Chapter 108: True Inspirations
Fengyu entered the library with the young man.
An extremely grand space lay before him, filled with bookshelves and seating arrangements between them, a great scene difficult to describe in words.
He followed after the man into the inner parts of the library, passing by the reception and the various shelves at the front.
Behind many of them there was a larger line of tables and futons, people sitting down with books to read and even talk.
The man took Fengyu to one of them and sat down, lightly tapping on the small incense burner on the table.
Instantly incense started burning and around the table a thin veil formed.
"This is a soundproofing spell, the incense is also pretty good, it’s a spirit calming spell to allow readers to more easily engross themselves in the book they read."
Fengyu nodded and asked, "The inspirations..."
"Haha, well, then let me tell you.
Actually, Spiritual Inspirations aren’t a topic for the first stage – they’re only relevant in the second stage.
But as always, if you can gain one aspect of the higher stage beforehand, then breaking through and cultivation will be easier.
Spiritual Inspirations are generally our own view and comprehension of an aspect, whether it’s about nature or something else, the general explanation is this.
The effect varies – at the first stage we only enjoy a slight improvement in one direction, its real effect can only be expressed in the second stage.
Still, while they’re not relevant for us currently, everyone wants to prepare the best possible foundation for the future.
So when we awaken our inspiration, there are three ways to manifest them fully –
First, the preliminary inspiration tells us what to do to manifest it fully. This is, without exception, the worst path. It will poison your inspiration – after all, something that’s supposed to be based on your view suddenly includes the view of the dao.
Which dao it is doesn’t matter. Some inspirations tell you to follow the flow of yin-yang, five elements, heaven and earth... as long as you realise it on your own, that’s fine. But if someone tells you how to do it, it’s poison. Such inspirations are called Fake Inspirations.
The second path is to do what you nearly did just now –
Use outer influences to increase your inspiration’s completion.
Whether it’s reading deeply about inspirations or even observing other inspirations. Such influence, while it might still be your own comprehension, will have bits and parts of the ideas of others, which is why we call them ’Impure Inspiration’.
Finally there is the inspiration solely based on your comprehension. Whatever led to it, whatever made you comprehend it, once you mastered it, it’s the most pure and true inspiration that can be used even in the second stage without further purifying.
They are called True Inspirations."
"Then I have to thank fellow daoist for stopping me!" Fengyu cupped his hands hurriedly in thanks, about to bow.
"There is no need. With your duck here, you would’ve been able to stop yourself. It’s just that by then you might’ve gained some wrong ideas and allowed your inspiration to gain some impurities.
I recommend you don’t read about inspirations anymore – at most a basic book describing a few things.
We family cultivators usually only learn word of mouth, not reading anything about it. At most we exchange our ideas with others, but even that we are only allowed to do if our willpower has been proven to not be susceptible to manipulation.
After all, we’re really only at the first stage. Our inspiration hasn’t reached the stage where we can refine it further, so we can only ensure its purity."
"Then I truly have to thank fellow daoist. My inspiration has remained pure, which means that I won’t need to worry about it!" Fengyu could only repeat his thanks, feeling like he had fortunately not made a big mistake.
"Haha, it’s really not a problem. Such information isn’t hidden, it’s just that if you learn it before you gain your first inspiration, you might try to forcefully gain an inspiration or even read about it to get one. By then you will get a wrong idea and the inspiration you gain won’t surpass the fake stage no matter what you do.
So it’s better you don’t tell others, else they might curse you for blocking their path."
"It makes sense why it was hidden then," Fengyu said, but rather than that, he thought it made sense why the man was so willing to tell him. It’s because he already got one, so he can get another. Such a secret is no longer needed.
As for those others? For them, getting even a Fake Inspiration might be good, but it seems the city prefers raising high-quality cultivators rather than weeds, so it can be seen that they’re not hiding it for the sake of helping them but rather for the sake of filtering.
"By the way, the inspiration you gained before..." the young man suddenly asked.
"Oh, it’s a True Inspiration." Fengyu didn’t hide it, but he didn’t show his inspiration either.
"That’s good! Your first inspiration is always the most important! With this inspiration you can also cultivate Transcendent Arts!"
"Transcendent Arts? What are those?" Fengyu asked again, feeling like a student. He suddenly thought that he would need to read many books from now on to no longer be in a position of having to be taught by strangers...
"Cultivation Arts all have specific grades. There are five grades in total –
Common Arts, only of the first stage, they’re nothing special and simply gather spiritual power for cultivation.
Refined Arts, reaching at least the second stage, they have simple enhancements, such as a 10% spell enhancement for a specific element.
Profound Arts, reaching beyond, have special or unique paths in different disciplines. Enhancements and improvements are rather good.
Perfect Arts – they contain a complete set of spells, dao creations and others. They’re the peak of usual cultivators..."