Mental Nature

Chapter 49: Mental Nature

Finally, it was here!

Not his bargain-bin master's practical experience and tricks of the trade, but this era's systematic teachings on Sorcery Arts!

Xia Fan gathered his focus and pricked up his ears in eager anticipation—only to see Master Zhang call Luo You'er's name first, then insert his gold badge into a groove in the wall behind him.

With a soft click, a hidden cabinet roughly a meter square appeared in the wall.

Everyone could not help letting out a cry of amazement. None of them had expected such hidden mysteries within the seemingly empty inner hall.

Xia Fan's gaze, however, was drawn to the object inside the cabinet.

—It was an exquisitely beautiful bronze artifact.

It stood about half a meter tall. Its base resembled a three-pronged goblet, except its cup was longer and could not be gripped in one hand. Above it rested an octagonal wheel, with a small square box hanging from each side. A beam at the center of the wheel connected it to the central cup, while a long golden needle hung suspended from its top.

Setting aside its as-yet-unknown purpose, its appearance alone made it a refined work of art. Relief carvings covered everything from the cup's feet to its body, while the wheel featured an openwork design. Though it was several times larger than the lower half, it did not feel top-heavy in the slightest. If it were unearthed in later generations, it would unquestionably be a museum's crown jewel.

"This is a Lingtai, used to measure a sorcerer's Mental Nature. I imagine certain children of great clans have seen one before," Master Zhang introduced.

Luo You'er examined it closely. "There is indeed something called a Lingtai in the Luo Family's You Province estate, but it does not look nearly as pretty, and only disciples acknowledged by the grand master are allowed to touch it."

"Heh, little girl, the beauty you speak of is not worth a single coin. A Lingtai's value lies in the materials used within it. Casting the base into this shape is purely showing off; in this old man's view, it is completely unnecessary." The moment he opened his mouth, he dismissed the artifact, worthy of being called a work of art, as utterly worthless. "Come, stretch out your hand and grip the cup. Then guide your qi into it, just as you normally infuse qi into wooden swords."

Luo You'er froze. "But it is made of metal..."

In terms of affinity with qi, living things surpassed dead things, while dead living things fell somewhere between the two. That was why sorcerers usually carried wooden swords.

"That is merely the shell. That is why this old man said a Lingtai's quality depends on the materials inside. Enough nonsense. Do it quickly when I tell you to!"

Startled, Luo You'er shrank her neck and hurriedly reached out her hand.

After roughly several minutes, Xia Fan saw the golden needle atop the Lingtai slowly begin to tremble.

After turning twice from side to side, it finally pointed toward the Xun position.

At the same time, a talisman paper floated up from the box at the Xun position. The two drew closer together, hanging halfway in the air as though tugged by some invisible force.

"Enough. This is your Mental Nature. Return to your seat."

Luo You'er went back to her seat with a bewildered expression, clearly not quite understanding what had just happened.

"Master Zhang," Xia Fan asked, habitually raising his hand, "what exactly is this Mental Nature?"

Master Zhang narrowed his eyes at him, his brows knitting slightly.

The abrupt silence made the atmosphere in the room turn heavy at once.

Wei Wushuang beside him repeatedly signaled with her eyes, probably urging him to apologize at once.

After a moment, Master Zhang suddenly broke from his usual manner and laughed heartily. "Hahaha... Excellent! This is what learning ought to look like!"

"Some of you come from great clans, while others come from Sanmen. The things you know differ from one another. Must I ask every single time whether you understand this or know that? No matter the occasion, raise your questions directly if you have them. This is not the court's Six Ministries, so stop bringing those outside customs in here!"

"Listen well. Innate Nature determines whether a person can sense the existence of qi, while Mental Nature determines what kind of Sorcery Art they are more adept at using. The former is inborn and cannot be changed. The latter varies from person to person and is affected by many factors. Together, they make a complete person!"

"For example, that little girl—" Master Zhang abruptly pointed at Luo You'er. "She is timid by nature and lacks confidence in herself. Even when she does not understand something, she dares not ask before others. I suspect she will only take action when someone drives her to it—even if that action is not what she desires. What does that resemble? Does it not resemble the wind, misty and uncertain, scattering the moment it meets resistance?"

Luo You'er stared, dumbfounded.

Xia Fan was equally astonished. Thinking back to when Luo Qingqing had forced her to smell his scent, it truly did bear more than a little resemblance to what Master Zhang had said.

"But wind can be either a breeze or a hurricane," the woman calling herself Shangguan Cai interjected. "Since both belong to Xun, how can one determine which kind the person being tested truly is?"

"This old man knew you would fall into this misunderstanding." Master Zhang cocked up his beard, seeming to have anticipated the question. "Do you think having a disposition like the wind is a bad thing? Timidity, from the other side, means prudence. A lack of confidence can prevent arrogance and complacency—cultivation is both the cultivation of the body and the cultivation of the mind. There has never been any perfect Mental Nature in this world. Bringing out your strengths and overcoming your shortcomings will forever be the most important theme on the road of cultivation. When you can rein yourself in and let yourself go at will, you can be a gentle breeze brushing one's face on one side, and crush all before you with a hurricane on the other!"

Shangguan Cai paused, then cupped her hands. "I have been enlightened."

This Bureau of Military Affairs teacher actually had some skill... Xia Fan thought. Whether in clarity or eloquence, he surpassed Xia Fan's bargain-bin master by several levels.

"Spells arise from the heart, so your Mental Nature determines what kind of Sorcery Art you are better at using," Master Zhang continued. "Of course, this does not mean you cannot cast other Sorcery Arts. It is simply that learning them will yield half the results with twice the effort, and their effects will be far inferior to those achieved by someone whose Mental Nature matches them. Moreover, even when using Sorcery Arts of the same attribute, different people can produce vastly different results—it depends on proficiency, comprehension, and personal insight. Therefore, there is no need for you all to greedily pursue too much. Rather than knowing a little of everything, it is better to bring one Sorcery Art to its utmost peak."

"When you work with other sorcerers to eliminate evil, do not forget to introduce your trigram attribute and the Sorcery Art you use most often. No one can cover every angle. Coordinating with one another and each displaying your strengths is the proper way to handle matters. I have seen countless geniuses, and those stubbornly self-willed fellows usually do not live long."

"Now then, next up, Yue Feng."

The remaining four went up one after another. Their results were as follows: Yue Feng belonged to Gen.

Shangguan Cai belonged to Li.

Wei Wushuang belonged to Dui.

Wang Renzhi belonged to Kan.

At last, it was Xia Fan's turn.

Xia Fan walked before the hidden cabinet and gripped the cup as the others had done—he could sense that the qi did not travel along the Lingtai's outer wall, but spread through its internal framework. This bronze artifact might only serve to hold it in place; what guided the qi was still something like wood within.

At the same time, observing it up close allowed him to discover that the square boxes hanging from the wheel contained all manner of strange medicinal materials. Presumably, it was these materials that reacted with qi, giving the golden needle suspended over the wheel its directional effect. Those relief carvings might not be mere decorations either, but some kind of talismanic seals.

Put simply, this Lingtai formed a simple "art."

An art that transformed intangible "qi" into tangible "force."

A few breaths later, the golden needle settled on the Zhen position. Several flickering arcs of electricity even appeared between its tip and the square box.