Chapter 940 - 664: Discussion

The seasons turned; more than ten days slipped by without a sound.

Deep within the Mountain City, a hall stood in quiet stillness, its doors shut, cutting off the clamor of the outside world.

On the desk within, a censer of sinking-wood incense was burning; wisps of smoke coiled upward, diffusing through the hall, carrying a faint, indescribable solemnity.

On either side of the hall, Ah Shu and Pu Zan stood with bowed backs yet straight spines, seeming more than twenty years younger.

The aura around them was no longer as it had been in days past; faint silvery moonlight flowed about them, like gauzy veils winding around their bodies—an unmistakable sign that true qi had entered their forms.

Under Red Wood’s protection and guidance, the two had already broken through their mortal shells, opened their spirit apertures, and gathered qi to merge with those apertures, formally stepping into the Qi Refining Realm.

The Technique they cultivated was the Moon-Worship Classic of Master Chi Song, yet the true qi required for cultivation was not the [Cold Frost of Vast Lunar Palace].

Fourth-grade true qi is the essence of heaven and earth, incomparably rare; even within a Grotto Heaven’s Treasure Vault there is only a single strand.

Ah Shu and Pu Zan naturally had no share in it; they could only settle for the next best thing, drawing sixth-grade true qi, [Moon in the Well], into their apertures.

Though it could not compare to fourth-grade true qi, it was no mixed filth either; it was sufficient to support them upon the path of Cultivation, with even a hope of Dao Foundation.

"We pay respects to Father. We have already succeeded in qi refining and have come especially to see you."

From their eldest brother’s mouth, the two had already learned the true weight of the man before them; reverence outweighed even the pull of blood and kin.

Chen Sheng sat upright in the hall, dressed in plain everyday robes, his face calm and without ripple.

He inclined his head slightly, his deep gaze slowly sweeping over the two of them, as though it could pierce all appearances and see straight into the flow of true qi within their Dantian.

After a long moment, he spoke lightly:

"The foundations of your true qi are still stable. Cultivate well, do not covet speed and rush ahead. You may withdraw."

"Yes, we shall respectfully obey Father’s instructions."

Ah Shu and Pu Zan bowed once more, then slowly backed away, closed the hall doors, turned, and departed.

The hall returned once more to silence, leaving only the smoke of the sinking-wood incense still curling upward.

In his heart, Chen Sheng murmured:

"It is time I began as well."

He slowly raised his hand; a strand of cold, cutting radiance quietly appeared, flowing silently within his palm.

It was precisely that incomparably rare fourth-grade true qi, [Cold Frost of Vast Lunar Palace].

Unlike Ah Shu and Pu Zan, he had no need for Red Wood at his side to guard and guide.

Though the Great Dao is hard to draw upon, and all his Dao attainment and Divine Techniques had flowed to waste, he still possessed formidable Martial Arts cultivation, and beyond that, a Heart Spirit that had spanned several lifetimes, endured life and death, and feared not the Five Declines.

Chen Sheng gazed at the [Cold Frost of Vast Lunar Palace] true qi in his palm and murmured in his heart:

"The Great Dao is hard to draw upon; the Three Treasures are hard to refine—only the heart is least constrained by outer things."

"If the heart were strong enough to leap free of material shackles and transcend the fetters of the Great Dao, that would be the true, great freedom."

At this thought, he shook his head slightly, with a trace of sober self-awareness:

"Regrettably, I am still far from that."

He slowly closed his eyes; the aura around him completely withdrew, his Heart Spirit sinking into his body as he began to circulate the Taiyin Aperture-Cleaving Canon, opening his spirit apertures.

...

Outside the hall.

In another elegant side courtyard, a different scene was unfolding.

"Come in with me!"

Red Wood led Ah Shu and Pu Zan into his own residence and shut the courtyard gate.

He raised a hand and pointed; eighteen Array Banners flew out from his sleeve, circling in the air for a moment before turning into golden streams of light, quietly diving into the four corners, vanishing amid grass, trees, and stone.

Once the Array was formed, the aura within and without the courtyard was completely sealed off; the outside world could no longer glimpse even a fraction of what lay within.

Red Wood swept his gaze over the two, his eyes cold, his tone extraordinarily stern as he spoke:

"From this day forward, Ah Shu and Pu Zan are dead."

"You must change your faces and names and no longer show yourselves under your original Identity."

He paused, his tone growing heavier, carrying a note of warning:

"The Taiyin Aperture-Cleaving Method must not be transmitted in so much as half a sentence. Even to the closest of kin, you must not reveal a single word, lest it attract covetous eyes."

At these words, Ah Shu’s eyes instantly flashed with ferocity; the moonlight true qi around him stirred faintly, his tone carrying a trace of savagery:

"Whoever dares covet it, I will kill whoever it is!"

After a pause, he added:

"Eldest Brother may rest assured—Ah Shu knows the weight of this. I will never spread it."

Pu Zan stood to the side, his face as calm as still water. He nodded lightly, his voice low:

"Eldest Brother speaks reason. It is not the thief you catch, but the thief who keeps you in his thoughts that you must fear. I will keep this in mind and will not dare the slightest mistake."

Red Wood nodded slightly and said in an even tone:

"Previously, in order to explore the method of opening apertures, those test subjects we procured are now of no further use. Tonight, see that they are cleanly dealt with."

The corner of Ah Shu’s mouth curled up:

"Even if Eldest Brother hadn’t said so, I was already of this mind. It should have been done long ago, to avoid night bringing long dreams."

Pu Zan remained silent as ever, merely nodding slowly: "I will handle it together with Third Brother."

The three of them each held authority over a region, long accustomed to walking amidst schemes and blades, decisive in slaughter; none were the soft-hearted sort.

At this moment, after this exchange, the three once more found that old tacit understanding of brothers of one heart.

Red Wood’s expression returned to gentleness:

"Enough. Sit."

"We brothers have not spoken heart to heart in a long time. These years, with you managing affairs at home, you have had your share of hardship."

"Without Eldest Brother fighting in the Grotto Heaven, how could we have what we do today?"

"Indeed..."

As they spoke of years past, a hint of warmth surfaced in their tones. Unawares, they began to speak of the other two siblings of the family.

Red Wood sighed softly, his voice a shade lower:

"Second Brother left early—dying suddenly in his prime, beyond the reach of medicine. At that time, I had not been cultivating long; I could not save him."

"And Fifth Sister left not even a drop of bloodline behind; she fell during tempering in the Grotto Heaven."

"In the end, Fifth Sister’s death was dragged down by me. Within the Grotto Heaven, fellow disciples vie and trample one another; plots and slaughter abound. The slightest misstep, and one’s body dies and Dao perishes."

"Later, when I attained Dao Foundation and took power into my hands, I uprooted the enemies who killed Fifth Sister. But she, in the end, could not return."

At this point, all three fell silent.

After a long while, Pu Zan finally spoke slowly:

"Eldest Brother, Zha Xi is Second Brother’s only child. These years he has ruled the Mountain City and rendered service. Should we pass this Technique to him as well?"

At this, Red Wood was silent for a long time before slowly speaking:

"In another two years, have him lay down the burdens on his shoulders, find an opportunity to stage his death and slip away, then follow me in Cultivation."

Having said this, he lifted his eyes; his gaze suddenly sharpened as it swept over Ah Shu and Pu Zan:

"But it ends with him. Zha Xi will be the last."

"I know you both have children and descendants, and your hearts cannot help but favor them, wishing to use this Technique to let them also shed their mortal shells."

"But I must remind you—this Technique is too profound. Even a Purple Mansion True Master may not possess such a Technique."

"Once word spreads, it may bring annihilation down upon us. The Transmission must be strictly controlled; with each extra person who knows, another root of calamity is planted."

He paused, then added:

"Thereafter, if we are to transmit the Technique again, it must be during childhood, before Spirit Testing of the apertures."

"We three will teach it in secret, and we may only bestow it upon the direct line of our family’s blood, with the numbers strictly controlled..."

"By then, in the eyes of outsiders, they will simply be those born with spirit apertures."

At this, Ah Shu and Pu Zan both nodded:

"We obey Eldest Brother’s instructions."