Nurturing Ambition Through a Cycle of Goodness

Slash, slash again, keep slashing...

From the moment Liu Dongqing successfully severed the first strand of Angry and smoothly merged it into his Lifebound Candle Flame, even triggering a complete linkage among all three methods.

Liu Dongqing began tirelessly cultivating the art of severing Angry.

Those floating strands of Angry, like willow catkins drifting through mist, were cut away one after another. Along with them, the Angry that had already settled beneath ordinary stray thoughts like rotting sludge was not spared either.

And with every strand of Angry severed, Liu Dongqing felt a relaxation that came from the depths of his heart.

He was like a runner who had unknowingly carried an immense burden for far too long. Now that the heavy load had suddenly been cast off, he felt lighter than ever before.

But this process of shedding his burden with such ease did not last long.

Liu Dongqing had counted very clearly.

When he severed the eighty-seventh strand of Angry.

A sudden wave of dizziness surged through his mind, nearly flinging him out of his meditative state in Niwan, where he held fast to upright thoughts.

Though he ultimately still held all his upright thoughts steady, Liu Dongqing did not continue severing thoughts.

Because that change just now had been a natural warning from his mind.

Even stray thoughts, even pure Angry, were ultimately parts of his own mind.

Severing too many in a short time would also make his mind, as a whole, feel unwell.

If he forcibly continued severing thoughts now, he even risked shaking the foundation of his mind and throwing the yin and yang between body and soul out of balance.

This discomfort in the mind had to be gradually dispelled through the passage of time, sleep, and ordinary meditative recuperation.

According to the Daoist texts, there had to be at least two days of rest between two cultivation sessions.

Unless I can obtain some precious medicine that directly nourishes the mind.

Slowly withdrawing from meditation, Liu Dongqing could not help entertaining this regretful and greedy thought, still wanting more.

But then he smiled and shook his head.

Such precious medicine is far too extravagant for me.

After all, the cultivation resources I can fleece are limited. The only thing around me that can truly count as precious medicine is the Elixir Fruit of the Bloodthirsty Medicinal Vine.

"Wait..."

As he thought this, Liu Dongqing suddenly seemed to realize something.

The inheritance says that the Elixir Fruit condensed by the medicinal vine contains a strand of natural power, capable of steadily nourishing body and soul over time!

With that thought, Liu Dongqing immediately sprang into action.

He fetched several Azure Light Spirit Beads and mixed them with the "Red Spring" that had already accumulated in the fish tank. Then Liu Dongqing struck down a Divine Vine Pill Sigil.

In just a few breaths, drawing in that abundant energy, the Bloodthirsty Medicinal Vine bloomed and bore fruit on its own.

He swallowed the Elixir Fruit.

As its abundant medicinal power spread through his body, a strand of natural power galloped through his limbs and bones along with it, nourishing his mind.

Bit by bit, the Demon Blood Baleful Qi was pulled out in the process.

At the same time, Liu Dongqing clearly felt this strand of natural power nourishing his mind.

That discomfort melted away like ice and snow.

It works!

Though the Elixir Fruit itself is not precious medicine specifically aimed at the mind.

As long as I keep the Elixir Fruit's power continuously sustained, I can shorten the two-day interval described in the Daoist texts to one day!

At this thought, amid his delight, Liu Dongqing's plans for his future cultivation routine became utterly clear, without the slightest hesitation.

First, use the Crimson Crow Spirit Incantation to draw the Crimson Fire Divine Crow bloodline power from demon beasts; then use the Flame-Nourishing Art to sever the Angry spawned by the Demon Blood Baleful Qi; finally, use the medicinal vine to produce Elixir Fruit, purge the Sha Qi, and shorten the cultivation interval for the Flame-Nourishing Art.

In that case, taking the Azure Fire Heavenly Dew Elixir no longer has much meaning. I might as well use it to water the Bloodthirsty Medicinal Vine.

Within this cycle of the three methods, I can intersperse the ordinary cultivation of the Little Azure Light Incantation itself, as well as the occasional use of Purple Cloud Azure Rain spells to deceive others.

Back then, Manager Hou's talk about using water vapor from the heavens to extinguish false fire was nothing more than a brush-off.

But today, with this cycle of cultivation methods and this supply of cultivation resources, while advancing bravely and vigorously in cultivation, I can truly treat the heavenly water vapor of the Purple Cloud Azure Rain spell as a tempering method for auxiliary-path cultivation!

Cultivation must not only accelerate; it must also maintain the purity of one's mana!

At that thought.

Liu Dongqing once more raised his right hand in a hand seal.

Whoosh—

In an instant, azure light spread out, and the Azure Flame Fire Crow's form once again hung above Liu Dongqing's hand seal.

The first change was one of pure temperature. Even fiercer flames radiated a scorching heat more terrifying than ever before.

This was the change in the pure might of the Lifebound Candle Flame and azure Sky Light.

But the more important transformation lay in the Azure Flame Fire Crow itself.

As eighty-seven flames of Angry merged into it one after another, as the demonic savagery contained within the Azure Flame Fire Crow's spiritual form was continuously stirred and fused.

At this moment.

The Azure Flame Fire Crow gathered atop Liu Dongqing's hand seal was less a spiritual manifestation formed from Liu Dongqing's mana than a true demon beast whose flesh-and-blood body was made of flame.

It possessed an unprecedented liveliness, along with a savage, wrathful countenance that made one's mind shudder at a glance.

Yet even as the Azure Flame Fire Crow's savage nature erupted so completely, the aspect of it resembling the wicked methods of the Demon Refining Mystic Sect's deviant cultivators had been weakened without limit.

Thus, at this moment, the connection between Liu Dongqing and the Azure Flame Fire Crow was closer than ever before.

The instant anyone saw the Azure Flame Fire Crow, they could sense the vitality Liu Dongqing had bestowed upon it, that rhythm born from the same source as Liu Dongqing's body and soul.

No one would suspect that this was the savage nature inherent in some demon beast bloodline.

They would only think that Liu Dongqing had used the method of Seven Emotions Enter the Flame to grant such traits to his flaming spiritual manifestation.

What it displayed, in all its dripping splendor, was Liu Dongqing's own savagery and fury!

When I speak of this in the future, it will all count as Liu's own incredible talent...

Ha—speaking of talent—

Was the Flame-Nourishing Art truly created by Senior Sister Zhang herself?

Its conception is so lofty. It can inwardly observe Niwan, contemplate the Seven Emotions, sever thoughts to strengthen oneself from within, and its effects are wondrous and varied. If such an exalted method was truly created by Senior Sister Zhang from nothing...

I don't believe it!

But considering Senior Sister Zhang's background in a great clan, perhaps she had read countless Daoist texts and manuscripts containing profound methods preserved by such clans from an early age.

And with Senior Sister Zhang's intelligence, perhaps she truly understood some profound methods whose cultivation thresholds were clearly even higher, even gaining an exceptionally deep understanding of them.

Thus, Senior Sister Zhang dismantled profound methods from above, connected them below to the inherent traits of the Seven-Light Incantation Method's candle flame, and only then compiled the book Little Thoughts anew.

This is not looking down on Senior Sister Zhang.

To break apart the essential framework of profound methods, then incorporate it into the cultivation method of the Seven-Light Incantation Method, while ensuring the technique runs smoothly and seamlessly, displaying so many traits...

That is already extraordinarily remarkable talent!

No, terrifying talent!

At that thought, Liu Dongqing dispersed the Azure Flame Fire Crow above his hand seal, yet a dazed, reflective smile appeared on his face.

This can already be considered a true prodigy of a great clan, can't it—

So I have already matched wits with such a prodigy, and even come out one step ahead?

Then the Rising Mist Dao Academy that seems to float in unreachable heights, and the desires rising within my heart—none of them are entirely beyond reach, are they?

The deep night was silent. No one answered Liu Dongqing's self-questioning, as his ambition surged ever more fiercely.

The next day, when Zhang Qiwei's steward slowly arrived at Sunward Dao Academy.

From afar, he had already seen the Purple Cloud Azure Rain inverted over Liu Dongqing's courtyard.

The middle-aged Daoist smiled.

"Quite the sensible one..."