Chapter 512: 384. Promotion to Grade 7, Qualitative Change in Qi!

384. Promotion to Grade 7, Qualitative Change in Qi!

"Yu Yu Lianzhou?"

Inside the carriage, facing the smiling, eyes-closed old man, the usually icy palace-attired young girl felt her small face flush red, her mind drifting as she murmured the words.

A few strands of hair fell across the forehead of this girl, who was recognized as the genius of the Yin-Yang Dao lineage within the Astrological Bureau.

She immediately lowered her head, recording the seven-character quatrain she had just heard into her small notebook.

Following that, she bit her index finger until it bled and drew a sloppy red circle around the two ink characters for "Yu Yu Lianzhou."

In the silent carriage, Rong Zhen breathed slightly heavily.

What had happened in the last incense stick's time was too dazzling; the six zither melodies played during the excursion to Mount Mount Kuanglu were also gone—if missed, they were missed. The old musician would only play them once, depending on her fortune...

It was a bit thrilling.

Even with Rong Zhen's excellent state of mind, she rarely encountered such an urgent and helpless situation.

The exertion was only slightly less than when she faced the sudden scene involving the owner of the Butterfly-Loving-Flower.

Zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting were not her strengths to begin with.

Aside from the calligraphy required for drafting imperial edicts, Rong Zhen had never learned such things while growing up in the Astrological Bureau, in the palace, or by the Emperor's side. These were secondary tasks for court officials and musicians, used to please the Emperor.

And she, in fact, was the one who least needed to deliberately please the Emperor.

On the contrary, it was this cold, frost-like temperament, which did not understand how to navigate human relationships, that the Emperor particularly appreciated and liked.

Yet who would have thought that one day, the matter of cultivation would be linked to such minor arts.

Glancing again at the withered, hunched old musician in front of her, who was resting with his eyes closed, Rong Zhen—who had always looked down on her peers in the palace and even in Shenjing Luoyang regarding cultivation, only showing respect to the monsters in the Mount Mount Zhongnan Daoist temples—felt a sense of frustration rise in her heart.

How did this Sword-Wielder's absolute-vein sword art not follow the rules? It was all about comprehension, with no technique.

At this moment, Rong Zhen suddenly recalled the old musician's praise for Magistrate Ouyang Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan not long ago: that he had great spiritual insight, learned everything quickly, and had a mind that was good at pondering.

Rong Zhen lowered her head to look at the small notebook he had left her, moving her gaze away from the seven-character quatrain she had just written, shifting forward. It was also her handwriting, but only two and a half zither scores; it was far from enough.

Of the six pieces the old musician had played in order, Rong Zhen had only managed to record these.

But in truth, from the moment the first piece ended, Rong Zhen had largely accepted her fate, knowing she couldn't record them all.

Thus, she simply tried her best to write down what she could remember, writing a little more was better than nothing.

Moreover, she wasn't recording this for herself.

Rong Zhen's jade-like hands holding the small notebook tightened slightly on the corner of the page as she lifted the carriage curtain and looked back at the rear of the carriage.

There was no sign of Magistrate Ouyang Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan's carriage; in the distant night, only the dark, towering shadows of the city walls remained.

The carriage she and the old musician were riding in had already passed through the Xicheng Gate; Magistrate Ouyang Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan's carriage must have just stopped at the gate to say goodbye.

In the time Rong Zhen had spent concentrating on the old musician's zither playing, he and his carriage had already vanished.

Rong Zhen suddenly straightened her head and asked:

"Old senior, can you really not play it one more time? This junior... this junior is somewhat dull and truly finds it difficult to record. Could you choose another day to play it once more? Just this once would suffice. It would be even better if you could let... let this junior bring Magistrate Ouyang Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan along."

The old musician shook his head:

"The Dao cannot be lightly transmitted, and the Law cannot be sold cheaply. Sometimes, things obtained quietly and by chance are remembered most deeply; this is called fate."

"Just like how you want to bring the highly insightful and spiritual Magistrate Magistrate Ouyang to listen to this music, yet he was here all along, but tonight, at this very moment, he is not. This is also destined by fate. Why force what is destined to be without fate?"

"Corresponding to fate, there is a term in Buddhism called 'clinging to appearances.' Rong, you little girl, you are clinging to appearances. The more you want something, the harder it is to obtain. On the contrary, if you are indifferent to it, you can obtain everything."

"To want to become a true Sword-Wielder, the very first hurdle—the hurdle at the beginning—is to break the 'appearance' in your heart with one sword. Only by breaking this appearance, by breaking this obsession, can you step into this absolute vein."

"All Sword-Wielders are like this. That predecessor was like this, this old man is like this, and that owner of the Butterfly-Loving-Flower whom you hate so much must also be like this. The moment they became Sword-Wielders, they all—whether through great sorrow, indifference, or great joy—severed the object of obsession in their hearts. If this appearance is not severed, how can one wield the sword?"

"Even if you don't intend to be a Sword-Wielder walking the traditional path like this old man, you still need to pass this hurdle."

"Rong, little girl, this old man is not deliberately making things difficult for you, nor am I intentionally withholding the sword art zither melody of 【Emperor Wen】 that I have already played. It is because I see the urgency and restlessness in your heart beneath your indifferent surface, so I want to wait a little longer, until you no longer cling to appearances."

"However, looking at it now, the opportunity has not yet arrived, and you are not prepared. Playing it again would result in the same outcome. You want to bring Magistrate Ouyang Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan along, thinking you want to prepare more, but how much preparation is called 'fully prepared'?"

"Even if you recorded all six zither melodies, and let this old man or exquisite musicians play them day and night, with the six melodies lingering in your ears, you still wouldn't hear that zither sound from afar."

"On the contrary, the timing when this old man played it just now, on a whim, was just right. It is a pity that no one grasped the opportunity."

"I have said all I can. Rong, little girl, go back and think about it."

The old musician suddenly smiled;

"Of course, if you can petition the Sage in Shenjing Luoyang to issue an imperial decree herself, ordering this old man to play it another hundred times, this old man will comply. The Sage's words must be obeyed. However, that is not what you want."

Rong Zhen was lost in thought.

Not long after, she sent the old musician away.

At the entrance of the Prince Xunyang Grotto, Rong Zhen suddenly turned her head, looking toward the direction of Prince Xunyang City in the distance.

Where is that brat!

Why is he in such a hurry to go back?

Rong Zhen's willow eyebrows stood up as she hugged her wooden zither, clutched her small notebook tightly, and, in her light purple formal attire, charged into the deep night.

In the distance, a bright moon hung quietly over Prince Xunyang City.

The carriage he was sitting in had already turned back toward the city, driving in the direction of Prince Xunyang Tower.

Far away from the Xicheng Gate and the carriages of Rong Zhen, the old musician, and the others.

A-Li was diligently driving the carriage and did not notice the abnormality inside the carriage behind him; at most, he felt that the zither melody that had just echoed through the night was somewhat pleasant to hear...

Magistrate Ouyang Rong had no energy to manage A-Li's driving.

Before leaving the Xicheng Gate, the special tail note he had heard lingered in his ears like an echo in the rafters.

It was a true "lingering echo."

The old musician's zither melody had long since faded.

Yet, Magistrate Ouyang Rong heard an inexplicable zither sound.

It was different from the pieces the old musician had played, yet it seemed familiar; he felt it was exceptionally intimate and familiar, yet he couldn't put his finger on it.

The zither sound continued to echo in his ears.

It seemed to come from afar, yet it was further than afar.

It was like some kind of void that ignored the scales of time and space.

But this zither sound was incomplete; it stopped abruptly somewhere, missing something.

Yes, it was missing.

It was the zither sound of a broken piece.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong felt as if his heart was being tickled, and he licked his dry lips.

Exactly which piece was missing?

He began to rack his brains...

Inside the carriage, Magistrate Ouyang Rong remained motionless, like a statue.

Clearly, his dantian had been reborn, and the spiritual energy in his body had completely renewed from blue to red, yet his brows were tightly locked, his spirit wandering the nine heavens.

The zither sound was so distant that it was impossible to tell if it came from the past, the present, or the future?

Magistrate Ouyang Rong's thoughts chased this zither sound further and further away.

Until a certain moment.

"Click, click, click—!"

Beneath Magistrate Ouyang Rong's buttocks, the zither-shaped sword case in the seat compartment was trembling and making noise.

He woke up instantly, bent down to press the shaking zither case, and then let out a long, turbid breath.

That was close.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong realized afterward.

【Craftsmanship】 had sensed his abnormality; his thoughts had almost been dragged into the void by this sword art similar to a "zither sound," like a traveler lost in the wilderness, perhaps never to return.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong took a deep breath and soothed 【Craftsmanship】.

【Craftsmanship】 in the box immediately became somewhat lively.

The newly transformed red spiritual energy in his body was injected into 【Craftsmanship】, and the little fellow was clearly a bit more excited.

"Grade 7, huh."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong murmured to himself.

He closed his eyes and introspected again.

Feeling the brand-new red spiritual energy, he confirmed without a doubt: it was Grade 7.

But this Grade 7 cultivation base was somewhat strange.

Aside from 【Craftsmanship】 having a new reaction, Magistrate Ouyang Rong vaguely did not sense any other obvious improvements.

Especially on the side of the Fangshi Dao lineage, Magistrate Ouyang Rong tried to mobilize his muscles and other abilities, finding that the improvement was not great; the improvement given by the red spiritual energy was not a leap.

Moreover, no new Grade 7 abilities appeared.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong pondered for a while and roughly figured it out.

This sudden hearing of the sword art and promotion to Grade 7 was not a complete promotion ceremony.

First, regarding the sword art required for the Sword-Wielder Dao lineage promotion.

The zither sound representing the unknown sword art was an incomplete zither piece.

Secondly, the ceremony required for the Fangshi Dao lineage promotion had not been held either.

An incomplete sword art could only be counted as half a sword art, just like when Magistrate Ouyang Rong first comprehended the true meaning of 【Craftsmanship】 and used it to enter Grade 8; he could only enter this grade, but without completing the other half of the sword art, he could not continue to improve his spiritual energy cultivation and would remain fixed at the introductory stage of just entering Grade 8.

As for this time, why he could leap over a ceremony just by relying on the sword art and directly break through the Grade 8 bottleneck to enter the brand-new Grade 7.

It might be related to Magistrate Ouyang Rong having accumulated for too long at the Grade 8 Great Perfection.

Back then, Magistrate Ouyang Rong had reached the Grade 8 Great Perfection by borrowing the benefits of dual cultivation with Sister Xiuniang.

This meant that the dual cultivation of the two could promote each other.

Later, Magistrate Ouyang Rong and Sister Xiuniang had dual cultivated a few more times, but Magistrate Ouyang Rong had remained at the Grade 8 Great Perfection, stuck in front of the Grade 7 door, and the threshold in between had been slow to cross.

But although he was blocked in front of the door, the spiritual energy cultivation accumulated from dual cultivation was like a reservoir, always piling up at the door, blocked by the big gate.

Now, with the help of the incomplete sword art, the big gate between Grade 8 and Grade 7 had opened a crack.

The water in the "reservoir" naturally flowed into it, and Magistrate Ouyang Rong took the opportunity to promote his grade.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was thoughtful.

In addition, although the Grade 7 of the Sword-Wielder Dao lineage had been reached, no new Ding Sword Divine Ability had been comprehended.

This was easy to speculate, because it was not a complete sword art, so how could one learn the Ding Sword Divine Ability?

It was just that the Fangshi Dao lineage had not improved, which was somewhat strange.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong pondered it carefully again, only then suddenly realizing:

The sacrificial ceremony should be a promotion condition for the Fangshi Dao lineage.

He had ignored it before, simply thinking that the sacrificial ceremony only provided surging spiritual energy to help him leap over the realm, and was not sure if it was a hard condition for the Fangshi Dao lineage to promote as well.

Because in the past, he had no other convenient way to refine his spiritual energy cultivation, and every time he broke through the realm, it was by relying on the surging spiritual energy provided by the sacrificial ceremony to break through in one go.

Whether he could break through the realm by relying on normal spiritual energy accumulation had not been tested.

And this time, Magistrate Ouyang Rong had an additional way to refine his cultivation... the complementarity of Yin-Yang intercourse with Sister Xiuniang, which verified this point from the side.

The "spiritual energy reservoir" accumulated from dual cultivation, in the situation where he had not achieved the sacrificial ceremony, directly gave him a push, letting him cross both feet into the Grade 7 door.

In fact, it was not Magistrate Ouyang Rong's fault for not following the rules and practicing spiritual energy steadily; he had two and a half hours of scheduled meditation practice every night, unless there was an emergency.

Ye Ye Weilai occasionally complained that he was too diligent, but if it was only two and a half hours, it was still not enough.

Because the path of cultivation was too competitive to begin with.

Take Junior Sister Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang as an example.

She was the leader among the young Confucian scholars of this generation at the White Deer Grotto Academy and the bright pearl of the Chen Jun Chen Jun Xie Clan; her talent was much higher than Magistrate Ouyang Rong's.

But the time she spent reading and meditating every day was still no less than six hours.

Don't look at how gentle and tolerant Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang was to her Ru Shixiong, but to herself, she was very harsh.

After leaving Longcheng County and arriving in Prince Xunyang City, Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang had been stationed at the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion. In addition to the reason of guarding the safety of the mansion, there was also the reason of meditating.

Even now, with the full help of her Ru Shixiong Magistrate Ouyang Rong, plus the resources of the Confucian Academy and the Five Surnames and Seven Clans, and borrowing the unique guidance of the little Ink Spirit, she had reached the Grade 6 Sage at the age of less than twenty.

But Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang still did not stop at all.

After newly entering Grade 6, even though the heavenly chasm-like Grade 5 was still very far away, she still did not dare to slack off.

Aside from occasionally accompanying Li Su Guoer to poetry gatherings and going to the Huaiye Lane residence every two days to find Aunt Zhen for a meal and "by the way, see" her Ru Shixiong, the time she stayed in the Prince's Mansion was almost entirely devoted to cultivation; she even meditated while sleeping.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong had to be busy with official business, and she didn't follow him much, just taking a little time to run over and check on him within the limits that Magistrate Ouyang Rong didn't resent.

Now that the Great Buddha was about to land, Magistrate Ouyang Rong often went to the Prince Xunyang Grotto, and she didn't follow him to stand guard every time like before...

Anyway, even Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang, who had top-notch talent, had to cultivate like this, which showed the hardship of refining Qi.

Don't look at how good the academic performance of others is; aside from their brains turning faster than yours, they are also super competitive, okay.

Looking back at Magistrate Ouyang Rong, the two and a half hours every day were not enough at all, and he had an ordinary talent constitution; wanting to rely on his own cultivation to break through the realm was simply a pipe dream.

But Magistrate Ouyang Rong was the Magistrate of Jiangzhou, busy with official business, and could not be like Yuan Yuan Huaimin, who could slack off and ask for leave to cultivate specifically.

The two inevitably conflicted.

This was also the reason why many Qi refiners chose to live in seclusion and become people of the mountains; there were no years in the mountains, and they would really get addicted to pure cultivation.

And after stepping into the red dust and getting involved in secular disputes, the cultivation time would inevitably be shortened, unless they encountered a bottleneck and went down the mountain to prove the Dao...

So the difficult sacrificial ceremony and the newly discovered dual cultivation wonderful path.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong used them all.

Detaching from introspection, he summarized it.

His current cultivation base was Grade 7 Sword-Wielder, and he had not yet mastered the new Ding Sword Divine Ability, while the Fangshi Dao lineage also remained at Grade 8; at least in terms of ability, it was similar, and he could not master the new abilities of the Fangshi Dao lineage.

However, it was not a big problem.

Such an incomplete Grade 7 was not without benefits.

Grade 8 to Grade 7 was a big threshold to begin with.

As long as he could cross it, the incomplete Grade 7 that remained at the Grade 7 entry level without moving was also Grade 7!

It was red spiritual energy.

Compared with blue spiritual energy, it was a qualitative change.

It was the huge gap between mid-grade and low-grade.

The ability of the Fangshi Dao lineage might not have improved much.

But the ability of the Sword-Wielder Dao lineage, such as "Return to the Past," "Fate Arising from Emptiness," and other Ding Sword Divine Abilities, under the blessing of the Grade 7 red spiritual energy of the Sword-Wielder Dao lineage, had increased killing power...

A smile appeared on the corner of Magistrate Ouyang Rong's mouth.

An unexpected joy.

Just at this moment.

"Young Master, we have arrived."

A-Li's respectful voice came from outside.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong came back to his senses.

He lifted the carriage curtain and glanced at Prince Xunyang Tower outside.

Yan Beside Yan Liulang was waiting at the entrance, and seeing him arrive, he greeted him vigorously.

"Magistrate."

Yan Beside Yan Liulang jumped down three steps in one step, leaned into Magistrate Ouyang Rong's ear, and lowered his voice:

"Secretary Chen Jun Xie hasn't arrived yet. Women going out need time to dress up. Why don't you go up first?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked at the blue-clothed constable who was blinking at him and nodded gently.

He put away the sword case, tidied his clothes, got off the carriage, and climbed the tower.

—————— ===== CHAPTER 513 =====