Chapter 27: Orb of Will
Snowflakes fluttered about, turning everything to white.
During his first winter since arriving at the Transient Light Cave, Miao Yi finally entered the Transient Light Grand Hall again. This time around, everyone was in attendance and he could finally get to know all the members of the Transient Light Cave in one sitting.
The reason for their attendance was because the power of will gathered from Transient Light City had been handed over to them. They came here to collect their own share of ‘provisions’. Those who were in closed door seclusion training also came out and rushed here because of this.
The reason why everyone agreed to be ruled over was all for this day, which only happened once a year.
Cave Master Yuan Zhengkun reported to everyone regarding this year’s harvest; it consisted of about a hundred Orbs of Will which were gathered from an estimated one hundred thousand people.
Among 80% of the collected orbs were required to be turned over to the higher levels and the cave could only retain the remaining 20%, which left about twenty Orbs of Will.
Miao Yi had heard about it from Yan Xiu earlier on that among the Orbs of Will harvested every year, with the exception of the 20% which would be kept for the cave, the other 80% would be broken down further; 10% were to be turned over to the Mountain Chieftain, 10% to the Manor Head, 10% to the Hall Liege, 10% to the Palace Lord and another 10% to the Overlord. The remaining 30% would be entirely handed over to the Immortal Sage, Mu Fanjun.
The other domains of the five sages operated in a similar manner. Anyone who dared to break the rules or get caught attempting to pocket it for themselves, would be immediately sentenced to an unsightly death as an example to others, basically killing one to warn a hundred.
All in all, no matter who tried to claim whoever’s domain, the Orbs of Will to be handed over must not have a reduction in amount.
The 20% share kept by the cave, were about twenty in total. Cao Dingfeng and the three cultivators who were at White Lotus Third Grade, were Cave Master Yuan Zhengkun’s capable right-hand men so each of them received two orbs. The remaining seven, inclusive of Miao Yi, were only given one each.
The others with a cultivation base at White Lotus Second Grade couldn't say anything about it. Miao Yi didn't have anything to say, too. However, both Yan Xiu and Luo Zhen still felt slightly wronged since both of them also had a cultivation base at White Lotus Third Grade. But alas, nobody cared about the injustice they received, so they could only hold it in.
The remaining ten orbs belonged to Cave Master Yuan Zhengkun, but according toYan Xiu, the Cave Master would normally not keep everything to himself, and would leave a few orbs to be given as rewards to others, such as those who made great achievements. It’s important for those who perform a meritorious service to be rewarded. Otherwise, nobody would be willing to work hard in handling their assigned affairs.
The majority were happy to receive the ‘provisions’, except for Luo Zhen who couldn’t bring herself to smile. One could tell by looking at her that she was trying to stifle her anger, apparently finding the amount received to be too little.
After returning to his cultivation residence, Miao Yi sat properly in a lotus position while staring intently at the Orb of Will between his fingers, which was roughly about the same size as a granule. It was sparkling and translucent, emitting an indistinct white glow.
This was his first time seeing what an Orb of Will looked like. According to Yan Xiu, this granule-sized Orb of Will was a crystallized form of the power of will gathered from a thousand followers in one year.
An Orb of Will gathered from ten thousand people in a year would be around the size of a pearl while an Orb of Will gathered from a hundred thousand people in a year would be around the size of a quail egg. Under normal circumstances, the harvested Orb of Will’s maximum size would only be around the size of a quail egg, and it wouldn't get any bigger than that.
Miao Yi was anxious to try out the effects of the Orb of Will he’d spent ages longing for. He opened his mouth and placed it inside, performing his Arts to catalyze it.
Once refined, Miao Yi immediately experienced the power of the seven emotions and six desires contained within the Orb of Will. These were the distracting thoughts belonging to more than thousands of people—joy, anger, grief, fear, love, hate, desire along with other negative feelings. Their impact on him almost shocked him till he lost his guard on his mind.
Earlier, he had already asked Yan Xiu regarding the refining method, so he immediately applied his Arts to disperse the onslaught of distracting thoughts, stripping out the most cordial power of will before refining it for his own use. This was so he could utilize the gathered power of will united from the forces to call upon the Spiritual Qi among the heavens and earth.
At that instant, he immediately sensed the required Spiritual Qi being gradually filtered from the air into his body. The Spiritual Qi began to collectively gather towards him, eventually absorbed like a trickle of water, making the entire process considerably faster than usual.
Being able to feel the prowess of the Orb of Will filled Miao Yi with utter excitement. It was no wonder why cultivators in the world would want to get their hands on these. It really was too miraculous!
Huh!
To Miao Yi’s surprise, during the process of refining the Orb of Will, he discovered a strange phenomenon. The ‘Fiery Star Technique’ cultivation method he was cultivating actually had the ability to directly burn away the distracting thoughts of the seven emotions and six desires possessed by tens of thousands of living beings. It was far more efficient when compared to Yan Xiu’s teachings to gradually strip and expel them out.
Afraid that it was only a figment of his imagination, he exploited the two methods to compare them, once again confirming the Fiery Star Technique’s effectiveness.
Speedily putting a stop to his Arts, Miao Yi spat out the Orb of Will he kept in his mouth onto the palm of his hand. He wanted to ask Yan Xiu about it so he could get to the bottom of things—exactly what was going on here?
At that exact moment, the dark green bead he wore around his neck flashed a faint glow.
Miao Yi halted in his steps, suddenly remembering his time back at the island, when Lao Bai had specially explained to him over and over again.
First, that his cultivation method must not be leaked. Second, if he were to discover that the Fiery Star Technique had some strange effect on the power of will, then he must not ever let the cat out of the bag.
Lao Bai mentioned that the Great Immortal he once served had mistakenly leaked out the information, and was forced to live the remainder of his days on an island. It was as though someone wanted to force the Great Immortal to hand over the cultivation method he was cultivating. As for their reasons to do so, Lao Bai wasn’t sure of the answer.
Miao Yi’s heart beat wildly for a moment, faintly coming to the realization as to why there were people who wanted to force the Great Immortal to hand over his cultivation method.
According to Yan Xiu’s theory, on the basis of Miao Yi’s cultivation base, if he wanted to refine this granule-sized orb, a year was required. But if it were calculated based on the speed he used to directly burn away the seven emotions and six desires, he wouldn’t need that long of a time.
Which also meant that as long as Miao Yi had enough Orbs of Will to refine, then with his own cultivation method and technique, he could increase his cultivation base much faster and further than anyone else...
Overwhelming feelings of excitement were mixed with the taint of uncertainty; he would need to move one step closer to test and confirm it...
Three months later, the snow in the mountain forest had already melted away, while the Orb of Will in Miao Yi’s mouth had also been completely consumed until nothing remained.
It didn’t require a year like what Yan Xiu had informed him, as it only took him three months. Not only that, he had done it while caring for the dragon steeds every few days.
His own cultivation base had swiftly enhanced to a considerable degree; a granule-sized Orb of Will had unexpectedly saved him five years of normal cultivation.
Back then Lao Bai told Miao Yi that he would require twenty years to advance to White Lotus Second Grade. Up until now, he’d been cultivating for about five or six years. His time had now been cut short by five years, which meant that he would need at most ten years to break through to the second grade of White Lotus. In terms of Orbs of Will, he only required two more.
Miao Yi’s blood boiled with indignation. If he possessed two more orbs then he would only need six more months to advance to a cultivation base at White Lotus Second Grade.
After the initial excitement, he calmed himself down as he realized that he’d been thinking too much. One year would only grant him one Orb of Will and a mere two years were needed for him to obtain the desired two. The time spent waiting for the orbs would have offset the wonders of his cultivation method, causing it to be no different than the two years needed to cultivate according to Yan Xiu...
At that instant when Miao Yi was at a loss on how to get more Orbs of Will, Li Xin and Sun Jiaojiao, the other two cultivators from Transient Light Cave with a cultivation at White Lotus Third Grade, barged into the gates on their dragon steeds. They charged towards the Transient Light Grand Hall and came to a halt, before leaping off the steeds and vanishing into the grand hall.
“Move!” Sun Jiaojiao dispersed the two handmaidens who came up to welcome her.
Both of them looked as though there was some kind of emergency, as they barely gave face to the Cave Master Yuan Zhengkun’s handmaidens. This type of situation wouldn’t normally happen.
Yuan Zhengkun, who was meditating and cultivating at the back of the hall, was alarmed by their arrival, stopped his cultivation and rose from his seat. Seeing the two people who barged in, he had a faint feeling that something unfortunate must have happened.