Amid the cold wind and fine snow, the Heaven and Earth Scale appeared. But the word on its Balance Plate was not "Certainty," but "Doubt"!
Wang Yi was clearly overcome with emotion, still immersed in the ecstasy of the Celestial Spiritual Light.
Song Ciwan was also rather stirred. It was the first time she had personally witnessed the legendary Celestial Spiritual Light. 'So this is what the rumors mean: "A single point of Spiritual Light arrives, and Talent is suddenly born!"'
The matter of Celestial Spiritual Light truly seemed to defy all logic. Some people could spend their entire lives poring over classics until their hair turned white and still remain ordinary Scholars. If the Spiritual Light never came, all they could do was sigh in vain.
Yet others, full of hypocrisy and self-deceit, could somehow summon the Spiritual Light, shed their mortal coil, and enter a completely different world.
It was rather amusing. Wang Yi's Talent had manifested, granting him the Scholar's Illusion Text, and his first word was "Certainty." Yet the reflective energy the Heaven and Earth Scale had collected was "Doubt."
Song Ciwan paused in thought. She was beginning to understand why it was Wang Yi, of all people, who had managed to manifest Talent.
'This man's conviction is too strong,' she thought. 'So strong that he can not only fool himself, but even trick the heavens into sending down Spiritual Light.'
So, one should never assume that just because some Scholars spoke of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and integrity, they were truly virtuous gentlemen. When a Scholar got ruthless, they'd even deceive themselves!
'You judge a person's true nature by what they do, not by what they say.'
Take Wang Yi, for example. After his initial ecstasy, he gently clenched his fist, and the ethereal word "Certainty" vanished into his palm like smoke.
Wang Yi's back straightened, and his face, usually only moderately handsome, now radiated a captivating glow.
He was the same person, yet he seemed to possess a new and distinct air and grace.
"Lady Yue," Wang Yi said. "Wait for me. Now that I have gained Talent, my future is bound for success. Tomorrow, I will enroll in the official academy. Once I have earned a title and my Talent shines brightly, I will return with an eight-bearer sedan chair to marry you and take you home!"
He made his promise, his slender figure standing as straight as bamboo in the wind and snow. He truly cut a dashing figure, a fine young man, deep in love and heavy with righteous sentiment!
If the one standing before him at this very moment wasn't the awakened Song Ciwan, but any other innocent young maiden...
No, it didn't even have to be an innocent maiden. Even a mature woman who had seen the world, so long as her heart held even the slightest yearning for devoted love, would likely be unable to resist, unable to escape. She would inevitably be captivated by a man like this Wang Yi.
Fortunately, Song Ciwan's heart was set on the Dao. No matter how convincing Wang Yi's performance, in her eyes, he was just a crooked-mouthed little lamb that automatically shed its own wool.
Therefore, being moved was out of the question. In fact, she felt a little like laughing.
But considering the lamb's limitless potential, Song Ciwan decided to play along with his performance.
She let out a soft sigh and said mournfully, "Young Master Wang, why must you be like this? Our fate together had already ended. Now you have become a true Scholar with a great future ahead of you, while I am just a lowly worker in the Washing Room, shrouded in misfortune. We were never a match, and now that is truer than ever. Your talk of marrying me is absurd. Please don't mention it again. Young Master Wang, you should go!"
Though her sorrowful words were a clear rejection, Wang Yi was deeply moved upon hearing them.
After Song Ciwan asked him to leave, Wang Yi suddenly gave her a deep look, his eyes filled with infatuation, determination, and reluctance.
"Lady Yue, it matters not if you don't believe me today," he said. "Just you wait. The future is long, and one day, you will surely believe me. This love will not falter, and this heart will not change!"
With that, he gave Song Ciwan a sincere bow with clasped hands, then turned and strode away.
The wind and snow seemed to send him off. After a few steps, he suddenly looked back. This time, his gaze lingered on Song Ciwan for a moment before sweeping lightly over Yang Taixuan, who stood beside her.
That glance was hard to describe. It wasn't quite contempt, nor was it simple disregard. In any case, his line of sight flickered over and then moved away.
And just like that, Wang Yi was gone.
The Heaven and Earth Scale manifested, and a mass of pure white energy, tinged with a cyan glow, settled onto the Balance Plate.
[Human Desires, Greed, Hatred, and Delusion, eight taels and seven maces. Sellable.]
Song Ciwan: 'Hah!'
'Greed, Hatred, and Delusion... Some people's hearts are vibrant red, but their shape is truly ugly.'
'Even though Wang Yi is a treasure trove, a long-fleeced little lamb, right now I really don't feel like playing along with him anymore. What should I do?'
'What a sin, what a sin. I'm getting a bit arrogant. I can't be like this. A gentleman reflects upon himself three times a day. I'm no gentleman, so I should reflect five, six, or even seven or eight times a day.'
'This little lamb is so self-aware, shearing itself for me. If I let him go before he's completely bald, am I planning to switch careers and go into charity?'
Song Ciwan let out a soft laugh, but Yang Taixuan, standing beside her, mistook it for sadness. He quickly tried to comfort her, "Sister Yue, some people can't be held onto. We shouldn't let it bother us. Don't worry, your good days are still ahead of you."
Surprisingly, Yang Taixuan hadn't been fooled by Wang Yi's repeated cries of "Lady Yue, wait for me." Instead, he told Song Ciwan that some people can't be held onto.
Song Ciwan said, "Don't worry, Ah Xuan. I know what I'm doing."
After she said this, the atmosphere between them grew strangely awkward.
After all, Yang Taixuan had just witnessed someone else's drama of love, hate, and passion. Facing Song Ciwan now was indeed a bit uncomfortable.
He couldn't linger any longer either and quickly bid Song Ciwan farewell.
Soon, Yang Taixuan left, and Song Ciwan walked home under her umbrella.
When she opened the courtyard gate, the Big White Goose heard the noise and rushed out from under the eaves to greet her happily. Song Ciwan brushed the snow off its feathers, closed the gate, and carried the goose back into the house.
The charcoal brazier in the room hadn't gone out yet, and it was warmer than outside. The Big White Goose, however, wasn't afraid of the cold. Except for when it was sleeping, it disliked staying in the warm room, preferring to strut about under the eaves with its neck held high, as if it were a goose general patrolling its territory.
This was despite the fact that it still had bald patches on its left and right sides from old, unhealed injuries.
Song Ciwan then got busy with her own affairs. Her Heaven and Earth Scale had collected a pile of energy, all waiting to be sold.
As usual, she would sell the Malice first.
[You have sold one jin and two taels of Malice, obtaining 120 years of Lifespan.]
That was a lot. Song Ciwan could feel it. After several months of selling, her total Lifespan should now have reached 6,523 years!
This was the remaining amount after the cost of cultivating the Puppetry Skill: Substitution. For the still-young Song Ciwan, a Lifespan this long was really no different from a string of numbers.
She no longer felt her initial excitement, and was instead looking forward to the next sales.
Next, Song Ciwan tried an experiment. She placed the Snake Demon entrails she had obtained today directly onto the Heaven and Earth Scale, still in their cloth bag.
The stuff was truly difficult to cook into a delicacy. Since she couldn't prepare it, she might as well try selling it as is.
Upon selling it, a murky gray mass appeared on the Heaven and Earth Scale.
[You have sold two jin and three taels of useless Snake Demon entrails, obtaining one jin and eight taels of Level One Spirit Plant Fertilizer.]
Level One Spirit Plant Fertilizer: Can provide a certain amount of nutrition for the growth of low-level Spirit Plants. With long-term, proper use, it can increase the yield of low-level Spirit Plants by 20 to 30 percent and has a slight chance of improving the Spirit Plant's quality.
'Huh? This... this is...'
'So selling Demon Beast entrails directly gives you Spirit Plant Fertilizer!'
Song Ciwan pondered, 'It's not that this fertilizer is bad, but I don't have any seeds or land right now. I'm in no position to grow Spirit Plants. Besides, what's the point of growing them? To learn Alchemy and then spend a Herculean effort refining Elixirs?'
'When all I need is a plate of stir-fried intestines to get a Strengthening Pill!'
'Heh, the rules of the Heaven and Earth Scale truly are interesting.'
However, now that Song Ciwan's Cultivation had reached the Late-stage Qi Transformation, the supportive effects of the Strengthening Pill were growing weaker and weaker. She needed to figure out a way to obtain higher-level Demon Beast Materials.
Next, Song Ciwan continued her sales.
[You have sold seven strands of Weak Lianfei Demon Beast Death Qi, obtaining one broken Level One Whetstone.]
Whetstone: A low-grade whetstone that can be used to sharpen blade-type Lower Grade Magical Artifacts, making them sharper.
Broken Level One Whetstone: Limited to a single use, with half the effect of a complete whetstone.
Song Ciwan toyed with the broken Whetstone for a moment before returning it to the space within the Heaven and Earth Scale.
Another sale: [You have sold one jin and six taels of chaotic Snake Demon Demonic Qi from a ninety-year-old demon, obtaining one Yellow Level Marvel, a Chaotic Wind Pearl.]
Chaotic Wind Pearl: A Yellow Level Marvel, usable three times. Activated by one's Thought, it releases a chaotic Wind Saber with a maximum power equivalent to the Snake Demon's peak strength when it was alive.
This was the second Marvel Song Ciwan had obtained. The first one she owned was the Tongyou Mirror.
Compared to the Tongyou Mirror, the Chaotic Wind Pearl could only be used three times, but its power was impressive, which was still very good.
Next, there were two strands of even weaker Snake Demon Demonic Qi, which weighed only five fen combined. Song Ciwan sold them together.
'Even a mosquito is still meat.' She decided to see what she could get for it.
[You have sold five fen of unranked chaotic Snake Demon Demonic Qi, obtaining one unranked Level One Bright Light Talisman.]
Level One Bright Light Talisman: A Talisman used for illumination. Once lit, it provides light for half an hour.
'Ugh, what's the use of this thing? As a candle?'
It doesn't even last as long as a single candle!
Still, Song Ciwan stored it away without disdain. It was a Talisman, after all. Who knew when it might come in handy?
She continued selling. Next up was the mass of energy from Yang Taixuan.
[You have sold five jin and seven taels of human desires—Xie, Fury, Sorrow—obtaining the First Layer of the Basic Divine Communication Skill Insight.]
Insight: Cultivating this technique allows one to attain clarity and enlightenment, to grasp fleeting revelations from the mortal world, and to gain insight into the internal and external.
A massive amount of information flooded into Song Ciwan's mind. For a moment, she was completely stunned.
The Cultivation of Divine Power Insight was incredibly arduous and complex. This was not a simple Magic; it was a Divine Communication Technique, a pseudo-Divine Technique. The formation of this unique Divine Technique would exhaust the very limits of numerological arts!
The vast stream of information was like a tidal wave, crashing and churning. Song Ciwan clutched her head, so pained she almost cried out.