Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 684: Transcendence and Omniscience

At Heaven’s Gate Peak, the exquisite, mellifluous notes of a qin drifted elegantly, like a babbling brook flowing by one’s ears. It was ethereal and light, as if floating amidst soft clouds. An indescribable sense of comfort permeated every meridian.

Lu Yang lay lazily in the grass, hands behind his head, and a blade of foxtail grass between his teeth. Listening to Gan Tian’s qin melody, he felt the fatigue from his trip to Chunjiang City nearly vanish. While listening, he picked a lotus seed from a plate and tossed it into his mouth.

A connoisseur would recognize these as lotus seeds from the Twin Lotus Flower. The Twins River’s surface was covered with them, and Lu Yang had picked several lotus seed heads before leaving.

Gan Tian was truly a cultivator proficient in music. Lu Yang had no expertise in this area and couldn’t distinguish the five notes of the Chinese pentatonic scale,[1] but from a layman’s perspective, it sounded wonderfully soothing.

“Senior Sister, what is the name of this melody you’re playing?”

Gan Tian smoothed her hand over the qin strings, and the music faded, the surroundings returning to silence. “This is an ancient melody bestowed upon me by Senior Lianyi. It’s called Phoenix Rests by the Brook. Senior composed it when she was resting by a stream and felt inspired.”

Jiang Lianyi used a jade flute as her weapon and was unmatched in the domain of music. Even the Everlasting Immortal Fairy, who competed for first in everything, had to concede defeat.

“Senior Sister, how did you become our shifu’s disciple back then?” Lu Yang asked curiously.

Gan Tian sighed, which was rare for her. “My parents were only Golden Core cultivators and didn’t know much about our sect. The entrance trials back then were organized by our shifu. He saw my exceptional talent and wanted to take me as his disciple.

“At the time, I didn’t know what kind of person our shifu was, only that he was the sect leader. Since the sect leader wanted me as his disciple, I was naturally willing.

“Who would have thought... after just two lessons, the teaching location changed.”

“Where did it change to?”

“The prison. At that time, Big Senior Sister was in seclusion, and Second Senior Brother had entered the Buddhist Kingdom. I could only attend lessons with our shifu during visiting hours in prison. Studying was truly arduous. The prisoners back then praised me for being a filial daughter.

“Fortunately, Big Senior Sister emerged from seclusion later, and the learning environment improved significantly.”

“Did Big Senior Sister teach you?”

Gan Tian shook her head. “Big Senior Sister acted as a guarantor and fished Shifu out of prison. She isn’t adept at music and couldn’t teach me.”

“Our shifu knows music too?”

“Yes, and at a higher level than mine. He could sing while plucking his sword. His voice varied greatly and could even imitate various instruments. I heard he developed this skill when performing pingshu performances in his youth, telling stories while playing accompaniment to liven things up.”

Lu Yang didn’t expect his shifu’s abilities to be so extensive.

Gan Tian resumed playing, and Lu Yang enjoyed the music until a discordant voice disrupted his peaceful mental state.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy snorted coldly, feeling that Lu Yang underestimated her. “Who says this immortal doesn’t know music? My repertoire invigorates the spirit.”

“Immortal Fairy, thou know music too? I’ve never heard thee play though?” Considering the Everlasting Immortal Fairy had just found the Twins River and was in high spirits, Lu Yang temporarily showed her more respect, switching from “you” to the honorific “thee” and “thou.”[2]

“A mere Nascent Soul cultivator like you isn’t qualified to listen to this immortal’s music. When I perform, no immortal artifacts are used. The rhythms of Dao serve as strings, shaking heaven and earth, resonating with the Great Dao, imposing and unparalleled through the ages. Anyone who hears it will tremble with excitement.”

Lu Yang grew even more curious. “Then how do you perform?”

“Self-detonation.”

“...No wonder they tremble.

“Speaking of which, Immortal Fairy, didn’t you have time to self-detonate when you were assassinated?”

Given the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s nature, her first reaction should have been self-detonation—capable of injuring the attacker and preserving her life.

“Now that you mention it, you have a point. Why didn’t this immortal self-detonate?”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy frowned, trying to recall the events, but it remained a blur. Was it due to the mastermind’s tricks, or was my condition off then?

“Damn it! If nothing had happened to this immortal, I would have already broken through beyond the level of immortals! The Nine-Layers Immortal was the first immortal; it’s my turn to be the first for once.”

Hearing this topic, Lu Yang perked up, forgetting to eat the lotus seed at his lips. “Are you referring to what you mentioned before—about severing all karma to advance a step further in cultivation and reach the realm beyond immortals?”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy rolled her eyes. “That’s the theory from the Nine-Layers Immortal and the others. What I advocate is that the more the karma, the higher the cultivation, thereby enabling breakthroughs.

“According to their theory, the realm beyond immortals is called ‘Transcendence’—untouched by all karma and surpassing all existence.

“According to this immortal’s theory, the realm beyond immortals is called ‘Omniscience’—connected to all things in the world, achieving omniscience and omnipotence. It perfectly matches my intelligence and capabilities!”

Lu Yang sized up the Everlasting Immortal Fairy. After returning to the Dao-Seeking Sect, the Mahavira Hall in his mental space had vanished, reverting to a plain room. As the Everlasting Immortal Fairy explained the realm above immortals, she was rolling around, her hair disheveled, her clothes unkempt, while giggling loudly. It’s hard to associate her current appearance with terms such as “intelligent” or “omniscient.”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy grabbed her little feet, then bolted upright into a cross-legged position, swaying like a roly-poly toy. “If only my cultivation insights were still around; maybe reading them would help me recall what happened back then.

“By the way, I suggest you take that plate and run far away. You might save the lotus seeds that way,” the Everlasting Immortal Fairy suddenly said.

Lu Yang froze. “What do you mean?”

The qin music stopped, and Gan Tian suddenly said to Lu Yang, “Little Junior Brother, quickly leave this area. Your senior sister is about to break through.”

As she spoke, dark clouds gathered above Heaven’s Gate Peak, and faint sounds of thunder rumbled.

Lu Yang immediately reacted. Third Senior Sister is breaking through the Void Refinement Stage. This is the tribulation lightning she attracted!

After the Nascent Soul Stage, every breakthrough at subsequent realms would attract lightning tribulations. This was a rule established by the Heaven Mandate Immortal!

Run!

Without another word, Lu Yang sprinted down the mountain, not even bothering about the lotus seeds on the plate.

Having just seen the Immortals’ Quotes, he now feared encountering lightning tribulations the most!

Lu Yang ran fast, but the Unbeatable Nascent Soul was faster, overtaking him in the blink of an eye.

Lu Yang, “...”

When the Unbeatable Nascent Soul reached the foot of the mountain and stopped fleeing, Lu Yang also halted in his tracks. This means the Unbeatable Nascent Soul deems this the safest spot.

“Why the sudden breakthrough?”

“It’s not exactly sudden. This lass was playing Phoenix Rests by the Brook given by Lianyi. Unlike this immortal’s self-detonation, this is a melody that calms one’s mental state. The Void Refinement Stage fluctuates, and this music is perfect for stabilizing one’s realm. Along with her originally being on the verge of a breakthrough, it’s logical that it’s happening now.”

1. This is the pentatonic scale used in ancient Chinese music. The notes are gong, shang, jue, zheng, yu, which roughly correspond to the western do, re, mi, sol, la. There are more nuances to this, so those who are interested in music can definitely look up the musicology! ☜

2. As you might have already guessed from the context, but there are two versions of “you” in Chinese. Normally, people use “你”, which is why the Chinese greeting you’ve heard is probably “nihao.” However, in formal situations or when you are speaking to a person of a higher status (e.g., age, seniority, position) or simply trying to be polite (i.e. with clients/customers), people would use “您” instead, or “nin.” There are other languages with a similar system too. ☜