The Book Soul Chronicles: Godslayer

Mo Qian pulled himself out of his memories. He had a vague feeling that this temple was related to him, but he didn't know why he had this feeling.

Mo Qian wondered to himself, "Could all of this be a coincidence? My birth, the coincidence of coming into this world, and what is the connection between this palace?"

Then, Mo Qian was interrupted from his thoughts by a voice.

“I think this method is feasible. You want to inherit the treasures, and we will package the spiritual treasures. If the inheritance does not choose you but chooses us, then we will divide them fairly. Whoever grabs them first gets them. How about that?” Qingwu said.

Everyone fell silent, except for Hao Juji, who looked at her with starry eyes and said something that left everyone speechless.

"Senior Uncle, you are so amazing! You are simply my idol!"

Upon hearing this, Qingwu felt that the young man had excellent judgment and vision, perfectly meeting her criteria for accepting a disciple. She gave him an approving look.

As a result, her next sentence made her reconsider and take back her previous praise. She must have been stunned when she fell down, otherwise why would she have thought this fool had good taste?

"You get all the benefits. I envy your eloquence." Hao Jujin finished speaking and received a killer look from Qingwu.

The others were trying not to laugh, especially Chen Suili, who silently gave the chubby boy a thumbs up in his heart. He admired his courage and even more so, he admired that he had spoken his mind.

Before the group could even begin, the temple made its move!

The ground shook violently, and everyone lost their footing, startling them all.

Qingwu couldn't help but complain, "Laying a sneak attack? Is everyone so unethical these days?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a formation appeared on the ground, teleporting them to different places.

Yu Bingwen was teleported to a heavenly ladder. Looking up, he saw that the steps stretched deep into the clouds and seemed to have no end.

An ancient and majestic voice rang out, "Welcome to the Hall of Inquiry, you are destined to be here. Before you are the Steps of Inquiry. Each step requires you to inquire into your heart and provide an answer. If the Steps of Inquiry approve of you, you can proceed to the next step. Each step you take will bring different rewards."

"Note that there is no time limit here; you need to keep going until you feel you can't answer the question."

Yu Bingwen frowned and asked Xin Jie, "I have only seen a few brief mentions of this in ancient books."

Legend has it that the Taoist Master Wenxin resided in the Wenxin Temple and devoted his entire life to cultivating his mind. He believed that the most important aspect of cultivation was cultivating the mind, so he created the Wenxin Steps, which have no end.

In other words, this "step of self-questioning" means that after you finish one round of questions, you will have different feelings and insights when you ask the same questions again. This cycle continues endlessly without end.

It wasn't just Yu Bingwen who encountered the Questioning Steps; the others did too, only they were facing the same problem in different spaces.

They also had some understanding of the Heart-Questioning Steps, and they were also greatly surprised. Qingwu, in particular, was overjoyed when she heard about the reward. Her face clearly showed that she had hit the jackpot, and she happily answered the questions.

Yu Bingwen stepped onto the first step and asked, "What is the Dao?"

Yu Bingwen thought for a while and gave his answer.

"Everyone has their own aspirations, and what people think and desire is the Way. There are ten thousand thoughts in the world, and therefore ten thousand Ways. The Ways are different, but they are all the same."

Yu Bingwen waited for a while, and the steps displayed "Passed". Then, the golden spiritual energy that was originally emanating from the steps under Yu Bingwen's feet entered Yu Bingwen's body directly, nourishing his body. The steps also turned into transparent glass at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Yu Bingwen then stepped onto the second step and asked, "All living beings suffer, how can we save them?"

Yu Bingwen frowned and pondered for a long time before finally giving his answer.

"All beings suffer, and the root of all suffering lies in the mind. Desire is the cause of all suffering, and only self-salvation can save us. The will of Heaven is unpredictable, so we should follow its natural course. When one is trapped by greed, one suffers all eight kinds of suffering. Only by examining one's own heart, releasing one's desires, and eliminating one's thoughts can one save oneself."

Yu Bingwen's answer was once again recognized by the Heart-Questioning Step, just like the first step.

Qingwu, who had already entered the third stage, asked, "What are your insights into the word 'desire'?"

Qingwu was serious from the moment she stepped onto the Questioning Steps. If the other four people were present, they might doubt their own eyes.

After careful consideration, Qingwu Chen gave his answer: "I have two interpretations of the word 'desire.' Without desire, there is no cause; without cause, there is no effect; without cause and effect, the world would not exist. If desire is moderate, it can lead to success and is worth pursuing; this is the first interpretation. If desire is excessive, it will harm both oneself and others and is not worth pursuing; this is the second interpretation."

Undoubtedly, the Questioning Heart Rank has given a reward, and like Yu Bingwen, this spiritual energy has entered the body and circulated in the meridians and dantian.

However, unlike others, some of this spiritual energy was repairing the hidden injuries in her body. This was because the Heaven-Slaying Technique that Qingwu cultivated was not a perfect technique. It was conceived by her grandmaster, created by her senior brother Qingming, and inherited and developed by herself.

Unfortunately, her senior brother had not yet completed the creation before he perished, so she had to rely on herself to explore the process. Because no one taught her, she made a mistake during cultivation and almost suffered a qi deviation, resulting in hidden injuries all over her meridians.

Moreover, these hidden injuries continued to increase as her cultivation level improved, causing him to experience excruciating pain in his meridians every time he used his spiritual energy.

Despite her cheerful demeanor, she endures immense pain every time she circulates her spiritual energy. By now, she has become numb to the pain and has adapted to it. But if there were even a glimmer of hope for a cure, who wouldn't want to return to normal?

So when the spiritual energy entered her body for the first time and repaired her hidden injuries, she was incredulous. Because the Heaven-Slaying Technique she cultivated was too domineering, she couldn't find a way to repair her hidden injuries and further improve her cultivation. She never expected to encounter it here. She had a premonition that she would gain a lot after leaving here.

Perhaps she can even figure out the next level of cultivation of the Heaven-Slaying Technique through this, and her cultivation level can also rise to a higher level.

Hao Anqi, also in the third stage, asked, "What do you consider to be great wisdom?"

Hao Anqi hadn't expected the question to be so difficult. To be precise, the difficulty wasn't the question itself, but the complex and varied answers. He was organizing his thoughts, trying to figure out how to answer in a way that would satisfy him.

After gathering his thoughts, he answered slowly and calmly, "Great wisdom can be divided into intelligence and insight. Intelligence is the ability to perceive and understand things, and insight is the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Great wisdom is the ability to deeply understand all things and to judge truth from falsehood."

Wenxinjie agreed with this answer and also gave a reward.

Chen Suili is a bit behind, still stuck at the second level, mainly because the questions are too difficult to answer, and he has been stuck there for a long time.

He felt the question was both too easy and too difficult. It was easy because the answer was obvious; he could list dozens, even hundreds, of points. But he felt it was missing the most important point, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

The question is, "What is crossing?"

Chen Suili pondered, "What is salvation? To lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot is salvation; to give up greed and desire is salvation; to let go of infatuation and resentment is salvation..." He thought of a lot of things, but he just felt that something was not right.

Finally, he realized something and said, "To help others, to help their hearts, and to help oneself. To help others means to be tolerant of others, to take responsibility, and to truly let go."

Chen Suili's final answer was recognized by the Questioning Steps, and after receiving the reward, he continued with the next question.

The previous few people made good progress, but Hao Juji couldn't keep up. He had a headache when it came to those literary things, let alone such profound questions.

He stood and thought, sat and thought, but he couldn't figure it out no matter what. In the end, he even propped his head up on the steps and thought, and then he fell asleep.

That's not the main point. The main point is that he has only just stepped onto the first step, which is like going to class and falling asleep as soon as you get to your seat.

The question is, "What is life? What is death?"

Hao Jujin had to answer two questions right from the start, and even he himself was curious as to why he felt like his luck was running out.

He used to reap the benefits without sowing, picking up all sorts of bargains. Now he can't just take what's readily available; he needs to think hard. But right now, his mind is blank; he really doesn't know how.

Moreover, after seeing the problem, he chose to try hard to recall the knowledge he had learned, although recalling the lessons he had learned was a kind of torture for him.

After all, he was a dragon before class, but turned into a worm once class started. He was afraid of the teacher, but hearing the teacher's voice was like a lullaby.

He would become drowsy during class. He tried very hard to listen, but he always felt like the sounds were drilling into his brain. However, he was always dizzy and could only hear one sentence at a time.

So when he saw the question, he tried hard to recall the Master's words and the books he had read. But it was no use; whenever the image of the Master and books full of words appeared in his mind, he felt completely confused.

He fell asleep while thinking about it. Wen Xinjie was furious to see him asleep in such a serious situation and felt ignored. He decided to punish the person who disrespected him.

Immediately, lightning-like patterns appeared on the steps where Hao Jujin was sitting. Then, the lightning patterns rushed towards Hao Jujin, who began to convulse, and sparks flew from his body.

Hao Jujin, who was still asleep, was inexplicably awakened by an electric shock. He was covered in black soot, his hair stood on end on the steps, and his eyes rolled back due to the shock. His breath turned into black smoke. It was almost unbearable to look at his miserable state.

When he came to his senses, he lay on the ground and couldn't help but protest, "Why is this happening? Didn't you say there was no time limit? Why did you shock me? Waaaaah..."

Despite his protest, the other party had no reason to respond, since he was on their turf and they were in charge. So he sat up again, cast a cleansing spell on himself, and tidied himself up.

She was thinking to herself, "Hurry up and get it done. He's such a good boy, I can't let anyone find out he looks like this, or they'll laugh at him."

He then rummaged through his personal storage ring and finally found a dusty mirror artifact that he had picked up from somewhere. He also noticed that his hands were covered in dust.

He couldn't help but think to himself, "There's no way there could be dust in a spatial ring. This dust is probably some lazy spirit beast's collection. They don't even bother to take care of it."

"The dust on this is so thick it looks like I picked it up from the roadside instead of taking it from their cave. What a disrespect for the treasure! I was just too rushed and didn't have time to check and maintain it. That spirit beast is so idle, yet it's so lazy."

Hao Jujin, being a diligent boy, cherished his belongings. Although he had been very lucky since childhood, acquiring many valuable items, and despite the large sums involved and the many servants in his household, he always personally took good care of them. Therefore, deep down, he disliked the spirit beast.

Despite his dislike, he still cast a dust-removing spell, and the mirror returned to its original state. He looked at himself and, finding nothing amiss, breathed a sigh of relief and put the mirror away.

The creator of this magical artifact probably never imagined that someone would use it as a mirror, otherwise he would probably be furious.

Hao Jujin stood up, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and sincerely apologized, "It was my rudeness, please forgive me, senior!"

Wenxinjie silently watched this scene unfold, making no further move. Hao Juji also sat cross-legged on the steps and began to seriously consider the problem. He was the one who had been impolite today, and he didn't want to be shocked again.

Believe it or not, he actually figured it out. Although he was neither good at academics nor martial arts and his studies were full of stumbles, he was not a child. He lived in a large family and had been influenced by culture from a young age. He still had the ability to think and judge independently.

The words "life and death" seem simple, but they are not simply the birth of a child and the death of an old person as commonly understood. Throughout history, these two questions have always prompted much thought from many talented individuals, demonstrating the breadth of knowledge involved. This is why Hao Jujin did not give a casual answer.

Although he was born into a prominent family and was somewhat arrogant, he still possessed basic manners and common sense.

You cannot casually give perfunctory answers to the questions posed by these sages. You may not know the answer, or you may choose not to answer, but you absolutely cannot pretend to know what you don't and give a casual reply. Doing so will not only damage your family's reputation but also earn you contempt. This applies not only in the mortal realm but also throughout the entire cultivation world. Being perfunctory and not knowing are two different things, especially being perfunctory with powerful beings, which will be seen as disrespectful, and this is a grave taboo.

That's why not only Hao Jujin, but the other four also think seriously when faced with problems. Even Qingwu, who is usually carefree, puts aside her unruly attitude and seriously thinks about and answers the questions the moment she steps onto the steps and sees them.

Hao Jujin said earnestly, "Life is formed from qi. Qi is the same but form is different. All living beings are different. Life is the only one in this world."

There are two interpretations of death. One is that the body dies and the soul disappears, thus vanishing from the world, but still able to return to it. The other is that the heart dies, the body remains in the world, but the heart has nowhere to go.

Hao Jujin provided answers from both a worldview and an individual perspective, which was quite comprehensive. Wenxinjie didn't hold his previous rudeness against him and gave him a reward. Since it was two questions, his reward was double. Spiritual energy entered his body, part of which circulated through his meridians and converged in his dantian, while the other part continuously tempered his body, eliminating impurities and increasing his physical endurance.

The five people in the secret realm cherished this opportunity, seemingly oblivious to the passage of time, each answering their own questions.