Measuring with His Feet, Mirroring with His Heart

North Spring Mountain was littered with crumbling walls and ruined structures.

The once-broad stone paths were now covered in moss and wild grass.

"This should have been the Sword Collection Pavilion of the North Spring Sword Sect."

Gu Yuanqing stood before a ruin and saw a deep trench in the ground, more than ten zhang long and two zhang deep.

"Is this the power of a Grandmaster? Legend says this was left behind by Sword Saint Qin Wuya with a casual stroke of his sword!"

The North Spring Sword Sect had once been a major sect of its age. Even when it was destroyed forty years ago, it had experts of the Profound Martial Ninth Heaven holding the fort. They had merely chosen the wrong side!

It was said that the foundation upon which the North Spring Sword Sect had been established was a Secret Sword and a Spirit Spring.

The Secret Sword contained the mysteries of the ultimate realm of the sword. The founding patriarch of the North Spring Sect had comprehended the Big Dipper Seven Swords from it and become a Grandmaster. When seven Profound Martial Realm cultivators practiced it together, they could even fight a Grandmaster.

After the Great Gan Dynasty destroyed the North Spring Sword Sect, that Secret Sword vanished without a trace. Only then was this mountain designated a Forbidden Ground.

Gu Yuanqing had read these rumors in miscellaneous records at the prince's residence. They might not all have been true, but there was no smoke without fire.

He stood there for a long while, carefully studying every inch of his surroundings. Then he looked inward at his Sea of Consciousness, where the phantom of the area within a ten-zhang radius in his mind had become much clearer.

This was Spirit Imbuing: matching the phantom in his mind to North Spring Mountain piece by piece.

Using his feet as a ruler, he measured this stretch of heaven and earth.

Using his heart as a mirror, he branded this place into his Sea of Consciousness.

This was the inevitable path for turning one's residence into a Dao field!

"Let's go. On to the next place. Over these past few days, I've covered one or two parts out of ten of North Spring Mountain. At this pace, I'll be able to complete the initial Spirit Imbuing in just one or two months!"

"Sure enough, fortune and misfortune clung together. Even if that old emperor were willing to let me down the mountain now, I wouldn't want to leave!"

A smile appeared in Gu Yuanqing's eyes. Compared with more than ten days ago, his essence, qi, and spirit were no longer what they had been.

He had visited the Scripture Collection Pavilion, the Skill Transmission Hall, and the Founder Hall. All of them were completely empty. He presumed that everything inside had been moved into the Great Gan treasury.

Passing through the Sword Casting Hall, he arrived at the rear mountain. There should once have been a Spirit Spring here, but it had long since dried up, with broken stones and dead leaves scattered everywhere.

"It is said that the water of this Spirit Spring could nourish the body and was of great use even to those in the Profound Martial Realm."

As dusk approached, Gu Yuanqing returned to his residence. The two old servants had already prepared his meal and were waiting outside his door.

It was a simple meal of two dishes and a soup. Though it could not compare to what he had once eaten at the prince's residence, being imprisoned here, this already counted as generous treatment.

At midnight, a wisp of spiritual energy gathered within the North Spring Mountain Phantom.

Gu Yuanqing circulated the Mental Method of the Profound Heaven Art. Another Acupoint was nourished by True Qi and glimmered with faint light. An hour later, he finished his cultivation and rose to his feet.

"I have refined fifteen Acupoints. I only lack the final three before I can enter the Origin Warrior Seventh Level. It's just that I have no spiritual medicine. Every day, I can only cultivate with this wisp of spiritual energy from heaven and earth. Otherwise, my progress would be somewhat faster."

Thinking of cultivation, Gu Yuanqing frowned again.

He was not a direct descendant of the Gu Family, nor did he possess any talent for cultivation. He had only learned the first four levels of the Profound Heaven Art, while the Profound Martial Spirit Refining Method and the method for opening the Martial Dao Secret Treasury had never been taught to him.

"Forget it. There's no use overthinking it. I'll worry about it once I reach the Origin Warrior Ninth Level."

After washing up with the clear water in the courtyard, Gu Yuanqing lay down to sleep.

The next day, he woke while the sky was still faintly lit. His essence, qi, and spirit were brimming, and he could not sleep even if he wanted to. So he rose and practiced his fists and sword.

The wooden sword in his hand sliced through the air with gusting whistles, each strike faster than the last.

Pointing, thrusting, chopping, intercepting, sweeping—every sword strike was perfectly timed, fluid yet sharp.

With a soft cry, the wooden sword swept across a boulder, cleaving it in two.

He flipped back to where he had been standing, sheathed the sword, and regulated his breathing.

"I only know the White Cloud Sword Technique and the Cape Cross Sword. What a waste of the sword talent I gained through Empowerment!"

After Empowerment, his sword talent had become one in a hundred, a level above even ordinary cultivation talent. The two sword techniques that he had practiced for years without ever entering their gate had reached a state of perfection in merely a dozen days.

At some point, the gaunt old man had arrived at the courtyard gate. Holding a bowl of rice porridge and several small dishes, he waited until Gu Yuanqing had finished cultivating before bowing his way in. He placed the meal in the courtyard, then bowed his way back out.

Gu Yuanqing frowned slightly. He had noticed that the servant's footsteps were extremely steady, nothing like those of an elderly man. Yet while cultivating just now, he had not noticed in the slightest when the man had arrived.

As he ate, he thought, I need to be more cautious in the future. After all, I am imprisoned here. This old servant may well be a spy for the Imperial Family. If he learns of my progress in cultivation, there may be more unforeseen complications.

After eating, Gu Yuanqing did not go measure North Spring Mountain as he had before. Instead, he strolled casually around the foot of the mountain.

At around the third quarter of the hour of the Snake, he saw a young eunuch leading several soldiers up the mountain.

Gu Yuanqing's eyes lit up, and he quickly walked over.

"Little Eunuch, did you bring any books for me this time?" Gu Yuanqing asked with a smile, cupping his hands.

The young eunuch lifted a stack of books.

Gu Yuanqing was overjoyed and accepted them with both hands. "Thank you, thank you. The mountains are bleak and lonely, terribly hard to endure. With these books to pass the days, life will be much easier. Next time you come up, please bring a few more. Paper and brushes would be even better, if there are any."

The eunuch and soldiers still said nothing. After the old servant took the items, they turned and descended the mountain.

"Go attend to your work."

Gu Yuanqing waved to the two old servants who were waiting for his instructions, then carried the books back.

Once in the courtyard, he placed the books one by one onto the bookshelf in his room. There were more than ten in total, all travel journals and popular tales. They were suitable enough for passing the time.

"If I weren't so short on money, I ought to give them some thanks."

Gu Yuanqing casually picked one up and began to read. Things that had once been available at any time now seemed incomparably precious here.

Time flew like a shuttle, and more than a month passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, the young eunuch came twice, each time bringing Gu Yuanqing some miscellaneous books. The bookshelf in his room gradually filled up, and Gu Yuanqing felt that he had not read as many books in an entire year before as he had in this single month.

Cultivating, sleeping, practicing swordsmanship, measuring North Spring Mountain with his feet, and reading in his leisure time—this was Gu Yuanqing's entire life over the past month.

Far from the dust and bustle of the mortal world, undisturbed by external things, his temperament was quietly being tempered.

That morning, after breakfast, he came to the West Cliff.

This had once been where disciples of the North Spring Sword Sect practiced their swords. Sword marks could still be seen on some of the rocks and trees.

Gu Yuanqing had loosely tied his long hair behind his head. His once-unremarkable bearing had, without his realizing it, gained a touch of natural ease and unrestrained freedom.

He stood on a protruding boulder, looking down at the sheer cliff face. As his cultivation had increased, the progress of his Spirit Imbuing had been far faster than expected. Today, he would fill in the final piece of the puzzle.

As he observed, the remaining blurry portion of the mountaintop in the North Spring Mountain Phantom within his mind gradually became clear.

Like a gentle breeze blowing away thin mist, the phantom of North Spring Mountain rippled like water before gradually solidifying. It was like a black-and-white television flickering with snow from his previous life turning into a high-definition projection.

In an instant, Gu Yuanqing's five senses were magnified countless times. The entirety of North Spring Mountain appeared clearly within his heart. With a single thought, everything upon the mountain was as clear as the lines on his palm.

He "saw" the two old servants. One was chopping firewood with an axe, while the other was sweeping his small courtyard with a broom.

He "saw" birds rising and falling through the mountain forest.

He saw a line of ants working together to carry a long insect back to their nest.

This unprecedented sensation intoxicated him. He did not know how long passed before a wave of dizziness suddenly struck his mind. He nearly fell off the cliff, and only then did he break free from that state.

He hurriedly retreated several steps to safety and looked inward at his Sea of Consciousness. The words beside the North Spring Mountain Phantom had changed...