Chapter 8: The True Inheritance

"This appearance looks much more concise!" With this thought, Lu Sheng tested the functions once more. Focusing his mind on the "Health: 76% (Mild Injury)" section, a line of information instantly appeared before his eyes: "Mild internal injury, slight muscle damage... Complete health requires three Merit Points. If you take one qian of Fritillaria and two qian of Angelica dahurica... the requirement reduces to two Merit Points."

"Excellent!" he praised inwardly, but did not immediately restore his body. After all, the Merit Points he possessed were few, and his body was already recovering. In a few days, when his injuries were fully healed, perhaps only one Merit Point would be needed to restore him to perfect health, eliminating any hidden risks within.

After trying out various functions, Lu Sheng's previously excited spirit calmed, and he felt a trace of fatigue. Only then did he recall he was in the midst of receiving the Hunyuan Technique inheritance. Remembering the recording feature of Ruyi, he asked, "Ruyi, can you record the Hunyuan Technique from the inheritance stone?"

"I can, but it holds no value for me, so recording is unnecessary," Ruyi replied.

"It may not be valuable to you, but it’s extremely valuable to me. If you record it, how many Merit Points will it cost me?" Lu Sheng inquired.

"Recording and comprehending the Dao are Ruyi's basic functions; they require no additional expenditure of Origin. For such consumption, Ruyi can recover on its own," Ruyi answered.

"Basic functions! No Merit Points needed!" Hearing this, Lu Sheng grew excited and asked, "Are there any other basic functions like this that don’t require Origin?"

"Ruyi has three basic functions: recording and comprehending the Dao, absorbing and transforming Origin, and using Origin to fulfill wishes. Other functions can be added through wishes after inheritance," Ruyi replied.

"Recording and comprehending the Dao! Absorbing and transforming Origin! Using Origin to fulfill wishes!" Lu Sheng repeated, pondering, "No need to mention using Origin for wishes. Absorbing and transforming Origin should be Ruyi’s self-recovery ability. For me, the functions I can directly use now are probably just recording and comprehending the Dao!"

With this in mind, Lu Sheng tried, "Ruyi, how broad a range can you record? For example, can you record this entire island?"

"As long as your sensory system receives the information and allows me to record it, I can record it all. If you do not receive the information, recording requires Origin. To record this island, depending on the depth, it would cost from 1,522 to 1,530,000,000 Merit Points," Ruyi replied.

"So you can only record what I perceive? Anything beyond requires a wish?"

Frowning, Lu Sheng realized this recording and Dao-comprehension function was less useful than he had hoped. His spiritual strength was not yet double that of an ordinary person, but his memory had already improved greatly. As his cultivation progressed, the ability to memorize at a glance and recall all experiences would not be mere fantasy. The only practical advantage of Ruyi’s recording was its ability to capture realms and principles that Lu Sheng currently could not record himself. Soon, this function would become largely unnecessary for him.

"Forget it, no need to overthink! Ruyi’s recording feature, no matter how powerful, is merely a tool for storing information. It’s easier to remember things myself and add attributes to my body’s database, gaining more ways to reduce Merit consumption," Lu Sheng thought.

"So, what's the difference in Merit consumption for varying recording depths?" Lu Sheng asked.

"Recording surface and one zhang below ground costs one Merit Point per qing. For one million zhang deep, the cost increases by a million times," Ruyi replied.

"What about below one million zhang?" Lu Sheng asked.

"Below one million zhang lies the world’s barrier; recording that requires even more Origin," Ruyi responded.

"There’s actually no life—this world truly must be a flat heaven and square earth!" Lu Sheng sighed. From the information he had gathered over the past days, he had long suspected this world was not a planetary sphere, and now Ruyi had confirmed it.

He pondered briefly but did not linger on this point. The mysteries of this world could be explored once he was stronger. For now, how to use Merit Points was more urgent.

After further inquiries, Lu Sheng abandoned the idea of recording Blackstone Island’s information. Not only did he lack sufficient Merit Points, but much information simply wasn’t worth recording. Details like the location of a particular tree, flower, or stone held no use for him now; a gust of wind could alter everything. Spending vast Merit Points for such data was not something Lu Sheng was willing to do.

"Perhaps, when I leave Blackstone Island, to preserve a memory, I may record the whole island," Lu Sheng mused.

"For now, record the Hunyuan Technique within the inheritance stone!" Lu Sheng ordered.

"Understood! Recording complete!" Ruyi responded swiftly.

Satisfied, Lu Sheng watched the Hunyuan Technique’s images several times, then re-examined the Hunyuan Dao intent. Only then did he open his eyes and remove the inheritance stone from his brow.

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"Sheng’er, you’re awake! Did you comprehend anything?" Noticing Lu Sheng’s movement, Lu Hai—who had been meditating nearby—quickly stood up, asking with deep concern.

Since Lu Sheng began receiving the inheritance, Lu Hai had watched by his side, awaiting his awakening. Yet, for reasons unknown, Lu Sheng’s inheritance process took exceptionally long—unlike Lu Hai’s own, which had finished in less than half an hour. In the end, Lu Hai could only meditate to restore his energy.

"Yes! I sensed a mighty, vast... a perfect, complete, indescribable intent, as well as a set of cultivation instructions," Lu Sheng replied. Knowing not how much time had passed during his exchange with Ruyi, he had already considered how to answer Lu Hai. Upon being asked, he immediately described his feelings toward the inherited intent.

"Intent? What intent? The inheritance stone’s intent was never replenished and faded long ago!" Hearing Lu Sheng’s answer, Lu Hai was puzzled.

He glanced at the inheritance stone in Lu Sheng’s hand. Suddenly, a memory surfaced in his mind, stirring his excitement beyond control. He seized Lu Sheng and exclaimed loudly, "Hunyuan True Intent! It must be Hunyuan True Intent! Sheng’er, you’ve comprehended the Hunyuan True Intent, inherited from Emperor Jing!"

"Hunyuan True Intent? What is that? Could it be what people of this world call the Hunyuan Dao intent?" With his shoulder gripped painfully, Lu Sheng wondered in confusion at Lu Hai’s shout.

After a while, when Lu Hai calmed down, Lu Sheng asked his question: "Father, what is Emperor Jing’s Hunyuan True Intent? Is it different from others’ intent?"

"Different, absolutely different!"

Pacing slowly, Lu Hai struggled to steady his excitement. Yet his trembling hand stroking his beard betrayed his mood, making tranquility elusive.

"True Intent means transforming intent from illusion to reality, genuine and unerring."

As he walked, Lu Hai explained, "Such intent can only be comprehended by the strongest grandmasters. Compared to the illusory intent revealed by ordinary grandmasters after achieving unity with heaven and man, True Intent is vastly superior."

"For example, Emperor Jing’s Hunyuan Furnace True Intent not only refines others’ intent, but even manifested and forged a White Jade Pagoda. That furnace formed from intent is stronger than many real furnaces!"

"Breaking the boundary between the material and spiritual realms, allowing illusory intent to alter the real world. Such a person could probably kill with a mere glare!"

Shocked, Lu Hai said, "Are supreme grandmasters truly so powerful?"

"Yes, exactly that powerful! Otherwise, why have there only ever been four?" Lu Hai replied, giving an example: "In the Central Plains, at the southwest border of the Wilderness Province, there stands a Monument of Mountains and Rivers, left behind over eight hundred years ago when Emperor Jing became a supreme grandmaster."

"It’s said that Emperor Jing left that monument after traversing the land, experiencing sudden enlightenment at the Wilderness border, and creating the ‘Scripture of Mountains and Rivers.’ After perfecting his cultivation, he did not destroy it, but shattered an inheritance stone, leaving behind his True Intent of Mountains and Rivers to deter the beasts of the western mountain region."

"For centuries, despite frequent wars in the Wilderness, not a single powerful beast dared step beyond the mountain domain, largely because of that monument."

"In fact, at the site of the monument, many martial artists have comprehended wondrous techniques from its True Intent. These people gathered and founded a sect, the famous Mountain and River Sect—renowned not only in Wilderness but throughout the entire realm."

While speaking, Lu Hai held the inheritance stone and sighed, "Every inheritance stone personally made by Emperor Jing contains a trace of his Hunyuan True Intent. In the early centuries, some occasionally managed to comprehend it, but in recent times, such occurrences have become rare."

"I had thought that the trace left by Emperor Jing was too faint and had long since dissipated in the inheritance stone, yet it still remains after a thousand years!"

"Compared to the intent in ordinary inheritance stones, which lasts at most a hundred years, this True Intent enduring for a millennium—would you not call it powerful?"

"Powerful! Incredibly powerful!" Lu Sheng echoed in awe. A trace of True Intent remained in a stone for nearly a thousand years; a single True Intent intimidated countless beasts, preventing them from stirring; it even inadvertently created a sect... The power of a supreme grandmaster’s True Intent was truly astonishing!

"Then this ‘Scripture of Mountains and Rivers,’ is it related to the Hunyuan Technique? Which is stronger?"

More than the strength of True Intent, Lu Sheng was interested in finding another source of Dao intent. Though the True Intent of Mountains and Rivers and the Hunyuan True Intent were left by the same person, and might share overlapping principles, there must be aspects the Hunyuan overlooked. If those supreme figures liked to leave True Intent everywhere, and Ruyi could gather them, his recovery would greatly accelerate!

"The ‘Scripture of Mountains and Rivers’ is a method Emperor Jing derived from his initial cultivation, Treading Mountains Technique. In terms of power, it’s far inferior to the supreme ‘Hunyuan Scripture.’"

"He left the ‘Scripture of Mountains and Rivers’ because he had a sudden insight and created it on a whim. After all, although the Hunyuan Technique is mighty, not everyone can cultivate it. Having another method offers more choices."

"For example, Lu Wanshan, the grandmaster of the current Great Jing Lu clan, trains in the ‘Scripture of Mountains and Rivers.’ His cultivation is among the highest in the world!" Lu Hai said.

"Lu Wanshan! Is he the pinnacle expert of this world now?" Lu Sheng silently committed the name to memory.