Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 38 Snowfall Followed by Clear Skies
"None of the other sects have this strict rule, only our sect does..."

"I heard that this rule was set by the sect leader when he first established the sect, but I don't know why."

Song Yan heard these words; Lin Qing had said them to him when he first entered the family.

"Our Dongyuan Sect has ten arts for cultivating the mind."

"Although it is called the Ten Arts, it is not actually just ten skills. The number ten is both the sum of the ten most common skills and a general term representing all the 'unorthodox and unorthodox' practices in this world."

Wendao Gorge can already be seen in the distance.

The ten arts of the Dongyuan Sect are qin (a stringed instrument), chess, calligraphy, painting, archery, mathematics, flower arrangement, wine, food, and tea.

Among cultivators, there are many others, such as sculptors, Shennong (a legendary Chinese figure), metallurgists, and even farmers, poets, and meditators.

"Quiet sitting?"

The new disciple uttered a questioning sound.

"Actually, it's just... spacing out."

"...?"

"These skills don't really help with cultivation; they're just a refined pastime for self-cultivation."

Therefore, junior brother, you should be careful to act appropriately. After all, neither of us are exceptionally talented prodigies, so there's no need to think so far ahead. Just focus on completing the sect's tasks on ordinary days.

"Yes, senior brother, I've got it."

Upon arriving at Wendao Gorge, Song Yan and the others took two different paths.

Before going to Silent Valley, he always felt it was a waste of time, and each time he would just randomly choose the nearest meditation hall to complete the task.

Later, after learning from the Five Star Pulse-Catching Technique that chess and calligraphy could help cultivate the strength of one's spiritual sense, he consistently chose to play chess with others.

In fact, Song Yan knew a little bit about Go before he even entered the Dongyuan Sect to cultivate.

When we were young in Shiliang Town, we studied and wrote. Our private tutor, Mr. He, was a chess player, and my grandfather could play chess too. Occasionally, Mr. He would come and ask my grandfather to play chess.

Having been exposed to it from a young age, Song Yan had only a superficial understanding of the subject.

but……

Song Yan was feeling mentally and physically exhausted today and did not intend to play chess, as it would take too long.

The academy for cultivating one's mind in the art of Go is called Yitian Academy, and its disciples are said to be...

Once you enter Yitian Academy, you can play chess all day long.

Playing chess is something that can easily become addictive, thus interfering with one's spiritual practice.

For Song Yan, painting was too difficult; drawing strange and unusual things would spoil his mood.

I should go and practice calligraphy to cultivate my character.

The Ink Dao Academy is located next to the Danqing Academy.

All ten meditation halls were built on both sides of Wendao Gorge.

It is said that when the sect leader of Dongyuan Sect first arrived here, he swam around the Lingyuan Marsh.

Upon arriving at Wendao Gorge, he suddenly gained enlightenment and broke through his cultivation level, so he named the place Wendao Gorge.

In addition, the spiritual energy here is abundant, and now many disciples and elders are cultivating and comprehending the Dao on both sides of this place in order to break through.

Mo Dao Academy is located on the north bank of Wen Dao Gorge.

Before even stepping into the Ink Dao Academy, Song Yan could vaguely hear someone giving a lecture at the Danqing Academy across the street…

"...Some cultivators nowadays believe that this art of cultivating the mind is a waste of time and affects cultivation."

Many elders in the sect are advanced in age and unable to advance their cultivation further. They also enjoy the art of cultivating the mind, so they often give lectures and teach in various cultivation academies.

"In my humble opinion, the reason why these people cannot cultivate the Great Dao is simply because they are of mediocre talent and have no extraordinary encounters."

"To blame the hopelessness of the path on the art of self-cultivation is truly laughable."

"As everyone knows..."

"In this world of cultivation, how many powerful ancestors have integrated their understanding of the Great Dao into the art of cultivation, concealing it within chess manuals and paintings..."

Song Yan stood outside the courtyard and listened with great interest for a while.

According to this elder, the art of cultivating the mind is mostly studied by great cultivators who have reached a high level of attainment and have been unable to break through a bottleneck for hundreds or thousands of years.

Such a true sage, who could have spent the time and energy on cultivation, created paintings and recorded chess scores...

Nature is imbued with the essence of Tao, possessing unexpected and miraculous effects.

"..."

At first glance, it seems to make some sense.

But upon closer reflection, what does this have to do with ordinary disciples like them who are still far from reaching the Foundation Establishment stage?
Do you think these so-called Dao Ancestors and Immortal Lords could just casually obtain the genuine artifacts left behind by them, like ants?

Shaking his head, Song Yan turned and headed towards the Mo Dao Academy.

It's common for various self-cultivation academies to not have elders giving lectures, just like the Mo Dao Academy right now.

Unlike the crisp sound of chess pieces being placed in the Yitian Academy, the disciples here usually arrive silently, quietly complete their assigned tasks, and then leave without a word.

In the center of the courtyard, a disciple sat writing calligraphy, with some unfinished talismans beside him.

These are the disciples in charge of calligraphy at the Mo Dao Academy this month. Their primary responsibility is managing and selecting the content for this month's calligraphy practice.

It's a leisurely experience, and there are even extra spirit stones given out.

Song Yan used to envy such miscellaneous tasks, but this position required a certain level of skill in the corresponding art of self-cultivation to be assigned.

He was mediocre at everything, so naturally he didn't have that kind of luck.

I randomly found a spot and sat down. In front of me was an exquisite calligraphy copybook, along with the Four Treasures of the Study (brush, ink, paper, and inkstone) for copying.

"Letter After Snowfall"

"This senior brother's choice is really fitting for the occasion."

On the sixteenth day of the eleventh lunar month, snow fell.

Outside, the mountains were covered in snow, while inside, there was a warm stove and ink and brush. As Song Yan picked up his brush and began to write, the atmosphere was quite like that of a refined scholar.

The "Letter After Snowfall" consists of only twenty-eight characters.

Originally written by a great calligrapher from the ancient Jin Kingdom, it was later acquired by a powerful cultivator.

Legend has it that he had been stuck at a bottleneck for hundreds of years, but one day during a heavy snowfall, while copying calligraphy, he suddenly realized the great Dao and broke through in one fell swoop.

The snow had just stopped and the sun was shining brightly.

Since then, this calligraphy work, which contains only twenty-eight characters, has gradually gained fame and has been called "Twenty-Eight Pearls" by the cultivators.

"call……"

After about half an hour, Song Yan slowly put down his pen and let out a soft breath.

The heavy snow outside had stopped sometime ago, and from Wendao Gorge, the snow-covered scenery of Lingyuan Marsh was clearly visible.

A peaceful state of mind and tranquility.

"This art of self-cultivation is indeed somewhat effective."

With the objective achieved, the sect's prescribed coursework was also completed.

Let's stop here for today.

Song Yan got up, left the Mo Dao Academy, and headed back to the outer disciple peak.

"Hey, senior brother, that person just now... he looks kind of familiar."

Seeing him leave, the two disciples beside him whispered to each other.

"That's strange. I also felt that it looked familiar, but I thought it was just my imagination."

"what……"

The man seemed to wake from a dream: "I remember now, isn't it that outer disciple named Song Yesheng?"

Another disciple suddenly realized, "So it was him."

On the day the Xuan Yuan Sect came to demand an explanation, all the disciples on the Dao Entry Platform remembered their sect leader's astonishing sword qi waterfall, and they also remembered the outer disciple who was at the center of the vortex at that time.

"I heard that he was originally at the fifth level of Qi Refining, but he got involved in external affairs of the sect, and his cultivation dropped to the first level of Qi Refining during the struggle."

"After experiencing such dramatic ups and downs, even the most composed person would be affected."

"Yes, it's truly pitiful, an innocent disaster..."

"I'm afraid I'll never be able to reach the Foundation Establishment stage in this lifetime."

Suddenly, the two cultivators felt a darkness behind them, and a righteous voice rang out: "Your idle gossip behind people's backs is not only disrespectful to your fellow disciples, but also disturbs the cultivation of other disciples in the courtyard..."

The disciple in charge of the Mo Dao Academy looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, but his expression was serious.

"Today's homework is void!"

"Senior Brother Sun! No..."

Ignoring their wails, the disciple surnamed Sun walked straight to the table where Song Yan had been sitting and collected the calligraphy he had left behind.

"Um……"

"At first, I was restless and agitated; in the middle, I gradually calmed down; and at the end, I felt serene and peaceful..."

His rigid expression finally showed a hint of softening.

"The art of cultivating the mind should have this effect."

……

Song Yan did not hear what the others were saying.

He went straight to the cave.

"Speaking of which..."

"Was there some calligraphy copybook among the clay figurines that the Xie family girl gave herself...?"

I think I heard Xie Xing mention it briefly that day.

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(End of this chapter)