Making a mistake, it was one of the most common things in the world.
If a gentleman accidentally committed a small mistake, it wasn't just harmless, it could even be beneficial in nurturing one's virtue.
Only through mistakes could one reflect, recognize wrongs, and refine the self.
Shen Xingzhu had once heard a Confucian scholar on Liberty Mountain say:
"Be glad when you're corrected, acknowledge your faults without shame, and never hesitate to amend them, this is the Way of a true gentleman."
But at this moment, for Shen Xingzhu herself, she had no doubt made a mistake so vast it tainted her Dao heart, an almost irreparable, catastrophic mistake.
She should not have struck.
Shen Xingzhu thought to herself, I was calm. I felt no wavering of mind or will. My primordial spirit stood high above my sea of consciousness, gazing down upon all beings like Guanyin with downcast eyes, clear and serene. No matter what, I should not have lost control.
And yet...
Shen Xingzhu's gaze followed the length of her sword upward.
Her hand that held the sword, was trembling.
The tremor was subtle, nearly imperceptible, but it was real, undeniably so.
She was still too young...
Though she was the current Dao Child of the Mysterious Divine Path Sect, only twenty-two years of age, already at the peak of the Master Realm, half a step into the Profound Realm, and a peerless prodigy without equal.
She was destined to attain sainthood with a flawless body, to lead the Mysterious Divine Path Sect. Her eyes were supposed to see no dust, her heart no worldly attachments.
Nothing in the world was supposed to shackle her.
But when that perfect disguise, that illusion that had fooled all, was pierced and exposed...
She could not restrain her emotions.
Anger. Even killing intent.
Especially because the one who had torn through that veil was not her master, who had once cut down three centuries with a single sword and destroyed the Great Qi dynasty, nor any proud son of heaven from her past.
But rather, a Qi Opening Realm cultivator whose strength barely surpassed that of a mortal!
Even worse, he was now a shackled prisoner, struggling just to survive!
She was the eternal star in the heavens, a lone candle on earth, and he was filth in the mud. The comparison alone was a disgrace.
Shen Xingzhu could not tolerate it.
That someone like him had, in a single conversation, ripped away all her veils and held her darkest, most shameful secret in his palm.
How could this be allowed to stand?
The opportunity to silence him was a one-time thing.
He was trying to blackmail her.
He was a despicable man, he deserved to die.
Because of him, the battle outside the city had been delayed seven days. Countless lives were lost. All so he could live a few days longer.
He was a cultivator, but his actions had caused mortals to die. That was the strong oppressing the weak. He should be executed.
She had almost convinced herself, almost fooled her own Dao heart, enough to erase this stain.
But unfortunately, Chen Kuang had dodged that sword.
So now..
She had made a mistake, a colossal mistake.
That fledgling, lofty Dao heart of hers, at the moment Chen Kuang said those words, was dusted with the first speck of grime.
Her sea of consciousness roiled violently, slamming against her pristine, jade-like primordial spirit above, and with a sharp crack, a fracture split across it.
The flawless white wall had shattered.
It was no longer pure!
Not killing, not saving.
Not hearing, not persuading.
Guide those with Dao, kill those without.
She had broken all four.
She had destroyed her own Dao.
Chen Kuang watched the black-clad woman whose icy composure had seemed impervious even if the sky collapsed, tremble violently.
Her fair hand. Her elegant shoulders. Even her slender figure began to shake.
Even the sheer veil obscuring her cold, beautiful face nearly fell away, revealing a glimpse of that otherworldly countenance.
If Chen Kuang had to describe it...
She had cracked.
Chen Kuang smiled brilliantly and placed a hand on the sword embedded in his side. The pain from laughing vibrated through his chest.
From the moment Shen Xingzhu drew her sword, he knew: he had won this gamble.
Yes, he had done it on purpose.
Every word he'd said just now wasn't about reasoning. It was deliberate provocation, repeating "I'll reveal your true face" over and over, amplifying the risk, trying to push Shen Xingzhu over the edge.
In the teachings passed to him by Huo Hengxuan, it was mentioned that a cultivator's "Dao" was not some abstract idea. It was the cornerstone for attaining sainthood.
Only by constructing one's inner world, condensing the Dao heart, unifying thought and action, and gaining recognition from the world itself, could one attain the profound and ineffable Dao.
This was the threshold of the Profound Realm, the upper three tiers of cultivation.
Once Chen Kuang realized she was lying, he understood: he had one chance to trap her.
She fished the world with her Dao.
So he offered himself as bait, and lured her into the jar.
Of course, he didn't make this gamble blindly. He had faith in the passive "Blood Premonition" to warn him at the last moment.
And with his absurd regenerative powers, he had a high chance of surviving the blow.
It all came down to a single sword.
"Cough... Immortal Shen, would you mind pulling your sword out?"
Chen Kuang coughed twice with a grin, mouth full of blood, lungs tight and wheezing.
The feeling was familiar.
He figured the sword had pierced through his lung.
Before he died in his past life, this had been the feeling he endured for ten minutes, long enough to cook a plate of tomato and scrambled eggs.
The shadow of death lingered, but in this moment, the joy of opportunity far overwhelmed it.
Despite some deviations, the outcome was better than he had expected.
He no longer needed to sow discord, he had become the roadblock on this immortal lady's path to sainthood.
Unless he acknowledged her Dao from the heart, or she managed to deceive her Dao heart again, she would never attain sainthood.
Because her actions contradicted her beliefs, the world would no longer accept her Dao.
In short, until her Dao heart was mended, Shen Xingzhu had to keep him alive.
After a long silence, Shen Xingzhu took a deep breath. Her trembling stopped. Her beautiful eyes locked onto Chen Kuang.
She gripped her sword, and slowly, inch by inch, pulled it out.
Blatant, torturous cruelty.
Chen Kuang nearly burst out laughing again.
It only confirmed he was right, this giant candle had no options left.
Shen Xingzhu said nothing after pulling the sword free.
Chen Kuang clutched his wound, coughed out a mouthful of blood, and asked playfully:
"Immortal Lady Shen, you're all about compassion and saving the world, how about starting with me?"
He blinked mischievously.
"It's no big deal, but... you did stab me yourself, after all."
He had started with "Immortal Master," but after she didn't object, he had already cheekily downgraded it to "Immortal Lady."
"..."
Shen Xingzhu closed her eyes. She could feel the deathly silence in her Dao heart. The crack in her primordial spirit widened.
She snapped her eyes open, her gaze no longer soft, but piercing cold.
She raised her hand and lightly waved.
Chen Kuang's wounds healed instantly, and he exhaled in relief.
He was still worried she might notice his strange physique.
When he looked up again, Shen Xingzhu had already reappeared at the cell door, her silhouette cold and elegant as ever, preparing to leave.
Chen Kuang stroked the ancient zither on his lap and said casually:
"Li Hongling once said, when the seventh day comes, whether I tell her what she wants or not... I'll still die."
Shen Xingzhu opened the door and left.
The torchlight in the cell rekindled.
In the instant where dark and light overlapped, something appeared in front of Chen Kuang, a piece of ancient jade.
The moment he picked it up, a message echoed in his mind:
"Divine Mountain Borrowing Jade."
Chen Kuang looked up through the narrow window, stars faint, nearly extinguished.
The turning point had come.
How much longer could this prison hold him?