Mount Taixuan, Ancestral Hall.
Hua Chunning was still somewhat dazed.
How had what seemed like a pristine situation shattered into total chaos in the blink of an eye?
Li Chengxuan observed her carefully using the 【Qi Peering Technique】.
The imagery surrounding Hua Chunning had indeed grown much richer.
Those earlier methods of forging a spiritual atmosphere and harvesting Spring Qi had truly been effective.
Regrettably, they likely could not be used again anytime soon.
Coming back to her senses, Hua Chunning bowed her head and offered her respects. “Greetings, Sect Master. This disciple is incompetent and has disappointed you.”
“There is no need for this.” Li Chengxuan shook his head slightly and sighed. “You should have told me earlier when the situation in the grotto-heaven changed.”
“Had I not noticed something amiss and brought you out of the grotto-heaven, your imagery would likely have been completely scattered by now.”
Tears welled in Hua Chunning's eyes as she lowered her head in silence.
Having received the sect master's trust and been allowed to enter the grotto-heaven to supplement her imagery, she had already received immense grace; how could she dare trouble him further?
When encountering difficulties, she naturally tried to resolve them herself.
She had not expected that a moment of carelessness would render all her prior efforts completely wasted.
Li Chengxuan did not dwell on it, continuing, “How is your progress in supplementing your imagery?”
“Informs Sect Master, I have fully harvested both 【Beginning of Spring】 and 【Rain Water】,” Hua Chunning forced herself to gather her spirits and answered earnestly. “Before leaving the grotto-heaven, it was time for the imagery of 【Awakening of Insects】, but I only harvested the first two pentads: 【Peach Trees Begin to Blossom】 and 【Orioles Begin to Sing】.”
“The third pentad, 【Hawks Transform into Doves】, involves the transformation of species. This disciple had no inkling of how to approach it and has yet to begin.”
“It seems to make little difference.” Hearing this, Li Chengxuan nodded, pondered deeply for a moment, and comforted her, “【Hawks Transform into Doves】 does not belong to 【Yimu Wood】, nor does it impede or interact with 【Hundred Flowers Fragrance】. Leaving it unharvested is of little consequence.”
Hearing this, a gleam lit up Hua Chunning's eyes, and she asked in disbelief, “Could it be... this disciple still has a chance?!”
“How will we know without trying?” Li Chengxuan sighed, speaking candidly, “The cultivation path previously laid out for you was inherently a convoluted shortcut. I could not discern it clearly myself, nor have I walked it personally.”
“Right now, the concept-imagery upon your person has shifted significantly from before, and it has indeed grown considerably denser.”
“【Beginning of Spring】, 【Rain Water】, and 【Awakening of Insects】 all happen to correspond to the surging of Yang Qi—the newly rising Yang, which is Shaoyang.”
“The next solar term, 【Spring Equinox】, represents a balance of Yin and Yang. The second pentad of 【Spring Equinox】 is also a thunder phenomenon—the 【Xuan Thunder】 of Yin and Yang contending—which conflicts with the concept-imagery of 【Zhen Thunder】 of Shaoyang striking Yin in 【Beginning of Spring】.”
“Stopping at the third pentad of 【Awakening of Insects】 seems, in hindsight, to be a blessing in disguise.”
“Ingesting 【Hundred Flowers Fragrance】 to enter the Dao, aligning with half a path of Spring Qi to inherit Shaoyang—the Dao theory appears coherent. You are not necessarily without a chance.”
Hua Chunning drew a deep breath.
Things having reached this point, she could only give it her all.
Whether she succeeded or failed depended entirely on heavenly fate.
In any case, she would never give up!
Hearing the sect master say that her hopes for cultivation were not entirely severed, Hua Chunning gradually calmed down and could not help voicing the question in her heart: “May I ask, Sect Master, if I return to the grotto-heaven next spring to fully harvest the remaining Spring Qi, would my chances be even greater?!”
“I do not know either. However, you should understand the principle that the first momentum brings victory, the second falters, and the third exhausts itself,” Li Chengxuan pondered for a moment before explaining patiently. “You are the first person under my sect to enter a grotto-heaven to supplement imagery, so there is no precedent to follow.”
“Furthermore, you are ultimately not native to that grotto-heaven. Forcibly condensing imagery there is no different from theft.”
“Allowing you to gather a full half-path of Spring Qi is already a considerable amount.”
“After all, that grotto-heaven is densely populated with mortals and possesses no low standing.”
“Though it lacks spiritual qi and the Heavenly Dao has not manifested there, it can still generate mortal tribulations to obstruct you.”
“My fear is that if you wait until next year, other tribulations will be waiting for you.”
Hua Chunning's heart tightened as a sense of powerlessness washed over her. She could only nod and say, “This disciple's mind is currently unsettled and my thoughts are in disarray.”
“I request the Sect Master's permission to rest for a few days before making a decision.”
...
Hua Chunning left the Ancestral Hall and had no heart to read any more Dao theories, going straight down the mountain to the Hua family compound.
If anyone besides herself and the sect master cared about her Dao path, it was bound to be the grandfather who had raised her.
The direct line of the Hua clan resided right at the foot of Mount Taixuan. Though life was not as carefree as it had been in Spring Return Valley, they were safe and secure.
Hua Chunning proceeded unhindered all the way into the ancestral hall.
Hua Mingcheng had already received word and was waiting. Seeing Hua Chunning's abnormal expression, he hurriedly asked, “Chunning, what happened to you?!”
“Grandfather!” Hua Chunning was, after all, still young, and today she had suffered immense shock and grievance. She had simply lacked the courage to show it in front of Li Chengxuan for fear of disappointing him. Now, seeing her closest kin, her eyes instantly turned red. “Your granddaughter is incompetent... I fear I have severed my own Dao path.”
Hua Mingcheng's heart shook violently upon hearing this, and he hastily pressed for details.
Hua Chunning merely shook her head without explaining.
After all, the grotto-heaven involved the sect's ultimate secrets.
If she leaked it, it would be no different from seeking her own death, and it would implicate the entire Hua clan as well.
As a worldly-wise elder, Hua Mingcheng sensed something amiss and ceased asking for details, only inquiring, “Speak clearly—is your Dao path truly severed now, or not?!”
“I do not know either.” Before her close kin, Hua Chunning made no attempt to conceal her true thoughts. “I failed the sect master's painstaking efforts. A full year of hard work ended up falling short at the last moment.”
“The sect master possesses astonishing Dao wisdom and managed to extract a faint glimmer of hope for me.”
“Yet after listening to him, your granddaughter feels that even the sect master lacks confidence, mostly treating a dead horse as a living one.”
Hua Mingcheng frowned after hearing this, pacing back and forth in the ancestral hall while muttering to himself. Finally, he gritted his teeth and asked, “Think back carefully. Was Immortal Li merely offering empty words of comfort, or is there genuine hope?!”
Hua Chunning bowed her head in thought for a moment before speaking: “It should not be empty comfort. I am merely a registered disciple; it is not worth the sect master using deceptive words on me.”
“Then there is hope!” Hua Mingcheng exhaled a silent sigh of relief, reaching a firm decision as he lowered his voice, “Chunning, our clan still possesses a few 【human pill】s, which are most effective at supplementing blood qi and imagery!”
“However, you must be careful—on no account let Immortal Li notice.”
“Otherwise, we face the peril of death and clan extermination.”
“A human pill!” Hua Chunning was shocked. The Hua family had been reduced to mortals for a century, yet they actually still retained such grand pills.
As for ingesting a human pill, Hua Chunning did not feel much resistance.
As long as it allowed her to enter the Dao and cultivate, she would try any method.
“No!” Hua Chunning pondered for a moment, then shook her head in refusal anyway. “Even if I could hide it from the sect master, it still will not work.”
“I have read many Dao scriptures on the mountain, and today I heard the sect master explain the Dao theories to me.”
“I faintly feel that the Dao path I am to cultivate does not favor human pills or blood qi.”
“If I were to ingest a human pill, I fear that would be truly severing my own Dao path.”
Spring possesses Wood Virtue, forbidding slaughter and protecting life.
The Shaoyang it inherits is the newly rising Yang.
Though it is not like Taiyang, which incinerates evil and slays wickedness, it likewise disdains external realm methods such as human pills.
As for the 【Zhen Thunder】 involved when supplementing imagery, it is the ultimate bane of such human pills and blood qi.
“To think there are such restrictions.” Hua Mingcheng frowned upon hearing this, faintly realizing his granddaughter was likely not cultivating 【Yimu Wood】. Not daring to ask further, he merely said, “Tell me, what did Immortal Li say was the reason your Dao path is so slim?”
Hua Chunning let out a bitter smile. “Naturally, it is because my imagery is shallow and my fate density is insufficient.”
“Imagery, fate density...” Hua Mingcheng muttered softly to himself, taking a worn wooden basin from a corner of the ancestral hall. He then carefully pulled out a jade vial and poured a shallow layer of water into the basin.
Hua Chunning watched in bewilderment.
This worn wooden basin looked extremely familiar; it had been around for as long as Hua Chunning could remember, serving as a tool her grandfather used to filter medicinal seeds.
Its operation was also simple.
Fill the basin with water, then throw the seeds inside.
The plump and full ones sank to the bottom.
The shriveled and damaged ones floated to the top.
Hua Chunning watched her grandfather's movements and asked cautiously, “Grandfather, what are you doing?!”
“Weighing your fate!” Hua Mingcheng set down the jade vial, speaking with a mix of pride and emotion, “This is the most precious artifact of the Hua family—the 【Azure Element Fate-Weighing Basin】!”
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