Chapter 93 Old Man
“Three of them are back?”
Zhong Yue was stunned, he was perplexed, Jun Sixie said that one of the three betrayed her and sold her out to the monsters, and yet, the rest of the three of them had returned safely – it seems like the traitor is still maintaining his facade in front of the other two.
He must’ve been afraid of the suspicions he would attract if something were to happen to too many of them at once, but he didn’t foresee that Senior Martial Sister Jun was still alive!
Not long later, the four young ladies went on their own ways, before they left, they invited Zhong Yue over to visit their cave dwellings, Zhong Yue accepted their offer and said that he would visit them in the future. He stood up and sent them to the door, by which time, the Qi Practitioners in front of his cave dwellings that were beaten by him had all left.
He did not attack them with intent to kill; the Qi Practitioners were only beaten to unconsciousness, there were no heavy injuries.
After this incident, the other inner hall Qi Practitioners would have some understanding of his prowess and this would hopefully become a deterrent to any further provocation on their part in the future.
The Swords Gate Eight Halls, they form a complete system; all eight halls impart the disciples with their own abstruse quintessences, perhaps I can learn and overcome my shortcomings.
Zhong Yue settled his mind and thought, But my cultivation has increased too quickly, I know nothing about the level of Spirit Nurture. I wonder if there will be any hidden dangers left behind such a rapid advancement in levels. Xin Huo is still slumbering, he can’t help me now … Oh yes, I can look for Elder Pu, he can surely point a way out for me for his vast knowledge!
Swords Gate upper house, Zhong Yue arrived back at this once familiar place to find Elder Pu in the middle of teaching a class, He stood outside and waited for the class to end. Not long later, the old man stopped the teachings and walked out of the teaching room. Upon seeing Zhong Yue, he smiled and said, “Junior Martial Brother Zhong is now a Qi Practitioner, how are you so free to come to the upper house? You must be at the level of Spirit Nurturing right? A Spirit Nurturing Qi Practitioner is still not fit to impart his knowledge to the disciples, you would have to achieve the state of [Spirit Soul as One] and advance to the level of Rebirth. Only then can you come to the upper house and teach the disciples.”
Zhong Yue smiled and said, “Senior martial brother, I’ve already cultivated to the Rebirth stage, but I have a limited understanding regarding the level of Spirit Nurturing, I am afraid that my speed in cultivation could have left some latent dangers, that is why I am here to seek for Elder Pu’s guidance.”
“Rebirth?”
Elder Pu was shocked and exclaimed out involuntarily, “You’ve advanced to the level of Rebirth so quickly? How is it possible? Show me your atman, let me have a look!”
Zhong Yue then displayed his Great Sun Golden Crow, although his atman was small, it was still filled with immense strength and power.
“The Great Sun Golden Crow….”
Elder Pu gazed deeply at him, “You didn’t manifest the Sword Spirit in the Ethereal Palace, but instead, you manifested the spirit of the Great Sun Golden Crow?”
Zhong Yue hesitated for a second, then Elder Pu laughed and said, “I know you have your secrets, it’s fine if you’d rather not say. The spirit of the Great Sun Golden Crow – only a Gold Innate Spirit Body holder could have harvested it. With your vigorous accumulation of prowess strength, it is possible for you to bypass the level of Spirit Nurturing to advance to the Rebirth. As for whether it would leave behind any hidden danger, that is not something I can tell … Wait, I might just know a person that may be able to answer your question.”
Zhong Yue was overjoyed, he quickly bowed and expressed his gratitude to Elder Pu.
Elder Pu smiled and said, “But I don’t know if that person would be willing to help you, I will need to ask. My disciples are practicing the 【Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill】, I have just explained to them the totem permutations, but I don’t have the time to delve into the quintessence of the technique yet, and it would be a hindrance to their progress if I were to leave. So, I will have you substitute in my place, while I head over and ask for that person’s opinion. Deal?”
Zhong Yue was stunned, he said diffidently, “Am I fit to teach disciples?”
“You are already a Rebirth Qi Practitioner, no harm giving it a try.”
Zhong Yue locked his brows as he entered the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion and sat on Elder Pu’s spot, he glanced at the few dozens of upper house disciples below him while his heart palpitated in anxiousness.
The upper house disciples below the stage were all startled, their tongues were wagging, curiously discussing about the identity of the young man on the stage that looked about the same age as themselves.
Cold sweat rushed out of Zhong Yue’s forehead, he opened his mouth and not knowing what he should say, was getting more flustered. All of a sudden, he thought to himself, I’ve been through life and death situations, killed and slaughtered monster Qi Practitioners, traveled to the sun and walked on the moon, I’ve witnessed the coffins of the gods with my own eyes, is simply teaching a class of juniors really going to be where I falter?
Just as his thoughts reached there, he regained his composure, smiled and opened his mouth, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am here to teach you the quintessence of the 【Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill】. The 【Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill】, a totem of thunder with twelve permutations, learning all twelve is merely understanding the form. But that’s not all you need to acquire the quintessence, you still need to grasp the imposing spirituality within. The thunder hails from the nine heavens; it is strong and powerful, imposing and majestic, its form ferocious, its rumble deafening, its spirituality like sword. All of you, come and follow me outside, I’ll demonstrate and let you all take a good look at it. Watch carefully and study the twelve permutations of the thunder totem. It will then be easier for you all to grasp the spirituality within it.”
Zhong Yue strode out of the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion, the disciples were shocked and overjoyed at the time, but their hearts were filled with doubts, Can this new teacher really galvanize the power of thunder and show us? He can’t really be able to, can he? He only looks to be about the same age as us….
The disciples walked out of the pavilion, Zhong Yue’s Great Sun Golden Crow Yuan Shen flew up into the air, to the lightning zone above Swords Gate; the lightning suddenly converged and with a sudden flash of blinding light, a thunderbolt struck towards his Yuan Shen!
Zhong Yue quickly recalled his Great Sun Yuan Shen, the thunderbolt was drawn by his Yuan Shen and followed behind like a sword ray; it struck in a zig-zagged pattern while the thunderous lightning bolted right at his Yuan Shen!
KA-CHA——
Outside of the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion, a loud rumble of thunder could be heard, the sound echoed all around, vibrating the air particles with the resultant shockwaves impacting onto the ground.
The upper house disciples were all shuddering and staggering when the sounds of thunder rumbling pressed down onto them, their psyche and soul were suppressed by the dominating aura of the thunderbolt; their eyes were filled with respect and admiration as they fixed their gazes at Zhong Yue.
“What is the spirituality of the thunder? I believe it can be encapsulated into two passages, if you can understand them, then it’ll be very simple and easy to acquire the quintessence.”
Zhong Yue said didactically, “The first passage is ‘The caves empty with the advent of the night spring thunder, the snakes slither and the insects swarm about; Earthworms contend with one another to leave the soil. They unburrow and touch upon the evergreen in exuberance! When the spring thunder strikes, every living being will be affrighted and the desolate winter will be banished!’ This is the aura you will need!”
KRONG!
He then drew in another thunderbolt, it struck down from the upper air above Swords Gate, the window lattices of the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion shuddered and threatened to deafen the ears of those around, “The second passage is, ‘Thunderbolts - fire of the heaven. Thunder that moves upon the land baptized by the sun .’ The thunder refers to the lightning, and their movement is characterized by Yang and an indomitable toughness. There are natural totem carvings intrinsic to the thunderbolts, grasp the air of the lightning, the Yang and the toughness in them ... and then you would have grasped the quintessence.”
Each and every one of the disciples had their own enlightenment; the thunderbolts continued striking down perpetually right at the young teacher’s atman, but he seemed impervious to the ferocious destructive force of the thunderbolts , rather, they were extracted by him for the refinement of his atman.
The disciples quickly settled down and attentively studied the thunderbolts, trying their utmost to understand and glean the abstruse profundity of the two passages while they corroborated their understandings with each other.
Not far away from them, Elder Pu was surprised and contented, he covertly nodded, then turned and left, This child, his Dao pedagogy is even better than mine, what a good seedling in the field of teaching. After his class, there won’t be an insignificant number of these little disciples that will go on to grasp the quintessence of the 【Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill】….
Zhong Yue wholeheartedly taught the upper house disciples, not long later, a number of them have successfully grasped the quintessence; and after another few moments, there were more upper house disciples to have also succeeded.
An hour had passed before Elder Pu finally returned, he smiled and said, “Junior Martial Brother Zhong, that person agreed to help, come, follow me!”
Zhong Yue rejoiced as he quickly followed behind and asked, “Elder Pu, how should I address him?”
Elder Pu hesitated, he pondered for a moment and answered, “Just call him ‘old man’, don’t worry about addressing him in any other ways.”
Old man? What is this weird form of address?, Zhong Yue was baffled.
“Old man doesn’t have many rules or customs, but he holds an exalted seniority in Swords Gate, it would be unwise if you were to offend him.”
Elder Pu led Zhong Yue into the inner hall, he then flew in the air above Swords Gate for a period of time. There were mountains abound on the Swords Gate Mountain, ridges and valleys wreathed around the mountainside; not long after, they alighted onto the ground and hiked past a few mountains and arrived in front of a steep precipice. From the top to the bottom of the precipice, its color was entirely jade-white as it was indeed an unearthly huge clump of fine jade!
The air around turned warm and gentle as they walked to the side of the precipice, the rays reflected sheened their skins white.
“This is the Yu Jade Ridge of Swords Gate, the old man is waiting for you in there.”
Elder Pu stopped down, he smiled and said, “You should go in now.”
Zhong Yue thanked him and walked forward along the path, there were marble pillars made of jade beside the road engraved with all sorts of art; on some were beasts, and on others were carved celestial beings, floras and also mythical creatures.
Regardless of the engravings, they were all made of totem carvings, inanimate items but real and genuine-looking nonetheless.
After a while, the distinctive sounds of sculpturing could be heard, he followed the sound to its source to find a wizened and ashen-haired elderly man sculpting a dazzlingly beautiful woman that was about the same height as an adult. But she does not look like one from the human race as she had three heads accompanied by a pair of wings; her countenances were stunningly beautiful, one impish and elfin, one solemn and dignified, and another demure and sweet.
The air around the elderly man was old and bleak, like the twilight that slowly faded away in the dusk; in between his fingers flitted a Sword Qi, thin like a thread. It was revolving around the huge jade stone sculpture, even carving out the finest details of the tiny feathers.
Zhong Yue waited patiently, the sculpting speed of the elderly man was very slow, no one could possibly know when he would complete the sculpture.
A few moments he waited, and Zhong Yue thought to himself, Elder Pu would not bring me here without rhyme or reason, there must be something that I’ve missed. The old man has devoted all his attention to the sculpture, he won’t be stopping anytime soon. Could it be that he wants me to look at him sculpturing, could this be the way to eliminate the hidden danger of bypassing the Spirit Nurturing stage?
He meticulously scrutinized the elderly man’s sculpting skill, it appeared ordinary and mundane at first, but slowly, the nuanced abstrusity revealed itself to him, and he was greatly moved. The elderly man’s Sword Qi moved around with the vigor of a dragon and the agility of a snake, even the finest textures of the feathers began to resemble nature itself. It was as if they were in fact, natural totem carvings!
Wait a second! This will of sword….
Zhong Yue’s heart quaked, the abstruse totem carvings and the sculpture of the dazzling beauty receded from his vision. The only thing left reflecting in his eyes ... was the Sword Qi, thin like a thread of spider’s silk in between the elderly man’s fingers.
It frolicked waltzed about freely, it elicited the scene of a man splashing ink around unrestrained to his own heart’s content. The Sword Qi danced around in a regular and ordered pattern and yet, what was reflected in Zhong Yue’s sights was a chaotic scene of Swords Qi piercing through the heavenly firmament!
These disordered Sword Qi were the ones he once saw in the sword token – old and archaic like the ancient pines with dried branches and withered twigs protruding all around. Although the elderly man’s hands were sedated and steady and the Sword Qi was also controlled and ordered; the carvings in the sword token and the sculpturings of the elderly man contained the same and exact will of sword!
He was the one who carved the【Geng Jin Sword Qi】sword token Qiu Jin’er gave to me!
Zhong Yue then suddenly understood it all, he focused all his concentrations and gazed at the Sword Qi as it danced around like flowing waters with the abstruse sword’s will in it, it was as if he was looking at a peerless swordsman brandishing his sword.
The ostensible scenery to the others would appear as an elderly man sculpting, but to him, he could see the Sword Qis that were crisscrossed splitting the heavenly firmament!
The Sword Qi was free and unconstrained, boundless to any form, nimble, versatile and unpredictable; it made him think of the sword marks like tousled grass in the sword token. The mutual corroboration of the image in his mind and the scenery before his eyes benefited him a lot.
Unknowingly to him how long has passed, Zhong Yue suddenly regained his consciousness; at this time, the elderly man has already finished his sculpture, he has kept away the Sword Qi that was flowing in between his fingers. Zhong Yue cast his gaze over to the jade sculpture, for a moment there he almost thought that the sculptured goddess has come to life, fluttering her sleeves and danced gracefully, her beautiful countenances smiled coquettishly, and in his ears he could hear the titterings of the goddess and indistinct chatters.
“Zhong Shan Clan member, you’ve been staring at it for so long, you must have some understandings of your own in mind? Why don’t you try and sculpt something?” The elderly man smiled and said.