Breakthrough

Standing atop the highest stone peak of the Nine Yang Gathering Yuan Array, Li Feng looked up at the sky and muttered to himself, "Damn it, what's so good about becoming an immortal? I've never heard that immortals can marry. This young master should cultivate hard first and make Master's wife mine... But I forgot to ask those old fellows—what exactly is going on with our Sect Leader and Second Martial Uncle? Hehe, could it be that the Sect Leader wasn't satisfied with whoring around this world and insisted on finding another wife? Hehe, next time I have to ask around properly."

A fierce wind came from behind him as Xie Yuezi flew over on his sword. A pale golden flash appeared and vanished. Xie Yuezi landed on a stone peak more than a dozen zhang away from Li Feng, nodded, and said, "Martial Nephew, you are quite diligent. Hmm, today your Martial Uncle will teach you several practical arts, then exchange pointers with you on sword control. You must remember, sword arts and spell arts are both..."

Li Feng swiftly cut in, "Sword arts and spell arts are both minor paths, right? Only tempering oneself and pursuing the Dao of Heaven are fundamental."

Xie Yuezi smiled and said no more. His two slender, jade-white hands extended, slowly and meticulously forming hand seals. He said gently, "This is the Wind Control Art. It can guide the clear qi of heaven and earth into motion. At its slightest, it is like a breeze passing through a hall; at its fiercest, it can whip up raging waves and stormy seas. Do not underestimate the power of wind. During the Five Dynasties, Yinguang Daoist of East Kunlun summoned a hurricane over the Eastern Sea and killed over a thousand heretical cultivators who had thrown the Central Plains into chaos in one stroke. When wind reaches its hardest and sharpest state, its power can rival excellent sword light."

As Xie Yuezi completed his hand seals and poured in his True Essence, a gentle breeze slowly rose beneath his feet, carrying him more than a dozen zhang into the air. Then a wild gale burst from his body, sweeping the clouds from the sky in a single roll. The wind howled, and within it, thirteen white crescent-shaped wind blades, each over a zhang long, slashed and stabbed back and forth. At last, with Xie Yuezi's sharp shout, the thirteen wind blades hacked toward a mountaintop amid the sea of clouds beyond Qingyun Flat. With a thunderous crash, a peak ten zhang tall and seven or eight zhang wide was cleaved clean off.

Li Feng stared, dumbstruck. He had never imagined that wind could truly possess such power. Awed by the might of the Wind Control Art, Li Feng obediently followed Xie Yuezi in forming hand seals, studying each movement with painstaking precision.

Half an hour later, seeing that Li Feng had become proficient with the hand seals and could even summon a light breeze, Xie Yuezi nodded in satisfaction. Smiling, he said, "Good. The Wind Control Art is not difficult to learn. Now comes the Lightning Control Art. This is not the Five Thunder Curse that you can only use with Talisman Charms. It is a supreme Daoist art for subduing demons and protecting oneself. The difference in power is as vast as heaven and earth... Yet thunder is the command of Heaven. Unless it is a critical moment, you must not use it recklessly, or Heaven's retribution will surely descend."

Xie Yuezi looked at Li Feng and said, "A critical moment means when demons, monsters, ghosts, or heretical cultivators seek to injure or kill you. Then you may naturally borrow the might of Heavenly Lightning. But if you simply dislike the look of something and blast it with Heavenly Lightning, you are adding to your own sins. Do you understand?... The greatest taboo for a cultivator is disturbing the mortal world."

As Xie Yuezi explained, his fingers bent and stretched, making subtle, gentle motions like petals blooming from an orchid at midnight. Threads of lightning immediately appeared in his hands. Li Feng had long since become engrossed in these infinitely powerful hand seals, and naturally continued learning from Xie Yuezi with utter sincerity.

A red sun rose from the east, its ten thousand rays illuminating heaven and earth. Facing the morning sun, Li Feng's entire body was wrapped in lightning. Bolts as thick as little fingers danced over him like Spirit Snakes, flashing swiftly back and forth. Together with his solemn expression, he looked almost like a divine being.

"Earth, water, fire, and wind are the roots of all things. Or rather, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—the Five Elements—are the source from which all things are born and transformed. Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, even ocean waves, dew drops, mountain peaks, a cupful of soil, forests, and blades of grass are merely concrete manifestations of these fundamental things... Other cultivation sects would never teach spells of such immense power to disciples who had only been on the mountain for a little over three years. But our Yiyuan Sect is different. We enter the Dao through Heaven and take qi as our foundation. These hand seals are not merely spells for self-defense and subduing demons; they are also pathways to communicate with heaven and earth and comprehend Heaven's heart. Thus, every sect member who reaches Late Qi Induction and can wield them is naturally qualified to learn them."

"Watch carefully. This is the Gold Control Art, known as the hardest and most unyielding among the Five Elements arts. When cultivated to its limit, it can command the Tai Bai Metal Essence Qi of the east to harm enemies. It is also the best means to train one's sword control."

"Water is supremely good and supremely soft. As they say, the highest goodness is like water. Water is soft, yet vast and mighty, embracing all things. When the Water Control Art is cultivated to its peak, it can command the Kui Water Essence of the west and injure others without form. It is also the finest art for suppressing heart-fire and cleansing and calming oneself."

"The Earth Control Art is incomparably heavy and bears all things. When immortals use it, they can raise peaks from level ground and islands from the sea. It is also the best method for protecting one's body, opening a cave abode... Mm, mm... or escaping from prison." As Xie Yuezi spoke, he suddenly felt a pang of regret, for when he mentioned "escaping from prison," two highly unnatural glints flashed in Li Feng's eyes.

"The Wood Control Art..."

"The Fire Control Art..."

Without their noticing, half a month passed. The two neither ate nor drank as they taught and learned within the Gathering Yuan Formation for fifteen days. They did not even move their bodies. Only their fingers formed one marvelous spell seal after another, while countless strange lights radiated from them. From time to time, lightning flashed chaotically, waves surged, boulders fell from the sky, and massive logs flew through the air. Great and majestic currents of force swept across ten li in every direction, scattering all clouds from the heavens. The deep blue sky hung above them like a suspended piece of agate.

Li Feng felt neither hunger nor thirst. When Xie Yuezi arrived, he had secretly activated a small portion of the Gathering Yuan Formation's power. Vast amounts of heaven and earth yuan qi surged in like a tide. As Li Feng continuously expelled the True Essence within him to fuel his hand seals, the inexhaustible heaven and earth yuan qi rapidly flooded into his body. After surging through him nine times, it immediately settled in his dantian. Gradually, the True Essence Li Feng consumed through his hands could no longer keep up with the recovery of True Essence inside his body. More and more True Essence poured into the chaotic cloud of qi within his dantian.

Xie Yuezi watched Li Feng with satisfaction as he stood there, eyes closed, casting one hand seal after another. He had already set up an extremely powerful restriction ten zhang from Li Feng's side. None of the wind, rain, thunder, or lightning Li Feng summoned could travel beyond that distance. Xie Yuezi said smugly, "Still, even if I let you run wild, at your current level you could not even damage the skin of a stone peak. There is nothing to worry about."

Li Feng's body slowly folded into a cross-legged seated position, entirely by natural instinct. The True Essence in his body grew ever more abundant, yet the amount flowing from his hands remained the same. His body felt increasingly swollen, forcing it to react naturally. He sat down in the posture he normally used for cultivation and began regulating his breath.

The transformations of his hand seals grew faster and faster, and all manner of strange flashes enveloped Li Feng's body. Xie Yuezi became somewhat nervous and cried out, "This boy only broke through to Late Qi Induction a month ago. It can't be, can it? I, I... Ah, how did I forget? The heaven and earth yuan qi gathered by this Gathering Yuan Formation is too dense. This is bad for him... Stop! Stop at once!" Xie Yuezi's hands moved furiously, shooting beams of golden light like flying arrows toward the stone peak of the Gathering Yuan Formation, from which streams of purple qi rose. With a muffled boom, the Gathering Yuan Formation finally ceased before it could fully activate.

"But it may already be too late, right? Three Pure Ones above, this disciple did not deliberately help him achieve swift success... Although Master forced me to take in a disciple too, I truly did not mean to rush my Martial Nephew's cultivation so he could go down the mountain and do the work in my place... Infinite Life Buddha, sin, sin. Once Martial Nephew goes down the mountain, I must punish myself by entering secluded cultivation for another ten years."

Every hand seal attracted its corresponding energy around Li Feng's body. Li Feng could clearly sense the traits of each kind of energy: lightning was nimble and powerful; thunder was arrogant and fierce; fire was lively and scorching; water was ethereal and gentle; earth was heavy and silent; metal was sharp and swift. As for wind, that which rippled around him, brimming with delight, drifting through every corner, free yet orderly—that was wind.

The True Essence inside him accumulated without end. Li Feng's Meridians had expanded more than threefold, yet the True Essence continued increasing. Because of the Candle Dragon Grass, he absorbed heaven and earth yuan qi more than ten times faster than someone at Late Qi Induction ought to. It was a madly rapid pace. The cloud of qi within Li Feng's dantian gradually began to shine with purple radiance, changing from a chaotic mass of airflow into something like transparent crystal.

Li Feng, however, felt none of the changes that would have made him howl in agony had he been conscious of them. He simply continued comprehending the transformations of the surging energies around him. His hand seals kept changing as earth, water, fire, and wind flowed in and out of his body. A sense of enlightenment was about to arrive. Li Feng felt that he was on the verge of understanding something, but he could not understand it, could not grasp it.

Xie Yuezi tilted his head as he watched Li Feng's pensive expression and the bright radiance gradually emerging on his face. He could not help muttering, "Helping Martial Nephew along should not count for much, should it? Sigh, it is all because Master pressured me too hard these past few days, insisting that I go down the mountain to take in disciples. His old self has entered secluded cultivation again, but before he emerges, I must at least train Martial Nephew enough for him to go down the mountain, safely find over a hundred disciples, and safely bring them all back."

Pouting, Xie Yuezi steeled himself and said, "I'll help Martial Nephew out. Hehe, then he will definitely help me out too, right? If he still cannot comprehend it after this, I can only go to the foot of Mount Hua and casually recruit a few people with nothing to eat to fill out the sect's appearance... Ah, that thought is too vicious. I would be letting Master down. What if all the people I recruit are idiots?"

Xie Yuezi took a tiny jade bell from his robes and flicked it with one finger. With a crisp ding, faint jade-green ripples spread from the bell and surged in every direction. Xie Yuezi shouted in a deep voice, "You are this heaven and earth; this heaven and earth is you."

Li Feng's hand seals immediately stopped, precisely between the transition from the Water Control Art to the Earth Control Art. Lightness and heaviness—two utterly opposing sensations—exploded in his mind at once. A contradictory yet harmonious realization instantly pierced the barrier in Li Feng's heart.

It was that simple. Yes, it truly was that simple. He had already merged into these energies, and these energies had merged into him. All things between heaven and earth were formed from these energies, and so was he. Then what difference was there between him and these energies? If the foundations that composed him were no different from those that composed heaven and earth, then what difference was there between him and heaven and earth?

The heaven and earth yuan qi outside was merely an extension of his own body. It came when he summoned it and went when he dismissed it. Earth, water, fire, wind, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning were parts of his own composition. Using them to attack enemies or protect himself was as simple as picking up a bowl of water to drink or a bowl of rice to eat.

Li Feng abruptly opened his eyes and chuckled. "So that's how it is."

The cloud of qi emitting brilliant purple light in his dantian throbbed fiercely nine times. The vast heaven and earth yuan qi gathered by the Gathering Yuan Formation rushed into his dantian with a roar like a storm and immediately transformed into his own stored True Essence. The True Essence that had constantly expanded within his body seemed to receive a signal, contracting entirely back into his dantian before gently circulating outward again. Yet the circulating True Essence was no longer gaseous as before. It had become something denser, like mist.

Xie Yuezi swiftly tucked the jade bell back into his sleeve, as though he had never held anything at all. He repeatedly cupped his hands in congratulations. "Martial Nephew truly deserves to be called a genius! I, Xie Yuezi, took a full seventeen years to reach Early Qi Condensation, and your master took fifteen. Yet you have reached this level in less than four years. Ha, ha, ha! Heroes have emerged from youth since ancient times. Your Martial Uncle is truly delighted, truly delighted."

Yet Xie Yuezi was thinking, You ate over a jin of Senior Brother Gu's Candle Dragon Grass, more than three thousand jin of herbs with five hundred years of growth. Little Junior Sister stole at least three Foundation Establishment spirit pills of Earth Grade Middle Rank for you, and you swallowed more than eighteen Earth Grade Lower Rank spirit pills like fried beans. Add to that all the yuan qi condensed by the Gathering Yuan Formation, plus the head-clearing blow of the Serene Heart Bell, which cost your Martial Uncle three years of secluded cultivation... If you still had not reached Early Qi Condensation, then Heaven would truly be blind. In the whole sect, aside from Little Junior Sister, whom Second Martial Uncle established with a Heaven Grade Three Spirit Pill and fifty years of his own cultivation, nobody has had an easier path in cultivation than you.

Naturally, on the surface, Xie Yuezi merely smiled at Li Feng, waiting for him to offer a few courteous words.

But how could Li Feng know what courtesy was? He leapt up, swung an arm, and pressed a palm downward toward the foot of the mountain. With a crisp crack, a cyan palm wind shot more than a dozen zhang away, tearing down seven or eight boulders the size of millstones before shattering them into powder. Li Feng laughed. "Hehe, is this the level of Early Qi Condensation? The power is thirty percent stronger than before. Hmm..."

Li Feng looked around at the mountains and waters. Only then did he realize that he could clearly sense everything he saw. Every scene seemed distinct in layer and vivid in color, overflowing with vigorous life. Even from a single stone, he could sense the heat it emitted. Li Feng froze. These mountains and waters looked quite different from how they normally did.

Xie Yuezi had experienced the same feeling. Like an old horse familiar with the road, he explained, "Congratulations, Martial Nephew. Once you reach Qi Condensation, you no longer need fear running out of True Essence. Hehe. Unless your dantian is severely damaged, your True Essence will be inexhaustible, for the yuan qi outside is yours to draw upon at will. From now on, you need only continuously improve the quality of your True Essence and condense it as much as possible... As for what you are seeing, I will give you one phrase: 'A mountain is a mountain, and water is water.' Having shed the restrictions of mortal flesh and worldly eyes, do you find everything especially clear?"

Li Feng was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed and asked, "Hehe, 'a mountain is a mountain, and water is water.' Hmm, Martial Uncle, am I very formidable now? It seems I have reached some kind of realm too."

Xie Yuezi fell silent. He was astonished by Li Feng's spiritual insight, yet also filled with other reflections. He sighed toward the heavens. "Sadly, 'a mountain is a mountain, and water is water' is only the first step. Your Martial Uncle is the same as you, merely pacing within this realm. I only entered it over a hundred years earlier than you... The next realm, 'a mountain is not a mountain, and water is not water,' can only be comprehended after one's Nascent Soul is formed... And the highest realm, 'a mountain is still a mountain, and water is still water'... Hehe, perhaps only Sect Leader Uncle-Master can barely comprehend it."

Li Feng was dumbfounded. He could neither figure it out nor understand it, and could only stare blankly at Xie Yuezi. Xie Yuezi shook his head. "Do not ask me. These three sayings were told to me by my master fifty years after I came up the mountain. Sadly, I only know what the first means myself. How could I know what comes after?"

Li Feng argued stubbornly, "I can see every stone clearly now. That is what it means for a mountain to be a mountain, right? In other words, the mountain looks like a mountain to me... Eh, then a mountain is not a mountain... Damn it, if a mountain is right there, could it possibly not look like a mountain to me?" Li Feng suddenly discovered that it was a tongue-twister of a question.

Xie Yuezi shrugged with easy grace and said with a smile, "It does sound like a tongue twister, but this question is worth pondering... Yet Martial Nephew, it is precisely because so many questions exist that we are driven to cultivate and refine ourselves without cease. Each of us wishes to see heaven and earth clearly. Now that you truly feel as though you and heaven and earth are one, how do you find it?"

Li Feng was silent for a moment, then honestly said, "Martial Uncle, do you want to hear the truth?"

Xie Yuezi nodded and encouraged him. "Yes, speak the truth. What do you feel? Do you find that sensation of harmony between man and Heaven extraordinarily wondrous and tranquil, like evening bells and morning drums, drawing one into deep fascination?... If you can comprehend this, then you will naturally cultivate with a calm heart in the future." Xie Yuezi added in his heart, If he cultivates calmly, he will not dig up my orchids with Little Junior Sister... But Little Junior Sister had already reached Qi Condensation back then. How, how was she still so mischievous?

Li Feng nodded and confessed, "Then, um, Martial Uncle, to tell the truth, I'm very hungry right now. I want roasted meat. How about I let Martial Uncle see my skill? We can practice swordsmanship tomorrow, all right?"

Li Feng blinked his big eyes at Xie Yuezi, and Xie Yuezi suddenly understood how the phrases "rotten wood" and "a wall of dung" from the books ought to be explained.

Watching Li Feng ride away on Little Cat's back, Xie Yuezi groaned, "Three Pure Ones above, were those three years of my cultivation truly wasted for nothing?"

A bleak, chilly wind blew past, and two leaves smacked hard into Xie Yuezi's face. His whole face seemed to turn as bitter and wrinkled as a bitter melon.