BW Extra 5

Later (5)

When Ning Xiu awakened again, the wounds on his body had already healed by themselves. However, his spiritual power, which had clearly recovered, was once again dried up. He looked at the iron bars before him – the narrow space could only accommodate his movement alone.

A clear and pleasant voice came from all directions, heavily reverberating into his mind.

“Young man, this master has cultivated bitterly for three thousand years. Before ascending, I wish to take a disciple to pass on my mantle. I observe that you have extraordinary bones and your dao heart is not yet established. Are you willing to take this master one as your master?”

Ning Xiu looked around vigilantly, not daring to rashly spread out his divine consciousness. He silently retreated to the corner, remaining silent without responding.

After all, with Feng Zizhang’s painful experience as precedent, his big brother constantly reminded him ear to ear, warning him that when encountering such strange people who come up and say you have extraordinary bones and want to take you as a disciple, absolutely do not respond – they might just be after your life.

Ning Xiu took out his sword and fiercely struck at the iron bars before him. However, the sword broke, while the iron bars suffered no damage whatsoever.

This sword was forged from ten-thousand-year profound iron that Ning Buwei had originally taken back from Wanxuan Academy. After Ning Buwei finished forging his own natal blade, there was still material left over, so he had Chu Jun use the remaining material to forge a sword for him as well.

Yet these bars actually caused even the ten-thousand-year profound iron to break.

Ning Xiu furrowed his brow.

“You are quite vigilant indeed.” That voice laughed, “Rest assured, this master is in seclusion far away, tens of thousands of li distant. At the moment of imminent ascension, my heart stirred, and my divine consciousness happened to witness you emerging unscathed from that demon cave, which aroused my love for talent. Your entire body is covered with fate tribulations and karma – ordinary people avoid you like the plague. Moreover, your two fathers are extremely protective. Even if I were to possess someone’s body, I wouldn’t choose someone as troublesome as you.”

They say high people are taciturn, but this person was quite talkative. After explaining the reason to him, he actually continued talking to himself, “This master roughly calculated that you crossed two great fate tribulations when you were just born and at one year and nine months old respectively. In the thirteen years since, you have crossed several small fate tribulations… You just finished crossing a small fate tribulation, and in three months there will be another great fate tribulation, its danger no less than the Heaven-Piercing Blood Formation of the past. If you listen to your master’s teachings, perhaps you can suffer less.”

“I have not yet taken you as my master.” Even though what he said was completely correct, Ning Xiu still did not easily believe the other party, nor did he believe in such good fortune falling from the sky. “Please, senior, let me out.”

“If you complete your studies, naturally there will be a way out.” That person said.

“Since I have no intention of taking a master, and senior is about to ascend, why must you force me like this?” Ning Xiu asked, puzzled.

“This master owes your father Chu Jun’s master, Zhuozhi Zhenren, a favor.” That person was also patient, “When ascending, it doesn’t matter if the tribulation lightning is stronger. But if I encounter your martial ancestor in the upper realm, this master fears being nagged to death, so I’m repaying this favor in advance.”

“Then why don’t you find my father Chu Jun to repay this favor?” Ning Xiu asked back.

The other party was silent for a moment.

“It must be that my father refused you.” Ning Xiu speculated, “My father has always been cautious – you must have revealed some flaw.”

“Nonsense! This master acts righteously and sits properly – where would any flaws come from! It’s that boy Chu Jun who refuses to take two masters! He’s extremely proud and arrogant! This master most detests you little brats who have more schemes than holes in the ground!” That voice said somewhat angrily.

The little brat with more schemes than holes was already squatting in the corner, industriously sawing at the bar in the very corner. Most infuriatingly, he was actually cutting a gap with whatever unknown thing was in his hand.

“What is this thing?” That voice asked strangely, “It can actually saw through the nameless iron that this master refined.”

“My fifth brother’s scale.” Ning Xiu answered truthfully.

“Why does your fifth brother have scales?”

“He was born with them.” Ning Xiu was getting somewhat tired from sawing, so he leaned against the corner to rest, saying, “If you let me out, I’ll consider that you’ve repaid the favor, and you can ascend peacefully. How about it?”

That voice was silent for a long while, then said gloomily, “No, I’ve thought it over – I cannot be a person without righteousness. You must learn my skills whether you want to or not. In three months when your great fate tribulation arrives, if you’re injured by even a single hair, I’ll call you master.”

Ning Xiu: “…………”

What a stubborn high person.

“Senior, I think——”

“Call me master.”

“No, I think you should still consider it.” Ning Xiu continued sawing the bars.

“Listen well, your master is Haomiao Daoren Cang Gui of Zhongong Mountain. Your martial ancestor is…” That voice straightforwardly recited the entire sect genealogy, “This lineage of Zhongong Mountain has practiced the Path of Severing Attachments for generations, ultimately all becoming without desire, without seeking, without feeling, without thought, which is why our connections have dwindled to this point. This master doesn’t want Zhongong Mountain to end in my hands. From today forth, you are the sect master of Zhongong Mountain. Here are the sect master seal and mountain gate insignia – you can seek them out yourself later. I hope in the future you will open wide the gates and strengthen the sect.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a master’s jade seal and many bamboo scrolls appeared in Ning Xiu’s hands. He hurriedly said, “Wait, senior, I——”

“Your master will now transmit the mental cultivation methods to you.”

Before he finished speaking, the dragon scale in Ning Xiu’s hand broke into two pieces, and a majestic, distant voice seemed to travel from ancient times into his ears.

He immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes to concentrate, and sealed his hearing to resist this majestic voice. Who knew that voice would arise directly from his sea of consciousness. After three sentences, his spiritual platform suddenly became clear, and unknowingly he entered a meditative state. Countless cultivation methods and mental formulas flooded into his mind like a tide.

Cang Gui was immediately overjoyed, “Though entangled with fate tribulations and karma, he is indeed a good seedling for practicing the Path of Severing Attachments!”

Three months later.

The tribulation lightning lowered its flags and withdrew. After Ning Xiu circulated his spiritual power for several cycles, he slowly exhaled a breath, then opened his eyes.

The bars that he had previously been unable to open despite using all his methods broke with a sound. His fathers Ning Buwei and Chu Jun had told him that the Hinayana realm and the Body Integration stage were worlds apart. He had been vaguely unaware then, but now having stepped into the Hinayana realm, he truly experienced the profound mysteries within.

“Good! Good! Good!” Cang Gui clapped his hands and laughed three times, “My Zhongshan Palace has a successor!”

Who knew the “successor” was busy picking up the broken bar pieces from the ground and putting them into his storage ring.

“Good disciple, what are you doing?” Cang Gui asked puzzledly.

“I’m not your disciple.” Ning Xiu said in a muffled voice, “Consider these iron pieces as compensation from you – I’m taking them.”

“Taking them for what?” Cang Gui continued to be puzzled.

“To forge a natal sword.” Ning Xiu finished picking them up and stood, “I have my own dao to pursue. The Path of Severing Attachments is not what I seek. I hope senior will forgive me. As for Zhongshan Palace, I will help you find a good disciple and transmit everything I learned to him, letting him take over as sect master. Farewell!”

Hearing him say this, Cang Gui, who had been hiding in the shadows for three months, finally couldn’t contain himself and revealed his true form.

The person had silver hair and black robes, with indifferent eyes, looking down at him coldly, “What did you say?”

Ning Xiu was not afraid at all and repeated what he had just said word for word. Seeing Cang Gui’s ugly expression, he added, “I hope senior will forgive me.”

Cang Gui flicked his sleeves and snorted coldly, “Then tell me, why won’t you cultivate the Path of Severing Attachments?”

“My two fathers at home love me, my brothers and sisters are harmonious and close, my teachers at school earnestly instruct me, my good friends share the same aspirations and goals. All my thoughts and desires are here. I care about them in my heart, just as they care about me. How can I sever emotions and cut off thoughts, abandoning my fathers, brothers and sisters, and close friends?” Ning Xiu said solemnly, “My two fathers often teach me that in establishing one’s own Dao, there is no need to force what seems most suitable. Instead, one must pursue the Dao that one truly wishes to seek.”

“Then what Dao do you want to seek?” Cang Gui asked again.

“It’s not yet clear.” Ning Xiu said, “But I will find it someday.”

“Naive child.” Cang Gui said in a low voice, “You were formed from the incarnation of the Linglong Bone, your soul born from the blood, flesh, and essence of your two fathers. It takes tens of thousands of years of favorable timing, geography, and the harmony of countless years for such an exception like you to come into being.

You are connected by karma to countless people, especially those close to you, and you bear forty-nine fate tribulations. To this day you have barely passed eight of them. Every third and ninth is a great tribulation, and you’re about to face the second great tribulation.

Since you value your teachers and friends so much, you should know that severing thoughts and emotions, being without attachments or hindrances, is the best protection for them.”

Ning Xiu fell silent.

He couldn’t refute what Cang Gui said.

“Don’t you want to implicate them?” Cang Gui threw out the most powerful question.

After all, he was only a sixteen-year-old youth. Under Cang Gui’s aggressive questioning, Ning Xiu was silent for a long while, speechless.

Cang Gui thought his goal was achieved and was about to speak again, when unexpectedly Ning Xiu raised his head with a firm tone. “So-called fate tribulations are merely Heaven’s decree. Those who cultivate the Dao originally go against heaven. If we fear this and that, what cultivation is there to speak of?

I believe in fate, but that doesn’t mean I accept it. Since I was born into this world, there is a thread of hope. I will fight for the dao I fight for, seek the life I seek. I will risk my life to protect my teachers and friends. If I sever karmic relationships and never see each other again from now on, it goes against both their and my wishes, violating our original hearts and running counter to the beginning of cultivation. What’s the point?”

These words actually made Cang Gui’s solid dao heart waver for an instant.

It wasn’t these words themselves – Cang Gui had heard this kind of argument if not eight thousand times then ten thousand times. It really wasn’t enough to shake his dao heart.

What truly made his dao heart waver was Ning Xiu’s unwavering gaze and the countless karmic protections surrounding him.

There truly were people who disregarded their lives for him, ignored life and death, yet allowed him to travel and adventure unrestrained, seeking his own piece of heaven and earth.

In comparison, his restrictive dao seemed so self-righteous.

Ning Xiu properly performed a junior’s bow to him and continued forward, bypassing him.

Cang Gui sighed deeply. “So be it, so be it! This master wants to see what dao you ultimately seek!”

Ning Xiu, traveling at full speed, didn’t notice at all that a strand of divine consciousness was following him. The moment his spiritual power recovered, his divine consciousness spread out and found traces of Xie Chang’an and the others. He flew toward them impatiently.

“Brother Chang’an! Brother Changming!”

Xie Chang’an, who had been searching frantically, suddenly looked up to see Ning Xiu jumping down from his flying sword.

He hurriedly reached out to catch him, staggering back a step.

“Xiao Shan! Where have you been all this time!” Xie Changming came up and gave him a slap on the back of the head.

Ge Yunyang and Ge Yunxi also hurried forward.

“It’s a long story.” Seeing them, Ning Xiu’s heart finally settled, and he smiled, “I’ll tell you slowly.”

Xie Chang’an kept a stern face without speaking. After checking him up and down and confirming he wasn’t injured, he turned and walked away.

“Brother Chang’an!” Ning Xiu was stunned and hurriedly chased after him.

The result was a thorough scolding.

“Ning Shan, you’ve really grown capable, haven’t you? That golden eagle is a Heaven-rank demon beast. You saving Shen Jingxue was understandable, but you directly crushed the positioning talisman I gave you. Your cultivation may be high, but was that the time to play hero? What if something happened to you? How would I explain to your father and Dean Hao?!”

Xie Chang’an was clearly furious. In his anger, he actually raised his hand to hit him.

“Brother!”

“Brother Chang’an!”

Xie Changming and Ge Yunxi hurried to stop him, but couldn’t.

Ning Xiu stood in place, not daring to dodge.

But the palm stopped in mid-air by itself. Xie Chang’an clenched his fist, “I’m being nosy! I shouldn’t have meddled in your affairs!”

In his rage, Xie Chang’an flicked his sleeves and left.

Ning Xiu stood frozen in place, unable to recover for a long time.

The nearby Xie Changming and the other two obviously hadn’t seen Xie Chang’an get so angry before. Like three startled little quails, they stood frozen in place with Ning Xiu, not daring to move.

Seeing Xie Chang’an fly away on his sword, Ning Xiu was the first to recover, jumped on his flying sword, and chased after him.

“Brother Chang’an!”

Xie Changming and the others suddenly came to their senses and followed in pursuit.