“Form,” “Energy,” and “Essence”

The woman in green possessed immense strength. Lin Shao was hoisted up by his collar until only his tiptoes touched the ground. He grabbed her wrists with both hands, trying to force her away, but with a swift twist of her arms, she evaded his grip with a subtle angle and pinned his hands instead.

It felt like being clamped by iron pliers, the pain seeping into his very bones.

“Ever since I stepped onto the path of cultivation, I’ve felt that age is nothing but a decoration,” the woman in green hissed through gritted teeth. “The last time I treated someone, the old fogies there said I was wet behind the ears—told me a ‘little brat’ shouldn’t get involved. It infuriated me! I’m older than all of them combined, so why do they get to act so superior just because I look young?”

“You’ve… you’ve been angry about that this whole time?” Lin Shao couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Suddenly, the woman fell silent. The violent aura vanished. She looked up at Lin Shao, her emerald-bright eyes shimmering with infinite tenderness.

“Of course not. Age explains nothing; what matters is experience and growth.” Her grip on his wrists softened until it was merely skin contact. She rotated her hands half a turn and let go.

Lin Shao felt a cool sensation on his wrists; the pain from the crushing pressure vanished instantly.

The woman tapped her right index finger lightly on the shattered stone table. A green light symbolizing restoration flickered, revealing several life-runes within the glow. When the light faded, the stone table had returned to its original, flawless state.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sat down gracefully, elegant and poised—a complete 180-degree turn from her previous self.

“Actually, I just wanted to share my perspective. In this world of cultivation, there’s no need to care too much about others’ ages,” she chuckled. “I personally suffer from some… complicated ailments.” She tapped her head. “Sometimes I become strange. Please forgive me.”

Intermittent psychosis, the term flashed through Lin Shao’s mind. He gave her a fearful look and took two steps back to put some distance between them.

“I just remembered I have some business to attend to. I won’t disturb you any longer, Miss. Mu Li, let’s head back.”

He reached out to help Mu Li up, but the woman in green beat him to it. She grabbed his hand and jerked him back to her side.

“Where are you going, sir? While I am still lucid, let me take a look at Miss Mu.”

You should take a look at your own brain first!

Lin Shao wanted to break free, but glancing at the stone table and remembering how she had pulverized it with a single palm, he feared that any struggle might trigger another “episode.” If she gave him a sudden palm strike, he’d be finished. He didn’t dare move too much.

Seeing his hesitation, the woman released him voluntarily and gave a brief, apologetic nod. She then cradled Mu Li’s wrist with her left hand and placed her right hand over it to take her pulse. Turning her head toward Lin Shao, she said:

“Miss Mu’s ‘Essence’ (Zhi) is perfectly intact, but her ‘Energy’ (Qi) and ‘Form’ (Xing) are somewhat deficient. Her blindness is likely caused by a combination of issues in both ‘Energy’ and ‘Form.’ Doctor Hai specializes in problems of ‘Essence’ but knows little of ‘Energy’ and ‘Form,’ which is why he felt helpless regarding Miss Mu.”

Lin Shao’s head spun. The terms she was using were like a doctor’s illegible handwriting—completely incomprehensible to a layman.

Is she a con artist? Using flowery language to sound mysterious? Lin Shao, a fellow practitioner of the “trade,” grew wary.

The woman tilted her head and asked Mu Li, “You brought him into the world of cultivation, yet you haven’t taught him about ‘Energy,’ ‘Essence,’ and ‘Form’?”

Mu Li replied without a trace of emotion, “He hasn’t even entered the sect yet.”

Lin Shao felt a bit awkward. Though he had learned the Nine Songs mantra from Mu Li, he hadn’t practiced for more than a few days before she went blind. He hadn’t been in the mood to cultivate since, so he hadn’t even cleared his spiritual meridians. In other words, he wasn’t even at Level 1.

“He’ll enter sooner or later, so I might as well tell him now.” The woman looked at Lin Shao and explained softly, “‘Energy,’ ‘Essence,’ and ‘Form’ are fundamental concepts every cultivator must understand. They are the objects of our cultivation. These three are independent yet influence each other; everything in existence is composed of them.”

“To put it simply: ‘Energy’ refers to power, memories, and the like. ‘Form’ refers to the physical body, destiny, etc. ‘Essence’ refers to personality, thought, and soul. This is the most common and roughest explanation, but the actual concepts are far more complex than you can imagine.”

Lin Shao roughly understood what they represented, but his logical mind had questions. “Energy contains both power and memory—what’s the connection between the two? And isn’t personality formed by various factors, including memory? Why is personality placed in ‘Essence’ while memory is separated into ‘Energy’?”

The woman explained gently, “For example, memory contains knowledge, and knowledge can be transformed into power; thus, memory and power are linked. Regarding personality and memory: personality is indeed influenced by memory, but it is not determined by it. The same ‘Essence’ receiving different memories might deviate slightly, but unless the stimulus is too extreme, it will always develop in the same direction.”

“Just like a person who is inherently kind—even if they experience different hardships, as long as the stimulus is within range, they will eventually grow into a kind person.”

Lin Shao asked, “You mean that from the moment someone is born, their ‘Essence’ decides what kind of person they are? A generous person will ultimately be generous, a murderous one will ultimately be murderous, a coward will be a coward, and a lecher will be a lecher?”

The woman nodded. “In cases where ‘Energy’ and ‘Form’ do not cause massive interference, a person’s ‘Essence’ determines their future. Of course, the three cannot be viewed in isolation; they are always influencing one another.”

Lin Shao nodded, half-understanding, gaining a bit more insight into the nature of this Great Thousand World. Suddenly remembering the main point, he followed up:

“So, you said Mu Li’s eyes were caused by a deficiency in ‘Energy’ and ‘Form.’ What exactly does that mean?”

The woman frowned slightly in thought for a moment, then shook her head with a bitter smile. “I can’t explain that to you clearly in a short time. Once you cultivate to Level 6 or above, you’ll probably understand what I mean.”

Level 6? Just how powerful is this woman?

“I’ll tell you the method to treat Miss Mu directly,” the woman said solemnly. “There are many heavenly treasures and miraculous medicines in the world that nourish ‘Energy’ and ‘Form,’ but most of them cannot directly mend this specific deficiency of hers.”

“If you want to cure Miss Mu’s eyes completely, in one go and without side effects, there is only one item in this world capable of doing so. And that is…”

At this point, the woman suddenly fell silent. She froze in place, one finger still raised in the air, motionless.

“What is it? Speak up!” Lin Shao urged impatiently. Then, he noticed her expression was changing.

Lin Shao felt a jolt in his brain—an ominous premonition.

No way. Is the intermittent psychosis kicking in again?