Chapter 644: The Heavenly Altar

The tide surges and crashes.

White birds circle, long daring not to land.

A ferocious giant snake lurks in the water, motionless.

The Sea Monk's tentacles coil tight, its peripheral vision sweeping toward the deck.

A tiny human, yet actually on good terms with two Demon Kings.

"Master, what is meant by a Heavenly Altar?"

Liang Qu asks respectfully.

"When a Wu Sheng passes away, they leave behind a true spirit. Depending on its quality, it is processed through special means to become a Heavenly Altar."

Liang Qu raises an eyebrow, unbiddenly associating it with his own Fubo, utilizing the Red Fire Bird's golden feathers to generate spirit.

The remains of the strong truly have great utility.

"Can a Heavenly Altar help people gain enlightenment?"

The Prince of Yue nods, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest.

"To touch upon Heaven-Man Induction, one way is to consume rare treasures of heaven and earth to temporarily elevate your comprehension. However, this method still cannot guarantee success; if your comprehension becomes too high, it may even become an obstacle, elusive and leading to qi deviation. The second way is to let you personally grasp it through the experience of predecessors, borrowing the false to cultivate the true."

Personally grasp it...

Erlang slaying the flood dragon?

Liang Qu ponders.

"Did you play pitch-pot when you were a child?"

"Children of fishing families, how could we have such laborious games? I did, however, play at throwing sandbags."

"Suppose you were a god-tier pitcher by nature, hitting the mark every time without training—could you teach others how to improve their accuracy through words alone?"

"Difficult... Talent is innate; so-called accuracy is mostly muscle memory. It is too hard to teach; one must practice more oneself."

Liang Qu is halfway through his sentence when a flash of inspiration strikes.

The Prince of Yue leans back against the chair, gazing at the water birds.

"Heaven-Man Induction leads to the same destination by different paths, but compared to muscle memory, it involves essence, qi, and spirit, making it even more profound.

It cannot be taught by others' words alone; one must personally experience it once, leaving behind a vague impression, and then one will have a direction when comprehending it oneself.

The function of the Heavenly Altar is to let you rely on the Wu Sheng's true spirit within the altar to experience the Wu Sheng's sense of Heaven-Man Unity.

It is like an outsider descending into your shell to throw sandbags; throw a few more times, remember the feel, and then return to your own shell—you will be able to learn at least thirty percent."

Strange.

They really won't teach it directly.

Liang Qu clicks his tongue.

All beginnings are hard; once there is a breakthrough from zero to one, going from one to two will undoubtedly be much simpler.

"Opening the Heavenly Altar, the cost must be high, right?"

Such a treasure—if it could be used at will, the path from Wolf Smoke to Hunting Tiger, and the opening of the Profound Light for Hunting Tigers, certainly wouldn't be so difficult.

Have you not seen how many people are trapped here?

"Mm, activating the Heavenly Altar once will consume the Wu Sheng's true spirit. To compensate for the loss of the true spirit and extend the Heavenly Altar's lifespan, it requires several portions of a Jiang Zongshi's lingering thoughts, and preferably those who died of old age."

"Why?"

"For those who die of old age, there will be lingering unwillingness but few grievances. If they die a violent death, the intense grievances will pollute the Heavenly Altar and lower its spirituality.

The person sitting at the altar will see 'demonic shadows' before their eyes. Once or twice doesn't matter, as they can still see through it, but if it happens too many times, the 'demonic shadows' will become so heavy that Heaven-Man Induction will be impossible, and the Heavenly Altar will be rendered useless."

"Can practicing evil-warding techniques eliminate them?"

The Prince of Yue glances at Liang Qu and shakes his head.

"No. Eliminating evil thoughts means eliminating the true spirit; the two are one and the same. I know you have evil-warding techniques and have cultivated them well. In the territory of a prefecture or province, they are indeed rare, and having what others lack is strength. But looking at the world, there are quite a few similar techniques. If they could be used, the Imperial Court would have used them long ago. At most, when sitting at the altar, they can help you resist the intrusion of 'demonic shadows' and extend your time at the altar."

"In that case, is it the same for Martial Saints?" Liang Qu draws inferences. "Martial Saints full of grievances cannot be used as Heavenly Altars?"

"Correct."

The conditions are harsh indeed.

Grandmasters forcibly slaughtered cannot be used.

Grandmasters naturally die of old age, at least three hundred years, and others won't contribute them without reason. Taking them out is like feed; they are purely consumable items.

Great demons can still be forged into spirit weapons; the remains of Grandmasters naturally have even greater uses.

Such a heavy treasure...

"Master, will the Imperial Court really let me use it?"

"No matter what the object is, it is created to be used. It has value when used in the right place; it doesn't matter if it's consumed or not. Your ability to break our dynasty's record is far more significant than the consumption of a few Grandmasters' remains. After all, remains are just remains."

Comfortable!

Liang Qu gazes out at the Jianghuai.

The giant snake crawls beneath his feet.

The world is vast, and there is much to be done.

The House Steward Zhang Xu bows to offer congratulations.

"Congratulations, Young Master Liang. With the help of the Heavenly Altar, Young Master Liang will surely become the youngest Great Martial Artist of the Great Shun!"

"I accept your auspicious words, Steward Zhang! Master, since there is a Heavenly Altar, what should I do with the remaining time? Continue capturing spirit light?"

With a Heavenly Altar to sit at, Liang Qu always feels that capturing spirit light by himself is too much of a loss.

The spirit light he captures himself is only an incomplete version; how could it be as good as the complete Heaven-Man Induction comprehended while sitting at the altar?

Experiencing it once is far more than just capturing spirit light; it also has immense benefits for opening the Profound Light in the future.

The Prince of Yue ponders for a moment.

"Play."

"Play?"

"Mm, flowers planted with intent may not bloom, while a willow branch planted unintentionally may grow into shade. Spirit light, spirit light—it appears when reading, when climbing mountains, when bathing, even when using the latrine, but it is hard to find when sitting cross-legged in meditation, racking one's brains."

"If you don't enter Hunting Tiger, no matter how many precious medicines, precious plants, or great elixirs you consume now, the medicinal power cannot be stored; nine out of ten will be wasted. It is better to cast it to the back of your mind and quietly wait for news from the Imperial Court; everything will fall into place."

"Thank you for your guidance, Master!"

With a dignified Wu Sheng giving such advice, Liang Qu has no reason not to follow it, and he casts all psychological burdens to the back of his mind.

A month early, two months late—it all breaks the record. Right now, it's just like the two months between receiving the notification after the college entrance exam and starting school!

Thanks to the giant snake.

Liang Qu shifts his gaze downward.

The Red Scale, Blue Hui, and other snakes all lower their heads.

Without the massive supply of materials from the snake tribe, it's hard to say if the Heavenly Bridge could be perfected within this year.

The tide crashes against the shore.

Supplies are moved off the Flowing Light Boat, replenishing the exhausted and dried-up stream with a great river.

Before the river runs dry, a new great river is injected, and both banks regain their vitality.

Midnight.

The River-Lake Office is brightly lit, and over ten ships dock.

Su Guishan and Weng Lijun finally arrive with the fleet.

Since learning that the sea merchants were coming, the two Grandmasters came out in person; Liang Qu didn't even have time to give away the squid eggs he got from the toad.

Seeing the two great demons arrive with the fleet, the Sea Monk, familiar with the routine, moves out of the merchant fleet's center to warmly entertain them.

After Su Guishan and the Sea Monk finish communicating, Liang Qu hurriedly steps forward to offer the squid eggs.

"What is this?"

Su Guishan pinches the translucent fish roe and brings it close to sniff.

An extremely intense, exotic fragrance that makes one drool.

"Diamond Squid eggs. The Frog King only got five strips after trading over a dozen great demon ribs. I was lucky, got a few from one strip, couldn't bear to eat much, saved them all for Uncle."

Su Guishan scans him with his gaze.

"You and the Frog King have a pretty good relationship, eh?"

"Heh, just average."

"Eat them raw?"

"Eat them raw, they're clean. I soaked them in ice water as soon as I brought them back, they definitely haven't spoiled."

Su Guishan isn't worried about poison; he takes a bite, and the rich juices explode.

Hmm?

Liang Qu sees with his own eyes a flash of light erupting in Su Guishan's pupils.

It's working!

"What does Uncle think?"

"Not bad." Su Guishan's expression is calm.

"Uncle, do you remember..."

"Heh, would I go back on my word?" Su Guishan sneers and takes off his waist token. "I'm happy with the food, I'll trade you for a portion of precious plants. There's a Two-Life Flower in the third ship, go get it yourself."

"Got it! Uncle, please take your time savoring it."

(End of chapter)