Ran Qingmo could not really be called a good teacher. The way she taught Xu Yuan suited her quiet, distant temperament perfectly, calm to the point of almost seeming lukewarm. Fortunately, her strength was overwhelming enough that she could still guide a complete beginner like Xu Yuan with ease, taking the deepest principles and making them feel simple.
From identifying acupoints and meridians at the most basic level, to sensing the source qi hidden throughout the world under Ran Qingmo’s guidance, everything progressed as naturally as water flowing downhill. And it was precisely through this process of sensing source qi that Xu Yuan finally came to understand the role of soul intent.
The more condensed and powerful a person’s soul intent was, the more source qi they could perceive in the world around them.
Because of the spiritual pool and the spirit locking array, the source qi inside this cave dwelling had become so dense in Ran Qingmo’s perception that it was almost liquid. But in Xu Yuan’s own senses, all he could detect were two or three faint little clumps of qi drifting in the dark.
The gap between their soul intent was suffocating. Of course, part of that was also because Ran Qingmo’s cultivation so vastly surpassed his. The soul intent, after all, was something that could continue to grow more condensed and powerful as one’s cultivation advanced.
A person’s meridians determined how quickly they could absorb and refine the world’s source qi for their own use, while the soul intent determined how much of that source qi they could even perceive in the first place.
These two aspects complemented each other in cultivation. If someone possessed an innately perfect body, with every meridian open from birth, but their soul intent was loose and muddled, then no matter how quickly their body could transform source qi, they would still only be able to absorb those pitiful two or three clumps they could actually sense.
And the reverse was true as well. A person born with an exceptional soul alone would fare no better.
As Ran Qingmo gradually taught him the fundamentals of cultivation in this world, piece by piece, Xu Yuan came to understand more and more clearly just how terrifying the Blood Origin Heartfall Art in his hands truly was.
A cultivation art capable of artificially creating an Innate Dao Physique. If something like that appeared in the outside world, it would not be an exaggeration to say it could start a war.
Xu Yuan had long since lost count of how many times he had opened his eyes on the jade bed, only to be greeted by the same dim stone ceiling of the cave. He sat up and glanced at the stone wall by the head of the bed.
There, a row of neat tally marks stood out sharply. Unable to see the sky and with no way to tell day from night, he could only estimate the passing of time by counting how many times he had slept.
By the time he woke this time, the stone wall beside the bed had already been filled with six complete sets of tally marks.
He had already spent about a month alone in this cave dwelling with the girl in black. After days of diligent study, all the basic knowledge related to cultivation in this world had, more or less, been covered.
By now, Xu Yuan had completely learned how to use his soul intent to sense the source qi between heaven and earth.
And two weeks earlier, Ran Qingmo had also taught him an inner-sect Sword Sect cultivation art called the Lotus Sword Manual, letting him get a first taste of drawing qi into his body and cultivating for real.
Now, two weeks later, Xu Yuan could already cultivate on his own without Ran Qingmo guiding him step by step.
As the thought crossed his mind, he instinctively turned his eyes toward her, sitting cross-legged in the corner.
After staring at her for two seconds, Xu Yuan chuckled, shook his head, and looked away. Even though he had long since gotten used to seeing her without the veil covering her face, that flawless beauty still caught him off guard from time to time.
What a pity, though. Even after the two of them had shared hardship together in this cave dwelling for so long, Ran Qingmo, this great human iceberg, had not softened much in the way she treated him.
Heh. So the stories in fairy tale novels really were all lies. Xu Yuan chuckled wryly to himself. Throwing those messy thoughts out of his head, he calmed himself and opened the Blood Origin Heartfall Art once more.
Back then, the obscure terms in the manual had left his head spinning. Now, every line had become clear. He could understand all of it, and connect it all together.
In fact, over the course of this past month, he had already read the entire technique so many times that he knew it by heart. Even so, he still read it every single day, over and over again. His life depended on it.
With cultivation arts, even a difference of one word could kill you once your source qi started moving. Do not ask how he knew. Personal experience.
The circulation route of the Blood Origin Heartfall Art was many times more complicated than the Lotus Sword Manual that Ran Qingmo had given him. To avoid panicking when the time came to truly begin cultivating it, Xu Yuan had started a week ago to guide the faint traces of source qi in his body through the meridian pathways described in the manual.
At first, the attempt had gone smoothly. His weak little strands of source qi moved in an orderly fashion along the route laid out by the technique.
Unfortunately, once he had completed about a third of the cycle, his concentration slipped for the briefest moment. The source qi he was guiding strayed half a step from the route described in the manual, and he immediately suffered qi deviation.
It did not feel good. Because of that single lapse in thought, all the source qi in his body instantly lost control and rampaged wildly through his fragile meridians. If not for the fact that the amount of source qi he had accumulated was still pitifully small, Xu Yuan could practically imagine those berserk currents blasting his meridians to pieces.
Fortunately, Ran Qingmo, a true expert, had been right there beside him. Before his meridians could suffer real damage, she stepped in at once and forcefully stabilized the violent qi inside him. Even though it had only been a close call, Xu Yuan had still come to fully appreciate just how difficult this Blood Origin Heartfall Art was to cultivate.
After all, when he practiced the Lotus Sword Manual, a technique of merely moderate difficulty, he had gotten through it in one try without the slightest sign of qi deviation. But this Blood Origin Heartfall Art had barely reached one third of its route before it sent him straight into disaster.
And yet the setback had not discouraged him. If anything, it made him faintly excited. Because he had discovered that even if his cultivation went wrong, Ran Qingmo could still stabilize him before he was seriously hurt. In other words, he could keep trying as many times as he wanted until he became completely familiar with the circulation route of the technique.
Once the thought occurred to him, Xu Yuan acted on it immediately.
Ran Qingmo could tell that Xu Yuan was cultivating some extremely difficult art, but perhaps because of her personality, she did not ask too many questions. She simply kept pulling him back each time he suffered qi deviation, without a word of complaint.
After reading through the Blood Origin Heartfall Art one more time from beginning to end, Xu Yuan quietly set it down on the jade bed, rose slowly, and walked toward her in the corner.
But before he reached her, Ran Qingmo’s crisp voice drifted over first. It was very soft, but perfectly clear.
“The formation outside is about to break.”
The formation? Xu Yuan’s steps halted for a moment. Hearing those abrupt words, he froze briefly, but in the next instant he understood what she meant. So his first guess when he entered this cave dwelling had been right. There really was a formation here that blocked outside perception.
And now that formation was about to fail. The news made his heart sink. He still was not fully prepared to begin cultivating the Blood Origin Heartfall Art.
Thanks to Ran Qingmo saving him again and again, he was now indeed able to circulate his source qi perfectly along the meridian route described in the art
But that was while he was conscious and steady. If he wanted to complete that circulation flawlessly while hovering on the brink of death, the difficulty would rise by several orders of magnitude.
Pulling himself together, Xu Yuan asked in a low, even voice, “How much time do we have left?”
Ran Qingmo closed her eyes and sensed for a moment, then answered softly, “About five days.”
“Will they be able to find this cave dwelling?” Xu Yuan drew in a deep breath. This place is clearly hidden inside the mountain itself. Maybe...
“Yes.” Ran Qingmo’s clear voice shattered that last bit of hope without hesitation.
For a moment, Xu Yuan said nothing. And in that instant, his thoughts became a tangled mess. A five-day countdown to death had quietly begun. He stood there in silence for a long while.
Then, in the stillness, she suddenly said softly, “You don’t need to worry.”
Hearing that, he slowly came back to himself and looked at her.
Her clear eyes were fixed on him with complete seriousness. “I’ll take you and escape.”
Xu Yuan looked at her earnest expression and, after two seconds of silence, gave her a faint smile. There was a trace of amusement in it, but even more helplessness. If he nodded and agreed to her plan, he could already picture what would happen five days from now.
This breathtaking woman, the one sitting right in front of him, would likely end up with her head severed from her body. There were simply too many powerful people in this world.
Ji Qingyue could be killed. Ran Qingmo naturally could be killed too.
In the end, Xu Yuan did not answer her. He only lowered himself slowly to sit beside her.
After a long silence, he suddenly asked in a low voice, “Miss Ran, can you put me into a near-death state?”
A trace of confusion appeared in Ran Qingmo’s eyes. “What?”
Xu Yuan repeated softly, “I’m asking, can you put me into a near-death state?”