Iron Snow Clouds

Chapter 2977 (Two Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy Seven) Moderation

Li Pingrun clearly remembered that he said to his master at that time: "This strange energy is too persistent. Will it not dissipate earlier? The incense has turned to ashes, the person has turned to ashes, what is the meaning of the strange energy lingering around the performer?"

His master said: "Some things are just so persistent. Some persistence in the world does not show a meaning that is easy for people to understand."

He asked the master: "When a person has turned to ashes, will those strange factors surrounding the ashes also be invisible to people?"

The master told him, yes.

He said: "Since they cannot be seen by others, can we just pretend they don't exist?"

The master said: "It doesn't matter if others think they don't exist, they will always be there until the next day."

Li Pingrun asked the master again: "If the person is alive, and the strange energy does not dissipate before the next day, the practitioner must not prepare another stick of incense?"

His master said, "It is definitely useless. Since the strange energy generated by the last stick of incense is still surrounding the practitioner, the practitioner cannot use the Qiumang Box normally through the ritual. There is no other way."

"Will this strange phenomenon not hinder the ritualist from performing the ritual a second time with a handful of incense?" Li Pingrun asked.

His master told him, "Do you see it as an obstacle?"

"If it's not an obstacle, then what is it?" Li Pingrun asked, "If the strange cause hadn't been lingering around the performer, the performer could have found another stick of incense to prepare for the ritual." The master told Li Pingrun, "It is a restriction, but it will make people learn to cherish and control themselves."

Li Pingrun asked his master what to do if he missed the best time for the incense to burn. His master told him that if he missed it, he should wait until the next day to perform the ritual. The master also said: "Knowing that this can only be done once a day, the ritualist will cherish the time when the incense burns to the best time for the ritual and use the Qiumang Box quickly during this period. If you miss it, don't do it again that day. This can also be regarded as the ritualist's way of restraining his own power."

He asked the master: "What if after the first ritual with the incense stick, the person cherished it and learned something by using the Qiumang Box? But the person who performed the ritual wanted to learn something else and wanted to light another stick of incense stick to prepare for the ritual?"

The master replied: "You can't use the Qiumang Box again. This is the limitation, and it is still related to 'moderation'. Being an alchemist is subject to many restrictions. If there were no such restrictions, how terrible the world would be. Have you ever thought about it?"

Li Pingrun thought about it and felt that what his master said made sense, but he still felt a little regretful and expressed his opinion to his master.

The master said to him, "Do you feel regretful about this? You can do the same thing again at midnight the next day. It's just a little later. What's the regret about this?"

"Time is so important. I think time is something that can bring people hope but also regret." Li Pingrun said, "If someone can do something like that twice in a short period of time on the same day to save a life, but fails to do so due to this limitation, wouldn't that cause permanent regret?"

The master just told him: "Yes, there are many permanent regrets in the world..."

(End of this chapter)