Formless Heart Sutra

The work in the Heavenly Prison was... a little too easy.

No new prisoners came in, and none were sent out for execution.

At least, that was true of the first level.

Dressed in a black jailer's uniform, Ye Wuyou walked down the prison corridor, handing out meals to the prisoners one by one.

Over the past few days, Ye Wuyou had thoroughly familiarized himself with his work. His workplace experience from his previous life also let him get along with his colleagues like a fish in water.

He had even reached the point of volunteering for overtime and covering his colleagues' shifts.

Of course, Ye Wuyou wasn't willingly becoming a so-called scab.

It was just that the Heavenly Prison actually paid for overtime! Double pay, at that!

Paid overtime. I could cry. They could've just squeezed free labor out of me.

Two days on, two days off, double pay for overtime, three meals provided, indoor work, a management position-brainwashing pitch: responsible for managing dozens of cells-and no risk of getting fired for being too old.

In his old life, Ye Wuyou would have thought he was reading a novel if he saw a job like this.

Right now, Ye Wuyou was rather desperately short of money.

He had yet to reach the First Realm, and before that, he still had to finish Body Tempering.

Body tempering required large quantities of meat and medicinal herbs.

All of that cost money.

Thanks to his position as a jailer in the Heavenly Prison, Ye Wuyou had finally obtained something he had been looking forward to.

"Great River Qi-Driving Art."

Even though he had heard it was commonplace outside, it was still a genuine cultivation art, something ordinary people had no access to.

And it could support a cultivator all the way to the third realm.

During his break, Ye Wuyou began studying the art.

Although he had yet to finish Body Tempering and couldn't truly enter the First Realm even if he practiced a cultivation art, developing a sense for qi ahead of time would still be excellent.

[Preposterous, utterly preposterous! This deserves to be called the Great River Qi-Driving Art? It's nothing but the Piss-Driving Art! You snort coldly, thinking that such a trash cultivation art is unworthy of your attention, then rip it to shreds and trample it underfoot.]

Barking again...

If I tear this thing up, will you find me a new one?

Ignoring the clamor in his head, Ye Wuyou immediately settled his mind and followed the formulas in the art, trying to find that so-called sense for qi.

[No, no, no! Your body... your body will be defiled! The qi produced by practicing such a garbage art is nothing short of pollution!]

[To prevent this from happening, with a stir of your mind, you integrate everything you possess into a unified whole.]

[Hahahaha! I've attained enlightenment! This Daoist master has attained enlightenment! You laugh three times, and with a single thought, comprehend an entirely new cultivation art. From this day forth, my fate rests with me, not Heaven!]

The noisy babble in Ye Wuyou's mind gradually faded away.

The characters in the Great River Qi-Driving Art leaped out of the book one by one, then dissolved and twisted, rearranging themselves into an entirely new text in his mind.

"Formless Heart Sutra."

He didn't need to understand it, or even read it. The entire heart sutra was already firmly branded into Ye Wuyou's mind, every word and sentence crystal clear.

His sea of qi surged. Ye Wuyou could even feel the qi within him circulating on its own.

Ye Wuyou hurriedly calmed himself, trying to stop the qi from circulating.

I can practice a heart sutra before finishing body tempering? Don't go bursting yourself apart!

But he soon discovered what made this Formless Heart Sutra different.

"So that's it. There's an introductory section, too."

The substantial Great River Qi-Driving Art, which could support cultivation all the way to the third realm, had now become the Formless Heart Sutra, yet had transformed into just two sections of text.

One was an introductory section. The other could only take a cultivator to the first realm.

The introductory section allowed someone to start cultivating during body tempering, rather than waiting until afterward to practice a so-called heart sutra.

Ye Wuyou had heard a storyteller in a teahouse mention this. Usually, only cultivation geniuses from illustrious families possessed such arts, which both established a solid foundation and saved time.

Less content, better quality?

And it can cultivate automatically, too...

That really opened Ye Wuyou's eyes. He thought that damned narrator had finally done something decent for once.

He looked back at the Great River Qi-Driving Art in his hands...

The art, which had previously been obscure and difficult to understand, now looked entirely different to him. With Ye Wuyou's current understanding, it really was the Piss-Driving Art.

"Wuyou."

The voice beside him drew Ye Wuyou out of his absorption. Uncle Wang was walking over, cradling his ever-present large porcelain mug full of tea leaves. He glanced at the book in Ye Wuyou's hands.

"Cultivating?"

"Just reading for fun. You're joking, Uncle Wang. I'm still undergoing Body Tempering."

Uncle Wang spat out some tea froth and said,

"You're on duty again today. Been short of money lately?"

"A little... I'm in a hurry to cultivate."

Apart from those like Ye Wuyou who had gotten in through connections, jailers in the Heavenly Prison had to possess at least First Realm cultivation.

Although Ye Wuyou had gotten his job in the Heavenly Prison through the back door, this was actually something of a tacitly accepted practice there.

Strictly speaking, Ye Wuyou was at most an "intern" in the Heavenly Prison, or a temporary worker.

And this "internship" lasted three years.

"True. If you still can't advance to the First Realm within three years, you won't be able to stay in the Heavenly Prison officially. In times like these, finding such a stable job isn't easy."

Uncle Wang smiled, ran his fingers over the back of a chair for a moment, then took something from inside his robe and tossed it to Ye Wuyou.

Huh?

Isn't this the money pouch I gave him before? Now it's back in my hands, untouched?

"Uncle Wang, what's this?" Ye Wuyou rose, looking puzzled.

Uncle Wang crossed his legs and affected a casual air. "Go buy some medicinal herbs... What are you staring at? You really think Uncle Wang cares about your little bit of money? Take it, take it."

Jailers in the Heavenly Prison might not enjoy great wealth and status, but they earned enough for their families to live comfortably, with something left over.

An old hand like Uncle Wang, who had spent decades in the Heavenly Prison, certainly wasn't short of money.

Ye Wuyou had learned that much since starting work in the Heavenly Prison.

The silver in his pouch really was just a little bit of money.

Then why did he accept my pouch back then?

To put my mind at ease?

Ye Wuyou fell silent for a moment. Only after confirming that there was no hidden meaning in Uncle Wang's words did he clasp his hands and bow.

Holding his tea, Uncle Wang took in every change in Ye Wuyou's expression, along with his clasped-hands bow. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes eased slightly.

Ye Yangsheng, you certainly raised a fine son...

Hmm? Was it Ye Yangsheng or Ye Xiangsheng? Forget it, forget it. It doesn't matter.

Uncle Wang shook his head and said mildly,

"But you don't need to worry too much. Plenty of fellows have been in your situation. Old Cai on the first level has terrible talent. He started out just like you, and it took him a full two and a half years of hard work to enter the first realm. More than a decade later, he's still in the first realm."

Uncle Wang roared with laughter, completely forgetting that he himself had spent decades in the first realm.

Cultivation in this world was divided into nine realms.

The first realm, Hidden Origin; the second, Cavern Brightness; the third, Jade Radiance; the fourth, Open Sun; the fifth, Jade Balance...

The Great Yan Kingdom had a vast population and cultivation sects as numerous as trees in a forest. Those who entered the first realm of cultivation weren't plentiful, but they weren't rare, either.

After all, plenty of people kept cultivating into their thirties and forties, and those who reached the Hidden Origin Realm at sixty were common enough.

But the vast majority would remain in the first realm for their entire lives. To them, the barriers to the later realms were like a chasm between heaven and earth.

While Ye Wuyou and Uncle Wang chatted idly, a sudden gust of icy wind swept in from beyond the Heavenly Prison's great bluestone doors.

Several figures approached through the swirling wind and snow outside the Heavenly Prison, their expressions solemn and their steps perfectly synchronized.

Yet, strangely, they made no sound at all.

They all wore the Heavenly Prison's black uniform except for the person leading them, who wore white robes and a veil that concealed their expression.

"Grade C colleagues. Hmm? Looks like the one leading them is actually Grade B?"

Uncle Wang murmured this, then promptly got up and cleared the corridor.

Grade B?

Ye Wuyou glanced at Uncle Wang's waist, where a waist token engraved with [D] hung.

Over the past few days, Ye Wuyou had learned a little about the Heavenly Prison's rules.

The Heavenly Prison had eight levels: one aboveground and seven underground.

The jailers were also divided into corresponding grades. Those like Uncle Wang were Grade D and normally went no farther than the second level.

As for Grades C and B, they presumably handled the deeper areas.

As for Ye Wuyou...

Interns had no grade.

Every jailer on the first level of the Heavenly Prison stood and moved aside, quietly waiting for the group to pass.

"Judging by this procession, a new shipment must have arrived. There, that big fellow in the middle."

Hearing Uncle Wang's muttered words, Ye Wuyou looked ahead and spotted the so-called "big fellow."

The "big fellow" was covered by a single large black cloth, seemingly to keep everyone else from seeing what lay beneath.

The figure towered over the others, tightly bound by several iron chains. As the group passed, drops of blood seeped along the chains.

This guy's really tall. Must be over two meters... Ye Wuyou thought.

[Merely a fifth-tier Shapeshifting Bear Demon. Even though the demon deliberately feigns weakness and pretends to have been captured, the deception cannot escape your discerning eye.]

[On any other day, would you spare even a glance? But with winter upon us, stripping off those bear paws and making a meal of them would be excellent.]

A demon?