Chapter 251: Chapter 247: If One Is Not Human, Why Become an Immortal?
After work that day, Song Ciwan traded in the Malice she had collected and saw that her total Lifespan had just reached 4,669 years!
With fewer Demon Fiends around recently, there was less Malice to collect, and the growth of Song Ciwan’s Lifespan had begun to slow.
Previously, going from over one thousand years to over four thousand had taken only about ten days—a period so brief it felt like it had passed in the blink of an eye.
But now, getting from over four thousand to five thousand was looking to be a much longer process.
Of course, Song Ciwan would never wish for more Demon Fiends in the Washing Room just for the sake of rapidly increasing her Lifespan.
Aside from the farmed Low Level Demon Beasts, the presence of any other Demon Fiend often meant suffering for mortals.
Song Ciwan knew that this suffering had nothing to do with her, but she wouldn’t go so far as to wish for more of it just to satisfy her own desires.
If she did, she wouldn’t be cultivating the path of an Immortal, but the Demon Dao.
What was an Immortal?
In Song Ciwan’s view, to become an Immortal, one must first be a proper Human. If one abandoned their humanity, what was the point of becoming an Immortal at all?
Song Ciwan left the Washing Room in her guise as Mu Dalang, found an empty corner to switch to her Xin Mian identity, and then headed for Sanpo Street.
Sanpo Street was another one of Pinglan City’s gathering spots for Cultivators, though the crowd that congregated there was a rather mixed bag.
There were Loose Cultivators, and quite a few of them, as well as various Cultivators from small clans, minor Sects, and other small-time factions. It was a melting pot of all sorts, and a great place for Cultivators to spend their money.
Song Ciwan visited Sanpo Street every so often. She enjoyed strolling past the various stalls and loved to stand silently in an unnoticed corner, using the Qimen Taoist Skill, A Grain of Sand in the Sea, to reduce her presence. Then, she would eavesdrop on the local Cultivators as they passionately debated everything under the sun.
Through this method, she gradually filled her own knowledge base, and her understanding of this world grew little by little.
Recently, Song Ciwan had discovered another benefit: as her understanding of the world grew and her knowledge base expanded, her efficiency in practicing the Great Derivation Birth Skill surprisingly increased. The difficulty also seemed to have subtly decreased.
After some thought and comparison, Song Ciwan came to a conclusion: perhaps the Great Derivation Birth Skill was never meant to be practiced in isolation.
Even if the art of derivation was used to divine her own fate, it still had to be connected to all things in the world.
After all, Song Ciwan didn’t live in a vacuum. She was in this world, a part of this world!
’So, what is Great Derivation?’
’Great Derivation is the infinite transformations of this world. Increasing one’s understanding of the world is the true path to cultivating the Great Derivation Birth Skill.’
Song Ciwan had a vague epiphany. The Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting seemed to call for transcendence from the world, while the Great Derivation Birth Skill seemed to require engagement with it. Did that mean the two Cultivation Techniques had to be in opposition?
No. In all the world, any opposition is relative. Where there is opposition, there must also be unity.
Transcendence is not true transcendence, and engagement is not true engagement. As for the balance between them, how to truly master it, how to seek it—that was something Song Ciwan would have to experience, comprehend, explore, and cultivate for herself on the long road of her Cultivation.
One day, she would have her own answer.
On her Insight Technique panel, Song Ciwan’s experience in the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting had risen again. The Great Derivation Birth Skill had also officially crossed the 200-point experience mark, up from (Skilled 190/1000), and was still growing slowly but steadily.
As Song Ciwan walked through Sanpo Street, she got an earful of gossip about Chi Hua Fairy.
One person said, "I heard that when Chi Hua Fairy was destroying the demon lair on Henglian Mountain, she accidentally discovered a Secret Realm from five thousand years ago! That’s why she’s trapped inside and can’t get out. Qionghua Pavilion says they’re looking for her, but are they really just looking for a person? They’re obviously looking for that Secret Realm!"
Another person scoffed, "What Secret Realm? Are Secret Realms so easy to find? Five thousand years ago? Why not just say ten thousand? The way I see it, Chi Hua Fairy killed too many demons in the past, and now she’s been captured by a Great Demon from the Demon Race! Tsk, tsk, her odds don’t look good. No wonder Qionghua Pavilion is in such a hurry to post a reward."
Yet another person chimed in, "What Great Demon? It was an Evil Cultivator who used to pursue Chi Hua Fairy. He fell into the Demon Dao, and his love turned to hate, so he abducted her by force! Qionghua Pavilion can’t afford that kind of embarrassment, so they’re keeping the news under wraps... Ah! OUCH!"
The gossiping man suddenly cried out in pain and fell flat on the ground with a THUD.
It turned out a Female Cultivator passing by had heard his slander. She immediately stretched out a hand, using earth-element Magic to form a palm out of mud, and gave the man a vicious slap.
The fallen Cultivator was utterly humiliated. He lifted his head, about to spit threats, but the Female Cultivator waved her hand, and the mud palm dissolved. The crumbling dirt and dust rained down on him as she snorted, "You dare to spread rumors about Chi Hua Fairy? Do you really think Qionghua Pavilion has no one to stand up for her?"
"You—you’re a disciple of Qionghua Pavilion!" the fallen Cultivator exclaimed in shock, clutching his face.
The Female Cultivator jutted out her chin and snorted. "As long as you understand. Watch your mouth from now on. Now, scram!"
The fallen Cultivator didn’t dare say another word. He scrambled up from the ground and, fittingly covered in dust, scurried away in disgrace.
In reality, this female Cultivator was no disciple of Qionghua Pavilion.
Song Ciwan recognized her. It was none other than Yu Miaomiao, the Qi Refining Cultivator who had experienced the Inverted Deceit Realm with her!
Yu Miaomiao’s Yu Clan was considered a mid-tier Cultivator clan in Pinglan City, and they even had a Divinity Transformation Expert. But to compare the Yu Family to Qionghua Pavilion? There was simply no comparison.
Yu Miaomiao was clearly just borrowing Qionghua Pavilion’s fearsome reputation to build up her own.
After scaring off the Cultivator, Yu Miaomiao looked very pleased with herself.
Her eyes darted around, sweeping past Song Ciwan, who was standing nearby, several times. But due to the influence of A Grain of Sand in the Sea, she unconsciously overlooked her.
It wasn’t until Song Ciwan, on a whim, suddenly deactivated A Grain of Sand in the Sea that Yu Miaomiao finally noticed her presence.
At that moment, Song Ciwan was in her guise as Xin Mian. Yu Miaomiao’s face lit up with surprise. "Daoist Xin!"
She strode quickly toward Song Ciwan as if her feet were carried by the wind, her expression a mixture of dazed joy, like one who unexpectedly runs into an old friend far from home.
It hadn’t even been that long since she and "Xin Mian" had parted ways. And it wasn’t as if they had a deep friendship to begin with—calling it a friendship was stretching the truth. They were merely strangers who had met by chance, the kind of acquaintances you forget a moment after you part ways. It was practically no relationship at all.
But even so, perhaps because they had endured hardship together, Yu Miaomiao felt a special sense of warmth as she looked at "Xin Mian."
Song Ciwan cupped her hands in greeting. "Daoist Yu."
Yu Miaomiao chirped, "Daoist Xin, are you here in Sanpo Street to buy supplies? Are you also planning to go look for Chi Hua Fairy outside the city?"
Comments