Chapter 365: Thirty-two phases

So, the mystery was here?

Li Qi never expected that before he even had a chance to construct any method of enlightenment or the Dao of Buddhism, the secret would first be found from the appearance.

Since he already had a clue, Li Qi simply sat down, ignoring everyone else, and began what he was good at.

What he was best at, of course, was puzzles.

He wanted to see if this Buddha statue truly possessed the Thirty-Two Phases.

If it did, then once he was finished, the profound mystery within should be easier to discover.

Li Qi began to piece together the Thirty-Two Phases.

This piecing together took nineteen hours.

By the third hour, the wolf demon had already bid farewell and left to do his evening Cultivation, as their morning and evening Cultivation, daytime labor, and nighttime sleep were all regulated and not easily violated.

Only Li Qi and a group of Cultivators remained before the Buddha statue, some conversing, some dejected, some ecstatic, and some lost in thought.

People came and went around them, because none of these Cultivators were of the Seventh Grade.

Without reaching the Seventh Grade, their lifespan was limited, at most a few hundred years, so most of them didn't have much time to waste here. Those who truly couldn't find any clues simply left.

Those who thought they had found something also quickly left the place, fearing being intercepted and interrogated.

And there were few like Li Qi who sat for more than ten hours straight.

Such a thing was commonplace for Li Qi, but for other Cultivators who hadn't even achieved longevity, it was a bit too much to ask.

However, this also depended on their grade.

Li Qi could easily concentrate and sit for a month without getting tired.

Those higher-grade existences, who contemplated something for hundreds or thousands of years, were on a level Li Qi couldn't yet reach.

Putting that aside, after Li Qi contemplated for nineteen hours, a day and a night had passed.

He used these nineteen hours to piece together the Thirty-Two Phases with his own eyesight.

During this period, every time he discovered a phase, he felt the Buddha statue become more vivid, and the Buddha-nature on it seemed to increase.

Moreover, Li Qi later even discovered the Eight Brahma Sounds Phase among the Thirty-Two Phases.

The Eight Brahma Sounds Phase: Constantly teaching sentient beings with soft and truthful words.

How could a stone have the Eight Brahma Sounds Phase? It couldn't speak.

However, a gentle breeze came from all around, passing through the stone cracks, and there seemed to be waves of Zen sounds entering his ears, clearing his mind and making him intoxicated, unknowingly sinking into it.

There was also the Soft Hands and Feet Phase, which described the Buddha's soft palms and soles, capable of removing dirt and impurities, as if constantly anointed with fragrant oil, embodying compassion and gentleness, and able to awaken vitality by touching a person's body.

This Buddha statue was made of stone, so of course, it wouldn't have the Soft Hands and Feet Phase.

However, as Li Qi scanned it up and down, he saw that in several places on this strange stone, which resembled hands and feet, there was soft soil accumulated, and delicate green sprouts were growing out of it, struggling to grow with that tiny bit of earth.

After a stone weathers, it becomes soil. Could this soil in the 'palms' be the Soft Hands and Feet Phase?

Things like this seemed to make sense upon closer examination.

Thus, after nineteen hours, Li Qi truly found thirty-two kinds, completing the Thirty-Two Phases, and at first glance, it really looked convincing.

Li Qi looked around. He hadn't grasped the key before, but after more than ten hours of deep thought, a flash of inspiration struck him!

This Buddha statue! It was clearly a Visualization Method!

Incorporating these Thirty-Two Phases into his mind, combined with the form of the strange stone Buddha statue itself, it perfectly formed the appearance of a Visualization Method!

Visualization Method is the foundation of many Cultivation methods.

Although Li Qi's Cultivation of the Zhu Book didn't require Visualization Method, he had studied it and certainly wasn't ignorant.

Li Qi naturally had some dabbling in this area; although not strong, visualizing the Buddha statue with the Thirty-Two Phases before him was no problem.

So-called Visualization Method is to control one's will and then simulate other things.

This step is very important in many Dao paths and cultivation methods, because their human body's microcosm is initially chaotic and disorganized, requiring the Spirit Soul to reshape it, but ordinary people's Spirit Soul can't even control their bodies.

For example, theoretically, a person can be very flexible when doing finger exercises, but insufficient control of the Physical Body by the Spirit Soul will lead to fumbling, and the body not obeying commands.

If even finger exercises are like this, let alone reshaping the human body's microcosm.

Therefore, during Cultivation, training the control of the Spirit Soul and will is particularly important, and Visualization Method can greatly train this aspect, and also allow for early experimentation with the process of constructing the human body's microcosm.

Visualizing those gods and demons, sun and moon, Immortals, anomalies, and even various different Visualization Methods, is training one's Spirit Soul.

Shen Shuibi has a self-created, very famous method called the "Luofu Moon-Running Visualization Method," which teaches Cultivation beginners to visualize Empress Luofu running towards the moon and collecting Lunar Qi.

The reason this Visualization Method is famous is that Shen Shuibi depicted the Third Grade posture and the Lunar True Form, and also appropriately detailed it, removing the oppressive aura within.

Many Visualization Methods, when visualized, bring immense burden to the Spirit Soul, and sometimes the scenery in the painting can even scare Cultivators to death, or make them sink into it unable to extricate themselves.

For example, the Demonic Dao has a famous "Heavenly Demon Hundred Beauties Erotic Diagram," which depicts the Celestial Devil's thousands of beautiful Incarnations. While successful Visualization Method has immense efficacy, one careless mistake can lead to even one's soul being sucked into this diagram.

However, this diagram by Shen Shuibi controls the oppressive aura of the Third Grade and Lunar Qi to a minimum, so the burden of Visualization Method is not great, but the efficacy is considerable. Many people on Mount Luofu have even comprehended powerful spells from it.

After all, every movement of Empress Luofu has Dao Resonance, and merely imitating it can produce great power, just like the Grand Diviner's fingerprint back then.

This Luofu Moon-Running Visualization Method depicts a fraction of her Divine Will, and can be considered High Grade among Visualization Methods. It is well-known in Sword South and somewhat famous in Tang Nation.

To be considered High Grade in the world, this evaluation is quite high.

And now, Li Qi was facing a genuine Visualization Method.

He never would have thought before that this Buddha statue, when viewed through the Thirty-Two Phases, could form a Visualization Method.

Visualization Method, as a thing, can engrave a large amount of information, and the difficulty of its creation is also extremely high.

Even the lowest-grade Visualization Methods require countless resources and meticulous carving to depict their essence. Even if what is depicted is merely a tiger, leopard, or mountain god, a Mortal who obtains it for Cultivation can visualize a body filled with the Killing Intent of a mountain overlord, and perhaps even comprehend cultivation methods like tiger-form boxing.

Shen Shuibi's Luofu Moon-Running Visualization Method goes without saying; it contains a fraction of Empress Luofu's Divine Will. If one fully comprehends it, merely integrating this fraction of Divine Will into Dao methods can unleash immense power.

And the Buddha statue before him seemed to contain something not simple; it very likely truly hid profound mysteries.

So, Li Qi closed his eyes and began to visualize.

As soon as he visualized, Li Qi only felt the sound of Brahma sounds and wonderful Dharma resounding in his ears.

Joy suddenly appeared in his heart, and wondrous flowers emitted pure light, scattering treasures.

Hundreds of thousands of heavenly beings all rejoiced together.

Countless heavenly maidens floated in the air, together singing praises to the Buddha with musical sounds.

And then, the Buddha's words resounded, capable of removing all afflictions and illnesses.

Immediately, before his eyes, a Buddha statue appeared.

This time it wasn't a strange stone.

But a tangible golden Buddha statue.

Li Qi guarded his mind, only observing, refusing to sink into the joy emanating from this image.

Many Visualization Methods are extremely dangerous or even created with malicious intent; without proper precautions, people can die.

After guarding his mind, he began to observe the image before him.

This Visualization Method was composed of two parts.

One part was the stone carving in reality.

The other part was the 'Thirty-Two Phases' simulated and fantasized by Li Qi's Spirit Soul.

The two needed to be superimposed, just like a decoder card, to reveal the true Visualization Method.

There was just one thing...

The decoder card still had a single decoder, and on that decoder, the key and the pattern were drawn just right.

But the Thirty-Two Phases that Li Qi fantasized with his Spirit Soul couldn't achieve this.

Think about it, to complete the fantasy in your mind, then observe the real object with your eyes, and then superimpose the two in your mind...

Not to mention the difficulty, how can you guarantee that the fantasy in your mind is correct? How can you guarantee that the fantasy in your mind fits the Buddha statue in reality?

If you mess up, this Visualization Method could be wrong, and if you visualize with it, who knows what could happen.

Therefore, he still had to try.

Li Qi did not rashly visualize after successfully combining them; he prepared to try other combinations.

After all, as long as the fantasy was different, then this Buddha statue would have different combinations. Theoretically, countless Visualization Methods could be combined using this method.

Countless, could they all be real? That's absurd. Visualization Methods are such precise objects; making a mistake could kill a Cultivator.

Therefore, Li Qi prepared to try more.

He began to modify the previously fantasized Thirty-Two Phases, and then tried combining them with the strange stone Buddha statue.

However, to Li Qi's surprise, after he modified and re-superimposed them, what appeared before him was another brand new Visualization Method!

The words he heard in his ears were no longer joyful.

Instead, it was a rain of wondrous flowers, banners, canopies, fragrant garlands, coral necklaces, and immeasurable precious clothes, countless millions of kinds, all adorned with Mani jewels.

All Sravakas and Pratyeka Buddhas could not reach it; all quarrels ceased, and stillness appeared before them.

All moving thoughts, memories, and distinctions ceased.

A majestic and orderly Buddha statue appeared before his eyes, completely different from the joyful Buddha statue from just now. A solemn and regular Buddha statue became the main theme of the image.

This was another Visualization Method with a completely different intention, and it also seemed very profound, but Li Qi had not Cultivated it, so he couldn't distinguish its level for now.

Li Qi's heart trembled, and he quickly dispelled the fantasy, looking only at the strange stone Buddha statue again.

It was still just a strange stone, ordinary and unremarkable.

Truly... miraculous.

After another four hours, the people around him had almost completely changed. Li Qi had also tried several different ways of combining the Thirty-Two Phases.

Each time, a new and different Visualization Method was formed.

Some were joyful, some solemn, some somber, some magnificent, some mighty, some benevolent.

So many Visualization Methods in a row, besides all being Buddha statues, there was almost no similarity, yet each had its own wonders, and their grades seemed not low.

To be honest, Li Qi didn't dare to Cultivate any of them.

Even though he knew one of the hidden secrets, still... Cultivating such a Visualization Method, Li Qi was still a bit hesitant.

However, just as he was deliberating, a sudden noise came from outside, interrupting his thoughts.

It seemed like a commotion had occurred.

Normally, there wouldn't be any noise. Although there were many people around the Buddha statue, everyone was a Cultivator, so they wouldn't shout loudly. They could all remain quiet, and even when talking, they would lower their voices, fearing disturbing others.

Everyone had no grudges or enmities, and no melodramatic events would occur. Cultivators couldn't even manage their own affairs; unless necessary, who would constantly seek trouble for themselves?

Therefore, when Li Qi heard the noise, he immediately opened his eyes to see what was happening that would cause such a commotion outside.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw countless anomalies.

Among the many Cultivators surrounding him, there was an Eighth Grade Martial Artist whose body was actually emitting brilliant golden light!

He seemed to have comprehended something, and around him, a Visualization Method was actually displayed.

This Eighth Grade Martial Artist, like Li Qi, had comprehended a Visualization Method from this strange stone Buddha statue!

However, unlike Li Qi's continuous attempts, after he comprehended it, he actually chose to Cultivate, and this Cultivation manifested anomalies, alarming everyone around him.

Golden light flickered, and his body emitted light, illuminating the minds of sentient beings and dispelling the darkness of their afflictions.

His Physical Body also began to transform, subtly changing towards the direction of a Buddhist 'Vajra Warrior'.

With Buddha light shaping his golden body, he suddenly opened his eyes, clapped his hands, and then punched towards the sky!

Only a rumble was heard, the air vibrated, and a white cloud in the sky instantly shattered into dust, then was dispersed by the wind.

Then this Eighth Grade Martial Artist laughed heartily: "I understand! So this is it, so this is it!"

"This is the power of Great Fearlessness, the power of the Vajra White Elephant, it was hidden in this Visualization Method!"

After speaking, he seemed to have nothing left to pursue, and with joy, he quickly left the place.

After all, he was an Eighth Grade, he directly jumped up, flipping and moving, disappearing quickly from the mountain gorge.

Only a group of people remained, watching him leave with envious eyes.

The remaining people, seeing this, some sighed, others shook their heads, seemingly disappointed.

They seemed to think that the secret of the Buddha statue had already been deciphered.

Since that was the case, there was no need to stay here anymore. Although the power of the Vajra White Elephant was good, not everyone liked it.

So, among the surrounding Cultivators, those who practiced Shaman Dao, and even other minor Dao paths that didn't care about the Physical Body, packed up and left one after another.

This thing, even if comprehended, couldn't be used and was meaningless to them, so they might as well not waste time.

Then, those who remained were basically Martial Artists, or others who wanted to temper their Physical Body.

Since there was already a successful case, and they knew that the Vajra White Elephant method was hidden inside, they also stayed and worked towards this direction!

Only Li Qi frowned deeply, lost in thought.