“An opportunity?”
Yu Ci’s first thought was about becoming an outer disciple, but seeing Bao Guang’s attitude, it seemed unrelated.
Fortunately, the young daoist didn’t intend to keep him in suspense and explained directly: “Tomorrow, Uncle Xie Liang from the sect will give a lecture at the temple. Master said that although this kind of class doesn’t directly involve the Dao, it still covers practical miscellaneous studies. Since you excel in talisman techniques, and Uncle Xie is a grandmaster in this field, Master suggests you attend and listen. You might gain some insight.”
Yu Ci asked curiously, “The Daoist’s suggestion?”
Seeing Yu Ci’s uncertainty, Bao Guang grew anxious for him. “You have no idea how rare this opportunity is. Uncle Xie is among the top three talisman masters of the sect. In his generation, he is unparalleled, and he is also well-versed in many other disciplines. He usually stays within the sect and has never lectured here before. This time, he specifically invited disciples proficient in talisman arts to attend. I’m not even qualified to sit in. You absolutely cannot miss this chance.”
“How could I miss it?”
Yu Ci was thinking about something else. For the first time in ten days, Yu Zhou had asked something of him. No matter what, this was a good omen.
He had no reason to refuse and agreed immediately.
***
The next morning, Yu Ci arrived early at the Prominent Virtue Hall in the inner courtyard of the Heart Prohibition Temple. According to Bao Guang, every so often, an inner sect daoist master from the Rifting Earth Sect would lecture here, scouting for promising disciples to bring back to the sect for cultivation. The former happened regularly, but the latter was exceedingly rare—perhaps once in decades.
As he stepped into Prominent Virtue Hall, he saw about twenty meditation mats already arranged neatly on either side of the hall. Most were already occupied. Yu Ci briefly surveyed the scene from outside before stepping in, recognizing two familiar faces among the crowd.
Upon entering, he finally remembered where he had seen them before.
There they were, sitting at the very front on the left: two young men, dressed in ornate attire with jade belts—a stark contrast to the daoist robes of everyone else in the hall. They were so out of place, yet they seemed completely at ease in the best seats, which earned Yu Ci’s reluctant admiration.
Jin Chuan and Kuang Yanqi.
These two rising stars cultivated by the Sun Light Sect—weren’t they supposed to be training at the sect? How had they already returned after just a few months?
Seeing them again amused Yu Ci. The last time they met, his relationship with the Sun Light Sect had been merely hostile; now, it had turned into deep enmity.
Of course, he didn’t care much about that.
Since Yu Ci had arrived late, he couldn’t pick a good seat. His entry naturally drew some attention, including a glance from Kuang Yanqi, who nudged Jin Chuan with his elbow. The latter looked up, but by then, Yu Ci had already lowered his head to find a seat, ignoring them completely.
Both young men scowled, but at that moment, the immortal master they had all been anticipating emerged from the side hall, immediately drawing everyone’s gaze.
Yu Ci settled on a spot near the hall entrance. Sitting cross-legged, he looked up as well.
The person who emerged was a tall and lean daoist. From Bao Guang’s description, this was Xie Liang, one of the top twenty experts of the Rifting Earth Sect. He had reached the fabled Void Stepping realm, capable of traversing the skies and flying vast distances.
In truth, Yu Ci lacked a concrete impression of Void Stepping cultivators.
According to Ye Tu’s teachings, the Void Stepping realm marked the beginning of “transcendence and shedding mortal constraints.” From this realm onward, cultivators surpassed the level of Core Refinement and could soar through the skies unaided. At the peak of their cultivation, they could even ascend beyond the nine heavens to draw upon the purest “essence of primal truth” from the boundless outer heavens, refining their “true form.”
This “true form” was the foundation of an immortal’s eternal, indestructible body. Once perfected, it allowed one to transcend time and aging, achieving eternal youth and even invulnerability through countless tribulations.
At this realm, a Void Stepping cultivator’s soul also transitioned from “Yin Spirit” to “Yang Spirit.” However, Ye Tu’s sect didn’t place much emphasis on this aspect, so it was only vaguely described.
For now, Yu Ci’s understanding of Void Stepping cultivators was limited to two concepts: flying vast distances and refining the true form.
The demonic beast and the twin-headed, four-armed demon he encountered in Sky Rift Valley seemed to be of Void Stepping level. However, demons and cultivators were fundamentally different and not comparable.
Now, as Yu Ci observed Xie Liang, he found it difficult to reconcile his mental image of a celestial immortal with the man before him.
Xie Liang’s face was plain and expressionless, clearly someone who rarely spoke or smiled. Yu Ci didn’t judge him as unworthy based on appearances but worried that someone with such a temperament might struggle to articulate profound insights.
As Yu Ci mulled over this, Xie Liang spoke:
“Today, I will lecture on talisman techniques.”
His voice was dry and monotonous, with a hint of a regional accent. Still, the immortal master’s authority instantly silenced the hall. Everyone unconsciously held their breath.
Then came his next sentence:
“Those unfamiliar with talisman techniques or who use fewer than five talismans regularly, leave now. Staying will be pointless.”
Yu Ci was stunned, and so were Jin Chuan and Kuang Yanqi. However, the other attendees, whether they were outer disciples or guest daoists, were quick to act. Seven or eight people immediately stood, bowed to Xie Liang, and left the hall. The room felt significantly emptier.
After some thought, Yu Ci moved closer to the front and found an empty meditation mat. Apart from two annoyed glares from Jin Chuan and Kuang Yanqi, no one paid him any attention.
Xie Liang, his gaze lowered and expression cold, waited for silence to return before speaking again. His tone remained flat as he said:
“The essence of drawing talismans lies in three principles. Remember them well:
“A talisman is that which, imbued with spiritual Qi and inscribed with symbolic images, serves as a conduit to the divine.”
“The Qi connects to True Essence, embodying its unique spirit; thus, a talisman can be formed.”
“Each aperture interlinks, and radiant spiritual light emerges; the talisman is thereby completed.”
After reciting these three sentences in an uninflected tone, Daoist Xie paused, seemingly to allow everyone time to reflect.
Yu Ci was utterly engrossed. These three sentences were not unfamiliar to him.
Within the general preface of the Celestial Qi Gathering Secret Talisman Manual, the exact same words appeared, nearly verbatim. However, no one before had ever isolated these three sentences and arranged them in this particular sequence.
Even with Yu Ci’s weak foundation, he could discern the progression embedded in the arrangement, which clarified their otherwise ambiguous meaning. The first sentence addressed “what constitutes a talisman,” the second revealed “the critical point of the talisman,” and the third elaborated on “how a talisman should be drawn.”
Understanding this, Yu Ci’s thoughts began to unfurl. The familiar passages from the Celestial Qi Gathering Secret Talisman Manual seemed to spring to life, flying before his eyes and realigning themselves around those three sentences.
It was a wondrous process of reorganization in both text and thought.
To Yu Ci, the true value of those three sentences lay not in their content but in their clarity of structure and their succinct encapsulation of the essentials.
With these three sentences, the verbose preface of nearly a thousand words in the Celestial Qi Gathering Secret Talisman Manual was no longer an obscure, convoluted string of rare characters and abstruse phrases. Instead, it became an eloquent and layered text with discernible internal logic.
“A master indeed!”
Yu Ci now viewed Jie Liang with completely different eyes.
He strained to keep his ears sharp, determined to imprint every word of the immortal in his memory. Regrettably, he hadn’t brought writing tools—good memory pales before written notes. Who knew what critical details he might miss by the end of the day’s lessons?
Unfortunately, things soon took an unwelcome turn. After expounding briefly on the three sentences with unremarkable rhetoric, Xie Liang abruptly shifted focus. Using “Divine Connectivity” as his theme, he began discussing the ascetic precepts in cultivating talisman arts!
Perhaps Daoist Xie Liang did possess profound knowledge, and his explanations were clear. He spoke of principles such as, “A talisman master must possess a reverent heart.” These ideas were undoubtedly worth pondering. But he seemed oblivious—or perhaps indifferent—to the fact that the attending cultivators were eager to learn entirely different things.
Or maybe, he knew and simply refused to say?
Regardless, the entire morning’s precious time had been spent this way.
During this period, all the cultivators in the hall heard was a litany of phrases like “cultivate purity of heart and virtue, steer clear of filth, and achieve spiritual clarity.” Such platitudes could have been gleaned from the most basic talisman manuals. Of course, Yu Ci had always skimmed over these parts without applying them in practice, yet his talismans had worked just fine.
Initially, Yu Ci had listened attentively, but soon, he was preoccupied with reorganizing the preface of the Celestial Qi Gathering Secret Talisman Manual in his mind. Meanwhile, the two young cultivators seated closest to Xie Liang maintained upright postures and stern expressions, striving to display their best before the immortal. Yet their glassy eyes betrayed their boredom.
As Yu Ci lamented the waste of the day, a sudden phrase reached his ears:
“Heaven and earth, nature and humanity—all are inseparable from the concept of ‘truth.’ This ‘truth’ is neither law, nor matter, nor psychology, but something entirely pure, stripped of all tangibles and shorn of all adornments. Heaven endures through ‘truth,’ nature operates by ‘truth,’ all things arise from ‘truth,’ and the human heart is purified by ‘truth.’
“The precepts I speak of are not shackles to bind you but the closest standards to this pure ‘truth.’ The purpose is for you to progress from mimicry to mastery, and from mastery to flawless purity… This is the essence of the precepts.”
These words carried hidden depths!
At first, Yu Ci thought Xie Liang was being sarcastic due to the apparent lack of engagement in the hall. But upon deeper reflection, he realized the statement had profound implications. Particularly the description of “stripped of all tangibles and shorn of all adornments” struck a familiar chord.
Wasn’t this remarkably akin to the sensations he had experienced the previous day when his mind’s lake overflowed, blending with the external heavens and earth?
His heart skipped a beat, and he blurted out, “Can this pure ‘truth’ be perceived through the soul?”
The moment the words left his mouth, the entire hall turned to stare at him, including Xie Liang.
The gazes of Jin Chuan and Kuang Yanqi at the front were especially piercing, as though they were looking at a lunatic.
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