Experiences in the mortal world

The morning mist in Wind Listening Courtyard carried a bone-chilling coolness. White Night sat cross-legged beneath the condensing wind bamboo, the wind-element spiritual energy swirling around his fingertips already condensed into tangible green threads.

In the past half-year, he had almost completely cut off contact with the outside world, immersing himself daily in cultivation. His Nascent Soul became increasingly solid under countless spiritual energy purifications, and the wind patterns around his body increased from nine to eighteen, each flowing with faint spatial ripples.

This was the hallmark of the late Nascent Soul stage, just a step away from the Deity Transformation Realm.

"Hoo..."

He slowly exhaled, drawing the last wisp of chaotic spiritual energy into his Dantian.

The Breaking Void Wind Escape Technique, brought back from the Demonic Beast Valley half a year ago, had been cultivated to mastery. With a slight thought, his body left an afterimage in its original spot, appearing next to a stone table three zhang away in the next instant, the teacup on the table completely undisturbed.

This control over spatial rifts was a hundred times more refined than when he first entered the Nascent Soul stage.

"Mere arduous cultivation, after all, has its shortcomings." White Night gazed at the flowing sea of clouds outside the courtyard, a flicker of understanding in his eyes.

In the past six months, his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, but his soul felt a subtle tension, as if an invisible string was pulling it.

This was a sequela of long-term detachment from the mortal world and single-minded devotion to the Dao. If not addressed promptly, it could easily breed inner demons.

The next day, he went to the Law Enforcement Hall to see Qiu Xuan.

"You want to go down the mountain for experience?" Qiu Xuan put down the scroll in his hand, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, then understanding. "Indeed, your progress has been too fast this past half-year. It is time to temper your Dao Heart in the mortal realm."

He took out a green jade pendant. "This is the sect's 'Passage Jade.' Holding this jade pendant will grant you unimpeded passage through major towns in the Eastern Continent. If you encounter danger, crush the jade pendant and I will sense it."

White Night took the jade pendant: "Thank you, Elder."

"Go." Qiu Xuan waved his hand. "Remember, tempering your heart in the mortal world is not for pleasure, but to comprehend your own Dao amidst its myriad forms."

The first stop after leaving the Qinglan Sect was "Wangyue City," a thousand li from the sect.

This was a town where mortals and cultivators coexisted. The guards at the city gate wore iron armor but had low-grade protective talismans hanging from their waists. In the market, there were both vendors selling vegetables and cultivators setting up stalls to sell damaged magical artifacts. It was bustling and lively, completely different from the quiet solitude of the sect.

White Night chose a teahouse by the window, sat down, and ordered a pot of fine tea.

The tea guest at the next table was spitting as he recounted a rumor: "Have you heard? Old Master Zhang's house in the west of the city is haunted. Three cultivators were invited to exorcise the evil, but two were so scared they ran back, and the remaining one is said to be possessed by a ghost!"

"It's more than that, I heard that ghost is a general who died in battle a hundred years ago. His resentment is too strong, ordinary cultivators can't suppress it!"

White Night's hand, holding the teacup, paused slightly. His Heavenly Heart Imprint sensed a faint, ominous Yin energy in the direction of the city's west. Though not powerful, it was entangled with strong obsession, clearly indicating a lingering soul in the human realm.

In the afternoon, he walked along the street to the west of the city. The vermillion gates of Old Master Zhang's house were tightly shut, with yellow talismans hanging on the knocker, but they had lost their luster.

As White Night approached the door, a woman's cry came from within, interspersed with a man's reprimand: "Why are you crying! If we can't find a master soon, the authorities will seal off the house!"

He raised his hand and knocked. The door was opened by an old man who looked like a butler. Seeing White Night in a green robe, not like a cultivator, he frowned and said, "My family isn't hiring."

"I'm here to exorcise evil," White Night said calmly.

The old man scrutinized him: "You? Do you have any magical artifacts or talismans?"

White Night shook his head: "No need."

The old man, half-believing, let him in. In the courtyard stood a middle-aged man with a haggard face, who was Old Master Zhang.

Seeing White Night's youth, disappointment flashed in his eyes: "Young brother, it's not that I don't believe you, it's just that the previous Daoist priests..."

"Take me to see," White Night interrupted him.

Old Master Zhang, resigned, led him towards the pavilion in the backyard.

As soon as they stepped onto the stairs, a bone-chilling coldness assailed them, and a faint smell of blood permeated the air. The door to the pavilion was tightly shut, with black mist seeping from the cracks.

"It's here. My son went in a few days ago and has been raving ever since, saying he saw a ghost in armor..." Old Master Zhang's voice trembled.

White Night pushed open the door. The sight inside made Old Master Zhang cry out in alarm. A young boy was curled up in a corner, eyes rolled back, babbling incoherently. And on the beam, a phantom figure wearing tattered armor floated, holding a rusty long saber, its eyes glowing red.

"Presumptuous! How dare you disturb my rest!" The phantom roared, and the long saber, imbued with Yin wind, slashed towards White Night.

Old Master Zhang collapsed to the ground in fright, but White Night remained motionless, flicking a wisp of wind-element spiritual energy from his fingertip. The spiritual energy transformed into countless tiny wind blades in the air. Seemingly gentle, they precisely severed the connection between the Yin energy and the phantom.

The phantom let out a shriek, and its long saber shattered inch by inch. White Night's voice was calm but carried an undeniable authority: "Having fought in life, you should enter reincarnation after death. Lingering in the human realm with unfulfilled obsession, do you wish to become a lone wandering ghost?"

The red light of the phantom gradually faded, revealing a weathered face. It cupped its hands towards White Night: "Thank you, Daoist priest, for your enlightenment. It's just that I failed to protect the city's people in my lifetime, and I am unwilling to leave..."

"Wangyue City is now peaceful and prosperous, and its people live in contentment." White Night took out a jade pendant and infused a trace of spiritual energy into it. "This is a Spirit Calming Jade. Take it with you and follow the path of reincarnation."

The phantom took the jade pendant, bowed deeply, and transformed into a white light, disappearing outside the window.

The boy in the corner suddenly coughed, his eyes regaining clarity: "Dad? Why am I here?"

Old Master Zhang was both shocked and delighted, repeatedly bowing to White Night: "Thank you, Daoist priest! Thank you, Daoist priest!"

White Night waved his hand and turned to go downstairs.

Old Master Zhang quickly took out silver to express his gratitude, but White Night refused it.

As he left Old Master Zhang's house, the setting sun was painting the sky red.

White Night walked among the homeward-bound crowd, watching the laughing children on the street and the vendors carrying their loads. The tension in his heart quietly dissipated. It turned out that the Dao Heart was not only found in solitary cultivation, but also in the mundane world.

Half a month later, he arrived at "Jinxiu City," the most prosperous city in the Eastern Continent.

This city had a market established by cultivators, with shops on both sides of the street selling various magical artifacts and elixirs. One could even see Deity Transformation Realm cultivators.

While strolling through the market, White Night was attracted by a "Jubao Pavilion." A strange black stone displayed inside caught his attention.

The surface of the strange stone was covered with holes, and a faint spatial fluctuation could be felt when touched. White Night's Heavenly Heart Imprint told him that this was a void spirit stone, containing pure Space Law, which would greatly benefit his comprehension of Wind Crevice Shuttle.

"This Daoist friend has excellent taste." The shopkeeper, a plump middle-aged cultivator, said with a smile, "This is a void spirit stone, offered at a low price, only five hundred high-grade spirit stones."

Just as White Night was about to speak, an arrogant voice came from behind him: "I want this stone."

The newcomer was a cultivator in splendid robes, with a fifth-grade sect token hanging from his waist, followed by two guards, both at the middle Nascent Soul stage.

He glanced at White Night, disdainfully saying: "Kid, if you know what's good for you, scram. This isn't something you can afford."

White Night ignored him and said to the shopkeeper: "I'll take it."

The splendid-robed cultivator's face darkened: "You're refusing my goodwill, are you? Do you know who I am? I am Zhou Tong, the Young Master of the Flowing Cloud Sect!"

White Night gently tapped the void spirit stone with his fingertip, and the stone suddenly erupted with a faint green light: "Shopkeeper, I'm ready to pay."

Zhou Tong roared and slapped White Night's back, his palm wind carrying sharp spiritual energy, clearly intending to kill.

The surrounding cultivators gasped in alarm, but no one dared to step forward to intervene. The Flowing Cloud Sect had immense power in the Eastern Continent, and no one wanted to offend them for a stranger.

Just as the palm strike was about to land, White Night's figure suddenly blurred, as if melting into the wind. Zhou Tong's palm passed straight through the afterimage, striking the void spirit stone.

With a "crack," the strange stone was perfectly unharmed, but Zhou Tong was shaken back three steps by the rebounding force, his tiger's mouth tingling.

"You're courting death!" Zhou Tong was both startled and enraged. His long sword unsheathed, carrying the Flowing Cloud Sect's unique sword qi, it thrust towards White Night.

White Night sidestepped, and the wind-element spiritual energy from his fingertip formed an invisible barrier, blocking Zhou Tong's sword qi three feet away.

"Scram."

His voice was cold, and the pressure of a late Nascent Soul cultivator was suddenly released. Zhou Tong's two guards instantly knelt on the ground, unable even to lift their heads.

Zhou Tong's face turned pale. Only then did he realize that the green-robed cultivator before him was actually a late Nascent Soul cultivator!

He gritted his teeth, glared venomously at White Night, and left in a hurry with his guards.

The shopkeeper wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "Daoist friend, such strength... This void spirit stone, three hundred high-grade spirit stones will do."

White Night gently shook his head, paid five hundred spirit stones, and put the void spirit stone into his system space.

As he walked out of Jubao Pavilion, the afterglow of the setting sun cast his shadow long on the street.

He looked at the myriad lights in the distance, his heart at peace. The myriad forms of the mortal world, with good and evil, joy and anger, all were part of cultivation.

In the following days, he traveled, sometimes helping farmers in mountain villages drive away demonic beasts, sometimes mediating disputes between cultivators in towns, and occasionally listening to down-and-out cultivators recount their pasts in late-night taverns.

His cultivation did not intentionally increase, but his Dao Heart became more stable amidst the tranquility and tribulations. The wind patterns around his Nascent Soul flowed more smoothly, showing faint signs of breaking through to the Deity Transformation Realm.

One day, he arrived at a valley called "Broken Cloud Cliff," where the roar of a waterfall echoed.

White Night followed the sound of water, but at the edge of the cliff, he saw a woman in white, murmuring to herself as she gazed into the abyss, a faint aura of death emanating from her.

"Miss, this place is dangerous," White Night reminded her.

The woman turned around, her face exquisite but filled with an unresolvable sorrow: "Daoist priest, are you here to persuade me to turn back?"

White Night looked at the wound on her wrist and the scattered sword tassel by the cliff, shaking his head: "The path is beneath your own feet. Whether you turn back or not is up to you."

The woman froze, then gave a bitter smile: "You are different from others."

She gazed into the abyss, slowly recounting her story. She was originally a disciple of a prominent sect, but due to her lover's betrayal and the sect's destruction, she felt utterly disheartened and sought to end her life.

White Night listened quietly. After she finished, he pointed at the waterfall below the cliff: "Water falling into the abyss seems like an end, but in reality, it merges into rivers and eventually reaches the great sea."

The woman looked up at him, a flicker of understanding in her eyes: "Daoist priest, you mean..."

"Obsession is like an abyss; letting go is a clear path." White Night turned to leave. "Live on, and perhaps you will see a different scenery."

When his figure disappeared at the valley entrance, the woman in white looked at the waterfall, tears finally falling, but no longer of despair, but of release.

The wind at the cliff's edge gently blew, rustling her loose hair, as if presaging a new beginning.

White Night walked on the mountain path of Broken Cloud Cliff, the tight string in his heart completely loosening.

He knew that his mortal realm experience was nearing its end, and it was time to return to the Qinglan Sect.

And after this experience, his Dao Heart had no more flaws. He was just one step away from the Deity Transformation Realm...