Chapter 30: A Pity to Go Astray

No one would dare to claim they had completely mastered the Way of Alchemy, nor would they say they understood all the mysteries of Formation Arts. But even a partial mastery was an incredible achievement.

In cultivation, the most foolish thing one could do was to only know how to sit and meditate, absorbing spiritual energy.

Elder Chu was not the cold, bearded immortal master. He was unaware of Qin Haoxuan’s actions and words over the past few days. After glancing at him a few times, he paid him no more mind. For him, it was enough to teach the four disciples who had already completed the Rooting Stage. The future of the Taichu Sect rested on their shoulders.

Meditating in class, with an Initiate Master present and under the watchful eyes of everyone, was an unprecedentedly relaxing experience for Qin Haoxuan. Unlike before, he didn’t have to worry about Zhang Kuang or Li Jing sending someone to ambush him.

He activated the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art, and a massive amount of spiritual energy surged into his body. With practiced ease, he neutralized the searing medicinal power within him and once again infused it into his Immortal Seed. He watched as the roots of the seedling within grew a little longer. Zhang Kuang’s persecution was becoming more and more blatant. He had to establish his roots as soon as possible, exhaust the medicinal power of the One-Leaf Golden Lotus, and then make another trip to the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley. It would be great if he could find some elixirs, but finding a protective magic treasure would be even better.

As Elder Chu lectured on, he would occasionally glance at the meditating Qin Haoxuan. A weak seed is a weak seed. When he absorbs spiritual energy, there isn’t even the slightest fluctuation. At this rate, even if he meditated all day, he couldn’t catch up to a Gray Seed, let alone a Purple Seed.

It seemed that his days in confinement, instead of making him wiser, had only pushed him further down a dead-end path.

Remembering the surprise he had felt when Qin Haoxuan had shattered his seed on the first day, Elder Chu sighed to himself, “Such a fine Dao Heart, yet it has gone astray. A pity, what a pity.”

As Elder Chu’s lecture on the Art of the Eight Trigrams grew more profound, more and more disciples became lost in a fog, unable to understand a thing. One disciple with a weak seed thought, Since I can’t understand it anyway, I might as well meditate like Qin Haoxuan. At least I can increase my strength a little.

He had just crossed his legs and was about to enter a meditative state when a wind blade sent him flying. Elder Chu glared from the stage and roared, “Get out!”

The poor disciple, dazed from the attack, pointed at Qin Haoxuan, trying to defend himself, but another wind blade from Elder Chu sent him flying out of the lecture hall.

Seeing this, the others looked at Qin Haoxuan, who was free to meditate, with unconcealed envy. And from this, rumors were born.

“As expected of someone with a Purple Seed as a backer. He can meditate in class, and Elder Chu doesn’t even dare to say anything.”

“Of course. It’s a pity there’s only one female Purple Seed. Otherwise, I’d find one to spend the night with, and then I could do whatever I want in the Taichu Sect.”

This last comment came from Murong Chao. They were far from Qin Haoxuan and thought he couldn’t hear them, but they had no idea that after cultivating the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art, not only was his body incredibly strong, but his five senses were also extremely sharp. He heard their whispers as clearly as if they were shouted, and he easily identified who had spoken.

Qin Haoxuan sneered inwardly. In the beginning, you were the ones who wanted to act tough and steal from your fellow disciples. If I hadn’t been strong, Xu Yu and I would have frozen that night. Now that she’s a renowned Purple Seed disciple valued by the sect, and she’s on good terms with me, you’ve become jealous. You try to win her over, and when that fails, you spread these rumors, acting one way to her face and another behind her back. How can you possibly cultivate with such a mindset? You can’t even remain unmoved by honor or disgrace. In the future, if you’re lucky enough to reach the Tribulation Crossing stage, you will surely be destroyed by your own Heart Demons, becoming a cripple at best, or a corpse at worst.

But not everyone could reach that stage. With their character, Qin Haoxuan could guarantee they had no chance.

Elder Chu lectured until noon before dismissing the class. The moment he did, the cultivating Qin Haoxuan felt the pangs of hunger and opened his eyes.

Seeing him finish his cultivation right as class ended, Elder Chu shot him a disdainful look and sighed, “A rotten piece of wood cannot be carved.”

To him, Qin Haoxuan’s meditating in class was a sign of disrespect. Even if he had a Purple Seed as a backer, and he had to give her face, he didn’t have to be nice to him.

Qin Haoxuan knew the elder’s words were directed at him. He gave him an apologetic look. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to listen; on the contrary, the basics Elder Chu was teaching were extremely useful. But the price of listening was having his body torn apart by the remaining power of the One-Leaf Golden Lotus.

He had his reasons but couldn’t explain them, which made him feel incredibly frustrated. Under the contemptuous gazes of the other disciples, he left the lecture hall with Xu Yu.

Because the morning’s lecture had been too profound, Elder Chu let the disciples study on their own in the afternoon.

After lunch, Qin Haoxuan went to Xu Yu’s room again. He read her notes while she explained the Art of the Eight Trigrams. Xu Yu’s comprehension was truly excellent. The subject that was like a heavenly scripture to others was no problem for her. She not only recited the lecture perfectly but also added many of her own insights. Although Qin Haoxuan still only half-understood, it was much better than trying to decipher the notes on his own.

The afternoon passed with her explanations and his intermittent meditation. Xu Yu had grown accustomed to him suddenly having to stop and meditate to deal with his agitation before resuming the lesson.

Among the new disciples, Qin Haoxuan was not the only one receiving special treatment. Zhang Yang was as well.

Right after lunch, he quietly left the Spirit Field Valley and met his master, Master Guyun, at their designated meeting spot.

Master Guyun stood with his hands behind his back on a large boulder, gazing into the misty depths of Great Islet Mountain, in the direction of the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley.

Zhang Yang arrived and bowed respectfully, then told his master about his confusion regarding the Art of the Eight Trigrams. Master Guyun sneered. “The Art of the Eight Trigrams, that’s Xiayunzi’s specialty. My dear disciple, let me tell you, there are a thousand paths in cultivation. There’s no need to take so-called shortcuts. Our Ancient Cloud Hall’s principle is that personal strength trumps all!”

He paused, then said with some pride, “Look at the Summer Cloud Hall. They are proficient in formations, alchemy, and medicine. Xiayunzi spends all day calculating trigrams and studying pill recipes until all his hair has fallen out, but he is still just my equal. Right now, you just need to focus on cultivating. While you should understand these basic subjects, don’t get too bogged down in them, lest it delay your own progress.”

Although Zhang Yang didn’t fully agree with his master’s words, he remembered how, with his master’s help, he had completed the Rooting Stage in seven days, standing on equal footing with the Purple Seed disciples. He pushed aside his doubts and nodded in agreement.

Under his master’s guidance, Zhang Yang practiced for a while, but a trace of worry still lingered on his face. Master Guyun, with his decades of experience, saw it at once and asked seriously, “Disciple, is something on your mind? If you let it fester, it will become a sickness of the heart, which will be extremely harmful to your future.”

“Master, this disciple does have something on his mind,” Zhang Yang said with a deep bow. “I have a townsman who is also in the sect, named Qin Haoxuan. Although he is just a weak-seeded disciple, he is incredibly strong, to the point where he even fought a Fifth-Leaf expert to a draw. He is like a great mountain pressing down on my heart.”

“Oh, your townsman, so he is also Zhang Kuang’s townsman. I remember you and Zhang Kuang were quite close, weren’t you?”

“In front of others, Zhang Kuang is arrogant and domineering, but in front of Qin Haoxuan, he is like a mouse seeing a cat. Just yesterday, he was publicly humiliated by him.”

Master Guyun sneered, and an idea flashed in his mind. “Zhang Kuang may be a Purple Seed, but his Dao Heart is far too weak. Don’t you worry. Leave this matter to your master.”

With his master’s assurance, Zhang Yang happily continued his practice. Master Guyun fell into deep thought. He had heard the rumors about this new disciple, but he had dismissed them as exaggerations. A mortal who had just started cultivating for a few days could take a spiritual attack from a Third-Leaf expert and be fine? And fight a Fifth-Leaf expert to a draw in the Lava Cellar? A mortal shouldn’t even be able to survive in that place, let alone fight. Besides, although a Fifth-Leaf was nothing special, they weren’t that pathetic, were they?

It all sounded too absurd. Perhaps he has had some small fortuitous encounter that even he doesn’t know about?

He hadn’t paid much attention to Qin Haoxuan before. A mere mortal, even with a bit of luck, would only have a small encounter. Great opportunities always came with great risks.

It was not unheard of for Taichu disciples to have their own encounters. As long as they were minor, the elders wouldn’t bother with them.

It was like a child finding three copper coins on the road—a huge sum for them, but just three coins to an adult.

But now… Zhang Yang’s words had given him an idea, a plan that Qin Haoxuan could help him complete, a plan that would be perfectly hidden from the Sect Master’s future investigations.

In cultivation, while increasing one’s realm was important, cultivating the heart was paramount. If a cultivator had a sickness of the heart, their future achievements would be limited, no matter how talented they were. From what his disciple had said, Qin Haoxuan had become a sickness in the hearts of both Zhang Kuang and Zhang Yang. Master Guyun planned to help Zhang Yang overcome this obstacle, completely removing this sickness of the heart, while also giving him a trump card to defeat a Purple Seed in the future.

Years ago, Master Guyun had a fortuitous encounter and obtained some of the spiritual techniques of the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

The techniques of this sect were extremely sinister. They involved refining a living cultivator into one’s own Corpse Soldier. This puppet would not only inherit all the cultivation of the person it was made from but would also have no will of its own, completely obedient to its master. More importantly, the Corpse Soldier would grow stronger as its master’s cultivation increased. The better the raw material, the greater its potential for growth.

If what Zhang Yang said was true, then this Qin Haoxuan was the perfect material for refining a Corpse Soldier. His body was strong, and he could fight a Fifth-Leaf expert to a draw before even sprouting his seedling. Even Master Guyun was a little tempted. But for the sake of his disciple’s future and the glory of being the master of a future Sect Master, he decided to give this excellent material to Zhang Yang.

However, to harm a fellow disciple like this… Master Guyun felt a pang of guilt. After much consideration, he convinced himself: This Qin Haoxuan is just a weak seed with a limited future. It would be better to turn him into a Corpse Soldier to help Zhang Yang. It would also be a contribution to the Taichu Sect. In the future, I can give his parents some silver so they can live out their old age in comfort. In that way, becoming a Corpse Soldier would be an act of filial piety for him.