Chapter 1- The Supreme Virtue Hell Suppressing Body Refining Sutra, and Losing a War

Virtue is not something created by humans. It’s not a set of specific rules. It’s more like nature itself. Like light or water. Move in accordance with nature, and you will be virtuous. The Three Treasures of the Dao are Compassion, Frugality and Humility, though I can tell you for nothing, not many treasure those treasures.

You see a guy with a thousand year old mountain ginseng, you might decide that the most compassionate thing you could do would be to give him a quick death and use it for yourself. Think about how many more people you will help if you live a few extra years, compared to that bum. You would be harming the world by not slitting his throat, stealing his treasures and kicking his body into a ditch.

“Grandpa… I always wondered, what did you do before you were a ghost?” Tian turned the statue over in his hands. The man was very manly. He looked like some of Tian’s brothers in the shower- all chiseled, tight muscle, a wide neck and a sharp jawline. The woman was, well… some of the Senior Sisters were very pretty, but the woman in the statue was having him feel something he couldn’t really put words to.

Not important right now. Anyway. Supreme Virtue Hell Suppressing Body Refining Sutra. Each part of that name is important. This is a sutra you can easily use all the way through the Heavenly Person Realm, and maybe beyond. Supreme Virtue- moving in accordance with the Dao. Hell Suppressing- capable of withstanding evil and unclean things. Remember what I said about oppositional dualities a long while ago? Here it is again. Moving with the dao and against Hell. Then Body Refining Sutra-

“It refines your body?”

Yes, but what that means is interesting. It’s not just about being stronger or impervious or something. It’s about bringing the body into balance.

“Man and woman. Oppositional dualities. I’m not sure I want to be balanced, Grandpa.”

It’s symbolic. A metaphor.

“A lie?”

An illustration. Balanced doesn’t mean a fifty-fifty split. You are male, yang dominant. This will moderate the yang so it doesn’t become something bad instead of something good. Remember- too much of anything is a poison. You need balance. A bit of yin will see you living a lot longer than yang alone would. Literally. Cancer is, among other things, an example of excess yang. You will also be a bit heavier than your body size would suggest. Not fatter, just heavier.

“Seems kind of weird.”

Yang is the source of lightness and airiness, yin is heaviness and solidity. That’s what they believe around here, and it’s worked for hundreds of thousands of years.

Tian had a lot more questions, but he knew this rabbit hole was infinitely deep. He didn’t have time to get into all that. Sooner or later, probably sooner, he would get sent out on a new mission.

Working in the hospital wasn’t stable work, it turned out. A lot of people never made it back for treatment. To Brother Wang’s intense frustration, Tian was told he would still have the occasional combat patrol to go on, fulfilling the role of a battlefield medic.

The fact that he was in no way qualified as a doctor was not seen as a serious problem. He was trained on how to use specialized medical talismans, how to use a variety of healing pastes, ointments and sticking plasters, and issued a small collection of potions and powders with repeated threats about the fate of those who sell medical goods entrusted to their care.

It sounded stupid to Tian, but the logic was impeccable- they didn’t have enough people to send real doctors, and higher level fighters should be focused on fighting. Tian being focused on staying alive and keeping other people alive was just perfect.

They also didn’t have enough people at the hospital, or on the front lines, or running logistics, or running transportation, or crafting. The Mission Hall was slammed with job listings, and mandatory missions seemed to travel like swarms of biting insects. The Elders insisted that the Ancient Crane Monastery and its allies were winning this war. Everyone else chose to believe the evidence of their eyes.

The orthodox sects were losing this war, and badly. They were outnumbered to begin with, and at the higher levels, losses were about even or slightly favoring the heretics. Things were a bit better amongst Earthly Realm level fighters- they were younger and the young heretics had a very shallow foundation compared to Tian’s senior brothers. But “better” isn’t the same as “good.”

Tian had lost too many good brothers already. He wasn’t very close to Poetry Saint Zhu, but when he closed his eyes, he could see the old man’s face. The unwillingness and pain. Then the body slid into the incinerator, and Tian had to run and grab the next corpse.

“I should read some of Senior Brother Zhu’s poems. I don’t think I ever read a poem.”

You did, but you kind of skip over them when they come up in your assigned reading. And you should read his. He recited them from time to time. They are good.

Tian sighed. “Any reason why the writing on this statue gets squiggly when you try to read past the title?” The phrase “twisting like tadpoles” sounded weird, but it was the best analogy he could think of.

Because it’s not supposed to be read. This isn’t something you can study then turn into the Quartermasters for a reward. Glad I have been saving up my energy. This is going to cost a bit. Basically, you incorporate the statue into yourself, then run your Vital Energy through the statue. The energy intertwines with the magical text and forms… well… it uses you to do magic on you?

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It is a bit like a prayer wheel. Actually, they don’t use those around here. Ah… It’s like a waterwheel, taking the flow of energy and turning it into useful work. Through the medium of a spiritual recitation of a sort of prayer. Kind of. Look, there is a reason this magical technology was never mainstream.

“Can I cultivate while I am using it?”

Eeeehhhhhhhh… Maybe? Once you are used to it? Theoretically there should be no interference between the two. Grandpa Jun sounded more confident as he continued. Advent of Spring runs pretty constantly when you aren’t in the field, so it should be okay. Might slow your progress some, but it shouldn’t be too bad. You know what? Yes. You can cultivate while using it. Should be fine.

Tian had known Grandpa since the very first of the trash heap days, so the frequent “should” and the always questionable “theoretically” didn’t slip past unnoticed.

“Is it worth it? The extra time cultivating and whatever energy it’s going to cost you?”