Chapter 11: Ethereal Dew
The streets of Yuxi Town had settled into a quiet rhythm as night fell. The once-bustling market had dimmed, the glow of lanterns reflecting off the cobblestone roads. From the window of their rented quarters at a modest inn, Wei Lin stared out into the darkened streets, his mind still restless.
The mysterious alchemist lingered in his thoughts. He couldn't shake the unease he felt from their encounter. "He won't try anything here, will he?" Wei Lin asked, glancing at Chen Rui, who was unwrapping a fresh set of bandages for his arm.
Chen Rui gave a short chuckle. "No chance. Towns like Yuxi are protected by a high-level formation erected by Jade Leaf and Verdant Sky Sect elders. It detects and tags any cultivator below the Core Formation stage who uses qi techniques within its boundaries. Even if he wanted to make a move, he'd be hunted down before he could escape."
"And you're sure he's not a Core Formation cultivator?" Wei Lin asked, though he wasn't even sure what that meant.
"Positive. If he were, he wouldn't be lurking in an apothecary haggling over Voidbloom. Core Formation cultivators hold elder positions in the major sects around here. A rogue one would stand out immediately." Chen Rui leaned back. "The alchemist might be dangerous outside Yuxi, but inside? He's just another rat waiting for an opportunity."
Wei Lin nodded, finally relaxing.
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As Wei Lin retired to his room, the Talisman stirred in his mind. "Don't sleep yet. We should use the Ethereal Dew as soon as possible."
Wei Lin frowned. "Why the rush?"
"Because every step of cultivation depends on the strength of your soul," the Talisman replied in an impatient tone. "If you don’t start refining it now, you’ll waste time hitting bottlenecks that could have been avoided. Worse, if your soul is too weak, your breakthroughs will be unstable—at best, inefficient, at worst, dangerous. You want to avoid qi deviation? Start now."
Wei Lin hesitated but pulled out his vial of Ethereal Dew. He could feel a faint pulse of energy from within them, almost like a whisper beckoning him.
As Wei Lin uncorked the vial, a cool, silken mist coiled from the opening. He felt a subtle resonance within his soul, a pull that urged him forward. Closing his eyes, he took a slow breath and guided the Ethereal Dew’s energy inward.
The moment the energy merged with his soul, Wei Lin felt something shift—not a rush of power, but a quiet, steady resonance. This was deeper—like a whisper of recognition in the depths of his being, as if something long dormant had stirred. It wasn’t power flooding his meridians like qi; it was a resonance, a clarity that sharpened everything. The dim candlelight in his room seemed crisper, the air carried the faintest vibrations of the world beyond, and his very thoughts felt more precise—more anchored.
The Talisman’s voice returned, its tone instructive.
"Good. Now listen carefully. There are three sources of energy in this world—essence from within your body, qi that you gather from around you, and primordial energy from the void itself. This is why cultivation is sometimes called the Threefold Path. Cultivation is a journey to gain mastery over these three sources of energy. And the soul—strengthening your soul is the only way to improve your ability to control these forces."
"Imagine cultivation as a burning candle." The Talisman’s voice slowed, as if satisfied with its own wisdom. "Your essence—your physical body's life force—is the wax, the foundation of your lifespan. You want to expend as little of it as possible. Your qi is the wick, providing the fuel that allows you to burn steadily. But your soul? Your soul is the flame itself. As you increase the quality of your flame, it gets brighter and hotter–but at the same time, it also becomes more efficient, requiring less wax and less wick to sustain."
Wei Lin's breath slowed as the analogy settled in. "So if my soul is weak..."
"Then your flame flickers. You face bottlenecks and your progress stagnates. It burns inefficiently, or worse, it gets snuffed out. Those who push their qi too far but don’t refine their souls suffer qi deviation. Their cultivation collapses because they lack a stable foundation."
Wei Lin nodded. "And void energy?"
"If we continue with the analogy, then void energy is like the air around you. Ultimate mastery is when the flame doesn't need to burn the candle at all, instead drawing all its fuel from the air itself. At the limits of cultivation, masters of the void no longer need their physical bodies or even qi. But that's far beyond what you need to know for now."
Wei Lin’s grip tightened on the jade pendant hanging from his neck, which Auntie Hua said had been with him when she found him in the Voidwood. It thrummed as the Ethereal Dew sharpened his awareness, making him ponder if it's more than just a keepsake.
As if reading his thoughts, the Talisman continued, "That pendant is no ordinary trinket. It awakened your soul, which was a prerequisite for communicating with me like you're doing now. But it's more than that—it’s uniquely attuned to you, as if it's made for the singular purpose of strengthening your soul. Even now, it's regulating the effects of the dew, tempering its effects to ensure it's absorbed efficiently."
Wei Lin exhaled slowly at the revelation.
The Ethereal Dew continued to merge with him, and as it did, he felt a clarity he had never known before. The sensation wasn’t explosive power, but a sharpening of his perception, a quiet expansion of his awareness.
For the first time, he had an inkling of what the Talisman meant—this was the path of the soul, a slow but profound transformation that separated mortals from the true masters of the Threefold Path.
Wei Lin slowly opened his eyes, still adjusting to the subtle shifts within himself.
The Talisman’s voice rang one final time, quieter, almost thoughtful. "Good. With this out of the way, I can teach you at a quicker pace. Maybe you'll live long enough to join a sect after all—and maybe, just maybe, you’ll do something that doesn’t make me question my existence."
Wei Lin grinned. For the first time since leaving Tianmu Village, he didn’t feel like he was just struggling to keep up. He was growing, truly growing, and this was only the beginning.
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Below is a translation of the chapter into Chinese (via ChatGPT).
以下是通过ChatGPT将本章翻译成中文。
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封天遗志
第十一章：玄幽露
夜幕降临，玉溪镇的街道渐渐沉入静谧的韵律。曾喧嚣不息的集市已然收敛，唯有灯火的微光映照在青石街道上，流淌出淡淡的光影。客栈一隅，微风透过窗棂，撩动纱帘，魏林立于窗前，望向夜色笼罩的街巷，心绪依旧难以平静。
那名神秘的炼药师的身影盘踞于脑海，他挥之不去的隐忧，如幽微暗潮，令人不安。
“他不会在这里动手吧？”魏林终于忍不住问道，目光投向正拆开新绷带的辰锐。
辰锐轻笑一声，语气中带着几分漫不经心：“绝无可能。像玉溪镇这样的地方，早已由玉叶宗与翠天宗的长老们布下高阶护城大阵，任何结丹期之下的修士若在镇中施展术法，都会被察觉并立即标记。”他顿了顿，随意地抬了抬手，“就算那家伙真有异心，也逃不出阵法的感知范围，动手便是自寻死路。”
魏林皱眉道：“可你怎么确定他不是结丹期的修士？”虽然他尚未真正理解这一境界的含义，但本能告诉他，这种存在，绝非他们能抗衡。
“笃定无疑。”辰锐语气平静，目光却透着一丝不易察觉的凌厉，“若他真是结丹境修士，又怎会蹲守在一间药铺里，犹如市井贩子一般，与人讨价还价？此等人物，非门派长老，即是隐世高人，哪会在这等地方自降身份？”
他嗤笑一声，随意地靠在榻上，语气漫不经心：“那家伙或许在镇外是个威胁，但在这里？也不过是一只在暗处窥伺机会的老鼠罢了。”
魏林听罢，心中不安终于稍缓，深吸一口气，望向窗外灯火寂然的夜色，神色微微放松下来。
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魏林回到房内，正欲歇息，天命符却在他识海中微微震动。
“莫急着入睡，尽快炼化玄幽露。”
魏林皱眉：“为何如此急切？”
“修行之道，每一步皆取决于魂魄之力。” 天命符的语气略显不耐，“若不趁早锤炼魂魄，日后突破时便会处处受制，轻则停滞不前，重则根基不稳，落入岔道。你可知气机失控的后果？若不想身死道消，就现在开始。”
魏林微微犹豫，终是取出了那瓶玄幽露。瓷瓶入手微凉，然其内却有一缕难以察觉的波动，如同低语在耳畔，勾引着他的神魂。
轻轻揭开瓶塞，缥缈如丝的雾气自瓶口缓缓溢出，冰凉而清透，仿佛有股无形的引力，将他的魂魄向前牵引。魏林深吸一口气，闭目凝神，引导那股奇异的能量缓缓融入己身。
霎时间，他感到自身似有微妙的变化，不是如真气般充盈四肢百骸的力量，而是一种更深层的共鸣，仿佛沉寂已久的某种存在被轻轻唤醒。这不是简单的修为提升，而是一种感知的拓展，一种清晰入微的领悟。他察觉到房内烛火跳跃的轨迹愈发分明，夜风掠过窗棂时的微妙颤动尽收心底，甚至连思绪都前所未有地澄澈通透。
天命符的声音再次响起，语气中带着一丝满意。
“不错。既然已入门，便听好了——天地万物的能量分为三类：源自血肉之躯的‘精’，天地灵气汇聚而成的‘气’，以及来自虚空深处的‘元’。正因如此，修行之道又被称作‘三修之道’。而魂魄，便是掌控此三者的关键。”
“将修行比作燃灯。” 天命符缓缓说道，似乎颇为欣赏自己的比喻，“‘精’乃灯烛之蜡，是你的生命本源，消耗过快，便是折损寿元。‘气’如灯芯，引燃修行之光，承载力量之延续。而‘魂’呢？魂便是火焰本身，焚烧得越旺，光芒越盛，温度越高——但若魂魄不够强大，燃烧便显得狂暴无序，最终熄灭。”
魏林屏息思索，若有所悟：“若魂魄薄弱……”
“则火焰摇曳不定，修行进境迟滞不前，甚至被反噬。若执意突破，魂魄却承受不住，便会走火入魔，前功尽弃。”
魏林深吸一口气，点头道：“那虚空之力呢？”
“若按此比喻，虚空之力便如四周无尽的空气。修行至巅峰，便是点燃虚空，令火焰无需燃耗灯蜡与灯芯，而是直接汲取虚空之元。这便是至高无上的境界——化身虚无，不依托肉身，不执着真气，凌驾于三道之巅。不过，这些与你目前的修行尚且相去甚远。”
魏林的手指下意识地触及颈间的玉佩，那是花姨说他被遗弃在虚空林时便随身携带的物件。此刻，玄幽露的药力渐渐深入，他的神魂愈发清明，令他不禁怀疑——这玉佩当真只是寻常之物？
仿佛窥探到了他的思绪，天命符淡淡道：
“此物绝非凡品。它不仅助你觉醒魂魄，使你得以与我沟通，更是与你的魂息相合，宛若专为你锻造，旨在滋养你的神魂。如今，它正在调和玄幽露的药性，使其精华更完美地融入你的魂魄。”
魏林闻言，心头微微一震。
玄幽露的效力持续发挥，他感受到神魂深处的变化愈发明显。那并非肉身的强大，而是感知的延展，是一股无法用寻常力量衡量的蜕变。
此刻，他终于明白天命符所言——魂之修行，非一朝一夕之功，它是最隐秘却最深远的蜕变，是凡人与真正修行者之间的分水岭。
缓缓睁开双眸，魏林适应着这股微妙的变化。
天命符的声音再度响起，这一次却少了几分刻薄，竟隐隐透着一丝满意：
“很好。如今此事已成，我便能加快教导你的进度。或许，你还真能活着走进宗门……甚至，或许你有一天能做点什么，不至于让我怀疑自己存在的意义。”
魏林不禁一笑。自离开天目村后，他一直都在艰难地适应这片广阔天地，如今，他终于感受到成长的痕迹。
而这，仅仅是开始。
