Enlightening the Divine Palace requires a fortuitous enlightenment of spiritual consciousness.Currently,Su Xin undoubtedly has entered this state.
The divine palace at the center of the brow is the closest place to oneself and the heavens and earth,where one can perceive the flow of the elemental energy of the heavens and earth.Refining the divine palace at the brow is the realm of the divine palace.
This step,difficult to describe yet simple in essence,has different outcomes for different individuals.Some successfully break through to the divine palace realm shortly after transcending the spiritual consciousness realm,while others struggle for a long time without finding the key.
Su Xin was somewhat fortunate;during a casual stroll,he happened to hear the poignant song of a girl selling performances,stirring his emotions.With a clear mind and awakened thoughts,he entered this state.
Unfortunately,Su Xin's stroke of luck did not last long before being interrupted by someone.The singing abruptly stopped,replaced by the scream of the girl.
Opening his eyes,Su Xin saw two rough-looking wanderers reeking of alcohol,shamelessly and loudly harassing the frightened girl,seemingly oblivious to their surroundings.
"Miss,how much can you earn from singing here for a night?If you spend the night with both of us,I'll give you a hundred taels of silver.What do you say?"
The singing girl was terrified,crying loudly without saying a word.Her grandfather hurriedly approached,pleading with the two men,"Gentlemen,please spare us.We don't need the money.If you want it,you can take all the money we earned today.Just spare my granddaughter,please."
One of the men shoved the old man to the ground,cursing,"Old man,get lost!Who cares about your measly money?"
While there were onlookers,few were willing to intervene.Ordinary people dared not get involved,and even fellow wandering martial artists chose to ignore the situation.These two troublemakers were clearly intoxicated,and intervening could only lead to unnecessary trouble.
If a disciple of a prestigious sect were present,there might have been a chance for a righteous intervention.Whether they genuinely wanted to save someone or just gain reputation,most would likely step forward.
Unfortunately,this place was a relatively remote area belonging to Jiangnan Prefecture,lacking the prosperity that attracted prestigious sect disciples.
Seeing no one coming to their aid,the two troublemakers became even more arrogant.However,they suddenly felt a chilling gaze upon them,making both shiver involuntarily.They turned to see a young man in black martial attire sitting on a bridge,coldly observing them.
These two wanderers,whether due to intoxication or negligence,failed to investigate Su Xin's strength.The one facing Su Xin with disdain said,"What are you looking at,kid?Do you want me to gouge your eyeballs out?"
A cold wind blew,and Su Xin appeared in front of the warrior as if teleporting,startling him into taking several steps back."Speak.How do you want to die?"Su Xin asked calmly,his expression unchanged.
"Damn!Do you think I'm scared of you?"The two men immediately drew their weapons,ready to attack.
The singing girl gasped,about to warn them when Su Xin casually walked between the two.The two wanderers seemed frozen in place,motionless.
Su Xin walked away,leaving the two men standing there.The singing girl and her grandfather,fearing for their safety,quickly packed up and left,with the two men making no attempt to stop them.
Only then did others realize something was amiss.Some curious individuals approached and nudged the two men,only to witness their headless bodies falling to the ground.Blood sprayed like a fountain,nearly shocking one person into fainting.
The surrounding martial artists gasped.These two fools had kicked the wrong hornet's nest and paid the price with their lives.
Su Xin had already moved on,but the anger in his heart had not subsided.Unexpectedly entering that ethereal state,he was just one step away from refining the divine palace at the brow.Unfortunately,it was disrupted at this critical moment,a situation that would irk anyone.
"Come out,friend.You've been following me all along,"Su Xin said calmly.
From a nearby alley,a young man in white scholar's attire walked out.He was handsome and refined,more like a scholar than a warrior.
The young man bowed,"Su brother's spiritual awareness is quite keen."
Su Xin turned around,asking,"It's not that my awareness is keen;it's that when I made a move just now,I felt you were there too.Why didn't you intervene?"
The young man scratched his head,smiling bitterly,"I did want to intervene,but Su brother,your speed was too fast.Before I could save them,you had already killed those people."
Su Xin raised an eyebrow,"Are you saying I was wrong to kill them?"
Shaking his head,the young man replied,"Not wrong,but I feel those two didn't deserve to die."
Su Xin showed an expression of keen interest,"Ranked seventeenth on the People's List,Wang Shifeng of the Xie Prince's family with the'Mighty Virtuous Sword Qi'?"
Wang Shifeng looked surprised,"How did you recognize me?"
"It's simple.With the strength of the People's List,but speaking such hypocritical and righteous words,it can only be Wang Shifeng,a disciple of the Xie Prince's family who diligently studies those Confucian classics,"Su Xin replied.
The Xie Prince's family,one of the six major noble families,is similar in status to the Zhuge family.However,while the Zhuge family traditionally relies on the court,the Xie Prince's family represents the Confucian school of thought.
If the current dynasty respects Confucianism,the Xie Prince's family will cooperate with the dynasty and maintain a friendly attitude.If the dynasty does not favor Confucianism,the Xie Prince's family becomes a force in the martial world,even adopting a stance of resistance against the ruling dynasty.
The current Emperor of Da Zhou doesn't particularly favor Confucianism,so the cooperation between the Xie Prince's family and the empire is quite pleasant.Many descendants of the Xie family and Confucian scholars hold various official positions in the Da Zhou court.
Upon hearing Su Xin accuse him of hypocrisy and righteousness,Wang Shifeng frowned,"Su brother,what do you mean?Do you have objections to Confucianism?How am I hypocritical and righteous?Those two men were just teasing the woman and didn't cause much harm.Su brother,killing them directly was a bit too ruthless."
Su Xin chuckled,"Is that too ruthless?Let me tell you the truth;it's just that I lack the skill.If I had studied not the sword but the knife,I might have even dismembered them in a thousand ways and tortured them."
Wang Shifeng was momentarily stunned,"Why?These two men didn't have such a great feud with you,did they?"
Su Xin calmly stated,"When I was sitting on the bridge,I entered a transcendent state.If they hadn't interrupted me,I might have already refined the divine palace by now."
Hearing this,Wang Shifeng fell silent.As a strong contender on the People's List,he had reached the realm of the divine palace himself and understood the difficulty of breaking through to that level.
This matter,even if it were Su Xin,or even Wang Shifeng himself,would likely lead to the impulse of killing.For merchants,robbing them of their wealth is equivalent to killing their parents.For martial artists,obstructing someone's cultivation is a greater sin than killing parents.
Su Xin observed the silent Wang Shifeng,finding him interesting.He had thought that Wang Shifeng had followed him to cause trouble,but it turned out he wanted to discuss matters like ruthlessness.
Su Xin had always considered Confucian ethics as nonsense,both in his past life and now.Although Wang Shifeng was a disciple of Confucianism,he wasn't as hypocritical as those scholars.However,he was still too traditional.Coming here to talk about not killing those harassers was somewhat naive.Didn't he know the kind of reputation Su Xin had in the martial world?
Wang Shifeng shook his head,saying,"If that's the case,Su brother,I misunderstood you.But if they hadn't interrupted your promotion to the divine palace,would you still have killed them?"
"I would still have killed them."
"Why?"Wang Shifeng asked in surprise.
Su Xin counter-questioned,"Why not kill them?Your reason for not killing them is that they only teased the woman,and their crime doesn't deserve death.But who set this rule?Is it your sect or the entire martial world?As for me,I follow my own rules.I felt they deserved to die,so I killed them."
Wang Shifeng smiled bitterly,"You're putting it too strongly."
Su Xin shook his head,"Not at all.Yesterday,I killed Liu Tianyuan,who wanted to use me to climb higher.Many martial artists started talking about me being ruthless.But I bet when you were annoyed by those annoying challengers,you must have thought about killing them directly.Don't deny it;you definitely did."
Wang Shifeng fell silent again.Among the top-ranked martial artists,Wang Shifeng was known for his good temper.It was widely known that challenging him posed little risk,and sometimes he even offered guidance to those who approached him.Therefore,whenever he appeared in Jiangnan,numerous independent martial artists swarmed to challenge him like annoying flies.Although bound by these rules,he couldn't help but feel irritated at times.
Su Xin spread his hands,"Wang brother,they say you have a good temper.Even with your good temper,you can get angry.Let alone me,Su Xin,who has never been a patient person."
Wang Shifeng shook his head,"However,being too unrestrained and indulging in excessive slaughter can easily lead to falling into the demonic path."
"What is righteous?What is demonic?"Su Xin sneered,"It's all just words uttered by people.If they say I'm righteous,I'm righteous.If they say I'm demonic,I'm demonic.But in reality,I'm just myself."
Wang Shifeng felt something was off in Su Xin's words but didn't know where to start refuting.Although he wasn't bad at rhetoric,even debating with elders in his family,today he found himself unable to counter Su Xin's words.He even felt a subtle agreement in his heart.
