Subsequently, it was silence. The two of them were strangers. Naturally, they did not have much to say. In addition, the bearded man had kept the wine.
The rain stopped and bits of sun rays pierced through the gaps between the bamboo leaves. There was also the refreshing smell of the grass.
The invisible shield was then gone. Shen Lian felt the chilly and refreshing air in his lungs, just as his heart toward Dao.
Two pieces of bamboo leaves fell onto the table. Shen Lian paid attention to the patterns. There were no rules on how they were grown, but each line was clearly separated from each other. He laughed and posed the question, “Do you think there’re two identical bamboo leaves?”
“There shouldn’t be,” the bearded man answered.
“How about talisman?” Shen Lian followed up with another question.
The bearded man did not answer, but Shen Lian already knew the answer.
Shen Lian stood up and pulled out his wooden sword. He walked to a piece of empty land and allowed the spiritual energy from his body to flow and be pumped into his sword. It was as if he had an additional eye which could observe the beauty of Qi in the world. He took a spike, and the Qi surrounding him gathered on the wooden sword. Without any notice, a piece of rain cloud poured rain onto the ground. The new bamboo shoots grew even taller and new leaves sprouted.
His spike matched the path of the bearded man’s gesture in terms of essence. The bearded man had better skills as he was able to turn wind into rain and provide nutrients to living things. Fundamentally, it was due to how he was able to concentrate the essential Qi.
There were no two bamboo leaves that were identical, similarly for spells. However, people would be able to recognize bamboo leaf as they saw one. Even though they could differ by patterns, they were still the same type of leaves.
The rune’s spell was not an item, but an expression. It allowed the Qi in the world to understand one’s expression.
It was impossible for one to memorize ‘The First Level of Runes’ not because it was complicated, but it was because the author, Dong Lingzi, mentioned to the juniors about how it was more important to ‘understand the essence and to forget its shape’.
The book began with how the Book of Tian explained that it was a form of Dao essence, and how The Book of Dragon and Phoenix could help even Buddha to understand its meaning. It was not to mention how powerful the two books were but to explain how a rune’s fundamental was an expression.
The wooden sword was the brush and the power of soul and spirit was the ink. As one came to understand the essence of rune, one could enter the door of runes.
For the real powerful Dao of talisman or Dao spells, they were formed by these fundamentals of runes.
It was a similar case with ‘words’ – ‘the moment it falls into the hands of a great poet, it becomes an exceptional excerpt’.
Zhang Ruoxu wanted him to learn the Dao of talisman, not because he wanted him to become a talisman master, but for him to understand that there lied the method to communicate with the world.
Such cultivation method was only suitable for him then, as his spiritual energy was much more powerful than other cultivators at his level. He was also much more sensitive to the world’s Qi and the various energy.
If the bearded man did not observe this with his own eyes, he would not be able to believe that there was someone like him who could gain entry to the door of runes as fast as this.
It had to be understood that for an average person to understand the theory, from understanding the essence of runes to communicating with Qi in the world, it would require a lot of effort just to be familiarised with the concept.
Shen Lian did not go through that hardship but in fact, he learned it like a child who was able to make poems upon recognizing fresh words.
It was not pure talent anymore, it was something else, something ‘evil’.
For Shen Lian to be able to do something this unimaginable, it was somehow unpredicted but acceptable.
Without the best method to train his mental state, his spirit would not be as powerful as this. It would also be impossible for him to learn Being and Non-Being of Sword Aura and unintentionally turned his sandalwood sword into an instrument which was perfect for soul-guiding.
All of the above had to be attributed to The Mastery of Senses.
Others could not understand, but Shen Lian was clearly aware and it made him even more curious about his father who was a mere human.
With this revelation, he could not wait but to visit Taiwei pavilion and read about the real understanding to runes and the runes contained in that book again.
He smiled at the bearded man and said, “Thank you very much.”
He turned around and stepped on his trip to somewhere far away.
The bearded man mumbled to himself, “This is totally out of the world.”
Even among the extremely talented people he met, from the past handlers of Qing Xuan, to the teacher who was a master at making runes, there was no such record that someone gained entry so soon.
In addition, he did not just follow and imitate step by step. Instead, he gained his own understanding.
…
This time around when he entered Taiwei Pavilion, he studied assiduously for the next half a year. He did not even attend the bimonthly meeting with the elders.
He closed down his Daoist academy and set up a ‘do not disturb’ spiritual restriction. The essential Qi from the outside world slowly flew into Shen Lian’s quiet room. In the beginning, it was just a cloud of indistinguishable gas with no obvious colors. However, as Shen Lian used his wooden sword for soul-guiding, the slight mist formed by the sword path and Qi started to distinguish themselves into eight colors. Each of them represents eight energies, which are, sky, earth, mountain, swamp, water, fire, wind, and lightning.
The eight energies intertwined with each other and interacted with the outside world. With each uprising, the other countered. The cycle repeated again and again, coming in and out of Shen Lian’s body.
The acupuncture points in a human body were extremely complicated, even with the practice of Xuanji would not be able to understand them all. Shen Lian just repeatedly pumped Qi into every acupuncture point that he came to discover. He was not paying attention to whether he caught the Dead or Alive Point.
What he was doing was extremely plain, but the nature of cultivation was too, was extremely plain.
The different Qi in heaven and earth had different personalities. There were some that were particularly ingenious, some steadfast, some nimble, and some sturdy… Runes were his media to communicate with the world and his spirit was apparently friendly with such Qi.
He could feel that he was becoming more and more powerful each day, but it was not something that could be described by the nine stages of cultivation.
The only constant was that the deity statue holding a Ruyi bottle, it seemed unchanged. It was mysterious as usual.
It was as if the higher his cultivation experience, the more mysterious the statue of the innate god became. It was similar to the path of truth, the more you know, the less you understand.
Shen Lian enjoyed days like this. Perhaps for others, it was a form of suffering. They would feel lonely under such seclusion, but Shen Lian did not feel anything.
For him, socializing was not essential. If not because of the fact that one could never be fully cultivated merely through seclusion, Shen Lian perhaps would continue this for life.
The day had come when Shen Lian felt that his body was full of inner Qi. The inner Qi was flowing in his body like streams of rivers. It flowed so smoothly, there was no sign of blockage.
Cultivation was said to be ‘promoting circulation’. The most crucial part to promote the circulation of the eight vessels, while the most important among them all was the Conception and Governor Vessels.
As he deepened his cultivation experience, the minor branches of the main vessels unblocked. By the time he reached Huandan stage, all his vessels were cleared. Every motion he made was full of power.
Through the training at River of Spirits, his Qi was back to a focused state. He was not urgent in trying to break through the Dead or Alive point. At the same time, he was well familiar with the talisman Dao. Ever since he started his Qi training, it went on for half a year. The energy in the vessels that flowed freely had been accumulating. It was as if he had a sudden realization, then could not help but roared.