Dao Heart

You were even comforting me...

Zhou Qing laughed. "You don't need to be so careful. I won't take this sort of thing to heart. There are countless Cultivators in this world. Someone else cultivating slowly doesn't mean I can cultivate quickly. Cultivating the Dao is ultimately one's own affair; comparing oneself to others is meaningless."

"What's more, you are my junior brother and junior sister. We belong to the same sect, and in the Cultivation World, our fortunes are bound together. If you cultivate well, I'll only be happier."

Yuan Hongying's eyes lit up as she smiled. "This little sister judged a gentleman's heart by her own petty mind. How could Senior Brother be someone who fusses over momentary glory and disgrace?"

The two traveled together all the way, only parting when they reached Violet Cloud Mountain.

Zhou Qing returned to his residence. Looking at the copy of "Array Symbol Basics" in his hand, he could not help feeling a sense of urgency, wanting to open it at once and glimpse the profound mysteries of arrays.

Yet the more he felt this way, the more Zhou Qing set the book down.

He recalled what Chen Qingxuan had told him about the differences in one's inner arts, as well as Sect Leader True Person's intention to promote a method of cultivation involving half a day of refining qi and half a day of silent sitting to clear the heart.

Zhou Qing sat cross-legged on the couch, closed his eyes, and slowly calmed his heart.

During previous lectures, he had often used his Magnetic Field Superpower to observe other people's states of mind.

After receiving Chen Qingxuan's reminder today and gaining a deeper understanding of the righteousness and wickedness of a cultivator's inner arts, he suddenly developed a keen interest in his own state of mind.

He could not help wondering whether he could use his Magnetic Field Superpower to examine his own state of mind.

With that thought, he directed his magnetic senses toward himself.

In an instant, a sky full of stars appeared within his perception.

They were all magnetic field reactions produced by the countless faint electromagnetic phenomena within his body.

All those stars formed a brilliant, beautiful river of stars.

Zhou Qing drew his gaze farther back, and the river of stars became a thin line.

That thin line could be regarded as his lifeline.

Chen Qingxuan had once said that in the human heart, countless thoughts as tiny and imperceptible as fine sand arose every instant.

Though they could not be perceived, these minute thoughts lay hidden in the depths of the heart, capable at any time of influencing one's Dao heart and leading one astray.

Thus, one had to constantly temper one's Dao heart until it was as hard as refined steel, impossible to shake.

But while it was easy to say, it was difficult to do.

The comings and goings of the human heart were unfathomable and elusive, let alone capable of being tempered.

Thus, in the Cultivation World, there were likely more cultivators who died and vanished because their Dao hearts wavered than those who died in magical combat.

Now, standing before his own lifeline, Zhou Qing's understanding of Chen Qingxuan's words deepened another layer.

He saw faint stars constantly forming around that thin line. Most vanished at once, but many remained, eventually joining his lifeline.

These were the thoughts that arose within him every moment.

Zhou Qing tried to pick up those thoughts, and then he saw all kinds of hidden desires buried in his heart.

The desire to contend for glory and boast before others, the desire to appear saintly before others, the desire to be invincible beneath heaven, the desire for fragrant warmth and jade in his arms, the desire for ease and indulgence...

And of course, there was one particularly powerful desire—for longevity.

All these thoughts mingled within that inch of space. Each one tempted him, trying to establish itself as his primary thought.

The thought of seeking longevity still held the chief position. Like a general defending an isolated city, it faced enemies surging endlessly toward it like a tide.

The moment it weakened even slightly, one of those enemies would seize the opening, capture its city, drive out the one that had rightfully belonged there, and crown itself king.

Zhou Qing watched the war unfolding within his heart, then joined the defenders without hesitation.

When Zhou Qing awoke from his meditation, evening had already come.

He felt as though his heart had been washed clean. Those minute thoughts still arose without cease, but the primary thought of seeking longevity had become incomparably clear and resolute, refusing to let any other thought challenge its authority.

The clarity and firmness of that thought gave Zhou Qing a sense of peace, as though seas could turn to fields and fields to seas, as though the world could change beyond recognition, yet he himself would remain unmoved and unwearied through ten thousand tribulations.

Zhou Qing understood that this feeling was merely an illusion brought about by the sudden clarity of his state of mind. He was still far from such a realm, yet at this moment, he was utterly certain that he was walking the right path.

He stepped outside. The sun had already set, but golden clouds still hung in the sky.

Zhou Qing wandered along the mountain path, watching the distant ranges rise and fall. He thought of how many emperors, generals, gifted scholars, and beautiful women among mortals, and how many heaven-blessed geniuses and outstanding figures in the Cultivation World, had once accomplished feats that left people agape—yet now they were all dead, and their achievements had been reduced to mere anecdotes and jokes on the lips of later generations.

Whether later generations praised or condemned them, they no longer knew or felt anything.

In this world, longevity alone was the foremost matter.

After strolling for a while, Zhou Qing returned to his room and began today's cultivation.

To his delight, he discovered that after his Dao heart had become clear, even the speed at which he circulated qi had increased considerably. In the past, he needed to circulate his cultivation method through three cycles before refining the spiritual qi. Now, with his Dao heart more steadfast and pure, it could better command the spiritual qi. He needed only two cycles to refine it.

Three hours later, Zhou Qing ended his qi circulation refreshed and clear-minded.

There was still quite a bit of magnetic field energy left, but he did not intend to exhaust it. He had to leave some in reserve in case of unforeseen changes.

It was already deep into the night, but Zhou Qing, who had cultivated for so long, felt no drowsiness.

He picked up the "Array Symbol Basics" he had set aside earlier and began to read. The sense of urgency in his heart was gone now.

It was no longer the book tempting him to read; he was the one reading the book.

The difference was exceedingly subtle, yet Zhou Qing could feel it.

At the beginning of "Array Symbol Basics" was a chapter giving a general overview of arrays. Its contents were nothing more than what Chen Qingxuan had once told him: arrays were the language of heaven and earth, and arranging arrays was a cultivator using the language of heaven and earth to issue commands to the spiritual qi between heaven and earth.

This should have been cultivators' understanding of the essence of arrays.

Beyond this overarching principle, the overview also introduced the three primary branches of arrays: Array Symbol Studies, Array Structure Studies, and Array Material Studies.

Array Symbol Studies aimed to analyze and define the precise meanings of array symbols. The clearer the definitions, the more precise their application.

In Zhou Qing's understanding, Array Structure Studies could also be called array grammar.

If symbols were the vocabulary of arrays, then structure was the grammar used to apply that vocabulary.

Only when vocabulary conformed to grammar could it form sentences with clear meaning. Likewise, array symbols could only produce an array's effects when arranged according to a definite structure.

Finally, Array Material Studies researched the materials used to arrange arrays. Array symbols could not simply be drawn at will and expected to work. Different symbols—and even the same symbol when intended to produce different effects—required different materials.

These materials included natural substances such as the blood of various demons and devils and unusual ores, as well as synthetic materials continuously explored and invented by cultivators over countless years.