Chapter 123: Recreating the Sandstorm Formation

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What is the Way?

It is something one may understand, yet never put into words.

Cultivation demands single-minded devotion: one must concentrate wholeheartedly, without wavering or entertaining conflicting thoughts. Everything should unfold naturally.

The Way itself never changes. Though it cannot be grasped, it can be understood; and through enlightenment, one may attain the Way. Every cultivator who has reached Meridian Refinement possesses personal insights into the Way. Based on those insights, they cast away the doubts in their hearts, comprehend the importance of all things in the world, and come to understand that comprehension itself is the Way.

Some cultivators seek enlightenment through slaughter, disregarding all consequences and caring nothing for others. Any obstacle or doubt on their path of cultivation is destroyed.

Some seek enlightenment through virtue, accumulating merit and settling grievances through morality. The more virtuous deeds they perform, the faster they attain the Way.

Some seek enlightenment through emotion, becoming obsessed with love, driven mad by it, and eventually falling into demonic ways. Their cultivation becomes distorted by passion.

Some seek enlightenment through pills. Others rely on swords, artifact refinement, talisman-making, and countless other paths.

Which path should he use to comprehend the Way?

Li Mu pondered for more than two days, yet it seemed he still did not understand. Even so, several voices had begun alternating within his heart.

“All things in the world contain enlightenment. Do not become confused. You must devote yourself completely!”

“What good is single-mindedness? Every person is a natural being. Think about it—anything is possible.”

“Between enlightenment and attaining the Way, only an unyielding fixation can lead one to true understanding!”

“No. All things are diverse, yet each follows certain laws. One cannot cling to a single obsession and create uncertainty. That would be disastrous.”

Amid the confusion, Li Mu suddenly gained a flash of insight.

There was no need to cling to anything.

Those who sought enlightenment through slaughter clung to slaughter. Those who sought it through emotion clung to emotion. Those who sought it through the sword clung to the sword. None of that was necessary.

The Spirit Tower was not a thing of this world, nor was it some ordinary treasure. Apart from the Spirit Tower, he would no longer cling to anything belonging to this world.

All things should follow their natural course. There was fundamentally no need for obsession. The moment one generated a fixed thought, everything became disorderly. One could do anything, or do nothing at all. So long as it reflected one’s true intention, whatever one did would be one’s own path.

Li Mu’s resolve was exceptionally firm. He had thought through his future with perfect clarity, and he would not change his mind.

It was as though everything had suddenly become clear. Li Mu smiled and rose to his feet.

Not clinging to anything—that was his Way.

At that moment, he had successfully completed Meridian Refinement.

The amount of true power within him expanded several times over, and its circulation became far smoother. Most remarkable was the vast increase in his spiritual sense, which had expanded from roughly a hundred meters to nearly a thousand—an improvement of almost tenfold.

Because of the two spiritual materials he had absorbed, Li Mu now possessed a peculiar affinity with both water and fire.

Outside the cultivation chamber, Shen Bingxue noticed the faint enlightenment in his expression and smiled.

“Congratulations.”

Li Mu was delighted. He slowly approached her, drawing close enough to stand face-to-face with her exquisite features.

“Thank you.”

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Shen Bingxue’s face flushed crimson. Breathing lightly, she took several steps backward.

“What are you doing today? Why are you suddenly standing so close? What are you up to?”

Li Mu smiled and walked away, waving his hand.

“Don’t be nervous. I think you may be about to complete Meridian Refinement too.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

A trace of doubt appeared on Shen Bingxue’s face as she watched him leave. She muttered resentfully, “What a sly fellow. Does completing Meridian Refinement make people stupid?”

Li Mu entered the room with a wicked grin. Now that he had completed Meridian Refinement, there were many things he needed to do.

The first was to refine the Sandstorm Formation.

The great serpent’s venom had destroyed nearly half of the formation’s sand-dust beads, leaving only several tens of thousands. Li Mu’s goal, however, was to refine several hundred thousand more. That might sound like a great many, but to a cultivator at the Meridian Refinement stage, it was nothing extraordinary.

His first task was to use the Spirit Tower to raise the sand-dust beads to the highest grade. This was not difficult. Only about ten thousand beads were required for each enhancement, and the expenditure of tower energy was minimal.

Within the Spirit Tower, powered by true energy, one top-grade sand-dust bead after another slowly rose into the air.

Li Mu’s spiritual sense now extended for nearly several miles, yet he concentrated it all within a radius of several meters around himself. To his eyes, grains of sand no larger than mosquitoes appeared as large as clenched fists.

With the assistance of the Six Books, and after refining his true power into liquid form, his control over it had reached a level he had never achieved before. Threads of true power finer than hair, carrying tiny sparks, wound across the sand-dust beads. The flames merely inscribed the runic network and did not interfere with the other parts.

The formation engraved upon the sand-dust beads was called “Essence Attachment.” It was quite simple, requiring only the absorption of true power. Yet this was Li Mu’s first time inscribing a formation onto a spiritual object, so he proceeded with great caution. Even so, he managed to complete several dozen beads in one attempt.

After testing the circulation of true power, he began refining the next batch.

As he became more familiar with the process, his speed grew increasingly fast. In two hours, he could refine several hundred sand-dust beads.

“But the speed still cannot be increased.”

“Refining several hundred thousand beads will take thousands of hours. And that is only the inscription of the formation. They must still be refined with strange fire afterward, which will take even longer.”

Li Mu rubbed his forehead.

“Fortunately, I came from another world. Otherwise, I might really have used the simple method.”

The simple method was to use tools to carry out large-scale refinement.

“With such excellent material as heavy iron, I am still refining these one by one. What a fool I am!”

Li Mu quickly thought of a solution and went outside to bring back some heavy iron. It was extremely hard and dense, could block spiritual power, and could not be burned even by third-grade strange fire. It was indeed an excellent material for making tools.

He took a small portion, hollowed it out, engraved the necessary patterns, and polished it until it gleamed. Before long, an excellent refining tool had been completed.

Purple flames rose and formed a ring of fire.

Li Mu poured the sand-dust beads into the heavy-iron tool. They were subjected to the flames within the ring, and after several breaths, the process was complete.

He tried it out and was overjoyed. It was very similar to the refining methods he had once used.

Li Mu was now extremely confident. With his control over true power, he could constantly divide it into hundreds of streams and manipulate hundreds of sand-dust beads at once. As long as he created several hundred such tools, refining several hundred thousand beads would be effortless.

Several days later, the several hundred thousand sand-dust beads had all been inscribed with the formations. They were piled beside him like a mountain.

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Next came refinement with strange fire. Li Mu had practiced this method many times before and was fully confident.

He used the purple flames to circulate around the sand-dust beads several times. The beads gradually became refined, and although hundreds of thousands of them had been condensed together, they took up hardly any space.

Once the work was finished, Li Mu was extremely satisfied with the Sandstorm Formation before him. Both the Spirit Tower and the Six Books had fulfilled their respective purposes.

He controlled the sand-dust beads to move with his true power, and they responded as smoothly as if they were parts of his own body. The sand constantly shifted around him, sometimes forming rings, sometimes towers, stomachs, clubs, or flowing streams. It could even transform into a gigantic sand giant.

Now that was true power.

If the sand-dust formation were used in battle, it could clearly combine with countless spells. Paired with any artifact, talisman, or technique, it would produce extraordinary effects.

Li Mu withdrew his spiritual sense and earnestly tested every possible movement of his true power. Again and again, he sought the best method, never growing tired.

Yet now that he had no opponent, Li Mu’s experiments looked almost foolish.

To everyone else, he seemed to have returned to childhood, playing alone.

“Big Brother, what are you playing with? Can I play too?”

“After completing Meridian Refinement, Brother Mu’s heart has become like a child’s. He is playing with sand in the sitting room.”

“Ha!”

Hearing Sun Qi’s remark, Shen Bingxue could not help laughing. Her laughter jolted Li Mu out of his absorption.

Only then did Li Mu realize that others were nearby. He paid it little mind, quickly changing the sand’s form before deliberately saying, “I’m testing an artifact. What are all of you staring at? Hurry up and cultivate. Come on, move along.”

Li Ying and the others left, but Shen Bingxue remained behind alone. She watched Li Ying’s back, a trace of worry clouding her face.

“What is it, Apothecary Shen?”

“There is something I wish to say, though I do not know whether I should, Steward Li.”

Shen Bingxue hesitated, gesturing toward Li Ying.

Thinking of Li Ying, Li Mu immediately became serious.

“There is nothing you cannot say, Apothecary Shen.”

“Ying’er…”

Shen Bingxue did not continue at once. Instead, she asked, “Have you not noticed that something about her seems strange?”

“Hmm? In what way is she strange?”

Li Mu was somewhat confused by her words. Li Ying had always been perfectly well. She ate well and cultivated well. As far as he could tell, nothing was wrong.

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