The Thirty-Six Eight Trigrams Formation Which Are Hard To Conquer

Xuefeng

It was the summer of 1983 when I was working on the Qilian Mountains at an altitude of nearly 4,000 meters. One morning, as I emerged from my tent, I suddenly noticed that the surrounding mountains and fields had donned a green attire overnight. How could the previously desolate earth, which was yellowish just yesterday, transform into a vibrant green overnight?

Bending down, I carefully observed and discovered that the grass, which seemed to have been sleeping with its head covered yesterday, appeared to have responded to the call of some divine force. Within a few hours, all of them broke through their constraints and grew more than five millimeters upwards.

What amazed me even more was that a few days later, the wildflowers bloomed all over the mountains and fields.

What astonished me further was that after a few more days, those flowers bore fruit.

What left me in awe was that, within a few days, those fruits had already ripened.

What startled me the most was that, after a few more days, the lush green mountains and fields reverted back to a desolate yellow.

Everything seemed like a dream. Why did the grass on the plains require half a year to go through the entire process of growth and decline, while the grass in the high-altitude region completed the entire cycle of growth and decay in less than a month, perfectly and swiftly?

Is this a kind of sorrow or a kind of happiness? Is it a hymn or a lament?

I don't know.

It must have been around 1986. At that time, Hainan had not yet become a province. After visiting Tianya Haijiao in Sanya, I returned to Haikou. One day, I had a bowl of stir-fried noodles in a small restaurant. As I licked my lips and stepped out of the restaurant, I noticed an old man selling a book under a tree near the entrance. I wondered if it could be a book on Taoist practices. Curiosity prompted me to take a quick glance, and I saw the title "The Art of Becoming Invisible: Daoist Magic" written on the cover of that ancient-looking book in a pale yellow color. I had never heard of such a strange book title before. I flipped through a few pages, filled with terms like Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, and Five Elements, but I couldn't understand a single sentence.

People who love books have a peculiar habit – the more incomprehensible a book is, the more they enjoy collecting it, at least for the sake of appearances. This book was indeed quite expensive, but I still bought it.

Back at my workplace, I occasionally flipped through "The Art of Becoming Invisible: Daoist Magic," but I couldn't understand it.

During a visit to my hometown, my younger brother mentioned an unfortunate incident that occurred in a particular family in our village. He said that the calamity that befell them was said to have occurred on a highly ominous day, coinciding with a joyous event they had organized. He proceeded to inform me of the specific day on which they held the celebration.

Puzzled!

Upon opening "The Art of Becoming Invisible: Daoist Magic" once again, I discovered that the date my brother had mentioned was indeed recorded in the book, highlighting it as a highly ominous day.

It turns out that the knowledge of selecting auspicious dates in Chinese cultural treasures is not superstition after all.

"The Art of Becoming Invisible: Daoist Magic" is fascinating.

I delved deep into the world of "The Art of Becoming Invisible: Daoist Magic."

To my surprise, I realized that it was an extraordinary and unparalleled book.

It turns out that the wisdom of Jiang Ziya, Zhang Liang, and Zhuge Liang all stemmed from "The Art of Becoming Invisible: Daoist Magic."

Ancient Chinese sages were truly remarkable!

My grandmother once told me a story.

She narrated, "In the distant past, there was a peculiar individual who constructed a door using stones in a flat area. There were no walls, and both the front and back of the door opened up to vast fields, completely unobstructed and visible at a glance. People could walk around the door to reach its front or go to its back. However, this eccentric person informed everyone that this door was a celestial gate, and once someone entered, they could never come out again."

The crowd burst into laughter, commenting that this peculiar person must be crazy or mentally ill.

There was a young man who, in a carefree manner, wanted to prove that the peculiar person was indeed crazy. He walked towards the door, and as soon as he stepped over the threshold, he was stunned by the sight before his eyes. He beheld ancient towering trees, verdant rolling hills, distant peaks shrouded in mist, graceful cranes soaring in the sky, waterfalls cascading down cliffs, and the gentle sound of flowing water. It was a magnificent and enchanting scene, like a splendid paradise.

The young man forgot his original intention and continued walking along the forest path. After a few turns in the mountains, he came across a house nestled at the foot of a hill, with wisps of smoke rising from the chimney, emanating an atmosphere of tranquility and elegance. As he approached the door, intending to knock, to his surprise, a beautiful woman dressed in colorful attire, resembling a budding peony, appeared before him. With a graceful nod, she beckoned him and said, "I have been waiting for you for many days. Please come inside quickly."

As he stepped into the hall, he saw a middle-aged woman with a kind expression, neat attire, seated gracefully in a high-backed chair. She beckoned him, saying, "Come, come. You have a destined bond with our young lady spanning several lifetimes. Today is an auspicious day, and I shall arrange your marriage."

The story continues with a joyous wedding night, filled with candlelight and bliss. They went on to have children, and it is said that they had a total of five sons and five daughters. The whole family lived happily together, and this young man lived until the age of ninety-nine before peacefully passing away as an immortal.

As for the onlookers outside the stone door, they witnessed the young man entering the door, but he suddenly vanished without a trace. They searched frantically, running here and there, but they couldn't find him. In the end, they demanded that the peculiar person remove the magic and return the young man to them.

The peculiar person said, "Be patient! Be patient! Wait for another six hours, and you will see him."

After less than an hour, the eagerly awaiting crowd saw the young man, who was still unconscious. Just as they were about to inquire about what had happened to the peculiar person, they realized that both the peculiar person and the stone door had disappeared without a trace.

It was then that the people realized they had encountered an immortal.

My grandmother continued to speak to me, saying, "Silly boy, if you contemplate the mysteries of the heavens and earth, profound truths may one day become clear to you. Do you want to become that young man?"

I replied, "Grandmother, you're talking about mythology. We are now studying science, and mythological stories are made up by people. How can I become that young man?"

Grandmother responded with, "I don't understand science. Let everything be determined by fate."

Later, when I read "The Story of the Magic Mirror", the scenes of the White Flower Fairy descending to the mortal world and the children of Luo Binwang and Xu Jingye breaking the "You Water Formation," "Fireless Formation," "Ba Knife Formation," and "Cai Bei Formation," I couldn't help but recall my grandmother's stories and reflect on the process of growth and decay I had personally witnessed in the grass on the Qilian Mountains. It was then that I realized the boundless mysteries that exist in the universe.

I have just realized that the magic of "The Art of Becoming Invisible: Daoist Magic" lies in its ability to create and break formations.

I have just realized that the Greatest Creator has laid out Thirty-Six Eight-diagram Arrays in the universe.

I have just realized that we humans exist within one of the Greatest Creator's formations.

Who can decipher the Greatest Creator's formation? Who can unravel the secrets like Xie Xun did with the Dragon Slaying Saber? It all depends on our destiny.