Gathering Thoughts to Draw Forth Reflection, Though Perilous, I Shall Go

"The Dragon Qi is the manifestation of the will of all people, while the Imperial Palace is presided over by the emperor, who is the supreme Supreme Realm and embodies the essence of yang. If Divine Ability or techniques reach the palace, they are likely to be completely suppressed and destroyed without a trace."

Qiu Yan sat cross-legged on the bed, pondering his plans for the day.

"For the past two days, the Dragon Qi has been sometimes in contact with me and sometimes out of contact. It must be influenced by the Imperial Heart Thought, showing the hesitation in people's hearts. This means that there is still a chance to salvage the situation. I want to experience officialdom. Passing the Imperial Examinations is the first step. Even if I am not valued by the emperor, at least I cannot be disliked. Otherwise, I fear that my Fleshly Body will be in danger."

As the thought flashed through his mind, Qiu Yan's body revealed Karma chains that were rarely seen by ordinary people. Most of them had already been untied, releasing strange fluctuations, which Qiu Yan captured and memorized. It was the Ambition Karma.

Within the body, there is a surge of Qi and Blood that flickers and changes, flowing through bones, flesh, skin, limbs, and bones, carrying traces of Qi and Blood from all parts of the body towards the False Core.

The False Core is perfectly round, Qi and Blood continuously merge into it, like clouds and mist surrounding the moon, slowly showing signs of becoming one.

"With these few Pill Ancestor, we can try to proceed to the next step. This is quite fortuitous opportunity, as Metropolitan Examination and we have the City Will by our side. Perhaps we can achieve our goal."

As he pondered, his Qi and Blood and qi surged, converging towards his False Core became increasingly solid.

At the same time, two more medicinal effects came from the Soul Aperture, as the Divine Spirit Body had swallowed two more Pill Ancestor.

That Flying Leopard Fortune incredibly lucky. After entering the Pill Ancestor's Cave Abode, he escaped danger several times and obtained many pills, each with different effects. Some pills replenished his Qi and Blood, while others were used to strengthen his Seven Souls. After a period of consumption, when he was defeated and killed by Qiu Yan, there were still more than a dozen pills left in the Copper Furnace.

The two pills that the gods had consumed were meant to strengthen the Seven Souls. However, there were changes within them. They were slightly altered by the Incense Faith, and seven blurry, uncertain phantoms could be faintly seen moving about. Their auras were similar to Qiu Yan's False Core, resembling seven Soul Shadow.

Don't underestimate these two elixirs. The fact that the Pill Ancestor could be named after "elixir" and be called "Ancestor" shows his skill in alchemy. His era was so far removed from the present day that his words and deeds have become legends. The fact that the elixirs have been passed down to this day without losing their medicinal power shows the exquisite method of storage. And the effects contained in a small elixir are even more astonishing.

Qiu Yan had taken one pill previously, and in just two or three days, his Qi and Blood deficiency was completely replenished, and the hidden danger was also completely eliminated. His Qi and Blood were now abundant, even more so than before!

That's not even the most astonishing thing.

What's truly amazing is that the medicinal power is absorbed into the body in a short time without causing the drawback of excessively rapid replenishment; the second is that after the medicinal power is digested, there are very few residues or impurities.

It should be understood that even when cultivators refine pills, using spiritual materials from heaven and earth as raw materials, heating them with Divine Ability flames, and using Law Treasure Pill Furnace to hold them, they still inevitably come into contact with mortal objects and leave traces in the process. This will inevitably leave some impurities.

Therefore, excessive consumption of pills can pose a hidden danger to a cultivator's physical body, especially for those who have successfully Life Cultivation and reached the Third Realm. Purifying the Seven Souls is the key to further advancement, so they must be even more careful and dare not easily absorb external objects to improve their cultivation.

Before reaching the Third Realm, Qiu Yan used to refine the essence of others' Qi and Blood to enhance himself. However, after entering the Third Realm, he gradually understood the characteristics of Life Cultivation and stopped doing such things.

But now, after absorbing this pill, it's as if it were a rare and heavenly materials and earthly treasures from a strange place. It can be swallowed directly without leaving any residue, so its preciousness is self-evident.

"No wonder Flying Leopard Feibao has been swallowing pills without a care along the way, unafraid of shaking his foundation. I wonder who that Pill Ancestor is, that the pills he refines are so miraculously effective."

Thinking of Flying Leopard, Qiu Yan immediately thought of Spirit-Sealing Dao.

"Master Flying Leopard's remnant soul is attached to the Copper Furnace, seemingly unharmed, but in reality, he is already dead. Spirit-Sealing Dao must have received the news by now. Although Flying Leopard said he left a letter for his senior brother, asking him not to pursue the matter, life is the first priority for both mortals and cultivators. Taking someone's life is a great enmity. People believe that a gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. Even if there was a prior agreement, it is impossible to go against human nature. I left behind a remnant of his soul to fuse with the Copper Furnace, which can prevent it from worsening."

Over the next two days, Flying Leopard also mentioned to Qiu Yan the death of his master and the fact that several of his senior brothers had refrained from seeking revenge, using it as proof that Spirit-Sealing Dao would not come after them. However, to Qiu Yan, this story gave him the feeling of someone enduring hardship and biding their time. It seemed that those people from Spirit-Sealing Dao were not refusing to seek revenge, but rather were accumulating strength and not making meaningless sacrifices.

"Completely annihilating one person's life cannot solve all problems. People's hearts are fickle and unpredictable. Any promise is only temporary. Once circumstances change and State of Mind shift, the promise will become nothing but empty words."

Qiu Yan was not afraid of Spirit-Sealing Dao. If he were, he would have been restrained and unable to unleash his killing moves when fighting Flying Leopard. However, when he actually fought, he did not hesitate at all and almost killed Fei Bao in one fell swoop, leaving behind a remnant soul. This was because he could distinguish between primary and secondary threats.

There should be priorities in one's actions.

Instead of wasting energy on meaningless things, it's better to wholeheartedly pursue knowledge.

He already killed Flying Leopard in one fell swoop, so does he really have to go after them, wipe out the entire Spirit-Sealing Dao, and then follow the trail to the heavens to kill the legendary Celestial Master as well? Is that what you call acting properly?

In that time, Humanistic Divine Path would likely have spread.

As Qiu Yan changed his mind, the two points of medicinal power kept changing, but they did not merge into his body. Instead, they stayed in his Divine Soul, connected with each other, and gradually dispersed, revealing seven illusory figures.

"The pills of the Pill Ancestor, after being altered by Incense Faith, can replace the Seven Souls, while the many insights I have spread, attracting the hearts of many, can replace the Three Souls. The Dragon Court and the dragon Dragon Qi of the emperor during the Palace Examination are like Furnace; with this as the catalyst, one should be able to achieve their goal. If I don't seize such an opportunity, it will take a lot of time and energy to succeed, and it will be difficult to succeed again for at least ten years."

Thinking of this, Qiu Yan raised one hand, his soul power surging, his Divine Sense gathering in one place and spinning like a vortex, creating a strong suction force in the Void, drawing in strands of thought from afar through the connection.

These ideas, a mixture of various propositions, were drawn to the site because each one contained a trace of Literary Thought connected to Qiu Yan, which was in perfect Dharma Form of Knowledge and Action he advocated.

The Literary Thought are faint, like seeds, but they have taken root in the soil and are no longer rootless duckweed.

Each of these thoughts was extremely weak, even weaker than a thought of an ordinary person. Although they were drawn in, they did not attract the attention of others.

However, the gathering of thousands upon thousands of faint thoughts is still a considerable force. Guided by Divine Sense, the impure thoughts within are repelled by the Sage Spirit, leaving only the purest ones that align with Qiu Yan's views.

From Eastern Capital to Prosperity Capital, Qiu Yan's reflections were not aimless, but rather focused on a central theme.

Those who received the insights came from diverse backgrounds, living environments, and interacting with different people. When they acted, they would subconsciously explore and consider these insights, thus generating different perspectives.

Now, these insights have been drawn in, absorbed and digested by Qiu Yan, and have created a strange glimmer of light in his heart.

"The Humanistic Dao, through the actions and feedback of many groups of people, has roughly formed a framework. It is still far from Great Cheng, but it is already sufficient to simulate the changes of the Three Souls."

In the blink of an eye, the light split into three: one connected Karma, with the aura of the Heavenly Soul; one revealed experience, with the aura of the Earthly Soul; and one revealed wisdom and experience, with the aura of the Human Soul.

Three orbs of light manifested and hovered around the False Core.

After finishing these tasks, it was just beginning to get light.

After Qiu Yan made some preparations and ate something, he bid farewell to Hu Qi and Dai Guo, and then traveled with Zhou Guan. They had originally stayed outside the city, but today they moved back into the city to prepare for the Palace Examination.

Compared to the Metropolitan Examination, the Palace Examination was much simpler to prepare for. Entering the palace required going through layers of checks, and you couldn't bring in too many things.

Upon arriving at the palace gate, a large number of candidates had already gathered, chatting in hushed tones. When they saw Qiu Yan arrive, they all greeted him respectfully, a stark contrast to their behavior before the Metropolitan Examination.

Gao Jing, Gu Yanzhi, and others came over to reminisce.

As the group chatted briefly, Qiu Yan noticed that they were mostly talking about a major event that had occurred in the past two days: the cheating case had finally been resolved.

However, no one made the list because of this. It was just one less person among the more than three hundred people, which didn't have much of an impact. After all, the number of tribute students was not fixed and varied from year to year.

That talented scholar from Jiangnan was eventually stripped of his ranking, but the matter was not publicized, as if there was a deliberate attempt to quell it. When the court uses the power of the state to handle and quell a matter, even if someone harbors resentment, they ultimately cannot resist.

Wen Zhizhen's article was also published, and as expected, every sentence was relevant to the topic, clearly indicating that she had been preparing for a long time.

With that, the matter was considered closed. It is said that the emperor reprimanded the chief examiner, Wang Fu, for this incident, almost forcing Wang Fu to resign, but the emperor persuaded him to stay.

"A combination of kindness and severity is the way to maintain balance. It seems the emperor has also realized that the New Party's momentum is too strong and needs to be suppressed. He's using this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone."

As Qiu Yan listened to the crowd's discussion, this thought flashed through his mind.

Before long, someone came out to lead the way, guiding the candidates through the gate into the palace. The palace was heavily guarded, and censors accompanied them. The candidates walked silently, heading straight for the Hall of Gathered Excellence.

As he walked, Qiu Yan could clearly feel an indescribable, immense power hovering above the Imperial Palace, completely suppressing his Divine Ability abilities and only allowing him to barely maintain the operation of his Divine Soul and False Core.

"At this moment, if someone were to intervene, there would be no chance of survival for Fleshly Body. However, to achieve the Humanistic Divine Path, this step is indispensable, and though it is dangerous, it must be taken!"

ps:

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