novelraw Chapter 64: The Immortal Guides Me on the Path to Longevity
Chapter 64: The Immortal Guides Me on the Path to Longevity
Li Jingyun's gaze went vacant.
Li Jingyun's Mental State suffered slight wear.
"She burned all thirty volumes of the 'Jingyunzi' I personally wrote?"
So there were as many as thirty volumes?
Li Qiuchen suddenly understood. When he had stolen back the family's inherited "Jingyunzi" from his great-grand-uncle back then, he had carefully read through it and discovered that the contents were very thin.
Many theories Li Jingyun raised in the book, including the family-inherited body tempering technique and ocular technique, had only opened with a beginning and nothing followed.
"Destroying someone's lineage and heritage, how utterly unreasonable..."
Li Jingyun took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and looked up to see Li Qiuchen's eager gaze.
"Senior, can you pass on the contents of the remaining twenty-nine volumes to me?"
"..."Li Jingyun coughed once and said seriously, "Let's not talk about these first. Let me tell you about the Medicine Master..."
"I still want to hear the contents of those twenty-nine volumes."
"Why are you so stubborn, child?"
Li Jingyun said helplessly, "This illusory realm was specifically created for those who have received the Medicine Master's blessing. If I left the family lineage's knowledge here, and it was obtained by a bad person who later stirred up trouble, wouldn't that tarnish my reputation?"
Do you still need to tarnish it more?
Li Qiuchen humbly asked, "Then where can I find the remaining twenty-nine volumes?"
"I've already said, I am not Li Jingyun himself."
Li Jingyun's expression became awkward.
"I only have one text here, the 'Senluojing.' Do you want to hear it?"
Li Qiuchen carefully asked, "If I don't listen to it, will I be unable to pass the trial?"
"Correct."
"Will there be any hidden dangers after listening?"
"Whether there are hidden dangers depends on how you yourself comprehend it."
Li Jingyun said seriously, "I've said it before. Cultivation methods are inherently without good or evil, right or wrong. Good and evil are both human nature. Don't make excuses for your own wrongdoings."
Only then did Li Qiuchen nod in agreement, kneeling to sit down, "Please instruct me, Senior."
Li Jingyun let out a long breath. He had finally settled this little rascal.
"As the sun rises in the east, all things grow..."
The complete "Senluojing" had eight hundred thousand characters, further divided into sixteen volumes named after trees: Willow-Pine-Cypress, Locust-Elm-Mulberry-Firmiana, Peach-Plum-Cherry-Plum Blossom, Silver Fir-Banyan-Osmanthus, and others.
It contained various immortal techniques, secret arts, medicinal classics, and pill formulas totaling over two hundred items. One could say it had everything you could wish for.
Li Jingyun finished narrating the complete eight hundred thousand characters in one breath, feeling his mouth and throat dry. He subconsciously covered his mouth to cough twice, then frowned looking at Li Qiuchen sitting before him, "Why are you still here?"
Li Qiuchen said puzzled, "Then where should I go? Directly ascend to immortality after listening to you finish?"
"Cough, cough... what I mean is, even those with excellent talent cannot memorize this much content. At most within the first hundred thousand characters, their spirit would grow hazy, their Mental State would gradually wear away and collapse, and they'd exit the illusory realm. Don't tell me you memorized everything I said?"
"No."
Li Qiuchen spoke truthfully, "After listening to the first volume's content and feeling my Mental State beginning to wear, I stopped listening further."
"Then why did you keep acting as if you were listening attentively?"
"I saw you lecturing with such dedication, Senior. I felt it would be impolite to abruptly interrupt or leave."
Li Qiuchen rubbed his ear and sighed, "Also, you didn't say at the beginning it would be this long. I thought I'd never finish listening in this lifetime. By the way, do you have a written version?"
The Li family's good memory was built on the foundation of cultivating the ocular technique. Just listening without reading, he really couldn't memorize much.
If there were a written version, he could first engrave it into his mind and then slowly research it at home.
"No."
Li Jingyun waved his hand and sent Li Qiuchen flying out, "Get lost!"
[You have passed the Third Grade Illusory Realm, Blue Stone Platform Trial]
[Remaining Mental State: 85]
[Illusory Realm Exploration: 81]
[Comprehensive Evaluation: Grade A, Lower]
[Identity unverified. This illusory realm trial evaluation cannot be recorded on the Rankings Board.]
[Based on comprehensive evaluation, you may choose one reward.]
[Reward list as follows:]
[1. Three stalks of hundred-year Illusory Heart Grass]
[2. One bottle of Green Wood Spirit Liquid]
[3. Ginseng-Lingzhi Life Extension Pill formula]
[4. One of sixteen partial volumes of the "Senluojing"]
...
Lines of text appeared before his eyes, but Li Qiuchen had fallen into a mentally hazy state.
Li Jingyun had narrated the complete "Senluojing." Who knew how much time had passed. Inside the illusory realm, there had been no physical sensation of time but in reality, at least seven days had passed.
Seven full days without food or water. If it had been an ordinary person, they would probably have fallen unconscious on the spot.
Even with Li Qiuchen's current physical constitution, he went dizzy for a moment before barely managing to stand steady.
Standing in place and moving his stiff limbs, he randomly found some dried fruit from his storage bracelet and stuffed it in his mouth. After stabilizing his mind, he turned his attention back to the text before him.
I successfully cleared it?
This thing could actually be cleared? And there were rewards?
Then what counted as all that effort I put in with those two top students earlier?
Counted as me being hardworking and persevering?
Li Qiuchen glanced at the completion rewards and unhesitatingly chose the partial volume of the Senluojing.
Of course, to revisit the topic, those earlier tasks were definitely not done for nothing.
Li Qiuchen had participated in all the design and construction work from beginning to end, so he had a very thorough understanding of the illusory realm's fundamental nature.
What immortal lecturing, that was all surface appearance.
The illusory realm's fundamental nature was only one thing: tempering mental state.
The design philosophy of this illusory realm was to have challengers immersed in the vast and complex contents of the Senluojing, unable to free themselves.
The content was too much, absolutely impossible to fully memorize, unless you had a recording device with unlimited battery.
The illusory realm trial had a unique mechanism that could actually be called a hidden trap.
That was, the same illusory realm could only be entered once per person.
Just like an all-you-can-eat buffet. After paying, you go in and eat however you like, but this was the only meal with no next time.
Under this kind of psychological suggestion and guidance, once challengers encountered something they were interested in, such as the Senluojing which was a top-level technique of the Medicine Master's school, the greed in their hearts would be infinitely amplified.
Yet the more they tried to memorize more, the easier it was to forget, confusing what had come before.
In the end, the more they memorized, the more chaotic their mind became. Once the mind became chaotic, the heart followed suit.
When Mental State wore down to zero, the result was trial failure.
Li Qiuchen was a person of cautious character who pursued stability.
He was very interested in the Senluojing's contents, but it was only interest, not urgent enough to stop at nothing for it.
When Li Jingyun finished lecturing the Senluojing's first volume, he realized a problem.
Mohe the Perfected Being had definitely come here. The master of the old Daoist Fang Hong had definitely come here too.
Because it was all the same approach. He was too familiar with it.
Li Qiuchen tentatively classified all these people under the unified category of "tree cultivators."
The spiritual core of the Senluojing was the author's comprehension and understanding of trees.
In orthodox cultivators' philosophy, humans were the innately spiritual beings, and the human body was the most suitable form for cultivation.
Otherwise, why would all those mountain spirits and wild monsters want to transform into human form?
But the author of the Senluojing believed that the cosmos's fundamental nature was a tree, and this world was nothing more than a fruit that had grown from one of the branches.
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