The Method Cannot Be Cultivated

Eight Seals Mountain was rather quiet at night. Under the half-waned moon, only the faint chirping of insects echoed through the air.

Wentesi appeared without a sound, disturbing no living creature and adding only one more shadow to the world.

He first looked around to check on the forest, then sniffed the air. He detected no unusual scents.

"First, I need to find that foul-mouthed crow."

With that thought, Wentesi flapped his dragon wings and rose into the sky.

Mount Dai, in the lands of Qilu.

A vast, indistinct human face surged up from underground, bursting through the earth and thrusting up layer upon layer of rock. It rose a hundred zhang high, forming a range of towering mountains.

In an instant, heaven and earth changed color. The ground quaked and the mountains shook, rocks came tumbling down, and the entire forest was overturned. Birds and beasts scattered in every direction, wailing without end. Sand filled the sky, fierce winds howled, and the rivers ran dry.

"Guanghan! Moon Soul!"

The face roared, its voice like thunder.

The great waves of sound resounded through heaven and earth.

As the face roared, countless treasures, including rocks and ores, gushed from its mouth and the depths of the earth.

All were Foundation Establishment grade.

There were [Earth Virtue] white mountain jade, stone daring heart, trailing dust, and [Metal Virtue] red copper, cloud-patterned red iron, and unsinking gold. The treasures and spirit materials were too numerous to count.

A fist-sized piece of Purple Mansion-grade spirit material also spewed forth. It was called sound-netting chime stone.

This stone could gather every sound under heaven and earth, storing them within itself so that they would never fade.

Ordinary cultivators rarely had the chance to see such precious treasures, yet this giant mountain face had spat them out along with its words.

When the face finished roaring, the moon hanging high in the sky seemed to sink. Layer upon layer of radiance descended from it, shrouding the area around Mount Dai and concealing everything on the ground.

A clear, ethereal female voice rang out:

"Greetings, Immortal Lord Shanqi! This humble immortal Yuyao pays her respects!"

"Neither of my two lords is in the prefecture. The lord of Guanghan Prefecture has traveled far beyond the heavens, while Immortal Lord Moon Soul is merging with the moon and returning to her place. May I ask what important matter brings you here, Immortal Lord?"

"When the two return, this humble cultivator will convey your message at once."

A hazy human figure descended from the moon and stood with her hands cupped toward the face on the ground. Her tone was respectful, but her manner was neither servile nor overbearing.

Immortal Shanqi fell silent for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.

"Tell Moon Soul and Guanghan that something is amiss with the Name-Registering Stone! The path of [Hairy Head Sun] has gained a new disciple!"

"I suspect it is a sign of a change in Greater Yang's attainment."

"You must investigate at once! At once!!"

The few words rang out like a sudden thunderclap, echoing for a long time.

Having spoken, the face formed by the mountain range slowly faded away until it was gone.

Hearing Immortal Shanqi's words, the figure beneath the moon jolted and then trembled. The news seemed to have shocked her so deeply that she even forgot the courtesy of seeing the immortal off.

Only after a short while did she recover her senses. She withdrew the moonlight shrouding the earth and floated away.

"Where in the world is that foul-mouthed crow?"

Wentesi flapped his dragon wings as he darted through the forest, flying high and low in search of his quarry. Unfortunately, he could not find the foul-mouthed crow anywhere.

He could clearly sense the crow's presence, yet he could find no trace of it. That left Wentesi thoroughly annoyed.

For some reason, ever since he had entered this world this time, his whole body had felt uncomfortable. His body was feverish, his mind restless, and his temper had grown unusually violent.

Only after using a cantrip and a calming spell did he feel slightly better.

I'm afraid it's a drawback of cultivating this method!

Wentesi frowned. Remembering that he had never been this irritable or bad-tempered before, he could not help speculating about the cause.

He flew along the mountains, searching for traces of the crow, and before he knew it, he came to a cave.

The cave was over ten feet wide and so deep that he could not see its end. Wentesi did not rush inside, but stopped before the entrance, because he had spotted an illusion.

An ordinary wild beast would have seen nothing unusual, only an ordinary, deep cave entrance.

But beneath Wentesi's dragon eyes, the cave before him looked entirely different. A curtain of light woven from seven colors covered it, shimmering and flowing with brilliant hues.

No normal dragon would have approached it recklessly.

But the foul-mouthed crow's presence was indeed inside. Thinking it over, Wentesi felt there was a good chance this was its nest, and that the illusion was probably a barrier it had set up.

While Wentesi was thinking, the curtain of light suddenly vanished. A black shadow flew out of the cave, with feathers black as ink, eyes red as crimson, and a beak curved like a hook. It was none other than the foul-mouthed crow.

But the foul-mouthed crow's feathers were glossy and sleek, and its beak and claws gleamed. It looked to be living quite well, presumably after eating those two and a half wild ginseng roots.

"Shilongzi! What are you doing at my nest? I thought that damned golden eagle had come to get revenge on me! If you've got something to say, say it quickly, then hurry up and leave."

Crow Lord was on full alert and wanted him gone as soon as possible. It kept looking left and right, terrified that something might happen in the sky.

"Crow Lord, long time no see. How have you been?"

Wentesi gave a dragon smile and exchanged a few pleasantries first. After all, he was about to ask it for help, so it was best to be polite.

"Why are you talking like a human? Just say what you mean."

Crow Lord curled its beak, seemingly not at all fond of Wentesi's smiling face.

Hmm, just as I thought, humans exist in this world too. And from the look of it, their strength probably can't be underestimated either.

Seeing the disgust on Crow Lord's face, Wentesi immediately put on a serious dragon expression.

"Crow Lord, I wanted to ask, does the Hairy Head Sun Method have any drawbacks? For some reason, I can't cultivate it at night, only during the day."

Crow Lord seemed to have expected the question. As soon as Wentesi finished speaking, it tilted its beak and said with a delighted laugh:

"Of course you can't cultivate the Hairy Head Sun Method at night. I also have a Ginseng Mysterious Blood Moon Scripture here, and for just nine wild ginseng roots..."

But before it could finish, Crow Lord froze.

"What?!"

"What do you mean, you can't cultivate at night, but you can during the day?!"

Crow Lord realized that Shilongzi was not asking why it could not cultivate the Hairy Head Sun Method, but why it could not cultivate it at night!

"You mean you can cultivate it during the day?!"

Crow Lord cried in alarm, seemingly unable to believe the news. Its feathers stood on end, making it look utterly shocked.

Seeing Crow Lord's reaction, Wentesi's heart tightened. Could it be that the Hairy Head Sun Method could not be cultivated in this world? Or was there some taboo?

The more he said, the more mistakes he might make. Seeing how strongly Crow Lord had reacted, Wentesi decided not to speak at all. He simply watched it in silence, his eyes bright and intent, without uttering a word.

Seeing that he said nothing, Crow Lord took it as an admission and stared at Wentesi with wide eyes.

And so, in the mountain forest, a dragon and a crow stared wide-eyed at each other, and silence fell.

A moment later, Crow Lord was the first to lose patience. It moved right up to Wentesi and examined him from head to toe, unable to keep from asking skeptically:

"Did you really use the Hairy Head Sun Method to break through to the First Level of Embryonic Breathing?"

Wentesi raised an eyebrow and asked in return:

"What, can't you tell?"

"Greater Yang has withdrawn from the world. Anyone who cultivates a path of Greater Yang will have their divine radiance concealed within, so how could I tell?"

But... when you broke through, did you use a Fire Virtue spirit object?"

Crow Lord first shook its head, then fixed its eyes on Wentesi and questioned him.

"Fire Virtue?"

A thought stirred in Wentesi's mind.

Judging by the foul-mouthed crow's reaction, cultivating the Hairy Head Sun Method with Fire Virtue would probably make more sense. If I didn't use Fire Virtue... that would be less plausible instead.

Wentesi decided to be vague for now, and spoke in a deliberately uncertain tone.

"I think I ate some kind of red fruit a long time ago. Afterward, there was a surge of heat in my body.

I don't know if that was the Fire Virtue spirit object you're talking about."

"That's it, then. You gave me a fright! So you used Fire Virtue to enter [Hairy Head Sun]. That makes perfect sense!"

Crow Lord laughed, visibly relieved, and flapped its wings.

Wentesi asked in puzzlement:

"Can't the path of [Hairy Head Sun] be cultivated directly?"

Crow Lord was still flapping its wings as it laughed and said:

"Shilongzi, you really were a mortal before. This is all basic cultivation knowledge, and you don't even know it."

Crow Lord laughed smugly, then went on to explain:

"The Great Dao of the Sun has four paths: [Hairy Head Sun], [Room Sun], [Star Sun], and [Emptiness Sun]."

"Since recent antiquity, Greater Yang has withdrawn from the world, and the paths of [Room Sun] and [Hairy Head Sun] have both been severed by the Great Dao of the Moon.

The path of [Star Sun] uses the stars as a substitute for the sun, while the path of [Emptiness Sun] uses the earth's yang as a substitute for the sun. Each of the two paths has developed into a branch of its own."

Wentesi understood at last. The path of [Hairy Head Sun] in this world had been severed and could not be cultivated.

Greater Yang was gone!

No wonder Crow Lord had been so shocked to hear that Wentesi had cultivated the Hairy Head Sun Method.

"Wait! Then why did you trade me a cultivation method for the path of [Hairy Head Sun]?! Doesn't that mean I can't cultivate it?!

And why can I cultivate it with a Fire Virtue spirit object? Why is that?!"

Wentesi had spotted the problem and immediately pressed Crow Lord for answers.

"Hehehe~ Well, about that... Say, the moon sure is full tonight!"

Crow Lord gave a couple of awkward laughs, trying to change the subject.

The silver moon hung high in a cloudless sky, and it truly was exceptionally round and bright.

"Cut the nonsense! If you can't give me a proper explanation, then give me back my two and a half top-grade wild spirit ginseng roots!"

Wentesi put on a stern face and shouted, his voice and expression both fierce. He looked ready to fly into a rage, thrusting his dragon head forward as though he were about to unleash his dragon breath.

Seeing how unyielding Wentesi was, Crow Lord knew this would not end well today.

It was no good at fighting with spells and was even afraid of that pig demon. Wentesi had dealt with the pig demon that had lorded it over the mountain, so it certainly could not beat him.

And now Wentesi was advancing on it step by step, his dragon mouth slightly open, as though he might unleash his dragon breath at any moment.

Seeing this, Crow Lord hurriedly spoke.

"I ate all the wild ginseng long ago!

How about this? Come with me to the market in the mountains. I'll take you to a cultivation method shop, and you can choose whichever one you like. I'll pay for it. How about that?

As for why a Fire Virtue spirit object can help you cultivate it, fly with me and I'll explain everything along the way."

First, I need to calm Wentesi down!

Crow Lord had no confidence it could beat Wentesi. Otherwise, it would be roast bird today.

It had simply never imagined that one day its scheme would spin out of control.

In the past, it had swindled little demons who had just stepped onto the Dao Path time and again, and the trick had worked every time. It had not expected to take such a great fall with Wentesi this time.

Crow Lord did not know that Wentesi had actually come out ahead, and that Wentesi had turned the tables on it.

Seeing it like this, Wentesi naturally knew it felt guilty and knew it was in the wrong, so he deliberately said:

"I'll trust you one last time, foul crow!"

"This time, you'd better pick me a cultivation method I can actually cultivate properly, or else, hmph!"