The lamplight was dim and yellow, accompanied by a faint rustling sound.

The wolf-hair brush moved through Lu Liangsheng’s hand. With the tip dipped in ink and illuminated by the firelight, he first wrote the characters for “Human” and “Dao” with a few sweeping strokes, then swiftly and fluidly wrote “Heaven and Earth.”

—Human Dao, Heaven and Earth.

Upon those four characters, imperceptible wisps of qi, like strands of drifting smoke, slowly dispersed and condensed before sinking back into the written strokes, lending them a sense of profound simplicity and solemn dignity. The spiritual qi within Lu Liangsheng’s body circulated faintly, stirring the air and keeping the cave’s atmosphere fresh.

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

Within the tranquil cave, the only sound was the brush tip gliding across the paper. The scholar remained focused and composed, his gaze fixed steadily upon the white paper as the brush moved across it. The four characters Human Dao, Heaven and Earth were densely arranged in orderly rows, covering the entire sheet.

Every character was understandable to anyone who could read, but in Lu Liangsheng’s eyes, they contained a deeper and more obscure meaning—to combine Haoran(Righteous) Qi with the Heavens and Earth Righteous Path, and fuse it into his own unique Dao.

Three years ago, after bringing Honglian into the temple and taking advantage of the opportunity to let her become a deity through the power of incense offerings, he had begun settling his mind and pondering how to advance into the Nascent Soul Realm.

Ordinary cultivation was stable, but far too slow. During Niu Er’s wedding back then, he had witnessed the gathering and lingering of human qi that ordinary people could never perceive, and that had given him an idea.

The Dao of the human world was nothing more than joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, bitterness, sweetness, and all the countless flavors of mortal existence. By borrowing this worldly, human qi, he could comprehend the Human Dao, and thereby achieve the breakthrough into the Nascent Soul Realm.

Over these three years, Lu Liangsheng had taught his three disciples to cultivate while also organizing and consolidating the various spells he had mastered. He had drawn the diagrams from the [Heavens and Earth Righteous Path] that guided the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth through the limbs, bones, meridians, and acupoints. With a slight modification to the method of guiding spiritual qi, it could also absorb the essence of human life and incense, allowing him to comprehend the Human Dao.

It was not like those strange tales in which a martial artist suddenly gained enlightenment and immediately created his own martial arts manual, founding a sect and establishing a school from that day onward.

Lu Liangsheng sighed and placed the brush beside the inkstone. He had always felt that he possessed considerable talent for cultivating the Dao, studying, and painting, but when he truly set his hand to the task, it had still taken him a full three years to gain even the slightest insight.

“I truly cannot be considered someone of exceptional natural talent.”

Over those three years, he had attempted to fuse numerous spells into [Human Dao, Heaven and Earth]. Most of them had succeeded in his hands. However, when he finally began cultivating it, he discovered that [Human Dao, Heaven and Earth] was instead extremely difficult to advance.

Only then had he thought of using Haoran Qi to drive the advancement of his cultivation. Now, he faintly sensed an opportunity to touch that great realm known as the Nascent Soul Realm.

“Those sects really do have it better. They have complete cultivation systems laid out for them. Unlike a rogue cultivator like me, I have to rely on myself for everything. And my master is a demon cultivator, so even the Dao he cultivates is completely different from mine. Forget it. There’s no use dwelling on it.”

Huff.

Lu Liangsheng exhaled a breath, then walked over to the stone bed and sat down cross-legged, closing his eyes.

The spiritual qi lingering around him began to accelerate. The Spirit-Gathering Formation before the bed also drew in the spiritual essence from the surrounding mountains. It seeped through the solid mountain walls and entered the cave, while the emotions of the villagers—joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—also transformed into wisps of invisible qi, swirling around Lu Liangsheng before entering his body together with the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth. They nourished his body before sinking into his Sea of Consciousness.

Within the small world inside his body, a star cloud slowly revolved, filled with countless specks of light. The spiritual qi he absorbed became part of the star cloud as well, accelerating the nourishment of the golden core at its center, which resembled a great sun.

Lu Liangsheng stood within this meditative inner world. The Spleen Earth spread out in endless stretches beneath him, Liver Wood had become a forest, and Lung Metal was interspersed among the mountains and rocks. Kidney Water had transformed into a silver ribbon, surging endlessly beneath his feet.

To reach the Nascent Soul Realm, the transformation of the Five Elements into qi would be the final step.

It was also the process of nurturing and transforming a living spirit.

“Today, I’ll try one more time.”

Lu Liangsheng rose above this inner world and looked toward the golden core amid the rotating star cloud overhead. He spread both arms, his palms outstretched like claws, his mind turning toward the Five Elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth within this small world inside his body.

His right claw drew inward, his arm lifting. “Metal transforms into the tools of all households!”

Rumble—

Amid the winding mountain ranges, the earth and rocks split apart, and cold-white streams of light shot into the sky.

Lu Liangsheng turned his face to the side and swept out his left arm, another thought arising in his mind.

“Wood provides sustenance for all households.”

One after another, lush green trees swayed as azure light rose from them, converging into a beam that shot toward the sky. The instant it passed Lu Liangsheng’s side, he abruptly turned around to face the earth.

“Water nurtures the lives of all living things!”

Black water-light surged forth, followed immediately by the next thought.

“Fire awakens the wisdom of all people!”

“Earth nourishes the bodies of all living things!”

The earth below transformed into nothingness and swept across the sky together with the other four streams of light. Lu Liangsheng opened his palm, and all five streams flew toward him, transforming into a multicolored ball of light.

Five Elements Transform into Qi!

He curled his fingers around the ball of light. The five colors representing his internal organs gradually rotated and converged, forming a vortex that caused Lu Liangsheng’s entire body to tremble slightly.

Go!

At a certain moment, Lu Liangsheng planted his feet firmly upon the void and looked toward the golden core above his head, which resembled a great sun. He raised the Five Elements’ multicolored qi in his hand, and in the instant he unleashed all the spiritual power within his body—

BOOM!

The ball of light burst apart in Lu Liangsheng’s hand, sending a ring of air surging outward. A five-colored beam of light shot straight toward the bottom of the star cloud, instantly reaching its very center.

Within the rotating center of the star cloud, mysterious Dao patterns appeared beneath the Five Elements’ multicolored qi. They rapidly spread throughout the enormous golden core, enveloping it completely.

Spirit-Gathering, aid me—

Lu Liangsheng clenched his teeth. His spirit moved according to his will, and the Spirit-Gathering Formation before his seated body suddenly blazed with light. The three connected formation points atop the surrounding mountain peaks lit up almost simultaneously.

Yanzhi lay beneath the waterfall, her forelegs crossed with her head resting upon them as she basked in the setting sun atop a rock. Sensing the spiritual qi around her becoming agitated, her long ears twitched. She suddenly sat upright and raised her head.

In her eyes, the scroll sealed behind the waterfall suddenly broke through the curtain of water and shot out a beam of spiritual light.

On the other two mountain peaks, the Vermilion Bird cried out and spread its fiery wings, while Xiangliu let out a thunderous roar. The sound nearly startled the people of Lu Village eating dinner into dropping their bowls.

People rushed out of their houses, while Yan Chixia and the others, who had been arguing in the threshing ground, all sensed the extraordinary disturbance.

They raised their gazes and saw three beams of spiritual light shooting simultaneously from different directions toward Qixia Mountain to the west.

The forests and wilderness shook violently. Toad Daoist, who had been lying down for his afternoon nap, had only just opened his eyes when the force of the wind overturned his curled-up body, exposing his pale belly.

The next moment, the wind swept him into midair. His long tongue shot out with a whoosh, wrapping around a nearby tree. He dangled in the air like a kite, flailing his limbs as he shouted around his tongue:

“Damn it, what the hell is going on?! What a huge wind! Ribbit!”

The beams of spiritual light seeped through the mountain and entered the cave. The Spirit-Gathering Formation fed the spiritual qi back into the cave, illuminating the body lying upon the stone couch. Within the small world inside his body, Lu Liangsheng once again increased the force of his spiritual power, pushing the five-colored pillar of light little by little into the golden core, as though a living being were being nurtured within a mother’s womb.

Crack.

A fissure appeared across the golden core.

Hearing the faint sound, a hint of expression finally appeared on Lu Liangsheng’s face, the corners of his lips curving upward ever so slightly. The pillar of light he had sent forth seemed to have been exhausted and gradually vanished from his hands. Following the cracks in the golden core, it transformed into wisps of qi that drifted apart and seeped inside.

The golden core seemed to transform into an eggshell, crystalline and translucent. Wisps of qi rose and swirled within it, revealing the outline of a tiny figure sitting cross-legged inside.

“It worked!”

Lu Liangsheng clenched his fist in delight, though his emotions were complicated.

To cross this threshold, he had already failed five times. Every failure had nearly resulted in a backlash. The sensation was like suffering a severe illness, leaving him barely alive and able only to lie in bed. Even once he could move again, he would be no different from an ordinary mortal, unable to use his magic power for two or three months.

That was why, over these three years, aside from making a trip to the temple at the foot of the mountain every morning before dawn, he had rarely shown himself outside. He had even seen his parents only a handful of times. Of course, part of the reason was that he did not want them to see what he looked like after another failed attempt.

Gathering his thoughts, Lu Liangsheng’s consciousness returned. Yet he did not open his eyes. Instead, he silently sensed the state he had just entered—the Nascent Soul Realm.

Suddenly, he flicked open his sleeves with both hands, formed a hand seal, and rested them upon his knees.

“Yang Spirit Astral Projection—”

A translucent figure flew out from his body, passing straight through the thick, solid layers of rock before rising to the mountaintop.

Lu Liangsheng floated with his hands behind his back atop a tree on the summit. The wind blew through him, passing through his ethereal body. His gaze swept across the surroundings—the endless mountain ridges and the billowing sea of clouds.

And below them, the noisy, bustling mountain village and acre upon acre of fertile farmland all unfolded within his field of vision.

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Orluros’s Vault of Secrets: Hi everyone, I’m taking a small vacation from posting this novel. I’ll see you all in September 🙂