Chapter 66: Bright Mirror

Cultivation was a pursuit that demanded an extraordinary amount of natural talent. The mere requirement of possessing a spiritual root barred the vast majority of people from ever stepping through its gates.

But those who did pass through those gates knew that their cultivation journey had only just begun.

Spiritual roots varied in quality and rank. Mutated spiritual roots and single spiritual roots naturally granted the fastest cultivation speed, while those with multiple spiritual roots had to account for every one of them, making their progress considerably slower.

Low-level cultivators often placed greater importance on the quality of their spiritual-root talent, believing it determined the limits of their future achievements. But that was not entirely true. Cultivation required talent, yet that talent came in two forms.

The first was one’s natural physical aptitude. The second was one’s comprehension and temperament.

Among the high-level cultivators of Hengze Continent today, those with single or dual spiritual roots indeed made up the majority. Yet there was no shortage of venerables with multiple spiritual roots, or even all five spiritual roots. Yonglu Mountain alone had two Soul Transformation Realm venerables with four spiritual roots. When they first began cultivating, perhaps not even they had known they could travel so far along this path.

The quality of a spiritual root could certainly determine how high a cultivator might climb, but it was not absolute.

One could even say that the further a cultivator advanced, the less influence the number of spiritual roots had. What determined whether someone could stand at the summit above countless others was their Dao heart.

When one’s Dao heart was sufficiently firm and complete, one could break through the predicament imposed by one’s own circumstances.

Just as Junior Sister Jiang had now relied on herself to return to the path of cultivation.

Her spiritual root was rapidly restored, and her divine soul once again achieved perfect harmony with her body. With her original body combined with her comprehension, her cultivation leapt four levels in succession, carrying her directly to the peak of Qi Refining.

Or rather, she no longer needed even a full step to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm. She lacked only half a step across the final threshold.

And that half step was one she had deliberately chosen not to take.

The road of cultivation was still long. She had no need to rush her advancement now. In fact, she knew perfectly well that her current state had already made Jiang Fengnian and “Jiang Ying,” who lay on the ground, red-eyed with jealousy.

Their own failure was painful enough, but seeing the person whose fate they had once toyed with succeed was even more agonizing.

Only moments ago, Jiang Fengnian had appeared remarkably composed. Now, he too had descended into madness.

As expected, a person could not afford to take even half a step down the wrong path.

She had been right.

“Junior Granduncle-Master, what name do you think I should choose?”

Wen Xu, who had been questioned without warning, fell silent.

How should he put this?

In the past, he had indeed earned a little pocket money by naming newborn children in the village. But… did people in the cultivation world really choose names this casually?

“Why ask me? Junior Sister, you understand better than anyone what kind of path you intend to walk from now on.”

Although Wen Xu asked the question, it was not difficult for someone as clever as him to guess the reason. Junior Sister Jiang felt a sense of belonging toward Yonglu Mountain, and among those present, he held the highest seniority. That was why she had asked him to name her.

But in truth, Wen Xu had guessed only half of it.

She had never read many books before. Madam Jiang would never have permitted her to become someone outstanding. Had she not been able to cultivate, she might have remained an illiterate orphan for the rest of her life.

Everything she knew now, she had learned only after entering Yonglu Mountain. As for poetry, literature, ethics, and philosophy, all her time had gone into cultivation. Naturally, she had never had the chance to study those things.

How should she put it?

Junior Granduncle-Master looked exactly like someone who had read countless books.

And she wanted a pleasant-sounding name too.

“Then aside from Jiang, what surname could I use?”

She had grown rather disgusted with the surname Jiang.

Wen Xu had always been skilled at discerning what others were thinking. Out of admiration for this junior sister’s courage and Dao heart, he did not refuse her again.

“Cultivators refine both body and heart. They must perceive themselves clearly and fully understand their Dao heart. Why not take Ming, meaning clarity and illumination, as your surname? What do you think, Junior Sister?”

“Then… from this day forward, my name will be Ming Jing.”

Although she had never read many books, before entering Yonglu Mountain, she had once heard a passing monk recite a short verse. Even now, she remembered it with perfect clarity.

The body is the bodhi tree,The heart a bright mirror’s stand.

The bright mirror is pure by nature—Where could dust ever stain it?

She hoped that in the future, her Dao heart would be like a bright mirror, no longer bound by worldly concerns or blood ties.

A surname meant little to her. A name was nothing more than a symbol.

Who would willingly live while burdened beneath a lifetime of dust?

From this day onward, she was Ming Jing.

Nothing else.

The surname Ming felt radiant and open.

She liked it.

“Junior Sister Ming, I did not introduce myself earlier. My name is Bian Chunzhou. I’m very pleased to meet you.”

“Wen Xu.”

“Chen Zui.”

The female cultivator who had renamed herself Ming Jing finally revealed her first smile of the day. It was faint, but she now possessed the strength to embrace freedom.

“Thank you, Junior Brother Bian. Senior Brother Chen.”

Then she respectfully bowed to Wen Xu as a disciple.

“Outer disciple Ming Jing of Yonglu Mountain greets Junior Granduncle-Master. Thank you.”

…There was really no need to be so formal.

As expected, no one called him Senior Brother.

Wen Xu admired her greatly. Even her severing of familial ties had given him a new idea.

His master had said that his relatives were still alive. Perhaps, when the time came, he too would need to… sever those ties once.

Cultivation truly was wonderful.

It could even sever the bonds of kinship and blood that the mortal world could not cut apart.

How marvelous.

Wen Xu decided that once he returned, he would add another two hours to his daily cultivation.

With the matter settled, Sect Master Zhao of the Yunxia Sect finally arrived late with his eldest disciple.

Sect Master Zhao was a mid-stage Nascent Soul Realm True Lord. He already appeared elderly, which clearly meant he was more than nine hundred years old.

A Nascent Soul Realm cultivator could live for a thousand years. Only during their final century would cultivators whose appearances had remained unchanged begin to age.

Of course, not everyone allowed themselves to grow old. Those who cared more about their appearance would take Beauty-Preserving Pills.

But cultivation tested one’s state of mind, and most cultivators simply allowed nature to take its course. After living for so long, the majority no longer cared much about their outward appearance.

Sect Master Zhao was clearly one of them.

His eldest disciple, who stood beside him, had a face as pale as gold paper and unsteady footsteps. He had obviously suffered serious injuries.

Even for a cultivator, someone wounded this badly ought to have remained within the sect to recuperate rather than rushing all the way here.

It was clear that Jiang Baozhu had once been highly valued by the Yunxia Sect.

The eldest senior brother of the Yunxia Sect was named He Jieyi. He possessed metal and fire spiritual roots and had originally been at the mid-stage Foundation Establishment Realm.

After entering a secret realm in search of a Beauty-Preserving Pearl, his cultivation had fallen to the early-stage Foundation Establishment Realm.

When he saw Ming Jing standing before him with steady spiritual energy and an intact spiritual root, unconcealed astonishment appeared on his face.

“Baozhu, how did you…”

Ming Jing had no desire to deal with anyone from the Yunxia Sect.

“Fellow Daoist, I am not her. Whatever you wish to say, you should say it to her.”

He Jieyi followed her unfamiliar gaze and saw a female cultivator covered in blood, her eyes burning with fury.

He was certain he had never seen this person before.

Yet for some reason, those eyes felt indescribably familiar.

It was almost as though—

“Baozhu?”

This was far too absurd.

He Jieyi nearly lost his footing. Only the junior brother beside him managed to support him.

That junior brother was the cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining. Seeing that his eldest senior brother had already realized the truth, he immediately embellished the story and rapidly explained everything that had happened.

In brief, Senior Sister Baozhu might not technically have been an evil cultivator, but she was scarcely any different from one.

He Jieyi had always known that Junior Sister Baozhu was not as gentle and peaceful as she presented herself to be.

But cultivators needed sharpness and ambition if they wished to advance.

The Jiang family had provided the Yunxia Sect with substantial financial support in spirit stones, so at his master’s command, he had taken special care of her.

Over time, that care became habit.

And that habit became an affection he found difficult to relinquish.

“Baozhu, why did you do this?”

Jiang Baozhu’s spiritual root had shattered, and she now hovered on the brink of complete madness.

When she saw He Jieyi, she suddenly began shrieking.

“Why? To become stronger, of course! You’re a genius with dual spiritual roots. The entire Yunxia Sect will belong to you one day! I wanted to enter one of the great sects. What was wrong with that?”

She did not understand what she had done wrong at all.

She even hated every person present.

But she soon lost the chance to continue barking like a mad dog.

Senior Brother Huang had led others in searching the entire Jiang residence, including the private estate where Jiang Fengnian had imprisoned Jiang Ying.

Cultivators worked with remarkable efficiency. They soon discovered that Jiang Fengnian had indeed been preparing another soul-exchange ritual.

And of the two people involved, the unlucky target standing before them was none other than the severely wounded eldest senior brother of the Yunxia Sect.

Who could hear that without exclaiming in astonishment?

Although the Yunxia Sect was a minor sect, just as Jiang Baozhu had said, He Jieyi was its most talented disciple.

As long as he did not die prematurely, he would undoubtedly become the next sect master of the Yunxia Sect.

Had Jiang Fengnian truly succeeded in exchanging souls…

No wonder he did not care whether his biological daughter lived or died.

Perhaps from the moment he first settled in Langyuan City and married a wife and fathered a child, his true purpose had been to complete his evil art.

Had Jiang Baozhu been a son, perhaps Jiang Fengnian’s first choice would have been his own biological child.

Ming Jing had been right.

Even if Jiang Fengnian carried no evil aura, he was still an evil cultivator through and through, utterly devoid of humanity.

No wonder his cultivation had failed to advance in the slightest.

After Sect Master Zhao of the Yunxia Sect learned everything, he immediately expelled Jiang Baozhu from the sect.

He also assured Yonglu Mountain that he and all the sect’s disciples were willing to cooperate fully with any investigation. The Yunxia Sect had absolutely no involvement with any evil cultivation arts.

As for He Jieyi, he fainted after learning that someone had chosen him as the target of a soul exchange.

…

After Ming Jing returned to Yonglu Mountain, she first went to Kaiyuan Peak to update her identification plaque as an outer disciple.

With Senior Brother Huang’s report already submitted, the process went very smoothly.

However, her results from the sect tournament were invalidated.

Strictly speaking, those results had been earned after Jiang Baozhu had exchanged bodies with her. They did not represent Ming Jing’s own strength.

Even if Yonglu Mountain had been willing to preserve those results for her, Ming Jing would not have accepted them.

But the arena matches for cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm had already ended.

If Ming Jing wished to continue participating in the sect tournament, she could only enter the division for cultivators below the Golden Core Realm.

With her current cultivation at the peak of Qi Refining, she could technically give it a try.

But Ming Jing refused.

First, she was not the sort of person to advance recklessly.

Second, her original cultivation had been only at the sixth level of Qi Refining. Now that she had leapt four levels in succession, she had yet to fully master her newfound strength.

Entering the arena now would be deeply unwise.

Still, perhaps because the shackles weighing upon her had finally been removed, Ming Jing was no longer as gloomy and withdrawn as before.

She even chatted for a while with the senior sister at Kaiyuan Peak.

“Do many disciples at the peak of Qi Refining participate in the arena matches for those below the Golden Core Realm?”

“Not merely many. Most of them do. Some want to challenge opponents above their level, while others want to fight Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators in search of an opportunity to break through. You should know that under ordinary circumstances, Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators are rarely willing to fight those in the Qi Refining Realm.”

Ming Jing understood.

But her circumstances were unusual. There would be no harm in waiting until the next sect tournament.

“However, there is one person among them whom you should know. Junior Brother Chen Zui of Saber Peak.”

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