The solution turned out to be simple: he just had to stir Natural Energy into vibrating through his meridians, triggering a roar from his dantian, then use that roar—half real, half illusory—to suppress the entirely illusory world of the mind.
The Spleen Pig, which looked like a domestic pig, did not fight back like the Heart Monkey. It simply lay on the ground and let him handle it. But this thing could take far more punishment than the Heart Monkey. Uchiha Yu worked at it for half the night, yet the fat pig only slimmed down a little.
Worse, because the results were so meager, the frustration and urge to retreat that inevitably arose became nourishment for the Spleen Pig. In the blink of an eye, it had recovered most of its strength.
Uchiha Yu was instantly infuriated, but his anger was absorbed by the Heart Monkey. The Golden Snub-nosed Monkey's fur shifted from golden yellow to a faint blood-red, and its body doubled in size. This monkey was far more proactive than the pig. The moment it gained a little strength, it began scratching at its ears and cheeks, itching to make a move.
Uchiha Yu immediately gathered his thoughts, reining in his intent as much as possible. He kept his mind as still as dead water and turned his attention toward attacking the restless Heart Monkey.
In just a few seconds, the monkey's wildly struggling body was battered by Cleansing Shockwaves until fur flew everywhere, and it screeched miserably without pause.
But in those same few short seconds, the despair and resignation produced by his utterly still state of mind were absorbed by the Spleen Pig. The pig's body swelled like an inflating balloon. Its bristles turned into steel quills, tangling together into armor, while jagged tusks filled its mouth, as terrifying as halberds and greatswords.
The strengthened Spleen Pig was no longer quiet. It began stomping the ground, using War Stomp to shake the mental world violently and resist—perhaps even destroy—the Cleansing Shockwaves coming from the dantian.
Uchiha Yu's heart chilled as he realized how much harder it was to deal with two mind forms. This was completely different from when there had only been the Heart Monkey.
When there had only been the Heart Monkey, all he needed to do was keep his mind as still as dead water and cleanse the mental space, and he could easily subdue the monkey. But with the Spleen Pig added to the mix, doing so was tantamount to nourishing it and allowing it to become a new monster.
[Take a step back, and the sea is wide and the sky is vast.]
[Wait. Wait and see what this pig does, then act accordingly.]
[Don't rush. Maybe the monkey and pig will fight each other, and I can reap the benefits.]
The thoughts growing wildly in his heart were all about retreating, giving up, and waiting. That made Uchiha Yu understand that the Spleen Pig was at work. Once he followed those thoughts, he would lose control and lie flat, coast on his current achievements, and find it difficult to pull himself together again.
The path of cultivation was like rowing upstream through rapids. "If you do not advance, you fall behind" was not enough to describe its dangers. Let alone stopping—even slowing down slightly meant facing the risk of being overturned at any moment.
[So I can neither keep my mind as still as dead water nor become excited and worked up. I must maintain a calm, peaceful state of mind, neither leaning one way nor the other.]
[Under normal circumstances, this state is not difficult to attain. As long as I shut out external distractions and enter meditation through various methods, I can naturally have a chance of achieving it.]
[But I'm fighting two mind forms right now. Peace and tranquility can only be won through balance, and balance requires force—a point of leverage. Where am I supposed to find one?]
Uchiha Yu's mind's eye swept back and forth through the mental world, trying to find a suitable point to exert force, but there was nothing at all in the empty mental world...
[Nothing at all, except... the Heart Monkey and the Spleen Pig...]
[Ha, so that's how it is. Balance!]
Uchiha Yu found the solution and no longer hesitated.
First, he focused his attention on the Heart Monkey and shook the monkey's head until it squealed. Then, he carefully guided the blasted-out monkey fur to fall densely over the pig's body. Stimulated by the monkey fur, the pig's War Stomp lost its rhythm. The dantian's vibrations immediately regained their power, aided by the monkey fur as they pierced through the pigskin and penetrated deep inside.
The Spleen Pig's screams were deafening. Filthy blood splattered everywhere, and its aura suddenly weakened.
[It works!]
Yet in that brief lapse of concentration, Uchiha Yu's state of mind lost its stability. The two mind forms broke free of their previous passive state, regrouped, and began stubbornly fighting back against him.
And so, Uchiha Yu wrestled back and forth with his own mind forms, repeatedly fighting for the initiative.
At one point, the Heart Monkey lacked sufficient strength and was subdued too early, allowing the Spleen Pig to suddenly grow immensely powerful.
Uchiha Yu was forced to recall his proudest accomplishments—his perfect battles, flawless killings, mental suggestions, and the like—to briefly put himself in an arrogant, conceited state and reactivate the Heart Monkey's frenzy.
After that, the Spleen Pig snorted as it transformed into a Dangkang, too weak and feeble to contend with the Heart Monkey. The blood-red gorilla then saw daylight again, beating its chest and stomping its feet as it defied the heavens.
Following the clues, Uchiha Yu recalled the aphorisms of the cautious path and muttered, "Water benefits all things yet contends with none. Because it contends with none, none in the world can contend with it." He simulated a tranquil, noninterfering, conservative state of mind warped by Confucianism, causing the Dangkang to inflate into a black-haired domestic pig and draw the Heart Monkey's attention.
He carefully maintained the balance between the two mind forms, using their completely opposite emotions to preserve the balance of his own state of mind as he slowly wore down the heart demon's power.
In the end, Uchiha Yu won. Both the Golden Snub-nosed Monkey and the Dangkang crouched quietly on the ground, covered in thick monkey fur and pig blood.
He opened his eyes and found that the sky outside the window was already bright. It was nearly six o'clock, far later than his usual time to go out running.
He had stayed up the entire night. Though he had merely sat cross-legged without moving, he was exhausted beyond measure.
He was therefore tempted to take the day off and skip his run. But with only that thought, his balanced, stable state of mind began to tilt, and all kinds of thoughts stirred restlessly. It frightened Uchiha Yu so badly that he no longer dared to slack off.
"I'm running. I have to run."
"To punish myself for being late, I'll add another lap today. Three laps!!"
His self-encouragement woke Miwa Masayo from her deep sleep. The Tabby Cat stretched lazily with bleary eyes and muttered, "Yu's gone crazy again."
"Mm, he might be about to make another breakthrough."
"So fast. It's only been a month and a half since he reached Foundation Establishment. Should I work harder too, meow?"
After careful consideration, Miwa Masayo changed positions and went right back to sleep.
"Resting... If I don't rest properly, how can I have enough energy to work hard, meow?"
Uchiha Yu gave himself a rousing boost, put on more than six hundred kilograms of weights, and went out for his run.
In truth, that weight was no longer especially difficult for him, so the training effect had weakened somewhat. But it was already the limit of what he could carry. He could not add any more weight, or his center of gravity would completely fall out of control. Once all his movements became incapable of budging the weights, it would turn into the absurd sight of a praying mantis lifting a barbell.
When the difference between one's own body weight and the weight involved was too great, even possessing the strength to lift ten thousand jin would not allow one to control a one-ton object. In the end, one would merely hang from the heavy object and perform dazzling gymnastic movements.
If he could not increase the weight, he could only increase the amount of activity and use prolonged exhaustion to temper his body. That could also improve his physical qualities, though the focus had shifted from increasing strength to increasing endurance.
When he first began running, Uchiha Yu let his thoughts wander, using that mental activity to maintain the balance of inner calm. But as his stamina rapidly declined, his physical exhaustion gradually focused his mind, bringing it into true tranquility as well.
It was an emptiness sunk to the bottom, devoid of thought or idea. That ethereal state freed Uchiha Yu's heart. Though his body was extremely tired, his mind experienced an unprecedented lightness.
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