Chapter 68: Cultivating the Path, Cultivating the Heart

Shan Ling eagerly began learning the Somersault Cloud, while Hua Changxi quickly took out paper and brush from the Shennong Cauldron and started transcribing the *Nine-Turn Mysterious Art*, the *Method of Heaven's Likeness and Earth's Form*, and the *Somersault Cloud*.

The *Nine-Turn Mysterious Art* is a body-refining technique capable of cultivating the physical form to the realm of Deities.

The *Method of Heaven's Likeness and Earth's Form* is a divine ability with a high cultivation threshold; it requires a cultivator to practice both body and spirit techniques before it can be unleashed.

The *Somersault Cloud* is a spell for riding clouds and mist, considered the easiest to master.

After finishing the transcription, Hua Changxi returned the paper and brush to the Shennong Cauldron, then walked to the stone cave entrance to look outside. Not seeing the white-robed Daoist priest, she felt no particular joy.

Shan Ling had said that the old Daoist had been searching for him within Mount Wuzhi for several months; clearly, the old Daoist was determined to capture Shan Ling at all costs.

With the aura of the Monkey King present inside the stone cave, the old Daoist dared not easily step inside.

If he could not enter the cave to seize them, his only option was to wait for them to emerge.

If she were the old Daoist, she would find a place to hide outside the cave, waiting for them to come out voluntarily, then capture them all in one net.

Hua Changxi recalled the fluctuations of spiritual energy the old Daoist emitted while pursuing her and Shan Ling; they were extremely powerful. The old Daoist's cultivation realm was absolutely one major realm higher than hers.

In a direct confrontation, she would definitely not be his match.

Hua Changxi turned back into the cave and, alongside Shan Ling, began learning the Somersault Cloud.

One somersault covers one hundred and eight thousand li...

If the speed was truly that fast, they would have no worry about escaping the old Daoist.

"Fairy, your movement is wrong; you must jump like this..."

Shan Ling's body was agile, making learning the Somersault Cloud quite easy for him.

With just a flip of Shan Ling's body, clouds condensed beneath his feet, and he stepped onto them, flying wildly all around the stone cave.

Watching this, Hua Changxi felt intense envy; following the steps depicted in the patterns carved on the cave walls and guided by Shan Ling's instructions, she practiced again and again.

After more than half a day, when Hua Changxi leaped into the air, clouds could rapidly condense beneath her feet as well.

Standing on the soft, cotton-like clouds and hovering in mid-air, Hua Changxi found the sensation novel, completely different from her previous practice of lightness skills.

When martial artists practice lightness skills, no matter how skilled they become, they always require a point of leverage.

Without a point of leverage, no matter how profound one's internal energy, it is impossible to float in mid-air as she was doing now.

Just as jumping off a cliff requires a martial artist to use the cliff face for leverage, now that she had learned the Somersault Cloud, she could step on the clouds and drift down comfortably.

"Ah~"

Just as Hua Changxi was rejoicing over mastering another practical spell, her footing suddenly became unstable.

The originally thick clouds gradually faded, their bearing capacity insufficient; Hua Changxi, standing atop them, fell straight down, crashing onto the ground with a loud 'bang'.

Seeing this, Shan Ling immediately clutched his belly and burst into hearty laughter.

Hua Changxi glared at him, then looked outside the cave; seeing that night had fallen, she took out several Fire Spirit Stones and lit a circle of fire. Once the stone cave was illuminated, she retrieved some dried rations and spirit fruits from the Shennong Cauldron.

Upon seeing the food, Shan Ling immediately scurried eagerly to Hua Changxi's side.

"You still need to eat?"

"I can eat or not eat; it's just that absorbing spiritual energy is too bland. I prefer the spirit fruits and spirit plants in the mountains—sour, sweet, astringent, and bitter—they have real flavor."

"You even know what flavor is?"

"Of course I do. I also must cultivate. The inheritance I received tells me that cultivation isn't just about absorbing spiritual energy; one must experience the myriad states of the world, witness the changing seas and mulberry fields, watch the clouds roll and unfurl; otherwise, one's cultivation will stagnate."

Hua Changxi watched Shan Ling, who was happily gnawing on a spirit fruit, and fell into thoughtful silence.

After advancing to the Golden Core realm, her cultivation had stopped increasing despite solely absorbing spiritual energy; this situation was remarkably similar to what Shan Ling had just described.

"Then do you eat demonic beasts?"

"I haven't tried them yet. I've seen demonic beasts killed in battle, all bloody and gory; I don't like that. However, I've watched those cultivators outside kill demonic beasts, roast them, and they smelled delicious, looking very tasty."

"Fairy, do you want to eat roasted demonic beast? If you do, once we escape that scruffy old Daoist, you can hunt one to roast, and I'll help you eat just a little bit. How about that?"

"No deal. You kill it and you roast it; perhaps I might deign to eat a little."

"But I don't know how..."

"If you don't know how, then don't eat."

"But I want to eat! Doesn't the Fairy want to eat?"

"Even if you want to, endure it."

"If you want to eat, you must eat; you must satisfy yourself. Fairy, you are too hard on yourself."

Hua Changxi silently looked at the chubby child before her who was egging her on to kill a demonic beast: "You are quite skilled at using reverse psychology."

Shan Ling blinked his large, innocent eyes: "I'm speaking the truth. Cultivation is the cultivation of the heart; if you suppress your heart at every turn, how can you cultivate your heart?"

These words stunned Hua Changxi; she looked at the small chubby child before her with great surprise: "Did your inheritance tell you all this?"

Shan Ling nodded: "Yes."

Hua Changxi stuffed a pile of spirit fruits into Shan Ling's hands, letting him eat, while she ate as well, lost in thought.

Cultivation is the cultivation of the heart; one cannot suppress one's heart, otherwise one cannot cultivate the heart. Does this mean one should act according to one's heart in all things?

After eating, Shan Ling began to yawn: "Fairy, I'm sleepy."

Hua Changxi took out a blanket and spread it on the ground: "Sleep on this."

Shan Ling walked over curiously and lay down; previously, he would just find any spot in the mountains to sleep, this was the first time he had slept like this.

Hua Changxi took another, smaller blanket and covered his little belly: "Sleep now."

"Fairy, aren't you sleeping yet?"

"I'll practice the Somersault Cloud a while longer. We cannot stay inside this stone cave forever without going out; once we have mastered the Somersault Cloud, that old Daoist won't be able to catch us."

The stone cave soon fell silent; Shan Ling fell asleep, while Hua Changxi continued practicing the Somersault Cloud again and again.

At first, the clouds Hua Changxi condensed were not solid enough and could not be maintained for long.

Once she figured out that problem, she encountered trouble again when trying to control the clouds for flight.

"Bang, bang, bang~"

Due to improper control, whenever Hua Changxi flew on the cloud, she would occasionally crash into the stone walls, leaving her grimacing in pain.

Just as Hua Changxi stumbled along practicing flight on her cloud, a night passed.

Sunlight streamed in through the cave entrance; the Mountain Spirit rubbed its eyes awake, looked around the stone cave, and upon failing to see Hua Changxi, assumed she had abandoned it and fled. Immediately, its eyes turned red, its little mouth puckered, and it began to cry.

"Fairy..."

In the exact center of the stone cave's ceiling, there was a small opening, yet it was covered by something.

It was just as Hua Changxi was examining what covered the opening that she heard the Mountain Spirit's wails rising from below: "Fat Child, you're awake; I'm up here."

Hearing Hua Changxi's voice, the Mountain Spirit hastily looked up, tears still dangling in its eyes. Seeing that Hua Changxi had not left but was instead hovering on her cloud at the very top of the cave, it quickly wiped away its tears and swiftly rode its own cloud up to join her.

Seeing the Mountain Spirit arrive, Hua Changxi immediately pointed at the opening and said, "Fat Child, doesn't that thing blocking the opening look like a hand?"

Receiving no answer from the Mountain Spirit, Hua Changxi couldn't help but look at it, only to find it trembling violently. "What's wrong with you?"

The Mountain Spirit grabbed Hua Changxi and flew down rapidly; only after landing did it speak with a quivering voice: "That is a Buddha Hand! It is the Buddha Hand that suppressed the Monkey King, ensuring he could never escape this stone cave."