When he was calm, his power flowed as gently as spring water; when his emotions stirred, it surged and roiled like the tides; and when his "heart grew warm"—like that day when he saw the lights amid the ruins on the battlefield—the power would gather in his palm of its own accord in an instant, turning into tangible light.
After learning of this, the Sect Master remained silent for the time it took an incense stick to burn. At last, he said, "Han'er, this is no longer cultivation. This is a... realm. A realm all of us pursue, yet have never truly reached."
"What realm?"
"The realm of 'Heart Is Law.'" The Sect Master looked at him, his eyes filled with amazement and something close to reverence. "Legend says that in ancient times, great cultivators could make flowers bloom with a thought and fall with a thought. Wherever their minds reached became divine power. The path you have set foot on is that very path."
Su Han merely said, "Oh," neither particularly excited nor particularly alarmed. He only felt that this was troublesome—the Sect Master's gaze was becoming less and less like the way he looked at a disciple, and more like the way he looked at a living Buddha walking among men. He did not like that look.
Fortunately, the Sect Master soon returned to normal. After all, he was an old fox who had lived for over three hundred years. After that brief lapse, he immediately adjusted his mindset. He still scolded when he should scold and punished when he should punish. Three days later, Su Han was late to sword practice by a quarter hour, and the Sect Master still punished him by making him copy the Heavenly Dipper Righteous Qi Technique three hundred times, without missing