Chapter 40: Leaving

“It seems the lesson we gave those guys the night before last wasn’t enough!” Sir Val’s face turned a faint shade of green.

“Well, we can’t confirm for sure that it was those guys who did it yet. It’s just a guess, a guess. No need to be so nervous,” Sir Bart hurriedly persuaded.

Sir Val said in a firm tone, “I’d better go out and take a look. I will be back before sunset.”

Then, without waiting for the others to answer, he spread that pair of light wings on his back. Unlike that night, the light wings this time seemed to be burning with golden flames.

Sir Bart, who seemed to be prepared beforehand, dodged to the side a step earlier and successfully avoided the spreading light wings. Sir Stark, who was also nearby, did not have such good luck. Unprepared, he had to lunge forward hurriedly, almost rolling over to barely dodge the flames extending from the light wings.

Sir Stark hurriedly climbed up and wanted to pat the dust off his body with his hands. Then he turned around, waved his fist, and protested, “Sir Val, could you please give a notice next time?”

“If you are still here next time, I will pay attention.” As soon as the words fell, Sir Val leaped up, looking like a coiling dragon soaring into the sky. Immediately after, he flapped his wings in mid-air and flew towards the distance.

Watching Sir Val flying further and further away, Sir Stark, who was pulling his eyelid with his hand, asked Sir Bart beside him, “I say, will there be any problem letting Sir Val go out alone in such a rage?”

“Don’t worry. Don’t be fooled by Isolde’s hot-blooded appearance. In fact, he knows exactly what he is doing in his heart. He will probably just patrol within visible range. If he doesn’t find anything, he will just let it go for now. There won’t be a situation where he has to catch someone or vent his anger to finish the matter. Even if he finds a suspicious person, he will decide whether to attack after confirming with magic. He will never eliminate anyone who hasn’t committed a serious crime in the Duchy.” Perhaps because they had been together for a long time, Sir Bart was quite familiar with Sir Val’s behavior and habits. He temporarily gave Sir Stark a reassurance.

In fact, Sir Stark wasn’t afraid that Sir Val would kill innocent people indiscriminately; such wicked knights had not appeared in the Duchy yet. Or rather, those restless guys were dealt with before they could do anything significant.

The real trouble was if Sir Val switched to Paladin mode. After all, there were many desperadoes among the travelers, and the Mercenaries and Adventurers in the Caravan were characters who lived dangerous lives. Among them, there were inevitably some who had committed murder and arson elsewhere and could be said to be full of evil. However, there were too many such people. Since they hadn’t committed any crimes in the Duchy, everyone just turned a blind eye.

But in the eyes of some Paladins, things were not like this. After discovering a suspicious person, they would directly cast a Detect Evil. Upon finding a patch of red in their sight, they would immediately shout the slogan of crusading against Evil and rush up to fight to the death. These justice fighters really made many Lords have mixed feelings of love and hate. After all, such a conflict, regardless of winning or losing, would have a big impact on the Caravan passing through the Territory.

After getting the guarantee from Sir Bart that Sir Val wouldn’t do the “kill evil on sight” act, Sir Stark let out a long sigh of relief. Then he said, “So what do we do now? Are you planning to wait here for him to return?”

“How is that possible? It’s not even time for lunch yet. Isolde said he wouldn’t be back until sunset,” Sir Bart said with feigned exaggeration. “I think I still owe that Tax Collector a meal! It seems I’ll have to treat him tonight.”

“I really don’t understand how you can still smile when you are with that small figure who obviously wants to curry favor with you,” Sir Stark sneered with his right hand on his waist.

Sir Bart straightened his clothes, smiled mysteriously, and said, “Don’t look down on it. Sometimes those small figures can be quite useful. The most important thing is that the cost is not high, it can even be called cheap.”

At the same time, George, sitting in the carriage, finally convinced Hiren that he would not run around anymore. He told him not to keep staring at him all the time when there was nothing to do, which would delay his practice.

Unfortunately, although Hiren compromised, he started his daily solo training not far from George’s carriage. And that muscular face was facing the direction of the left carriage door. Those eyes were watching George’s every move unblinkingly, giving George goosebumps all the time. He kept complaining in his heart, ‘I finally understand how those straight guys who haven’t fallen into the “Construction Camp” felt when being stared at straight on by Billy Herrington.’

“The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao…” George finally recited the Dao De Jing a few times to calm his mood down. Perhaps some people would find it strange, but this was indeed a habit George had developed before crossing over.

‘The most urgent thing right now is to see the extent of the damage to the Divine Soul,’ George made this decision in his heart. After all, one must know the condition of the illness to treat it accordingly.

He looked out through the carriage window and confirmed that Hiren didn’t have any strange expressions or movements. George patted his chest and started Visualization.

This time, George directly used the Visualization Method from the Primordial Qi Great Grappling. The “Diagram of The Great One Deity” that he had visualized for many years was completely destroyed during the last self-rescue. It was better not to try to restore it in a short time. If it caused any backlash, George would have nowhere to complain. And other Visualization Methods might not be suitable for the current situation, because even George himself was not very clear about the specific changes in the Divine Soul.

After thinking it over, he finally chose this “Qi” character Visualization Method, which he had used before and had established the Essence Spirit, a semi-independent organ, in his body. Moreover, based on George’s experience so far, among the several Visualization Methods, this one could observe the Divine Soul most objectively, as it was almost like an inner vision from a third-person perspective.

With previous experience, George quickly entered his own Spirit Platform. He saw that the Divine Soul was at least half the size of the last time. But after finding that there were no other major problems, George breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Fortunately, there are no cracks or damage on the surface. And it even feels somewhat crystal clear.”

“Huh? A crystal clear Divine Soul?” George hurriedly observed his Divine Soul carefully. He found that it was really different from before. This difference was not just in appearance. If the previous Divine Soul was just George himself, then the current Divine Soul had been optimized to a certain extent using George’s physical body as a template. It gave the feeling that it was naturally supposed to be this way; this was a feeling of natural generation.

This was not the most important thing. What was really important was that George discovered a unique rhythm in the waves emitted by the Divine Soul through observation. George immediately tried to perceive and interpret this rhythm. But the result was like placing himself in an ancient river; all kinds of knowledge and information almost directly burst George apart.

“A river of knowledge? That is very likely the ‘Dao’. Whether it is the Great Dao, the Heavenly Dao, the Sacred Dao, the Kingly Dao, or even the Left-hand Dao, it is ultimately the ‘Dao’! I didn’t expect that I would also have a day of comprehending the Dao. Is this a blessing in disguise?” George really didn’t know what expression to use to face this situation. Should he use the smile that someone mentioned?

If the sublimation and self-optimization of the Divine Soul discovered earlier was the reward after surviving the tribulation, then the comprehension of the Dao afterwards was something that even a true “Face Warrior” might not be able to gamble for. Face Warriors were a teasing term used by those guys who kept saying that looks determine destiny before crossing over, referring to those truly lucky ones. He didn’t expect that he would have such a day too.

In this way, all of George’s previous assumptions had to be overturned and started over. He was not suffering from Divine Soul damage in the true sense, but was in a period of weakness after surviving the tribulation. The tribulations in cultivation did not only refer to Heavenly Tribulations; in fact, Human Tribulations and Heart Tribulations were the main body of tribulations. And the one George had just passed through should belong to the category of Heart Tribulation. Under such circumstances, George did not need to repair it, but only needed to constantly nourish the Divine Soul.

“Doumu descends with great medicine to bestow the merit of healing, regulating the five elements, Doumu Yuanjun ascends and descends with two Qi…” George recited the “Supreme Mysterious Spirit Doumu Great Sage Yuanjun Life-Extending Heart Sutra” and began to visualize ‘Doumu Yuanjun’. In Taoism, Doumu is the mother of the nine stars and presides over the birth of all things in heaven and earth. Visualizing her could borrow the power of the stars of the Zhou Tian to nourish oneself, which was naturally the best choice for the current Divine Soul. However, in this world after crossing over, even if he couldn’t borrow the brilliance of the stars of the Zhou Tian, the System should also materialize other similar things to replace it.

Sure enough, when the “Doumu Yuanjun” in George’s mind became clearer and clearer, it seemed that some indescribable substance permeated the Spirit Platform and resonated with the Divine Soul. In this resonance, the Divine Soul seemed to be strengthened like molten iron in a converter constantly added with substances during the smelting process.

Feeling that the Divine Soul had reached its limit, George stopped the Visualization. After checking the Divine Soul again, he uttered this sigh: “It seems that my choice was correct. This method of nourishing with grinding, like gaining eternal life in the raging fire, is indeed suitable for the current situation! Even in the power of the real Zhou Tian stars, there are types full of evil spirit, such as Seven Killings, Greedy Wolf, and Break Army. How could it be a completely warm tonic! If there were damage to the Divine Soul, I should visualize the universal rain.”

It was sunset again, with the evening glow filling the sky, when Sir Val returned, covered in dust. Sir Bart, who was just about to go out to treat someone, saw his expression and said, “It looks like a good harvest.”

“Indeed it is good. I didn’t expect there to be a Bear Goblin Priest of the Black Lead Rank. This time we really caught a big fish.” Sir Val tidied his hair that was messed up by flying, “Tonight is the last night in the small town. Pack up the camp early tomorrow morning, and we will set off at noon.”

Volume 2