Fusang Sword Heart Diagram

Chapter 12 Gu Pingsheng's Lecture

As dawn breaks, a misty morning fog swirls around the mountains, making one feel as if they are in a fairyland.

One after another, blue figures emerged from the thin mist.

Gu Pingsheng stood with his hands behind his back, waiting for everyone to arrive in the square.

After a cup of tea, there were forty people in total, including Ning Fusang, and not a single one was late.

Gu Pingsheng smiled with satisfaction and praised, "Very good, they all arrived before the appointed time."

The praise brought a look of joy to everyone's faces. Then Gu Pingsheng changed the subject: "However, being on time once is nothing. The key is to persevere. I hope you can maintain this attitude year after year."

"This disciple will remember Elder Gu's teachings!"

Gu Pingsheng waved his hand and said, "From today onwards, I will be your instructor, and you will all be my students. During these three years in the outer sect, you can call me Instructor Gu."

The crowd readily agreed and changed their tune: "We understand, and we will certainly keep Master Gu's teachings in mind."

Gu Pingsheng's gaze swept over the group of people. Among the disciples who had joined the sect this time, the oldest was exactly at the threshold of forty years old stipulated by the sect. He was thirty-nine years old, with a weathered appearance and the signs of impending death.

Feeling a little uneasy under Gu Pingsheng's gaze, Li Yeshan was relieved, but fortunately, Gu Pingsheng quickly looked away.

"Now that everyone is here, go inside and find a seat."

After Gu Pingsheng finished speaking, everyone made a move and walked towards the house behind him with the three large characters "Chuandaolu" hanging on it.

The preaching house is built on a high mountain peak, which is very secluded. It has windows on three sides, from which you can see plum blossoms peeking out of the branches, birds chasing each other, and continuous white snow falling.

Ning Fusang chose a seat by the window so she could enjoy the view.

Ruan San Niang silently sat down on her left.

Compared to others, she was more familiar with Senior Sister Ning.

Everyone else was sitting with their roommates.

After a while, when he figured everyone had chosen their seats, Gu Pingsheng came in from outside.

His desk, which faced everyone, was much longer than others. On it were writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, a complete set of cups and saucers, and a vase with green plum blossoms. At the very edge was a rectangular wooden box, which was not locked, but Ning Fusang could tell that there was a layer of restriction on it.

After Gu Pingsheng sat down, he looked at Ning Fusang and said, "Come up here."

Ruan San Niang, with great insight, got up and asked Ning Fusang to leave.

Gu Pingsheng pointed his fingers together, condensing a ray of spiritual light. He flicked his finger, and the light landed on the wooden box, causing the restriction to disappear. He then turned to Ning Fusang and instructed, "Distribute their identity jade tokens."

Ning Fusang knew that Gu Pingsheng wanted her to recognize people, so he assigned this task to her.

She stood beside the wooden box, picked up the first jade pendant, and read aloud: "Zhou Peier".

A girl who looked to be about eleven or twelve years old got up from the corner and quickly stepped forward to take the jade pendant.

The jade pendant was white with a hint of blue, with a delicate texture and a warm, smooth feel. It was clear and flawless. Zhou Peier carefully carried the jade pendant back to her seat, a clear look of joy appearing in her eyes.

Ning Fusang continued reading the second name: "Zhao Hong".

She read them very quickly, and since there weren't many people in total, Ning Fusang had already distributed all the identity jade tokens in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

"Master Gu, may I return now?" Ning Fusang asked.

Gu Pingsheng glanced at her: "What, you don't want your identity jade token anymore?"

Three years ago, Ning Fusang was punished by being sent to the Sword Washing Pool from the outer sect, and her jade token identifying her as an outer sect disciple was naturally taken away. Ning Fusang didn't know where that jade token was now. Gu Pingsheng took out a jade pendant from his sleeve and handed it to her: "Keep it safe."

Ning Fusang raised her eyebrows slightly and accepted her identity jade token: "Thank you, Master Gu."

Gu Pingsheng nodded slightly, gesturing for her to return to her seat.

In fact, Ning Fusang's identity jade token had been kept by Yu Wanwu until a few days ago when he personally handed it over to him.

Gu Pingsheng cleared his throat, pulling everyone back from their elation at receiving their identity jade tokens.

"After you receive your identity jade token, remember to keep it safe. If you lose it, you need to go to Qinglu Pavilion to register in time and get spirit stones to reissue it."

These things are actually all in the "Rules and Regulations" issued by the sect, but Gu Pingsheng still reminded everyone again in case anyone missed this rule.

Ning Fusang lowered his head and hung his outer disciple identification jade token on his waist.

Above, Gu Pingsheng had already begun his formal lecture.

His voice was clear and unhurried, carrying to every corner of the room.

"The path of cultivation, broadly speaking, can be summarized in two words: spiritual cultivation."

"The so-called spiritual cultivation refers to refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for one's own use. All techniques are based on spiritual power. Without spiritual power, no technique can be performed."

"Riding the wind and slaying demons with a sword is just empty talk."

At this point, everyone could understand, but the further they went, the more confused they became, feeling utterly lost and confused.

Gu Pingsheng observed their state and found that they were mostly confused and did not understand what he was saying.

He took a slow sip of tea, giving everyone time to digest what he had just said, before moving on to the next topic.

"Next, we will discuss the division of cultivation levels—"

The group, who had been dizzy and disoriented, straightened their backs and regained some of their strength.

The rigid division of realms should be easy to understand once it's memorized, right? A sense of confidence arose in everyone's hearts.

Gu Pingsheng's lips curled into a subtle smile as he continued, "The cultivation realm is initially divided into nine levels. Each level can be further divided into three sub-levels: early stage, middle stage, and peak stage."

"At the initial stage of the first realm, the spiritual energy that can be contained in the dantian and dantian is only enough for a cup of water."

Gu Pingsheng pushed the shallow teacup filled with tea forward so that everyone could see it clearly.

Ruan San Niang craned her neck slightly before she could see the depth and amount of tea in the cup.

She thought to herself, "So this is how little spiritual power a first-level cultivator has. He probably won't have any left after casting two spells. A martial artist in the mortal realm might not be unable to defeat him."

Gu Pingsheng continued, "When you break through to the middle stage of the first realm, the range of spiritual energy that your dantian can hold expands by two inches horizontally and vertically. When you break through to the peak, it expands by three inches. Before the ninth realm, it expands according to this pattern."

"But at each level, there are invisible barriers that need to be broken through. The higher the level, the thicker the invisible barriers become, and the more difficult it is to cultivate."

"Many people cannot break through this barrier. Even if they are at this level and their spiritual power is full, their cultivation will stagnate."

"Above the nine realms, there are six more realms: the Realm of Knowledge, the Realm of Spirit, the Realm of Understanding, the Realm of Clarity, the Realm of Transformation, and the legendary Realm of God."

"Before these six realms, one can break through with spiritual cultivation, but after reaching the ninth realm, the focus of cultivation shifts to cultivating the mind and comprehending the Dao."

“Simple spiritual cultivation is no longer very effective in helping cultivators break through their cultivation levels.”

(End of this chapter)