Directing the Many Waters

The moment Elder Wang finished speaking, Wind-Listening Hall erupted into a stir.

With such generous rewards laid out before them, how could they not be tempted?

"Th-this thing... could it be Dark Nether Stone...?"

Zhou Huan of the Lou Jin Lineage was impatient by nature and intended to test the waters first.

Before he could finish speaking, his face turned pale. He hurriedly cut off his divine sense and clutched his chest, gasping for breath.

"Ow!"

Several disciples nearby refused to believe it and promptly cried out as well, clutching their heads with pained expressions. Those who had wanted to try no longer dared inspect it rashly after seeing that.

Lu Chen, seated among the chief disciples, remained steady and unmoving, his eyes closed as he rested his mind.

Yet unbeknownst to anyone, a faint sheen of sweat had appeared on his back.

On the other side, Zhao Heng scratched his head, clearly at a loss as well.

No one spoke in the hall. For a moment, they were trapped in an awkward silence, merely staring at one another!

Shen Qingzhou rose from the corner.

Everyone else in the hall was seated. The instant he moved, all those nearby turned to look at him.

Su Yu, who had been resting with her eyes closed, opened them as well and looked at Shen Qingzhou's back.

Let me see your limits...

He stopped less than three feet from the stone stele.

Within his mind, Supreme Dao Wisdom was already at work, and the ability of Source Tracing opened alongside it.

The ancient stele, ordinarily impossible to discern, gradually began to reveal something different...

An ancient image appeared directly within his divine sense.

"What is he doing?"

"What nerve. Isn't he afraid of getting hurt by being so aggressive? If you ask me, this stele doesn't belong to the Ginseng Water Dao Lineage either."

"Who knows? Let's keep watching."

After a while, Shen Qingzhou seemed to have reached a realization. He came back to himself and spoke.

His voice was not loud, yet everyone in the hall heard him clearly.

"This is not a stone. It is the core of a fallen celestial star."

The moment those words fell, everyone in the hall froze.

"A celestial star's core?"

At the main table, a senior disciple could not help but sneer.

"Junior Brother Shen, you may eat recklessly, but you cannot speak recklessly. We can all sense the Water-element Dao resonance within it. What does it have to do with stellar power?"

Shen Qingzhou did not look at him. His gaze remained fixed on the stele as he continued calmly, "The Dao resonance within is not purely of the Water element either. It is the moonlight power of Bi Mansion."

Bi Mansion? Moonlight?

When those two terms emerged, many people were stunned.

"The Bi Moon Dao Lineage?"

Zhao Heng rose to his feet at that moment. He cupped his hands toward Shen Qingzhou, his tone carrying a desire for instruction. "Junior Brother Shen, Zhao is untalented, but I also cultivate the Dao of Water. An ancient text says, 'When the moon departs Bi, it brings forth pouring rain.' Bi Mansion is the Rain Master, and its power should nourish all things, peaceful and upright. Why, then, is the Dao resonance within this stele so violent and chaotic, even carrying the danger of harming one's soul?"

Shen Qingzhou finally turned his head and glanced at Zhao Heng. "Does Senior Brother Zhao know that while the Rain Master governs rain, it can also command all waters?"

Without waiting for Zhao Heng's reply, he continued on his own. "Rain falls from the heavens. It can draw upon the high skies, connect mountains and rivers, and seep into the earth."

His voice was steady, drawing the minds of everyone present toward him.

"Rain is the hub that links Water essence across heaven, earth, and the four directions. The moonlight of Bi Mansion is the authority that commands this hub. It directs and deploys the various currents of Water essence that already exist between heaven and earth."

"This stele is one manifestation of the Rain Master's authority. But its body is already damaged, its commands incomplete, and its powers contend with one another. That is why it has become so wild."

Zhao Heng was dumbstruck.

He had only known that the Rain Master brought rain. He had never considered that the image of "rain" could command other Water-element Dao lineages!

"Th-this..."

He opened his mouth, wanting to refute him, yet found himself with nothing to say.

"What utter nonsense!"

A voice rang out.

At the main table, a senior disciple named Wei Jin rose to his feet. At Qi Refining, Fifth Layer, he held some prestige within the inner sect.

He said disdainfully, "Empty talk of celestial phenomena, vague and intangible! It sounds mysterious, but what use is it to our cultivation?"

The instant those words were spoken, quite a few people nodded in agreement.

Shen Qingzhou turned around and, for the first time, looked Wei Jin directly in the eye.

"Does Senior Brother Wei believe this power is illusory?"

He extended a finger toward the stone stele.

"If a cultivator could use this stele's Dao resonance as their foundation and cultivate the Dao of Bi Mansion, then when they activated their cultivation art, clouds and mist could arise in the air. Those clouds could draw in every trace of wandering water vapor around them."

"With this as their foundation, once their art is unleashed, all waters will follow and obey their command."

Shen Qingzhou withdrew his finger. His voice was not loud, but every word carried weight.

"Senior Brother Wei, do you still believe this power is illusory?"

"Th-this..."

Wei Jin's expression shifted from green to white. He had no choice but to admit that the other party had a point.

All waters would follow and obey their command!

What a domineering method!

Wei Jin opened his mouth and frowned deeply. In the end, under everyone's gaze, he could only sit back down with a flushed face.

The hall fell silent as a graveyard.

Everyone had been stunned by Shen Qingzhou's words.

Just then, Lu Chen, who had kept his eyes closed all along, opened them.

He did not rise. He merely looked calmly at Shen Qingzhou and spoke.

"Hmph. When all waters return to their course, there must ultimately be earth to bear them."

Lu Chen had been holding back a breath of frustration. You are a genius, so does that make me a mediocrity?

"Without thick earth as a foundation, no matter how great the force of the waters, they are rootless duckweed, bound to scatter in the end. Junior Brother Shen's reasoning is sound, but this stele is, in the end, a broken thing."

Lu Chen looked at the stone stele. He cultivated the Wèi Earth Tradition and understood the principles of support and foundations more deeply than others.

"Though its Dao resonance is powerful, it has lost its foundation. That is why it shattered. The Dao of Water must ultimately rely upon the earth. Perhaps that is the true reason for its incompleteness."

No one in Wind-Listening Hall spoke.

Shen Qingzhou smiled after hearing him. This is all he's got?

"Mm, Senior Brother Lu is not wrong."

He nodded and looked at Lu Chen.

Under Shen Qingzhou's gaze, sweat appeared on Lu Chen's forehead.

"But water does not only return to earth."

Shen Qingzhou spoke unhurriedly.

"Water can also rise as vapor into the heavens, becoming clouds and rain, cycling endlessly, without beginning or end!"

Boom!

Everyone felt their minds buzz!

That was right. Water flowed into the earth, but it also evaporated and rose to the sky! It was a cycle! Such a quality had already transcended the scope of water itself. It was the transformation of yin and yang in endless circulation, the image of Heavenly Yin!

"The stele's flaw does not lie in its lack of earth to bear it, but in..."

Shen Qingzhou's voice grew increasingly impassioned, sonorous and forceful!

"It has lost its resonance with the Lunar Stellar Force above!"

"The Rain Master has lost its station, and the celestial star has fallen into the mortal dust. That is the true reason for its ruin!"

When his words fell, he looked at Lu Chen and gave a light laugh.

"Senior Brother Lu, your Dao practice still has a long way to go!"

Boom!

Shen Qingzhou had been restrained before, but now his edge was fully exposed, his confidence reaching its peak.

"..."

Upon hearing that, every muscle in Lu Chen's face tightened. He clenched his fists but said nothing more.

He truly did not understand!

He even felt as though he had been enlightened...

Shen Qingzhou did not care what the other man thought. This was how disputes between cultivators were. They were not merely matters of fighting and killing, but contests of Dao practice as well.

One mountain could not hold two tigers, especially not between geniuses.

Only by suppressing the other party's arrogance could one forge one's own grandeur!

The true meaning of Abyssal Concealment was not merely concealment.

To hide within the abyss was to gather strength, so that one day, upon soaring forth, one could become rain that linked heaven and earth!

At that moment, he gained an entirely new understanding of his own Dao.

"It rather feels like words becoming law... What a profound sensation!"

Within his dantian's sea of qi, that pool of deep black water churned violently, as though it could undergo a qualitative transformation and break through his current realm at any moment!

As long as he had enough resources, he could challenge Qi Refining, Fourth Layer at any time!

The entire hall was silent as a graveyard.

Lu Chen looked at Shen Qingzhou and remained silent for a long time.

At last, he slowly nodded and spoke three words.

"I have learned much."

Elder Wang stood at the head of the hall, stroking his beard. Unable to hold back any longer, he burst into hearty laughter.

"Good! Good! Good!"

He said "good" three times in a row, his eyes full of admiration as he looked at Shen Qingzhou.

"Shen Qingzhou, for this minor competition, you receive full marks in the Dao Discernment Examination!"

After a brief silence, the hall exploded into uproar.

Everyone looked at the black-clad youth, their eyes filled with different emotions—reverence, admiration, and jealousy.

Second place in the assessment truly had not been an empty boast!

No, after today, likely no one would dare say he was even half a step inferior to Lu Chen.

In terms of understanding Dao practice, he had clearly overwhelmed Lu Chen!

Yet Shen Qingzhou ignored the noise around him. He cupped his hands respectively toward Elder Wang and Lu Chen, then returned to his seat in the corner.

It was as if the person whose words had astonished the entire hall moments ago had not been him.

Su Yu had awakened at some unknown point. Propping up her chin, she watched Shen Qingzhou with great interest and lazily raised a thumbs-up.

Shen Qingzhou gave her a slight nod, then closed his eyes.

He did not care what others thought. All he cared about was that the earlier discussion of the Dao had deepened his understanding of the Abyss-Hiding Sword and the Ginseng Water Dao Lineage by another layer.

And besides...

"This time, I made a fortune!"

Looking at the panel, he could barely suppress the curl of his lips.

[Detected host behavior: publicly discussing the Dao, analyzing ancient Dao resonance, and using words to convince peers and elders.]

[Scripture Master profession experience greatly increased!]

[Qi Collector profession experience greatly increased!]

[Sword Disciple profession experience +5!]