Watching the Mountain

Chapter 390: Chapter 210: Golden Core Formation

Xu Ran had never understood the charm of a simple backward glance and a smile. He’d always thought the legends were exaggerated—it was just turning your head to smile, after all.

But at this moment, he felt he was beginning to understand.

The instant Senior Sister Yue glanced back at him with a faint smile, he felt as if the world before him had sprung to life. Everything he saw began to dance, and only Senior Sister Yue stood there, perfectly still.

She wasn’t a fairy stepping out from an ancient scroll, because what he saw before him was more beautiful than any painting could ever be.

”Junior Brother.” It wasn’t until Senior Sister Yue’s somewhat resigned voice reached his ears that he slowly returned to his senses.

”Senior Sister, what are you doing here?” Xu Ran quickly composed himself and asked.

Yue Qingyu glanced at him softly before turning her head slightly to gaze into the distance, saying:

”It’s nothing, really. I just wanted to take another look at the world as it is now. I want to commit it to memory, to see how it will have changed when I wake in the future.”

Xu Ran nodded slightly. ’So that’s why.’ It made sense. A Dao Concealment could last from ten thousand to thirty thousand years. Those who entered the Dust-covered state would be asleep the entire time, and no one knew what the world would be like when they awoke.

So, wanting to take one last look at the world wasn’t being overly sentimental; it was only natural.

Yue Qingyu turned back slightly, her gaze falling upon Xu Ran, and spoke softly:

”And what about you, Junior Brother? What’s troubling you?”

Xu Ran looked at her, stunned. He asked in confusion, ”How did you know I was troubled, Senior Sister?”

Yue Qingyu smiled. With a light flick of her sleeve, she pointed at Xu Ran’s feet and said:

”Junior Brother, take a look at where you are.”

Hearing this, Xu Ran paused. He turned and looked around, only to realize that at some point, he had wandered outside the Sect’s grounds.

Of course, strictly speaking, this area was still within the territory of the Profound Pure Sect.

But with the onset of the Dao Concealment, the Sect had contracted its borders and deployed a series of arrays, including those for Gathering and Firming Spirit, to minimize the Dao Concealment’s impact as much as possible.

Therefore, this mountain peak was now effectively outside the Sect’s new perimeter. And because of the Sect’s Spirit Gathering Array, the Spiritual Qi here was even thinner than in the lands beyond.

”Normally, you would never step outside the bounds of the Sect’s arrays for no reason, Junior Brother.”

Hearing Yue Qingyu’s soft laughter, Xu Ran’s expression remained calm. He had always been one to cherish his life, and Senior Sister Yue knew this well. There was nothing to be embarrassed about.

He then nodded lightly and looked at Yue Qingyu. ”I’ve run into some problems with my cultivation,” he replied.

He then recounted what Teacher Qing Xuan had told him to Yue Qingyu.

After pondering for a moment, Yue Qingyu spoke to him calmly, ”The Qing Xuan Peak Master is right. The reason you can’t break through is indeed because of you, Junior Brother.”

Xu Ran gave her a confused look. ”You also think it’s because I’m not firm enough in my own Dao, Senior Sister?”

Yue Qingyu shook her head gently. ”That’s not it. You and I are both seekers of the Dao, Junior Brother. How could you not be firm in the path you’ve chosen for yourself?”

”Then...” Xu Ran opened his mouth, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.

Seeing his reaction, Yue Qingyu explained calmly:

”It’s not that you don’t believe in your Dao or that you aren’t firm in it, Junior Brother. It’s that you’ve defined your Dao too loftily.”

”What?” Hearing this, Xu Ran didn’t understand at first.

Yue Qingyu’s beautiful eyes rested on him, and she looked at him directly for a moment before saying in a serious tone:

”If I’m not mistaken, deep down, you’ve always felt that you haven’t truly been practicing your own Dao, haven’t you, Junior Brother?”

”Huh?” Xu Ran grunted in surprise.

Yue Qingyu continued, ”You feel you’ve chosen the Path of Sentiment, yet you are someone who cherishes their life above all else, hiding in the Sect all day, unwilling to take a single step outside.”

”Everyone around you is making sacrifices, yet it seems you alone are just trying to get by, unwilling to get too involved, unwilling to interfere, unwilling to be tainted by too much karma.”

”You feel you’ve let down those around you, that cherishing your own life so much goes against the very essence of the Path of Sentiment. How can someone who has chosen the Path of Sentiment only look out for themself?”

”Have you ever had such thoughts, Junior Brother?”

Yue Qingyu watched him quietly. Though phrased as a question, her tone was certain, as if she were making a statement.

”I...” Xu Ran looked at Yue Qingyu in astonishment, his mind in turmoil.

He had indeed had the thoughts she described, but they usually only surfaced when he was moved by something he saw, in a moment of sudden inspiration, or even on the rare occasion he was feeling self-pity.

Whenever such thoughts emerged, he would quickly cast them aside and convince himself otherwise.

That was why he never thought these ideas would affect him; he had always believed his heart was resolute.

’More importantly, how could Senior Sister Yue possibly know I’ve ever had such thoughts?’

As if sensing his confusion, Yue Qingyu chuckled softly. ”Don’t be surprised, Junior Brother. I know you.”

She said it calmly, but with great seriousness.

After a moment of silence, Xu Ran nodded slightly. He didn’t dwell on the issue. He and Senior Sister Yue had once been constant companions for a time; it was only natural that they knew each other well.

Then, he looked at Yue Qingyu and asked earnestly, ”So you think these ideas are setting the bar too high? But the Path of Sentiment...”