Sandwood incense is lit, a wisp of blue smoke curling up, lingering in the ditation Hall.
The beams of light shining down from the do beco even hazier as they filter through the smoke.
A sense of serene detachnt from the world arises spontaneously.
"Human brains have a limited capacity to receive information; when you block one sense, others beco more sensitive."
"Once you cast away all distracting thoughts, you’ll be able to perceive information that we usually overlook."
"The first step in ditative practice requires learning to control and endure."
"First, follow and take deep breaths, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale..."
"Now close your eyes, sit quietly there, slowly amplify your remaining senses, and pay attention to the surroundings..."
More than fifty students dressed in loose white clothes sit around the instructor, ditating with eyes closed.
Each person’s state of mind seems to gradually beco tranquil, their expressions more relaxed.
Fang Cheng also listens carefully to the instructor’s guidance, ticulously following each step.
"ditation" is sothing he is already quite familiar with.
Especially in this harmonious atmosphere, even without activating his Concentration Skill or using the breathing counting thod, by simply adjusting his state of mind, he smoothly enters the ditation State.
Fang Cheng closes his eyes and silently feels as his breathing rhythm gradually becos slow and lengthened.
This ti, he doesn’t deliberately avoid the various negative influences from the outside world.
Instead, according to the instructor’s words, he tries to face those sensory interferences with a calm and accepting heart and observes the environnt more carefully.
He hears the deep or short breaths of fellow students beside him, the rustling of the curtains as the wind blows, the swaying of branches outside, the footsteps and voices of people passing by...
Then his nostrils flare slightly, distinguishing the various scents wafting through the room.
The sandwood incense, pure and lingering.
The fragrance of flowers, rich and sweet.
As well as the crowd’s emanating, pungent scent of sweat and body odor...
He can even feel the air moving, like the wind or waves, in gusts, causing his hairs to flutter.
In this state, even the most obtuse sense of touch becos extrely sensitive.
"Now, your mind no longer entertains those distracting thoughts, because your consciousness is busy experiencing the present..."
The instructor’s voice, celestial and ethereal, resonates beside his ear.
"After this, you can continue to ’subtract’, step by step closing off the other four senses, enhancing the remaining sensory abilities."
"If any strangeness occurs during this process, do not resist; learn to accept, adapt, understand, until your consciousness completely rges with the environnt..."
At this mont, Fang Cheng’s mind is filled with noise, yet his spirit is exceptionally peaceful and serene.
Having reached this stage in ditative practice, it’s as if it has beco an instinct emanating from the body.
As brief thoughts flicker, his sense of hearing naturally fades away.
Then, in the pitch-black recesses of his mind, a bright scene faintly erges.
The warm sunlight spreading in, the white curtains fluttering with the wind, the narcissus petals in the vase unfurling.
The interior and exterior seem to blend into one, creating a dreamlike interplay of light and shadow.
And his sense of sll also starts to ’touch’ the sunlight, the curtains, and the petals in place of his hands.
At this mont, Fang Cheng suddenly grasps the essence of the instructor’s teaching on the five senses.
Sight is not only seeing, hearing is not only listening, and sll is not just slling.
They are all parts of consciousness, fundantally indistinguishable, all differentiated from the sa source.
That is "perception", also known as the sixth sense in the unknown.
Fang Cheng’s heart is as tranquil as a still ancient well, yet it seems to ripple like a lake surface, sending concentric circles outward.
While perception is being ’subtracted’, it is, in fact, also being ’added’.
At this point, sight, taste, and hearing have already returned to their source.
Fang Cheng decides to continue cutting off the fourth sense "sll," allowing the ultimate remaining "touch" to amplify as much as possible.
In a trance, the flow of air around him began to accelerate like the tides and waves surging constantly.
Fang Cheng suddenly experienced an imnsely comfortable feeling, as though he had returned to the womb.
Stars twinkled above the do, their faint light sprinkling down, gently enveloping him and slowly lifting him into the air.
Then, Fang Cheng tried stretching his arms, joyously swimming through the void like a fish.
And so, gradually, even the fifth sense—touch—began to fade away.
As if sinking into an endless blue, reveling in eternal tranquility.
A desire... to comfortably fall into sleep there and then.
At this mont, a vaguely familiar sensation suddenly assailed him.
Fang Cheng heard a series of extrely strange and deep syllables.
No.
To be precise, it was more like a ssage naturally emitted by so consciousness.
As if a mother related by blood was calling out to her offspring through the vastness.
Such peculiarity, as though he was lost in a dream, but also bringing an extraordinary clarity, he could feel both the passage and cessation of ti, the unpredictability of the four seasons, in an incessant cycle.
Fang Cheng raised his eyes to gaze into the infinite depths of the azure, and faintly saw an extrely distant and colossal phantom.
It seed... that if he responded, he would instantly gain so great wisdom beyond the mundane world, or so shocking power.
Fang Cheng’s heart stirred, he opened his mouth, but was unable to produce any sound.
Then he extended his limbs, swimming towards it, yet could not find the correct direction at all.
As he struggled in his attempts, a jolt passed through his heart, and he abruptly rembered sothing.
His self-awareness awoke anew, followed by a silent decree:
"Heart of Steel, activate!"
As the skill’s effects unfolded like a barrier, the azure he had seen in his mind vanished in a flash, like an illusion fading away.
And with it, his severed senses returned to his body, with all sorts of sounds, slls, and tactile sensations flooding back rapidly like a tide.
Everything swiftly returned to normal.
"What exactly did I see?"
Fang Cheng opened his eyes, his heart still pounding as he recalled the sensation that had nearly led his consciousness astray and out of control.
anwhile, Instructor Chen sitting amidst the crowd seed to sense sothing.
He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over many students who showed no signs of entering ditation and his expression slightly disappointed.
Yet, when he looked towards a few other people, he nodded slightly.
For those imrsed in the ditation State, the class seed to have lasted only a brief few minutes, but in reality, three hours had passed.
Outside, the setting sun cast its glow, the light inside the room was soft and yellow, and even the stars on the do seed a bit dimr.
"Alright, today is just the first lesson, the main purpose is to give you all a preliminary understanding of what ditation is."
Instructor Chen clapped his hands, signaling that everyone could end their ditation practice.
Then he encouraged them in a gentle tone:
"As for those who haven’t found the feeling, don’t lose heart. If you reach Complete Silence on your first ditation, that would definitely be the mark of a one-in-ten-thousand genius."
"Moreover, during the morning and evening classes in the coming days, you can all co to the ditation Hall to review the basics. It will help you deepen your understanding of ditation..."
Hearing this, everyone let out a sigh of relief, feeling their legs so numb they could barely stand.
However, the expressions on everyone’s faces were all of a peaceful nature, as if they had all experienced different wonderful things during this ditation class.
Even Pan Wendi had a reminiscent look on his face, as if his chatterbox ailnt had been cured.
Fang Cheng looked around, composed his thoughts, and suddenly noticed his panel softly flickering with light.
With a thought, two prompt ssages imdiately appeared before his eyes.
[In your ditation practice, you had the fortune of contacting a higher-dinsional consciousness, successfully unlocking a deeper self-awareness, gaining an initial understanding of it]
[Skill Unlocked: ditation lv0 (0/100)]
It turned out that during ditation, he had unwittingly unlocked a Skill.
User Comments
0 comments from readers