with limbs and a human form.

At the time, he hadn’t thought much of it! He never imagined that fate would come full circle at this moment.

“You chose the bamboo staff, so you must not have any resistance to it. This is the most crucial point of the Staff Dissolution Method: you must never regard the bamboo staff as a lifeless thing. I myself always thought of people as people and objects as objects, so I could never grasp the essence of this method.

“Most disciples of Mount Mingzhi across the generations have been like me, so the method was lost, used only to create external incarnations. Now that the Patriarch has specifically instructed me to teach you the Staff Dissolution Method, rather than any other technique of borrowing a corpse, it shows he has high hopes for you.”

Yun Qi nodded to indicate his understanding.

“With this method, you will place your soul within the bamboo staff. Henceforth, you will walk and cultivate the Thunder Method in this new body, accumulating thunder essence to gradually restore your flesh, until you are healed.”

Yun Qi nodded again. It all sounded profoundly mysterious.

“To be honest, I didn’t want you learning the Corpse Dissolution Method so soon. It is not the same as the Way of the Primordial Spirit. The Corpse Dissolution Method is about comprehending the treasures and mysteries of the physical body, then forging a new spiritual vessel suited to oneself—shedding the old shell and ascending once the soul has taken residence. That’s why ordinary people, seeing immortals abandon their bodies, call them Corpse Dissolution Immortals.

“The Way of the Primordial Spirit, on the other hand, holds that the body is merely a temporary vessel for the spirit—a waystation, a guest boat. One hones and perfects the spirit, and, when it is complete, ascends with the spirit alone, leaving the empty shell behind. In truth, this is the true Corpse Dissolution.”

Sukong cautioned Yun Qi further: “When your soul enters the bamboo staff, you’ll find spiritual energy flowing even more freely than in your body. But you must not become attached to this sensation. You have only just glimpsed the first realm, let alone the mysteries of the second realm, where destiny is stored. Do not linger here—do not neglect the fundamental practice of internal alchemy.”

Sukong’s words were sincere, and Yun Qi agreed with her.

Seeing this, Sukong gave a slight nod and, with a sweep of her sleeve, produced a bamboo staff before Yun Qi.

The bamboo staff was seven feet and seven joints long, straight from end to end, colored like green jade and faintly translucent. The top and bottom joints were hollow, while the five central joints were filled with talismans that glowed with five-colored light. The second joint sprouted two bamboo branches, and the final joint at the base also bore two branches, each tipped with five leaves—suggesting the semblance of limbs. The first joint had seven holes corresponding to the seven orifices, and each hole was also filled with a talisman.

Yun Qi recognized it instantly—it was nearly identical to the staff he had chosen upon entering the mountain.

“This staff was meant as an external incarnation I crafted for myself, but now it shall benefit you. Go ahead and inhabit it with your spirit. Think of nothing else—treat this as your own body.”

Yun Qi bowed gratefully to his master, then obeyed, slowly lying upon the bamboo staff.

As Yun Qi entered the staff, Wen Sukong rapidly formed dozens of hand seals, channeling power into the talismans embedded within it.

The talismans representing the five organs and seven orifices shone with dazzling light. When the radiance faded, the talisman at the eye orifice flickered.

“Are you awake?” asked Sukong.

The bamboo staff stood upright. The talisman at the throat orifice glimmered: “Yes, Master. I feel no different from having a fleshly body—save for a certain coldness.”

Watching the bamboo staff, Wen Sukong could not help but sigh inwardly. No matter how much effort she had poured into making it, she had always regarded it only as a contingency—a tool, a lifeless thing. Naturally, seeing Yun Qi, once a living youth, transformed into a cold bamboo figure brought her a tinge of discomfort and guilt.

Perhaps this was precisely why she herself could never attain the path of the Staff Dissolution Immortal.

Such thoughts filled Wen Sukong’s heart.

“Get used to it for now. If you feel any discomfort, tell me, and I’ll try to find another way. With the amount of true fiendish energy in your body, it will take three to five years at least to cleanse it completely.”

Even though teaching Yun Qi this method was the Patriarch’s will, Wen Sukong still felt compelled to offer comfort.

But Yun Qi only shook his head and smiled. “A wise man once sang, ‘A bamboo staff and straw sandals are lighter than a horse; let wind and rain be as they may, I face life as it comes.’ Now I possess the lightness of a bamboo staff—is this not a fine thing?”

Hearing this, Wen Sukong finally relaxed. She smiled as well, feeling she had underestimated her disciple yet again. After a moment’s thought, she added, “Now that you have opened the Heart Palace and become my true disciple, formally entering the lineage of Mount Mingzhi, you deserve a Daoist name.”

The bamboo branches on the staff moved gracefully in a bow. “Please, Master, bestow a name upon me.”

“I had already decided on the character ‘Bo’ for you, meaning serene and far-sighted, peaceful and steadfast. ‘Bo’ means by the water’s edge, and is also pronounced ‘Bo’ as in ‘elder.’ You first opened the Heart Palace, harmonized yin and yang with water, and your surname is Cheng—‘Bo’ is a fitting sound for your return to the family line.”

Yun Qi found this name quite suitable.

“But looking at you now, I see that serenity and detachment are already in your nature. To use the name ‘Bo’ would not do you justice. Instead, let me borrow a character from your wise man’s poem and name you ‘Zhan’—meaning to look far, to gaze ahead. May you, on your path of cultivation, use your heart as your eyes, always looking far ahead and never constrained by present hardship. What do you think?”

Sukong spoke gently.

The bamboo figure softly repeated the name, the talismans at the eye orifices glowing brighter.

“Zhan. Cheng Xinzhan. A fine name. Xinzhan bows in gratitude to Master!”

I am quite satisfied with this chapter. I wonder what my readers think. I read and revised the last few passages several times and am pleased with the result. I conceived this scene as early as the first chapter—I dearly love that poem.

(End of chapter)