Chapter 98: A Single Thought

Divine Venerable Wushan sat high on the dais, his face still etched with disbelief.

“From what I have seen, this boy acts with great prudence, his spiritual energy is pure and righteous, and his talent is exceptionally rare. Even if he did not come to our Suitian Sword Sect, he should have gone to the Hehe Sect. Could it be that Jun Zhaoying truly does not want to take a disciple?”

Chengwei’s true form was a dragon. Although he was highly capable of teaching human cultivators, he ultimately could not compare to Jun Zhaoying, whose spiritual root was a perfect match. Could this child have been tricked onto Yonglu Mountain by that old scoundrel of a dragon?

Actually, that was exactly the kind of thing that dragon would do.

Tang Ji thought to himself: It wasn’t that she didn’t want to take him; Yonglu Mountain had simply struck pure gold! In his eyes, this was no different from waiting by a stump for a hare to run into it^[1].

Wen Xu’s origins were no secret among the Five Great Sects, so Tang Ji naturally knew them. In fact, he had already been shocked once when the news of Yonglu Mountain’s Dragon Venerable taking a disciple spread two years ago. Now that he had seen with his own eyes what this fine talent looked like, he only regretted that he hadn’t charged into Yonglu Mountain back then to snatch the boy first.

“Divine Venerable Jun probably did not even know of Wen Xu’s existence at the time.”

Divine Venerable Wushan thought that was impossible. “Is this boy from a prominent clan or the countryside?”

Tang Ji shook his head. “Neither. You might not believe it, but this boy accidentally stumbled into the cultivation world from the Mortal Realm. What is more, the place he stumbled into happened to be the Poyun Secret Realm, where Yonglu Mountain was selecting new disciples.”

Divine Venerable Wushan fell into a strange silence. After a long while, he spoke, “With so many secret realms under our control, why has a stroke of luck like this never fallen from the sky for us?”

Tang Ji thought to himself: So you do realize it was a stroke of pure luck.

But in the affairs of the world, chance encounters were ultimately determined by heaven. After hearing the origins of this Wind Spiritual Root genius, Divine Venerable Wushan felt slightly better. After all, when it came to fate and opportunity, one could not force it.

Well, not that much better.

Wushan might not have known Chengwei inside out, but he understood at least sixty to seventy percent of his character. Jun Zhaoying carried a legacy that could not be allowed to die out, which was why she had to find a compatible disciple to pass down her techniques. Chengwei was different. As a half-demon who ultimately chose to transform into a dragon, he appeared gentle on the surface but was actually arrogant and aloof. Although this dragon accepted the offerings of Yonglu Mountain, he did not feel much of a sense of belonging to the “human race.”

“I originally thought he would never take a disciple in his entire life.” Even if he did, it was far more likely to be a demon cultivator than a human. Yet now, not only had he taken one, but he had also taken a Wind Spiritual Root disciple with the exact same spiritual root as Jun Zhaoying. It was hard for Wushan not to make some strange associations. “Could he be… Cough, that is probably unlikely.”

Tang Ji thought to himself: Just say it, I promise I won’t tell anyone.

“Speaking of which, why is this boy blindfolded? Were his eyes injured in the secret realm?”

Regarding this, the information Tang Ji had was not guaranteed to be true. “I asked Sect Master Gu. He said that ever since Wen Xu appeared in the cultivation world, he has been unable to see. I suspect it might have something to do with his fate.”

Fate. That made sense. If it concerned fate, it fit right into the common stereotypes people had of Chengwei.

Divine Venerable Wushan, however, was already starting to dismiss him. “You may leave. The Five Sects Conference is still underway outside. If you are not present, it will make our Suitian Sword Sect look petty.”

Tang Ji was just about to leave when he realized something was wrong. Wait, you haven’t released Yonglu Mountain’s precious Little Martial Uncle yet. Although he had fabricated a decent excuse for the public, which was enough to fool those who didn’t know the truth, it definitely wouldn’t pass muster with those three. Especially Gu Wufang, who would likely leap right into his face in a moment.

Divine Venerable Wushan tossed a key token over. “Take this. I have gained new insights and decided to continue my secluded cultivation.”

He would not give that dragon any chance to mock him! This seclusion would last at least a hundred years. He did not want to see the fine talent he had missed out on earning glory for that old scoundrel of a dragon, nor did he want to… act as a peacemaker between Chengwei and Jun Zhaoying ever again.

He had to enter seclusion! There was no time to lose!

*

Wen Xu’s mind wavered, and his vision swam. The scent of blood still lingered at the tip of his nose, but he knew they had already emerged from the secret realm. Subconsciously, he opened his eyes and looked up. In the next instant, a radiant glow cascaded down from the Suitian Divine Sword, filling the sky.

Magnificent, mysterious, and powerful, it was just like the sunrise he had seen from the roof of Juyong Hall that day.

He froze on the spot.

“Sect Master, it is so good to see you.”

After experiencing the Water Dungeon Array and the “fake Zhou Ji”, the three of them had avoided everyone to prevent affecting the other competitors. With Wen Xuxu’s wind sense guiding them, they hadn’t run into any other participants along the way.

The downside, however, was that they began to continuously encounter all kinds of bizarrely shaped demonic beasts, ranging from the early to late stages of Foundation Establishment. Some lived in packs, while others were solitary, which more than satisfied Chen Zuizui’s desire for battle.

All three of them carried injuries of varying degrees. Chen Zui was the most severely injured, followed by Wen Xu, while Bian Chunzhou had the lightest injuries. It wasn’t that he hadn’t worked hard, but rather that his two friends were close-combat fighters, whereas he was a talisman cultivator who naturally controlled the battlefield from a distance.

Hearing this, Gu Wufang immediately caught the underlying meaning and comforted them, “You have suffered. It is your Sect Master’s uselessness that failed to protect you. Even you were injured, Little Martial Uncle!”

Clutching the dripping Zhefeng Sword, Wen Xu finally snapped out of it. …Actually, it’s not that bad.

But he understood that at this moment, he only needed to remain silent like Chen Zui.

“Quick, take your Little Grand-Uncle Master to the peak to rest. I will handle the rest. What do you think, Little Martial Uncle?”

Wen Xu nodded. “Thank you, Sect Master.”

Chen Zui and Bian Chunzhou also bowed. “Thank you, Sect Master.”

The three of them were indeed exhausted, but their spirits were incredibly vibrant. Having entered a Foundation Establishment secret realm with only Qi Refining cultivation, although their temporary early Foundation Establishment cultivation had now vanished, the insights they had truly gained remained.

Wen Xu discovered that his cultivation had begun to loosen. Or rather, at this very moment, he was only a hair’s breadth away from the peak of Qi Refining.

Sitting in the familiar quiet room, Wen Xu allowed his mind to sink into his sea of consciousness.

Before setting off for the Suitian Sword Sect, he had always been bound by his own heart. He had been eager for quick success, eager for revenge, and eager to settle his past in the Mortal Realm. As a result, he had cultivated desperately, advancing by leaps and bounds.

But he soon realized that haste makes waste. Once he recognized this, he forced himself to stop, only to quickly realize that he could not.

So he followed his master’s advice, farming on Lingyao Peak, sneaking to Juyong Hall to watch the sunrise, and accompanying the sect to the Suitian Sword Sect for fun. Well, he had even accidentally ended up playing his way into the competition’s secret realm.

After obtaining the Jianfeng Sword Art, he was naturally very happy. However, after keeping to himself for so long, he did not like to show his true emotions. Especially since this was not within his own sect, he appeared even less excited than Chunzhou.

Wen Xu knew, of course, that he was an awkward and stubborn person. Everyone praised him as a genius, especially after this trip, where all kinds of praise and applause had nearly drowned him. But only he knew that every step he took was incredibly difficult.

Just like with studying, Wen Xu never felt he was a genius. In his definition, a genius was someone who could achieve their goals effortlessly. Clearly, he was not one.

The words “letting go” were light and powerless when written on paper, but when they fell into his heart and rested in his palms, they were so heavy he could not lift them.

The moment Wen Xu emerged from the secret realm and saw the Suitian Divine Sword standing majestic and towering into the clouds, he suddenly understood why he could not stop.

It was not because he was unwilling to stop, but because he did not want to… deny his past self.

What was he like back in the Mortal Realm?

No one knew his past. Even his master likely only knew the tip of the iceberg.

Only Wen Xu knew the truth. In his childhood, he had wandered destitute and suffered every hardship. In his youth, he had exercised restraint, endured, and planned every step carefully. The world was a giant wheel. If he did not force himself to align with the direction it turned, he would be ground into the dust beneath it.

Everyone in the world was self-serving, and he was no exception. Pushing himself, forcing himself, and even treating himself with harsh severity were all trade-offs he made to survive. The cultivation world seemed peaceful, but it was far from the point where he could let his guard down completely.

Besides, with his blood feud still unavenged, how could he stop?

The moment Wen Xu saw the divine sword piercing the clouds and the rosy light breaking through to fall upon him, he knew the Suitian Divine Sword must have realized his eyes could see. Before a semi-immortal artifact, even the protection of his master’s power was useless.

Yet the Suitian Divine Sword did not react. It simply stood there, powerful and cold, yet still drawing countless people to worship it.

Sure enough, just as his master had said, understanding and realization were only a single thought away.

The problem that had troubled him for so long was suddenly resolved in that single instant. Was forcing himself to stop and slow down his cultivation these past days not simply another way of rushing for results?

The Suitian Divine Sword now shone with divine light, but tens of millions of years ago, it too was just raw stone and iron.

Wen Xu did not like his past self, so he had always hidden his past. Or rather, his desire to return to the Mortal Realm for revenge was also a way to make a clean break, to seal away his mortal past forever.

And if he truly sealed it away when the time came, he might end up trapping himself in a cocoon of his own making, unable to progress his cultivation even an inch further.

With a click, his cultivation method, which had always been stalled, began to slowly progress.

At this moment, Wen Xu finally understood that all states of mind were for the sake of cultivation. Cultivation was not like solving a structured, formatted imperial examination question. Slowing down or speeding up was merely a way of forcing himself. He could go fast, provided he followed his state of mind.

A sudden wind arose. In this small, quiet room, Wen Xu was undergoing a long-overdue transformation of his state of mind.

Meanwhile, the individual competition in the Forest Secret Realm had finally ended. Based on individual points, the top twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators with the highest accumulated scores would advance to the finals.

Disciples of the Five Great Sects swept most of the spots. Unfortunately, Zhou Ji was not as much of a genius as he believed. Although he had good luck at the end and risked everything to hunt down a peak Foundation Establishment demonic beast, it was not enough to get him into the finals.

He did not even make the top fifty. The moment he saw his ranking, he was unexpectedly calm.

But Father Zhou could not remain calm. His face was as dark as charcoal. Seeing his disheveled eldest son standing stubbornly before him, he did not even hesitate before delivering a resounding slap. “You wretch! Look at what you’ve done!”