Chapter 106 - 105: The Heart Worth Severing
"The tournament commences in exactly three months," Lord Zhao Shenming stated, his starry eyes unblinking. "What is your answer, Daoist Lin?"
Lin Yuan did not immediately reply. He slowly reached out, his fingers wrapping around the teacup resting on the table between them. He lifted it to his lips and took a measured sip of the fragrant tea. As the warm liquid slid down his throat, his thoughts immediately went back to mere moments ago, when he had released his Late Stage Nascent Soul aura, and how Lord Zhao had effortlessly quenched it with nothing but the mundane gesture of placing down his own teacup.
Spirit Severing! Lin Yuan’s mind echoed, the sheer might and majesty of that realm cementing itself in his understanding.
His thoughts drifted back to the expanse of the Mountain and Rivers Painting. When that monk had been listing the realms of cultivation for Lin Yuan, he had made specific mention of this very threshold. The monk had stated that entering the Spirit Severing realm requires that one must sever their mortal attachments.
Yet, to Lin Yuan, those words alone were far from sufficient to truly understand how the profound process of Spirit Severing was actually performed.
There was an unfathomably deep principle hidden behind those seemingly simple words. Severing an attachment was fundamentally not the same as abandoning the people or emotions one cared about. If it were merely about abandonment, every cold-blooded murderer in the Nine Provinces would be a Spirit Severing expert. A cultivator had to deeply comprehend what it truly meant to sever, what exactly needed to be severed, and, most importantly, what remained after the severance was complete.
Lin Yuan understood his current state with crystal clarity. After his forty-five-year seclusion within the River of Years Pagoda, he had reached the absolute limit of the Nascent Soul realm. His spiritual energy could no longer advance even a single fraction of an inch, but his understanding of Spirit Severing remained incomplete.
Now, incredibly fortunate enough to stand before someone who had successfully crossed that exact chasm into the Spirit Severing realm, he had the perfect opportunity to ask.
Lin Yuan slowly lowered his teacup. He looked directly into the starry eyes of the provincial Lord. "Before I give you my answer regarding the tournament, Lord Zhao, I must ask you a question pertaining to the Great Dao. How does one truly sever their mortal attachment?"
Lord Zhao Shenming’s eyebrows rose slightly, a flicker of genuine respect and profound approval flashing across his features. To be standing on the precipice, yet prioritizing the pursuit of the Dao—this was the mark of a true sovereign!
"An excellent question, and one that has claimed the lives of countless geniuses," Lord Zhao began. "The Spirit-Severing realm represents a crucial and profound stage in cultivation in which the practitioner focuses entirely on cutting away the shackles of the self. Understand this, Daoist Lin: this severing is not merely physical. It is deeply mental and spiritual, involving the agonizing removal of attachments, obsessions, limitations, and even preconceived notions about one’s own existence."
Lord Zhao lightly tapped his finger against the table, the sound seeming to resonate with the heartbeat of the universe. "It marks a major, irreversible transformation, as the cultivator seeks to transcend the ordinary boundaries of selfhood. At this stage, cultivators undergo intense internal struggle and refinement, attempting to painstakingly remove all restrictions that bind their spirit and mind to the mortal dust. The process is inherently dangerous. Severing these intrinsic ties can entirely destabilize one’s entire being. As a result, the realm is filled with catastrophic risks, and a cultivator may lose themselves entirely, dissolving into madness or spiritual ash, if they fail. Only through great perseverance and profound insight can one endure and continue progressing."
Lin Yuan listened with absolute focus, internalizing every single thing.
"But here lies the ultimate paradox of Spirit Severing," Lord Zhao Shenming continued, a knowing, almost melancholy smile gracing his lips. "The cultivator must first fully experience and thoroughly understand mortal emotions before they can ever hope to sever their attachment to them. It is a fatal misconception that a Spirit Severing expert simply becomes an emotionless block of wood. Rather than simply becoming emotionless, the cultivator reaches a profound point where emotions no longer control their Dao Heart."
"How does the breakthrough actually work in practice?" Lin Yuan asked, his mind already connecting the dots.
"A cultivator standing exactly where you are—at the absolute peak of the Nascent Soul realm—begins by cultivating their Mortal Heart," Lord Zhao explained. "They deliberately enter the mortal world and immerse themselves. They must experience the emotions that ordinary people spend their entire, fleeting lives experiencing: Love. Hatred. Joy. Sorrow. Fear. Desire. Regret. Grief. Attachment. Ambition."
Lord Zhao gestured vaguely toward the windows, toward the vast, teeming cities of the province. "They may live as a mortal for decades, or even centuries, depending on their innate ability and talent. They intentionally make mortal friends, lose loved ones to the ravages of time, experience bitter betrayal, taste the purest happiness, suffer agonizing loss, and eventually face the concept of death. But the purpose isn’t simply to blindly experience these emotions. It is to understand them, not merely as humans, but as someone who is now a cultivator walking the Great Dao."
Lord Zhao’s gaze hardened into a piercing truth. "A cultivator who merely suppresses their emotions, locking them away in a dark corner of their soul, will eventually have their Dao Heart become unstable and shatter under Heaven’s Might. But one who truly understands the origin of their emotions can distinguish between having an emotion and being controlled by it."
"To sever the mortal heart, one must first possess a mortal heart worth severing."
Lin Yuan felt a profound tremor in his Dao heart. To possess a mortal heart worth severing.
"And the actual severance?" Lin Yuan prompted softly.
"The actual Spirit Severing comes after," Lord Zhao replied. "After experiencing countless mortal emotions, the cultivator returns to their sanctuary and enters incredibly deep meditation. They meticulously examine every single attachment within their soul. Their love for their parents. Their hatred toward their enemies. Their desire for wealth. Their fear of death. Their attachment to reputation. Their longing for their children. Their obsession with revenge. Their insatiable desire for immortality."
Lord Zhao raised his hand, two fingers pressed together like an invisible blade. "Each emotion becomes a thick, spiritual thread binding the soul to the mortal world. The cultivator then uses their absolute understanding of the Dao to sever these threads, one by one."
Lord Zhao brought his fingers down in a swift, cutting motion. "Slash! A thread representing fear is severed. Slash! A thread representing greed is severed. Slash! A thread representing hatred is severed. Eventually, slicing through the agonizing pain of their own identity, the cultivator reaches the absolute deepest attachment within their soul, cutting the final tether to step into the divine."
Lin Yuan sat in silence for a long moment. He then looked at the provincial Lord. "Did you walk the mortal world for centuries, Lord Zhao?"
Lord Zhao Shenming chuckled, "I did not. My path was slightly unorthodox. Rather than going to the mortal world, I used my mastery of the Dream Dao to create a specialized dream domain. It is called ’Seek the Dao with the Illusion of the Heart.’ "
A look of profound nostalgia flashed through Lord Zhao’s starry eyes. "I spent exactly one hundred and fifty years within that dream domain, living countless lifetimes in an illusion of the mortal world. I found it to be just as effective as abandoning your setting to physically leave and live with mortals. Because of that agonizing, century-spanning dream, my Dao resolve cultivation is currently about to reach the absolute peak. I am but one single, elusive step away from crossing into the Soul Transformation realm."
The Lord of the Zhao Province slowly leaned forward, he had just imparted a priceless treasure of cultivation knowledge, effectively paying a supreme advance for Lin Yuan’s services.
"Now that I have answered that, Daoist Lin," Lord Zhao Shenming stated, his starry eyes unblinking and piercing. "What is your answer concerning the tournament?"