193: Dissipate your energy and start over

Merit Dispensation Pavilion, first floor, at the main entrance.

The rotating gray vortex slowly stopped, solidifying once more into a thick bluestone gate.

Su Ming stepped out from the gate.

Although only a short hour had passed, he felt as if he had undergone a complete transformation.

Although his Divine Sense was extremely fatigued from continuously inscribing three Cultivation Techniques—causing his temples to throb—his eyes became even more reserved and profound.

The Ruoshui Art serves as the Foundation, nourishing the body and mind, benefiting all things like water.

The True Explanation of Nurturing Spirit serves as recompense, nurturing the Master's kindness and protecting the Divine Soul from destruction.

The True Meaning of Basic Rune Deconstruction serves as the Art, establishing the base of the Dao, and deconstructing all methods in the world.

With the three arts integrated into his body, Su Ming felt that the path ahead had never been so clear.

“Young man.”

A hoarse voice sounded behind him.

Su Ming turned around and saw the mysterious Pavilion Guardian had reappeared without him noticing.

His face was still blurry, but his eyes, peering through the mist, gave Su Ming a deep look.

“The path you chose... is very unique.”

The Pavilion Guardian raised his withered hand, and an ordinary token—neither metal nor wood, and bearing no markings—lightly floated toward Su Ming.

“Hold this token, and you can forgo contribution points to use the Merit Dispensation Tower's starlight power in the exterior sensing area for one hour each month, aiding your comprehension of the Ruoshui Art.”

Su Ming was startled; this was a heaven-sent Opportunity! The starlight power of the Merit Dispensation Tower was rumored to contain the Cloud Hidden Sect's ten thousand years of Dao charm, providing incredible assistance for comprehending Cultivation Techniques.

“Senior, this...”

“This is recognition of your choice to follow the Dao of Foundation.” The Pavilion Guardian's figure began to fade. “In this world, there are too many clever people and too few who are willing to put in the hard, 'stupid' work. Go.”

Just as he was about to vanish completely, he left one last, ethereal, smoky sentence:

“The Dao of the Divine Soul is treacherous and profound. Be cautious, take it seriously. Do not... lose yourself.”

Su Ming's heart tightened, knowing that the Senior had seen the implications of the True Explanation of Nurturing Spirit and was offering guidance.

He solemnly put away the token, bowing deeply toward the Void Realm: “Disciple will bear your teachings in mind.”

...Returning to the “Safe House.”

Su Ming sat cross-legged in the center of the simple Spirit Gathering Array. The Jade Slip recording the Ruoshui Art glowed with a faint blue light on his fingertips, casting fluctuating shadows across his face.

“Have you made up your mind?”

Lin Yu's voice sounded in his mind, devoid of the usual joking, carrying a rare seriousness. “This is no joke. Although your original Green Wood Longevity Art was cultivated half-heartedly, it at least allowed you to run and jump, letting you survive until now in this cutthroat Cloud Hidden Sect.”

Su Ming remained silent, gently tracing the cool surface of the Jade Slip.

Qi Refining third layer.

This was the Cultivation he had painstakingly scraped together, bit by bit, after falling off the cliff, relying on survival instincts and that meager wood-elemental Spiritual Qi in the freezing river water.

Every trace of Spiritual Qi held his fear of death and his desperate desire to live.

Now, he had to destroy it with his own hands.

“Master,” Su Ming suddenly spoke, his voice dry. “If dispersing my Cultivation fails...”

“There is no 'if',” Lin Yu interrupted, his tone hardening.

“With me here, you won't die. At worst, we start over. You're young, and this life has just begun. Besides, your wood-elemental Spiritual Qi is like putting gasoline in a diesel engine—it might run, but the cylinder will eventually blow. Although Old Man Ma looks like a pyramid scheme leader, the Heaven-Gazing Mirror doesn't lie. Your body is naturally a vessel for 'water'.”

Su Ming took a deep breath, the hesitation in his eyes gradually replaced by determination.

Better a short, sharp pain than a long, drawn-out one.

Instead of guarding a leaky, dilapidated boat that could sink at any time, it was better to switch to a submarine capable of weathering storms while still in port.

“Disciple... understands.”

Su Ming closed his eyes, forming a strange hand seal—it was the “Cultivation Dispersal Guide” recorded at the beginning of the Ruoshui Art.

“Begin.” Lin Yu's voice held a trace of nervous teasing. “The process might be a bit stimulating, bear with it. Don't cry out; that taciturn Li fellow next door has sharp ears.”

Su Ming forced a slight curve onto his lips, then sank his mind and fiercely activated the spell.

Boom!

The wood-elemental Spiritual Qi, which had originally flowed docilely through his Meridians, instantly became like an enraged viper, wildly thrashing inside his body. The sensation wasn't like Spiritual Qi dissipating; it was more like someone was taking a blunt knife and slowly scraping the bone inside his Meridians.

“Ugh...”

Su Ming let out a muffled groan, his entire body instantly curling up like a shrimp.

Cold sweat immediately soaked through his gray servant's Daoist robe, and the veins on his forehead bulged like earthworms, throbbing violently.

Pain.

Pain that reached into the marrow of his bones.

It was a feeling of despair, watching his power drain away, his body gradually becoming hollow and weak.

Qi Refining third layer Middle Stage... Qi Refining third layer Early Stage... As the Spiritual Qi escaped from his pores like a bursting dam, Su Ming's aura plummeted at a visible speed.

That life-filled wood-elemental power was forcibly stripped away, and his Meridians felt a dry, tearing sensation, like a long-parched riverbed cracking under the scorching sun.

“Steady your mind!” Lin Yu shouted sternly. “Don't cling to that power! Out with the old, in with the new! Empty your Meridians, imagine yourself as an empty bottle!”

Su Ming bit down hard, his mouth filling with the metallic, rusty taste of blood. He forced himself not to fight the weakness, but to yield to the dissipating force, expelling the last trace of wood-elemental Spiritual Qi completely out of his body.

He didn't know how long passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps a century.

When the last green speck of light vanished into the air, Su Ming collapsed onto the ground, looking as if he had just been pulled from the water.

Qi Refining second layer.

No, his Meridians were now completely empty. Aside from his Physical Body, which was still relatively sturdy after being tempered by Spiritual Qi, his internal Spiritual Qi reserves were even less than that of a newly initiated child Disciple.

The sense of plummeting from the clouds into the mud was enough to make anyone with a weak will instantly break down.

“Now is the time!”

Lin Yu's voice suddenly rose sharply. “Guide the Spiritual Qi to circulate according to the Ruoshui Art's Meridians! Quickly!”

Su Ming's previously scattered pupils instantly focused.

He struggled to sit upright, ignoring the waves of phantom pain coming from his Meridians, and swiftly changed his hand seals, adopting the Cultivation posture for the Ruoshui Art.

“The highest good is like water; water benefits all things and does not contend...”

He silently recited the scripture that flowed through his heart.

Whoosh—

As if sensing a summons, the free-floating Water Spiritual Qi surrounding the Ding Character No. 7 Courtyard suddenly swarmed toward him like a wanderer finding home.

Unlike the vibrant, almost savagely growing restlessness of wood-elemental Spiritual Qi.

The moment the water-elemental Spiritual Qi entered his body, Su Ming couldn't help but shiver.

Cold.

Chilling to the core.

Immediately following that was an indescribable feeling of nourishment.