Ill Wind Approaches, Heart and Mind Forged

No matter what, Xu Yuan had to live here now.

Choosing a stone house on the right, Xu Yuan walked in.

The conditions were even worse than he had imagined. The entire room was bare, containing only a broken plank bed. For a dazed moment, he thought he had returned to his days in the Immortal Slave Mining District.

"Thieving bitch."

He had no idea how many times he had cursed Rong Ling in his heart. Xu Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, but at that moment, his mind suddenly shuddered, as if it had sensed some immense terror.

"Kid, don't say I didn't warn you. For the next three days, keep your mind still and guard it well. Lock down your blood, qi, and spiritual energy. Swallow whatever spiritual pills or precious medicine you've got. Don't go and die, or I'll have to collect your corpse."

The half-dead voice of the man from earlier came from the neighboring room. Xu Yuan's heart tightened. Knowing that the true danger of Lost Soul Cave had arrived, he immediately followed the man's instructions and completely sealed himself off.

A quarter of an hour later, the wind outside began to intensify. At first, it merely sounded like weeping and wailing, but in the blink of an eye, it turned into a deafening roar.

Like a tiger's howl, like a dragon's chant; like the Yellow River bursting its banks, like Mount Tai collapsing and the pillar of heaven snapping—at that instant, Xu Yuan seemed to feel some vast black thing brutally crushing down upon the stone house sheltering him.

The entire stone house creaked and groaned without stop, like a little wife struggling beneath an unbearable burden.

Yet the stone house seemed to have some sort of arrangement within it. Lines of formation patterns lit up across the surrounding stone walls, preventing it from collapsing so easily.

Still, while the stone house could ward off most of it, it could not entirely block the gale. As layer after layer of black tornadoes swept in, black wind began pouring through the gaps in the stone house and beneath the door, wreaking havoc inside.

His entire body taut, Xu Yuan vaguely heard miserable screams from next door. Knowing they likely came from that man, he did not dare let down his guard. Using the Martial Dao Sacred Embryo, he locked down every part of his body, leaving only his nostrils open to breathe.

The next moment, the black wind struck him as well.

With a clang, as though steel had collided with steel, the black wind did not seem to blow against his body—it rammed into it. Xu Yuan swayed slightly, and then an inexplicable thought rose in his heart.

"Wait, that's it?"

Just as he was spacing out, another icy gust rushed into the room and swept over him. Other than whipping up his robes, it seemed... unable to hurt him at all.

Other than making me feel breezy all over, what can this even do?

Listening to the utterly miserable howls of the big brother next door, Xu Yuan almost suspected the man was faking it. This life-taking wind did not seem to take lives at all.

After staring blankly on the bed for a moment, he finally smacked his own forehead.

"Tsk. With the Martial Dao Sacred Embryo and the boost of the third level of body tempering, if even a physique like mine were to be sliced by a thousand blades here, then an ordinary mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator who entered would be sent flying in a spray of blood and flesh in an instant unless they kept their spiritual aura shielding their body at all times."

Cursing himself for making a fuss over nothing, Xu Yuan felt the strength of the Martial Dao Sacred Embryo and found himself looking forward even more to his next trait.

From Innate Martial Bones to the Martial Dao Sacred Embryo, this trait had supported him through his weakest period. For the road ahead, he might have to rely on Five Elements Spirit Nurturing.

Still sitting cross-legged and feeling the black wind rage around him, Xu Yuan even relaxed his body a little, allowing traces of the black wind to invade it.

He discovered that the black wind was not entirely harmful to the body. What it swept away from within him were unstable, restless blood, qi, and spiritual energy, while what remained was a sturdier foundation. In other words, this black wind could even assist his cultivation.

"Rong Ling, you really did well, Rong Ling."

Xu Yuan sneered inwardly. Though his words sounded like thanks, he still held plenty of resentment toward Rong Ling for deceiving him. Yet she was a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, even a powerhouse among them. Other than enduring it for now, he had no other choice.

Cultivating seriously, entering the inner mountain as soon as possible, and escaping her control—that was what mattered most.

After sensing the intensity of the black wind again and confirming that it truly posed little threat to him, Xu Yuan was about to close his eyes and cultivate.

Just then, he suddenly felt a faintly strange sensation in his heart. An inexplicable urge for death surfaced in his mind.

His intention to cultivate was forcibly interrupted. Xu Yuan even wanted to destroy the walls and let more black wind in. Fortunately, he hurriedly closed his eyes and guarded his mind, stopping that thought in time.

"No wonder that man reminded me not only to lock down my blood, qi, and spiritual energy, but also to guard my mind. This black wind doesn't merely harm the body—it harms the mind too."

The Martial Dao Sacred Embryo only strengthened the physical body. Though a strong body naturally nourished a strong spirit, at the mere initial stage of Qi Refinement, his unformed yin soul truly could not withstand such repeated disturbances.

Feeling the deathly intent begin to spread through the sea of his heart, Xu Yuan's thoughts stirred. He remembered that when he was in Biyou Market, Rong Ling had given him a cultivation manual.

Pulling out the Moonlit River Hermitage Heart Sutra from his storage bag, Xu Yuan was just about to open it when a sheet of yellow paper fell out.

It briefly explained the key points of cultivating this Heart Sutra. It also told Xu Yuan that Rong Ling had already spoken with the deacon at Merit Hall. Since he had come here voluntarily this time, the merit he earned would be based on however long he endured. If he truly could not hold on, he could leave.

However, Rong Ling's closed-door cultivation would require at least another month. If he left, then he was to stay obediently in his room and forget about earning any merit.

Putting away the note, Xu Yuan muttered to himself. All he could say was that she was honestly wicked.

He sat cross-legged and began carefully reading through the entire Heart Sutra.

A Heart Sutra did not involve cultivating the body, qi, or spiritual energy. Instead, it tempered one's state of mind and soul. Generally speaking, cultivators only began practicing Heart Sutras after reaching the middle stage of Qi Refinement, or even the sixth level of Qi Refinement.

This was because the late stage of Qi Refinement not only involved the formation of a great circulation cycle within the body, but also required one's yin soul to leave the body independently. Strengthening one's soul during the middle stage of Qi Refinement brought great benefits to advancing into the late stage.

As for someone like Xu Yuan, who began cultivating a Heart Sutra at the initial stage of Qi Refinement, such people were exceedingly rare. It was only because of this damned environment before him that he had no choice but to practice one.

It took him roughly three hours to finish reading the entire Heart Sutra. Strangely, as he read it, the restless feeling in his heart was gradually suppressed. Though he still inexplicably wanted to die, at least he was no longer mad enough to want to destroy the stone walls.

"Looks like that thieving woman didn't take all those benefits from me for nothing. The Hidden Moon Sect hasn't swallowed up every last scrap of her conscience."

Xu Yuan spoke a line that was hard to tell whether it was praise or mockery, then closed his eyes again and tried to comprehend this Heart Sutra.

A Heart Sutra cultivated the inner soul, so there was naturally no need to circulate blood and qi or operate spiritual meridians. It primarily relied on visualization.

The Moonlit River Hermitage Heart Sutra in Xu Yuan's hands required him to visualize himself building a hut beside a tranquil river. When the water was still, the heart was still; when the heart was still, all evils could not invade.

Immersing himself wholly in this cultivation method, Xu Yuan heard the winds outside growing fiercer and fiercer. Yet when they fell upon him again, they were no more than a gentle breeze brushing his face.