3 Chapter 3
"Mother, mother, I, I feel that this is still too sudden. How about this, I also go out to gain experience like the other sisters, maybe I can find a suitable training partner?"
Free love is better than arranged marriage, right?
Ning Shu was so nervous that she was sweating profusely. She stammered out a bunch of excuses. Seeing her daughter's pitiful face pale with fear, the Sect Master finally softened his heart. He sighed, waved his hand, and drove away the men who had voluntarily joined the Hehuan Sect: "You can go down first."
So the men retreated quietly again, coming and going without a trace leaving any trace in the yard.
Ning Shu finally breathed a sigh of relief and ran to the Sect Master and acted coquettishly: "Mother, you are teasing me again~"
"It's not that mother wants to make things difficult for you, Shu'er. You've grown up now. The Hehuan Sect will be handed over to you sooner or later. You can't keep running away like this..." The sect leader gently touched his daughter's face which was pouting deliberately. He wanted to say something harsh but couldn't bear to push her too hard. In the end, he could only sigh softly and change the subject to talk about business.
Never mind. She is in her prime anyway, and her life span is at least one or two thousand years. Shu'er is only sixteen years old, so it won't hurt to let her live a happy life for two more years.
"Shu'er, look at this tree." She turned and looked at the ancient tree with lush branches and leaves in front of her, and gently stroked its rough and weathered bark with her white and tender palms.
"Well, I know. This is the Double-Inhabited Wutong Tree, the treasure of our Hehuan Sect. The barrier outside and the communication between the sisters in the sect are all thanks to it." Ning Shu also put her hand on it like her mother.
When Ning Shu was a child, she heard Sister Zixiao tell ancient mythological stories about this tree having the magical power to give birth to a phoenix. The authenticity of these stories remains to be verified. After all, if the Hehuan Sect really had the protection of a phoenix, they would not have been blocked at the door and scolded by those Taoist priests.
But this tree is indeed a treasure. Not to mention the barrier that keeps out the great masters of other sects, its ability to make all the disciples in the sect "connect with each other's minds" is also very magical.
Any disciple who has been enrolled in the Hehuan Sect and has a formal record in the disc book will, with the blessing of this sacred tree, obtain a small barrier similar to the sect's barrier and the ability to communicate with other disciples and elders regardless of distance and space.
Although there are some spells like message talismans or Xuantong mirrors in the world of cultivation, they have many restrictions and are mostly one-to-one messages. Only disciples of the Hehuan Sect can send group messages at will. Whenever the disciples encounter any danger or opportunity outside, they can send a message for help with a thought. In addition, the small barrier is extremely difficult to conquer, which greatly increases the survival rate of the disciples.
Otherwise, given the extremely bad reputation of the Hehuan Sect, there is a high probability that everyone will be attacked by other sects when they go out to gain experience.
As if he knew what Ning Shu was thinking, the Sect Master gently stroked the wrinkled bark beneath his hand and explained softly to his daughter, "But this tree is actually still in its infancy, and it's still a long way from maturity."
"Is it already so powerful in its infancy?" Ning Shu looked up at the divine tree's lush branches that blocked out the sun, feeling a bit speechless and a bit yearning. "Then when will it grow up? Will it really attract phoenixes when it matures?"
They are so powerful even in their childhood. If they really grow up, won’t the Hehuan Sect be able to dominate the world of cultivation?
"It needs to absorb a lot of cultivation as nutrients to continue growing." The sect leader took Ning Shu to sit on the stone bench under the tree, looking at the sacred tree with a look that was both gentle and regretful:
"Every disciple who connects to the sacred tree contributes a portion of their cultivation during their training, but unfortunately, it is still a drop in the bucket compared to what the tree needs."
Ning Shu recalled her childhood memories and found that the tree had indeed not grown for more than ten years. She was very puzzled:
"But we have thousands of ordinary disciples in the Hehuan Sect, as well as elders like Sister Zixiao and Sister Hongling who are at the Nascent Soul and Spiritual Transformation stages. We've been watering the tree day and night for over ten years, and it's still not enough for the tree to grow?"
You know, the circulation of Qi in a cultivator's body is a passive effect that lasts all day and night. Is this not enough? Isn't it too difficult to raise this sacred tree?
"That's because the magic power gained from ordinary cultivation methods can't be used by the sacred tree. It needs the threads of love." The sect leader raised her hand, and a golden leaf from the sycamore tree fell into her palm. She placed the leaf in front of Ning Shu: "The sacred tree doesn't grow naturally like ordinary plants. It is woven from thousands of threads of love."
Ning Shu looked down curiously at the fallen leaf in her mother's hand, and then she realized that it did not have the patterns that ordinary leaves should have. Instead, it was made up of many golden silk threads as thin as hair. It looked very similar to the ancient Chinese silk flower craftsmanship, but it strangely carried the breath of life.
Although it is a woven silk flower, it is alive. Is this the world of cultivation? It is really magical! Ning Shu was shocked by such a spectacle and couldn't help but touch the fallen leaves with the texture of leaf flesh in his hand: Love thread? What is that? "
"Alas, child, why don't you read the cultivation manual your mother gave you? Are you being lazy again?" The sect leader stretched out a slender finger and lightly touched Ning Shu's forehead.
I, I'm just afraid of seeing something too exciting...
"Hehe..." Ning Shu knew that he was in the wrong, so he laughed guiltily twice, holding the leaf in his hand and said nothing.
Fortunately, the Sect Master always knew his daughter's personality and did not pursue the matter too much. Instead, he began to explain the most basic cultivation method of the Hehuan Sect to his daughter:
"For disciples of the Hehuan Sect, we must follow the path of compassion. There are two common ways to improve our cultivation: extreme indulgence in the seven emotions and six desires, and the dual cultivation method of harmonizing yin and yang..."
Although there were some harsh words in the content that were difficult to say out loud, Ning Shu still understood what her mother wanted to express from her elegant and professional explanation.
If the members of the Hehuan Sect want to improve their cultivation, there are only two ways to do it - absorb all kinds of extreme and pure emotions, or find some "cultivation materials" to practice dual cultivation.
In terms of results, the cultivation provided by emotions is more massive and pure, but it is hard to come by. The improvement provided by dual cultivation is not that much, but it can be accumulated over time and is more stable.
Most sisters in the Hehuan Sect do two things at once: they fall in love and practice dual cultivation at the same time. The two methods of cultivation complement each other and lead to common progress.
Therefore, the cultivation progress of those fledgling disciples was particularly fast. They experienced all kinds of flavors of first love, such as sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy, and absorbed the emotions of the other person as well as their own. For cultivators of the Way of Love, it was like taking a tonic pill. Basically, one love will lead them to the foundation-building stage, and some who loved someone to death could directly form a pill.
Although the level is high in the early stage, when it comes to love, after a few heartbreaks, one will basically see through the world. So no matter how hard the disciples try later, it will be difficult for them to be so devoted in love again. At this time, most disciples will give up the pursuit of "emotional value" and turn to a more stable dual cultivation mode.
Huh? You mean someone with a top-tier love brain who could still be madly in love even after ten thousand relationships? That's a naturally compassionate and holy body, rare to come by, even in hundreds of years.
This kind of practice mode is nothing for the disciples. After all, although it is a bit slow, they will still make progress. It is just a slow and steady process. But the bad thing is that the sacred tree is quite picky. It only needs the energy transformed from the seven emotions and six desires to grow - that is, the thread of love.
"As the saying goes, it's easy to find a priceless treasure, but hard to find a true lover. Over the years, the disciples of the sect have been cultivating day and night, but love is still extremely rare. Aside from a few recent disciples who can contribute a little, the rest of the sisters are really powerless..."
The Sect Master raised her hand and gently grasped at the air. A shimmering golden thread was held in her hand. "This is the only daily income. It may take ten thousand years to cultivate this double-dwelling sycamore tree."
Having said that, the Sect Master placed the strands of silk in Ning Shu's hands, and gently placed his soft, warm palm over his daughter's hand, his tone filled with expectation and instructions:
"Shu'er, if this is the case, you will definitely take on the mission of nurturing the sacred tree in the future. You must remember that the prosperity and decline of our sect depends on this. You must protect this tree in the future. Even if you can no longer nourish it, you must never let it wither."
At this moment, Ning Shu... Ning Shu was still in shock. She lowered her head and stared at the flexible golden thread in her hand for a long while. The words she spoke out were a bit dazed:
"Mother, it turns out...it's possible to practice without dual cultivation."
metropolitan:……
I've been giving you these instructions for so long, and this is what you feel?
Seeing the gentle smile on the Sect Master's face beginning to fade and wisps of black air beginning to emerge from behind him, Ning Shu, knowing that this was a sign of doom, immediately sat up straight. When he spoke again, he had become a young Sect Master who was deeply concerned about the future of the sect:
"Mother, this thread of love is the result of the condensed emotions of so many people."
"It depends on the intensity of the feelings. If it's true love, one person can form a single love. If there's reservation, it might take several or even more than a dozen people to form a single love."
Ning Shu looked at the dozens of love threads in his hand, lowered his head and fell into thought, and soon asked a few more questions.
“What happens to a person whose emotions are taken away?”
"These emotions naturally radiate outward according to one's mood. Taking them has no effect on them."
"Then if someone unilaterally likes a disciple of the Hehuan Sect, can we extract the love from them?"
"Of course. Over the past few hundred years, several threads of love have been extracted every day. Although I don't know the specific source, they are probably the deeply infatuated admirers of the sisters."
"What's wrong, Shu'er?" The clan leader looked at his daughter, whose face was lowered, a look of worry flashing in his beautiful eyes. "Are you scared? Do you feel the burden is too heavy?"
"No, mother, I was just thinking—" Ning Shu suddenly raised her head, her fair face flushed with excitement, her eyes seemed to be burning with flames, she looked at the sect leader with a burning gaze, her tone filled with excitement and madness:
"If a disciple has thousands, no, tens of thousands of admirers, then we can quickly feed this sacred tree, right?"
metropolitan:……
Tens of thousands? Even as the leader of the Hehuan Sect, I still think this is too much.
【Author’s words】
The leader, misguided, said: "Ah? How could such a ridiculous thing exist in the world?"
Ning Shu: In order to carry forward the Hehuan Sect, everyone has no choice but to debut as idols [dog head]
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