Snow Mountain Qi Sea

Though he thought Liu Laodao was "not too bad," he would never truly entrust his life and all he had to someone he had known for only a few days.

Now, he could not move.

His comfortable cotton undershirt was drenched with sweat, and even the bed beneath him was soaked over a wide patch. Though the room was lit only by the crescent moonlight filtering through the window paper, one could still see white vapor billowing madly from his head.

At that moment, his Snow Mountain Qi Sea seemed on the verge of exploding.

The Snow Mountain Qi Sea was called that not because the name sounded nicer or more poetic, nor because there really was something like a snow mountain inside one's body.

Rather, when cultivators trained, spiritual power gathered and condensed, eventually merging with the body itself and strengthening the cultivator's soul and life force. This portion of spiritual power actually formed part of the cultivator. It was not some separate "qi," nor was it some "glittering golden light" that could flow through one's body—it had already seeped into every cell, becoming part of the body's composition.

When a painter painted, whether they painted in another person's spiritual power or their own, they meant this portion. It was the "mountain" in "Snow Mountain Qi Sea"—a solid, unshakable foundation.

Other spiritual power could be called upon, depending on how towering and majestic one's "mountain" was. It peeled away from the "mountain," gathered in the qi sea, and was used in all manner of forms, becoming countless techniques.

If Li Yunxin had been the one to name it, he would have called it "liquid capital."

And the reason his Snow Mountain Qi Sea had been sealed was that the "snow" on the "mountain" could not "melt," and could no longer gather in the "qi sea."

He wanted to use Votive Power to smash through that layer of restriction. But since there was no actual "mountain" inside his body, there would naturally be no cover or seal pasted over it. He needed to use Votive Power to batter his entire body and erase the seal that spread throughout it.

But now, the faith and Votive Power of more than a hundred people gathered upon him through that "Great Accomplished, Supreme, Most Sacred, Profound Spirit Treasure, Crown Prince Jiawen," as well as the dragon maiden's spiritual-power channel... From the very instant he received that Votive Power, he realized—

Fuck, this was bad.

Votive Power and the spiritual power he had cultivated were completely different things. The difference between them was like the difference between water and oil, though both were liquids.

This Votive Power might have been beneath the notice of great demons. If converted into spiritual power, Li Yunxin would not have thought much of it either. But though there was little of it now, he could not control it, nor could he expel it from his body for the moment. It was as though countless slender steel needles had suddenly pierced through him and pinned him in place. He could not move at all.

It was said there was a punishment in which a slit was cut into a person's scalp and mercury was poured in, producing a complete human skin. Though this Votive Power was not tangible mercury, on the level of the soul, it had much the same effect by different paths. The indescribable agony made Li Yunxin's teeth grind audibly. The reason he continued refusing to let Liu Laodao enter was that, although things had turned out vastly different from what he expected, it seemed... to be having some effect.

Even as it brought him pain, the Votive Power truly was striking against that restriction. The talismanic spell that had laid down the restriction had likely been made by some Dao Tradition master, solid and unyielding. Yet this Votive Power also seemed genuinely effective. As two utterly different powers collided and scoured each other, Li Yunxin could indeed feel the restriction gradually "loosening."

Yet his pain had nearly reached the limit of what he could endure. He could only hope that those worshipping outside would disperse quickly, so he could slowly find a way to absorb this Votive Power, then consult the Tongming Jade Slip properly to see whether there were other workable methods besides "easy to verify and obtain."

He endured for another hour like this. By the time he felt that every drop of moisture in his body was about to be steamed dry, there was finally almost no one left at the temple. There were no decent forms of entertainment in those days; if one spoke of pleasures, they were probably only the "pleasures" between husband and wife in bed.

Thus, people slept early, and he was freed early as well.

Once the Votive Power stopped increasing, he gathered his mind and began trying to absorb it.

At that time, he still did not know that absorbing Votive Power was a grave taboo for human cultivators. He only felt that this strength came easily and effortlessly. If being worshipped every day could make him stronger and stronger and stronger... then why not?

Votive Power was difficult to absorb, just as oil was difficult to dissolve in water. But after trying again and again, he discovered that since they could not merge, there was no need to make them merge. He could simply make the Votive Power part of the "mountain" as well—like mixing oil and water together, then shaking them hard. Though they would ultimately remain globules of water wrapped around globules of oil, they would still become one whole cup of liquid.

Once he tried it, he felt even more that he had found the knack. With Votive Power mixed into it, some spiritual power truly could seep out. The Votive Power was like opening one little hole after another in the "mountain."

He spent half an hour doing this and intended to keep doing it from then on. He had cultivated spiritual power for more than ten years; to his "mountain," this Votive Power did not even amount to a hair from nine oxen. He felt it would take much longer to settle the matter of the "restriction" completely.

At that moment, Liu Laodao came in through the back door.

Spring nights were not particularly cold, and the faint fragrance of flowers and grass lingered in the air. The old Daoist had been drinking, and his body felt slightly warm while the savory taste still lingered in his mouth. Thinking of the temple's new source of income, he felt as comfortable and content as though he had soaked in warm water.

He shut the back door and, while humming the two lines, "Sparse shadows slant across clear shallow water; hidden fragrance floats beneath moonlight at dusk," a poem supposedly written a thousand years ago by some senior master of the Painting Dao, he strolled toward his own side room.

When he reached the pond, he turned his head and glanced at Li Yunxin's quarters in the main house.

The room was still dark and silent. The old Daoist hefted the soy-braised beef wrapped in oiled paper in his hand and thought, What a pity. The expert had probably gone to sleep early after cultivating—what a waste of this beef.

The cow had belonged to a farming household outside the city. In the middle of the night, a wild beast had broken in and bitten it to death. It had only torn off a few mouthfuls, seemingly finding the meat not to its taste, and had not continued eating.

When the family woke the next day and discovered the dead cow, they reported it to the authorities. The government sent people to investigate and, after confirming that a wild beast had killed it, ordered the family to deal with it themselves. The family could not bear to eat it, so they sold it to Munan Residence in exchange for silver.

Beef was a rare thing. The packet of soy-braised beef in the old Daoist's hand had cost two mace of silver—enough to buy ten portions of mutton.

He thought it would spoil if he left it until tomorrow, so he might as well take it back to his room and eat it slowly himself. Ah, what a pity he had eaten too much just now. Had he known, he would have eaten this beef instead of that mutton.

As these scattered thoughts drifted through his mind, he turned away.

After taking two steps, he suddenly froze. His head buzzed as though it had exploded, his entire scalp going numb, and the effects of the alcohol vanished in an instant.

Slowly, he turned his head back and looked toward Li Yunxin's room again. He looked at the thing he thought he had vaguely glimpsed just now.

This time, he saw it clearly.

A woman in white was clinging to the outside of Li Yunxin's window.

Her head was down and her feet were up as she clung there. As though sensing his gaze, the woman in white raised her head and looked at him—

Her face had no features.

Liu Laodao's head buzzed again, and he fainted cleanly and decisively.