Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 37 The Theory of Cultivating the Mind
Time flies like an arrow; life is fleeting.

Six months passed in the blink of an eye.

Outer Disciple Peak.

Inside the cave, Song Yan's brows and eyes betrayed a hint of worry.

"too slow……"

He looked at the scattered pill bottles and the broken, ashen spirit array inside the cave and sighed softly.

In six months, Song Yan had already cultivated back to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

The consumption here is astonishing.

The speed at which he regained his cultivation level was slower than he had imagined.

This speed was achieved by Song Yan recklessly squandering cultivation resources.

Not only was the Yellow Sprout Pill almost completely squandered, but in order to improve cultivation efficiency, Song Yan also took out 100 spirit stones from his 160 spirit stones and exchanged them for two small spirit-gathering arrays at the market.

This wasn't one of those defective items he'd previously picked up by chance in the garbage dump of Huogongzhai.

This was a perfectly intact spirit-gathering array that could be used several times, which made him feel a real pang of regret for quite some time.

Even so, the cultivation speed of the Sword Dao Seed is still as slow as a tortoise crawl, even slower than the original cultivation speed of the three spiritual roots.

If I hadn't avoided all the detours I took during my previous cultivation, it would probably have taken me two years to reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

He hadn't even reached the last four levels of the Qi Refining Realm, which were truly fraught with difficulty, yet his mind was already in turmoil.

There is no way around this.

"We must acquire the most spiritual item as soon as possible to strengthen the seed of swordsmanship..."

Song Yan is good at being down-to-earth.

Those things like sword intent and Dao heart were all vague and ethereal to him, and he never even considered them.

"Ugh……"

Sigh.

There's still about a year until the invitation from Rong Xiaofeng and Wu Huaguo, which feels like a long time.

Not to mention, what if there is no supreme spiritual object in that cultivator's cave, or what if he has not obtained it? Wouldn't that still be a long way off?

He himself had inquired about the most spiritual items, but unfortunately, they were either baseless rumors or exorbitantly priced items that he could not afford.

Song Yan felt a strong, contradictory sense of weariness growing deep within her.

Having truly experienced the cruelty of the cultivation world firsthand, he desperately wanted to cultivate and become stronger, but a sense of helplessness spread through his heart.

While not to the point of despair, it was enough to cause him mental confusion and turmoil.

If this continues, I fear I might develop inner demons...

Song Yan took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Well, since there's no better path to take right now, I'll just cultivate step by step and hone my divine sense in the process."

After breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, the sword seed in the Sword Palace seemed to be slightly fuller than before.

To Song Yan's surprise, the two-colored stone bead that he had previously tried to refine with spiritual power without success could actually be refined with sword energy.

After some painstaking refinement, Song Yan once again entered the Yin-Yang Realm within the stone bead. He could see a plump seed slowly floating in the center of this black and white world, identical to the one in his own Zhendao Sword Palace.

He guessed that this seed probably reflected the state of the Dao seed within his body.

"But I can already introspect and observe the state of the Dao Seed. In that case, wouldn't the Yin-Yang Realm be redundant?"

Song Yan couldn't understand it.

He doesn't think about things he can't figure out; that's always been his approach.

He believes that without sufficient strength and understanding, one's knowledge will naturally be limited, and no amount of thinking will be of any use.

His grandfather once told him that thinking only leads to difficulties, while doing leads to answers.

There's another thing, but I don't know if it's good news for Song Yan right now.

After refining the Yin-Yang Pearl, some dark runes condensed again in the realm and were imprinted into his mind.

It is the complete cultivation method of the Five Star Pulse-Catching Technique.

As for why this isn't good news for the current Song Dynasty banquet...

The general outline states that this so-called "complete" cultivation method is actually derived from another secret text on cultivating spiritual consciousness.

However, the original text is profound, complex, obscure, and difficult to understand, and ordinary cultivators with mediocre comprehension simply cannot grasp its essence.

Moreover, the basic requirement for cultivation in the original text is the "Golden Core Realm".

Upon seeing this, Song Yan was so angry he laughed. Ha, Golden Core Realm…

This Five-Star Pulse-Grasping Technique is a simplified version of the exercise compiled by predecessors.

Although the cultivation effect is not as good as the original, it is relatively easy to understand, and the cultivation threshold has been lowered from the Golden Core Realm to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Even so, Song Yan, who is now at the fourth level of Qi Refining, is still unable to cultivate.

They can only continue practicing the original, short mantra.

However, it wasn't a complete loss.

Song Yan stood up and left the cave.

The complete Five-Star Pulse-Catching Technique mentions that some of the techniques for cultivating the mind can assist in practicing the mantras and train and hone the strength of one's spiritual consciousness.

"The art of self-cultivation for this month is not yet complete."

"My cultivation has been slow and my mind has been disturbed. If I continue to cultivate so diligently, my mental state may easily become problematic..."

"It's a good opportunity to visit Wendao Gorge and relax."

After leaving the outer disciple peak, walk slowly towards Wendao Gorge, passing through Rudao Plain.

Just then, a senior disciple from the outer sect was guiding a newly initiated disciple to Wendao Gorge.

The conversation of the group reached Song Yan's ears.

"Senior Brother Zhao, what exactly is this 'art of cultivating the mind'?"

The new disciple asked curiously.

"...That's a long story."

The senior brother surnamed Zhao pondered for a moment, then asked in return, "Junior brother, what do you think cultivation of immortality is?"

"Ah? This... perhaps it's about raising one's spiritual power level and seeking immortality."

"Hahaha, immortality!"

The senior student surnamed Zhao suddenly laughed.

"Indeed, immortality is the ultimate goal of cultivating immortality."

"But how can one achieve immortality? By continuously improving one's spiritual power? Or by cultivating one's primordial spirit, or by tempering one's physical body?"

"..."

"All of these are needed... but having these is still not enough; immortality also requires cultivating the mind."

"Cultivation of mind?"

“Not bad,” the senior brother surnamed Zhao nodded.

"Throughout the long history of the cultivation world, there are probably as many talented and fortunate individuals as there are stars in the sky..."

"But those who truly attain immortality are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns."

"Possessing abundant spiritual power, a solid physical body, and a refined primordial spirit, yet remaining stuck outside the threshold of a certain realm for ten, a hundred, or even a thousand years..."

"There are far too many people like this. Some of them are stuck in their ways, trapped in their own ways, unable to make any further progress, and eventually die when their lifespan is exhausted."

“Some of them develop inner demons, their nature changes drastically, and they eventually fall into the demonic path, most of them not meeting a good end.”

"Only a very few can break through the barriers, advance through realms, and seek immortality."

"The difference lies in one's temperament, or rather, one's state of mind."

"I see."

The new disciple suddenly realized.

"There are many methods for cultivating spiritual power, and there are also many methods for strengthening the physical body. Methods for cultivating the mind are rare, but they can be obtained by paying a price or through a fortuitous encounter. But have you ever heard of any method that can cultivate the mind?"

"..."

The new disciple shook his head.

"Yes, this art of cultivating the mind is actually a way to temper one's state of mind, but it cannot be called a technique or a secret. It can only be considered... a refined hobby."

"Well... but actually, for disciples like us with low strength, this art of cultivating the mind is really not very useful."

The senior student surnamed Zhao suddenly said in a low voice.

"Before we condense our Golden Core, there are no mental obstacles to our cultivation. But since it is a rule set by the sect leader, we should just follow it."

"Yes, senior brother."

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(End of this chapter)