I Cultivate in a Government Office

First to emerge were the negative obsessions:

There was his craving for power, born of impatience. When he saw the immense might displayed by Wangchong Mountain, his master, and even Cultivators of higher realms, a burning thought would flash through his mind: ‘When will I be able to do that?’ This feeling, along with a sense of urgency, was now magnified, becoming an invisible whip lashing at him.

Then came his resentment toward his past mediocrity: the disappointment when his innate talent was tested as a child, the self-doubt during his early years of slow cultivation progress. These old wounds, long since covered by his current achievements, now transformed into a stubborn desire to prove himself. If he wasn’t careful, this could easily devolve into a shortsighted, desperate pursuit of quick success.

There were also his hidden worries about his responsibilities and the future: the development of Lingshan County, the fate of his family, the expectations of his sect, potential enemies… These heavy burdens and the uncertain future wove together into an invisible net, pressing in on him like a great mountain crushing his consciousness.

Once these negative thoughts appeared, they tried to distort his perception and tempt him from the correct path of consolidating his Spirit Sea. They urged him to indulge in illusory power, to wallow in pointless regret for the past, or to feel unnecessary panic about the future.

But Yang Wenqing’s will was incredibly firm. He remembered the warnings from his master and Tang Yuan to guard his heart. Faced with these stray thoughts, which were clearly negative and deviated from his core objective of ‘consolidating the Spirit Sea in the here and now,’ his subconscious strongly rejected them with the recognition, ‘This is wrong.’

Thus, whenever these thoughts tried to gain the upper hand, his powerful willpower remained as solid as a boulder. He silently recited a calming mantra and visualized the stability and profundity of his Golden Core World, easily dispelling them.

However, obsessions did not only manifest in negative forms.

Gradually, positive and even seemingly wonderful obsessions began to surface. They were more deeply disguised, making them harder to detect and shake off:

There was the gratification he felt for his family’s growing prosperity. The obsession tried to guide him, to narrowly define the entire meaning of becoming stronger around this single point. This wasn’t wrong in itself, but if he fixated on it, he might develop a mental barrier on his future cultivation path due to overprotectiveness or fear of loss. It would limit the broad, transcendent perspective his Dao Heart should possess.

There was his sense of belonging and honor toward his sect, which the Heart Demon twisted into a heavy burden. There was even his insistence on justice and order, which the Heart Demon distorted into an absolutist, black-and-white worldview, coupled with a desire for control—a need to command all order himself.

Because these obsessions carried a positive connotation, they were more easily accepted by his consciousness, even creating the illusion of, ‘Isn’t this right?’

They coiled around him silently, bringing no pain, but they could subtly alter the direction of his Dao Heart.

“Qingqing… you seem to be thinking about so, so many things…”

Lan Ying’s clear thoughts flowed like a pure spring into Yang Wenqing’s Sea of Consciousness, which was overflowing with all kinds of notions. Although she couldn’t fully comprehend those complex human emotional obsessions, her pure Spiritual Attribute allowed her to keenly sense that Yang Wenqing’s consciousness had become too attached.

“Some of your thoughts are making you a little… heavy…” Lan Ying struggled to express her feeling. “Like Daddy says, a bird that’s too heavy can’t fly high…”

These childish yet profound words struck Yang Wenqing’s consciousness like a monastery’s morning bell and evening drum—a resounding wake-up call.

‘Yes, protection, love, responsibility, justice—these are all good things. They are part of what makes me who I am,’ Yang Wenqing realized. ‘But they shouldn’t be shackles. They shouldn’t be obsessions that weigh down my soul and prevent me from flying higher.’

A true Dao Heart should encompass all these things while also transcending the limitations they bring, viewing everything with a wiser perspective.

“Thank you, Lan Ying,” Yang Wenqing responded within his Spirit Sea, his mind suddenly clear as day.

He no longer tried to dispel these obsessions. Instead, he observed them from a more detached viewpoint, acknowledging their existence. It was like admiring a painting: one could be immersed in its beauty without being trapped by the frame.

“To feel, but not be hindered by feelings. To hold conviction, but not be bound by it.”

As enlightenment dawned, the seat of his consciousness felt as if it had been washed clean. The obsessions that had surfaced, both negative and positive, gradually lost their power to interfere, resolving into calm ripples within his Sea of Consciousness.

At that very moment, in the center of his Sea of Consciousness, the wildly spinning vortex of spirit energy came to a sudden halt, then underwent a qualitative transformation.

All of his Divine Sense was perfectly condensed, transforming into a True Spirit Sea!

It floated quietly in the center of his spiritual altar. Though still small, it was incredibly dense and stable. With just a flicker of his will, he could clearly feel the Divine Sense contained within.

The Third Transformation of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, ‘Spiritual Altar Refinement,’ was complete. The True Spirit Sea was formed!