Chapter 68: Cultivation and Cultivating the Heart
The Mountain Spirit eagerly began learning the Somersault Cloud, while Hua Changxi quickly took out paper and brush from the Shen Nong Cauldron and started copying the 《Nine Revolutions Profound Technique》, 《Great Law Manifestation》, and 《Somersault Cloud》.
The 《Nine Revolutions Profound Technique》 is a Body Refining Cultivation Method that can temper the physical body to the Deity Realm.
《Great Law Manifestation》 is a Divine Ability with a high cultivation threshold, requiring a cultivator to cultivate both body and techniques to perform it.
《Somersault Cloud》 is a spell for Cloud Riding and Fog Driving, considered the easiest to get started with.
After finishing copying, Hua Changxi returned the paper and brush to the Shen Nong Cauldron, then walked to the entrance of the stone cave and looked outside. She wasn’t particularly happy not seeing the white-robed old Daoist.
The Mountain Spirit had said that the old Daoist had been searching for it in Five Finger Mountain for several months, which showed that the old Daoist was determined to obtain the Mountain Spirit.
The stone cave contained the aura of the Monkey King, which the old Daoist dared not easily enter.
If he couldn’t enter the cave to capture them, he could only wait for them to come out.
If she were the old Daoist, she would hide somewhere outside the cave and wait for them to come out on their own, then capture them all in one fell swoop.
Hua Changxi recalled the spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from the old Daoist when he was pursuing her and the Mountain Spirit; they were very strong, and the old Daoist’s realm was definitely a major realm higher than hers.
Facing the old Daoist head-on, she was definitely no match for him.
Hua Changxi turned and went back into the cave, and together with the Mountain Spirit, began learning the Somersault Cloud.
One somersault, one hundred and eight thousand li.
If the speed were truly that fast, then they wouldn’t have to worry about escaping the old Daoist.
“Fairy, your movement is incorrect. You need to jump like this.”
The Mountain Spirit’s body was agile, and it learned the Somersault Cloud with considerable ease.
The Mountain Spirit flipped over, clouds condensed beneath its feet, and then it began to fly all over the stone cave, stepping on the clouds.
Hua Changxi watched with longing, practicing repeatedly, following the patterns and steps carved on the cave wall, and with the Mountain Spirit’s guidance.
After more than half a day, when Hua Changxi leaped into the air, clouds could also quickly condense beneath her feet.
Stepping on the soft clouds and hovering in mid-air, Hua Changxi found the feeling novel, completely different from how she felt when practicing Lightness Skill before.
Martial Artists practicing Lightness Skill, no matter how powerful, always need a fulcrum.
Without a fulcrum, no matter how deep their Internal Energy, they couldn’t float in mid-air like she could now.
It was like jumping off a cliff; a Martial Artist would have to use the cliff wall for leverage to descend. After learning the Somersault Cloud, she could comfortably float down by stepping on clouds.
“Ah~”
Just as Hua Changxi was happy about learning another practical spell, her footing suddenly became unstable.
The originally solid clouds gradually thinned, losing their support. Hua Changxi, standing on them, fell directly from the clouds, landing on the ground with a ‘bang’.
Seeing this, the Mountain Spirit immediately covered its belly and burst into laughter.
Hua Changxi glared at it, looked outside the cave, saw that it had already gotten dark, took out a few Fire Spirit Stones, and lit a circle of fire. Once the stone cave was illuminated, she took out some Dry Rations and Spiritual Fruits from the Shen Nong Cauldron.
Upon seeing the food, the Mountain Spirit immediately scurried over to Hua Changxi.
“You still need to eat?”
“I can eat or not eat. It’s just that absorbing Spiritual Energy is too bland. I still prefer eating Spiritual Fruits and Spiritual Plants from the mountains; they’re sour, sweet, astringent, and bitter, full of flavor.”
“You even know about flavors?”
“Of course I do. I also need to cultivate. The Inheritance I received tells me that cultivation isn’t just about absorbing Spiritual Energy; one must experience the myriad states of the world, witness the changes of the seas and lands, and the rolling of clouds. Otherwise, one’s cultivation will stagnate.”
Hua Changxi watched the Mountain Spirit happily gnawing on a Spiritual Fruit, lost in thought.
After advancing to the Core Formation Realm, she found that solely absorbing Spiritual Energy no longer allowed her cultivation to increase. This situation was quite similar to what the Mountain Spirit had just said.
“Do you eat Demonic Beasts then?”
“I haven’t eaten any yet. I’ve seen dead Demonic Beasts after fights; they were bloody, and I didn’t like it. However, I’ve seen cultivators outside kill Demonic Beasts and roast them. They smelled delicious and looked very appetizing.”
“Fairy, do you want to eat roasted Demonic Beast? If you do, after we get rid of the Scruffy Old Daoist, you can hunt a Demonic Beast and roast it, and I’ll help you eat a little bit, how about it?”
“Not interested. You hunt and you roast the Demonic Beast; I might even grace you by eating a little.”
“But I don’t know how to…”
“If you don’t know how, then don’t eat it.”
“But I want to eat it. Don’t you want to eat it, Fairy?”
“Even if you want to eat it, you must endure.”
“If you want to eat, you should eat. You should satisfy yourself. Fairy, you are too hard on yourself.”
Hua Changxi silently watched the Fatty in front of her, who was trying to provoke her into hunting Demonic Beasts: “You’re quite good at goading people.”
The Mountain Spirit blinked its innocent big eyes: “I’m just telling the truth. Cultivation is about cultivating the heart. If you constantly suppress your heart, how can you cultivate your heart?”
These words stunned Hua Changxi, and she looked at the little Fatty in front of her with surprise: “Did your Inheritance tell you all this?”
The Mountain Spirit nodded: “Yes.”
Hua Changxi stuffed a pile of Spiritual Fruits into the Mountain Spirit, letting it eat, while she also ate and pondered.
Cultivation is about cultivating the heart; one cannot suppress their heart, otherwise, they cannot cultivate their heart. Does this mean one should act according to their desires in all things?
After eating, the Mountain Spirit began to yawn: “Fairy, I’m sleepy.”
Hua Changxi took out a blanket and spread it on the ground: “You sleep on this.”
The Mountain Spirit walked over curiously and lay down. It used to sleep anywhere it found in the mountains; this was the first time it had slept like this.
Hua Changxi took out a smaller blanket and covered its little belly: “Sleep.”
“Fairy, aren’t you going to sleep yet?”
“I’m going to practice the Somersault Cloud for a while longer. We can’t stay in the stone cave forever. Once we learn the Somersault Cloud, that old Daoist won’t be able to catch us.”
The stone cave soon became quiet. The Mountain Spirit fell asleep, while Hua Changxi practiced the Somersault Cloud over and over.
Initially, the clouds Hua Changxi condensed were not solid enough and couldn’t be maintained for long.
Once she figured out this problem, controlling the clouds for flight became another challenge.
“Bang bang bang~”
Due to improper control, Hua Changxi would occasionally bump into the stone walls while flying on the clouds, making her wince.
As Hua Changxi stumbled while practicing flight on the clouds, a night passed.
Sunlight shone in through the stone cave entrance. The Mountain Spirit rubbed its eyes and woke up. It looked around the stone cave and didn’t see Hua Changxi. Thinking she had abandoned it and run off, its eyes immediately reddened, its lower lip pouted, and it began to cry.
“Fairy…”
In the center of the stone cave ceiling, there was a small opening, but it was covered by something.
Just as Hua Changxi was looking at what was covering the opening, she heard the Mountain Spirit’s cries from below: “Fatty, you’re awake! I’m up here.”
Hearing Hua Changxi’s voice, the Mountain Spirit quickly looked up, tears still on the verge of falling. Seeing that Hua Changxi hadn’t left and was hovering at the very top of the stone cave on clouds, it quickly wiped away its tears and also flew up on clouds.
Seeing the Mountain Spirit ascend, Hua Changxi immediately pointed to the opening: “Fatty, doesn’t that thing blocking the opening look like a hand?”
Not hearing the Mountain Spirit’s reply, Hua Changxi looked at him and saw him trembling: “What’s wrong?”
The Mountain Spirit pulled Hua Changxi and quickly flew down. After landing, it trembled and said, “That’s a Buddha’s Hand! It’s the Buddha’s Hand that suppresses the Monkey King, preventing the Monkey King from ever escaping this stone cave.”
