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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 2: [Jiuli Insect Valley]
Chapter 29 (56): [Human Cultivation (Ren Dao)]
(29th of Volume 2)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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For the next period of time, Li Weiyi focused solely on practicing the "Taiyi Opens the Sea" technique, seeking to recapture the exhilarating momentum he'd felt during his battle with Yao ZhengSheng - the sensation of cleaving the ocean with a single sword strike.
Master Guan had explained that this was "Heavenly Dao Law Convergence."
Li Weiyi practiced hundreds of sword strikes each day.
Each strike was executed with maximum effort, pushing his physical and spiritual power to their limits before stopping.
He repeated the process endlessly, gradually deepening his understanding.
After thousands of strikes, he still couldn't achieve Heavenly Dao Law Convergence at will.
However, in the following days, he managed to achieve it once or twice each day.
"Mere practice alone won't suffice," Master Guan had said, "You must engage in combat, hone your skills through real-world experience, and face life-and-death struggles against formidable opponents. Otherwise, it will take you years to master this technique."
Master Guan's heart was a complex mix of emotions as he spoke these words.
His own master had once said the same thing, but had added, "Otherwise, it will take you decades to master this technique."
After all, who could have believed that Li Weiyi, after just half a month of practice, could already consciously grasp the essence of the Heavenly Dao Law Convergence Realm, even if his success rate was still low?
In the mornings and evenings, at the transition between day and night, Li Weiyi, Cai Yutong, and Qin Ke followed Senior Spirit Tablet to cultivate Spiritual Power and perceive Spirit Light.
Meanwhile, every other day or so, Li Weiyi would take Zhao Zhizhuo to the inn to seek the help of the senior expert in reshaping the Spring.
....
Time flew. Twenty-two days had passed since the attack on Shenlong Street.
Zhao Zhizhuo, wearing a bamboo hat, emerged from the inn and spotted Li Weiyi waiting in the shade across the street. He hurried across.
"How's it going? Did you successfully reshape the Eighth Spring?" Li Weiyi asked with a smile.
Zhao Zhizhuo pulled Li Weiyi along the riverbank to a secluded spot before removing his hat, revealing a ruddy, weathered face radiating vitality and brimming with excitement.
He clasped his hands together and bowed deeply.
Li Weiyi said, "Since you've reshaped the Eighth Spring and returned to the peak of the Surging Spring realm, remember to repay me for the Spring Liquid. It was ninety-three drops in total, costing ninety-three thousand Silver Coins. I'll round it down to ninety thousand."
"The Spring Liquid is one thing, but the Senior Spirit Tablet agreed to help me reshape my Spring because of Brother Li's connections. I'll never be able to repay such a debt of gratitude."
Zhao Zhizhuo insisted on bowing before adding, "Don't round down. I'll make it an even one hundred thousand Silver Coins. I'll write you an IOU!"
"One hundred thousand, eh? You said it yourself. I won't be polite!" Li Weiyi said.
Zhao Zhizhuo, in high spirits, laughed heartily: "Haha, don't be polite at all! At my current cultivation level, earning one hundred thousand Silver Coins shouldn't take more than a few years."
After exchanging hearty laughter, Li Weiyi asked Zhao Zhizhuo to wait while he went to bid farewell to his senior.
He briefly returned to the inn to place the Stone Coffin inside the Evil Camel Bell before they hurried toward the city gates.
The initial excitement Zhao Zhizhuo had felt gradually subsided. He turned serious and said, "Brother Li, the month is almost up. What are you thinking? Joining the Dao Academy is actually a very good path. Almost all the top experts of the Jiu Li Clan have trained there for a period of time."
Two weeks ago, Young Clan Leader Cang Li visited their residence, assuring them of their safety for the next month.
He also invited Li Weiyi, Cai Yutong, and Zhao Meng to study at the Cangli Tribe Academy or compete for a spot at the Jiu Li Dao Academy.
Li Weiyi had already made up his mind.
"Don't worry. I'll visit the Clan Academy myself in the next few days to pay my respects and express my gratitude to First Commander. I'll make my decision then. By the way, I heard that repairing the Qi Sea is far more difficult than restoring a Spring. It seems to require Blood Crystals."
Zhao Zhizhuo had long given up on ever reaching the Five Seas Realm again. He was already content with his Eighth Spring cultivation, so he spoke with a relaxed demeanor: "The Five Seas of the Five Seas Realm refer to the five lobes of the lungs within the human body. To cultivate a Qi Sea, one must use spiritual power to repeatedly refine a lung lobe until it reaches a critical point, at which point an Inner World ocean is born."
"Back then, all five lobes of my lungs were pierced, and all five oceans of my Inner World completely dried up and withered. The blood crystals you mentioned can only repair the lung lobes. To revive the Inner World oceans, you'd either have to take a Five Seas Pill and hope for luck, or rely on a legendary Spiritual Spatial(Space) Artifact."
Li Weiyi wasn't sure if the Evil Camel Bell counted as a Spatial Artifact, so he simply listened as Zhao Zhizhuo continued.
"Five Seas Pills are incredibly difficult to obtain now. Even the Cangli Tribe itself is severely lacking, with each pill exchanged for a large number of Otherworld Coffins. Given my situation, my chances are slim, and taking one would likely just be a waste."
"I'm already content with recovering to the Eighth Spring. I won't trouble the Young Clan Leader and Clan Chief any further."
"I have no other choice, but it's different for you, Brother Li. If you were to marry the Fourth Miss, your future would undoubtedly be boundless. Old Zhao here, with my Eighth Spring cultivation, should be more than qualified to serve as your gatekeeper or driver, wouldn't you say?"
Li Weiyi chuckled: "If I don't marry her, will my future be truly bleak?"
Zhao Zhizhuo had only been joking and dropped the subject: "Shall we go find Yao ZhengSheng and capture him, then bring him before the Young Clan Leader or First Commander?"
Clearly, Zhao Zhizhuo's confidence had been restored somewhat after recovering to the Eighth Spring.
Li Weiyi's smile faded: "Yao ZhengSheng is just a blade. Taking him down won't topple Yang Yun. Don't forget the Cangli Tribe's ties to the Yang Clan. Yang Yun is a direct descendant of the Yang Clan, a Cultivator of Eighth Spring. What are we in comparison to them?"
Zhao Zhizhuo remained silent for a long moment, then said softly, "Yang Yun covets the Fourth Miss, the spiritual artifact in Brother Li's possession, and nearly killed us. I'll devise a plan. Let's try an assassination."
Li Weiyi was startled.
He hadn't expected Old Zhao to suddenly become so ruthless.
"Don't do anything reckless," he urged, "The Yang Clan is backed by the Sui Sect. Forget about those old fogeys; just provoking Yang Qingxi would be enough to give us a world of trouble."
.....
It was already April, and the weather was gradually growing warmer.
People on the streets were wearing lighter clothing.
The two men walked out of the city gate, crossed a wooden bridge dozens of meters long, and followed the stone path along the moat toward home.
The stone path was five meters wide, with the endless Suburban Domain stretching out on the other side. Under the eaves of the houses, long stone steps were crowded with ragged children in straw sandals.
They were all around five or six years old, their faces yellow and gaunt, as if they had walked a great distance. Their feet were blistered, and their faces were covered in a thick layer of dust.
There were nearly a hundred of them, seemingly resting there temporarily.
Li Weiyi walked along, observing the children. Across the street, under another eaves, round, curious eyes watched him and Zhao Zhizhuo.
"Why are there so many children?" Li Weiyi felt something was amiss.
Zhao Zhizhuo, unfazed, replied calmly, "Look closely. They're almost all twins."
Li Weiyi did notice this. Two children would often look strikingly alike, with only a few solitary ones.
Why was the proportion of twins so high?
It was utterly bizarre!
Zhao Zhizhuo explained, "They're grown from Ren Dao (Human Cultivation)."
[T/N: Ren Dao literally translates to "Benevolent Rice", but I chose to render it as "Human Cultivation", because in the story, certain ancient and powerful families raise and Cultivate children from a very young age.]
"What does that mean?" Li Weiyi asked, puzzled.
Zhao Zhizhuo continued, "Have you heard of Human Cultivation (Ren Dao)?"
Li Weiyi shook his head.
"Human Cultivation - some call it Human Seed."
"The 'Ren (Human)' in Human Cultivation refers to both seed and kernel."
"Human Cultivation originated deep within the Nether Realm of the Dead, where it served as sustenance for mysterious entities in the Realm of the Dead. It later spread to the Lingxiao Realm."
"A single stalk of Ren Dao can produce several or even a dozen fetuses, always in even numbers. Those growing on either side of the stalk resemble twins."
"I've heard that various factions in the outer provinces have already begun mass human cultivation ."
"First, they select exceptionally talented individuals and train them as death warriors. Second, it allows for a rapid surge in labor. Third... humans are simply a resource and a commodity. Trading Cultivated Human rarely leads to disputes, and no one will stand up for them."
"I've heard that some brutal Rebel Army factions even feed Cultivated Humans to their Strange Beast mounts."
"In Li Province, the Jiu Li Clan's elders strongly opposed Human Cultivation, considering it a violation of human ethics. They feared that as the proportion of Cultivated Humans increased over time, it would lead to uncontrollable social unrest."
"But as far as I know, some within the clan still secretly cultivate it in the Mangshan Mountain Range."
Li Weiyi marveled at the thought, his heart heavy with the implications. The existence of Cultivated Humans was bound to raise profound ethical questions.
Looking at the children sitting by the roadside, he couldn't help but feel a surge of pity and compassion.
They had no parents.
Without parents, who in the world would truly care about them?
Let alone their happiness, it seemed no one even cared whether they lived or died.
"Ah-Yin, tie your shoes properly, or your feet will get blisters. Just bear with it a little longer, we'll be there soon..."
A woman in a white Buddhist robe knelt on the ground, tying the grass-rope shoelaces of a Cultivated Human girl. Her voice was both melodious and gentle, like a summer breeze, unforgettable after a single hearing.
Once finished, she stood up.
Her figure was tall and slender.
The female cultivator's robes were loose and flowing, revealing only her long hands and legs.
A string of red prayer beads adorned her right wrist, their color as vibrant as congealed blood.
Sensing Li Weiyi's gaze, the white-robed cultivator turned her head and gave him a gentle, smiling nod.
She then softly chanted, "Amitabha!"
Li Weiyi clearly heard the Buddhist invocation. He froze for a moment, then a storm of shock surged through his mind.
'This isn't Earth!'
'Does this world also have Amitabha?'
Amitabha, also known as the Immeasurable Buddha, is the legendary Buddha who presides over the Western Paradise.
Li Weiyi had finally encountered a genuine Buddhist practitioner. He was still debating whether to approach her for guidance when she walked over to him first.
The white-robed cultivator appeared to be in her twenties, with sallow skin, average features, and slightly prominent cheekbones.
After performing a respectful bow, she spoke in a melodious, gentle voice: "Sir, it's clear you have a compassionate heart. Your eyes radiate a tender light of pity for all beings. May this humble nun dare to request a bowl of vegetarian food?"
Though Li Weiyi valued Silver Coins greatly, a bowl of vegetarian food was hardly worth much. He returned her bow and said, "Not just one bowl! Bring all the children. They look famished."
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END OF CHAPTER
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