"Interference in someone's tribulation in good faith isn't exactly a crime. But taking on the brunt of tribulation strikes yourself at that? That's when you get yourself inseparably attached to the tribulation of the other person. That's when you mutate along the path of your partner, not your own road. That's when you fall under the same condition, the same rules as your partner does."

Kong Ye's voice was akin to thunderclaps stinging his eardrums.

"Your friend Shangguang Ce was quite possibly under an artificial tribulation constructed by the mechanisms of this tournament....or it might actually have been a genuine tribulation. It isn't rare for tribulations to strike a cultivator when he's comprehending a sacrilegious scripture disapproved of by the Heavenly Dao. Him being a ghost cultivator definitely implies a possibility of this sort.

Your interference and share of his trial must have delegated part of his enlightenment to you, a harsh rule of nature."

Han Xuhan contemplated his memories during that incident. The sudden avalanche of intrusive thoughts, the uncontrollable flow of urges inside his own mind....the symptoms did match what he experienced in his original enlightenment, although not by a very large degree.

"The demonic cultivators who devised this method took advantage of this rule of nature and went around looking for unsuspecting cultivators undergoing tribulations. They interfered while shouting righteously that the cultivators under the tribulations needed immediate assistance. They stole the cultivators' thunder, both literally and figuratively. Delegating a major portion of the tribulation's burden on their poor targets, they enjoyed the fruit of countless minor enlightenment sessions, good fortunes that you can receive only by surviving the strikes of the heavens."

Han Xuhan listened attentively. It was a very interesting concept. No wonder these aspects and incidents regarding heavenly tribulations were never taught in their regular lessons from the elders!

Young disciples in harsh situations were very much likely to try this method out as a last-ditch effort to overcome their difficulties. The temptation of rapid improvements in cultivation without the necessary hard work, resources and luck was too intense to ignore.

"Judging by your situation, what you received must have been a very tiny portion of the enlightenment. I can't sense much of an improvement in your cultivation or your dao heart compared to the last time I saw you," Kong Ye finished speaking, his eyes fixated on an area above Han Xuhan's head.

"That reminds me, master, what is the difference between an advancement made through breakthrough and an advancement made through enlightenment?" He asked, addressing the issue he was most concerned about.

Kong Ye continued to gaze vacantly at empty space.

Han Xuhan was familiar with this disconcerting habit of his teacher. Silently, he awaited for Kong Ye to break out of his daze.

A few seconds later, Kong Ye's gaze refocused on him. "My apologies, disciple, I was busy examining your foundation. Did you say something?"

Han Xuhan patiently repeated himself.

Kong Ye took a moment to organize his answer and began explaining.

"The most obvious one is that once you make a breakthrough in cultivation, it comes purely from your own efforts, through your interaction with qi and through the instructions of your cultivation manual. It's a methodical advancement where you can classify and categorize your enhancements, be it physical or spiritual.

But it also limits you, as you can not break past a layer unless you've fulfilled the condition in your manual; in your case, that is creating new minions.

"But enlightenments are a different case. You can't predict when it will happen, or know why it may happen before experiencing it yourself. The enhancement it gives your cultivation is not as direct as a breakthrough. It will neither strengthen your physique, nor your soul, nor even your extraphysical spiritual form. It's not a path meant to be categorized, or advanced methodically. The only aspect that you can measure perhaps is the improvement in talent."

Han Xuhan gasped.

"Enlightenments can improve talent? How do I tell if my talent has improved? Can you test it out for me, master?"

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Seeing his eager eyes, Kong Ye sighed gloomily.

"It's not that easy to make a qualitative leap, disciple. I have already checked your improvements. Your talent hasn't improved enough to make that leap. If you undergo a couple more enlightenments, I suppose there might be a noticeable change."

Han Xuhan was dumbfounded. A couple more? Enlightenments aren't vegetables, dammit! There was no telling when or where he'd experience another enlightenment!

Seeing his disheartened expression, Kong Ye hurriedly continued with the rest of the explanation.

"So how do you make sense of the other enhancements provided by enlightenments? The answer is very simple, you don't, at least not when you're in low realms of cultivation like physique transformation and soul reformation. Enlightenments aren't of much use to cultivators at this level...unless your supreme talent guides you to have enlightenment on very minor issues, like how to move your sword, how to throw a javelin, how to master a martial technique...and even how to see things."

Blankly, Han Xuhan pointed out the most problematic part of his teacher's explanation. "Low realms of cultivation like physique transformation and soul reformation? Soul reformation is a low realm to you?"

Kong Ye rubbed his nose, seemingly caught off guard.

"You're focusing on the wrong thing here. What I'm trying to tell you is that don't be so obsessed with your enlightenments. You're not as talented as Mu Ran or Yuen Zhou. You might see them displaying martial techniques that overshadow their own realms, carrying hints of the heavenly way, techniques integrated with nature itself. Your enlightenments don't fall into that type. When you reach a sufficient level of cultivation in future, you'll actually appreciate this fact."

"WHEN I reach a sufficiently high real, huh..." Han Xuhan muttered despondently, disappointed. He had expected something more exciting than this. But oh well...

"Now let's talk about the less obvious effects of YOUR enlightenments," Kong Ye said, startling him out of his misery trip.

"From what I have sensed by examining your foundation, the major and righteous enlightenment tweaked your dao heart by a small margin. An imperfection hidden deep inside your heart seems to have been eradicated through it."

The contents of Kong Ye's words were not totally surprising to Han Xuhan. What impressed him more was the fact that this teacher of his could glean so much information by just looking at him for a couple of minutes.

He himself had guessed it before, and Kong Ye only confirmed his theory. His inferiority complex, which he had disguised by adopting the artificial mindset of someone superior, was a weakness of his character.

It had given birth to many excruciating hours of jealousy, longing, and bitterness in his heart during his stay at the Crimson Snow Sect.

Since his first enlightenment, his heart felt lighter, more cheerful, and less pressed. During his tour of the archipelago, those negative emotions had rarely emerged in his mind.

"As for your second, minor enlightenment, the descriptions of your thoughts, my observations, combined with the fact that it was the tribulation of a ghost cultivator, tells me that it brought you two minor fortunes.

The first one is related to the lightning strikes you received alongside Shangguang Ce. It enhanced an aspect of your soul by a tiny degree. In future, if you ever encounter vengeful ghosts, you can trust your soul to survive an attack or two, giving you a small leeway to escape."

Han Xuhan teared up suddenly, recalling the painful memory of being burnt in that trial. At least it hadn't been in vain!

"Secondly, the enlightenment itself affected your dao heart in a way I would not call positive, but nevertheless, it was both beneficial and interesting."

"Negative effects that are beneficial?" Han Xuhan's eyebrows rose. "This disciple doesn't quite understand, teacher."

"To understand this, you must have a firm grasp of the concept of dao heart. You should have accumulated some knowledge of what a dao heart is by now, yes? Information on this concept is available in the archives. The elders teaching you regularly should have also explained the general outline by now."

Han Xuhan nodded and tried to recall the information.

"The dao heart is an ethereal representation of our comprehension of...anything in general. A dao heart is an amalgamated, agglutinated mass of fleeting emotions, sudden understanding of something that is in line with the universal laws, and the evolution of our own selves throughout our lives. Anyone with a dao foundation has a minimum presence of a dao heart associated with his existence."

"Splendidly spoken! Right out of emperor Sheng's scrolls, eh?" clapping his palms together, Kong Ye pointed at Xuhan with a wide smile.

"That's enough to give you a basic explanation of the mutation of your dao heart.

Ghost cultivators are innately a conflicting faction to us. Their way of life, way of cultivation, and way of seeing things are fundamentally different. Let's put it this way, what type of personality do you think you have? What kind of cultivator are you? The brash, passionate, and adventurous type like your martial brother Mu Ran? Or the silent, hardworking, secretive cultivator like your martial sister Zhou? Or the kindhearted, straightforward, and brutish sort like Xiao Wu? You aren't any of these types, are you?"

Han Xuhan shook his head. "I'd say I'm more of the cautious sort who loves his life more than anything else."

"Then why did you suddenly become so adventurous? It all started when your fear of death was killed in Shangguang Ce's tribulation!"

Han Xuhan's horror overturned his surprise. He had noticed the issue, but he hadn't connected the dots!

"You see where I'm getting with this, disciple? Shangguang Ce is a ghost cultivator seeped in the aura of death and decay, violating the line between the living and the dead! You, a cultivator who loves life and safety, nearly gave up on your attachment to life after spending one moment inside his tribulation! It turned you reckless, brash and fearless even when facing certain death!"

"....Fuck, no wonder I began flirting with Hong Wei."

"...One of the major 'blacksmiths' of one's dao heart is enlightenment! It simply changes you, enhances you, and mutates your very being. So when you partook in Shangguang Ce's tribulation, the portion of his enlightenment opportune that you robbed has guided your dao heart in a volatile, conflicting direction. I know not what lies at the end of that road, but I am looking forward to heaven's attitude on your path when you attempt to transcend to the soul reformation realm. Hohoho, it'll be such an interesting phenomenon!"

Han Xuhan took a few seconds to digest the revelation. But some questions rose in his heart as soon as he tried to connect the dots. He unearthed some inconsistencies that sang a different tune.

"Teacher, why do the tribulations created for the trials of this tournament have the ability to give enlightenment opportunities to disciples? Shangguang Ce said that he was just undergoing a trial where he needed to be in deep meditation to remain spiritually unscathed."

"Shangguang Ce lied, that much I can assure you. It's the opposite actually. Your enlightenment is the factor that attracts tribulations in the form of trials here." Kong Ye said with a wink. "As for the rest of the inconsistencies, I must express my inability to answer them, because, THAT. GOES. AGAINST. THE. RULES."

Han Xuhan blinked in surprise. An issue of this caliber was a part of the tournament too? They were talking about direct violation of universal laws here!

Something smelled fishy.