Chapter 338 - The Completed Sutra and the Borrowed Meridians

Chapter 338: Chapter 338 - The Completed Sutra and the Borrowed Meridians

Su Bai remained motionless for several minutes as the newly completed Heartless Sutra settled into his mind.

The amount of information was greater than he had expected.

What surprised him most was how naturally the method progressed.

The opening portions were familiar enough from everything Ji Ruyue had explained. They revolved around severing attachment, quieting disturbances within the heart, and maintaining absolute clarity even when emotions tried to interfere with judgment.

However, the method did not end there.

As Su Bai continued reading, the principles gradually changed.

The stillness created through severance was never meant to remain empty forever.

Once sufficient control had been established, the practitioner would slowly begin allowing those disturbances to return, not to surrender to them, but to understand them without losing that hard-earned clarity.

Joy could be understood without being chased. Grief could be acknowledged without allowing it to swallow the mind. Attachment itself was not forbidden forever, provided the practitioner remained capable of recognizing when it began controlling their choices.

Su Bai’s expression changed slightly.

’Martial Aunt Shen’s deduction had been remarkably close.’

The problem was that knowing the complete method existed was only the beginning.

Ji Ruyue and Shen Youran had already spent years cultivating the inheritance they possessed. Their meridians and circulation habits had developed around those existing routes.

Su Bai had no intention of simply handing Ji Ruyue a completed scripture and telling her to start circulating it without checking whether those later portions would properly connect to what she had already built.

When he opened his eyes, he found Ji Ruyue much closer than before.

She had moved to within an arm’s length and was quietly examining him.

Su Bai paused.

"Senior Sister Ji."

"Yes?"

"You’re very close."

Ji Ruyue glanced at the distance between them before moving back slightly.

"I wanted to make sure nothing had gone wrong."

Su Bai looked at her for a moment before letting the matter go.

"It worked."

A tiny change passed through Ji Ruyue’s gaze.

"The Heartless Sutra?"

Su Bai nodded.

"The method is complete, but I want to check something before you try cultivating it."

Ji Ruyue immediately understood that he was not finished.

"What do you need?"

"I need to examine the meridian routes formed by your current cultivation."

Ji Ruyue extended one hand without hesitation.

Su Bai placed two fingers against her wrist and carefully sent his spiritual sense inward.

He did not rush.

Years of Heartless Sutra cultivation had already left clear traces throughout her meridians. Some channels had been strengthened through repeated circulation, while others carried spiritual energy in patterns different from ordinary methods.

Su Bai followed every route carefully until the entire structure had settled into his memory.

He checked it once more before withdrawing his hand.

Ji Ruyue watched him.

"Is there a problem?"

"I don’t know yet."

Su Bai closed his eyes again.

The Myriad-Path Meridian Web responded immediately.

Its countless pathways shifted under his control, gradually reproducing the meridian structure he had just observed inside Ji Ruyue.

His own foundation complicated the process.

The Infinite Dantian, nine Gateway Dantians, Nascent Origin, and Macro-Taiji created too many additional paths that did not exist within Ji Ruyue’s body.

Su Bai therefore kept them outside the test as much as possible and forced the Myriad-Path Meridian Web to maintain only the routes he wanted.

After several adjustments, the simulated structure finally resembled Ji Ruyue’s meridians closely enough.

Only then did Su Bai begin circulating the completed Heartless Sutra.

The Dao-Devouring Blank Stele reacted almost immediately.

Its surface brightened faintly as the method began moving through him.

Su Bai felt the familiar tendency of the Stele to respond to an unfit cultivation method entering his foundation, but he ignored it and kept the circulation confined to the meridian structure he had copied from Ji Ruyue.

He was not trying to make the Heartless Sutra suit himself.

He wanted to know whether it would suit her.

Spiritual energy flowed through the simulated pathways.

Su Bai followed it carefully.

The first circulation completed smoothly enough that he did not interfere.

During the second, he noticed several places where the later portions of the completed method placed slightly different demands on the pathways Ji Ruyue had already developed. None of them were dangerous, but he adjusted the simulated routes and continued.

The next circulation became smoother.

Su Bai repeated the process several more times, watching closely for anything that might force the method outside Ji Ruyue’s existing foundation.

Nothing did.

The completed Heartless Sutra did not require her to destroy what she had already cultivated and begin again.

Its later circulation could continue from the foundation already formed by the method she practiced, although a few minor adjustments would make the transition safer.

That was what Su Bai had wanted to confirm.

He continued for several more cycles before finally allowing the simulated meridians to relax.

When he opened his eyes, Ji Ruyue was still waiting in the same place.

"How is it?" she asked.

Su Bai smiled.

"It should work."

Ji Ruyue’s eyes shifted slightly.

"You are certain?"

"I tested the completed method using the meridian structure your cultivation has already formed. There are a few places I want to adjust before you try it yourself, but you won’t need to abandon your current foundation."

Ji Ruyue remained quiet for a moment.

There were several things she wanted to ask.

How had Su Bai reproduced the meridian structure she had spent years developing?

How had he tested a cultivation method meant for her inside his own body without damaging himself?

Even by what she had already seen from him, neither question had an obvious answer.

Yet neither was the first one she voiced.

"What about Master?"

Su Bai paused, then smiled faintly.

He had expected her to question what he had just done.

Instead, her thoughts had gone straight to Shen Youran.

"If Martial Aunt Shen cultivated the same method through the same general routes, the completed version should work for her as well."

Su Bai reached for his notebook.

"I’ll write down the adjustments first. After that, we should stop Martial Aunt Shen before she starts changing anything unnecessarily."

Ji Ruyue nodded.

Su Bai had only begun preparing to write when she spoke again.

"Junior Brother Su."

He looked up.

"Thank you."

Her voice remained as calm as always.

Nothing changed on her face, yet after hearing everything she had told Shen Youran about no longer understanding her own emotions, Su Bai found himself paying more attention to those two words than he normally would have.

He smiled.

"You can thank me after Martial Aunt Shen stops experimenting on herself."

Ji Ruyue immediately stood.

Su Bai blinked.

"You’re going back now?"

"Yes."

Her answer came without hesitation.

Su Bai nodded and reached for his notebook.

"I’ll finish writing the completed method and the adjustments. By the time you return, everything should be ready."

Ji Ruyue gave a small nod.

"I understand."

She turned and left Clear Cloud Peak soon afterward.

Su Bai watched her disappear into the distance before lowering his gaze toward the notes in front of him.

For someone who had spent years cultivating the Heartless Sutra, Ji Ruyue had moved remarkably quickly the moment Shen Youran’s safety was involved.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

Perhaps the Heartless Sutra had never made her as heartless as she believed.