ATEG Chapter 94.1

Yang Cang stared at the lamplight before him, and suddenly let out a long sigh.

“I was wrong,” Yang Cang said. His face remained calm, but his eyes were tinged with sorrow.

What is the difference between a wish and a desire? 

(TL: I prev translated wish as aspiration)

Of course there is a difference. Desires must contain selfishness, while wishes can be without expectation.

A heart flame of the Mingdeng Sect can only be lit with the purest bit of compassionate wish. But for beginners who cannot yet sustain this heart flame for long, they can temporarily use the power of techniques with the aid of external objects. Just like how the old man and the Youying Gongs borrowed wooden carvings, and Liu Chuanyu borrowed candles and oil lamps.

For ordinary people who can generate 3.2 billion thoughts in the snap of a finger, mental thoughts constantly arise and cease, and wanting to constantly light this heart flame is almost impossible. That’s why there are simple methods to facilitate entry. For ordinary people, wishes and desires are often mixed together—as long as they tend toward goodness, one can cultivate this method.

Just as he could analyze the basic cultivation method of the Mingdeng Sect and adapt it according to individual aptitude into the method of carving wooden statues, perhaps someone else could also analyze and modify the Mingdeng Sect’s cultivation method, using the thoughts of desire to ignite a flame disguised as the Mingdeng Sect’s heart flame, deceiving his eyes.

Yang Cang suddenly cupped his hands together, bringing forth a lamp flame. In his palms was a pool of clear, bright lamp oil, like melted amber or translucent honey. In the center of this pool of clear lamp oil, a small flame was lit.

This flame, about the height of a finger joint, was bright but not glaring. The warm yellow light illuminated the clear lamp oil beneath the flame, every corner of the ruined temple, and the area ten zhang around the temple.

In the illuminated places, not a single shadow was born. It was as if under this light, the surroundings had become a glazed world, where nothing could block the penetrating illumination.

This was the Mingdeng Sect’s true heart flame.

Unlike most forces in this world, the Mingdeng Sect was a very loose organization. No leader, no hierarchy, no tasks or goals. The only thing they had was the master-disciple relationship of teaching and the fellow practitioner relationship of those who cultivated the Mingdeng Sect’s methods together—and these two relationships were, for the most part, equally loose within the Mingdeng Sect.

Just like Yang Cang teaching these lonely souls, after his death he had taught countless wandering spirits, and during his lifetime he had taught innumerable living beings. There were also many people who, like the old man to whom he had transmitted the method of carving wooden statues, had no further contact with him after meeting just once.

But among them there were also some who walked much deeper and farther on this path than the old man. After completing the basic introductory cultivation of the Mingdeng Sect, they began to advance toward further cultivation methods.

Among these people, some would become disciples with a closer relationship to Yang Cang. He would guide them in lighting a heart flame. As long as one could light this heart flame, they were fellow practitioners of the Mingdeng Sect.

Yang Cang had given them his trust. In his long time walking this world, he naturally had his own friends, and he had many friends. But after Yang Cang died and fell to this place, he did not contact a single person.

“It seems you’ve figured out some things,” Li Quan said.

“Yes,” Yang Cang’s lips moved, as if wanting to show a smile, but he gave up after noticing the bitterness.

“I have something very important, something I must accomplish,” he said slowly and solemnly.

“This matter is very difficult—so difficult that I can’t think of any way I could do it.”

Yang Cang’s cultivation was very good; otherwise he couldn’t have analyzed a cultivation method and modified it according to each person.

Any cultivation method requires concentration and tranquility, which is almost impossible for an ordinary person who has never cultivated to do directly. The old man was also an ordinary person, but he was a carpenter who had learned wood carving since childhood. He was most focused when carving wooden statues, so Yang Cang modified the method into a wood carving technique, allowing the old man to succeed after just one night of learning.

This was an incredible means.

Without a deep understanding of this path, it would be absolutely impossible to do. If a stubborn person forcibly did this when their ability was not yet sufficient, the modified cultivation method might have flaws that could harm people.

But Yang Cang’s didn’t—his method could even be passed on through those wooden statues to the Youying Gongs in the Wanying Gong Temple.

And if something was so difficult that even someone with Yang Cang’s cultivation level could barely accomplish it, then it was something almost everyone would give up on and believe should be given up.

“But I must accomplish this matter,” Yang Cang said.

Li Quan listened quietly, his gaze as calm as if he already knew what Yang Cang was going to say, yet without the slightest impatience. 

“So I need help from others,” Yang Cang continued.

He alone absolutely could not accomplish this matter, so he could only add the power of others. Fortunately, within the Mingdeng Sect, there were quite a few people willing to do the same thing as him.

“But I don’t trust everyone enough to entrust this matter to them,” Yang Cang paused, appearing stubborn, weary, and sad. “And when I learned of a very important piece of information and acted hastily, I only had time to think of one person.”

“When I departed, I entrusted this information to him.”

Yang Cang said no more, and the temple fell silent for a moment. Those who walked alongside him in this matter were only a handful of people. But after he died and fell to this place, he had not contacted a single person.

It wasn’t that he truly couldn’t figure it out; he just didn’t dare and was unwilling to believe it.

Yang Cang raised his eyes, looking at the cultivator across from him in dark green robes. He had not said what he wanted to do, nor what information he had obtained, but this suddenly visiting cultivator didn’t seem curious at all.

“You seem to know many things. I would like to ask you a question,” he said, looking at the flame in his palm.

“If I encounter a disguised heart flame, how can I discern it?”

“Your heart flame is already sufficient to penetrate most illusions in this world; you just haven’t tried it yet,” Li Quan said.

Yang Cang was silent for a moment, then asked, “What if that person’s illusion is one my heart flame cannot penetrate?”

“Then recite this divine title and ask him to help you illuminate it,” Li Quan said without concern for his hesitation, calmly uttering a divine title. “Dan Yao Rong Guang Che Ming True Lord.”

The moment this title was recited, in the distant northwest, a pair of eyes blazing like fire suddenly opened.

“…Dan Yao Rong Guang Che Ming True Lord?” Yang Cang hesitantly repeated, and after finishing, he suddenly remembered the origin of this title. “This is a title referring to the Flame Lord?”

The Flame Lord was one of the few powerful deities who dwelled in the mortal realm, a naturally born divine being who held dominion over all fires under heaven. Such unique deities often had many titles, and as long as they were acknowledged by the deity, they could be used to communicate with them.

But the Flame Lord’s most widely known title was not this one. A deity’s title must be related to their authority. Dan Yao Rong Guang Che Ming—this title leaned more toward great light rather than flame. Although light could be born from flame, this title took an obscure detour, and Yang Cang only realized it after thinking for a moment.

After remembering what this title referred to, Yang Cang had more doubts.

Deities do not respond to every prayer, much less a deity like the Flame Lord. But the way Li Quan spoke about this, it was as if just by reciting and requesting this way, the Flame Lord would definitely respond and help him illuminate. Could the Flame Lord have some connection with the Mingdeng Sect? But… the Mingdeng Sect doesn’t worship deities.

Moreover, it was well known that the Flame Lord held dominion over all fires under heaven, but the Mingdeng Sect’s heart flame and ordinary flames were not the same thing. Could the Flame Lord’s authority not be as simple as it appeared on the surface?

Yang Cang was deep in thought when he suddenly heard Li Quan say:

“Since you have doubts in your heart, why not try it?”

Yang Cang was silent for a moment, then actually tried it directly. He silently recited the title Dan Yao Rong Guang Che Ming True Lord in his heart. But in this long-abandoned ruined temple there was no illusion he needed to penetrate. The only thing he couldn’t see through now was…

Yang Cang’s gaze fell upon Li Quan across from him. After reciting the Flame Lord’s title, he suddenly felt a lofty gaze fall upon him, and Yang Cang couldn’t help but be startled.

Just by thinking this once, he had actually drawn the Flame Lord’s attention? He could naturally sense that this gaze was not false, but truly came from a deity of unreachable heights. And whether this gaze falling upon him could be perceived by him depended only on the deity’s single thought. The reason he was allowed to perceive it was to convey a message—I am watching.

Yang Cang was only startled for a moment before finishing his silent prayer. He felt a power descending from the unfathomable void. It was indeed the Flame Lord’s power, no different from the divine power contained in the many statues in the Flame Lord’s temples. This divine power entered the heart flame cupped in his palms, and the light in his hands suddenly blazed brightly.

This light was still not glaring, but it truly illuminated the temple until it was almost like glazed glass.

Previously, the lamp flame in Yang Cang’s palms could only penetrate through external objects, making all things unable to block his light, illuminating the range of light without a trace of shadow. Under such light, it could only be loosely called a glazed world. But under the light granted by the Flame Lord, all things truly seemed to become like glazed glass—inside and outside, above and below, all could be seen clearly.

The cracks inside the old wooden pillars, the holes dug by insects beneath the bricks and soil, the starry sky above the roof beams and tiles… Under the light, these things clearly blocked behind other objects could all be seen distinctly and clearly. And it wasn’t the clarity of ordinary eyesight—if he wanted to, he could see the most minute textures on the wood and the gaps naturally formed after losing moisture, see the night dew condensing on the moss and dripping into the soil to be absorbed by root systems, see the blood of small insects beneath the bricks flowing gurgling through their bodies…

The wandering souls in the temple were attracted by this wondrous sight and curiously poked their heads out to look, and they themselves were illuminated transparently by this light—their yin energy, ghost energy, and so on were all illuminated in minute detail. Yang Cang looked down at himself; he too had become this glazed appearance. Yang Cang looked toward Li Quan again—dark green robes, carefree appearance, looking no different from before.

But having no difference was already the greatest difference. Under this light, the temple along with the surrounding ten zhang radius, inside and outside, living and dead, had already become like a glazed world. In such circumstances, yet still appearing no different from an ordinary person—this itself was already the greatest abnormality.

Yang Cang was secretly alarmed. He himself had always been unable to see through this suddenly visiting cultivator who called himself Li Quan. But now he was borrowing the Flame Lord’s power, yet still couldn’t see through him at all. Who exactly was he?

The Flame Lord’s divine power quietly withdrew, and the surroundings returned to their original appearance. The deity’s gaze had departed, but before leaving, as if sensing Yang Cang’s doubt, faintly left behind a will: “No harm.”

Yang Cang was silent for a long while.

Heavenly Maiden Wuyou said he would encounter calamity at that time, and he truly did encounter calamity. After death, most of his cultivation was lost, leaving only the Mingdeng Sect’s heart flame intact.

He didn’t dare confirm where exactly the problem was, so he also didn’t dare contact other people. He could only follow Heavenly Maiden Wuyou’s instructions to come here and wait, but he had waited for twenty-three years.

Twenty-three years later, he had only encountered this mysteriously originated cultivator carrying a qin case. He had been in the Mingdeng Sect for a long time and had never heard of any connection between the Mingdeng Sect and the Flame Lord. But Li Quan said that calling upon the Flame Lord’s title could obtain assistance in penetrating illusions, and the Flame Lord truly descended with divine power. The Flame Lord’s power could not illuminate Li Quan’s origins, but before leaving, he specifically indicated that Li Quan’s origins were without harm.

He borrowed the Flame Lord’s power but couldn’t see anything, yet the Flame Lord himself obviously saw something, which is why he left that phrase “no harm,” but did not give further guidance.

Heavenly Maiden Wuyou’s identity was unclear; the only thing known was that she was a righteous deity without a fixed temple, skilled in destiny, who often guided people through their difficulties. Li Quan’s origins were mysterious, and he seemed to know everything about the Mingdeng Sect and Yang Cang himself. The Flame Lord resided in the northwest and was an ancient celestial god known to all.

He had obviously already fallen into a game of power, and this game was not one that someone of his cultivation level should participate in. But…

Yang Cang suddenly smiled. The thing he was determined to accomplish—wasn’t it also something that someone of his cultivation level shouldn’t participate in? But he had already resolved to participate. Previously he had looked at this matter like looking up at the sky, obscured by clouds and mist, not knowing where to go. But now he could already see clearly several figures revealed above those clouds and mist. Wasn’t this a good thing?

“Thank you for your guidance,” he sincerely thanked Li Quan, then continued to ask, “Do you know how much longer I need to wait?”

“If you figure out the remaining matters, then you need not wait,” Li Quan said.

Yang Cang became confused. “What are the remaining matters?”

“Then continue to wait,” Li Quan said, and he closed his eyes again.

…..