Chapter 69: Chapter 68: Cultivation Also Requires 99% Effort and 1% Inspiration

Su Yang City, County Magistrate’s Office.

Beneath the "High-hanging Bright Mirror" plaque, Magistrate Fang was missing an arm, and Liu City God’s soul body was dim.

The two men, who had once disliked each other, had now become brothers in misfortune.

Magistrate Fang formed a spell with his hand and tossed out a handful of translucent Primordial Pearls. The Primordial Pearls struck the "High-hanging Bright Mirror" plaque. The seemingly wooden plaque suddenly rippled like water, and the handful of Primordial Pearls sank into it along the waves.

This was, of course, no ordinary plaque, but a Human Dao Magical Artifact imbued with the aura of the Mountain and River Mirror.

Throughout the Great Zhou World, every "High-hanging Bright Mirror" plaque hung in a Government Office possessed this function, which was primarily used for transmitting messages.

However, because Su Yang was just a small city, the "High-hanging Bright Mirror" in the Su Yang County Magistrate’s Office was a severely nerfed version.

Not only could it transmit a message only once every ten days, but each transmission also required it to consume a substantial amount of Primordial Pearls.

Fang Jintai no longer cared about his image. He caught his breath, his face pale, and waited for quite a while before shakily retrieving a message from the "High-hanging Bright Mirror" plaque.

The message projected down onto a blank sheet of Talisman Paper in his hand. After Fang Jintai finished reading it, he handed it to Liu City God.

"The County Mansion’s Demon Extermination Envoy, Duan Xinghun!"

Liu City God’s voice grew heavy, tinged with a hint of joy and emotion. "This man... I heard he broke through to Divinity Transformation at the beginning of the year. On the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List, he is ranked thirty-seventh among the Human Race!"

Fang Jintai also let out a sigh of relief. "The Dragon Maiden’s whereabouts are unknown, and we don’t know if she’s alive or dead. Su Yang City’s Earth Vein Primordial Qi is leaking severely, and the strange aura at the bottom of Bibo Lake remains. I am powerless to do anything more. We need someone like him to come."

He had just finished speaking when a Government Official reported from outside that most of the citizens who had already left the city were still determined to get far away, and only a small portion who truly couldn’t bear to part with their homes and businesses were willing to return.

Fang Jintai fell silent for a moment and looked at Liu City God.

Liu City God waved his hand dismissively. Fang Jintai scoffed and shot him a glare.

Then he turned back to the Government Official and said, "Send people to persuade them. Tell the citizens that the crisis in the city has now been resolved. The wilderness is not safe, so please ask everyone not to travel blindly at night. Even if they must leave, it would be best to wait until tomorrow, pack their belongings, and travel during the day."

The Government Official received the order but did not leave, a hesitant and troubled expression on his face.

Fang Jintai frowned. "What is it?"

The Government Official quickly replied, "Sir, the Pill Masters from the Demon Refining Platform also say they want to leave the city. We subordinates don’t dare to persuade them. You see..."

Fang Jintai: ...

’Damn it! Whoever wants this job as a Seventh Grade County Magistrate can have it! I quit!’

Of course, ’I quit!’ was just something he said in anger. As the paternal official of this region, holding the Official Seal, he couldn’t just run away from his duties.

Unlike Song Ciwan. She was just a minor odd-jobber, a nobody, so she was naturally free of such burdens and ties.

Especially after the matter with Aunt Zhou had come to a close, Song Ciwan suddenly felt an ultimate sense of relaxation wash over her Divine Soul.

The True Qi within her body became lively and harmonious, as if it had undergone a unique refinement.

In this life, only after seeing suffering could one truly appreciate the value of peaceful times. Only after understanding the daily grind of life could one fully grasp how poetry and distant lands could truly cleanse the soul.

’Why cultivate immortality?’

’What you’re cultivating is clearly the confidence to be untethered from the world!’

The various scriptures and esoteric meanings of the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting flowed through Song Ciwan’s mind as the Insight Technique panel opened.

Song Ciwan:

Age: 15 (Lifespan: 63 years)

Main Cultivation Method: Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting (First Layer, Skilled 1968/10000)

Cultivation Realm: Refining Essence and Transforming Qi (Late-stage Qi Transformation 9999/10000)

She hadn’t even started cultivating yet. Just by walking home, her experience with the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting had naturally shot up, climbing from the previous Skilled Level of 359 points all the way to 1968 points!

No wonder people often said that a moment of epiphany could lead to instant ascension to immortality.

On the path of cultivation, ninety-nine steps were taken through practice, but the crucial final step still required enlightenment.

As for her Cultivation Realm, the increase wasn’t as great this time, only going from 9566 to 9999.

She was stuck at the peak of the Late Stage without breaking through, partly because she had been rushing back using an Escape Technique, and partly because the Spiritual Qi in Su Yang City had become truly thin.

As Song Ciwan circulated her True Qi, she could feel that absorbing Spiritual Qi from the outside world was much more difficult than before. She understood then: during the cataclysm at Bibo Lake, the Dragon Maiden had opened the Earth Vein, and the Demon-slaying General, Tian Junhong, had seized the opportunity to steal a massive amount of Earth Vein Primordial Qi.

As a result, the very foundation of Su Yang City’s Earth Vein had been damaged. The thinning of the Spiritual Qi now was perhaps just the beginning.

’I wonder if it can be repaired in the future?’

As a light breeze brushed past, Song Ciwan wound through streets and alleys, and before long, she was back in Jishan Square.

Jishan Square, normally bustling and chaotic, was now exceptionally desolate and quiet. The roof beams of some houses had collapsed, the doors of others had fallen in. Various odds and ends were scattered across the street, and there were even pots, bowls, and pans smashed on the ground.

She didn’t know which family had dropped them. They must have been fleeing the disaster, unable to carry so many things.

Such is the impermanence of the mortal world. No one ever knows what they will face tomorrow, or even what they will face in the next moment.

Song Ciwan passed through two more streets and finally stopped in front of her own courtyard gate.

The courtyard gate was still fine, not collapsed. It had held up quite well. The courtyard itself was silent, with no sign of movement.

Song Ciwan took a gentle breath, undid the lock, and pushed open the courtyard gate.

With a CREAK, the gate suddenly swung backward.

Immediately after, a gust of wind rushed from behind the gate, followed by a shrill goose honk: "HONK! HONK HONK HONK—"

Snow-white wings started flapping and a proud neck craned upward. The Big White Goose was so excited that even its call had changed, from its usual "GANK GANK" to "HONK HONK."

Song Ciwan had thought she should remain calm and composed, but the Big White Goose’s enthusiasm immediately broke through her composure.

"Big White..." she said.

Before she could finish the sentence, the plump goose had already taken flight and charged into her arms.

Song Ciwan quickly caught the goose. Big White’s wings flapped wildly while its red-crowned head kept nudging into her embrace, its goose-face rubbing against her again and again. Song Ciwan couldn’t hold back any longer and let out a clear, crisp laugh.

She laughed. "Big White, haha! Your... your back feathers haven’t even grown back yet! Can you please stop squirming like that... Hahaha!"

The last time the Big White Goose fought the Lianfei, it had lost quite a few feathers, leaving its back still patchy and not fully recovered.

It hadn’t paid any mind until Song Ciwan mentioned it, but now it was a huge deal. The Big White Goose immediately stretched out its wings, craned its neck back, and tried to peck at the bald spots on its own back with its long beak. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

What a temper! It was truly something else.

Song Ciwan quickly grabbed its flat beak and, with a SWISH, pulled a basket of soybean pulp from the Heaven and Earth Scale. The Big White Goose’s eyes immediately went wide, and its beak stopped pecking.

"GANK!" It struggled with its wings, jumped down from Song Ciwan’s arms, and ran swiftly toward its beloved delicacy.

Seeing it eat with such relish, Song Ciwan went to one side and began to tidy up the courtyard.

Her courtyard gate hadn’t collapsed, but the kitchen had. The clothes-drying rack that had been set up in the courtyard had also collapsed.

There were also some other odds and ends, too numerous to mention.

By the time Song Ciwan finished tidying up, the Big White Goose had also eaten and drunk its fill. Song Ciwan didn’t feel like cooking today, so she took out some previously stored food from the Heaven and Earth Scale to eat.

It was the broken-rice congee she had previously obtained by trading egg-fried rice.

The congee wasn’t filling, and Song Ciwan hadn’t reached the stage of Fasting yet, so she also ate a Strengthening Pill.

After resting up, Song Ciwan played with the Big White Goose for a while. As night fell, she returned to her room to meditate and cultivate.

She regulated her True Qi and consolidated her gains.

This continued until the middle of the night. As soon as Midnight passed, Song Ciwan immediately opened her eyes, summoned the Heaven and Earth Scale, and began the long-awaited first trade of the new day!