Chapter 37: Cultivating the Heart
Time flies like a white horse passing a gap, and floating clouds shift like dogs in the sky. Six months passed in the blink of an eye.
Outer Disciple Peak.
Song Yan, inside his cave dwelling, had a hint of worry in his eyes and brows.
“Too slow…”
He gazed at the floor of his cave dwelling, littered with pill bottles and the cracked, ashen remains of formation arrays, and let out a soft sigh.
In six months, Song Yan had already cultivated back to the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Stage.
The expenditure was staggering.
The speed of rebuilding his cultivation was even slower than he had imagined.
And this was the speed he had obtained by recklessly squandering his cultivation resources without regard for cost.
Not only had the Yellow Sprout Pills been almost entirely consumed, but in pursuit of cultivation efficiency, Song Yan had also taken one hundred spirit stones from his collection of over one hundred and sixty and exchanged them at the market for two small Spirit Gathering Formations.
These were not the defective ones he had previously scavenged by chance from the garbage heap of Fire Workshop Stronghold.
These were perfectly functional Spirit Gathering Formations that could be used multiple times, and they made his heart ache for quite a while.
Even so, the speed of cultivating the seed of the sword dao was still as slow as a tortoise’s crawl, even slower than his original cultivation speed with three spiritual roots.
If he had not avoided all the detours from his previous cultivation this time, he feared it would have taken two years to reach the middle stage of Qi Refining.
He had not yet reached the truly arduous final four layers of the Qi Refining Stage, yet his thoughts were already somewhat scattered.
There was nothing that could be done about it.
“I must obtain a Spirit Essence sooner to strengthen the seed of the sword dao…”
Song Yan was good at keeping his feet on the ground.
Things like sword intent and the Dao heart, in his view, were all intangible and ethereal concepts he had never given thought to.
“Sigh…”
He sighed softly.
There was still about a year until the appointment with the couple Rong Xiaofeng and Wu Huaguo, and this stretch of time felt rather long.
Not to mention, what if there was no Spirit Essence in that cultivator’s cave dwelling, or if he failed to obtain it—wouldn’t that make his hope even more distant?
He had himself inquired about news of Spirit Essences everywhere, but unfortunately, either the rumors were baseless, or the asking prices were exorbitant, far beyond what he could afford.
Song Yan felt a deeply contradictory weariness take root in the depths of his heart.
Having truly experienced the cruelty of the cultivation world firsthand, he desperately wanted to cultivate and grow stronger, yet a sense of utter helplessness spread through his heart.
Though he had not reached the point of despair, it was enough to leave his mind in turmoil, agitated beyond measure.
If this continued, he feared a heart demon would arise…
Song Yan took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
“Forget it. Since there is no better path available right now, I will cultivate methodically and use the time to hone my divine sense as well.”
After breaking through to the middle stage of Qi Refining, the seed of the sword dao within the Zhen Dao Sword Palace appeared slightly more plump than before.
What surprised Song Yan was that the two-colored stone bead he had previously failed to refine with spiritual energy could actually be refined with sword qi.
After expending considerable effort to refine it, when Song Yan now entered the Two Yogis Realm within the stone bead again, he could see a plump seed slowly floating at the center of the black-and-white world, identical to the one within his own Zhen Dao Sword Palace.
He speculated that this seed was likely a reflection of the state of the Dao seed within his body.
“But I can already look inward and observe the state of my Dao seed—wouldn’t this make the Two Yogis Realm entirely redundant?”
Song Yan could not figure it out.
If he could not figure it out, he would stop thinking about it. He had always been this way.
He believed that with insufficient strength and a narrow perspective, no amount of thinking would be of any use.
His grandfather had told him that thinking only brings difficulties, while doing brings answers.
There was one more thing, though he was not sure whether it counted as good news for the current Song Yan.
After refining the Two Yogis Pearl, some ink-colored runes had once again condensed within the realm and imprinted themselves into his mind.
It was the complete cultivation method of the Five Star Pulse-Grasping Technique.
As for why it was not good news for the current Song Yan…
The introduction explained that this so-called “complete” technique was actually derived from another secret scripture for cultivating divine sense.
However, the original text was profound and complex, obscure and difficult, and ordinary cultivators of mediocre comprehension could never grasp its essence.
Moreover, the minimum requirement for cultivating the original text was the Golden Core Stage.
When he read this, Song Yan was so exasperated he laughed.
Ha, the Golden Core Stage… This Five Star Pulse-Grasping Technique was the version simplified and streamlined by predecessors.
Although its cultivation effect was inferior to the original, it had the merit of being easy to understand, and its cultivation threshold had been lowered from the Golden Core Stage to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Even so, Song Yan, currently at the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Stage, still could not cultivate it.
He could only continue practicing the original abbreviated mantra.
Still, it was not without benefit.
Song Yan stood up and left his cave dwelling.
The complete Five Star Pulse-Grasping Technique mentioned that certain arts of cultivating the heart could aid in practicing the mantra and help hone and temper the strength of divine sense.
“This month’s heart cultivation art has not yet been completed.”
“Since my cultivation is slow and my mind is already in turmoil, if I continue to brute-force my training now, my mental state will likely suffer…”
“I might as well go to Listening Dao Gorge and clear my mind.”
He walked out from Outer Disciple Peak and headed toward Listening Dao Gorge at a leisurely pace, passing through Initiation Ground along the way.
He happened upon an outer sect senior disciple who was guiding a newly admitted disciple to Listening Dao Gorge.
Their conversation drifted into Song Yan’s ears.
“Senior Brother Zhao, what exactly are these ‘heart cultivation arts’?”
The new disciple asked curiously.
“That is a long story.”
Senior Brother Zhao pondered for a moment, then countered with a question: “Junior Brother, what do you think cultivating immortality is?”
“Ah? That… perhaps it is about raising one’s spiritual energy level and seeking the Dao of longevity.”
“Hahahaha, longevity…”
Senior Brother Zhao suddenly laughed.
“Indeed, longevity—this is the greatest goal of cultivating immortality.”
“But how does one achieve longevity? By constantly raising one’s spiritual energy level? Or by cultivating the primordial spirit? Or by tempering the physical body?”
“…”
“All of these are necessary… but even these are not enough. Longevity also requires cultivating the heart.”
“Cultivating the heart?”
“That is right,” Senior Brother Zhao nodded.
“Looking back across the long river of the cultivation world, geniuses of superior talent and limitless fortuitous encounters are probably as numerous as the stars in the sky…”
“But those who truly attain longevity are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.”
“With vast spiritual energy, a solid physical body, and a refined primordial spirit, yet stalled outside the threshold of a certain realm for ten years, a hundred years, or even a thousand years…”
“There are far too many such people. Among them, some have become complacent and self-imprisoned, unable to make further progress, and their lifespan eventually runs out and they perish.”
“Some generate heart demons, their nature undergoes a drastic change, and they ultimately fall into the demonic path—most of them meeting an untimely end.”
“Only that extremely small minority can break through the barriers, advance their realm, and seek the Dao of longevity.”
“The difference lies in their nature, or one might say, their state of heart.”
“I see.”
The new disciple suddenly understood.
“There are many techniques for cultivating spiritual energy, and not a few for tempering the physical body. Though methods for refining the mind are rare and scarce, they can be obtained at a price or through fortuitous encounters. But have you ever heard of any technique that cultivates the state of heart?”
“…”
The new disciple shook his head.
“That is right. These heart cultivation arts are actually a path for tempering one’s state of heart, but they cannot be called techniques, nor can they be called secret methods. They can only be considered… refined pursuits, I suppose.”
“Um… but in truth, for disciples of our lowly strength, these heart cultivation arts are not of much practical use.”
Senior Brother Zhao suddenly said in a low voice.
“Before condensing a Golden Core, our cultivation faces no real obstacles of the heart. But since it is the rule established by the sect master, we simply follow it.”
“Yes, Senior Brother.”
(End of Chapter)