Chapter 100: Chapter 98: Tension and Relaxation, the Dao of Wen and Wu

[You sold ten pounds of Incense Sticks and received one tael of low-grade Food Spirit Incense.]

[You sold one old wooden shelf and received ten pounds of charcoal.]

[You sold ten pounds of useless soil and received eight pounds of dust.]

[You sold one string of copper coins and received one mace of mankind’s faith.]

Song Ciwan rushed to use up all her remaining trade-ins for the day before Midnight.

She sold a whole mess of random things, and in the end, she even tried selling copper coins.

And then, she received something completely unexpected: one mace of faith!

’What is this?’

Faith was supposed to be formless and intangible, something that could neither be seen nor touched. But within the Heaven and Earth Scale, this one mace of faith was like a wisp of a hazy, jade-white thread, floating ethereally and faintly within.

It had been quantified, materialized!

Upon closer inspection: One mace of faith—the purest faith of the mortal world, which can be used to refine Magical Power and True Qi.

However, due to the small quantity, the refining effect might be extremely weak.

If condensed into a Wish Power Pill, it can both refine True Qi and advance one’s Cultivation.

After reading this explanation, Song Ciwan was speechless for a long time.

That copper coins could be exchanged for faith was both unexpected and, in a way, perfectly logical.

In this world, people could have a myriad of beliefs, but how many could truly treat money like dirt?

It wasn’t that people were greedy; it was simply that the necessities of life—from firewood and food to birth, old age, sickness, and death—were all inseparable from it.

Once Midnight passed, Song Ciwan had a new set of trade-ins available.

But she didn’t continue trading.

If there was nothing she urgently needed to sell, it was better to save these trade-ins for the evening.

That night, Song Ciwan didn’t go out for a stroll.

In any case, she wouldn’t be going out at night for the foreseeable future. Even if she needed to "find new resources," she planned to let fate take its course.

’The key is to be steady. Victory through stability!’

The night passed uneventfully. In the latter half of the night, Song Ciwan did not cultivate either.

She set up the Duality Heart Protection Array and fell asleep on her small, clean, and cozy bed.

A balance of tension and relaxation is the key to mastery.

She had been stretched far too thin lately. Having finally broken through to a new realm and settled into her new home, Song Ciwan decided to reward herself with a night of sweet sleep.

She considered it a congratulatory gift to herself for her housewarming.

「The next day, at the break of dawn.」

Song Ciwan woke up right on time.

She had slept wonderfully and woke up feeling refreshed in both body and mind. The True Qi in her body, as faint as light smoke, felt like it was about to take flight. When she got out of bed and took a single step, a gentle breeze followed, and she felt as if she were about to fly up to the roof.

"Whoa!" Song Ciwan yelped, quickly landing.

This was Liezi’s Wind Riding Technique!

After a single night of sweet sleep, her Liezi’s Wind Riding Technique had actually improved without her even noticing.

Liezi’s Wind Riding Technique: (First Layer, Skilled 210/1000)

Cultivation, Enlightenment... there was truly no rhyme or reason to it.

Sometimes, progress was the result of long and steady accumulation; other times, it came in a sudden flash of insight.

But more often than not, most people would go their entire lives without ever comprehending or achieving such enlightenment.

Therefore, to be able to attain any enlightenment at all was to surpass the vast majority of people in the world.

Song Ciwan believed her moment of insight was inseparable from the sound, sweet sleep she had last night.

Nature creates all things. While one must learn to strive to get ahead, one must also not forget to pause at the right moments, slow down, and allow for a moment of relaxation.

It all came back to the same principle: a balance of tension and relaxation is the key to mastery.

This was a Dao one could appreciate, but more importantly, one that should be put into practice.

Song Ciwan took out some ingredients and seasonings she had stored in her Vast Sea Grotto Heaven. While it was still early, she simmered a pot of lightly sweet millet congee.

She then personally kneaded dough to make flatbreads and tossed a radish salad with sesame oil.

Finally, she took out soybean pulp and insects and shared a delicious breakfast with the Big White Goose.

After eating and drinking its fill, the Big White Goose waddled over to Song Ciwan, honking and rubbing against her affectionately.

Song Ciwan played with the goose for a bit, barely restraining the urge to pluck a feather straight from its back.

Finally, Song Ciwan told the Big White Goose, "Big White, oh Big White, your master is heading out to work and earn money for the family. You stay here and watch the house, understand?"

The Big White Goose flapped its wings, puffed out its chest, and honked, "HONK! HONK HONK HONK!"

It was as if to say: ’Hey, isn’t this goose a pro at watching the house? You really need to tell me that?’

Look at that pride!

Song Ciwan laughed and stroked the goose’s back. She didn’t pluck any feathers; she really just gave it a good pet.

Finally, she grabbed a nearby umbrella. With a shift of her feet, she activated Escape into the Night and vanished from the courtyard as a shadow.

She slipped southward for several streets, leaving Shanren Square and arriving at the even more southern Siquan Square—

Although it was also called a "Square" and had its own gate and walls, the inside was really just a slum.

"Dirty, messy, and poor" wasn’t enough to describe the chaos of the area. It was a place for unregistered migrants who had drifted into the city, for those who had lost their fortunes, for the down-and-out, and for those whose families had been impoverished for generations...

In short, too many people with hard-knock lives had gathered here, gradually forming Siquan Square into what it was today.

Song Ciwan, disguised as the dejected young man Mu Dalang, emerged from a chaotic Spider Alley deep within Siquan Square. Without a word, radiating gloom, she walked out of the square’s gate, onto the main street, and finally made her way to the Demon Refining Platform.

This was her job: Demon Cleaner!

The Demon Refining Platform in Pinglan City was many times larger than the one in Su Yang.

Song Ciwan had left early, and at "Mu Dalang’s" pace, it still took her a good hour to finally reach the back entrance of the Demon Refining Platform. Holding the Token she had received yesterday, she queued up and entered the gate to the Washing Square.

This whole process felt somewhat familiar.

What was less familiar was the scale of Pinglan City’s Washing Square; the Eight Trigrams Pool, the Grass Washing Room, the Second Wash Room—all of them were massive.

But the moment Song Ciwan walked into the Washing Square and got in line, her attention was instantly captivated by a gigantic Demon Corpse beside the central Eight Trigrams Pool!

It was a true behemoth. At a glance, even lying prone, the creature was at least fifty or sixty feet tall.

It had the head of a tiger and the body of an ox, its entire form jet-black with a glossy sheen to its fur.

One didn’t even need to get close; just a look from a distance was enough to feel the ferocious Blood Evil Qi emanating from the Demon Corpse.

Though the demon was dead, its baleful aura lingered.

Its body was riddled with dozens of bloody holes from which blood was still gushing.

Dozens of Soldiers in Soft Armor were holding special Jade Bottles, collecting the blood from these wounds.

Standing in the distance, Song Ciwan overheard the horrified discussion among the Demon-Washing Servants queuing with her: "Where did this demon come from? Why is it so strange, so enormous?"

"Don’t tell me this is the demon we have to wash today?"

Then, a scornful laugh came from somewhere. "You really overestimate yourself. This is a Spirit Communication Level Tiger Ox that had already refined its hyoid bone. You think a mere mortal dares to get close? Let alone wash it?"

"Could you guys even lift it? HAHAHA!"