Autumn had passed, and winter had arrived. Fewer than ten days remained before the spirit spring opened.
Liu Xiaowen traveled the three mountains, slaying demons with his sword. At last, he mastered sword momentum, and Xu Xuan sensed it immediately.
Inside True Abode Hall, Xu Xuan sat meditating and regulating his breath. Within his qi sea, the purple lightning churned as though alive, the ancient stele rose and fell, and clear light flickered. In his mind, he distinctly saw Liu Xiaowen, drenched in demon blood, comprehending sword momentum.
He felt an exceedingly fine, faint strand of clear qi arrive from afar, traveling along the azure path before settling upon him. The four ancient seal-script characters for [Sword Rises from the Deep Abyss] upon his spiritual dais brightened slightly, and Xu Xuan felt as though his understanding of the Congming One-Qi Sword Art had deepened a little.
Liu Xiaowen mastering sword momentum can nourish me in return?
Though this improvement was slight, it had truly advanced Xu Xuan's sword cultivation, which had stagnated for years. He could not help feeling delighted.
He had now reached the sixth level of Qi Refining. If he wanted to attain Foundation Establishment, he would have to successfully seek his [Nature Root] at the ninth level. This was something profoundly mysterious; even after consulting ancient texts and his master's records, Xu Xuan understood it only in broad terms.
Seeking one's nature required, first, profound cultivation and a sufficiently deep understanding and comprehension of one's tradition; second, a measure of providence. This providence could come from one's tradition, one's bloodline, or be innate.
There was also a simple, brute-force approach: directly supplementing it with the incense offerings of mortals. However, Foundation Establishment achieved this way lacked sufficient spiritual attainment, and its strength ranked almost at the very bottom.
He had heard that, in ancient times, when virtuous cultivators of profound attainment reached this stage, their traditions would bestow providence upon them of their own accord, guiding them to establish an immortal foundation. Such were truly the means of immortals. In high antiquity, breaking through to Foundation Establishment also required weathering a tribulation, thereby sublimating one's nature and life. Nowadays, only a breakthrough to Purple Mansion brought down a few heavenly thunderbolts that barely hurt or itched.
Achieving Foundation Establishment through blood qi and incense offerings was a method devised by cultivators of more recent antiquity, who saw that lightning tribulations no longer manifested at that realm and imitated the Buddhist and demonic paths. Breaking through to Foundation Establishment meant uniting nature and life: the nature root in the Consciousness Sea and the life foundation in the qi sea would converge, creating an immortal foundation.
Cultivating life alone was the demonic path, merging soul and flesh into one and refining only the qi sea. One could freely consume blood qi and make it one's own. Cultivating nature alone was akin to the Buddhist path: founding a Buddhist kingdom, establishing a pure land, opening wide the gates of the teachings, and accumulating the power of vows to cultivate a golden body. That body was like a boat, allowing reincarnation at will.
At the same realm, neither of these paths could match the immortal path, which cultivated both nature and life. They merely traveled farther along narrower roads, possessing certain unique methods with which to contend.
Outside True Abode Hall, Liu Xiaowen had returned. Having mastered sword momentum, he carried a bearing all his own despite his youth.
"Master, your disciple has mastered sword momentum, and [Light of the Upper Heavens] has begun to take shape as well."
Waiting outside the hall, Liu Xiaowen recounted in a steady voice his experiences slaying demons in the mountains these past days. He mentioned those hideous black spiders, which appeared in considerable numbers, particularly near the borders of Eastern Secret.
"These demons do not seem naturally born. Rather, they bear traces of creation through demonic methods. I will investigate this myself. The spirit spring will open soon, so spend these next few days regulating your breath and bringing your essence, qi, and spirit into balance."
With that, Xu Xuan waved his hand and dismissed his disciple.
Demons that came over from Eastern Secret? Once the matter of the spirit spring is settled, I should go take a look and see what Xie Shu is plotting.
For now, Liu Xiaowen's affairs were the most important, and Xu Xuan could not afford to divide his attention. The sect had no spiritual treasures for nurturing disciples. Its sole resource, the red fruit of the Foundation Establishment treasure tree, could only be slowly refined after reaching Qi Refining. Helping Liu Xiaowen refine half a fruit had already been Xu Xuan's limit.
Elsewhere, Liu Xiaowen arrived at Rosy Dawn Peak, intending to visit his senior brother.
He had spent nearly the entire autumn in the mountains without returning to the peak, so it was time to pay a visit. Upon entering the hall, he found Wang Qiyun there as expected. Rather than working beside the furnace, however, Wang Qiyun held a jade knife and was carving something, with Formation Disks scattered around him.
"Senior Brother, I'm back."
Liu Xiaowen called out, but Wang Qiyun seemed not to hear him, attending only to the object in his hands as he continued carving. Liu Xiaowen called a few more times. Seeing that Senior Brother Qiyun was busy, he dared not disturb him and stepped aside to wait quietly.
After a short while, Wang Qiyun finally finished carving. Only then did he notice Liu Xiaowen in the hall, and he hurriedly asked:
"You're back, Xiaowen? Why didn't you say hello? I didn't even notice."
Liu Xiaowen laughed heartily. "You were so focused, Senior Brother. I was afraid of disturbing you, so I waited here."
"Never mind that for now. I have something good to show you." Looking rather pleased with himself, Wang Qiyun raised the Formation Disk in his hand and activated his magical power. The disc immediately lit up, stirred a gust of wind, and flew several circuits around the hall before exhausting its magical power and dropping down.
"This is the [Small Wind-Riding Formation]. I've now transcribed all twelve minor Fetal Breath formations from the Record of Cloud Garments and Splendid Regalia. They can be applied to gold, iron, Copper and Tin, so making formation artifacts of Fetal Breath grade will be no trouble."
Wang Qiyun's laughter echoed through the hall. Liu Xiaowen did not know what use the formation had, but he felt it was a good thing and laughed along with him.
After they chatted about recent events, Wang Qiyun took the stone token from his robes and placed it in Liu Xiaowen's hands, saying simply:
"This is a formation artifact I made, called [Fire Prayer]. It lets you command a strand of earth baleful fire for your own use, allowing you to control fire even at the Fetal Breath realm. It can also ignite your magical power in an instant to increase its might, though the consumption is rather high."
Liu Xiaowen accepted the stone token and refined it briefly. With a thought, a strand of brilliant red earth baleful fire flowed out of it, moving at his will and clinging to his sword blade. It was wondrous indeed.
"Thank you, Senior Brother. You helped forge every magical artifact I have."
Liu Xiaowen felt somewhat ashamed. He had not rendered even the smallest service, yet his sect valued him so highly that he felt unworthy of its gifts. Beside him, Wang Qiyun smiled and told him to devote more time to cultivation. Once he attained Foundation Establishment, the sect's true-disciple cultivation methods would still need him to carry them on.
A little later, Liu Xiaowen took his leave, saying he would continue consolidating his cultivation and practicing his sword moves in preparation for the spirit spring.
The Wu Clan, Great Scenery Plains.
Ever since losing its promising Foundation Establishment heir, this clan had begun showing signs of decline, and its territories had now contracted somewhat. It bordered the Liu Household in the northern part of the Plainlands, close to the Green Peaks and Eastern Secret region.
The clan was now headed by an elderly man at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, Wu Shanchan. Nearly a hundred and sixty years old, he belonged to Chen Weiyuan's generation. His own son had broken through to Foundation Establishment years ago, only to perish in the Demon Calamity. His grandson of the direct line had committed an offense and met with disaster.
The Wu Clan was now caught in a gap between generations. Wu Shanchan had promoted several young descendants from the collateral branches, but even the most accomplished was only at the third level of Qi Refining and already around forty. Reaching Foundation Establishment in the time remaining would be difficult even with blood qi and incense offerings. Besides, what good would success do? Could he withstand Zhu Yucheng? Could he withstand the demons of Jade Flow?
Having lived so long, Wu Shanchan naturally knew a few hidden truths. The Lineages of the Plainlands had been trapped here for generations. Whenever they sought to leave, there seemed to be an invisible barrier outside.
Most medicinal pills came from the Ghost Market-neither too many nor too few, just enough for each clan to nurture one or two direct-line descendants and support their breakthroughs to Foundation Establishment.
He could no longer clearly recall the circumstances of the last Demon Calamity. He remembered only that it had occurred just when most of that generation on the Plainlands had completed Foundation Establishment. A few might only have broken through to the ninth level and sought their nature. According to Chen Weiyuan, advancing from the ninth level of Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment was simply sitting idle until the mountain of wealth was exhausted, squandering the legacy their ancestors had left behind.
Now he was beginning to grasp the meaning of those words. Among the direct-line descendants on the Plainlands, anyone with a chance of reaching Foundation Establishment who broke through to the sixth level of Qi Refining at the proper time had caught someone's eye. At least before seeking their nature, they rarely met with disaster.
As for his grandson of the direct line, that matter was complicated. Whose taboo had Wu Heyong violated to be killed so early? The old man dared not think about it.
"My lord, how much of what Xie Shu said can we believe?"
A middle-aged man seated below asked in a clear voice. At the third level of Qi Refining, he was one of the younger descendants Wu Shanchan had recently promoted, named Wu Hecun. He was robust, with bright eyes that seemed to burn with wildfire. Wu Shanchan could see this descendant's ambition, but his talent for cultivation was truly rather poor. He would probably struggle even to preserve the clan's inheritance.
"Xie Shu said he was acting on behalf of an important figure in the Wilderness of Witches. Although he brought a token of proof, we must still give the matter further consideration."
Wu Shanchan tightly gripped a bone talisman that radiated a pearly white glow. The roars of tigers and wolves seemed to emerge from within it.
A trace of concealed dissatisfaction appeared in Wu Hecun's eyes below. He lowered his head but continued offering his advice respectfully:
"My lord, since the Wilderness of Witches wishes to establish contact with us, we naturally cannot let this opportunity slip by. Besides, I've heard that the Wilderness of Witches has many extraordinary arts that can allow people to attain Foundation Establishment easily."
At this point, Wu Hecun's breathing grew somewhat heavier, but Wu Shanchan above him checked his greed.
"We will discuss this after the clan's Fetal Breath descendants enter the spirit spring. I've heard the Immortal Sect will also send people then, though I don't know what instructions they may bring. The Plainlands will likely see further changes at that time. Choosing a patron too early would not be wise."
Wu Shanchan sighed and gave detailed instructions, sending Wu Hecun to prepare for the spirit spring. Though the man seated below had somewhat evasive eyes, Wu Shanchan saw his greed perfectly clearly.
I chose with the utmost care for both temperament and talent. He already ranks among the best in the clan, yet he remains so unfit for any great responsibility.
At that moment, Wu Shanchan began to miss his grandson of the direct line. He cried out in pain, coughed up some blood, and murmured:
"Why did it have to be so? Why did it have to be so? Heyong, what is too rigid breaks easily. Even clinging to a miserable life would have been better than dying a heroic death."
The servants nearby hurried into action, tending to the decrepit old man.
(End of chapter)
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