ATEG Chapter 110.2

“There is no need to think too much of it,” Chang Andu consoled him. “As you yourself said, you truly had no choice in this matter. You could hardly stand by and watch the Luo Sect conduct blood sacrifices across city after city, watching so many people die. You made the only choice available to you in that situation.”

Even if the Luo Sect’s existence could have served to restrain the Xuanqing Sect, such a means of restraint was one that could never have been accepted.

The tautness that had gripped Li Shi’s face eased somewhat beneath Chang Andu’s reassurance.

Chang Andu then shifted to another topic. “Since Mister Li happens to be here as well, and you two have had some time to interact — what do you make of him?”

Li Shi could not help but smile.

Chang Andu had spoken too delicately. He was a man who remembered kindness — toward Mister Li, who had once saved his life, he felt nothing but gratitude. This question was hardly truly asking what Li Shi thought of Mister Li. He was building a bridge between them.

The reason Chang Andu had asked so obliquely was likely because of Li Shi’s wariness. He had just fallen into misgivings about the Xuanqing Sect not long ago; this was a moment when his suspicions ran deep, and without realizing it, he had grown guarded against this Mister Li who had appeared so suddenly and was still unfamiliar. It was precisely because Chang Andu had sensed this layer of guardedness that he chose not to advise Li Shi directly, but first asked, in roundabout fashion, how Li Shi perceived Mister Li.

Regardless of the circumstances, being remembered by a friend is always a warming thing. Li Shi smiled warmly and said, “There is nothing about me that anyone would wish to scheme for. If I could obtain the assistance of a cultivator of his caliber, that would naturally be very welcome.”

Before that, however, he still needed to communicate with his ancestor. The existence of the Li Clan ancestor was a secret. Since the day the Li Clan members had left Li Manor in the Daqing Mountain range, this ancestor had been abiding within the jade pendant, drifting with him from place to place. Counting from the generation that had departed Li Manor, Li Shi’s was now the tenth. The sorrow embedded in the name his father had given him was beyond words. The tenth generation of the Li Clan — and only one remained. This was something that had already been discernible since his father’s generation. Li Shi — the sole one of the tenth generation. Yet as to the inexplicable decline of the Li Clan, they had still been unable to obtain any clues. Ten generations of wandering — and the path back to their ancestral lands remained as distant as ever.

Li Shi returned to his room. The three sticks of incense had already burned out. He spoke his thoughts to the jade pendant, then asked, “What is your view of Mister Li Quan?”

Though the ancestor now had only his soul dwelling within the jade pendant, his years of experience and discernment were certainly greater than his own. Moreover, many people, when facing Li Shi — a man without cultivation — would lower their guard. What they could not perceive was the ancestor concealed within the jade pendant, and so they were more apt to reveal more of themselves before the ancestor’s eyes.

The aged voice of the Li Clan ancestor ruminated for a moment before emerging from the jade pendant. “He has not made a move. What I can discern is limited — only that he appears to be a cultivator who practices the Way of Wind, and that his cultivation is not shallow.”

Cultivation not shallow — this was the highest appraisal the ancestor had given of anyone Li Shi had come into contact with. Li Shi could not help but feel a stirring of hope. “Do you think he can resolve our problem?”

“In the days before the Li Clan fell into decline, great cultivators of renown were encountered in abundance — and within the clan itself there was no shortage of figures of extraordinary talent and profound cultivation. Yet the Li Clan still sank to its present state. You place your hope in a cultivator of merely ‘not shallow’ cultivation? Hmph!” the ancestor said without the slightest restraint.

Li Shi could not but feel somewhat embarrassed. Unable to cultivate, and with only the ancestor’s assistance, the circles he moved in were quite limited — his breadth of vision was indeed narrow. The ancestor had lived through the Li Clan’s most flourishing era. That Li Shi had come to be like this… it was entirely natural that the ancestor would think little of it.

Li Shi quickly steadied his composure and sighed. “Whatever the case, I will still go and make the attempt.”

To this the ancestor raised no objection — trying more options was always preferable. But the ancestor then put forward a different line of thought. “Rather than placing your hope in him, it would be better to seek more contact with the Xuanqing Sect.”

Li Shi could not help but be taken aback.

“You listened to what that female ghost said, and because of that you developed a knot of aversion toward the Xuanqing Sect — didn’t you?” the ancestor said evenly. “But in your present situation, the Xuanqing Sect is your only opportunity to come into contact with cultivators who have the capability to resolve your problem. The greater the Xuanqing Sect’s power and the deeper the waters behind it, the more profound the cultivators behind it must be. Such cultivators are people you would have almost no chance of encountering under ordinary circumstances. Within the Xuanqing Sect, there is an organization — at least you would have the opportunity, through its internal channels, to come into contact with figures in the upper echelons.”

Li Shi fell silent. He had to admit that the ancestor was right. It might still be very difficult — but at least within the Xuanqing Sect, there was still a chance. He was not the kind of person who saw the world in pure black and white. He acknowledged the grey that existed in the world. Yet if the Xuanqing Sect was not merely grey — if what they plotted was something vaster and more terrible, if he were to be drawn into such an undertaking and made to become a part of it, striving toward it…

“What is more, you already have a very favorable opening at hand — do not let a knot of misgiving that you cannot even be sure of cause you to waste it. No more reckless ventures,” the ancestor continued. “The Li Clan… has only you left.”

Whatever thousand words Li Shi might have wished to say, they yielded at last before the ancestor’s final sentence.

The Li Clan had only him left. Though he did not believe that his own existence was therefore more precious than that of others, this represented the efforts and hopes of generations of the Li Clan — and there was the ancestor, who had watched over all of it… How could he give up so easily?

He swallowed the words he had been about to speak, bowed his head, and said, “I will go. And if this attempt also fails, I will go to… approach the Xuanqing Sect.”

Li Shi placed the jade pendant inside his collar and went, with Chang Andu’s introduction as a bridge, to meet Mister Li.

Chang Andu could tell his spirits were low, but Li Shi only shook his head. He would go and describe his predicament to Mister Li, and ask for his help. The outcome would be one of two things: either this Mister Li knew of a way to resolve the curse the Li Clan had suffered, and he would have no further need to seek out the Xuanqing Sect — or this Mister Li would be like so many others the Li Clan had approached and beseeched in the past, equally powerless to help, and he would set out upon a path he was not particularly fond of. Perhaps the Li Clan would end with his generation; perhaps there would be descendants of his who, guided by the ancestor, would continue this helpless and unavoidable fate.

He had already made up his mind.

But Mister Li gave him a reaction that he had not anticipated.

When Li Shi went to find him, Mister Li was idly turning the pages of a book in his hand. His gaze shifted from the pages to Li Shi, as though it could see through him from inside to out — yet unexpectedly, it did not provoke any sense of discomfort.

After listening to his account, Li Chi asked, “Is this everything you know?”

Li Shi’s heart gave a startled lurch. He answered, “Yes.”

“Then let the one who knows more speak with me,” Li Chi said, closing the book scroll in his hand, that expression of his — the one Li Shi had seen before, half-smile and half-unreadable — reappearing on his face.

This time Li Shi was genuinely stunned. He was not certain whether Mister Li was referring to the ancestor, but among all the people he had come into contact with in the past, not a single one had ever perceived the ancestor’s existence.

Yet when Li Chi’s gaze fell, unmistakably, upon his chest — upon the jade pendant concealed beneath his clothing — both Li Shi and the ancestor were certain of the answer.

“Let us speak then,” the voice of the Li Clan ancestor issued from the jade pendant. “This one… must have visited the ancestral lands.”

The ancestral lands? Thoughts flew rapidly through Li Shi’s mind. From his forebears, he had heard of the Li Clan’s former ancestral lands — in Lu Kingdom, on one of the outlying ranges of the Daqing Mountain range. Returning to the ancestral lands was likewise a wish that had been carried from generation to generation. But without resolving the matter of the Li Clan’s curse, returning would be meaningless. If Mister Li had come from the ancestral lands — if…

“You may step outside,” the ancestor’s voice cut through his thoughts.

Li Shi was involuntarily startled. He hesitated for a moment, but the ancestor’s voice brooked no refusal, and he had no choice but to leave the jade pendant in the room. As he withdrew, his gaze swept across the book scroll in Mister Li’s hand. The four characters on its cover appeared to read… Examination of Mountain and Wilderness Oddities?

……

An outlying range of the Daqing Mountain range. Within Li Manor.

An unexpected guest had arrived.

Hou Li received this elder who had come from within Diancang Mountain. Even he — rare among those in the manor for his composure — could not suppress the excitement stirring within his heart.

This guest who sat across from him, dressed in a short robe of dark red… was none other than the venerable Fengchuan elder from Diancang Mountain! That was very nearly the most ancient in years of any among the spirit-beings, who seldom left Diancang Mountain.

No wonder the High God had said he might seek guidance from this elder. The cultivation path of spirit-beings is arduous, and the difficulties they face are unlike those of most other cultivating beings. If he could receive guidance from an elder who was likewise a spirit-being, that would be a stroke of immense fortune. Though Hou Li had done his utmost to contain his excitement, it was still far too apparent in Fengchuan’s eyes.

Fengchuan smiled and shook his head slightly. “That you, at your current age, have already taken this step of perceiving through your selfconfusion barriers and giving rise to your own self — that is already very good.”

“It is entirely thanks to the High God’s illumination,” Hou Li replied with much humility, though the eyes with which he looked at Fengchuan were bright and glistening.

Elder Fengchuan was not the least bit aloof or imposing — there was no overbearing aura about him. He was like a warm and amiable elder of one’s own household. Hou Li could not resist requesting his guidance.

Fengchuan answered his questions, and then grew curious as to how Hou Li had taken this step of breaking through the barrier of self-confusion. This was the most arduous threshold in the spirit-being cultivation path. The majority of spirit-beings never managed to break through this layer even before they ceased to exist. Given that this barrier could be so difficult to surmount even when confronting the great pass of life and death, one could appreciate how formidable this layer of obstruction truly was. If the method by which Hou Li had attained his understanding could be adapted for use by other spirit-beings, it would undoubtedly be welcome news for the spirit-beings of the world who cultivated under such difficult circumstances.

Hou Li then described in detail how he had taken this step — but what he was able to recount was only the outer circumstances. As for the inner realm, once broken through, it was broken through. If it could not be broken through, no amount of talking would avail. This was something that could not be conveyed through words.

Fengchuan naturally also understood this principle and did not press him. After listening to Hou Li’s account, he could not help but sigh. “This kind of illumination, when stated plainly, seems simple — just a matter of a few words. But for it to take effect is not so easily achieved. Your comprehension is excellent, and the timing of the prompting was also well-chosen. However, this method is suited only to you.”

Even if the former Fengchuan himself or Gengheng had been in this very situation and received the same prompting, they would most likely not have been able to use it to break through. Hou Li was a household-spirit whose original form had always faced all manner of repair and patching-up — these taken-for-granted habits had formed a layer of obstruction uniquely belonging to him, and they were also what enabled him to draw deeper understanding from Li Chi’s prompting.

Gengheng was a sword-spirit, and Fengchuan’s original form was a piece of Lihou stone. For the particular layer of prompting Hou Li had experienced, it would be difficult for the two of them to feel any profound resonance.

Fengchuan drifted into thought for a moment, then shook his head with a rueful smile. “It is I who became attached to the idea. If cultivation had methods that could simply be borrowed and applied, how could it ever lead to the Great Dao?”

He answered a few more of Hou Li’s questions, and the two also spoke of Li Chi, the High God who was sheltering this place.

Fengchuan would naturally be curious about Li Chi — this was a deity whose word could move the Flame Lord to send them to deliver something. Yet prior to this, he had never heard of this deity’s existence. This deity’s origins, his relationship with the Flame Lord, why he had withdrawn to dwell in this place, the changes that were to arise in the earth-veins… all of these kindled Fengchuan’s curiosity.

This did not amount to excessive prying on his part. The Flame Lord and this deity were of one tier; Fengchuan and Gengheng were of another tier; Hou Li was yet another tier below. The gap in tier between Hou Li and this deity was too vast — things that should not be spoken of, Hou Li would not know. And the things Hou Li did know, there was nothing that could not be said.

However, because of the limits of his vantage, though what Fengchuan learned from Hou Li’s words amounted only to scattered fragments at the periphery, he was able to perceive much deeper meanings within them — such as the deity’s intervention when confronting the Great Calamity and the Locust King…

Though Fengchuan had perceived a great deal, he also clearly understood which things ought not to be relayed to Hou Li. He only formed, within his own mind, a deeper understanding of this deity’s character. Upon returning, these matters would need to be communicated to Diancang Mountain as well. Though the Flame Lord had not made anything explicit, he had already seen clearly through the course of this visit what much of it meant. In this strange Great Calamity, numerous stratagems and contests were playing out, and Diancang Mountain too needed to be prepared to do what it ought to do.

Fengchuan set aside these thoughts from his mind and returned his attention to the present. His gaze, carrying a meaningful depth, fell upon Hou Li, and he said, “The right path of cultivation lies in one’s own heart — there is no room for laziness, and no road already trodden smooth by those who came before. Every cultivator’s heart is different; every person’s path can only be walked by themselves.”

Hou Li was taken aback, understanding something of what Fengchuan implied. Ever since the High God Li Chi had arrived, all of them had come to rely on the High God rather too much — relying on the High God’s protection through the Great Calamity, relying on the High God’s guidance in their cultivation… This was not to say such reliance was wrong. When still small and weak, it could help one avoid many a wrong turn or a crooked path followed to its dead end. But if the habit of relying on another became permanent, they would never amount to anything.

His thoughts turned to Ding Qin, and unexpectedly a sense of shame rose unbidden within his heart.

While Hou Li was reflecting inwardly, Fengchuan’s gaze suddenly turned toward the distance. Whatever he had perceived, his expression became solemn and grave.

Hou Li followed his gaze, but saw nothing. Fengchuan suddenly turned his hand over; in his palm appeared two pieces of translucent, mellow-yellow jade, which — before Hou Li could see them clearly — dropped down and, the moment they touched the ground, sank into the earth and vanished.

At that same moment, the great earth suddenly shook.

Hou Li’s expression filled with astonishment. Though he had not seen clearly, and had not recognized what those two pieces of yellow jade were, this was the site of his original form, and his roots were loosely connected to this branch range of the Daqing Mountain range — and so he had felt it. Though only for an instant, that vigorous and unyielding force of the great earth… that level of power, he had only ever sensed in the High God Li Chi!

“The mission of this journey can be considered complete,” Fengchuan exhaled a long breath.

“What was that?” Hou Li could not help but ask.

He had known only that Fengchuan was the guest he was to receive, and that his coming must have had a purpose connected to the High God Li Chi. But since Fengchuan had never raised the matter, he had not liked to press further. Only now did he learn that Fengchuan’s reason for coming here must have been to deliver these two pieces of yellow jade. Something of that nature… truly did require a cultivator of Fengchuan’s level to escort.

“That is the power of the local earth, and it is also the momentum of the earth’s spine,” Fengchuan said, his gaze still fixed upon that direction, speaking in a faraway, contemplative murmur. “My mission is already complete — but witnessing a feat such as this, how could I bear not to stay and watch?”

……

Shezhou City.

Li Chi idly tapped his palm with the book scroll in his hand, his gaze resting on the jade pendant, that expression of half-smile and utter inscrutability of his growing ever more difficult to read.

The Li Clan ancestor was silent for a long while, and in the end could not restrain himself from speaking first, “Is it an old friend who is present? I have now fallen to this state — and yet you have gone to such lengths to seek me out. What is it that you intend?”

Li Chi gave a soft laugh, his voice light and unhurried, “Qianhao Sanren — when you were guiding the Li Clan to make offerings to me, what was it that you intended?”

Qianhao Sanren seemed to be struck heavily by this gentle question, and broke into wild, frenzied cries. “It is you? Impossible! How could it possibly be you?!”

But he had already seen those eyes — deep and fathomless, like a dark abyss.

Within those eyes, he saw the karmic threads that coiled deeply around his own being; he saw the heavy, unbearable weight of karmic malice and sin.

From them, he received his confirmation, and could not help but cry out in anguish:

“It is you… it is You… ah!”

Yet the owner of those eyes seemed utterly insensible to his suffering. Within that bottomless abyss flowed only a chill that made him tremble, and those sharply defined lips parted slightly, uttering words that made him tremble even more, spoken with soft gentleness:

“There are many things you should have to account to me.”

“My — Destiny-Recording Brush Spirit.”