Aperture Opening Realm

Aperture Opening Realm

Zhao Siqi felt the Foundation Establishment bottleneck loosen again. Had the change in her state of mind affected her cultivation realm, or was it because the Spiritual Vein underground had broken free of its seal and struck her with its impact?

She turned and drifted lightly down from the arrow tower. She felt her connection with the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth deepen once more. This was cultivation!

Life was also cultivation. Being of one heart with others was a form of cultivation, and journeying together through danger could be a form of cultivation as well.

Cultivate the mind and nurture the spirit.

Zhao Siqi summoned Old Zhao and Little Zhao and had them discuss things with the other guards and farmers, finding out what ceremonies they would need for the New Year and what rituals were practiced in their respective hometowns.

The two of them had originally served in the palace and had experienced all those elaborate ceremonies, but those rituals were unsuitable here, though they still had value as references.

Therefore, Zhao Siqi did not dismiss their suggestions. Instead, she had them gather everyone's opinions first.

Besides, within the Zhao Household, she had once seen the grandest New Year ceremony of the great families. In truth, it was ancestor worship.

The imperial clan, on the other hand, placed greater importance on worshiping Heaven in addition to their ancestors—especially the first ceremony to worship Heaven after the beginning of spring, in accordance with the agricultural season.

Ming Shu was also pondering things. Aside from the fortune-telling ceremony, he was trying to determine the second ceremony he needed to master. As he experimented, the relatively vague contents of the Life Book gradually began to reveal themselves.

Heaven's Mandate, bloodline, and clan fortune formed a connection and influenced one another. This was also the pattern other families studied and imitated.

The ancestors of each family established their foundations, set up their inheritances and clans, and sank roots into the earth. Then, generation after generation passed everything down and expanded upon it.

Rise and fall, prosperity and decline turning like the wheel, tempered by the passage of time.

Ming Shu was no longer limiting himself to cultivating the techniques of the Sky-Toppling Observatory. He was also borrowing the Dao Sect spells cultivated by Zhao Siqi.

The first stage of entering the Dao Sect was the [Qi Refining Realm]. Zhao Siqi had already reached the peak of the second stage of the Daoist path, the [Aperture Opening Realm], and was about to break through.

The Qi Refining Realm was similar to the first stage of the sorcerer path he cultivated, the [Qi Gathering Realm]. It could even be said that this system of the Sky-Toppling Observatory had begun by imitating the Dao Sect system before eventually evolving into its own.

Dao Sect cultivators likewise first drew the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth into their bodies and refined it. They constantly tempered their physical bodies, allowing themselves to adapt to the Spiritual Energy.

At this stage, whether it was physical strengthening or spells, everything was practically equivalent to nothing. Only an exceedingly small number of gifted disciples could possess any real combat strength at this stage.

Most of the time, they could not even compare to a Martial Artist, and might not even defeat an ordinary man.

Only upon reaching the second-stage [Aperture Opening Realm] could they successively open acupoints within their bodies. Like a Martial Artist cultivating Internal Power, they converted Spiritual Energy into spell power and stored it in their various apertures, thereby strengthening their bodies.

When casting spells, they could also draw upon this spell power and transform it from within their bodies into spells released externally. Of course, at this stage, they could only produce minor spell effects.

Their combat strength still could not compare to a Martial Artist, and they were not even as strong as a sorcerer. A second-stage [Spirit Awakening Realm] sorcerer could already borrow part of a demon spirit's power.

Cultivators, meanwhile, had to reach the third stage, the [Foundation Establishment Realm], before they could borrow certain external objects and command minor ghosts. Of course, after establishing their foundation, the power of their spells would also rise greatly.

Ming Shu was naturally not planning to switch to the Dao Sect's power. He was merely studying their methods of arranging ceremonies and formations, using them to perfect what he had learned from the Life Book.

They verified one another.

Although he had already been expelled and exiled by the imperial family, he could still try conducting an ancestor-worship ceremony once.

Moreover, he did not plan to direct the worship toward the ancestors of the imperial clan. Instead, with the help of the Life Book, he would direct it toward his own past lives.

It was only an experiment, after all. What if it produced an unexpected effect? Even if he gained nothing at all, there should not be any bad accident, right?

Zhao Dun led people in clearing away the accumulated snow and dismantling the traps around the village. Ming Shu planned to build a small town nearby. The village would be left for their own people, while outsiders would be better off staying in their own homes in the town.

People needed a sense of boundaries. They could not be allowed to enter and leave his home as they pleased.

In the future, any other people who sought refuge or were incorporated into their ranks would also need to be assigned to an observation area. Only after being observed for a period of time could they move out.

A transitional period, as well as a way to cultivate a sense of belonging.

Besides, Zhao Dun's family and the families of the other household guards would eventually move over to live here too. The rooms inside the village had to be reserved for them as well.

While the houses within the village were being repaired, construction also had to begin on new homes outside the village for the farmers.

That was the only way everyone's enthusiasm would not flag too badly.

With work provided in exchange for relief, some nearby households had also come seeking refuge under the heavy snow, arriving in twos and threes.

These newcomers were no longer allowed to move directly into the village either. Temporary shelters were built for them outside the village. They could only speed things up and build houses outside.

This arrangement also caused the farmers who had previously moved into the village to swiftly develop a sense of identification with the Village Lord's household. They even felt that, compared with the newcomers outside, they were closer to the Village Lord.

They felt more trusted, too.

Their enthusiasm for following orders and working rose as well. They could even take the initiative to help manage minor matters. The distinctions of closeness and distance thus gradually emerged on their own.

Ming Shu and Zhao Siqi needed to learn how to grasp the proper balance. They could not be too distant from everyone, but neither could they become overly intimate.

Ren Yuan led several specially selected people who had performed relatively well in recent battles, taking charge of training and combat. In the future, they would be responsible for training, scouting, and frontline combat.

Their treatment would also be better than that of the other household guards.

Ren Yuan led them in doing nothing but training, repairing walls, and building houses!

Old Zhao's role remained that of chief steward, the person in charge of the village's main affairs. For the time being, he was also overseeing the construction of the new town.

He was responsible for the newly arrived refugees as well, with Zhao Chuan and Little Zhao assisting him.

Zhao Dun likewise held several positions. Ren Yuan only assisted with matters related to combat, while Zhao Dun had to assist with matters concerning the combat personnel, handle the affairs of the other household guards, and even help with cultivating Spirit Fields, guarding, patrols, and other matters.

Spirit Planter Master Old Lu had been assigned by the Sky-Toppling Observatory. He merely wanted to find a small place to retire. With his craft, he could make a living anywhere.

After seeing the current state of Baishi Village's development, Old Lu took the initiative to say that he could ask his good friend Old Luo to come and develop the place together.

Old Luo was also a retired member of the Sky-Toppling Observatory's outer circle. His Spirit Planting Arts were about on par with Old Lu's, but Old Lu had spent many years dealing with spirit rice and spirit grain, whereas Old Luo had hidden in the mountains and spent many years working with Spirit Medicine and spirit fruits.

Old Lu wrote a letter inviting Old Luo. If all went quickly, Old Luo would probably receive it only after the New Year. It was still unknown when he could come.

All sorts of affairs were tangled together, with a thousand threads and ten thousand knots.

Zhao Siqi had stepped forward to handle all the crucial matters.

Ming Shu, meanwhile, devoted himself wholeheartedly to preparing the New Year ancestor-worship ceremony.