Cultivation begins with harvest.

Chapter 246 Three Things

"Good, good, good!" Old Zhou's eyes lit up. "It seems that among the spiritual farmers in Tianheng Plain, your comprehension is actually quite high. You are able to start comprehending the world before you even reach the Qi Refining Perfection stage, which is rare in other halls as well."

"The reason I brought you to Xiantang is actually for three things. First, it's to remove the curse you cast before. Now that you fully accept it, those unnecessary constraints are gone, and you'll feel much lighter. This will be beneficial for your understanding of the world. The disadvantage of divination is that its binding power drops sharply when you leave the area where the spirits and gods under the divination are active. The advantage is that it can detect who is loyal to the sect. Now that you have such a heart, you only need to tell them about the various constraints, and they will obey. Because as long as your trust reaches a certain level, the spirits and gods under the divination can sense this will, especially deep within the sect. If you change your mind, it's like lighting a torch in the dark."

"What if I leave the sect? Without the constraints of the previous curse, won't it be even harder to gain the trust of my fellow disciples?" Chen Guang nodded and asked again.

"If you leave with outer disciples or ordinary deacons, and you don't trust them, then bind them with a high-level spiritual contract. If you come here with inner disciples, and you have any agreements to bind them with, just burn incense and tell the spirits. Leaving the sect will not make it effective, but as long as you return to the sect, whether you have violated the oath you made before the spirits, you will immediately feel it. This is the art of [seeking divine intervention], which you will have to learn later. It's quite simple, because the one who performs the spell is in the Hall of Virtue."

The proverb "Heaven is watching what people do" originates from divination. However, this is also a drawback of divination: once outside the sect, the results are not immediately apparent. Even if one seeks to investigate afterward, as long as one deliberately avoids the sect, only a ritual performed by the ancestral hall can bring results; otherwise, it is difficult to trace the source.

Old Zhou revealed some secrets of divination that Chen Guang had never heard of before, causing Chen Guang to ponder for a long time: "But wouldn't that remove the constraints?"

"Restraint? Any disciple who is restrained will immediately lose a lot of their sense of belonging to the sect. The difference between being more relaxed and more restrictive is not that big. But if there is no restraint, there will always be those who are audacious, commit crimes against the public, and take their anger out on others. The sect ultimately chose divination because it has a benevolent side and is influenced by the will of the people. But as long as they have paid homage to the founder, it will be easy to investigate them in the future. It is a kind of bottom line."

"Influenced by the will of the masses?"

"Indeed, some of the beliefs of cultivators who transform into ghosts and gods continue after death. The sect's current lenient divination is the result of generations of people correcting these beliefs with their lives. This is the shortcoming of divination. Even though they are devoted to the sect, their specific choices are different: some will do anything to expand, while others would rather cherish their own knowledge and live alone than accept ordinary disciples."

Some require that joining the sect means dedicating everything and wholeheartedly pledging allegiance to it. While the principle of benevolence and impartiality sounds simple, most disciples highly accepted by divination possess a fanatical and extreme side. This is the biggest drawback of divination—the sect's will can be corrupted by the will of the masses. Not all popular choices are the best outcomes; choice and acceptance are two different things. I don't know your thoughts, but I only hope that the benevolent and enlightened will of the spirits can be maintained.

What Elder Zhou said had a huge impact on Chen Guang. He even began to doubt himself, wondering if he had some extreme thoughts in order to choose to follow the sect.

As if in casual conversation, Mr. Zhou explained, "After all, nothing is perfect. Spiritual plants, alchemists, spiritual healers..."

Why did the arts of gluttony and sorcery separate, and why were they originally one? Just like the separation and reunification of these arts, with the changes in cognition and the times, the rules that life hopes for are constantly changing. Divination can adapt to the changes of the times and can serve as a bottom line.

"Among many skills, it is the one that best fits the founding principle of the Qingheng Sect. It allows people of the same kind to let down their guard within the sect and be free from constraints. It also allows fellow disciples who adventure together to trust each other. However, even so, there will still be some instances of deceiving fellow disciples. As long as it is not too extreme, the will of the ghosts and gods will not lose its recognition. After all, individuals and sects are related yet independent. It is unknown how many years it will take for this part of the will of the ghosts and gods to be corrected. The practice of rewarding minor merits to show talent is only a recent phenomenon."

After pondering silently for a long time, Chen Guangcai asked, "What is the second thing?"

"I will pass on to you the Purple Qi Rising Sun Technique."

Chen Guang wasn't too surprised. There had been some discussions about it when he first practiced the "Purple Qi Rising to Brightness Technique," and it had also been brought up when he accepted the Five Agreements of the Curse-Subduing Ceremony. Now it was being brought up again: "Could these be two different techniques?"

Old Zhou shook his head: "Yes and no."

Old Zhou took a sip of tea before saying, "The Purple Qi Facing the Sun Technique can be seamlessly transformed into the Purple Qi Facing the Sun Technique. The difference is that the Purple Qi Facing the Sun Technique can only be cultivated to the point of Qi Refining Perfection. Moreover, it has a fatal flaw that only the sect leader knows the specifics of. Although the sect strictly prohibits the private transmission of techniques and the resale of spiritual items within the sect, people still break the rules every year."

"To put it bluntly, the Purple Qi Facing the Sun Technique and the items in the Sutra Repository in Xingfeng Market can be leaked. Since they can be leaked, the Purple Qi Facing the Sun Technique, as the fundamental method of Purple Spirit Peak, will have some potential risks of being exploited by others. Even if there is a restriction that requires the Purple Qi of Dawn during cultivation, it is not a big deal. That's why there is a rule of having two versions of this technique. Although they can be switched seamlessly and all the manifestations are the same, they are already two different techniques. At the same time, the rules of the market are comprehensive. The Punishment Hall, the Road Hall, and the Guanglin Hall will also investigate these matters to curb any malicious intent to spread them. It only occasionally spreads within a very small range. Now that you have entered the inner sect so early, it would be better to switch to this technique as soon as possible."

"The Purple Qi Rising Sun Technique has seven volumes in total. The odd-numbered volumes contain specific cultivation methods, while the even-numbered volumes contain advancement methods. When you reach the Qi Refining stage, you will receive the cultivation methods for the first and second volumes. Once you reach the Foundation Establishment stage, you will naturally receive the methods for the third and fourth volumes."

Seven volumes?

Then the "Purple Qi Rising Sun Technique" is a technique that directly targets the Nascent Soul stage.

Chen Guang couldn't wait any longer: "The third thing?"

"The third thing is to pay homage to the Ancestral Master. The Ancestral Master will release you from your shackles and impart the fundamental teachings to you. Let's go, if you're willing." Old Zhou stood up, and Chen Guang stood up without hesitation. Only then did Old Zhou smile and lead Chen Guang away from the small courtyard, heading towards a corner of the Hall of Virtue.

After turning left and right for an unknown amount of time, the road gradually widened and became a road paved with bronze flooring, carved with exotic beasts and rare creatures. On both sides of the road were orderly arranged spiritual trees of the five elements, their spiritual energy surging, yet without any sense of oppression. This surging spiritual energy naturally transformed into a solemn atmosphere that put people at ease.

Red bricks and black tiles, a simple hall appears at the end of the road, behind which is a vast starry sky, whose colors seem to remain unchanged regardless of day or night.

The hall doors were wide open, and in another corner, there was only an elderly disciple of the Xiantang sweeping the floor. When he saw Chen Guang, he looked up and gazed at him gently and for a long time. Chen Guang had a feeling that this might be a sweeping monk or something similar. In such a place, it seemed quite reasonable for a sweeping monk to exist.

Old Zhou said softly, "That's Senior Brother Duanmu De. It's very rare for them to have six generations of disciples in the Sage Hall. You should know that sacrificing oneself is the easiest thing to fall into obsession. Since the divination, the assessment of descendants who have been disciples of the Sage Hall for three consecutive generations has been almost strict. If they can still be highly recognized by the will of the gods, then they are basically biased and obsessed, which will pollute the will of the gods. To be able to enter the Sage Hall for six generations is to be extremely talented and precocious, and also reasonable and gentle. Everyone admires him. He knows how to sacrifice and maintain the sect, yet he can still maintain a clear and rational mind. How rare is that?"

"However, during his battle with the Black Cultivator, his soul was damaged, and he died on the spot. The sect used the [Heavenly Soul Mulberry] to save him, but because of this, his soul was incomplete, and he lost the possibility of sacrificing himself to become a ghost god, and he lost the possibility of continuing to cultivate. However, he did not have any thoughts of suicide, so the sect has been prolonging his life. Now, at the age of 163, he chose to clean the ancestral hall here, choosing to be closer to young people with outstanding talents. Ordinary disciples still have to be bound to the True One and do not have the opportunity to come here. The fact that you have the opportunity to worship the ancestral master shows that your potential and the degree of recognition are very high."

Chen Guang was shocked and took a closer look at the old man named Duanmu De.

The sect extended his life, and the Heavenly Soul Mulberry used was a renowned third-tier spiritual wood, capable of bringing the dead back to life, which would amaze even cultivators.

A broken soul is a sign that one's will may be confused. It is only natural that such a will cannot be devoted to the gods and spirits. Chen Guang could probably guess what a blow it would be for these cultivators of the Shidai Xiantang to be unable to dedicate themselves to the gods and spirits. Yet this old man was still working here with great vitality.

"There's no need for such solemnity. Our ancestor has long since passed away. He can't feel any of your respect right now. Just keep the thought in your heart. For the dead, your respect is less useful than helping the living. Come, kneel down, kowtow, and light some incense." Old Zhou then led Chen Guang into the hall. The hall wasn't particularly bright, just enough light to see clearly inside. It wasn't empty or crowded, containing only statues, a table, a futon, and an incense burner.

Chen Guang looked over and saw a bronze statue of a man with a comb on his head, a square face and a worried expression. He was sitting upright and there was nothing special about it. Even the statue itself seemed to be made of simple bronze, which surprised Chen Guang.

Is this the patriarch?

Chen Guang naturally knelt on the prayer mat in front of the bronze statue as instructed by Elder Zhou. After kowtowing three times, he took the three lit incense sticks that Elder Zhou took directly from his storage artifact and placed them in the incense burner. He looked at Elder Zhou somewhat blankly, but Elder Zhou had already left the main hall first. Chen Guang could only look around once and then follow. Just as he stepped out of the main hall, it seemed as if a large chime was ringing in his mind. With a "ding," the echo in his mind made Chen Guang unable to help but turn around and look.

A clear light emanated from the statue, descending from the sky and enveloping Chen Guang. In that instant, Chen Guang felt no more constraints and became ethereal.

As the clear light dissipated, the sound of the great chime deepened, turning into a "dong" sound with a more pronounced echo. Surprisingly, many chaotic words naturally appeared in my mind, merging into one under the sound of the great chime, forming two volumes.

When Chen Guang looked back at the outside of the hall, the large chime had been replaced with a heavy one. With a "clang," Chen Guang felt as if he hadn't felt anything, yet he also felt as if he had flown through the entire Qingheng Sect in an instant. But it was too brief, like an illusion. When he came to his senses, he had already followed Elder Zhou out of the hall.

Old Zhou handed over two seeds: "Here, as promised, you are now an inner disciple."