Chapter 120: A Few Words of Advice
Chapter 120: A Few Words of Advice
Tan Guanchan suspected as Two-Faced... Zheng Zhuxi looked up sharply and turned to Ding Songyan.
Her junior brother’s conjecture had received preliminary confirmation!
Ding Songyan’s heart stirred too, though not over Tan Guanchan being suspected as Two-Faced.
This conjecture was only the first step toward verifying that Tan Guanchan was a transmigrator from a prior generation.
He and Zheng Zhuxi quickly moved their eyes upward and read the earlier sections of the document.
It mainly noted that orthodox figures who had been in close contact with Tan Guanchan in his early years had all, strangely, ended up falling to the heretical path.
"Consistent with Two-Faced traits. But only in his early years?" Zheng Zhuxi murmured, her expression grave.
After becoming the Demon Sovereign, had Tan Guanchan no longer been in close contact with anyone from reputable orthodox sects or distinguished families?
Could it be that some pillars of the orthodox path had already grown a second face?
"This is also giving the Martial Prohibition Bureau a headache at the moment. Sooner or later we’ll need to ask the Dharma Realm powerhouses of your Brightnight Sect, or grandmasters with secret arts like Candle-Star Pupils, to help with identification," Yi Qincang said with a wry smile. "We can’t very well force people to show us the backs of their heads and embarrass them. This isn’t the Forbidden Palace entrance test."
The "people" he referred to were naturally those of some standing.
Ding Songyan took the opportunity to look at Marshal Yi with candleflame-lit eyes that held the hidden gleam of countless stars.
Normal. Not Two-Faced.
Once Yi Qincang had taken the document and left, Ding Songyan turned to the clearly worried Zheng Zhuxi.
"Senior Sister, worrying won’t help. Our only task right now is to train hard and keep moving forward step by step. When both our realm and our strength are where they need to be, we can truly get involved in matters like this."
Zheng Zhuxi calmed herself down and gave a solemn hum of agreement.
Then she laughed at herself.
"Knowing I shouldn’t dwell on it and actually not dwelling on it are two different things. I’ll try to only think about it every now and then."
...
By October 9th, a bone-deep chill had settled over Alpine Lake Mountain.
Ding Songyan blended in without drawing attention, changing into a black padded training outfit of cotton, and took his seat in a private chamber of Kindling Hall.
Across from him, cultivation-teaching Elder, Hu Chengzong, opened an agarwood case.
Inside lay a rather extraordinary object.
It was no larger than half a fingernail, perfectly round, and suffused a deep gold-red sheen. Its surface was carved with seven holes, and each hole was adorned with powder ground from pure white jade. Held in place by a constraint of qi, the powder floated briefly without settling.
This was an alien aperture that Ding Songyan had forged with Hu Chengzong’s assistance, using Yang Emperor Copper and Mt. Gui Jade. It bore the name "Sudden Flash."
Now, what Hu Chengzong had to do was implant the alien aperture "Sudden Flash" into the corresponding position in Ding Songyan’s body.
Once Ding Songyan rolled up his sleeve and bared his left arm, Hu Chengzong swiftly picked up a silver willow-leaf blade and let a warm, amber-tinted radiance rise over its surface.
Candleflame True Qi flowed through it with a heat more searing than open flame.
"No need for numbing powder?" Hu Chengzong asked, his voice aged and raspy.
"If I take numbing powder, how am I supposed to feel, adjust, and guide my true qi along the proper pathways?" Ding Songyan replied with a smile.
It was fine for other Brightnight Sect disciples. Their martial cultivation shared the same lineage as Hu Chengzong’s, and he could guide their true qi for them after they took the numbing powder. But sensing and adjusting was something only the founding patriarch of an aperture-forging method needed to do personally.
For Ding Songyan, all of this was work the cultivation-teaching Elder could not do in his place.
Hu Chengzong asked no more. The silver willow-leaf blade drew a cut, and the flesh and meridians of Ding Songyan’s left arm split open layer by layer to a depth of exactly half an inch.
Blood gushed and flowed, but the Presence-Absence Myriad Forms Qi held it back by force, keeping it moving only near the wound for the time being without dripping onto the white cloth spread across the table.
Hiss... The pain jolted Ding Songyan fully alert, and he nearly leapt out of his seat.
He didn’t use the Celestial Heart imprint to split his mind in two to manage himself. He simply gritted his teeth and bore it, paying close attention to every sensation.
He considered it part of tempering his character.
Using Candleflame True Qi and tweezers as aids, Hu Chengzong carefully placed the externally forged alien aperture, "Sudden Flash," into the base of the wound.
Then, with nimble hands, he used an array of instruments to connect the severed flesh and meridians to the deep-gold sphere layer by layer, threading some through the holes where the white jade powder floated.
When the Master Granduncle finished, Ding Songyan, who had cold sweat seeping from the pain, guided the blood that had been pooling at the surface into "Sudden Flash." He made it work together with the wondrous circulation of his true qi to gradually fuse with the jade powder and stain the red copper.
The Presence-Absence Myriad Forms Qi grew progressively smoother, passing in and out of the seven holes in the deep-gold sphere in winding, back-and-forth cycles. After an unknown period of time, Ding Songyan, whose eyes were closed as he quietly provided guidance, felt "Sudden Flash" slowly shift from corporeal to incorporeal, ultimately settling into a half-corporeal and half-incorporeal state. It merged with his body so completely that it could no longer be separated.
It was not merely physical; it included a connection at the level of the spirit-soul as well.
The twentieth alien aperture forged... Ding Songyan opened his eyes. Through the pain, he watched the Uncle Grandmaster suture the wound with catgut thread, and asked with curiosity, "If someone were to cut off this arm of mine, would the alien aperture become incomplete? Would my realm regress, and would entering the Dharma Realm become difficult afterward?"
Noting that Ding Songyan could still speak in a perfectly normal voice under these circumstances, Hu Chengzong gave an approving nod.
"It depends on how important the corresponding alien aperture is. If it isn’t crucial, and your own circulation is already established and your true qi already transformed, then at worst your strength takes a hit. It won’t affect subsequent aperture forging, and entering the Dharma Realm becomes harder but not hopeless. Once you reach the Grandmaster level, you can forge the missing portion of the aperture in the void outside the body.
"But if the corresponding alien aperture is critically important—like the one you just forged—then losing it due to a severed limb would cause a regression in realm, and the Dharma Realm would become forever out of reach."
So I still need to take care of myself... Ding Songyan had barely finished that thought when Hu Chengzong completed the suturing. The white cloth spread across the table bore only a small stain of bright red.
Hu Chengzong didn’t remove the cloth. He simply stuffed it into the coal-burning brazier in the chamber and burned it completely clean.
Ding Songyan moved his left arm. The wound was a minor hindrance, but bearable.
After thanking the Uncle Grandmaster and stepping out of the chamber, Ding Songyan immediately spotted Zheng Zhuxi waiting in the main hall.
She had changed into a blue-green cotton dress and put her hair up in a simple topknot. When she saw Ding Songyan emerge, her dimples appeared.
"How did it go?"
"Everything went smoothly, of course." Ding Songyan smiled in return.
Zheng Zhuxi said with a bright smile, "The cultivation-teaching Elder just told me I’ve recovered well—physically, mentally, and in character. In another seven or eight days, I’ll be ready to forge my eleventh alien aperture directly.
"Once your wound heals, we’ll head south to Qisong Prefecture."
"Better to strike while the iron is hot. Let’s pack up and set off tomorrow." Ding Songyan had long been eager to refine his Dream Sword. "This wound isn’t a serious problem. It won’t affect my right hand’s use of a sword. I can let it heal along the way, and by the time we reach Qisong Prefecture I’ll be in peak condition."
Zheng Zhuxi considered it briefly.
"All right then. I’ll go check if my mother is back and let her know."
When she and Ding Songyan had finished their duty in the prefecture city and returned to the Brightnight Sect’s mountain gate, Tao Wenshu had happened to be away handling affairs in another county under Dingjiang Prefecture’s jurisdiction. The two had yet to see her.
Without Tao Wenshu’s approval, they would have to report to Wang Zhou or Yan Jingxian within the sect. After all, this counted as a short journey out into the jianghu.
"I’ll come with you." Ding Songyan had a feeling that for something like this, whether it was his master or another grandmaster, there would be a few words of advice directed at him.
...
Myriad Ravines Courtyard.
Tao Wenshu had barely set down her pack when her daughter walked in with graceful, measured steps.
She paused, then asked with an amused smile, "Skin like ice, bones like jade. What have you eaten?"
She had known her daughter went to track down the Three Fiends of Xiao City with a few jianghu companions. Knowing Ding Songyan was with them, she hadn’t intervened or rushed to their aid. She had later learned from a carrier pigeon message that they had returned safely and recovered the ten-thousand-year luan tree flower.
"A xun grass Pill." Zheng Zhuxi recounted the adventure from beginning to end, her face animated with excitement.
She openly mentioned how Ding Songyan had helped her with the pebbles, used his unusual true qi to dissolve the pestilent poison within her, and finally carried her on his back and ran the whole way down, using nothing but sensing and judgment to leave a body every ten steps.
The only thing Zheng Zhuxi left out was that Liang Qian’s martial art was called the Mirror Lake Divine Reflection, which allowed him to hear the thoughts of others.
She also went through her growth in character and the convictions she wanted to hold onto in careful detail.
When she was about to reach the part about Tan Guanchan, Zheng Zhuxi glanced at Tao Wenshu with a puzzled look.
"Mother, why do you have that odd look in your eyes?"
Tao Wenshu, wearing a simple iron headpiece, gave a laugh with a somewhat complicated expression.
"Your growth makes me very happy.
"Now then, what do you think of Songyan?"
"Quite nice. He can be slippery sometimes, prone to exaggeration, fond of deceiving people, but he’s warm-hearted and loyal, devoted to martial arts, meticulous, quick-witted, capable of taking charge of things, interesting company, and an upright gentleman!" Zheng Zhuxi answered sweetly, her dimples showing, without a trace of embarrassment or concealment.
Tao Wenshu glanced at her daughter’s expression and murmured, "An upright gentleman, is he..."
"Yes, very proper, and never acts wrongly when no one is watching." Zheng Zhuxi put in a good word for Ding Songyan.
She then moved on to recount the matters of Heaven’s Gate Lookout Island, Mount Dique, Demon Sovereign Tan Guanchan, the Two-Faced, along with Junior Brother Ding’s conjectures and the Martial Prohibition Bureau’s response.
Tao Wenshu’s expression grew increasingly grave. When her daughter finished, she said in a low voice, "Songyan is right. For young people like you, the most important thing right now is to strengthen yourselves. The rest can wait."
Zheng Zhuxi gave a terse sound of agreement and took the opportunity to mention their plan to head south together to Qisong Prefecture.
"Just the two of you?" Tao Wenshu raised an eyebrow slightly.
Zheng Zhuxi wore an expression of complete candor.
"This trip is primarily for him to test his sword. Having others present would expose his secrets."
Tao Wenshu thought for a moment, then smiled at her daughter.
"All right. Call Songyan over. I have a few words of advice for him. You go pack your things."
Before long, Ding Songyan, who had been waiting nearby, stepped into the main room of Myriad Ravines Courtyard.
He couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy.
After all, he was setting off alone with his master’s beloved daughter on a journey through the jianghu.
After Ding Songyan had paid his respects, Tao Wenshu smiled and said, "Thanks to your care, Zhuxi was able to return safely from north of the river. You carry yourself with steadiness and maturity. Though you are only a few months older than Zhuxi, your experiences have given you a certain seasoning."
Before Ding Songyan could offer a humble reply, he heard his master ask with a smile,
"What do you think of Zhuxi?"
Ding Songyan’s scalp prickled and he nearly sucked in a sharp breath.
Master, how can you be so direct? It’s like Piercing Dawn, Northern Dipper Killing Sword...
After a few beats of thought, Ding Songyan answered seriously, "Senior Sister is candid and upright, cheerful by nature, and quick to help those in need. She is radiant like the morning glow, like the sun at its height. When I am in her presence, my darker thoughts grow much fewer, and yet I never feel constrained. On the contrary, I feel quite at ease."
Tao Wenshu gave Ding Songyan a long, searching look, then smiled.
"On this trip south, please look after her well.
"Also, I’ve looked over the resource list Uncle Master Hu submitted. One of the items, the Pinelongevity Stone, is produced in Qisong Prefecture. You can keep an eye out for some while you’re there."
"Yes, Master." Ding Songyan bowed with genuine sincerity.
He had barely stepped out of Myriad Ravines Courtyard when he saw Zheng Zhuxi push open the window of a side room and call to him with a smile.
"We set off tomorrow!"