"The other Sects don’t have such strict regulations, it’s only us here."

"I heard it was a rule set by the Sect Master when the Sect was first established, but I don’t know why."

Song Yan listened, and these words, Lin Qing had also told him when he first joined the Sect.

"Our Cave Abyss Sect has the Ten Arts of Cultivating the Mind."

"Although the ’Ten Arts’ are called ten arts, they are actually not just ten types of skills. The number ten is both the sum of the ten most common skills and a general term for all ’heterodox paths’ in this world."

Wen Dao Gorge was already visible in the distance.

The Ten Arts of Cave Abyss Sect are zither, Go, calligraphy, painting, archery, arithmetic, flowers, wine, food, and tea.

In the Cultivation World, there are many others, such as carving, herbalism, forging, and even farming, poetry, and meditation.

"Meditation?"

The new Disciple asked in confusion.

"Actually, it’s just... spacing out."

"...?"

"These skills don’t offer any substantial help to Cultivation; they are merely elegant pastimes for self-cultivation.

So Junior Brother, you must be careful to grasp the right measure. After all, neither you nor I are heaven-blessed prodigies with exceptional Aptitude, so there’s no need to think that far ahead. On normal days, just completing the Sect’s tasks will suffice."

"Yes, Senior Brother, I’ve noted it down."

Upon arriving at Wen Dao Gorge, Song Yan parted ways with them, taking a different path.

Before going to Jiran Valley, he always felt it was a waste of time, always picking the closest Mind Cultivation Institute to complete tasks.

Later, after learning from the Five Stars Pulse Grasping Skill that Go and calligraphy could aid in cultivating Divine Sense strength, he consistently chose to play Go against others.

In fact, Song Yan knew a little about Go even before he began Cultivating in Cave Abyss Sect.

When he was in Shiliang Town, during his childhood, he studied and wrote. Mr. He, his private tutor, could play Go, and his grandfather also played. Occasionally, Mr. He would come to play against his grandfather.

Song Yan, influenced by what he saw and heard, understood a bit of the basics.

However...

Song Yan felt mentally exhausted today and did not plan to play Go, as it took too long.

The Mind Cultivation Institute for Go is called Yitian Institute, and the Disciples there have a saying...

Once you enter Yitian Institute, you play Go all day.

Go is something that’s easy to get lost in, delaying one’s Cultivation.

For Song Yan, painting was too difficult; drawing strange and bizarre things would harm his state of mind.

It was better to practice calligraphy for self-cultivation.

Modao Courtyard was next to Danqing Institute.

The ten Mind Cultivation Institutes were all built on both banks of Wen Dao Gorge.

It is said that when the Sect Master of Cave Abyss Sect first arrived at this place, he was touring by the Lingyuan Marsh.

Upon reaching Wen Dao Gorge, he had an Epiphany, achieved a Realm Breakthrough, and named the place Wen Dao Gorge.

Furthermore, the Spiritual Qi here was already abundant, and now many Disciples and Elders Cultivate and comprehend the Dao on both banks of this place, seeking a Breakthrough.

Modao Courtyard was on the north bank of Wen Dao Gorge.

Before stepping into Modao Courtyard, Song Yan vaguely heard someone lecturing from the Danqing Institute across the way...

"...Now, some Cultivators believe that these mind-cultivating arts are a waste of time and hinder Cultivation."

Many Elders in the Sect, being advanced in age and unable to further their Cultivation, yet fond of the mind-cultivating arts, often lectured and taught in the various Mind Cultivation Institutes.

"In this old man’s opinion, these people fail to achieve the Great Dao purely because of their mediocre Aptitude and lack of fortuitous encounters."

"To blame the mind-cultivating arts for their inability to achieve the Great Dao is truly laughable."

"Little do they know..."

"In this Cultivation World, how many powerful Old Ancestors have integrated their understanding of the Great Dao into the mind-cultivating arts, embedding them within Go manuals and paintings..."

Song Yan stood outside the courtyard, listening with interest for a moment.

According to this Elder, the mind-cultivating arts are mostly studied by powerful Cultivators with profound Realms who encounter a Bottleneck and cannot achieve a Breakthrough for hundreds or thousands of years.

Such Immortal Masters and Great Sages, spending time and energy that could have been used for Cultivation to create paintings and record Go manuals...

Naturally, they are imbued with Dao rhyme and possess unexpected miraculous effects.

"..."

At first glance, it seemed to make some sense.

But upon closer thought, what did this have to do with ordinary Disciples like them, for whom Foundation Establishment was still a distant dream?

Could those genuine artifacts left by the so-called Dao Ancestors and Immortal Lords be casually obtained by ants like them...

Shaking his head, Song Yan turned and walked towards the Modao Courtyard.

It was normal for the various Mind Cultivation Institutes not to have Elders lecturing, just like the Modao Courtyard before him.

Unlike the crisp sounds of Go pieces in Yitian Institute, the Disciples here usually came silently, quietly completed their assigned tasks, and then left silently.

In the center of a few rooms in the courtyard, a Disciple sat in the courtyard holding a brush, practicing calligraphy, with some unfinished talismans placed beside him.

This was the Modao Courtyard’s attendant Disciple for the current month.

This position was primarily responsible for managing and selecting the content for the month’s calligraphy mind-cultivation.

It was leisurely and also came with an extra Spirit Stone allowance.

Song Yan used to envy such miscellaneous tasks, but this position required the person to have a certain level of proficiency in the corresponding mind-cultivating art to be assigned.

Being mediocre at everything, he naturally didn’t have this fortune.

He randomly found a spot and sat down. In front of him was an exquisite calligraphy copybook, along with the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—the four treasures of the study—for tracing.

"Quick Snow, Clear Sky Post."

"The one this Senior Brother chose is truly fitting."

On the sixteenth day of the twelfth month, it happened to be snowing.

Outside, there was heavy snow on the cold mountains; inside, there was a warm stove, brush, and ink. Song Yan picked up his brush and applied ink, creating quite the atmosphere of a refined scholar.

The "Quick Snow, Clear Sky Post" had twenty-eight characters in total.

It was originally written by a master calligrapher from the ancient Jin Kingdom in the mortal world, and later obtained by a powerful Cultivator in the Cultivation World.

Legend has it that this person was originally stuck at a Bottleneck for hundreds of years. One day, during a heavy snowfall, he traced the calligraphy copybook, had an Epiphany of the Great Dao, and achieved a Breakthrough overnight.

It happened that the snow stopped and the day cleared, with bright sunlight.

Since then, this copybook, with only twenty-eight characters, gradually became famous, and was called "Twenty-Eight Luminous Pearls" by the Cultivators.

"Hoo..."

After about half an hour, Song Yan slowly stopped writing and let out a soft breath.

The heavy snow outside had stopped at some unknown time. Looking from Wen Dao Gorge, the snowy scenery by Lingyuan Marsh was visible in its entirety.

His mind was peaceful, and his thoughts were calm.

"These mind-cultivating arts truly have some effect."

His goal had been achieved, and the Sect’s required lessons were also completed smoothly.

Let’s stop here for today.

Song Yan stood up, left the Modao Courtyard, and returned to the Outer Sect Disciple peak.

"Hey, Senior Brother, that person just now... why does he look familiar?"

Seeing him leave, two Disciples nearby whispered to each other.

"Strange, I also thought he looked familiar, and I thought it was just my imagination."

"Ah..."

The person seemed to wake up from a dream: "I remember now, isn’t that Outer Sect Disciple named Song Yesheng?"

The other Disciple suddenly realized: "So it’s him."

On that day, when Profound Origin Sect came to demand an explanation, all the Disciples on Entrance Plaza remembered their Sect Master’s astonishing Sword Qi cloud waterfall, and they also remembered this Outer Sect Disciple who was at the center of the vortex at the time.

"I heard he was originally at the fifth level of Qi Refining Realm, but he got involved in an external Sect affair, and his Cultivation dropped to the first level of Qi Refining after the conflict."

"After such a major rise and fall, even with the best state of mind, it’s hard not to be affected."

"Yes, it’s truly pitiful, an unprovoked disaster..."

"He will probably have no hope of Foundation Establishment in this life."

Suddenly, the two Cultivators felt a shadow behind them, and a steady voice came: "You two gossiping behind people’s backs is not only disrespectful and unloving to fellow Disciples, but also disturbs other Disciples in the institute from cultivating their minds..."

The attendant Disciple of the Modao Courtyard looked seventeen or eighteen, but his expression was serious.

"Today’s lesson, void!"

"Senior Brother Sun! Don’t..."

Ignoring their wails, the attendant Disciple surnamed Sun walked directly to the table where Song Yan had been sitting and collected the few pieces of calligraphy he had left behind.

"Hmm..."

"Initially restless, gradually calming in the middle, and tranquil and serene in the final page..."

His stern expression finally showed a hint of softness.

"The art of cultivating the mind should indeed have this effect."

...

Song Yan did not hear the words of others.

He went directly to his Immortal Cave.

"Speaking of which..."

"Wasn’t there some calligraphy copybook in the clay figurine that little girl from the Xie Family gave me..."

That day, he seemed to have heard Xie Xing mention it in passing.