Chapter 33: A New Path

Feelings could not be bought.

Gu Yuan had once firmly held that belief. Yet, looking at the items in front of him, especially the Treasure Flame that had been carefully prepared for him, he couldn’t deny that the twins had somehow bought their way into his good graces.

After all, he simply couldn’t find it in himself to remain as dissatisfied with them as he had been before.

"No, it’s not about the material value. It’s about the thought and sincerity behind them," he muttered to himself.

Though, thinking about the twins, perhaps they hadn’t put quite as much thought into preparing these things as he imagined. Regardless, Gu Yuan was still happy.

In this cultivation world, where most people cared only about themselves, he had received gifts that their owners would normally be reluctant to part with.

Anyway, he had already selected the things he needed. Actually making use of them, whether by cultivating the techniques or refining the treasures, would take time.

The Treasure Flame was still beyond his current ability to refine and control, so Gu Yuan stored it along with the other items, leaving only two things in front of him.

A jade bottle containing a single pill, and a cultivation technique.

The pill was clearly extraordinary, but Gu Yuan had no idea what its effects were.

Should he go to the Scripture Pavilion and search for information about it? Or should he dig through the many information slips already inside his storage treasures in hopes of finding an explanation?

Both options were possible.

But in the end, Gu Yuan decided to do neither.

The pill was clearly beneficial, after all.

With that thought, he uncorked the jade bottle, took out the sole pill inside, and swallowed it.

Immediately, Gu Yuan focused his mind, prepared to begin cultivating at any moment if the pill turned out to be something related to his cultivation base.

But, just as he had expected, it wasn’t.

Instead, Gu Yuan felt himself enter a profound state.

For a moment, it was as though Heaven and Earth had merged within his mind, while the Great Dao seemed closer to him than ever before. His consciousness drifted within that mysterious state, completely immersed in it, while deep within his body, something slowly began to take shape.

There was no pain.

Only comfort, peace, and tranquility.

Gu Yuan had no idea what was happening, but there was no sense of danger in the sensation either. Rather than resist it, he completely entrusted himself to the strange feeling and allowed it to continue.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

When he finally snapped out of that profound state, Gu Yuan remained silent for a moment, his mind still somewhat immersed in what he had experienced.

Then, almost instinctively, he understood what had formed within him.

He had gained a special ability.

[Heart of Comprehension]

From the limited information he knew, Gu Yuan understood that special abilities could only come into existence under extraordinary circumstances. Sometimes they were born from a fortuitous encounter, while at other times, a cultivator would gain one after entering a profound state of enlightenment. They could not be deliberately created, no matter how much effort a cultivator put into it.

Yet this pill had actually helped him form one.

Such a thing was unheard of to Gu Yuan.

Just how precious was this pill?

Gu Yuan pondered over it for a while, still finding it difficult to believe what had just happened.

Heart of Comprehension, as its name suggested, this was a special ability related to comprehension. Through it, Gu Yuan could enter a strange state in which his mind became exceptionally clear and his consciousness extraordinarily receptive to the principles of whatever he was attempting to comprehend.

His mind had already improved greatly, especially after the sacred ceremony he underwent with the twins, and as a result, comprehension was the area he felt least lacking in. Now, with this special ability added on top of that, it was like gaining wings, an enhancement that elevated his strengths even further.

Gu Yuan was quite pleased with his new ability, but he quickly changed gears and turned his attention toward the crystal slip in his hand, which contained a cultivation technique.

It was a Mid Grade Earth Rank cultivation technique related to Metal Qi, the Golden Mountain Scripture.

It felt as though it had only been yesterday that he was worrying about finding a cultivation technique to replace the basic one he had received from the sect.

Yet now, he was changing his cultivation technique once again.

From the Spirit Rank Hundred Tempering Metal Scripture he had been cultivating to the Earth Rank Golden Mountain Scripture.

Are the twins actually my lucky stars?

Gu Yuan couldn’t help but wonder.

Given his current situation, if everything had been left to him, he probably would have spent a very long time before he could obtain a cultivation technique of this level.

With his new technique right in front of him, Gu Yuan couldn’t contain his excitement. He immediately activated his newly gained special ability and began studying the Golden Mountain Scripture.

The cultivation technique was far more complex than anything he had studied before. Under normal circumstances, gaining a basic understanding of it would have taken him a considerable amount of time.

Yet, with the Heart of Comprehension allowing his consciousness to become extraordinarily receptive, Gu Yuan found himself gaining a small understanding of the technique after only half an incense stick of time.

The duration of the special ability quickly ended, forcing him to continue comprehending the technique on his own. But the foundation he had established during that brief period was enough to make the rest far easier.

He continued studying the technique without stopping, and one week later, he had finally gained enough understanding to begin cultivating the Golden Mountain Scripture.

Unlike the Hundred Tempering Metal Scripture, which placed greater emphasis on strengthening and tempering the body, the Golden Mountain Scripture placed its greatest focus on the soul.

Even while he was still in the Foundation Establishment Realm and could not yet truly sense his soul, the technique was already quietly laying the groundwork for higher realms.

According to the Golden Mountain Scripture, as his cultivation deepened, a golden mountain would eventually be condensed and settled upon his soul.

Through this process, the Metal Qi he cultivated would become exceptionally pure and dense, granting his attacks a sharpness and penetrative power that his previous technique could not match.

Through studying this Earth-rank cultivation technique, Gu Yuan also gained a clearer understanding of the cultivation realms beyond what he had previously known.

Before, he had only known about the first four realms: Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Spiritual Core.

Now, he learned that beyond the Spiritual Core Realm were the Embryo Realm, Void Realm, and Unity Realm.

The Golden Mountain Scripture could actually support his cultivation all the way to the Unity Realm.

Gu Yuan couldn’t help but feel excited as he imagined what a cultivator at such a realm would be capable of. Even from the descriptions within the technique, it was obvious that the difference between his current strength and those higher realms was enormous.

Still, there was no point in thinking about something so far away.

For now, his goal remained unchanged.

He needed to break through as quickly as possible, preferably reaching the Golden Core Realm before the ten-year deadline for his mandatory mission arrived.

With that thought, Gu Yuan finally concentrated on cultivating.

The process was similar to what he had experienced before, except that he now needed to gradually convert the Metal Qi he had cultivated through the Hundred Tempering Metal Scripture into the Metal Qi of the Golden Mountain Scripture.

It was a tedious process, but Gu Yuan went through it happily.

After all, he was replacing a Spirit Rank cultivation technique with an Earth Rank one.

There was little reason for him to complain.

Yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, another thought quietly lingered.

The twins wouldn’t suddenly give me a Heaven Rank cultivation technique tomorrow... right?