kingnovel Chapter 1139 7 The End of Emotion, Sinking into Human Desire
Chapter 1139 7 The End of Emotion, Sinking into Human Desire
The seven soul lamps of the Nascent Soul stage are a test for oneself when lit, and also an enhancement of one's strength. Therefore, after each soul lamp is lit, there needs to be a period of time to stabilize one's realm and adapt to the improvement of one's strength.
Logically speaking, Gu Xiu has only just lit the sixth soul lamp and needs a period of time to stabilize it before he can attempt to light the last one.
But this time the situation is different.
To be honest, he had only just finished lighting the sixth lamp. But if you really want to say something, he had already finished lighting the sixth soul lamp when Chu Xun took over the body. His cultivation level had already been stabilized quite a bit under Chu Xun's control. After that, the series of battles during Gu Xiu's takeover of the body further stabilized his cultivation level.
of course.
Theoretically speaking, it is also necessary to solidify the sea of consciousness.
However, apart from the soul sea that was still burning under the Buddhist karmic fire, Gu Xiu's sea of consciousness was already as solid as a mountain, so there was no need to waste time refining this.
Therefore, for Gu Xiu now...
As long as there is divine fire to ignite the soul lamp, he can ignite it on the spot without needing to rest. His situation is rather special, but there is another situation besides that: those who have crippled their cultivation but whose foundation has not been damaged.
Just like this moment.
In a small mountain village 80,000 miles west of the Tianyuan Sword Sect, there was a woman sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, drawing upon her divine soul power to light the last soul lamp in her sea of consciousness.
This woman's hair was like raven feathers, loosely tied into a low bun, adorned only with a small, plain silver hairpin. A few stray strands of hair fell beside her cheeks, making her features appear even more radiant and clear. Her eyes were an extremely light smoky blue, as if containing cold stars in the mist, while her lips were as pale as cherry petals, adding a touch of aloofness and coldness.
She sat upright on the couch, wearing a moon-yellow cross-collar ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress). The material was not particularly fine, and was even quite plain, but on her, it added a touch of otherworldly elegance to her already beautiful face.
If someone who knows her comes here, they will surely recognize her.
Former Peak Master of Daoyuan Peak in Qingxuan Holy Land, fourth disciple of Qingxuan Supreme, and the number one person below the Supreme.
Shi Siling!
However, this former number one person below the Supreme has long lost his former half-step Supreme cultivation.
After the destruction of Qingxuan, Shi Siling went into seclusion in the mountains, even abandoning her cultivation to try and retrace her steps. Her talent was indeed formidable; she successfully broke through to the Foundation Establishment realm in just a few days.
After that, she set off, stopping and starting at every step, beginning her own arduous journey of self-cultivation.
For the previous five hundred years, she, like all ordinary cultivators, relied on her sect to participate in various trials, secret realms, and battles to constantly hone herself. But this time, she changed her approach; she embarked on a completely different path.
Asceticism.
She started from that deserted little mountain village on foot, step by step, moving forward, passing through bustling cities, crossing treacherous roads, passing through the Taihang Mountains, bypassing the Tianyuan Pass, heading west all the way into the heart of the Western Desert Buddhist Kingdom.
Throughout this long journey, she never fought with anyone. When she encountered obstacles, she would detour; when she encountered danger, she would retreat.
This method is obviously not suitable for everyone.
After all, the path of cultivation is about competition and scrambling. Resources never fall from the sky. Fortunately, she was already proficient in the art of observing the source, and since her re-cultivation was not the result of exhausting her foundation, on the contrary, the rare and precious materials she had used for herself did not disappear, but were transformed into pure source energy stored in her body.
With the help of some fortuitous opportunities and resources she encountered along the way, she actually managed to cultivate back to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm in a short period of time.
Of course, the most difficult thing for her in rebuilding was not resources.
It is the heart.
The greatest difficulty in this kind of rebuilding is that her path will be more arduous than before, and the bottleneck in her cultivation level will be more challenging. This is because she is not simply retracing her steps, but relying on her past experience to embark on a path she has never trod before.
A path that belongs to her, a path of transcendent detachment.
She knew her path would be difficult, so along the way, she would listen to the birth, aging, sickness, and death of mortals, the comings and goings at post stations, the rise and fall of dynasties, the bittersweet experiences of lovers, and the faith and worship of Buddhist believers...
She listened to a lot, and each time she listened, her understanding deepened.
The result was indeed good; her cultivation recovered extremely quickly, even reaching the Nascent Soul stage again at an unbelievable speed.
But after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, she encountered a true test.
Humans have seven emotions, and each of the seven emotion lamps represents one's inescapable inner self. She can make rapid progress in any realm, but she cannot accelerate her pace in the Nascent Soul realm. Fortunately, she has heard enough and gained enough insight along the way.
Although she stumbled along the way, these insights helped her successfully overcome the first six trials.
And now, it is the final hurdle to reach the Nascent Soul stage.
The seven emotions and desires!
She had overcome this hurdle before, and it wasn't easy; in fact, it was extremely difficult. This time, she returned to this hurdle, and her heart was inevitably stirred. Fortunately, her mindset had changed drastically, and she quickly adjusted herself back to normal.
Concentrate your mind and calm your spirit, enter the sea of consciousness, and activate the clear fire source that once existed within your body, transforming it into a flame that ignites from the soul lamp.
All of a sudden.
Everything around her disappeared. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself standing at a crossroads with no way back. Six completely different forks appeared around her, some lush and leafy, others eerie and sinister, as if different worlds had been pieced together and squeezed into the same space.
She wasn't alarmed by this, because she knew...
This is the tribulation of the seven emotions and desires.
Of the seven emotions, desire is the last, yet it is the most abundant. This is not the romantic love between men and women that ordinary people have, but rather the instinctive needs and aspirations of being human.
For example, there is the appetite needed to survive, the sexual desire to reproduce, the survival instinct that arises from self-preservation, the desire for safety to escape traps and avoid danger, the desire to gain recognition from others and increase belonging to the clan, the desire for knowledge to gain more knowledge and answer more questions... and so on.
If the first six of the seven emotions are emotional feedback, then desire is more inclined towards intrinsic motivation.
Typically, this test involves facing the sum of the previous six tests.
Just like the six forks in the road right in front of Shi Siling at this moment.
Even though she didn't take a step forward, the six forked paths were rapidly approaching Shi Siling. In just a moment, the first path came to an end.
"Senior sister, we are family, we will always be together, and never be separated!"
"Qingxuan is our home!"
"Senior sister, I've made up my mind. I don't want to leave Qingxuan. We're still family, just like before."
A series of figures, accompanied by a series of images, appeared continuously.
Even though she knew she was undergoing a tribulation, Shi Siling couldn't help but feel a surge of joy. But before her smile could bloom, the second path had already come to an end.
"Shi Siling is a good-for-nothing, a woman. Without Gu Xiu, she is nothing!"
"Qingxuan should be destroyed!"
"Gu Xiu deserves to die, he should be dead, and it would be best if he never came back!"
"..."
These were the seven emotions of anger she had experienced before, and now they resurfaced.
Next.
The third path, the fourth path, the fifth path... all were rapidly approaching their end. All the tribulations of the six emotions she had experienced appeared at this moment. What was even more terrifying was that these tribulations, which she had clearly overcome before, not only failed to allow her to pass through them with ease when they reappeared, but also caused her emotions to constantly change, and drove the desires in her heart to madness.
Her facial expressions changed rapidly at that moment, sometimes beaming with joy, sometimes furious, sometimes wailing, sometimes laughing heartily... It was as if she was possessed by countless different personalities at that moment, and each change in expression caused her to change constantly.
Fortunately.
Although these changes were beyond her control, she wasn't without her own methods. Amidst a myriad of changing expressions, a long sword appeared in her hand, and she murmured with difficulty:
"Supreme..."
"Forgetful love!!!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the long sword was suddenly swung out, and figures and forks in the road were all shattered into pieces. She wanted to sever her seven emotions and cut off all the emotions that should not exist in her!
Can……
The seven emotions are inherent in human nature, and how can ordinary people easily sever them? Those figures and forks in the road reappeared rapidly amidst the repeated collapses, making the ever-changing expressions on her face increasingly exaggerated and manic.
Even more terrifying.
Just when she had exhausted all means to sever these entanglements, she suddenly saw a seventh fork in the road behind her.
she was.
Falling into lust!