Resolute Dao Heart?

"The Ice Soul Cold Light Gangqi is vital to my attaining the Dao... I must thank you, Junior Sister Guan, for sending me word so promptly!" The refined retreat where the White Deer Sect cultivators lodged was also situated within Wuyi Lane. Among the immortal sects of Jiuzhen Commandery, the White Deer Sect was considered illustrious. Thus, when its true transmission disciples traveled abroad, people naturally fawned over them, offering up their own residences so the two female cultivators could select an elegant pavilion by the lake to reside in. Inside the parlor of the elegant pavilion at this moment, a cultivator robed in white stood with a sword across his back. He appeared to be only in his twenties, yet light rippled across his form and his magical power manifested like drifting clouds and mist. It was a superior level of cultivation where his magical power had already developed spirituality—just one step shy of Core Formation. Compared to ordinary Spell Comprehension cultivators like Daoist Zhen, he was in an entirely different realm. Even among the immortal sects, achieving such cultivation could be called outstanding! "After I cultivated the Law Endowed with Primordial Spirit, I have been merely a thread away from the fortune needed for Core Formation. Regrettably, my disposition was unsteady in my earlier years, and I took shortcuts at several junctures. If I do not find a way to remedy those deficiencies, I have no hope of forming a core of the upper three grades," Senior Brother Pei said impassively. "And when it comes to Core Formation, the best method to mend flaws in one's Dao foundation is coagulating sha and refining gang... This is also the orthodox method of the Daoist sects, vastly superior to countless heterodox ways. "I have searched bitterly all these years precisely for two strands of gang-sha qi suitable for refinement." Guan Pingxuan smiled. "It is also because Senior Brother Pei sets his sights high. Otherwise, for ordinary true transmission disciples, forming a middle-grade core is already a grand occasion worthy of inviting several fellow Daoists and holding a Core Formation banquet. Yet Senior Brother Pei seeks nothing less than an upper-grade primordial dan and refuses to give up... Such unwavering tenacity truly makes you peerless among the younger generation of our Jiuzhen immortal sects." "Junior Sister Guan overpraises me! Had I understood this truth earlier, I would not have fallen short of perfection during Foundation Building and obtained merely a second-grade Dao foundation." Having spoken, Senior Brother Pei glanced left and right before asking, "I heard that within the White Deer Sect, your master recently accepted a junior sister who possesses the foundation for a first-grade Dao foundation, even surpassing me in my early years. Why do I not see her today?" Guan Pingxuan laughed. "That girl is throwing a temper tantrum with me! When the opportunity arises in the future, I will have her meet Senior Brother Pei. "Although that wandering cultivator Qian does not hail from an aristocratic clan, and when conversing on the mysteries and debating the Dao, he seemed unfamiliar with the treatises of several Perfected Persons... As seekers of the Dao, to know nothing of these indicates he is certainly no disciple of a major sect. Still, both his spells and magical power are quite pure and not of the heterodox path, and the magical implements he carries are somewhat extraordinary. "He ought to have some background!" "The true methods of the Daoist orthodoxy are widely disseminated. Perhaps he obtained the legacy of some senior expert, or is the sole successor of a wandering cultivator lineage!" Senior Brother Pei remarked dismissively. "I sent someone to inquire with the City God, but the City God politely demurred. That alone told me it must be so. Supervised by the Daoist Academy, that City God cowers timidly, daring not offend anyone. "Yet he refuses to consider: if he cannot afford to offend that wandering cultivator, can he afford to offend me?" Senior Brother Pei sneered. "Frightening the City God is nothing! I have made many friends among the fellow Daoists in the Daoist Academy. Suppressing a petty wandering cultivator like him will naturally be effortless." Guan Pingxuan smiled and said, "For my sake, Senior Brother Pei, even if you have him yield the Ice Soul Cold Light Gangqi, could you grant him suitable compensation?" Senior Brother Pei pondered for a moment before nodding in assent. "If he is sensible, I will naturally show you that courtesy, Junior Sister." He thought for another moment, then clapped his hands. "Wandering cultivators like him lack true methods above all else. In my early years, by serendipity, I acquired quite a few Daoist scriptures and incantations; giving those to him will suffice as compensation. If he remains dissatisfied, I will even brave a scolding from my uncle and allow him to select an art from among my sect's non-true-transmission methods. But if his greed still knows no bounds..." "Then he will only have brought humiliation upon himself!" Guan Pingxuan said with a smile. "The time is almost upon us!" Guan Pingxuan calculated the hour and said, "I arranged to meet Cui Dan on a nearby stone boat. The place is called the Untethered Boat, and the scenery is quite pleasant..." "If it comes to blows, not being at the county yamen is also convenient," Senior Brother Pei agreed with a nod. "It would be best if we do not harm the harmony between our sides!" Guan Pingxuan said with a faint smile. "By the way, Senior Brother. This man is on quite good terms with Cui Dan of the Cui clan of Qinghe... If talks break down, it might prove somewhat troublesome." "Cui Dan? Since he is a scion of the Cui clan of Qinghe, he naturally deserves some face. But this matter concerns my future attainment of the Dao. Even if immense face were involved... that must wait until afterward. Besides, I have heard of this Cui Dan. A fellow Daoist friend of mine in the Lu clan of Wu Commandery mentioned him in a letter, saying he took shortcuts when polishing his Dao foundation, ending up with merely a third-grade Dao foundation—just shy of falling to middle-grade. "Now he comes out and associates with a wandering cultivator of dubious origin, showing he is truly good-for-nothing. "Had his elder brother Cui Yan, known as 'Broad Dao of Qinghe,' come, I might still have some misgivings. But Cui Dan? Showing him some face and avoiding hurting him will be enough..." Aboard the Greenstone Boat, Qian Chen surveyed this stone vessel, which had experienced an exploding furnace not long ago and had barely been repaired just yesterday. On the central stone dais, one could still see some marks left behind from that day. Seeing this, Cui Dan laughed. "Se—Senior Brother Qian, that day when I saw Daoist Zhen refining pills, I was truly startled and thought I had encountered another master! In the end, it was you who borrowed his hands to refine the creation of heaven and earth. Yet I wonder what mystery lies within that Three Corpses Ten Thousand Poisons Pill that emerged from the furnace. I only saw Daoist Zhen's Three Corpses strike into his vitals, leaving him instantly beyond saving! "However, depleting a person's lifespan and crippling their origin should not be the true mystery of such a pill." Qian Chen was slightly taken aback, then smiled. "So many people saw only the pill's divine ability to kill, yet you alone thought of the principle of cultivation. It seems you possess some perception... If the Three Corpses are the Three Corpse spirit-demons, then what are the Ten Thousand Poisons?" Cui Dan pondered slightly. Recalling the scene from that day sparked a flash of insight, and he spoke: "The Ten Thousand Poisons must be the poisons of the human heart. Senior appeared to be refining the Three Corpse spirit-demons that seized the essence and creation of that furnace of spirit pills, but in truth, you were also refining the human heart. From the moment Daoist Zhen gave in to greed, he had already become bait inside the furnace. "Daoist Zhen's greed, Wei Taiping's infatuation, Wei Lecheng's resentment... down to the myriad shifts of the human heart during the pill assembly, layered and complex, their malice was like venom. The Three Corpse spirit-demons were conceived not merely by taking in that furnace of spirit medicine, but also by harvesting the venom of human hearts at the pill assembly, birthed from ten thousand poisons. Presumably, Senior Brother was not only refining a pill with these myriad poisons at the time, but also tempering a Dao heart. "Subduing all manner of demonic thoughts and seeing through the vicissitudes of the human heart allowed you to easily subdue the Three Corpse spirit-demons once they left the furnace. "Because the Three Corpse spirit-demons were born from the ten thousand poisons of the human heart, and Senior Brother's Dao heart had also undergone the tempering of subduing those ten thousand poisons, this was truly a supreme method for vanquishing demons." "'Heaven and earth are the furnace, creation is the artisan; yin and yang are the charcoal, and all things are the bronze!'" Qian Chen sighed with emotion. Hearing these words, Cui Dan felt a faint resonance. Chewing carefully over these eighteen characters, he felt a spirit encompassing heaven and earth wash over him, along with a faint thread of the profound mystery of heaven-and-earth creation. He could not help but grow increasingly awed. "From which Daoist scripture do these words originate? They sound somewhat familiar, yet I cannot place them." After racking his brains for a moment, Cui Dan could only ask Qian Chen. "If you must ask, it was the Taishang Dao Ancestor!" Qian Chen said casually. "Among the five thousand scrolls of Taishang Daoist scriptures, not a single character says this," Cui Dan said, frowning. "Could it be a secret Daoist scripture? Otherwise, the Daoist Academy published the Taishang Daoist Canon to the realm, declaring that the Daoist orthodoxy transmits the Dao, not specific arts... Such true words do not touch upon cultivation methods, so they ought to be within the Daoist Canon, should they not? That Daoist Canon is the foundation of classical learning and Xuanxue throughout the realm. I have read it thoroughly since youth, so I should not have forgotten it." Only then was Qian Chen slightly surprised. Had that plagiarizing monster Taishang truly never copied Jia Yi's "Discourse on the Owl"? That shouldn't be! He could only continue brushing him off: "This is a special transmission outside the teachings, transmitted mind-to-mind without relying on the written word!" Cui Dan laughed. "Senior Brother, using a Buddhist allusion to fabricate a tale about the Dao Ancestor... if the Daoist Academy learned of this, they would certainly condemn you for grave disrespect!" Qian Chen was speechless inwardly: *Taishang, you shameless plagiarist, you copied even Zen allusions, so how did you miss this one line? Are you really someone who cares about saving face?* In the hearts of other Daoist cultivators, the Dao Ancestor was an unfathomable sage of exalted Dao. Yet in Qian Chen's heart, whenever he heard these familiar sayings, he simply could not muster any respect for this protagonist of heaven and earth from ancient times! After all, weren't Taishang's darkest secrets all stored right here with him? Just then, footsteps finally echoed from the stone boat. Cui Dan rose to greet them. After all, they had come at his invitation. Though he disliked Guan Pingxuan, he still observed full etiquette. Yet when he stepped out of the stone cabin and saw Senior Brother Pei walking side by side with Guan Pingxuan, his face fell slightly with displeasure... He wondered silently why Guan Pingxuan had brought an outsider without even giving advance notice. Senior Brother Pei, however, hardly treated himself as an outsider. Striding onto the stone boat as if walking through an uninhabited land, he headed straight in front of Qian Chen. Guan Pingxuan made the introduction: "This is Senior Brother Pei Junhu of the Jinchuan Sect, the foremost among the true transmission disciples of the Jiuzhen immortal sects. He holds great prestige. Regarding the baleful qi you seek, Fellow Daoist, you will need Senior Brother Pei's assistance." Before Qian Chen could speak, Pei Junhu cut in: "You have the Ice Soul Cold Light Gang in your possession?" Hearing this, Cui Dan's expression shifted drastically. Looking at Guan Pingxuan, his face darkened with suppressed anger. "Senior Sister Guan, is this what you meant by helping Senior Brother Qian look for baleful qi? Did you bring back a master instead?" Guan Pingxuan frowned slightly. "Senior Brother Pei does indeed possess the Extreme Yin True Sha that Fellow Daoist Qian requires. However, he is also interested in exchanging for the Ice Soul Cold Light Gangqi in Fellow Daoist Qian's possession. Rather than both parties lacking their corresponding gang-sha qi, why not discuss it and bid against each other? The highest bidder will obtain the other's gang-sha qi. That way, one gains profit while the other gets what he desires—is that not the best of both worlds?" Qian Chen sighed inwardly: *To secure this vein of baleful qi, spending some worldly possessions is of little consequence anyway. This is also the only peaceful way to resolve the matter! Let me just buy the Extreme Yin Sha! I really don't want to kill people over seizing treasures anymore!* With the utmost sincerity for peace, Qian Chen said, "What Fellow Daoist says is indeed a solution. Why don't we proceed according to—" "No need!" Senior Brother Pei cut him off. "This Ice Soul Cold Light Gang is vital to my coagulating sha and refining gang, the very foundation of my cultivation attainment for an upper-grade core. This is a struggle for the Great Dao, leaving no room for retreat or alternatives. I am determined to have this item! If Fellow Daoist is willing to yield the gangqi to me, I will certainly repay you in the future..." The unspoken implication of his words was already crystal clear. "The Great Dao is contested over a single thread... No matter the obstacle, nothing will make me back down." Guan Pingxuan marveled in her heart: *What a resolute Dao heart Senior Brother Pei has... This unyielding spirit before the Great Dao truly surpasses that wandering cultivator's timid cowering by a thousandfold.* Thus, she joined in to persuade him: "Senior Brother Pei seeks this gangqi for his Core Formation endeavor. Since Fellow Daoist needs it merely for external pill refining, why not yield a step? Consider it fulfilling another's aspiration for the Dao. Whatever spirit pills Fellow Daoist lacks, if my White Deer Sect and the Jinchuan Sect have them, you may take them freely... Why bother refining them yourself?" Cui Dan trembled with rage and stood up. "What spirit pills? Could they ever compare to—" "Junior Brother Cui..." Qian Chen called out, pressing a hand down on his shoulder. Turning back, Qian Chen still smiled faintly. "Fellow Daoist, this pill also concerns my future cultivation endeavor. Is there truly no room for leeway in this matter?" Senior Brother Pei sighed. "A struggle for the Great Dao is a fight to the death! How could there be leeway!" "And if I still insist on contending for it..." "Then it is life or death!" "Good!" Qian Chen said placidly. "Fellow Daoist truly has a 'resolute Dao heart'..." With that, Qian Chen drew back his hand and stepped several paces away, standing directly opposite Pei Junhu. He gestured for Cui Dan to stand back, and Pei Junhu likewise waved Guan Pingxuan away. Guan Pingxuan sighed inwardly: *Truly... courting death!* With that thought, any lingering guilt vanished, and she backed away several paces, stepping off the stone boat.