Chapter 467 - 212: Qinghe

Chapter 467: Chapter 212: Qinghe

"Take the Cyan Wood Nature for another example. There’s the ’Yimu Tongxuan Longevity Observation’... You visualize a towering ancient tree, its roots anchored in the Nine Netherworld, its leaves catching sweet dew, in a state of endless life. Sounds pretty good, right? This method can greatly nourish the Divine Soul, extend one’s lifespan, and fill the Divine Sense with vitality and resilience."

"But if you excessively pursue the mental realm of ’longevity’ and ’endless life,’ the Cultivator might gradually become like an ancient tree. Their temperament trends toward extreme conservatism and slowness, their emotions slowly ossifying until they lose all ambition and vibrant feelings. They might even develop a cold-hearted mentality that ’all things are but straw dogs, only longevity is eternal’... To perpetuate their own ’vitality,’ they might commit certain acts that violate common ethics... Worse still, their Divine Sense could completely assimilate with the visualized ancient tree, falling into a plant-like slumber from which they can never awaken."

"Then there’s the Geng Metal Visualization... You visualize the ’White Tiger Seven Slaughters Sky-splitting Map.’ Geng Metal governs slaughter, making your Divine Sense incomparably sharp, your thoughts like blades, able to kill with a single glance... But if you go too deep in your contemplation, your mind will be filled with nothing but killing, and you’ll become a cold-blooded butcher..."

"Or contemplating the Profound Water’s ’Northern Nether Returning Ruins Infinite Observation’... Your Divine Sense becomes as vast as the ocean, able to submerge others in an Illusion Realm with a single thought, which is terrifyingly powerful... But in the end, you might become immersed in the mental realm of ’returning to infinite ruin,’ slowly being assimilated and losing yourself. You might even actively seek the path of ’returning to ruin,’ causing your spirit to sink into eternal damnation..."

Senior Sister Wen’s voice was gentle as she spoke, but her words gave Qin Fang his first clear understanding of the dangers of this path of Divine Sense...

’...Isn’t this way too dangerous?’

’And this... is just normal cultivation? It can cause all these kinds of psychological problems?’

’Then what if you injure your Divine Sense while Breaking Through...’

’...Wouldn’t that be a total disaster?’

Qin Fang sucked in a cold breath.

He finally understood why the Celestial Martial Lineage was in such decline!

’This Divine Sense cultivation sounds like a dead end. The further you go, the more dangerous it gets?’

"But while cultivation in the Celestial Martial Lineage is difficult and very dangerous, it specializes in Divine Sense. Ordinary Martial Artists have fragile Divine Souls and can only reach the ’Breaking the Divine Gate’ level of contemplation at best. This is why practitioners of the Celestial Martial Lineage can often defeat stronger enemies and are incredibly hard to defend against... Hence, those who master the Spiritual Sense Leaf Skill can truly be called the strongest in their realm."

"And these are just ordinary Spiritual Sense Cultivation Methods... The Nine Tribulations God Refining Chapter is even more powerful. But by the same token, the dangers it might contain are also far greater."

"Senior Brother Yun was also a man of astonishing talent back in the day, with an exceptional gift for the path of Divine Sense... But during a Breaking Realm attempt over a decade ago, he still injured his Divine Soul... The fact that he’s only forgetful now is actually a good outcome. If he had gone mad, unable to distinguish friend from foe... that would have been a much greater disaster."

"If Senior Brother Yun were to truly go mad... I estimate that even the Sect Leader would find it very difficult to subdue him."

Qin Fang was shocked, his eyes widening. "Even the Sect Leader would find it difficult?"

Wen Suxin looked at him and said calmly, "Otherwise, why do you think Senior Brother Yun is able to serve as the Deputy Hall Master of the Celestial Martial Lineage? And during the incident with the Dao Body back then... even Master Li was severely injured, yet Senior Brother Yun was fine?"

Qin Fang was utterly stunned. He swallowed and asked in a low voice, "Senior Sister, what’s Senior Brother Yun’s... Cultivation now?"

"His Cultivation isn’t high, only the Fifth Realm. But the strength of his Divine Sense... is unmatched in our Sect."

Her four-word assessment made Qin Fang’s eyes go wide.

’...The Fifth Realm, yet his Divine Sense is unmatched in the entire Sect?’

’...This Spiritual Sense Leaf Skill...’

’Is it really that terrifying?’

A gleam appeared in his eyes.

Senior Sister Wen noticed his expression, and her brow furrowed. She immediately warned him, "Don’t you get any funny ideas. I told you all this to make you understand how dangerous Divine Sense cultivation is! Not to tell you how strong the Spiritual Sense Leaf Skill is!"

"Your Talent is outstanding. As long as you cultivate step-by-step, you’ll surely reach great heights... The Spiritual Sense Leaf Skill is too extreme. That’s not a path you should take!"

"Er..."

Seeing how serious, even severe, his Senior Sister was, Qin Fang gave an awkward smile. "I never said I wanted to cultivate it..."

Senior Sister Wen stared at him intently, saying nothing.

Qin Fang gradually started to feel a bit guilty, especially after seeing the unconcealed worry in his Senior Sister’s eyes. He surrendered, "Alright, alright, I get it, Senior Sister. I promise you, I will never cultivate it..."

Senior Sister Wen watched him seriously for a long moment before letting out a soft sigh. "I hope you mean that..."

"Of course I mean it... Okay, Senior Sister, we still have a lot of work to do. Let’s not talk about this anymore."

Qin Fang quickly changed the subject.

Seeing Qin Fang act like this, Senior Sister Wen didn’t know what else to say. She could only sigh softly and then start handling matters with him.

Having just started their rotation, they needed to familiarize themselves with everything first.

The two of them got busy.

’...Qin Fang could have been a hands-off boss, but he felt it would be a bit of a jerk move to leave his Senior Sister here to handle everything alone, so he stayed to accompany her.’

「Three days later.」

’Forget it. I’ll just let Senior Sister handle this. I’m really not cut out for this kind of work...’

Qin Fang surrendered.

As the new Sacrificial Hall Chief Steward, starting from the second day, a steady stream of officials from various Government Offices came to cozy up to him.

Although Qin Fang had brought Qian Ruhai in to handle things right away, some of the officials were too high-ranking. Since the relationship between the Sect and the Court was at stake, Qin Fang couldn’t afford to be neglectful and had to personally receive them.

His head was about to explode these past few days!

He spent his days listening to endless praise—"Steward Qin is so young and promising, his aptitude is unparalleled," or "Steward Qin is truly the Sect’s Qilin Child, a future pillar of the institution"—and enduring people who beat around the bush to ask about the Sect’s plans, tried to forge connections, or even subtly mentioned their unmarried female relatives...