Time flies like a white steed flashing past a crevice, and affairs of the world change like floating clouds and white dogs.

Six months passed in the blink of an eye.

Outer Sect Disciple Peak.

Song Yan, inside his Immortal Cave, had a worried look in his eyes.

"Too slow..."

He looked at the scattered pill bottles and damaged, decaying Spirit Gathering Arrays on the floor of his Immortal Cave, sighing softly.

In six months, Song Yan had already Cultivated back to the fourth layer of Qi Refining Realm.

The consumption during this period was astonishingly high.

The speed of re-Cultivating his Realm was even slower than he had imagined.

And this was the speed Song Yan achieved by squandering Cultivation resources without regard for cost.

Not only were the Huang Ya Pills almost completely used up, but to ensure Cultivation efficiency, Song Yan also took one hundred of his one hundred and sixty-odd Spirit Stones to the market to exchange for two Small Spirit Gathering Arrays.

These were not the defective items he had previously found by chance in the Fire Worker Village’s garbage pile.

These were genuinely usable, intact Spirit Gathering Arrays that could be used multiple times, causing him considerable heartache.

Even so, the Cultivation speed of the Sword Dao Seed remained as slow as a crawling turtle, even slower than his original three-Spiritual Root Cultivation speed.

If he hadn’t avoided the detours he took during his previous Cultivation, it would probably take two years this time to reach the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.

He hadn’t even reached the last four layers of the Qi Refining Realm, which are truly difficult to progress through, yet his mind was already somewhat troubled.

This was unavoidable.

"I must acquire a Supreme Spirit Item soon to strengthen the Sword Dao Seed..."

Song Yan was good at being down-to-earth.

Things like Sword Intent and Dao Heart, in his opinion, were ethereal and he never thought about them.

"Alas..."

He sighed softly.

There was still about a year until his appointment with Rong Xiaofeng and Wu Huaguo, which felt like a long time.

What’s more, what if there was no Supreme Spirit Item in that Cultivator’s Immortal Cave, or if he failed to obtain it? Wouldn’t that mean it would still be indefinitely far off?

He had also inquired about Supreme Spirit Items himself, but unfortunately, the information was either baseless or the prices were so exorbitant that he couldn’t afford them.

Song Yan felt a strong, contradictory sense of fatigue growing deep within him.

Having truly experienced the cruelty of the Cultivation World firsthand, he urgently wanted to Cultivate and become stronger, but a sense of helplessness, of having no recourse, also spread through his heart.

While it didn’t lead to despair, it was enough to make his mind chaotic and troubled.

If this continued, a Heart Demon might arise...

Song Yan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

"Forget it. Since there’s no better path to take right now, I’ll just Cultivate step by step and take the opportunity to thoroughly temper my Divine Sense."

After breaking through to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, the Sword Dao Seed in his Zhen Dao Sword Mansion seemed a little fuller than before.

To Song Yan’s surprise, the two-colored stone pearl that he had previously failed to refine with spiritual power could actually be refined with Sword Qi.

After much effort in refining it, Song Yan could now enter the Liangyi Realm within the stone pearl again and see a full seed slowly floating in the center of this black and white world, identical to the one in his Zhen Dao Sword Mansion.

He guessed that this seed probably reflected the state of his Dao Seed.

"But I can already perform inner sight and observe the state of my Dao Seed. In that case, isn’t the Liangyi Realm redundant?"

Song Yan couldn’t understand it.

If he couldn’t understand, he wouldn’t think about it; he was always like that.

He believed that if one’s strength and Realm were insufficient, their insights would naturally be narrow, and no amount of thinking would be useful.

His grandfather had told him that thinking only brought difficulties, while doing brought answers.

There was one more thing, which he wasn’t sure if it counted as good news for the current Song Yan.

After refining the liangyi pearl, some ink-colored runes condensed again within the Realm and imprinted themselves into his mind.

It was the complete Cultivation Technique of the Five Stars Pulse Grasping Skill.

As for why it wasn’t good news for the current Song Yan...

The general outline introduced that this so-called "complete" Cultivation Technique was actually derived from another secret record for Spirit Refining.

However, the original text was profound and complex, obscure and difficult to understand, making it impossible for ordinary Cultivators with mediocre Comprehension Ability to grasp its essence.

Moreover, the basic requirement for Cultivating the original text was the "Golden Core Realm."

When he saw this, Song Yan couldn’t help but laugh out of exasperation.

Heh, Golden Core Realm...

This Five Stars Pulse Grasping Skill was a Cultivation Technique that had been simplified and organized by predecessors.

Although its Cultivation effect was not as good as the original text, it was relatively easy to understand, and its Cultivation threshold was lowered from the Golden Core Realm to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Even so, Song Yan, currently at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, still couldn’t Cultivate it.

He could only continue practicing the original short incantation.

However, it wasn’t without any gains.

Song Yan stood up and left his Immortal Cave.

The complete Five Stars Pulse Grasping Skill mentioned that some Heart-Cultivating Arts could assist in practicing the incantation, strengthening and tempering the intensity of Divine Sense.

"This month’s Heart-Cultivating Art has not yet been completed."

"Since my Cultivation is slow and my mind is troubled, if I were to blindly continue arduous Cultivation now, my state of mind might easily run into problems..."

"It’s just right to go to Wen Dao Gorge to relax."

Walking out from the Outer Sect Disciple Peak, he slowly made his way towards Wen Dao Gorge, which required passing through Entrance Plaza.

It happened that an Outer Sect Deacon Senior Brother was leading a newly initiated Disciple towards Wen Dao Gorge.

Their conversation fell into Song Yan’s ears.

"Senior Brother Zhao, what exactly is this ’Heart-Cultivating Art’?"

The new Disciple asked curiously.

"...That’s a long story."

Senior Brother Zhao pondered for a moment, then asked in return, "Junior Brother, what do you think Cultivating Immortality is?"

"Ah? This... perhaps it’s about improving one’s spiritual power Realm and seeking eternal life."

"Hahahahaha, eternal life indeed..." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Senior Brother Zhao suddenly laughed.

"Indeed, eternal life is the greatest goal of Cultivating Immortality."

"But how can one achieve eternal life? By continuously improving one’s spiritual power Realm? Or by Cultivating the Primordial Spirit, or perhaps by tempering the Physical Body?"

"..."

"All of these are necessary... But even with these, it’s not enough. Eternal life also requires cultivating the heart."

"Cultivating the heart?"

"Precisely," Senior Brother Zhao nodded.

"Looking back at the long river of the Cultivation World’s history, there are probably as many chosen ones with superior Aptitude and endless fortuitous encounters as there are stars in the sky..."

"But those who truly achieve eternal life are as rare as Phoenix feathers and Qilin horns."

"There are far too many people with surging spiritual power, solid Physical Bodies, and condensed Primordial Spirits, yet they remain stuck outside the threshold of a certain Realm for decades, centuries, or even millennia..."

"Among these, some become complacent, trapping themselves, unable to make further progress, and eventually their Lifespan runs out, and they pass away."

"Some develop Heart Demons, their Heart-Nature changes drastically, and they ultimately fall into the Demonic Path, most of whom do not meet a good end."

"Only the extremely few remaining can break through the barriers, Break through the Realm, and seek eternal life."

"The difference among them lies in their Heart-Nature, or rather, their state of mind."

"So that’s how it is."

The new Disciple suddenly understood.

"There are many Cultivation Techniques for Cultivating spiritual power, and quite a few for tempering the Physical Body. Although methods for condensing the mind are rare, they can be obtained by paying a price or through fortuitous encounters. But have you ever heard of any Cultivation Technique that can Cultivate the state of mind?"

"..."

The new Disciple shook his head.

"That’s right. This Heart-Cultivating Art is actually a way to temper one’s state of mind, but it cannot be called a Cultivation Technique, nor a secret art. It can only be considered... an elegant pastime."

"Uh... but actually, for us Disciples with low strength, this Heart-Cultivating Art is truly not of much use."

Senior Brother Zhao suddenly said in a low voice.

"Before condensing the Golden Core, our Cultivation doesn’t encounter any obstacles related to our state of mind. But after all, it’s a rule set by the Sect Master, so we just have to follow it."

"Yes, Senior Brother."