Longevity Martial Arts: Starting from Inner Core Skill-Chapter 240 - 193 Sit and Discuss the Dao

Wang Sheng took a step and entered directly into the palace.

After entering the palace, he frowned and detected something amiss.

It seemed there were numerous scattered "Divine" presences within; such "Divine" entities should not have been able to exist in this form, but they appeared to be constrained here, converging toward the center of the palace.

In the center was a person, and it was evident that these scattered "Divine" presences were being absorbed by him, with no attempt at concealment.

Wang Sheng approached this individual.

He knew that the only person who could be in this palace was the Sect Hierarch of the Heavenly Sect, Qiao Nian.

"Please sit!"

There was a small tea table, and Qiao Nian was brewing tea.

Wang Sheng sat down, picked up the teacup, and took a sip without fear of treachery; once the Five Internal Organs Containing God developed Divine Skills, the protective golden radiance was not merely external protection.

"Good tea!"

Wang Sheng didn’t understand the art of tea tasting, but as long as the tea tasted good to him, it was good tea.

"The finest Yunze mist, only available from Lake Island in Yunze Lake, with an annual yield of just a few ounces." Qiao Nian explained like a friend, clearly very satisfied with the tea.

The two sat quietly, sipping tea without speaking.

When the tea cooled, Qiao Nian spoke, "Although young, fellow Daoist, you are even more composed than I expected!"

"Firstly, we can hardly be called ’fellow Daoists,’ as we are not on the same path."

Qiao Nian’s face wore a smile as he said, "How can we not be? We both pursue the spiritual path, and we might very well be the only fellow Daoists. While Qi Blood Martial Arts dominate, we are among the few who tread this path."

Wang Sheng was noncommittal.

His Divine Thought was akin to the spiritual path, but it was merely a derivative of his Foundation Method, not exclusively walking this path.

And even if he were on the path of Divine Thought, it was different from Qiao Nian’s.

"So your spiritual path is to harvest others’ Divine presences to strengthen your own? That’s quite different from mine, not even the same concept. Aren’t you afraid of being influenced by the harvested chaotic thoughts?"

Wang Sheng did not understand the pitfalls of Qiao Nian’s path.

But the harvesting method mentioned in the "Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter" did have significant drawbacks; harvesting beyond one’s control could lead to being influenced by endless jumbled thoughts and losing self-control.

The White Lotus Demon King could harvest an entire state of barbarians mostly because his convictions were unbelievably strong, and he completely brainwashed them. The people of that state almost lacked any will of their own, hence could withstand the harvesting.

Yet, despite Qiao Nian’s control, all individuals have their own emotions and desires; Wang Sheng couldn’t believe there weren’t any flaws, or else Qiao Nian wouldn’t be confined to this small city.

Naturally, Qiao Nian was unlikely to admit it.

But the development of the situation exceeded his expectations.

"Indeed, harvesting too much would affect me, so I’ve found another way. Fellow Daoist should be able to see the ’Spirit’ filling this room—do they have any chaotic thoughts?"

Qiao Nian openly acknowledged the flaw and even appeared to be willing to share his solution.

This changed Wang Sheng’s expression.

Qiao Nian, it seems, truly regarded him as a fellow Daoist and was willing to exchange techniques.

"An exchange, is it?"

Wang Sheng muttered to himself internally and then used his Divine Thought to sense the scattered "Divine" presences throughout the palace.

These "Divine" presences seemed to detect the approach of external spiritual power and would flee, but no matter how they attempted to escape, they couldn’t leave the confines of the palace.

Wang Sheng’s Divine Thought was also strong, so he easily captured these scattered "Divine" presences.

Just as Qiao Nian had said.

These "Divine" presences were immaculately pure, devoid of any chaotic thoughts. If absorbed by Qiao Nian, they probably wouldn’t affect him in the slightest. Their replenishing effect might even surpass his current Medicine King Elixir and Nine-flavor Calming Heart Pills.

"Impressive!"

Even Wang Sheng had to admire.

Whatever the method, the result looked indeed excellent.

"This is the result of nearly a hundred years of my research," Qiao Nian said, obviously very pleased with his method, his face smiling.

"So you made use of hypnotism to gather followers to acquire these pure ’Divine’ presences. It must be related to the hypnotism, right?"

"Yes, those children call me Heavenly Father and naturally offer the best to me."

The method was, of course, not so simple, but this involved his most core secrets, so Qiao Nian did not elaborate further.

Being too explicit could allow others to discover his weaknesses, and he wasn’t that foolish.

Wang Sheng was naturally aware of this and said nothing more.

Exchanging techniques is not the same as passing on a legacy; naturally, not everything was shared.

"Your method is like another one I’ve encountered, at the cost of negative karma, harvesting others’ spirit. It can’t be that there’s no price to pay. Of course, I am referring to the price paid by those you harvest," Wang Sheng also expressed an intent to exchange.

"Another method?" Qiao Nian didn’t care about the so-called consequences but was intrigued by something else, "Has fellow Daoist also acquired another technique?"

"Acquired by chance, it also walks the spiritual path and involves harvesting, though that method is broader and cruder..."

Wang Sheng brought out the "Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter" for discussion.

He described the harvesting methods from the scriptures, but likewise hid the most core aspects.

"Brilliant, this person is brilliant. Unfortunately, he is probably long dead, isn’t he? Perhaps even slain by fellow Daoist?"

"Not at all, the inheritance I came across by chance."

"I thought you were the type to stand up against injustice, otherwise, you wouldn’t have come to my palace and disapproved of my method of reaping."

Qiao Nian felt somewhat regretful, they both walked the path of reaping, yet only one reaper could exist. This person was a mortal enemy to him.

Otherwise, it would indeed have been possible to stay and exchange knowledge.

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"I’m curious, since you also walk the path of reaping, why do you look down upon it!"

The result of his powerful spirit was that Qiao Nian could roughly determine that Wang Sheng was very young yet possessed an extremely strong spirit.

He believed that someone young and with a strong spirit must also be walking the path of reaping.

"Who said I walk the path of reaping?"

Had he been willing to walk the path of reaping, his Divine Thought would have been far stronger than it is now, and in not too long, the entire Great Zhou would have been turned into his reaping grounds.

That’s because once he used such methods, the progress bar for the Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter would grow terrifyingly fast.

Additionally, he had no method to resolve the distracting thoughts, which could potentially cause him to burst.

Thus, he had never intended to walk that path.

"If not, then you must be the legendary prodigy!"

Qiao Nian didn’t think Wang Sheng was deceiving him, there was no need to.

Wang Sheng didn’t explain, as progress bars are something that cannot be explained.

Seeing that he was unwilling to respond, Qiao Nian did not press further but instead steered the conversation back to "the path of the spirit."

After finishing talking about the method of reaping, he began to share his own understanding of the spirit.

"Common folk speak of ghosts and souls, I believe that the path of the spirit itself is one of the forces of the soul..."

Qiao Nian had carved out this path on his own, and his theories were quite innovative.

As Wang Sheng listened, he corroborated it with his own Divine Thought Method.

Qiao Nian said he was a prodigy, but Wang Sheng thought him to be the true prodigy.

To be able to devise such techniques on one’s own and reach the pinnacle of strength was truly remarkable.

In exchange, both parties would reap even greater rewards.

Wang Sheng did not consider his knowledge too precious to share, so he expressed his own understanding of Divine Thought and demonstrated a few of its wonderful uses.

"Your words have been eye-opening for me; I’m no match for your methods."

Qiao Nian never hid his admiration.

Wang Sheng’s understanding of the "spirit" allowed him to fill many of his own gaps, and given time, Qiao Nian believed he could further advance his techniques.

Thus, the two men sat and discussed their Dao, and time slowly passed.

Three days and two nights went by.

Both of them gained a lot,

Wang Sheng’s Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter, which was originally at level five, rose directly to level eight during this time.

This was an Extraordinary Secret Skill. To be able to rise three levels in three days showed just how much he had gained.

With a little time, he could advance the Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter by a whole level, eliminating many of its flaws.

Qiao Nian evidently had the same idea.

After years of cultivation, this was his greatest gain.

He increasingly felt it a pity to kill Wang Sheng and thus spoke, "Fellow Daoist, if you believe in my Heavenly Father, you may spare your life!"

"After discussing Dao for so long, do you still think you can kill me?"

Wang Sheng didn’t raise the issue of not killing.

During these days of discussion, he had realized that Qiao Nian’s path allowed only him to stand at the very top as the reaper.

As a Spirit Cultivator who also controlled the method of reaping, even if Wang Sheng said he didn’t walk the path of reaping, and even without the matter of the Grandmaster, Qiao Nian would consider him a mortal enemy, someone who must be killed.

Qiao Nian never masked this line of thought.

Now Qiao Nian changing his mind and suggesting sparing him was miraculous.

More importantly, after such a long discussion, Qiao Nian should be roughly aware of his level of Divine Thought, and yet he still believed he could kill him for certain.

"You are indeed very strong, but it’s exactly because you are so confident that you came to Yunze City, my home field!"

"Is that so? Then I really should consider it, but to believe in the Heavenly Father is to believe in you, and your strength may not match mine, so how could you convince me?"

He had heard before that the so-called Heavenly Father was just a title they gave themselves.

To believe in the Heavenly Father is to believe in him?

"Not at all!" Qiao Nian denied, "The Heavenly Father is not me but truly exists. My methods came from enlightenment gained from the Heavenly Father, they are incomplete. If they were the true methods of the Heavenly Father, there’d be no need to control, just reap directly, and perhaps, fellow Daoist, you have also been reaped by the Heavenly Father."

"The Heavenly Father exists?"

Wang Sheng was quite skeptical.

"Believe it or not, it is up to you, my fellow Daoist, but today, you have only two choices: to submit to my Heavenly Father or return to dust!"

The two of them were never fated to resolve their conflict amicably!