Chapter 50: Half a Year

Wen Xu decided to enter a brief seclusion. For one, he wanted to comprehend the first layer of the 《Art of Myriad Things Co-Creation》. For another… he wanted to lie low. He did not really want to see a certain Senior Brother surnamed Zheng anytime soon.

Although Wen Xu had been seriously injured during the battle at Tinghe Villa, he had also benefited immensely.

As the saying goes, what is learned on paper is shallow after all^[1]. This could not be truer.

The gap between theory and reality could not be bridged by mere imagination. Getting injured this once had at least taught him how cultivators truly fought.

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

Ever since he first learned about the cultivation realms, Wen Xu had preconceived notions that a cultivator’s combat ability scaled linearly with their level. But after a single real battle, he knew he was wrong.

Although the evil cultivator Madame Shen was at the peak of Foundation Establishment, she was a rabbit demon and not particularly aggressive. Because she had focused too much on raising her cultivation level, she had neglected training her offensive methods. The Evil Drum of Sadness and Joy was her primary offensive magic treasure, but it was clearly too easy to counter. Even though it was his first time encountering such an attack, he had been able to break free quickly once he understood its characteristics.

As for why the three of them had been able to stall Madame Shen for so long, according to Chun Zhou, it was partly due to their opponent’s shortcomings, and partly because all three of them were offensively oriented cultivators.

Xia Ying was a close-combat sword cultivator whose swordplay naturally countered evil cultivators, while Chun Zhou was a talisman cultivator who could fight at both close and long range, a classic opportunist. As for himself, his Wind Spiritual Root was actually highly suited for long-range crowd control. Looking back now, Wen Xu felt his performance back then had been riddled with flaws.

He had even wasted a lot of the spiritual energy he channeled, with very little of it actually serving a purpose. This was due to his lack of experience in combat and spellcasting, as well as his poor control over his spiritual energy.

To use a simple analogy, if the seventh layer of Qi Refining had seven hundred points of spiritual energy, his poor control meant that when he wanted to draw ten points, he would actually use thirteen. A discrepancy of a few points each time might seem minor, but it accumulated into a significant amount.

Moreover, in a battle between cultivators, the tide could turn in an instant. Wen Xu could not choose his future opponents; all he could do was continuously improve his own capabilities.

Wen Xu drew up a 《Half-Year Plan》 for himself. Simply put, it was to improve his control over his spiritual energy. Translated into daily cultivation tasks, this meant minimizing the spiritual energy required when drawing formations. In other words, he had to make every bit of energy count, splitting a single copper coin in half to spend it^[2].

The term “muscle memory” was something Chun Zhou had told him, but Wen Xu quickly discovered that cultivation was a process of engraving everything into muscle memory. Sometimes, overthinking only produced the opposite effect. Therefore, during these six months, he wanted to at least ensure that he no longer let too much spiritual energy dissipate when using it.

This process was, of course, incredibly tedious, but Wen Xu was someone who could sit still. Once he settled his mind to cultivate, he cast aside all other trivial matters. Even the hatred in his heart was temporarily locked away.

As the saying goes, there is no sense of time in the mountains. Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

As Wen Xu finished his final circulation cycle, a flash of spiritual light flickered in his eyes. When he finally exhaled a breath of turbid air, his cultivation had stabilized 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, but he felt he was still missing something, so… there was no rush.

He looked down at the simple clepsydra he had made. Half a year had indeed passed. If he did not go out now, he would probably miss the Sect Tournament.

Wen Xu cast a Cleansing Spell on himself, then took a ribbon out of his storage ring and tied it over his eyes. Having not worn it for half a year, he felt a bit unaccustomed to it.

Walking out of his small seclusion room, the outside was… well, covered in Chun Zhou’s transmission talismans. There was the occasional one from Chen Zui, which were all about raising one’s cultivation. As for Senior Brother Zheng Jin, surprisingly, there was only one, and it was about the Wind-Folding Fan.

Wen Xu gathered all the transmission talismans, planning to pay his respects to his master first before going to see his friends.

“Oh, the peak of the eighth layer of Qi Refining. Not bad, not bad.”

Although midsummer had long passed at the foot of the mountain, wind and snow still raged relentlessly on Guochun Peak. Today was even worse; when Wen Xu came up, he had almost sunk into waist-deep snow. He had only been in seclusion for half a year-who had upset his master now? Was it the Sect Master? Or one of the Grand Elders?

“Ah Xu.”

“Your disciple is here.”

“Your master heard that you personally made a set of Dharma robes for a little Nascent Soul from the Refining Peak.” Chengwei’s tone was slightly cool. As long as his young disciple was not too foolish, he would easily catch the underlying meaning.

Wen Xu was far from foolish; in fact, he was highly intelligent. “Your disciple did indeed send a birthday gift to True Monarch Zheng Jin, but it was not personally sewn by me. I merely layered formations onto it.”

Venerable Chengwei gave a faint snort. “Oh?”

To be fair, Wen Xu had actually made a backup plan. When he was preparing the Dharma robes for Senior Brother Zheng Jin, he had also planned to personally make something for his master. However, his master was at the Body Integration stage. Even if his master agreed to wear Dharma robes with Qi Refining-level formation patterns, Wen Xu himself would never allow such a thing to happen!

Even if his master never left Guochun Peak, he could not let him dress so shabbily. Thus, he had immediately ruled out the option of Dharma robes. Over the next half year, while cultivating, he had pondered the matter. Practical magic treasures, formations, and talismans were out of the question; no matter how well-made they were, they would be of little use to his master.

So in the end, he painted the Spring Landscape Painting.

Wen Xu was not skilled at portrait painting. Back then, his academy’s art teacher had regarded him as the greatest failure of his teaching career. But this was truly not his fault-anyone with eyes like his would find it impossible to paint another person’s face well. However, he was not one to admit defeat easily. Avoiding portraits, he specialized in landscape paintings. While he could not be said to possess the style of the great masters, he had at least attained a modest level of mastery.

Although he didn’t know why his master had named it Guochun Peak, gifting a painting of spring to hang in the Guochun Great Hall shouldn’t be considered out of line.

However, an ordinary spring painting felt a bit too simple. At the time, Wen Xu happened to be training the precision of his spiritual energy control, and so… this immersive Spring Landscape Painting was born.

With just a touch of spiritual energy, one could experience the spring scenery within the scroll. When Wen Xu had set out from Bizhou Prefecture for the capital to take the imperial examinations, it happened to be the transition from winter to spring. He had no idea he was about to be hunted down, so he spent the journey sightseeing. It was the most leisurely and pleasant time he had ever spent in the Mortal Realm.

Now, those memories were all painted into this scroll.

Venerable Chengwei had originally just been teasing him out of jealousy, but he hadn’t expected to actually receive a gift from his disciple. What’s more… it was so thoughtful. What should he do? He was almost moved to tears.

So taking a disciple was this fun? If he had known, he would have taken one earlier just for the fun of it.

“Is this… the spring scenery of the Mortal Realm?”

Wen Xu nodded. “It cannot compare to the grand majesty of the cultivation world. If Master does not like it, I can…”

Venerable Chengwei immediately snatched it away. “Who says I don’t like it! As your master, there is nowhere in the cultivation world I haven’t been. But the Mortal Realm, now that is somewhere I’ve never visited.” It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go, but rather that his cultivation level made it impossible for him to enter.

“So this is what the Mortal Realm looks like. It would be even better if I could project my divine sense inside to explore it.”

What else could a Qi Refining disciple who hadn’t even developed divine sense do? He could only say, “Master, I will work hard.”

As for the dharma robes, Venerable Chengwei didn’t remember them at all now. “Good, good, good. The Sect Tournament is about to start. Go play with your friends.”

Wen Xu paused just as he was about to leave. “Does Master not have any…”

“None at all. Just do your best, A-Xu. Your master doesn’t need you to win face for me. Of course, if you do win, I’ll be happy for you.” Venerable Chengwei seemed to anticipate something, and his voice lowered. “A-Xu, do you want to win the Sect Tournament?”

Wen Xu nodded without hesitation. “Of course I do, Master.”

“Then go do it, for your own sake.”

As Wen Xu walked down Guochun Peak, his heart was still racing. In the past, he had studied hard to pass the imperial examinations for his adoptive father’s dying wish and to live a decent life. But now, he could finally focus on his own desires without any distractions.

He wanted to win. Not for anyone else, but for himself.

*

When Bian Chunzhou received the news that his friend had finished his secluded cultivation, he was still checking the accounts at the Gongshang Bistro at the foot of the mountain. Upon receiving the message, he immediately rushed back to the mountain without a moment’s delay.

Good grief, overachiever Wen was finally willing to come out of seclusion. But it made sense; if he didn’t come out now, he would miss the Sect Tournament.

He had heard that the outer sect disciples were coming in hot this time, with several formidable opponents among them. He had already done his homework; after all, knowing oneself and one’s enemy was the key to victory.

Although the Sect Tournament was an individual competition, it didn’t matter. As long as one of the three of them won, it counted as a win for all of them, hehe.

Bian Chunzhou hadn’t advanced in cultivation over the past six months, but this was a deliberate choice. After all, a Water-Fire Spiritual Root was different from other spiritual roots. Without complete control, growing his cultivation too quickly would do more harm than good. Cultivation was a long-term process. Although he really wanted to keep pace with his friends, he had to take the long view. Had they not heard of the tortoise and the hare? Even if he was the tortoise, he was a tortoise that could race the hare.

“Junior Brother Bian is back.”

The disciple guarding the mountain gate had long since become familiar with Bian Chunzhou. “So it’s Senior Brother Chang guarding the gate today. I saw a bit of a commotion down the mountain just now. What are those people here for? They look like… ordinary people.”

“They are ordinary people. They seem to be the relatives of a female disciple from the outer sect. Someone has already been sent to notify her, so she should be here in a bit.” Senior Brother Chang said, then asked curiously, “Why are you back so early today?”

“Yeah, my best friend just came out of seclusion. Let’s chat next time, Senior Brother Chang!”

With that, he vanished into the sect like a gust of wind. Senior Brother Chang stroked his chin. Junior Brother Bian had many friends, but if he had to name the best one, there was only…

It seemed the Little Grand-Uncle Master, who had been in seclusion for half a year, had finally emerged.

Right at that moment, a female disciple wearing a dress embroidered with a hundred butterflies hurried to the mountain gate. “Excuse me, Senior Brother, who is it that wants to see me?”