In the game, characters had a hidden attribute known as "fortune and luck," and it was constantly changing.
When fortune was at its peak, everything went smoothly. Exploring ruins and opening treasure chests could yield treasures of the highest grade; when fortune declined, one might be struck by lightning even while walking on flat ground.
This world also had the concept of fate and fortune. Clearly, because fortune fluctuated, Jiang Xuan would have times of extraordinary luck and times of terrible luck.
Right now was when his fortune had reached its summit, which was why he had encountered this opportunity.
In the Celestial Immortal Realm, this fortuitous encounter was called [Numinous Insight].
Its effect was to unlock rarer hidden careers from the list of careers available to players, while also waiving one or two career requirements.
Because fortune had boundless uses, there was a school of cultivation in the Celestial Immortal Realm known as the Fortune Path.
Mm... Jiang Xuan could also take this path, and he had already completed the prerequisite advancement—Daoist Acolyte.
If he worshipped the Celestial Official rather than Heaven and Earth, and fulfilled the corresponding requirements, he could advance into [Fortune Boy], and afterward become a [Golden Boy of Bestowal].
This lineage was related to fortune.
Of course, Jiang Xuan had no intention of taking this path.
Fortune might be good, but Jiang Xuan did not believe in luck. He found it too insubstantial, nowhere near as dependable as solid cultivation.
What left Jiang Xuan conflicted and hesitant at this moment was:
"In the game, white labels are Common Grade, green represents Fine Grade or Excellent Grade, blue is Rare Grade, and purple is Treasure Grade... A Treasure Grade career, if placed in this world, would at the very least be a legacy beginning at Earth Grade."
"Should I choose it?"
On one side was [Clear-Heart Sword Disciple], its rarity maxed out and subject to a time limit. Once he missed this window of exploding fortune, it would vanish directly, and who knew what year or month he would have to wait until he encountered it again;
On the other side was [Apprentice Qi Refiner], with a clear path that perfectly matched his current cultivation and accumulation. It was the safest choice.
The two choices, one risky and one steady, left Jiang Xuan unable to decide for a time.
In the end, unable to make up his mind, Jiang Xuan first opened the purple Treasure Grade [Clear-Heart Sword Disciple] and looked at its career requirements.
[Clear-Heart Sword Disciple (Purple Premium Grade)] [Career Requirements: ①: Practice a heart-related sword art to the Proficient level. (Achieved) ②: Reach the mid Qi Refinement realm in Divine Soul-related attributes. (Achieved) ③: Complete one essential transformation of the mind. ④: Remain permanently in a state of Clarity of the Spirit Platform, keeping the heart and soul Untouched by Dust. (Achieved)]
"Out of four requirements, only one remains unmet... That makes sense. Even an opportunity born from exploding fortune would not make these hidden careers appear out of thin air. It must be because I already fulfilled most of its requirements that it appeared in my available career list."
As his thoughts raced, Jiang Xuan also understood the origins of each requirement:
"If my guess is correct, the first requirement should be related to the One Qi Sword Art I just cultivated. This art cultivates the heart and preserves oneness, perfectly meeting its needs;
"The reason I qualified for the second requirement is that my True Spirit has layered and fused, making my Divine Soul far stronger than an ordinary person's;
"As for permanently maintaining Clarity of the Spirit Platform, that must be thanks to the protection of the Mind-Cleansing Mantra..."
After merely glancing through the career requirements, Jiang Xuan understood that this was a career rooted in cultivating the heart and wielding the sword.
The path of cultivation was, by nature, the cultivation of oneself, the cultivation of the heart, the cultivation of one's true self. At that thought, the scales in Jiang Xuan's heart had already begun tipping toward [Clear-Heart Sword Disciple].
And realizing the final matter made him completely resolve himself.
"In the game, this fortuitous encounter is called Numinous Insight... Since it is enlightenment of the Dao, and it has even waived one core requirement... This is not a multiple-choice question at all. It is an opportunity that belongs to me alone!"
Thinking of this, Jiang Xuan finally made up his mind.
"Clear-Heart Sword Disciple it is."
As Jiang Xuan made his choice, the words [Clear-Heart Sword Disciple] immediately appeared on his Career Panel.
However, advancing into a career required every condition to be fulfilled, and Jiang Xuan still had one incomplete requirement for Clear-Heart Sword Disciple.
Fortunately, just as he had predicted, Numinous Insight was his opportunity—if he did not meet the standard, then he would attain it through enlightenment.
"Buzz!"
The instant the career mark of [Clear-Heart Sword Disciple] branded itself into Jiang Xuan's main career slot, a sudden epiphany descended upon him.
"Boom..."
In his epiphany, Jiang Xuan understood what the heart was, and further saw through the supreme truth of cultivation—the Dao required sincerity: sincerity toward one's heart, sincerity toward oneself, sincerity toward the Dao.
It was not merely understanding. The aid of Numinous Insight also caused his mind to undergo a transformation, reaching a special realm.
"My heart and my will are clear as a bright mirror!"
As his epiphany unfolded, prompt tones from the game interface rang out one after another within Jiang Xuan's sea of consciousness.
[Through Numinous Insight, you understood the importance of 'sincerity toward the heart.' Your mind has undergone a transformation.] [Clear-Heart Sword Disciple requirement ③ has been achieved.] [All four career requirements have been fulfilled. You have successfully advanced into the main career—Clear-Heart Sword Disciple.]
The instant the advancement ceremony was formally completed, an indescribably profound force and a flood of information surged into the depths of Jiang Xuan's mind.
Bathed in that power, Jiang Xuan's body and mind underwent certain changes, and he also gained some strength.
If expressed through game logs, those changes were:
[You have successfully advanced into the Purple Premium Grade career: Clear-Heart Sword Disciple. The power of your heart and soul has greatly increased.] [You have unlocked career passives: Clear-Heart Mirror (Self-Reflection), Heart: Sincerity (Sword).] [You have learned the career skill: Sword of the Mind (First Realm: Beginner, 1/800).]
All the changes brought by Clear-Heart Sword Disciple occurred on the level of the mind, so Jiang Xuan's body emitted almost no Spell Power fluctuations.
When the advancement was complete and he had thoroughly sorted out the benefits brought by this career, Jiang Xuan suddenly clenched his fists.
He realized with absolute clarity that he had made the right choice with this step—and had struck it rich beyond measure!
"As expected of a Purple Precious Grade career. It really is powerful!"
No wonder Jiang Xuan was so stirred. The benefits brought by advancing into Clear-Heart Sword Disciple were simply too astonishing.
The first and foremost was the tremendous increase in the power of his heart and soul.
Not only did this strengthen the foundation of his cultivation, it also provided irreplaceable assistance to his current Qi Refinement cultivation.
To refine the ownerless spiritual qi drifting between Heaven and Earth into Spell Power belonging solely to a cultivator, there were actually three methods.
The first was vital blood, which was the origin of Refining Essence into Qi.
The second was the power of a cultivator's heart and soul. A powerful divine will could likewise transform ownerless spiritual qi into Spell Power.
And if the power of the heart and soul was sufficiently strong, it also provided benefits when casting spells—after all, the spell arts of the world were never completed solely through a cultivator's own Spell Power. The consumption would be far too great.
Most of the time, when cultivators cast spells, they used their own Spell Power as a guide to stir the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth into attacking alongside them. This not only reduced the consumption of Spell Power, but could multiply the might of their spell arts.
The power of the heart and soul was precisely the core pivot for stirring Heaven and Earth's spiritual qi, and also the primary means of locking onto enemies.
It could be said that the importance of the heart and soul was not the slightest bit inferior to Spell Power.
Originally, Jiang Xuan's heart-and-soul power had already reached the middle stage of Spirit Pivot Aperture Opening. After another increase, he was almost at the late stage.
"With my heart-and-soul power rising another level, the speed at which I refine Spell Power will surely soar again!"
Beyond vital blood and the heart and soul, the third path for accelerating spiritual qi refinement was "intent."
Whether it was the intent of mountains and rivers, Sword Intent, the meaning of flame, or the Dao Resonance of wind... as long as one comprehended it, a cultivator would naturally become compatible with the spiritual qi of the corresponding attribute.
At that point, not only would a cultivator's efficiency in refining spiritual qi soar dramatically, but same-origin spiritual qi between Heaven and Earth might even gather proactively into the cultivator's body.
And this "intent" was also the only reliance by which Cold Gate cultivators with mediocre Spirit Roots and no household backing could overtake others on a bend.
"Yet intent and Dao Resonance have always been exceedingly difficult to comprehend. Some cultivators sit in meditation for an entire lifetime without touching even half a threshold. This is a road to the heavens belonging solely to genius prodigies of comprehension, and the core reason why comprehension has always been more precious than Spirit Roots in the cultivation world."
The increase in heart-and-soul power after advancing made Jiang Xuan feel that, even by the most conservative estimate, his efficiency in refining Spell Power would increase by thirty percent.
And this was only the most basic reward.
"Intent is powerful—and the Numinous Insight I experienced just now counts as comprehending a trace of intent related to the mind."
Unlike tangible meanings such as mountains and rivers, sun and moon, flames, and earth, the intent born from a transformation of the mind would not increase one's compatibility with Heaven and Earth's spiritual qi.
But this absolutely did not mean that the intent of the path of the mind was weak. On the contrary, the intent born from a transformation of the mind was the rarest and most difficult to obtain—it enhanced a cultivator's most intangible yet most crucial quality—comprehension!
The career passive [Heart: Sincerity (Sword)] of Clear-Heart Sword Disciple was a powerful passive that directly increased comprehension.
[Heart: Sincerity (Sword): You have understood the principle of being sincere toward your heart and sincere toward your sword. When you cultivate with a sword or practice sword-related techniques and cultivation methods, you will enter a state of hyper-focused concentration.]
As everyone knew, even when learning the same thing, different levels of focus led to results as far apart as clouds and mud.
And now, having seen through the true principle of Heart: Sincerity, Jiang Xuan could directly enter this state of hyper-focused concentration whenever he cultivated with a sword or studied sword cultivation methods and techniques.
In such a state, he had truly achieved: "His ears heard nothing beyond the window; his whole heart realized only the true sword Dao."