Chapter 24 : The “Masculine” Within One’s Heart
Chapter 24: The “Masculine” Within One’s Heart
“The ‘…masculine’ within one’s heart?!”
Nan Yuchen repeated the term.
It was clearly nothing more than an ordinary word, yet spoken from Senior Brother Long’s mouth at this moment, it seemed to carry a heavy sense of mission and calling.
“That’s right. Compared to other boys your age, Junior Brother Nan, you’re honestly far too well-behaved. I don’t know exactly who’s been teaching you these past two years, but judging from experience, it’s probably your senior sister Su Muzhi acting on behalf of your master, right?”
“Yes. For the past two years, it’s basically been Senior Sister who’s guided me.”
When he mentioned his senior sister, the intimacy he’d shown while talking about his master disappeared, replaced instead by a hint of restraint.
“Then that makes perfect sense. Senior Sister Su is obviously the type who’s rigid and by-the-book, with rules bigger than the sky and not a hair out of place! I’d bet that on your Moon-Washing Peak, the housekeeper… uh… the one in charge of affairs is also her, right? Like you just said—if your master wants to buy something, she has to cling to her and act cute. And if the people of your peak want a bit more pocket money, they probably have to watch her expression, don’t they?”
When the topic reached this side of his senior sister, Nan Yuchen didn’t even dare speak.
He only nodded vigorously, his eyes full of resonance.
Meanwhile, Long Tao was reminded of his high school’s disciplinary director from his previous life.
“So!” Long Tao’s voice brimmed with incitement.
“What you need to do now is to break through that towering wall of rules Senior Sister Su has built inside your heart! Go do something bad! Something that breaks taboos, makes your heart race, and leaves you feeling a little guilty even when you think back on it afterward! That thrill of smashing through moral restraints is the best way to ignite the dormant ‘masculine’ energy within you!”
“But…” Nan Yuchen still felt something was off.
“Is it really necessary to go that far? I could also apply to temporarily move somewhere with more male disciples… say, stay on Blade-Tempering Peak for a while? Changing environments, maybe that would—”
“That is indeed a method. If you were still in the Qi Refining stage, I would recommend it. But you’ve already reached Foundation Establishment. Then the problem becomes serious. On the path of cultivation, many thresholds—once crossed—leave no road back. That’s something the elders always say during major lectures, right?”
“Yes…”
“You’ve already reached the stage where correcting imbalance requires overcorrection. To cure a stubborn disease, you need a fierce medicine! Still thinking of relying on ‘quiet recuperation’ to recover? That will only let the lesion sink deeper and deeper into your body until it’s beyond saving!”
While Nan Yuchen lowered his head in thought, Long Tao hurriedly wiped away the cold sweat brought on by guilt and nervousness, then continued,
“I know you’re confused. How could this concept of ‘masculine’ be related to doing bad things? It’s actually very simple—any force, when taken to extremes, will deteriorate!” He tried hard to make his voice sound full of reason.
“Open up the history books and take a look. Those wars that swept across the world—who started eight or nine out of ten of them? Men! Why? That primal desire to conquer cities and seize by force—at its root—is surplus, unvented ‘masculine yang energy’ running amok!”
As Nan Yuchen digested this ‘profound’ historical lesson, Long Tao suddenly shifted the topic,
“Of course, I’m not telling you to become some violent maniac. I mean using a gentle, controllable method to do a few small bad things that don’t truly offend heaven or reason—using that as a spark, precisely igniting the ‘masculine’ source within you that urgently needs revival! Let it awaken without losing control and going berserk! That’s the optimal strategy!”
This theory—so far-fetched that even Long Tao himself found it ridiculous—not only left Nan Yuchen completely stunned, it even left the four women on the other side at a loss for words.
True Person Mingzhu even began to wonder: if this man were a Golden Core cultivator, then when little Yuchen first entered the sect, she probably wouldn’t have been able to compete with him at all.
He was simply too good at talking.
“Then… Senior Brother Long, do you… have any suggestions?”
The Listening Insect instantly became the focus.
Four pairs of ears stood straight up, breath held, eager to hear what other ‘lofty theory’ this Long fellow might unleash.
“Hmm… let me think,” Long Tao paused deliberately, feigning profundity.
Then he dropped a bombshell.
“For you, the most direct and most effective ‘fierce medicine’ would be… to sneak a peek at your master or your senior sister while they’re bathing!”
“Boom—!!!”
Those words were like a thunderclap, exploding instantly within True Person Mingzhu’s quiet chamber! A surge of violent fury mixed with shock erupted from Su Muzhi, Zhu Huaisu, Chen Qianyun, and even from behind the curtain where True Person Mingzhu sat! If not for the powerful isolation restrictions laid down in the chamber, the raging anger at this moment would probably have blown off a corner of the entire Moon-Washing Peak!
“I knew it! This man cannot be allowed to live!” Su Muzhi’s gaze was resolute.
“He must be erased! Immediately! At once! He’ll ruin little Yuchen!”
This time, even Zhu Huaisu and Chen Qianyun unusually didn’t refute Senior Sister.
But as cultivators, reason still remained—and more importantly, rushing out now would blatantly expose the fact that they’d been eavesdropping the entire time.
Their image would collapse completely!
“Senior Brother Long! Even if it’s you, please do not make such outrageous jokes in front of me!”
Hearing the junior brother’s firm, decisive rejection, a tremendous wave of relief surged through the hearts of the four women at the same time.
Good child! He hadn’t been completely led astray! When it came to right and wrong, he still had clarity!
On the men’s side, Long Tao wasn’t surprised by Nan Yuchen’s reaction—but he fell into immense panic, because this was the greatest hurdle he’d faced all day.
Before this, it could all be brushed off as harmless banter, but once it involved one’s master and elders, it truly wasn’t something to joke about.
Just as Long Tao was about to resort to the same sophistry as before to muddle through, his innate intuition suddenly stopped him.
No—absolutely not! This was different.
First, the nature of it was entirely different.
For any normal person, this touched upon a moral bottom line.
It wasn’t something words alone could trick someone into crossing.
Second… he’d already used too many rhetorical tricks on this kid.
The boy wasn’t actually stupid; he’d definitely built up some resistance.
There was a real chance he’d see through the deception directly—and then it would be completely over.
So in an instant, he switched tactics in his mind and decided to “turn the tables.” Using all his acting skills, he replaced his expression with a mix of surprise and curiosity, and asked in the most innocent tone possible,
“Why did you suddenly get so… angry? Wait—could it be that, Junior Brother, you’ve… never secretly watched… a woman bathe before?”
Nan Yuchen hadn’t expected the other party not only to refuse to admit fault, but to turn around and question him instead.
Yet his innate personality still made him answer,
“N-no… of course not!”
“No way! Then before you entered the sect, when you were working as a menial in that clan… weren’t there any other half-grown boys who took you to sneak a peek at some household madam or a pretty widow?”
Looking at Long Tao’s exaggerated expression of “You really haven’t?!” Nan Yuchen suddenly began to doubt himself.
Could it be that he really was abnormal? Was peeking at older women bathing a compulsory course for men?
“N-no… there wasn’t…” His voice clearly weakened, lacking confidence.
Because he remembered that when he was a youth working as a menial, he often heard other half-grown boys mysteriously inviting each other to go “see the scenery.” But he’d been young and introverted, and no one had ever brought him along.
Now, being questioned like this by Long Tao, he inexplicably felt a sense of shame at having fallen behind.
“Ah… suddenly I feel a bit sorry for True Person Mingzhu. She’s lived for hundreds of years, taken in only female disciples, and has no Dao companion. All the beauty she possesses from head to toe has no opposite sex to appreciate it. After finally taking you in as a male disciple, you turn out to be like a block of wood—until now, you’ve never even felt the slightest bit of romantic attraction toward your master or senior sisters?”
Nan Yuchen was dumbfounded.
How had it suddenly become his fault?
This wasn’t right… but Senior Brother’s words seemed to carry a bit of logic after all.
“Senior Brother, do you mean… that as a grown man, I’ve never regarded Master or Senior Sisters as… as women, and that’s actually a form of disrespect toward them?”
Oh! He didn’t expect the kid to answer proactively.
Long Tao felt the opportunity arrive.
“It’s not really disrespect. Your master and senior sisters—aren’t they all peerless beauties? Especially True Person Mingzhu and Senior Sister Su. Golden Core cultivators who’ve lived for hundreds of years—pursuers probably line up from Moon-Washing Peak all the way to the main mountain gate! But let me say something a bit improper here: can the admiration of those outside men really be the same as the heartfelt affection of a personally transmitted disciple who lives with them day and night?”
Nan Yuchen’s ears instantly turned red.
“I—I’m not—”
“Don’t rush. I’m not telling you to actually start some master-disciple romance. But… at the very least, your master should occasionally realize that her male disciple can also be drawn in by her charm… that’s normal, right?”
“That’s true…” Nan Yuchen’s voice carried a trace of guilt.
“Master and Senior Sisters are all such radiant beauties, yet I’ve only buried my head in cultivation, like a blind man with his eyes open, never once truly taking the time to appreciate them. Even if they don’t say it, they must feel a bit disappointed inside, right?”
It worked! Long Tao was ecstatic inside, knowing his rhetoric had succeeded halfway—only the final push remained.
“Don’t take it too hard. At most, they just think you’re a dull block of wood who doesn’t understand romance. They wouldn’t truly be hurt. The key problem still lies with you!” He abruptly shifted tone.
“Now I see it clearly! Your biggest problem, at its root, is a lack of the most primal desire toward women!”
“Desire?”
“That’s right! What’s the core of Foundation Establishment? Forget us—even the storytellers in teahouses know it’s using desire-fire to temper the body! Think about it: why isn’t it like ancient times anymore, where geniuses rushed to attempt Foundation Establishment at eleven or twelve? Because children at that age don’t understand love between men and women! The bit of desire-fire in their bodies is far from enough to temper the physique. Forcing Foundation Establishment only turned those young geniuses into hollow goods!”
Nan Yuchen’s heart shook violently! Of course he understood the basic principles of Foundation Establishment, but his own path had been too smooth, and he’d never delved deeply into it.
Now that he thought back, the desire-fire he’d drawn upon during his hundred-day Foundation Establishment did seem far gentler than what the texts described.
“And your age is already right—but the problem lies in the environment!” He pointed around.
“Moon-Washing Peak is a place of extreme yin and softness! You face all kinds of peerless beauties every day—by all logic, it should be like pouring oil onto a raging fire! But the problem is that it’s all too easily obtained! Scenery that’s within arm’s reach makes you numb to it! Combined with this yin-soft environment grinding away at your masculine desire as a man—this is the real culprit behind your Foundation Establishment failing to achieve full perfection!”
Long Tao casually pointed in a direction and said,
“Look at those from the martial academies, then look at us menials. Down at the foot of the mountain, when we pass by Sister-in-law Wu sweeping the ground or Second Aunt Liang, we all want to sneak a glance. Why? Because… lack of women!”
Nan Yuchen suddenly felt his sins weigh heavily upon him.
It was as if he’d been blessed without knowing it, and even felt that the jealousy and alienation he’d received from other male disciples were entirely justified.