Stirring the City in the Heart

The thoughts filling the city did not come solely from the living within it. Many lay hidden even in the soil, faintly connected to those lingering sparks of spirit left after death in the Void. The incense offerings of gods in street corners, at city edges, within temples and ancestral halls also swayed and rose, drawn by a force toward the heart of the city.

That force of attraction was an excerpt from "Heavenly Timing, Earthly Advantage, and Human Harmony."

Qiu Yan had obtained this Sage Spirit from Wuxin City.

Its vessel was the Second Sage Manuscript. Several years ago, the old Confucian Zhao Bingcheng of Quanyou Academy had brought it into the city. Ginseng Baby discovered it and stole it away. After Qiu Yan condensed a wisp of spirit from it, he sent the object back, returning it to its rightful owner.

Now, as he once again activated this Sage Spirit within Wuxin City and gathered the thoughts of Human Harmony, there was faintly a sense of Revert to Root, Return to Origin, of past events cycling back around, as though some fate had long been ordained in the unseen.

What is this realization? It truly arises from the depths of my heart, a natural response stirred by the scene before me. But at a time like this, if such feelings shake my resolve, it will immediately become a collapse beyond saving! How could I make such a mistake?

After steadying himself, Qiu Yan examined his own state and discovered the problem. Black Sha was spreading toward his Divine Sense, seeking to contaminate it. Naturally, it would also affect his realizations and thoughts.

This influence operated on the level of consciousness. Even his other two bodies could not entirely escape it.

*It seems it is time to act. Otherwise,