Chapter Ninety-Eight: Why Not Cultivate?

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Lu Chenyuan returned from the main hall and leaned sideways against the bench in the woodshed. From within his bosom, he took out the wooden puppet doll. Gazing at the doll’s innocent yet eerie face, the young man’s eyes flickered slightly. At first glance, the figure seemed grim and frightening, but now, the fear had faded, replaced by an inexplicable sense of closeness. He reached out to gently stroke the smooth wooden head, silently pondering, “Though this thing is sinister, it has saved me from danger more than once. Whether it is good or evil, right or wrong, it’s truly difficult to discern.”

Lost in thought, he suddenly remembered something and tapped his forehead, muttering to himself, “I forgot to ask Miss Shangguan Chu about what to do with the forcibly taken Dao foundation and heart fire within my Sea of Consciousness. The Dao foundation of Wei Zhuo has already been tainted by the turbid flow. If I don’t find a way to refine and nurture it, I fear it will be completely ruined after a few more uses…”

“Enough for now. It’s late at night, and after all the turmoil during the day, she must be exhausted. I can ask her again tomorrow.” As this thought crossed his mind, an image unexpectedly surfaced in his head—the scene of Shangguan Chuci teasing the senior brother and sister in front of the hall. She smiled cleverly and spoke with wit, weaving an intriguing tale with perfect timing and subtlety. Such grace and sharpness were unlike anything he had ever seen.

“She… truly is unlike any woman I have known,” he thought to himself. “At first, I thought her to be scheming and only interested in gain, but after several adventures, I realized she harbors a great sense of justice and a heroic willingness to sacrifice herself to save others. She has her cunning, her loneliness, her resilience, and also her vulnerabilities…”

Thinking this, a faint smile unknowingly appeared at the corner of his lips. Just then, he heard two soft knocks outside the woodshed door. Startled at first, Lu Chenyuan’s heart suddenly quickened with joy. He was used to being solitary in this inn, and no one usually disturbed him in the backyard woodshed. After Shangguan Chuci’s strange story earlier, everyone was on edge—if someone came to seek him now, who else could it be but her?

He placed the puppet doll casually on the bench, rose swiftly, and opened the worn wooden door. Outside, the moonlight flowed like water, revealing a graceful figure dressed in a moon-white silk shirt standing prettily at the threshold. Upon seeing the door open, she paused slightly, then with a glance up and down, her bright eyes sparkling, she smiled and asked, “Brother Lu, you seem quite pleased. Could it be… you’re happy because I’ve come to visit you late at night?”

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Lu Chenyuan hadn’t expected his thoughts to be so easily read, and his face flushed slightly as he scratched his head. “You really can’t be fooled, Miss Chu. To be honest, I do have something on my mind that I want to ask you.”

“Oh?” Shangguan Chuci’s eyes flickered with curiosity. She stepped lightly into the room and gently closed the woodshed door behind her. “Brother Lu, feel free to speak.”

Lu Chenyuan briefly explained how the ink-like Dao foundation in his Sea of Consciousness was increasingly corrupted by the turbid flow, and how his heart fire was dimming along with it. He ended with a worried tone: “I fear that if I keep using it like this, Wei Zhuo’s Dao foundation will be completely swallowed by the turbid flow. If the Dao foundation malfunctions, it may harm me personally, but more importantly, I may lose my means of self-defense.”

Shangguan Chuci pondered for a moment before nodding. “I see. This seems unexpected, but also logical.”

Lu Chenyuan asked, “How so?”

Shangguan Chuci replied, “Brother Lu, think carefully—where does a cultivator’s Dao foundation come from? And how is the heart fire ignited?”

“Miss Chu said before that the Dao foundation is forged from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and the heart fire is fueled by the Dao foundation, allowing it to burn endlessly…” Lu Chenyuan’s eyes suddenly brightened as realization dawned on him. “I understand now! What you mean is, I am not a true cultivator. Without a drop of spiritual power in me, I naturally cannot draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to nourish this forcibly taken Dao foundation and heart fire. Thus, this thing is like water without a source, a tree without roots—each use diminishes it, a one-time deal!”

“Exactly,” Shangguan Chuci said with approval in her eyes. “Since you have understood this clearly, why not take the next step and become a genuine cultivator?”

Hearing this, the look of enlightenment on Lu Chenyuan’s face immediately faded, replaced by silence. Shangguan Chuci, recalling his many years with Master Situ and the apprentices, knew he had never embarked on the cultivation path, sensing some hidden reason. She asked softly, “Brother Lu… do you have reservations?”

Lu Chenyuan no longer concealed his thoughts and sighed gently. “Miss Chu, do you remember I once told you that my master said cultivation ultimately requires severing all emotions and desires, becoming a heartless immortal?”

Shangguan Chuci, sharp as ever, immediately understood. “I see. Your master believes cultivation is not the right path, and so does not want you to take it.”

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“Exactly…” Lu Chenyuan nodded. “Lately, whenever I have free time, I ponder why my master left without a word. Now, I finally have some idea.”

“Oh? What do you think?”

“I believe my master left suddenly because I expressed a desire to cultivate. She neither wants me to walk this path, nor does she wish to become an obstacle in my way. That is why she left.”

Shangguan Chuci agreed deeply. “I think that’s right. But if that’s the case, why do you still hesitate to cultivate?”

Lu Chenyuan sighed, showing a melancholy beyond his years on his youthful face. “I don’t know either. I just feel that if she knew I ultimately went against her wishes, she would be sad. I don’t want to make her sad.”

The path to immortality is long and arduous, with all beings striving relentlessly. Even if faced with sudden death at dawn, there would be no regrets. Yet, with the immortal gate in sight, the youth fears that once he takes this step, he may never return, and he would wound the heart of the one he cares for.

Seeing his deep sense of loyalty and affection, Shangguan Chuci felt a complex emotion and softly said, “But the dangers in Zhenhaichuan are everywhere. If you lack the strength to protect yourself and fall here, your master would be even more heartbroken.”

Lu Chenyuan fell silent again. He knew her words were reasonable—if he died, everything would truly be lost, even the chance to seek further. Yet, for some reason, he had an inexplicable premonition that if he truly embarked on the cultivation path, it would create an insurmountable chasm between him and his master, and their past could never be restored.

After much inner struggle, he finally bit his teeth and made up his mind. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head and said solemnly, “Miss Chu…”

Before he could finish, Shangguan Chuci interrupted, “Brother Lu, if you cannot decide right now, that’s not the only way. I have a rather whimsical idea, uncertain if it will work or not.”

Lu Chenyuan looked at her in surprise. Shangguan Chuci’s lips curled into a barely perceptible sly smile, her bright eyes gleaming in the candlelight as she said, “We can try first. If it fails, Brother Lu can decide again later. It won’t be too late.”