According to the book, the fifth realm of cultivation is called Meng Po Ting.

In myths and legends, after death, the soul leads to the underworld along the path of the underworld, crosses the Nai He Bridge, and climbs over the Wangxiang Terrace, you can see a quaint pavilion.

Meng Po is the envoy of the underworld.

She will set up a large cauldron in the pavilion, refining the thoughts that the world can't let go of into Meng Po soup, and let the yin soul drink it. In this way, the yin soul can forget the love and hatred of life, unload the burden of life, and enter the next reincarnation.

If we say that the mystery of "Wangxiangtai" lies in experiencing the mortal dust and feeling the side of "people"; Then the essence of "Meng Po Pavilion" is to detach from the red dust, and gradually transform from a person to a "non-human" and "saint".

Of course, the "Meng Po Pavilion" on the path of cultivation does not really make people completely abandon their emotions and memories.

What it needs is for the monk to strengthen his mind and to sever the mundane bonds that are insignificant.

"Breaking the bonds" sounds a bit mysterious.

In the Great Wilderness, different sects and different monks all have different understandings and practices of it.

For example, the monks of Lin Shan Temple, when breaking through the "Meng Po Pavilion", often choose to practice penance in an isolated place, not only reducing the material life to the simplest level, but also doing things such as long-term fasting and enduring severe cold and heat, hoping to overcome the shackles of physical desire and obtain the freedom and detachment of the soul.

For example, the Sword Pavilion, its ancestor once left such words before his ascension - "One breaks ignorance and troubles, two breaks ignorance and anger, and three breaks ignorance and greed", "Those who practice my way accumulate merit and cultivate virtue, and persuade good to turn evil". He asked his disciples to do more good deeds, to help sentient beings, and to restrain their own desires and troubles with kindness and fraternity. Therefore, the disciples of the Sword Pavilion will choose to travel the world when the realm is broken and do chivalrous deeds.

……

At present, in the territory of the Great Qi Dynasty, the most widely used method of breaking the realm is "cutting the seven feelings".

It may not be the best way to do it.

But it is the simplest, crudeest, easiest to implement, and quickest to achieve.

Since ancient times, there have been many monks who have been stuck at the peak of the Fourth Realm, at a loss.

They can't comprehend what "fetter" is, what "detachment" is, what "Tao heart is clear", and naturally they can't leave "Wangxiangtai" and arrive at "Meng Po Pavilion".

But "Cutting Seven Feelings" is like a beacon, pointing out a very clear and definite path for them and helping them break through the bottleneck.

To make a figurative analogy - in Gu Xu's previous life, when people wanted to lose weight, if they were told to "eat a reasonable diet", "improve metabolism", and "exercise scientifically", they would feel too complicated and didn't know where to start; But if they are told that "if you stick to dinner for a while, you can start to see results," they will start to do it, even if there are pitfalls.

As we all know, people have seven emotions, namely "joy", "anger", "sorrow", "fear", "love", "evil" and "desire".

The method of "cutting off the seven emotions" requires them to choose one of the seven emotions and discard it.

Xu Man, the master of the Sword Pavilion, and Master Jueming, the abbot of Lingshan Temple, have always scoffed at the method of "cutting off the seven feelings".

They believe that the "seven emotions" are only appearances, not fundamentals. "Cutting the Seven Feelings" is just an opportunistic method, and it cannot really detach from the mortal dust. If you make the wrong choice, you may also leave sequelae, and the slightest mistake in the future will lead to madness.

In addition, monks who use the "Seven Emotions to Break Through the Fifth Realm" will encounter greater obstacles and a greater probability of failure when they are promoted to saints in the future.

However, this did not prevent the method of "slashing the seven feelings" from becoming very popular in the territory of the Great Qi Dynasty, especially in the Exorcism Division.

After all, it's human instinct to take shortcuts.

Moreover, for most monks with mediocre talents, "becoming a saint" is something they dare not think of. Instead of caring about this kind of illusory thing, it is better to first raise the cultivation realm that is close in front of you, in exchange for the opportunity to be promoted and raised, so that the whole family can live more comfortably and comfortably.

As for Chu Fengge, he chose to use "Chopping Seven Feelings", on the one hand, because he was stimulated by Gu Xu and wanted to break through the realm as soon as possible to avoid being caught up by Gu Xu; On the other hand, it is because he thinks "I want to be the best in the world" all day long, and there are no worldly desires in his head.

He gets along with a beautiful woman like Shangguan Jin, but he just treats the other party as a sworn enemy.

He was once invited by the second prince to the teaching workshop to enjoy the singing and dancing, but he completely ignored those beautiful dancing girls, sat in the audience and began to close his eyes and meditate.

Therefore, abandoning the emotion of "desire" is not difficult for Chu Fengge at all.

He didn't feel sorry at all, and even felt relaxed.

"Women are all fetters," I saw Chu Fengge raise his head and say in a high-spirited tone, "If you don't have desire in your heart, you can become a real strong person." ”

Hearing this, Shangguan Jian shook his head slightly, obviously expecting this.

Gu Xu complained silently in his heart: Is this the spiritual level of "wanting to practice divine skills, leading the knife from the palace"? Chu Fengge, you are really a ruthless person!

As for the other officials in the yamen of the headquarters of the Exorcism Division, they had long been accustomed to Chu Fengge's various astonishing remarks.

Maybe in the past, there would be many young girls who had some unrealistic fantasies about Chu Fengge because of his excessively beautiful face and cultivation talent that far exceeded ordinary people.

But now, they are all generally aware of the reality.

They all deeply realized that the brain circuit of this Lord Chu was completely different from that of ordinary people—they couldn't see him as a normal human at all.

…………

"Let's go," Shangguan Jin pondered for a moment and said, "The time is almost up, we should go to the 'Old Teapot'."

"The head of the division told me that this actual combat trial is more difficult than before. If we can clear the level within a day, he will give us some extra rewards. ”

"Rewards? What rewards? Chu Fengge asked curiously.

"The head of the division did not say it explicitly," Shangguan replied, "but he said that this reward must be something we are very eager to obtain at this stage." ”

Hearing this, Chu Fengge thought to himself: My biggest wish now is to win the top spot in the "Luoshui Conference", trample this kid Gu Xu under my feet, and let the people of the whole country see the power of my Chu - maybe, Lord Si Shou will give me a powerful magic weapon? Or teach me a powerful new spell?

A joking thought popped up in Gu Xu's heart: Lord Si Shou, if I successfully pass today's trial, can you help me settle the arrears for my house purchase?

…………

A few minutes later, the three of them walked down the corridor to a small attic at the corner of the yamen. It has two layers of heavy eaves, the corners of the eaves are upturned, and the blue and blue glazed tiles on the roof shine in the sun.

In the center of the second floor of the attic is a small wooden table.

There are a few straw mats spread around the table.

On the table is a small and delicate white jade pot with a translucent wall that looks clear and exquisite.

Gu Xu recognized at a glance that this white jade pot was the precious magic weapon of the Exorcism Division-"Warm Old Pot".

It is small in size, but in the form of a fantasy, it records hundreds of ghost cases in history.

A few months ago, Gu Xu once entered the "Taoyuan Town" fantasy realm in the pot, killed the ghost "Dream Eater Tapir", and passed the promotion assessment.

Shangguan Jin took out three jade talismans from his pocket, one handed to Gu Xu, one to Chu Fengge, and one in his hand.

Then she said to Gu Xu: "Gu Daoyou, the mantra for entering the 'Wen Gu Pot' has been engraved on the jade talisman, you only need to recite it to enter the illusion of this trial; ”

"I remember." Gu Xu responded.

At the same time, he looked down at the jade talisman in his hand, and saw a line of golden seals engraved on it, which read as follows:

"The hearts of the people are only one inch, and the storm rises day and night."

Gu Xu narrowed his eyes slightly.

In his impression, the words on this jade talisman are not nonsense, but an important hint about the case in the "Wen Gu Pot".

For example, the last time "all appearances are false", it implies that "Taoyuan Town" is not a real place, but a dream world created by "Dream Tapir".

This time, what they need to solve is a ghost case, but the prompt words on the jade talisman emphasize that people's hearts are unpredictable.

What's going on here?

Gu Xu felt a little strange.

"Are you ready?" Shangguan Jian asked again.

Gu Xu nodded.

Chu Fengge said impatiently: "I was ready for a long time!" Let's get started! You're really grinding! ”

He had long been eager to penetrate the illusion realm with the power of one person, so that Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin could have a good look at the terrifying power of the Fifth Realm cultivators.

Immediately, they sat down cross-legged on the straw mat and recited the mantra in the jade talisman softly together.

The surface of the "old pot" glows with a bright milky white light.

The sound of beautiful music sounded faintly in the ears of the three of them.

Gu Xu closed his eyes.

His consciousness gradually sank, as if he had sunk into the darkness of the sea.

…………

At the same time, on the stargazing platform.

Luo Chuan waved his hand and summoned the bronze mirror.

The surface of the bronze mirror glows with a hazy sheen, and a clear picture soon emerges.

The heavens are like blood and the sun.

The earth is full of rolling hills and magnificent walls.

Gu Xu and the other three were wearing Qiyao costumes and stood outside the city gate, like tiny ants.

This is exactly the scene in the fantasy world of "Warm Old Pot".

PS: There is one more chapter during the day. Ask for a commuter pass!

…………

Exegesis:

(1) "The world said that I flew the sword to take the head, and I was very sorry for it." There are three swords, one is ignorance and trouble, the second is ignorance and anger, and the third is ignorance and greed. - Song Wu Zeng, "Can Change the Zhai Manlu, Volume 18"

(2) "The human heart is only one inch, and the storm rises day and night." - Song Chai Yuanbiao, "People's Heart"