Chapter 50: Half a Year

Wen Xu decided to enter a short seclusion.

For one thing, he wanted to comprehend the first layer of the Ten Thousand Things Arise Art. For another… he wanted to lie low for a while. He really did not want to see a certain Senior Brother Zheng anytime soon.

Although Wen Xu had suffered fairly serious injuries during the battle at Listening Crane Manor, he had also gained a great deal from it.

It was still the same old truth: Wen Xu had once been a scholar, and both his behavior and his way of thinking were completely different from those of cultivators. Knowledge gained from books alone would always remain shallow. That saying was not wrong in the slightest.

The gap between theory and reality truly could not be bridged by imagination alone. At the very least, after being injured once, he finally understood how cultivators actually fought.

Simply put, it was not as Wen Xu had imagined, where someone with a higher cultivation level would absolutely suppress someone with a lower one. To put it more bluntly, a Qi Refining cultivator was not necessarily weaker than a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and a Foundation Establishment cultivator was not necessarily weaker than a Golden Core cultivator.

From the moment he first learned about cultivation realms, Wen Xu had instinctively assumed that a cultivator’s combat ability also rose step by step with their realm. But after experiencing an actual battle, he knew he had been wrong.

Although the evil cultivator Madam Shen had been at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, she was a rabbit demon and was not particularly aggressive. Because she had focused too much on advancing her cultivation, she had neglected training her offensive methods. That evil drum of sorrow and joy was her main offensive artifact, but it was clearly far too easy to counter. Even though it had been Wen Xu’s first time encountering that kind of attack, once he understood its characteristics, he had been able to break free quickly.

As for why the three of them had managed to hold Madam Shen back for so long, according to Chunzhou, there were two reasons. First, their opponent had made them look good by comparison. Second, all three of them were cultivators inclined toward offense.

Xia Ying was a close-combat sword cultivator, and her swordsmanship naturally countered evil cultivators. Chunzhou was a talisman cultivator who could fight at either long or close range, a classic opportunist. As for Wen Xu himself, a wind spiritual root was actually extremely well suited to long-range battlefield control.

Thinking back carefully now, Wen Xu felt his performance at the time had been riddled with flaws.

He had even wasted a great deal of spiritual power that could have produced real results, while very little had actually been put to effective use. There were two reasons for this. First, he was far too inexperienced at fighting and casting techniques. Second, his control over spiritual power was inadequate.

To use a very simple analogy, suppose the seventh layer of Qi Refining gave him seven hundred points of spiritual power. Because his control was poor, whenever he tried to draw out ten points, he would actually use thirteen. Each discrepancy was only a few points and seemed insignificant, but added together, it became a considerable amount.

Besides, in a battle between cultivators, victory or defeat could reverse in a single instant. Wen Xu could not decide who his future opponents would be. The only thing he could do was continually improve his own abilities.

Wen Xu drew up a “Half-Year Plan” for himself.

In simple terms, the goal was to improve his control over spiritual power. Applied to his daily cultivation, that meant reducing the spiritual power required whenever he drew an array. In other words, without affecting the array’s formation, he had to make every copper coin stretch twice as far.

“Muscle memory” was a phrase Chunzhou had taught him, but Wen Xu soon discovered that cultivation was a process of engraving everything into muscle memory. Sometimes, thinking too much only produced the opposite of the intended result.

So over the next half year, he had to at least reach the point where he no longer let excessive spiritual power leak away whenever he used it.

The process was, of course, extremely tedious. But Wen Xu was someone who could sit still for long periods. Once he settled his mind and immersed himself in cultivation, he put every other trivial matter aside. Even the hatred in his heart was temporarily covered over.

As the saying went, time held no meaning in the mountains.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Wen Xu completed the final circulation cycle. A spiritual gleam flashed through his eyes, and when he finally exhaled a breath of turbid air, he had already stabilized his cultivation at the peak of the eighth layer of Qi Refining.

It was not that he did not want to break through to the ninth layer in one go. He simply sensed that he was still missing something, so… there was no need to rush.

He lowered his head and glanced at the simple water clock he had made. Half a year had already passed. If he did not leave now, he might miss the sect tournament.

Wen Xu cast a cleaning spell on himself, then took a silk ribbon from his storage ring and tied it over his eyes. After half a year without wearing it, he was actually a little unaccustomed to it.

He stepped out of the small room where he had been secluded and looked outside.

All right. The place was plastered with Chunzhou’s communication talismans.

There was occasionally one from Chen Zui as well, though their contents were all related to improvements in cultivation. As for Senior Brother Zheng Jin, he had actually sent only one, and it concerned the Folding Wind Fan.

Wen Xu gathered all the communication talismans. He planned to pay his respects to his master first, then go see his friends.

“Oh? You’ve reached the peak of the eighth layer of Qi Refining. Not bad, not bad.”

Summer had long since passed at the foot of the mountain, yet the wind and snow on Spring-Crossing Peak remained unending. Today it was even worse. When Wen Xu climbed the peak, he nearly sank into snow that reached his waist.

He had only been in seclusion for half a year. Who had upset his master this time?

The Sect Master? Or perhaps one of the Grand Elders?

“Ah Xu.”

“This disciple is here.”

“I heard that you personally made a robe for a young Nascent Soul cultivator from Artifact Refining Peak.” Divine Venerable Chengwei’s tone carried a faint chill. As long as his youngest disciple was not too foolish, he would understand what those words meant.

Wen Xu was far from foolish. He was exceptionally clever.

“This disciple did indeed give True Lord Zheng Jin a birthday gift, but I did not personally sew it. I merely layered arrays onto it.”

Divine Venerable Chengwei gave a soft snort.

“Oh?”

How should he put it?

Wen Xu had actually prepared a backup plan.

When he had made the robe for Senior Brother Zheng Jin, he had also intended to make something for his master with his own hands. But his master was in the Body Integration Realm. A robe marked with arrays made by a Qi Refining cultivator?

Even if his master agreed to wear such a thing, Wen Xu himself would never allow it!

Even if his master never left Spring-Crossing Peak, Wen Xu could not let him dress so shabbily.

Thus, he had immediately rejected the idea of making a robe. Over the next half year, he cultivated while thinking the matter over. Practical artifacts, arrays, and talismans were out of the question. No matter how good the item he gave was, it would be of little use to his master.

In the end, he painted this Spring Landscape of Rivers and Mountains.

Wen Xu was not skilled at painting figures. Back at the academy, his painting instructor had once regarded him as the greatest failure of his entire teaching career.

But this truly was not Wen Xu’s fault. Anyone with eyes like his would have been unable to paint other people’s faces well.

Yet Wen Xu was stubborn and refused to admit defeat. So he avoided figure painting and focused on landscapes instead. His work could not be said to possess the legacy of a great master, but he had at least attained a modest level of accomplishment.

He did not know why his master had named the place Spring-Crossing Peak, but surely gifting him an image of spring to hang inside Spring-Crossing Hall was not too inappropriate.

Still, an ordinary spring painting seemed a little plain. At the time, Wen Xu had been practicing the precision of his spiritual power control, and so… this Spring Landscape of Rivers and Mountains, which allowed its viewer to feel as though they had entered the scene, was born.

With only a trace of spiritual power, one could experience the spring landscapes stored within the painting.

When Wen Xu had left Bizhou Commandery for the capital to take the imperial examinations, winter had just begun to turn into spring. At the time, he had not known that he would soon be hunted down, so he had leisurely toured mountains and rivers along the way.

It had been one of the most carefree and joyful periods of his life in the Mortal Realm.

Now, all of it had been placed inside the painting.

Divine Venerable Chengwei had originally only intended to make a few jealous remarks. He had not expected to truly receive a gift from his disciple.

And such a thoughtful one at that.

What was he supposed to do? He was nearly moved to tears.

So taking disciples was this much fun?

Had he known, he would have taken a few disciples much earlier.

“This is… a spring scene from the Mortal Realm?”

Wen Xu nodded.

“It cannot compare to the grandeur of the cultivation world. If Master does not like it, this disciple can—”

Divine Venerable Chengwei immediately put it away.

“Who said I don’t like it? Where in the cultivation world have I not been? But the Mortal Realm… I truly have never visited it.”

It was not that he had never wanted to go. With his cultivation, he simply could not.

“So this is what the Mortal Realm looks like. It would be even better if I could enter it directly with my divine sense and tour it.”

What else could a Qi Refining disciple who had not yet developed divine sense do?

Wen Xu could only say, “Master, this disciple will work hard.”

Divine Venerable Chengwei had completely forgotten about the robe by now.

“Good, good. The sect tournament is about to begin. Go and spend time with your friends.”

Wen Xu had been about to leave, but his footsteps paused.

“Master has no expectations of this disciple…?”

“None. Ah Xu only needs to do his best. Your master does not need you to earn prestige on my behalf. Of course, if you win, I will be happy for you.”

Divine Venerable Chengwei seemed to have anticipated something. He lowered his voice and asked, “Ah Xu, do you want to win the sect tournament?”

Wen Xu nodded without hesitation.

“This disciple does.”

“Then go and do it. Do it for what your own heart desires.”

Even after Wen Xu descended Spring-Crossing Peak, his emotions continued to surge.

In the past, he had studied hard and pursued official honors for the sake of fulfilling his adoptive father’s last wish and living a respectable life.

But now, at last, he could devote himself wholeheartedly to his own desires.

He wanted to win.

Not for anyone else.

Only for himself.

…

When Bian Chunzhou received word that his friend had emerged from seclusion, he was still checking the accounts at Shared Cup Tavern at the foot of the mountain.

The moment he received the message, he hurried back up the mountain without stopping.

Good grief. Wen, the king of overachievers, had finally decided to come out.

But then again, he had to. If he stayed in seclusion any longer, he would miss the sect tournament.

Chunzhou had heard that the outer disciples were coming in strong this time, with several formidable opponents among them. He had already done all his research. After all, only by knowing both yourself and your enemy could you win every battle.

The sect tournament might be an individual competition, but that did not matter.

As long as one of the three of them won, it counted as a victory for all of them.

Hehe.

Bian Chunzhou had not advanced in cultivation over the past half year, but that had been intentional.

Water and fire spiritual roots were different from other spiritual roots. Before he had gained complete control over them, advancing too quickly would do more harm than good.

Cultivation was a long-term process, after all. Although he wanted to keep pace with his friends, one had to think further ahead.

Had they never heard the story of the tortoise and the hare?

Even if he was the tortoise, he was still a tortoise capable of racing against the hare.

“Junior Brother Bian, you’re back.”

Bian Chunzhou had long since become familiar with the disciples guarding the mountain gate.

“Senior Brother Chang, so you’re guarding the gate today. I just saw a huge commotion at the foot of the mountain. What are those people here for? They seemed to be… ordinary mortals.”

“They are ordinary mortals. They seem to be relatives of a female outer disciple. Someone has already gone to notify her, so she should arrive soon.”

After saying this, Senior Brother Chang asked curiously, “Why have you returned so early today?”

“My best friend just emerged from seclusion. Let’s talk again next time, Senior Brother Chang.”

With that, Bian Chunzhou vanished into the sect in a puff of dust.

Senior Brother Chang stroked his chin instead.

Junior Brother Bian had many friends, but if one were speaking of his best friend, there should only be—

It seemed the Junior Granduncle-Master who had spent half a year in seclusion had finally emerged.

At that very moment, a female disciple dressed in a hundred-butterfly skirt hurried toward the mountain gate.

“Senior Brother, may I ask who wishes to see me?”

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