PFC Chapter 482 Breakthrough of the Cultivation Cave
Chapter 482 Breakthrough of the Cultivation Cave
As soon as I pushed open the door to my cultivation cave, I couldn't wait to untie the knot in my Qiankun bag.
My fingertips were numb from the cold, and I couldn't untie them even after two tries. Then Wen Chen reached out and covered my fingers, his fingertips brushing against my reddened knuckles: "Warm yourself up by the fire first."
Before he finished speaking, the stove on the desk suddenly burst into orange flames.
Only then did I realize that he had already sent charcoal from the small kitchen. The scent of agarwood mixed with pine wood filled the air, making my nose sting – not because of the warmth, but because of the careful, silent, and thoughtful arrangement.
"I'm not cold." I clutched the Qiankun bag and took a half step back, but even I couldn't convince myself of that.
Just now, I was so excited in the library that the cold wind made the stray hairs on the back of my neck frosty and cool against my skin.
Zi Ling chuckled, the crooked jade hairpin in her hair shimmering in the firelight. "Yao Yao lies like a little fox who just stole a spirit fruit." As she spoke, she placed the tattered scroll she was carrying on the table and then went to unfasten her cloak. "Change into dry clothes first. I brought a newly woven cloud-patterned cotton-padded jacket; it's very warm."
Only then did I notice that there was still a fine snow on the ends of her hair—it turned out that the snow was falling so heavily on the way from the library to the cave.
"No need for that." I shook my head and finally untied the Qiankun bag.
As soon as the cover of "The Twins Effect" was revealed, a warm sensation rose up my palm, as if an invisible hand was scratching at my heart.
The candle flames on the table suddenly flickered violently, and all three wicks burst into flames at the same time. With a "crackling" sound, the yellowed pages of paper automatically flipped open.
"As expected." Wen Chen's voice was right beside him.
I don't know when, but he was already standing behind me, his sleeve brushing against the back of my hand. "This scroll recognizes you."
I hold my breath.
The yellowed pages stopped on one particular page, the ink somewhat blurred, yet I could clearly see a meridian diagram drawn on it—one unlike any I had ever seen before.
The lines didn't follow a fixed direction; instead, they curled up like living things, sometimes swirling, sometimes branching into a fine network, much like... a root system.
“The meridians have a spirit.” I murmured, repeating Master Qingfeng’s words, my fingertips gently tracing the forked points on the diagram.
Suddenly, the plum blossom print burned on my palm, and a pale pink light seeped from my skin and fell onto the paper.
The previously blurry ink marks instantly became clear, and the curled lines even seemed to move along my fingertips, moving across the paper as if they were alive.
"Oh!" Zi Ling leaned over to look, and the jade hairpin in her hair fell off again with a "clang".
This time she didn't pick it up, but instead grabbed my wrist: "Yaoyao, look!"
The branches here look just like the plum blossom formation pattern you showed at the training ground last time!
I looked in the direction of her fingertips.
On the page, the angles at which the meridians branched perfectly matched the spirit-gathering array I had laid out with plum blossom patterns—it wasn't a coincidence after all.
The illusory figure in blue robes in the ruins said, "The future is in your hands." It turns out that the clues he left behind were already within myself.
"So the plum blossom seal isn't a burden." My throat tightened.
I used to think this birthmark-like mark was a trouble brought about by time travel, but now I understand that it is a key, a bridge, and a code that my predecessors hid in my blood.
Wen Chen's hand landed on my shoulder, a light touch, as if to confirm I was still standing firmly: "Want to try?"
“Now?” I turned to look at him.
The candlelight flickered on the red mole at the corner of his eye, making the red spot look as if it were about to burst into flames.
“Now.” He tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “You didn’t sleep last night, but if you don’t try now, you won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
Zi Ling had already retreated to a corner of the cave, arms crossed and smiling, "I'll go guard the array's core. If there's any unusual movement, I'll immediately cast the incantation." Before her figure disappeared into the array mist, she didn't forget to wink at me, "If it succeeds, I want triple the honey in tomorrow morning's spirit tea!"
I took a deep breath.
Following the illustrations in "The Twins Effect," I sat cross-legged on the futon, drawing upon the spiritual energy within my body.
In the past, when I cultivated, spiritual energy would flow along fixed meridians, like a stream that must flow along a riverbed; but now, I try to use the plum blossom seal to "guide" it—not to drive away the spiritual energy, but to coax it like a child, following its nature and leading it to where it should go.
The first wisp of spiritual energy stirred.
It was supposed to go towards the dantian, but it took a detour and went towards the elbow along the branch I had just guided.
My heart was pounding like a drum, and beads of sweat appeared on my forehead.
Wen Chen knelt beside me without my noticing, his palm pressed against my back, channeling his spiritual energy into me as a buffer—his spiritual energy was like a hot spring soaked in agarwood, gently pushing my spiritual energy forward.
“Yes, that’s it.” His voice was like a stabilizing anchor. “Relax, you know better than you think what to do.”
The meridian diagram on the paper suddenly emitted a faint glow.
Those wandering lines coincided with the trajectory of the spiritual energy within my body!
I felt something click down in my mind, like a lock finally locking into its key.
The previously stagnant spiritual energy suddenly became light and agile, like a bird breaking free of its shackles, spiraling upwards along the new meridian pathways and gathering into a small ball of light above the head.
"It's done!" I opened my eyes.
The light made Wen Chen's eyes and brows shine. He had a slight upturn at the corner of his mouth, but I had never seen him with such an expression before—not his usual composure, but the tenderness of watching a precious treasure emerge from its cocoon.
"Just the first step." I laughed breathlessly, but my fingertips were still trembling.
Just now, I clearly felt my meridians "growing," like spring vines sprouting new buds following the direction of spiritual energy.
This is not a breakthrough in the traditional sense, but rather a way to bring the cultivation system itself to life.
“But that’s enough to prove we’re on the right track.” Wen Chen reached out and caught the ball of light above my head. The spiritual energy circulated in his palm for a moment before he gently pushed it back into my body. “What you created wasn’t a technique, it was a possibility.”
The book "The Mystery of the Thousand Machines" on the table suddenly turned a page automatically, revealing the next picture.
This time, the meridians are more complex and have more branches, which reminds me of what Zi Ling said about the compatibility problem of mixed spiritual roots—if the meridians can adjust themselves according to the attributes of spiritual roots, could those cultivators who are judged as "useless" by traditional cultivation methods also have a way out?
“Tomorrow I’ll go to the library to find the *Nine Spirits Scripture*.” I touched the warm pages, already planning my next steps. “Zi Ling said that cultivating mixed spiritual roots requires referring to the ancient methods of harmonization; perhaps this can…”
“Knock knock.”
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door outside the cave. Wen Chen and I looked up at the same time.
“Fairy Xiao,” came the voice of Xiao Zhu, the cave-guarding disciple, tinged with hesitation, “Elder Xuanfeng said… he has something to discuss with you.”
Snowflakes outside the cave were swirled by the wind and crashed against the stone door. Xiao Zhu's voice, carrying the chill, seeped in, and the cold that had just subsided on the back of my neck crept back up again.
Wen Chen's hand was still on my shoulder, his fingertips gently stroking it twice—a small gesture he used to make to calm me down.
"Please come in, Elder." I responded to the stone door, my voice more steady than I had expected.
The sound of black boots with cloud patterns crunching over the snow came from outside the stone gate.
As the door was pushed open, a gust of wind blew, causing the pages of "The Thousand Transformations" on the table to flutter and turn. Elder Xuanfeng's figure, enveloped in the cold scent of pine resin, squeezed in, the string of black iron bells at his waist jingling.
His snow-white eyebrows furrowed into two tufts of frost. His gaze first swept over the futon I was sitting on, then landed on the open book "The Thousand Transformations." His lips tightened into a cold, hard line: "Fairy Xiao certainly has a good interest. Instead of resting in this freezing weather, she insists on tinkering with these unorthodox methods."
I stood up, and Wen Chen took the opportunity to straighten my sleeves, which had been ruffled by the wind.
Zi Ling emerged from the mist at some point and stood behind Elder Xuan Feng, gently patting the snow off his shoulders as if coaxing a ruffled snow leopard: "Elder, what are you saying?"
Yao Yao is studying ancient traditions; how can that be considered unorthodox?
"Ancient heritage?" Elder Xuanfeng brushed away Ziling's hand, and slammed the whisk in his sleeve onto the stone table with a "smack," causing the candlestick to shake. "I have guarded the Scripture Pavilion for three hundred years, and I have never seen any ancient book that contains such absurd words as 'let the meridians grow on their own'!"
Fairy Xiao, are you aware that those disciples with mixed spiritual roots who followed you to learn the Plum Blossom Formation at the martial arts arena the other day vomited blood this morning?
My heart sank.
The other day at the martial arts training ground, I tried teaching a few junior disciples who had been identified as having five spiritual roots how to use the plum blossom seal to attract spiritual energy. They were all beaming with joy...
“It’s a backlash from spiritual energy,” Wen Chen suddenly said.
He stood beside me, his long, dark sleeves cascading down like a waterfall. "I've taken their pulses."
Traditional cultivation methods require spiritual energy to flow through fixed meridians, but the spiritual energy of mixed spiritual roots is inherently impure, and forcibly suppressing it will backfire.
Xiao Yao's approach was to follow the natural course of events, rather than going against them—like controlling floods, it's better to dredge than to block them.
Elder Xuanfeng's beard twitched, and his gaze lingered on Wen Chen's face for a moment.
After all, he was a Celestial Venerable. Even if he was dissatisfied, he had to soften his tone a bit: "Celestial Venerable Wen can see through things, but how many mixed spiritual roots in this world can have their pulse treated by you personally?"
If Fairy Xiao truly cares for them, she should make them diligently cultivate the "Basic Spirit Guiding Technique" and not treat human lives as a game!
“But the Basic Spirit Guiding Technique is completely ineffective against miscellaneous spirits.” I clenched my sleeves, the plum blossom print on my palm slightly warm. “Last month I went to the outer sect and saw an eight-year-old girl squatting by the spirit spring crying—she knelt on the ice for three whole days, but the spirit root testing stone still didn’t light up.”
When her mother pulled her away, she said, "Let's accept our fate," but she clung to the spring and refused to let go, her fingernails full of blood... "My throat tightened. "Elder, you are looking at ancient books in the library, but I am looking at living people."
They weren't 'deserving to accept their fate' losers; they were seeds trapped and killed by old rules.
Elder Xuanfeng's expression softened slightly, but he still stubbornly turned his face away: "Even if changes are to be made, it should be discussed jointly by the heads of all the peaks, not by a mere cultivator like you who has just formed your core..."
“I’ll take responsibility.” Wen Chen suddenly interrupted him.
He reached out and grasped my hand, his palm, with its distinct knuckles, pressed against the back of my hand. "If anything goes wrong with the new technique, I will bear all the consequences."
The snow outside the cave started falling even harder.
Elder Xuanfeng's gaze lingered on our clasped hands for a moment, then swept over the faintly glowing "Thousand Transformations" on the table. Suddenly, he sighed, "Since Immortal Venerable Wen says so..." He picked up his whisk, turned around, and stopped at the door. "But Fairy Xiao, you must attend the elders' meeting next month."
You must explain the origins and details of this cultivation technique in front of all the peak masters.
“I will go.” I agreed readily.
The stone door closed behind Elder Xuanfeng, the weight of the accumulated snow causing the hinges to creak softly.
Zi Ling leaned over and poked my arm: "Yao Yao, what you said about that little girl just now almost made me cry." She picked up the jade hairpin that Elder Xuan Feng had knocked to the ground, and suddenly her eyes lit up, "That's right!"
There's a Dharma Trial Assembly at the Forum Square on the 15th of every month, where you can demonstrate your new techniques to the public!
With so many outer disciples watching, it's far more effective than empty talk in the elders' council!
I gazed at the still trembling copy of "The Twins Effect" on the table; the meridian diagrams on the pages glowed with a warm light, like fertile soil waiting to be cultivated.
Wen Chen's thumb brushed against the back of my hand: "What do you need me to prepare?"
"Get ready..." I touched the hot plum blossom mark, and in my mind I could already picture the scene of the Dao Discussion Square—the bluestone slabs were warmed by the morning sun, and the outer disciples crowded on the steps, their eyes shining like stars.
I want them to see that even spiritual roots condemned to death by old rules can blossom.
“Prepare a basket of spirit fruits.” I suddenly laughed. “On the day of the Dharma Trial, the little girls will definitely crowd to the front row, and I need to coax them so they won’t be frightened by the spiritual energy orbs.”
Wen Chen chuckled softly, raising her hand to brush the snowflakes from my hair: "Okay, I'll have the kitchen prepare candied kumquats."
Zi Ling had already pulled out her cloud-patterned notebook and started writing down her plan, her pen flying across the paper: "I still need to find a few disciples with mixed spiritual roots who are willing to be trial participants... Oh, right, the other day I saw a junior brother with three spiritual roots at Medicine Peak. The spiritual herbs he grows are even better than those of single-spiritual-root disciples. Maybe he can serve as a living example..."
As I looked at them, I suddenly remembered the "click" sound in my sea of consciousness when I broke through earlier.
It turns out that it wasn't just the meridians that were growing; some things had already sprouted new buds along the cracks in the heart.
The snow is still falling outside the window, but I know that when the snow melts, more seeds will awaken.