Mind dao

The trio soon resumed their journey to the demonic forest. The carriage was to be delivered to the Skyfire land, and the fastest way was to go through the woods.

There were dangerous spiritual beasts deep into the forest but that is not where they would be treading.

After the previous altercation, Bai sheng was growing more curious toward Qingcheng yen.

She had the spirit and the indominable will a swordsman should have and the lethality of her sword was no joke. The dao were not all equals, and the art of the sword was one that was very suitable for killing. Bai sheng wished he had learned this instead of time, but what could he do?

Actually, there was nothing that prevented him from learning it but he had to start from achieved master and make his way to grandmaster if he wanted it to be useful in combat. It was too much of a waste of time.

There were scholars who had tried to learn many dao but the results were most disappointing : they all died without achieving anything great in cultivation. Cultivation is a literal race for time : it is either break through higher stage and gain lifespan or stagnate and die of old age.

Outclassing one's peer also means outliving them ; it is a real difference in life order.

Bai sheng knew his priorities, but if he had the chance he felt that learning the sword would be nice.

Intrigued by her, Bai sheng started the conversation :

"Did you make the scars yourself?" Surprisingly, he started by addressing what would make a women uncomfortable. But he didn't think she would mind.

"How can you tell?"

"The cuts seem very viciously dealt, but they in fact do not hinder you in any way in a fight."

There was indeed not cuts to the eyes, ears, mouth or nose.

"In this dark world, being too beautiful is a sin for common girls. However, not many would be as decisive and ruthless as you are."

"As excepted of a swordsman like you, I guess." He added.

"You are right, I carved my face myself. I had a rough childhood in the slums." She said without going into the details. She was a little surprised that the teenager was so familiar with the cruel ways of the world.

"I think you did a poor job though. Or else how could you be still so mesmerizing despite your scars?"

Although her face was obviously not delicate she was voluptuously shaped and had a generously endowed chest.

Zhang lin laughed in her heart at his clumsy attempt to court the woman.

'If the heart of a swordsman is so easily swayed by words, then they are no swordsman' she though.

Ever since the end of the fight, Qingcheng had caught the curious gazes of Bin sheng but she didn't think he was really ogling her. She looked at him. He didn't shy away from her gaze and looked back.

'At least he is not spineless about it' she though. Upon witnessing her strength, not only did it not discourage him, but he was further interested by her and tried his luck.

'A far cry from those bastards who took advantage of me when I was young and weak' she thought.

He was capable and rather handsome. She also felt flattered that he was impressed by her strength and decisiveness.

Yet, her heart could never be moved with mere frivolous words. She also though that he was not serious about relationships due to him being young and good-looking.

"Mind your words." She snapped.

'hugh, as expected, I really am not talented with women' he sighed in his heart.

'Fuck ! Am I really that ugly ? How come I fail every time' His good mood was now spoiled.

Despite his inner frustration, he didn't let anything show in his expression and smiled knowingly as though her reaction was expected.

It made them feel like his words were genuine and that he had no perverted intention in saying them. Which was, of course, wrong.

As the atmosphere was just beginning to turn awkward, Bai sheng turned to Zhang lin and said :

"By the way, you didn't tell us where you're from"

Including a third party to skillfully get the conversation back on the right track. Bai sheng was very satisfied with how he handled the rejection. It could have easily ended up with them having a bad impression of him.

"The central continent." She said.

"Oh ? You're from the Zhang clan in the central continent?" His interest grew.

"You know about it?" She was surprised this country bumpkin had some knowledge of the great families of the central continent.

"Just the name" He answered.

"The Zhang clan is one of the 5 most powerful families in the royal capital. These clans are at the forefront of the war against the demons, they are the beacon of hope for the survival of mankind."

Bai sheng rolled his eyes at her self-flattering words. He could already guess how these families were monopolizing the cultivation ressources of the lands but there she was spouting bullshit about their noble design.

She continued talking about the main continent and Bai sheng listened with an attentive ear.

He knew close to nothing about history and how the continents were ruled. He remembered how embarrassed he was when he learned there were demons in this world after inadvertently listening to one of his classmates' discussion. He vaguely remembered that there were different lands where dynasties reigned supreme and answered only to the royal capital in the central continent. He was currently residing in the Frozenearth land. Supreme Frozenearth was a frost expert who had done great contribution in the war and upon learning of his demise, his home land took his name.

" ..the Zhang family members are all spiritually gifted, so we all at least dabble in the dao of the mind.."

'Huh, I guess the mystery about my spiritual talent is lifted.'

"How does one go about cultivating the mind?" He asked with renewed interest. It seems that he had talents in this particular dao, so he didn't shy away from asking.

Seeing his eager gaze, her contempt for him grew a little bit. However, she remembered he had not-so-bad spiritual sense. He might have been able to achieve something in the mind dao if he had started early.

"The mind dao is something personal, there is no teaching it."

"Those who explore the mysteries of the mind usually start by isolating and self-introspecting themselves. They must be perfectly aware of their own intent, desire and nature."

After hearing that, Bai sheng was greatly pleased. He had spent 3 years alone in the Frozen dimension and as there was nothing much to do when he was not cultivating, he had self reflected a lot about what he wanted to do when he got out.

"After that, it's all about fostering great emotion and imposing our will onto the world. We basically bend the rules of this realm with the power of our intent. The stronger one's spiritual energy is, the stronger the effects."

"Anyway, the mind dao is just the manipulation of spiritual energy. It's something everyone has to learn if they want to breakthrough realms after Dao Separation, so if you have the confidence of going that far in cultivation, training the mind is actually not a waste of time."

'Interesting..'