Chapter 34: Endure
writer:
无罪 update:2022-07-21 15:26
“Since I said you can force her beyond her tolerance, there are ways.” Shao Sharen looked at Ding Ning and said coolly, “But she is in realm six, and you just reached realm four. How will you convince me you are not letting your emotions control you? If you finally manage to force her to accept your duel, but you’re killed, then my loss is just a bit of effort.”
Facing Shao Sharen’s doubts, Ding Ning raised his head simply and met his gaze, saying, “I have already comprehended the Heaven Replenishing Divine Art.”
Shao Sharen’s body trembled minutely and he suddenly looked up.
Ding Ning calmly faced his slightly disbelieving gaze and nodded.
Shao Sharen frowned slightly and then suddenly laughed. “So interesting.”
**
“I will first kill that palace attendant, and then try to kill Liang Lian before breaking out of the Great Floating Water Prison. If everything is successful, we can leave Changling. This is my plan.”
Returning to the deepest little courtyard in Ink Garden, Ding Ning did not wait for Zhangsun Qianxue to find him like usual. He walked to the outside of Zhangsun Qianxue’s bedroom to speak.
“Is killing that palace attendant so important?” Zhangsun Qianxue did not come out as she said coldly.
“With Min Mountain Sword Sect’s attention, it is actually harder for me to do things. If I want to do something beyond their ears and eyes, I must make Min Mountain Sword Sect feel I am strong enough.”
“I do not believe you can kill that palace attendant before Liang Lian leaves Changling.”
“If I do not think, then I cannot do it. If I raise such thoughts, Min Mountain Sword Sect will definitely do something for me, because I am a disciple of Min Mountain Sword Sect who has already comprehended the Heaven Replenishing Divine Art.” Ding Ning looked down at the ground by his feet and said, “Since you won the bet concerning Ye Celeng, she will definitely start doing something. Since she has survived in Changling for so long, what she will do will not be ordinary.”
There was no sound from the room.
“Other than Ye Celeng, we still have the Xie Family. Xie Changsheng and Xie Rou will help me……” Ding Ning continued, “So our revenge will be faster and more likely.”
After saying this, and hearing no noise coming from the room, Ding Ning turned and left.
These words were really useless in his usual conversations with Zhangsun Qianxue. Yet today, he found Zhangsun Qianxue to say such things because he felt that Zhangsun Qianxue was in low spirits. No matter what, he hoped that Zhangsun Qianxue could be happier.
But at this time, he, who understood Zhangsun Qianxue very well, did not know what Zhangsun Qianxue was unhappy about.
As he returned around, Zhangsun Qianxue’s cool voice sounded. “This is something already planned. Previously, your schemes were flawless, but because you are exceptionally worried for Lin Zhujiu in the prison, your mind is in chaos. He lost in the past because of chaos. He lost because he cared too much for the people around him…… If you want this revenge to succeed, you should not follow in his footsteps.”
Ding Ning’s body froze.
Zhangsun Qianxue’s voice continued to reach his years. “You must be cruel in something like revenge. If he did not care about those people’s lives back then, and planned before acting, he would have gotten revenge long ago. If you do not want me to die, then do not care about my life. Now, and in the future.”
Ding Ning slowly hung his head. He did not respond and silently walked back into his bedroom.
**
The black Astrology Bureau carriage passed slowly through the streets of Changling under many reverent and complicated gazes. In the end, it stopped in front of Ye Celeng’s courtyard.
When Bai Shanshui passed into the quiet courtyard, and sensed the movements inside, a hint of a smile appeared on her face.
She did not walk into the bedroom, but the kitchen at the side.
The door to the kitchen was open, and Ye Celeng was sitting in front of the stove silently in white robes.
“You seem to be in a good mood,” Ye Celeng said coolly without looking back.
Bai Shanshui smiled faintly and said, “A great rebel is an awesome label, but one is always alone and has no support. Now, I am not struggling alone, and suddenly have so many friends who oppose Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu. Of course, I am in a good mood.”
Ye Celeng also smiled displaying a pair of dimples.
“It appears you are also in a good mood.”
Bai Shanshui pulled over a bamboo chair and sat down next to Ye Celeng. She suddenly smelled the fragrance from the medicinal cauldron on the stove ahead and her expression changed. “Yellow Rhinoceros Horn, Sea Glass, Turtle-Dragon Pill, Sea Subduing Pill…… how do you have so much ……”
Ye Celeng turned and saw Bai Shanshui pale. She became slightly smug. She thought of Bai Shanshui’s trembling chest and what Zhao Zhan had said that day in the courtyard. She could not help but tease. “They say that women overseas have large chests. I was overseas for so many years but cannot compare to Palace Master Bai.”
The words seemed completely unrelated but Bai Shanshui suddenly understood. Her eyes narrowed slightly. “You cultivated overseas for many years, fighting beasts and serpents and searched the seas for medicine. You got this much, but did not use them?”
Ye Celeng smiled proudly but still did not directly answer Bai Shanshui’s question. She said, “If I cultivate too quickly, will Zheng Xiu feel reassured with him?”
Bai Shanshui immediately became serious. “Previously, I did not believe when people said that Bureau Chief Ye was a rare cultivation genius of Changling. I thought, she received that person’s personal teachings yet her cultivation realm is just so. Today, I have understood that Bureau Chief Ye has been purposefully controlling cultivation speed.”
Seeing Bai Shanshui’s seriousness, Bureau Chief Ye shook her head unconcernedly. “Other than Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu, all the true geniuses of the past have died.”
This time, Bai Shanshui did not respond to her words. She said with some emotion, “You received so many spirit medicines in the turbulent overseas, but you do not use them. Previously, no news of the Nine Death Silkworm occurred, and that person appeared to have disappeared in the stories of the Qin, but you still endured…… I rarely admire people. People all say that Bureau Chief Ye is small-chested and small-minded, but today, I truly admire Bureau Chief Ye.”
“Like dew after a long drought, I have received news but I fear I am a part of the situation, emotionally affected which would affect my actions. Since that wineshop youth is his heir and has always been a masterful strategist in the past, I unconsciously bet everything on him.” Ye Celeng looked at the boiling medicine cauldron and said slowly, her smile disappearing, “You saw him today, and you are not as obsessed as I am. You likely see more clearly. Why not tell me directly if there is a problem with what I am doing?”
Bai Shanshui smiled and said, “I gave the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard to him, do you think there is a problem?”
Ye Celeng stilled.
“You feel that his past performances are cautious so you gambled everything on him.” Bai Shanshui looked at Ye Celeng and said proudly, “I gamble everything on him due to other reasons. I feel he is true in personality. He was not especially joyful when he received the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard. He was deeply worried, worried for the people around him.”
Ye Celeng thought for a moment and said, “He failed in the past because he was not cruel enough. I did not expect his heir to be the same.”
Bai Shanshui glanced at her. “This is good.”
Ye Celeng shook her head, her gaze landing on the other’s chest. She could not help but think that this woman had a large chest, and an even greater mind.
Bai Shanshui seemed to understand the meaning in her gaze and glared. “Cook your medicine, otherwise, it will boil over, and waste your many years of effort.”
Translator Ramblings: The mind/chest jokes will not stop this chapter.
Volume 3 105 - Whose Death Warrior
The Min Mountain had snow because it was extremely tall.
In a green palace near the border of snow, Xie Changsheng leaned against the window wrapped in a thick green blanket. He stretched out his neck to look at a green palace and valley down below as he muttered in discontent. “Such a cold place. Don’t you feel we can set up a fire basin here, and cook some lamb?”
A middle-aged Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator stood behind him. His expression had been slightly poor to start with, but darkened upon hearing Xie Changsheng’s words. He said coldly, “If you want to be comfortable, why stay and bilk your way here? So many young geniuses who attended the trials, and were harder to heal than you, have left. Only you stay here.”
Xie Changsheng turned to look at him and said naturally, “My injuries have not healed. What should I do if not stay here?”
“You force a stay in Min Mountain Sword Trials based on your wounds. You look around all day in the hopes of secretly learning something.” This middle-aged Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator sneered. “You were unable to reach the top ten of the trials. You do not find it embarrassing to force a stay here in Min Mountain Sword Sect?”
“What should I be embarrassed about? Someone feels that I was an embarrassment in my performance at Min Mountain Sword Trials?” Xie Changsheng turned to look at the Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator. “Since I feel this place is useful, finding a way to stay longer is my ability.”
The middle-aged Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator frowned slightly with an angry gaze, yet before he could speak, Xie Changsheng said disdainfully, “Do not be so meddlesome. Geng Ren and the others all know my state. If they really wanted to throw me out, I would have been gone a long time ago. How could I have stayed here?”
This Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator was stunned and felt that Xie Changsheng was not all wrong.
While Xie Changsheng seemed too much of a cheat, Min Mountain Sword Sect had not given him a formal opportunity to learn. This did not seem to go against the rules of Min Mountain Sword Sect.
When the middle-aged cultivator thought of this, he felt that perhaps Sect Master Baili Suxue had deeper meanings in having Xie Changsheng stay here. His anger died, and the dark expression quickly turned into a gentle one. He took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to Xie Changsheng.
“Whose letter?”
“Sect Nephew Ding Ning.”
“Ding Ning?”
Xie Changsheng’s eyes lit up. He quickly took over the letter and then opened it. After a quick look, he could not help but laugh.
“I only worry you refuse. Since you ask, is that not simple?”
“Brush, paper!” Then he casually waved the letter and said spiritedly towards this Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator.
The cultivator, who had a gentle expression just a moment ago, looked poor again. This Xie Changsheng was a junior, but ordered him around like a servant. To this somewhat pedantic Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator, this was a great subversion.
“Do not glare at me, you are not helping me.”
Xie Changsheng looked at his expression and shouted in discontent. “I am helping your Min Mountain Sword Sect genius disciple Ding Ning. Do you not want the Guanzhong Xie Family to do all we can to help him?”
This middle-aged Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator stilled, and then his expression turned serious. He nodded and said respectfully, “You are right. I will immediately prepare brush and paper.”
“Regardless of how the outside world thinks of this Xie Family youth, it appears that he will not suffer losses against any kind of people. I wonder if this was drilled into him or passed down from the Xie Family,” Yantai Guanjian stood by the window of a tower opposite Xie Changsheng, and said as he shook his head.
The two towers were far apart, even separated by a white cloud, but Yantai Guanjian could clearly hear the conversation between Xie Changsheng and the middle-aged Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator.
“But this Xie youth’s comprehension is ordinary, I fear he cannot catch up to those people in cultivation.”
Yantai Guanjian was a cultivator with an extremely noble personality, but inexplicably, he seemed to have a lot of good feelings for this almost hoodlum youth. He sighed.
The young woman standing next to him was naturally Jin Liuli.
Hearing his sigh, Jin Liuli glanced at him and said calmly, “Changling has all kinds of people. Cultivators with swords are not the only ones who are accomplished.”
Yantai Guanjian laughed. “People are different when they are higher in status. You are really suited to taking over as sect master.”
“Taking over as sect master……” Jin Liuli frowned slightly and looked at Yantai Guanjian. “In reality, I do not understand why Master always has the thought of throwing away the position of sect master at the peak of his power. I do not know his intentions.”
Yantai Guanjian stilled and fell into a thoughtful daze. Then he grimaced. “I fear that no one knows what he really intends.”
“I am going to Ink Garden,” Jin Liuli said slowly as she looked away from the other green tower and turned around.
Yantai Guanjian looked curiously at her. “Why are you going to Ink Garden?”
“Since he has mentioned forcing the palace attendant to fight, and wrote a letter to Xie Changsheng, it means he has confidence in killing Palace Attendant Rong. He has already started to plan.” Jin Liuli’s crystal-like face reflected the cold light of the snowy peak. She said with some indescribable emotion, “Even I have no confidence in a fight to the death against an expert like Palace Attendant Rong. A realm four cultivator has confidence he can soon kill her. This leap in strength and the intervening process are precious cultivation experiences for me. I constantly feel that he is ahead of me. People that pressure me greatly are rare. I must make sure he really possesses the ability to kill Palace Attendant Rong before he truly forces her into a duel.”
Yantai Guanjian thought for a while and felt that Jin Liuli’s words were correct.
Ink Garden was cold, especially the small courtyard where Ding Ning and Zhangsun Qianxue lived. Nothing had changed after Ding Ning’s special talk with Zhangsun Qianxue and the air of this quiet courtyard was especially heavy…… it even had an intangible hint of cold in the cruel summer day.
While it was slightly cool in the courtyard, it was like wind in Zhangsun Qianxue’s bedroom.
Thick layers of deep blue ice sheathed the doors, the windows and the curtains.
A blue-black sword of such deep color it did not appear to be something of the mortal realm floated in front of Zhangsun Qianxue.
So cold was the sword, that the ice energy evaporating outwards burned like blue-black flames in the air. Each thread of blue-black energy seemed to be a world of ice in a cultivator’s perception.
The ice energy flickering on the blue-black sword floated towards Zhangsun Qianxue’s body and turned into black threads when they neared.
Below these black threads, the deep red black ice worm was breathing in greedily. It also had a thick layer of ice and trembled all over. It appeared like it could not tolerate this heat and would be frozen over.
But as the fierce ice energy invaded, its body started to change minutely.
The smooth deep red surface started to dye with blue-black color and also grow rough. Two small bumps appeared on its round head. These small bumps were imperceptible to the naked eye, but it was extremely obvious in the perception of cultivators like Zhangsun Qianxue.
Sensing such a change, Zhangsun Qianxue felt a thread of joy in her calm mind.
The Nine Hell King Sword was made from the nether jade of the abyss. The nether jade was formed through the inner core of something called the nether fish. Even cultivators of her level could not refine this sword with her method, and needed Ding Ning’s paired cultivation as assistance.
Ordinary beings, even powerful beasts that lived in cold places, could not tolerate and contain the energy of the Nine Hell King Sword, unless their bodies already contained the abyss nether bloodline and were originally organisms that belonged to that kind of abyss.
Just like she had guessed at the start, the black ice worms of the Min Mountain Sword Sect had come from a similar abyss.
There was an abyss in Min Mountain?
Min Mountain or Nether (Ming) Mountain?
Did Min Mountain’s cold come from being too high, or the cold energy of the Nether Abyss?
As Zhangsun Qianxue felt joy for the change and growth of the black ice worm, she also thought of countless possibilities.
Outside Changling, beside the Wei River, there were some fisherman huts around a crossing.
This place was located on a hill. It was possible to clearly see the perimeter of Changling and the vast soaring structures, but it was outside of Changling.
In one of the huts close to the water, a thin woman in ordinary clothing was cooking fish soup.
There were not many pieces of wood in the fire basin under the metal pot but the flames were especially fierce. Each wisp of flame was clearly delineated like small swords. The powerful sword path contained in the ordinary.
She was Zhao Si.
The famed Zhao Sword Furnace heir had disappeared after the battle on the Wei River. The world’s attention had moved away from her. Because she had lost her lifebond sword.
A lifebond sword would gather an immeasurable amount of a cultivator’s life vitality. After many years of nourishment, it was more important than a cultivator’s arms. Once the sword was lost, a cultivator’s power would drop greatly.
Yet, at this moment, Zhao Si suddenly shook, looked away from her fish and towards the sky.
The fire in the fire basin surged, pushing the metal pot into the air.
Volume 3 106 - Returning Medicines
Ding Ning was waiting for her at the gate to the courtyard.
People’s minds were the hardest thing to understand in the world.
On the stormy summer day last year, Ding Ning had seen her from a distance. Just like Zhao Zhan had seen, she still appeared to be isolated from all of Changling. Yet he had been unsure as to where her heart sided until Bai Shanshui had come with her presence.
Ye Celeng quickly saw the youth standing in front of the centermost courtyard in Ink Garden.
She thought she would be very excited or moved. Yet she found her emotions were calm.
She smiled self-deprecatingly, and showed two faint dimples. After having waited for so long, revenge had become a part of her, and did not have much to do with anyone else. Success could not change what had already happened. Revenge was just for her pleasure. The pleasure was mental and came from the process of getting revenge. It had to do with what she wanted to do, and nothing to do with the end result.
Seeing Ye Celeng’s calm face as she got off the carriage and approached, Ding Ning’s mind suddenly grew calmer.
He could sense her pleasure, and her clear conscience. In that moment, he thought of everything he should do. Regardless of the result, he would pursue a clear conscience
Seeing her white dress, and her beautiful face which was no longer useful, Ding Ning could not help but give a small smile.
“You are good, you are very good.” Ye Celeng also smiled. The simple words were rich with her emotions.
She did not waste words. She looked at Ding Ning and said in an ordinary conversational tone, “An hour ago, the Guanzhong Xie Family sent the burnt-tail letters. All the prestigious families of Guanzhong, and those cultivators who come from Guanzhong will gather the Wolf Poison Flower and Celestial Demon Vine. This should be your move…… what do you want to do?”
Ding Ning looked at her and said directly in a calm voice, “I want to kill that palace attendant.”
Ye Celeng was not shocked and her smile grew brighter. “How to kill?”
Ding Ning said, “I will force her to agree to a duel with me. Min Mountain Sword Sect will help me think of a way. With the help of the Astrology Bureau, this matter will be much simpler.”
Ye Celeng smiled and said without even thinking, “This is very simple. A palace attendant is still a person. She has a lover.”
“You know?” Ding Ning was surprised.
Ye Celeng glanced at him. “Palace Attendant Rong is not an unimportant person. It is not strange that I know.”
“Then that is even simpler.”
Ding Ning smiled like they were talking about a minor matter and said, “I have the Nine Death Silkworm, and the Heaven Replenishing Divine Art. The Celestial Demon Flower and the Wolf Poison Flower can make my energies stronger, and so the Nine Death Silkworm will speed up my cultivation and stop me from being harmed by the poison in these two medicines. The Heaven Replenishing Divine Art can nourish my body and eliminate the side effects of the Nine Death Silkworm.”
“The Heaven Replenishing Divine Art is a perfect complement to the Nine Death Silkworm, so you had to enter Min Mountain Sword Sect……” Ye Celeng thought of that person who had always wanted to enter Min Mountain Sword Sect in the past but had always been refused. She could not help but shake her head slightly and was filled with emotion.
“Also, I have a cultivation method I obtained from White Goat Cave as a disguise.” Ding Ning also grew emotional and said, “The Heaven Replenishing Divine Art is too mysterious. No one outside knows what the Heaven Replenishing Divine Art is, and Min Mountain Sword Sect, while surprised at my cultivation speed, will only think that this is due to the Three Corpses Nonself Consciousness Sutra I accidentally obtained from the White Goat Cave.”
“You do not kill, but when you do, it is one of Zheng Xiu’s people. In the last decade of Changling, it has always been her who kills who she wants, but no one dares to kill her people.” Ye Celeng sneered. “What next?”
“Then we kill Liang Lian and break into the Great Floating Water Prison.” Ding Ning looked at her. His smile faded and he said seriously, “Then we leave Changling, then enter realm eight and fight our way back.”
Ding Ning looked up at her bright eyes and said slowly, “This is my entire plan.”
Ye Celeng smiled and said, “This sounds like a perfect plan.”
“I hope it is really perfect.” Ding Ning replied.
“I hope it is really perfect.”
Ye Celeng smiled and repeated. Then she took out a white jade bottle from her sleeve. The white jade bottle carried her body warmth. It contained a black medicinal fluid so thick it was almost solid.
“My plan and your plan match.”
Looking at Ding Ning, she said slowly with some contentment. “With the Xie Family as concealment, no one will think your advancement in cultivation has to do with me.”
“There are more people paying attention to me than to you.” Ye Celeng looked at Ding Ning and said after a pause, “I will try to not help you, because anything I do may leave a trace. It is likely people will sense our connection.”
Ding Ning said after a moment of silence, “I understand.”
“Then see you later.” Ye Celeng smiled. She turned and walked back to her black carriage. Even from the side, it was possible to see the pretty dimples on her face.
“See you later,” Ding Ning looked at her back and said softly.
She did not ask him about where his inheritance came from. He did not ask her why she had not appeared when she should have in the past.
Everybody had a reason. The past was not important. Their perfect future was what was important.
He gripped the small but heavy jade bottle in his hand and walked back to his bedroom. Then he dumped all of the medicine in the bottle into his mouth.
His body rumbled.
The medicinal fluid flew in his body like stars with terrifying power.
But at the same time, countless silkworms appeared in his body and surged towards the shooting stars.
The medicine fluid was gradually consumed, and the small silkworms returned astounding energy which travelled through his meridians and gathered in his energy sea to become condensed vital energy.
His mental consciousness seemed to start merging with his vital energy. The two gradually came to the verge of merging into one as stars seemed to flash in his vital energy. His cultivation was advancing at an astounding rate.
At this speed, he feared he could pass through realm four second class in less than a night. Also, Ding Ning was certain that when he passed realm four second class, the star-like medicinal energy in his body would mostly still remain in his body.
This kind of cultivation advancement was too simple. Yet this was what Ye Celeng had accumulated through cultivating overseas and fighting to the death for over a decade.
It was simple to speak of, but how could it be simple?
Translator Ramblings: Ye Celeng just gave away her entire saving of over a decade to Ding Ning. That’s dedication to revenge right there.
Volume 3 107 - Dislike
Time slowly passed, day and night changed as Changling entered its hottest time.
The small courtyard in the deepest part of Ink Garden was quiet. It was day, yet the light from numerous stars,some from unimaginable distances, floated towards here. They were condensed down into sticky essence by an invisible power, and then flowed along certain paths at a constant rate into Ding Ning’s body.
Ding Ning’s body gave off rolling heat. Like a legendary sage, there were roiling five colored clouds behind him. His muscles seemed to have become jade stone and gave off a gentle light.
What would make people’s heart palpate were the quiet sounds from his body which sounded like countless silkworms chomping on mulberry leaves.
The primal energies of the universe that gathered in his vital energy had completely merged into one. The flowing vital energy in his body felt like a silver liquid in his perception, crystal clear as it passed through his meridians.
The stronger and more concentrated vital energy constantly changed his body, including his perception.
In reality, it was not his invisible mental power that had been strengthened, but the range of primal energies of the universe he absorbed grew. This was like someone’s torch growing brighter as they travelled through the darkness so they could see more places.
Seeing was sensing.
His vital energy which had originally been repellent of the primal energies of the universe from the outside started to merge perfectly with the primal energies absorbed into his body. This was a step towards realm four second class.
If his vital energy were to climb another level, it would not dissipate when stored in seal scripts for a long time. He could use his mental power to manipulate vital energy to flow through seal scripts, controlling the movement of swords and items. Then he would reach realm five.
From just entering realm four to crossing realm four second class to seeing realm five would take many years, or even half a lifetime for ordinary cultivators. Yet Ding Ning only used a sliver of summer to finish this process.
**
Among the murmur of cicadas cries filling the city, a young woman dressed plainly and carrying a longsword slowly walked out of a street opposite Ink Garden. Her body was light and she walked silently like a cat so she did not attract many people’s attention.
Yet Shao Sharen, sitting on the bamboo mat, was shocked the moment he looked up.
The young woman only nodded at Shao Sharen from the distance, and then passed through the open gates of Ink Garden to head into its depths.
Her cultivation and age naturally could not surpass Shao Sharen so she was his junior.
In all of Changling, only one young woman could have such presence in front of Shao Sharen, the heir to the sect master of Min Mountain Sword Sect, Jin Liuli. She was one of the two strongest monsters of Changling.
Because the other was someone her master valued as much as her, and she respected the other, Jin Liuli released some of her presence she would otherwise not expose before she approached the small courtyard.
A cool breeze rose in front of her. Many cool crystal lights appeared in the bright sky, and shone and refracted the sunlight like small droplets of water to form a small but pretty rainbow.
Ding Ning had sensed her arrival already, but he only pushed open the door and walked out of his bedroom after she released her presence. He walked out of the courtyard to greet this young woman who would be the next master of Min Mountain Sword Sect if there were no accidents.
Seeing Ding Ning appear in her sight with a hint of proud coldness, Jin Liuli nodded, feeling that this was normal.
Ding Ning bowed slightly in return and asked, “How come you are here?”
“When you send a letter, there will be a reply. Your friend Xie Changsheng has a reply for you and some things that I have brought along.” Jin Liuli looked at Ding Ning and said, “Also, I am here to learn from you.”
Ding Ning stilled and laughed. “How do I qualify for you to learn from me?”
Jin Liuli looked at Ding Ning and said gravely, “I do not have such great capabilities to go from early realm four to realm four second class in this small amount of time.”
Ding Ning’s expression grew serious. He frowned slightly. “What method do you cultivate that you can directly sense true cultivation advancement?”
Jin Liuli did not conceal and said directly, “I cultivate the Cold Mountain Snow.”
Ding Ning raised an eyebrow. Before he could speak, Jin Liuli added. “My sword is the Snow Mirror Sword.”
If this were anyone else, they would not understand the meaning of these two sentences, but Ding Ning knew.
“To be able to see other people’s real cultivation, especially their vital energy strength, would be a true opportunity to control the enemy first,” he looked at Jin Liuli and said calmly.
“In reality, other than cultivation, I want to learn some other things from you.” Jin Liuli looked at Ding Ning and said calmly, “Master thinks I am too naïve. If I am too naïve, I cannot fulfill the duties of the sect master.”
Seeing Jin Liuli’s authoritative presence and her serious expression, Ding Ning laughed when he heard her say she was naive.
“Do not laugh,” Jin Liuli frowned and said sternly. “For example, the matter of killing Palace Attendant Rong, I need to learn like you…… the Min Mountain Sword Sect has a traitor. We want to clean our house, but he has an important position in court and is greatly valued. If we kill him directly, my master cannot give a good explanation to Emperor Yuanwu. That person is especially shameless and secludes himself, not accepting any challenge from a cultivator. Even if I want to publicly fight him, he will not accept the challenge. I want to kill him just like how you want to kill Palace Attendant Rong. Sect Uncle Shao gave you a suggestion, and you immediately felt it was plausible. You are confident you can do it. Then I can learn from you and see how you do it.”
Ding Ning looked at this serious and solemn young woman. He grew silent.
Being the next master of Min Mountain Sword Sect was the duty that Baili Suxue gave her. A person who was brave enough to take on the responsibility usually had a sacrificial spirit.
“This is Xie Changsheng’s letter, and the things he asked me to give you.” Jin Liuli took out the items from her sleeve and handed them to Ding Ning. She said disdainfully, “The Xie Family even sent the burnt-tail letters for you. The things he gives you are not very useful.”
The things handed to Ding Ning were simple. A sealed ordinary letter, a fiery-red glowing pearl, and a small seal carved out of gold shell.
Ding Ning calmly opened the letter.
The writing inside was rushed. Clearly, the writer was writing with force, joyfully so his brush moved quickly and was full of power.
The contents was also simple. “I’ve arranged what you said. With money, you can do things. You can take my seal and go to any business of the Xie Family to get money. If they are miserly, just pawn my night pearl. My grandmother left it to me. Let’s watch them spend a lot to buy it back.”
Ding Ning did not purposefully conceal this letter and Jin Liuli did not try to deliberately avoid it so she saw the contents. She immediately said with disdain, “A wealthy wastrel is a wealthy wastrel. He gives off the presence of money at all times and places.”
Ding Ning did not directly respond to her and looked calmly at her. “Have you heard of the story of raising the pillar in Changling?”
Jin Liuli frowned and said, “Raising the pillar in Changling?”
“Even you have never heard of it. Many matters worthy of respect have been destroyed like this.” Ding Ning shook his head and looked into the distant sky. He slowly said, “In the past, Official Shang wanted to make a reform, but almost no one believed those things he spoke of. He found a piece of wood very easy to raise, and gave a bounty. He said he would give a thousand gold to everyone who could raise that piece of wood. At the start, no one tried. They felt that there was some trap there. Later, someone did try and easily raised it. Official Shang truly gave them a thousand gold. After that, everyone knew that Official Shang would be true to his world, and the reforms were quickly carried out.”
Jin Liuli’s expression grew serious and did not speak.
Ding Ning glanced at her and continued, “The other side of this matter is that there will be brave men when there is a great reward. Us cultivators do not care about money, but most people in Changling care as they rely on money to survive.”
Jin Liuli’s frown eased. “So you mean, money is very useful…… if a person is skilled in money, it is a kind of ability?”
Ding Ning nodded and smiled. “Xie Changsheng is the best example. He cares about money the most, but he also spends money like it’s worthless. But he can win many things, like other people’s help, retainers and friends.”
Jin Liuli thought of the person shamelessly staying in Min Mountain Sword Sect and found it hard to have positive feelings.
She said, her gaze darkening, “So large amounts of money is very useful for you to deal with that palace attendant?”
Ding Ning took a deep breath, slowly breathed out, and said seriously, “Everything in its place and ready.”
Jin Liuli narrowed her eyes slightly which shone with a sword-like light. “What do you prepare to do?”
Ding Ning turned to look at the part of the Ink Garden walls he had destroyed. Over there, many residences had been built to be lived in by the neighbours from around Falling Parasol.
He used some crude but real words to say, “In a person’s life, the most basic is eating, drinking, peeing and pooping as well as clothing, food, and shelter.”
Volume 3 108 - The First Lesson
Jin Liuli was puzzled, but when she thought of how Ding Ning would be under her eyes, she stopped thinking about the matter and said slowly, “While I do not know the history between you and the Xie Family, but Xie Changsheng fearing the Xie Family does not dare to spend more money is for nothing. The burnt-tail letters of the Xie Family are letters to repay favors. All the Guanzhong people who have received the Xie Family’s help in the past will do their best to help, so the Xie Family will not skimp on money.”
“He worries too much, but at least, he values friendship higher than anything else.” Ding Ning looked at the fiery red pearl in his hand and said seriously, “This is one of his best traits.”
Jin Liuli frowned slightly. She thought of that person’s performance in the Min Mountain Sword Trials and felt that Ding Ning was not completely wrong.
Ding Ning smiled inexplicably, and asked looking at Jin Liuli who wore ordinary robes, “Why are you not wearing the Min Mountain Sword Sect uniform?”
“If I do, people will easily discern who I am. Not because of my cultivation, but because of my status, not many would dare to provoke me. It will be inconvenient to act when one attracts too much attention,” Jin Liuli said, looking at Ding Ning. “Also, no one would dislike having more actual battle experience.”
Ding Ning smiled. “In a place like Changling, it is easy to cause trouble and fighting. Just do not dislike me for using you when the time comes.”
Jin Liuli raised an eyebrow and her expression grew serious. “Since I am learning from you, I will be your student for this period of time. I will do what you tell me to do.”
Ding Ning thought and said, “Even have you dig soil and plant flowers?”
Jin Liuli glanced at him and said crisply, “Dig where, plant what flowers?”
Ding Ning laughed, looking at her. “Your sword is too eye-catching and sharp. You have to put it away as well.”
Being casual would not attract people’s attention. No one would think that Jin Liuli, this genius so important to Min Mountain Sword Sect’s future, would enter Changling alone without even a carriage or an accompanying teacher.
As far as anyone knew, especially the truly important people of Changling, Jin Liuli was always followed by the quickest sword in Min Mountain Sword Sect, Yantai Guanjian. In their view, Yantai Guanjian was always with Jin Liuli, not to teach, but shield her.
Jin Liuli herself had ways to conceal her movements. So, even a person like Palace Attendant Rong whose gaze could reach many corners of Changling did not know that Jin Liuli had already left Min Mountain Sword Sect and entered Ink Garden alone.
Palace Attendant Rong’s daily life was not as boring as ordinary palace attendants. From a certain perspective, she was a shadow of Empress Zheng, a standalone will who moved through Changling.
She frequently left the imperial palace, and sometimes even went to Jiaodong Commandery to take care of very secret matters. So she usually did not stay in the palace. Her usual residence was near the Celestial Vine Alley in the south of the city where many families of palace attendants lived.
Her courtyard was not large, but it was at the best spot in this alley. There was a spring near the front of her courtyard, and her abode was the one highest upstream of a stream that fed into the spring.
The attendant who served her had done so for many years, so she knew the preferences of this important personage of the palace. She knew that this important person liked to have iced drinks after waking up in the morning. So, in the mornings of hot summers, she would fetch some spring water to make lotus or mung bean soup, and then cool the soup with ice.
Drinking an iced beverage before eating fruits and vegetables in the morning was Palace Attendant Rong’s habit of many years.
When habits formed, they became natural.
Before the sun rose in the morning, Palace Attendant Rong dressed herself impeccably and walked into the courtyard to sit under the grape vines. She lifted the bamboo cover over the morning pastries. When her hand touched the clear mung bean soup, her brows instinctively furrowed.
Before she spoke, the slightly worried attendant reported in a low voice. “It is a coincidence but the Li Ice House in the south city closed, and the more distant ice house in the west finished selling their ice. So ice has been hard to find.”
People would feel displeased when something that had become natural to them was disrupted. Also, Palace Attendant Rong knew very well what it meant when an ice house which could supply many rich households for a summer sold out.
She could easily connect this to the burnt-tail letters of the Guanzhong Xie Family.
“They spend money like water so i cannot drink iced mung bean soup?”
Her porcelain face showed no anger. When she slowly lifted the mung bean soup cooled in spring water, a sneer appeared. “These Guanzhong people have interesting minds.”
A bowl of iced mung bean soul could only give her momentary displeasure, and in her view, could not affect anything. Yet just as she spoke and raised the bowl to drink, her nose sniffed and then she frowned.
“What smell is this, so bad!”
The attendant next to her instinctively covered her nose and mouth as she spoke.
Many curses came out of this quiet alley along with the sounds of doors being pushed open.
Palace Attendant Rong was a powerful cultivator so she knew what had happened without even going out the door.
Multiple caravans were passing by the nearby alley.
The alley where the caravans were moving was perfectly upwind. The caravans were transporting ordinary items, but the weather was hot so the horses naturally gave off an odor.
A worse stench came from the excrement bags behind each horse.
The horse excrement gave off a scent that caused the grapes growing in the courtyard to smell like they were fermenting. People would unconsciously feel that they had a rotten presence like rice left overnight in water.
Palace Attendant Rong heard more curses. Her gaze darkened, and her expression grew ugly.
Those people who had pushed open the door to talk to the caravan would not get any results.
There were no problems with the caravans. Even the smelly excrement bags were necessary items for moving through the city. The purpose of each bag was to contain the horse excrement the horses produced when travelling so the excremement would not fall randomly onto the street.
The alleys the caravans were travelling through were their usual paths. The people in the nearby alleys had no reason to stop the caravans.
The key was, there would not be so many caravans usually, and perfectly at this time. Even more importantly, the excrement the horses produced was especially smelly. They had clearly eaten some special feed.
Someone able to recklessly buy the ice of an entire ice house could naturally have caravans make a detour around her occasionally.
This was a lowly and shameless tactic which only influenced her mood. Yet something like this occurred not long after the Xie Family sent the burnt-tail letters. This meant that all these actions were targeted towards her.
After several breaths, she looked up, and stopped the attendant preparing to go argue with the caravans. She had the other prepare a carriage.
Since the empress had promised her safety, she knew that as long as she did not accept to fight Ding Ning, she did not have to worry about her safety. She knew if these people from Guanzhong became shameless, they would have numerous tactics she could not think of. Even if she took care of these present troubles, there would be more troubles.
Since they did not want her to eat breakfast here in peace, she would change places. Changling was so large. Would the Guanzhong people be able to fill the city with caravans?
She left the courtyard and boarded the carriage.
No accidents occurred. The carriage left the smelly alley and headed towards some remote and quiet alleys.
There were many elegant food shops in this alley.
Yet before her carriage could drive into this alley, a man in short robes, who looked very rough, walked by each shop, paying each shop owner the equivalent to many days of profit just for the shops to close today and not do business.
Some of the guests eating in these shops also received generous compensations and were pleased.
The only person displeased was Palace Attendant Rong.
When her carriage headed into this small alley, the alley grew quieter as all the shops closed.
She was like a plague. Everywhere she passed seemed to become a dead area.
The sun was bright and hot.
When the carriage driver was at a loss what to do, she said after a moment of silence, “Go to Happiness Tower.”
Happiness Tower was one of the most famous restaurants in Changling, and belonged to the Jiaodong Commandery. She did not believe those Guanzhong people could stop her from drinking in that restaurant.
The carriage driver was familiar with that location and the wheels seemed to grow light again. When they were at a strone bridge not far from the restaurant, the carriage wheels jumped lightly as though they were going to fly.
But at this time, Palace Attendant Rong suddenly lifted her head inside the cabin.
She heard the sound of hoofbeats.
Previously, the places she had travelled had been dead like a plague had arrived, but now, the streets she travelled were very busy.
In many of the surrounding alleys, caravans appeared. These caravans seemed to be in a hurry and were fighting over the road.
So, in a short moment, the roads around her carriage were filled up.
Noise sounded among the caravans. Each horse had an excrement bag, and the horse excrement gave off a terrible stench.
She seemed to be within a pile of excrement.
At this time, she seemed to sense something and looked out through the crack in the window coverings.
There was Happiness Tower.
On the stair banister, a youth in ordinary robes stood and looked at her like she was the scenery. He held an iced soup, and the bowl was covered in condensed water droplets.
Translator Ramblings: The power of money and people.
Volume 3 109 - Senior Sect Brother
The youths of Changling mostly did not dare to look down at her imperiously, much less deliberately show off that iced beverage.
So this youth could only be Ding Ning.
Palace Attendant Rong narrowed her eyes slightly. A few seconds later, she got off her carriage. She was a powerful cultivator, so the horse caravans blocking her carriage could not stop her steps.
She seemed to stroll through the crowded caravans easily like a wind, walking towards Happiness Tower.
Perhaps because she was purposefully showing her cultivation that a glowing ball of light appeared around her. The stench and even the burning heat were blocked off.
No one stopped her from ascending the tower until she was behind Ding Ning.
There was wind at higher elevations, and those caravans had slowly dissipated after she left so there was no stench left.
Ding Ning did not immediately turn around. Her gaze first landed on Ding Ning’s back and then the iced beverage in Ding Ning’s hands.
A thin sneer appeared on her lips. She said slowly, “As expected, a bowl of iced mung bean soup.”
Ding Ning did not look at her and slowly drank the soup. Then he allowed the bowl in his hand to fall down the tower and crack.
As Palace Attendant Rong’s eyebrows went up, he turned around and looked at her. “Even though Happiness Tower made it, it does not taste very good.”
Palace Attendant Rong did not show much anger, and looked calmly at Ding Ning. “If you want to vent your anger, you do not have to go to such trouble. If you really want me to apologize, I can never drink this iced mung bean soup in my life.”
“He is dead, what is the use in apologies?”
Ding Ning shook his head at her and said coolly, “I am not like Senior Sect Brother Zhang Yi, I am more practical. The so-called glory is only true glory when people can see it. I just wanted to make the old man happy. So what is the use in his glorious funeral now? The old man endured and withstood his entire life. His last wish was to finish watching the entire sword trials. But you cruelly took away his last bit of time…… you are just a palace attendant.”
Ding Ning smiled and said seriously, “You feel that I just want to vent my anger?”
Palace Attendant Rong’s gaze cooled slightly. She had heard Ding Ning say the words “You are just a palace attendant” before during the Min Mountain Sword Trials. Yet when she heard him say the words now, she felt completely different.
“You want to force me to fight you, and then kill me?” She was silent for a moment and then looked coldly at Ding Ning. “I will not agree to your request.”
“It is not that I feel you are strong enough to kill me, but I will not obey the empress’ decree.” Palace Attendant Rong said slowly, “You proved you are a genius on level with Jin Liuli and An Baoshi after the Min Mountain Sword Trials. You will be one of the pillars of the Qin Dynasty in the future. So even if I am able to kill you now, I will not act. As long as the empress admires you, I will not accept your request.”
Ding Ning smiled and said, “I hear you have a pet cat with blue fur. It is very rare and very obedient.”
“Just a material item. If you like it, I will send it to Ink Garden today. You can do as you please.” Palace Attendant Rong smiled coldly, shook her head and said, “All you have done is useless against me. I can live in the palace, even if it is for a long time…… your tactics cannot reach the imperial palace. While these Guanzhong families help you, they cannot give you unlimited help.”
Ding Ning put away his smile and said, “Your most dislikable trait is that you are too confident and condescending. So even when you apologize, you do not have much sincerity. Even if I give you another chance to do it over, you will do the same thing. If I do not kill you, I will not feel pleased. My eldest sect brother, forced away by you, will not be pleased. My junior sect brother Shen Yi will not be pleased.”
Palace Attendant Rong’s gaze became several degrees colder. But before she said anything, a bellow suddenly came from the nearby streets followed by thunderous hoofbeats.
In a blink, a sprinting horse with red eyes galloped along the alley. With a bang, the mad horse collided directly with the horse pulling Palace Attendant Rong’s carriage. Spraying blood and gore, the two horses fell to the ground.
Palace Attendant Rong’s carriage driver paled and screamed. He almost had been thrown off the carriage. The rider of the wild horse had turned and landed on the ground. Then he bowed apologetically to the driver. “The horse was frightened, and caused this accident…… I will pay.”
Of course this could not be an accident.
Ding Ning did not conceal it and said calmly to Palace Attendant Rong as he looked at the bloody scene, “We are displeased, so we will not let you be pleased. As long as you do not fight me, things like this will happen. You will not even have a carriage in Changling. You have to walk back to the imperial palace on your foot.”
“Fortunately, the road is not too far.”
Palace Attendant Rong’s gaze turned icy. “So you are most displeased by the departure of your eldest sect brother Zhang Yi. You should know that any cultivator in Changling must listen to the decrees of the entire Qin Dynasty. You are people of the Qin. As you grow strong in your cultivation, you must clearly understand who you work for. Otherwise, no matter how great your talent, you only seek your own death.”
“You still think too highly of yourself,” Ding Ning looked at Palace Attendant Rong and said in a calm and slow voice that could easily drive people mad, “You are just a palace attendant. If I want to challenge you, most people in Changling think I have a right reason.”
“I have been in Changling for decades and experienced countless events. What have I not seen? I want to see how you can force me to accept your challenge. Since you want to make trouble for me, of course I will make trouble for you. This is fair.”
Palace Attendant Rong turned to leave without a word.
“It seems she does not fear your threat.” When Palace Attendant Rong’s walking figure disappeared from the street, Jin Liuli appeared behind Ding Ning and said solemnly as she looked in that direction.
Ding Ning nodded and said, “Of course she will not fear these kinds of tactics. But over time, her mentality will change. She will be conflicted whether she should have accepted my challenge earlier or not. In the end, this kind of conflict in addition to her anger will easily cause her to lose her calm.”
Jin Liuli was puzzled and said, “Why will her mind change, why will she be conflicted whether she should have accepted your challenge earlier?”
Ding Ning smiled and said, “Because she will find that my cultivation will constantly grow, and I will quickly grow stronger.”
Jin Liuli’s eyes lit up. She started to understand what Ding Ning meant.
Ding Ning glanced at her and said, “What we do next is to let her know my cultivation is growing rapidly at a terrifying speed.”
Ding Ning laughed after a pause and said, “Fortunately, she said she will make trouble for me, and I will not have to deliberately tell her that my cultivation will grow rapidly.”
Jin Liuli nodded and asked, “What about her old lover?”
Ding Ning said, “That is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, so we will not touch him now. We can make them meet more often and so she will receive more comfort from him.”
Jin Liuli thought intently for a moment and said, “I have learned.”
“Let’s go to her residence,” Ding Ning said and went downstairs.
Jin Liuli followed behind him and asked softly, “To do what?”
Ding Ning said, “To get her cat.”
Jin Liuli frowned, puzzled.
Ding Ning turned to glance at her and said, “Some things, when the enemy appears to not care, does not mean they really do not care. And even if they do not care, when you take away their things one by one, they will feel discomforted inside.”
Jin Liuli’s frown eased. “You are going to kill her cat?”
“Kill? No, I will treat it well.” Ding Ning laughed. “A long period of discomfort is more uncomfortable than a momentary discomfort.”
Jin Liuli thought and said, “How about we have her old lover fall in love with someone else?”
Ding Ning laughed and said, “With whom? You want to get her old lover to like you?”
Jin Liuli said seriously, “If useful, of course I can try.”
Ding Ning saw her grave expression and then her young but authoritative presence. His smile grew brighter. “Let us not. I fear that person does not have such good taste.”
Not far from where he and Jin Liuli could not see, a yellow-robed middle-aged man appeared in front of Palace Attendant Rong who was walking alone. “Kill that cat in my home,” she said coldly as she passed by him.
Volume 3 110
Ding Ning and Jin Liuli walked down Happiness Tower and boarded the waiting carriage. Ding Ning sat in the cabin while Jin Liuli sat at the front and drove.
She had left Min Mountain Sword Sect in order to learn from Ding Ning, and thought of herself as his student. Her attitude was like so, and she appeared natural when she did a job like this.
While she did not disguise herself and looked the same as she did during the Min Mountain Sword Trials, only a few people had seen her during the event. She was so natural as she drove Ding Ning’s carriage that it became the best disguise for her identity.
No one would think the next master of Min Mountain Sword Sect, the legendary genius Jin Liuli, would drive a carriage for Ding Ning.
The passersby who saw the person at the front of the carriage would only think that this young woman was an attendant that underground leader Wang Taixu had arranged for Ding Ning, or one of Ding Ning’s junior sect sisters at White Goat Cave.
Jin Liuli was not familiar with the streets of Changling but Ding Ning knew this city’s streets like the back of his hand. Under Ding Ning’s directions, she drove the carriage. Hearing Ding Ning introduce the alleys along the way, she frowned slightly. She thought, if she fought Ding Ning in the streets, she was already behind him and lost the advantage of the land.
Seeing her frown and sensing the change in her presence, Ding Ning knew that her mind was completely occupied with cultivation. So he could not help but lament. “Only the savants can reach the limits. You are a natural savant in cultivation and everything you see is cultivation. Even if your talent is not as good as you are, it will still be unrivaled by ordinary people.”
“But I fear I cannot catch up to you.” Jin Liuli responded calmly. When she spoke, she did not lift her head and cooly looked ahead. But then, she abruptly lifted her head.
Thunder roared on the stone street ahead. A horse dragged a carriage as it sprinted towards their carriage.
The carriage was not an ordinary one, but one full of waste buckets.
From hearing the sound until the actual collison, there was enough time to react for a cultivator.
Jin Liuli”s eyes just started to narrow when Ding Ning said softly behind her, “Palace Attendant Rong’s tactics.”
Jin Liuli’s eyebrows rose slightly. Ding Ning said, “Stabilize it…… otherwise, the waste will fall all over the ground. When our carriage passes, it will stink.”
A breeze seemed to blow by Jin Liuli’s body and the carriage lightened. Ding Ning’s figure had floated out of the carriage as he spoke.
Jin Liuli naturally thought that Ding Ning spoke correctly, but when he flashed by her side, she still had not thought of a solution.
It was easy to kill the horse, and separate the horse from the carriage. But the waste buckets were wavering. Any of the solutions would be difficult to achieve if one did not want the heavy horse and carriage to turn over.
At this time, Ding Ning pulled out his sword.
The passerby along the two sides of the road dodged. While they appeared to be in chaos, there were actually many pairs of eyes solemnly focused on Ding Ning’s performance.
When Ding Ning pulled out his sword, these calm pairs of eyes filled with shock and puzzlement.
Ding Ning’s Last Flower remnant thrust forward. Fine white flowers immediately bloomed along the blade, then the tip of the sword split into numerous sword threads. The fine sword threads flew like white hair, each thread having multiple fine white flowers. There were more flowers flying in the air, each of them brimming with unique primal energies of the universe.
This was no longer a pure vital energy presence. The vital energy had absorbed some primal energies. This meant that this was at least the second class of realm four, Energy Fusing.
How long has it been since the Min Mountain Sword Trials?
At that time, Ding Ning had just entered realm four, and he had been seriously wounded during the trials. Now, he had recovered from his injuries, and his vital energy cultivation reached realm four second class.
How was this possible?
But their shock and puzzlement did not stop there.
When the threads of the Last Flower remnant sword spread apart in Ding Ning’s hand, a crystal clear flow of water appeared at the tip of each thread. Every thread seemed to be like a willow branch that had been soaking in the pond. The moment the wind blew, they scattered water.
The flow of water stabbed into the rampaging horse. The horse was still madly sprinting, but its momentum slowed.
Ding Ning swung his sword.
As the streams of water snapped, this horse had almost stopped, its limbs powerless as it fell forward.
Ding Ning’s swing cut through the reins, the carriage shaft and all other items attached to the carriage itself.
The horse fell to the ground with a crash. The carriage behind it swayed slightly, and then as Ding Ning’s sword slapped it, it completely quieted.
Jin Liuli had stopped the carriage and was several dozen feet away from the waste carriage behind the horse.
“It is not easy to raise a horse. This was not its fault. Since you have the ability to stop the carriage, why kill the horse as well?” she asked softly but seriously.
Ding Ning turned to walk back to the carriage and said, “It’s been fed Crimson Rock Powder. It cannot live long, that will just add more pain.”
Jin Liuli frowned deeply. “You made so many judgements in an instant. I should learn from you.”
Ding Ning looked calmly at her and then reached out to point at an alley beside the carriage. He said, “Go here, if you go around, it will notwaste much time.”
Jin Liuli’s expression was solemn but calm.
She drove the carriage into that path without any more words. A sweet and clean fragrance reached her nose. There were many jasmine flowers planted along the side of the alley, and the snowy white flowers were in full bloom.
Thinking of the distance where the horse had fallen, Jin Liuli knew that it was a result of Ding Ning’s deliberate control. She took a deep breath and said, “Even if I thought of a sword move as fast as you did back then, I still cannot match you in using a sword move so well.”
“In my view, sword moves just have to be used well, you do not have to be concerned with perfection,” Ding Ning looked at her back and said, “There is no absolute perfection in the world. Also, your opponent cannot perfectly respond to you.”
“Used well, and not absolutely perfect?” Jin Liuli thought of the meaning of the words, and frowned even more. She felt that the truth in the words was profound.
The carriage gradually left the sight of the eyes focused on Ding Ning. The shock in those eyes was still expanding.
Terrifying to think about. That was what these people were thinking.
Other than the realm four second class cultivation, that first blow was the Thousand Winding Waters of the Cloud Water Palace. This sword move originally needed many preliminary moves to be used. It was one of those moves that was similar to a sword formation. Yet Ding Ning used the traits of the Last Flower sword to use it in one move.
This kind of performance was not just an excellence performance of a sword move, but a kind of new creation. Also, his following slice and slap with the sword used a perfect amount of force. He could use his sword moves so well. This was more terrifying than his cultivation advancement.
Realm four second class challenging a realm six was an action of seeking death. But inexplicably, many of these people started to worry for Palace Attendant Rong’s safety.
The fragrant alley was quiet and washed away all murderousness. The passersby were few. But Jin Liuli’s hand was unconsciously by her side.
That was where her sword hilt originally was, but she touched empty space now. Her sword was not there.
“Do not ever have any habitual actions. Especially towards your sword. Any habitual actions will be a fatal weakness,” Ding Ning said calmly and softly as he looked at Jin Liuli, who had realized some problems.
Jin Liuli and his gaze both landed on a porter near a well at the entrance of the alley.
That porter looked normal, and was just washing himself with cold water. But he and Jin Liuli seemed to know at the same time that this person was not an ordinary porter.
“The cloth he holds has problems.”
Jin Liuli nodded minutely to show that she had learned. At the same time, she turned slightly to ask Ding Ning, “How did you see it?”
“The worn parts on his carrying pole do not match his figure.” Ding Ning glanced at her and said, “There are many porters from Falling Parasol. A shoulder like his cannot make a waer patterson like that on his pole.”
So this was finding oddness in the ordinary?
Thinking of the advancement Zhang Yi gained in the common streets, Jin Liuli grew thoughtful.
“He has no killing intent,”
Ding Ning said softly, “Just go past him.”
Jin Liuli was puzzled.
Any cultivator who wanted to make an ambush, especially a kill, would conceal their killing intent. Why was Ding Ning certain right now the other had no real killing intent?
At this time, a soft but focused voice reached her and Ding Ning’s ears.
“Palace Attendant Rong only has a few weaknesses. What she lets you see are not her weaknesses.”
Volume 3 111 - Alliance **
The voice had come from the porter-like cultivator. He still appeared to be wiping his sweat and did not look like he was talking to them at all.
Jing Liuli saw this cultivator who was acting oddly and her eyebrows slowly lifted. Just as she was about to speak, Ding Ning’s voice sounded behind her.
“Do not ask or care, just listen.”
Jing Liuli’s gaze flashed. She did not speak and kept driving the carriage forward.
“In other words, many of her weaknesses are pretend. Her cat will die before you reach her courtyard. She ordered it to be killed.”
“She and Her Majesty the Empress are just as cruel. This cruelty is not just towards other people, it is also towards themselves.”
“She will treat her former lover the same. Even if you torture her former lover in front of her, there is no use. People like her only love themselves.”
“In this world, in this Changling, she only fears one, Her Majesty the Empress. Her only weakness is the empress…… if you want to defeat her, you must find her disloyalty towards Her Majesty the Empress, even if it is faked. If matters like this are exposed, she will become more terrified. She will worry that your revelations will cause the empress to be displeased with her. She will agree to fight you in hope of stopping the occurrence.”
**
Jing Liuli’s frown deepened.
The porter-like cultivator’s voice finally stopped after the carriage left the alley. Jing Liuli said softly, “This person seems to make a lot of sense.”
Ding Ning nodded and said in the same low volume, “A lot of sense, and they are not an ordinary person. They know a lot, even that Palace Attendant Rong has a former lover.”
Jing Liuli thought of this and her gaze darkened. She said, “Can you guess who this person is?”
Ding Ning said calmly, “It is very likely that he is the same as this palace attendant, someone close to the empress.”
Jing Liuli turned her head to look gravely at Ding Ning. “How did you judge that?”
“The matter of the Palace Attendant Rong’s former love is deeply hidden. Even the Min Mountain Sword Sect did not know of it. Only the Astrology Bureau knew. In all of Changling, only the Divinity Bureau and the people close to the empress would know as much as the Astrology Bureau.”
Ding Ning glanced at her, indicating for her to focus on driving. He said slowly, “Also, you did not notice his tone and address…… Each time he mentioned Zheng Xiu, he called her Her Majesty the Empress, and his tone was extremely respectful. The people of the Divinity Bureau are always cautious and will not cause trouble, much less contact me and Min Mountain Sword Sect. Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu’s greatest taboo is the members of the Divinity Bureau and Astrology Bureau working together with the people they supervise. If someone from the Divinity Bureau dares to do something like this, they will not be as respectful in tone or address.”
Jing Liuli said after a moment of silence, “I have many things to learn from you. But if he is someone close to the empress, why will he help you against Palace Attendant Rong. Is this a trap?”
“We will know once we try.” Ding Ning saw her humble attitude and laughed. He said, “As to someone around the empress helping me against Palace Attendant Rong, I do not know why. I cannot know everything.”
Jing Liuli thought and then nodded in agreement. She asked, “Palace Attendant Rong has been like the empress’ shadow in these last few years. How could she have been disloyal to the empress? If so, why would not that person tell us clearly if he wants to help us?”
“Maybe it is just a suspicion and not confirmed. But if there is something suspicious, it can be found.” Ding Ning looked at Jing Liuli and said, “The other even spoke directly about her former lover. He believes that we, with our capabilities, already know this. So maybe he feels that he does not need to mention it. We can find out, and it will not be hard to make something out of nothing.”
“There is one thing he is very right about which reminds me,” Ding Ning said seriously after a pause, “her greatest fear comes from Zheng Xiu. She will only be in the greatest of terrors if it is something related to Zheng Xiu. Even more importantly, Zheng Xiu loves herself the most. She is the most familiar with Zheng Xiu, so she will be even more terrified.”
Jing Liuli turned to glance at Ding Ning and said, “You seem to understand the empress very well.”
Ding Ning said calmly, “I have heard enough stories, and my eldest sect brother Zhang Yi is somewhere unknown.”
The carriage approached Palace Attendant Rong’s residence.
A clear cat scream sounded.
In Palace Attendant Rong’s courtyard, the attendant who usually served her was holding a pair of scissors, trembling all over and on the verge of tears.
There was blood splashed on her front. On the ground, a cat with blue fur had not yet died and was still convulsing.
**
Like in many other mornings, Zhang Yi woke up at the rooster’s first crow. He got up without any delay, dressed, folded his blanket, and started to wash.
Even in the inn, he was meticulous. A gentleman’s conduct was not in material objects, but their minds.
Some things he was puzzled by. From the Qin to the Yan, no one had arranged his journey, so he had to follow the horse caravan around the Chu-Yan border. After reaching the Yan, even in the border village, there was someone waiting to greet him, arranging his shelter and food until he reached the Yan capital.
Now, there was a carriage waiting outside the inn doors. This carriage would take him to Celestial Seal Sect today.
In the clearing in front of Celestial Seal Sect, there were many young candidates recommended by the different Yan cultivation places gathered under the sunlight.
The Yan cultivation places were not as concentrated as in the Qin Dynasty, so most of the candidates were dusty.
Celestial Seal Sect was publicly recognized as the strongest sect in the Yan. In the wider world, this sect had an important position. For many years, at least seven or eight out of every ten most famous cultivators in Yan came out of the Celestial Seal Sect.
After a simple breakfast, the carriage carried Zhang Yi to the gates of Celestial Seal Sect. Seeing the seemingly crude grass huts on the mountain, and then the writing of many powerful Yan cultivators and emperors outside the gates, he felt reverent and even ashamed.
His sword path seemed to not fit with the seal path of this Celestial Seal Sect.
More than half of the students he could see were immersed in the writing on the wall, yet he just felt the presence of those characters were too distant, like they were floating in the sky.
He did not just worry if he could keep up with these young geniuses of the Yan after entering Celestial Seal Sect. He even started to worry if he could pass the examination of Celestial Seal Sect.
As to Celestial Seal Sect’s exams being held at this time, he subconsciously thought it was a coincidence.
Yet none of the dusty candidates had the same thoughts as him. These candidates had come here half a month ago.
The exams of Celestial Seal Sect had been delayed for a fortnight for unknown reasons.
He, like the other candidates, seemed to be ignored by everyone from Celestial Seal Sect, yet all of his whereabouts were constantly being reported into a grass hut in Celestial Seal Sect.
There were three old people in the hut. One of them was the old man he had taken care of in the caravan.
“Senior Sect Brother, you really have decided to take him on as a student?”
Hearing the other old person’s question, this senior shook his head and said, “Junior Sect Brother, you have asked this three times already.”
The old man who had a clear face and hair that seemed to shine with blue energy shook his head. “I ask at three different times, thinking that you may have changed your mind.”
The old man sighed softly and did not respond.
This was determination.
The other old person with white eyebrows slowly raised his eyebrows and moved to speak.
“Senior Sect Brother Yuan, you are the most skilled in the path of balance and harmony. You know that everything needs to be balanced. Yet this balance and harmony has nothing to do with the favors one may owe.”
The old man looked at the man with white-eyebrows and said softly, looking at the sunlight outside the hut, “Because all of this cannot stop true affection.”
“I really like this Changling youth’s character,” the old man said patiently. “This is the true reason I want to take him on.”
The man with white eyebrows smiled helplessly and said, “Junior Sect Brother, you are the master of the sect. Since you are determined, we need to say nothing more.”
The old man smiled contentedly and said, “Gentlemen are like jade, not divided by region or group. A person like this will not fail our efforts.”
In the sunlight, the other two old men accepted this old man’s true affections and were also infected by the joy.
Outside the gates of Celestial Seal Sect, bird cries attracted the attention of Zhang Yi, who could not immerse himself into the ink marks on the walls. He looked up curiously and saw many magpies flying over.
Volume 3 112 - The First Opponents
Seeing magpies in the morning was a good omen.
Zhang Yi did not know that even before the exams had begun, he was fated to be a direct disciple of the master of Celestial Seal Sect.
Any kind of weighing of merits and drawbacks, or even consideration of the present and future could not stop true affection. Love and hatred were the strongest emotions in the world.
“She is more vicious than we imagine, just as we expected, and hard to deal with,” Jing Liuli stopped the carriage and said slowly to Ding Ning, a hint of coldness flashing through her eyes.
She heard the cat scream and knew, without even looking, what had happened in the courtyard.
“I harmed this cat.” Ding Ning shook his head helplessly, “I originally wanted to take it back to Ink Garden to raise it well.”
Jing Liuli turned to frown at him slightly. She did not know if his words were true or just random.
“Since she is so difficult, and people are helping us, the plan has to change.” Ding Ning ignored her gaze and thought with his head bowed. “We are going to the south city.”
Jing Liuli nodded, looked in the direction and started to drive. At the same time, she asked softly, “What are you going to the south for?”
Ding Ning said, “To find her old lover.”
Jing Liuli raised her eyebrows and said, “Did you not say to not move him first?”
Ding Ning said after a moment of silence and said, “Zheng Xiu is cruel and ruthless but she has great tolerance. The only thing she cannot tolerate is someone taking over her private property.”
Jing Liuli turned to glance at Ding Ning and said, “Why do you understand the empress so well?”
Ding Ning said, “Do not go off topic. Also, you will know in the future why I know her so well.”
Jing Liuli frowned and thought. “You say she is the least tolerant of someone taking her personal property. What does that have to do with going to meet this palace attendant’s old lover early?”
Ding Ning looked at her back and said calmly, “Surpassing one’s authority is taking over her personal property, using cultivators without her permission is taking over her personal property. If that cultivator dies and it is not her intent, that is something she cannot tolerate. Palace Attendant Rong has followed Zheng Xiu for so many years. It is not possible for her to have secretly taken some of Zheng Xiu’s cultivation treasures or concealed some information. She would not dare. But she is someone who can speak in front of Zheng Xiu. Everyone in Changling knows that her actual status is above most court officials. If she needs to do something, she only has to express a certain attitude at times. So after so many years, she must have inadvertently made some mistakes due to her own power. She may not have done it deliberately…… but she cannot avoid accidents. Her old lover was with her for many years. I think that he knows many things about her.”
Jing Liuli thought intently and said, “You speak sense, but even if her old lover knows, why will he tell you? In Changling, even I cannot misuse punishment.”
“Your direction of thinking is wrong. The sword is often the last solution,” Ding Ning said softly. “Since even the other people around the empress know this palace attendant is similarly cruel, then her old lover will also know. Temporary love and emotion may blind one’s eyes, but over time, that person will become sensible and easily see the true nature. If her old lover really loved her at the start, and sees her clearly now, I fear that they are mutually using and relying on each other.”
“Insecurity.”
Ding Ning looked at her back and said, “He will feel insecure. We are going to use his feeling of insecurity.”
“The sword is usually the last solution…… in your own sect, you cannot use your sword casually at any moment. “Jing Liuli looked down and thought of how her master had killed someone with a blow right under the eyes of Emperor Yuanwu during the Min Mountain Sword Trials. She said slowly, “I frequently have gains when following you.”
Ding Ning looked at her and said softly, “I only hope I will not lead you astray.”
Jing Liuli said coldly, “The path is determined by the mind. Going astray or not cannot be blamed on others.”
Ding Ning nodded. He said, “Turn right on the main street ahead.”
Changling was large so the carriages could not be fast when moving through the streets.
Even though Ding Ning had directed the closest path, Jing Liuli’s carriage only reached a tea garden in the south suburbs near noon.
The tea garden was not on the hills. It was planted beside mulberry fields next to a river. Those tea leaves appeared fat, but in the eyes of the nobility who liked teas, they were not worth a mention. So these leaves were usually casually picked at random over time, cooked and then sold to street-side shops.
Especially those tea shops with large bowls on the sides of the government roads. The rougher the taste, the more it appeared to have tea flavour. Those people resting there would have their thirst quenched with a bowl of cold tea.
The people of the tea garden were doing their best to use their produce. So when Ding Ning and Jing Liuli reached this tea garden, a clear tea fragrance mixed with an oil fragrance came from a bamboo hut inside.
Ding Ning sniffed and smiled, saying, “Old tea and old goose.”
Jing Liuli looked at him and did not express an opinion.
“Let’s eat first.”
Ding Ning smiled, and stopped her from walking forward by walking towards the bamboo hut.
There was a crude stove built with rocks outside the bamboo hut.
On the stove was a black metal pot with a chopped up old goose. The goose had been cooked for a long time with thick tea leaves. The soup was like a sauce and shone with oil. But the tea leaves appeared to have absorbed a lot of oil so it did not look greasy.
A tall middle-aged man in plain robes was sprinkling garlic and adding the last seasoning.
Seeing Ding Ning and Jing Liuli approach, and sensing the pair’s presence, his expression froze slightly.
“Let’s eat,” Ding Ning did not waste words, and said again.
He carried over two wooden benches from the side, took two sets of cutlery from a side table to wash with clear water, and then sat down next to the pot. He scooped out rice from a jar on the side to fill a bowl each for himself and Jing Liuli. Then he picked up the bowl the middle-aged man had placed by himself a long time ago and helped fill this bowl as well.
Seeing Ding Ning’s movements, this middle-aged man just frowned slightly but did not speak up to stop him.
The middle-aged man asked politely once Ding Ning picked up a piece of goose meat, “How does it taste?”
“Not as good as the chefs outside, but it has a special flavour.” Ding Ning smiled and said, “Even more importantly, this goose is a truly old goose.”
The middle-aged man’s expression eased. He stopped speaking and started to eat.
After a bowl, he saw the bottom of the rice jar and asked, “How about cooking more rice?”
“That’s good. Let’s talk about some things while it cooks.”
Ding Ning nodded, looked at the polite middle-aged man and said, “No wonder Palace Attendant Rong has liked to come here to your place all these years. You really are unusual. You do not ask about intentions, and are casual. This will make someone like her, who has too many matters on her mind, feel comfortable.”
The middle-aged man was washing the rice, and shock appeared in his eyes when he heard Ding Ning’s words. “You are Ding Ning?”
Ding Ning bowed shallowly and said, “I am White Goat Cave’s Ding Ning.”
The middle-aged man took a deep breath. He continued to wash rice as he placed some washed vegetables into the pot with the cooked goose. He said hesitantly, “Why did you have to make no allowances at all?”
“She was the first to do it.” Ding Ning looked at the middle-aged man and recovered his usual calm. “Even if she would have let Old Man Xue see for just a second, I would not be like this now.”
The middle-aged man skillfully tossed the metal pot and allowed the pot’s heat to just cook the vegetables he had put in before. He put the jar with rice onto the stove and said sincerely, “But there is no use in you coming to see me. Even if you kill me, there is no use.”
“You should be more important to her than that cat.”
Ding Ning shook his head and added wood to the stove. He said as he gazed at the new flames, “When I showed some thoughts of dealing with her cat, she ordered her cat killed.”
The middle-aged man sat down and became silent.
“Now, the question is, do you think she will guarantee at any cost that you will not be harmed at all by me?” Ding Ning looked at the silent middle-aged man and said calmly, “If you feel she will, then you can stand firmly on her side.”
Seeing the silent middle-aged man, Ding Ning paused for a long time. Then he asked directly, “If I do nothing today, eat two more bowls of your rice, and then leave, do you feel that she will think nothing happened between us?”
Translator Ramblings: I’ve never had tea goose but I have had tea-smoked duck before and it is so good.
Volume 3 113 - The Problem of Many Swords
This quiet middle-aged man was silent for a long time until the jar on the stove started to emit steam.
Then he looked up at Ding Ning and said, “The problem is you want to kill her. If I tell you some things you want to know, will she die?”
Ding Ning looked at this man called Zhang Luyang and paid attention to the subtle changes in his gaze as he said seriously, “It is very simple. You want her to die or not?”
Jing Liuli, sitting silently by Ding Ning’s side, suddenly looked up when she heard Ding Ning’s words. She suddenly realized that she may have misunderstood what Zhang Luyang said previously.
Zhang Luyang looked at Ding Ning and said, “I must confirm you have the capability to kill her.”
Ding Ning smiled and reached out to touch the chopsticks.
Zhang Luyang’s expression changed minutely. With a movement of the fingers, Ding Ning’s chopsticks suddenly changed direction, and the tips pointed to his lower right ribs.
Seeing Ding Ning’s minute action, Jing Liuli’s expression immediately grew serious.
“I heard you comprehended sword manuals at a glance during the Min Mountain Sword Trials. Your understanding of sword manuals is something normal people cannot imagine. Today, I see even your vital energy cultivation advancement is unprecedented.” Zhang Luyang looked at Ding Ning’s chopsticks and took a deep breath. He said seriously, “But is not a realm four second class challenging a realm six too hasty?”
“I will reach realm five.” Ding Ning skillfully pressed down on the wood fire in the stove and said naturally, “In realm five, I can use a flying sword. It will not be difficult to kill her with a flying sword then.”
An indescribable grimace appeared on Zhang Luyang’s lips. “How much longer?”
Ding Ning glanced at him and said, “Not long, before summer ends.”
“You have been with her for so many years. Do you really want her to die?” Jing Liuli could not help herself and said in a cold voice before Zhang Luyang could speak.
“It is not that I want her to die, but she will definitely let me die.” Zhang Luyang shook his head emotionally. “Because I am also one of her secrets. Now that you know of my existence, then she will not allow a secret like this to keep on existing.”
Jing Liuli was puzzled and frowned. “This counts as a secret?”
“Of course it is a secret.” Zhang Luyang smiled emotionally. “Before you found me, I thought that no one in Changling would know of the relationship between us during my lifetime.”
“Can’t a palace attendant have a lover?” Jing Liuli looked at him in confusion. “What is the problem if she marries and has children?”
In reply, Jing Liuli saw Zhang Luyang and Ding Ning look at her oddly.
“What, am I incorrect?” Jing Liuli looked strangely at Ding Ning and Zhang Luyang.
Ding Ning smiled and said, “If a marriage is built on true and mutual love, of course there is no problem. But if this person is used to resolving her boredom, just a place for her to temporarily not think of other matters, what you say is meaningless.”
Jing Liuli frowned deeply. She was silent and seemed to understand somewhat.
“At the empress’ side, she has many difficulties, and yet if the empress knows she feels insecure following her and needs a place of comfort, then the matter should be a secret.”
Zhang Luyang smiled in grief and said, “I originally was an ordinary swordsmanship teacher of the Blue Sun Sword School. I was indifferent in character and did not like to compete for fame. So I rented this tea garden and lived here in seclusion. When I first met her, I thought this was true love, but over time, I realized I was mistaken.”
Jing Liuli’s expression was still ugly. She understood Zhang Luyang’s meaning but she could not get herself to agree. Even if today was different from the past, this man had truly liked the palace attendant in the past. Now, he was so vicious to let the palace attendant die?
“In reality, just like how you feel you can learn some information from me, she too would think that I know many things I should not after being with her. She will not speak when awake, but when she sleeps, she worries that she will talk in her dreams and tell me something.” Zhang Luyang saw Jing Liuli’s thoughts and smiled self-deprecatingly. “She has come increasingly frequently in these years. I do not know if she really needs more comfort or she worries about me.”
“Also, maybe she truly knows too much that she cannot mention to anyone, so she would speak in her sleep.”
Seeing Jing Liuli’s eyebrows suddenly lift, Zhang Luyang shook his head. “In her dreams, she will speak words threatening to kill me.”
“Then why do you not leave her?” Jing Liuli instinctively said. When the words left her lips, she knew they were extraneous.
“If I left her, she would really be worried. Maybe, I would have been buried in this tea garden.”
But Zhang Luyang still answered her question.
His hand landed on the boiling jar. A gentle wave of primal energies of the universe flowed out of his hand, covering the jar, and sealing in all the venting steam.
When the jar was on the verge of exploding, he picked up the jar and placed it on the table. Then he smiled faintly at Ding Ning and Jing Liuli, saying, “The rice is done, let’s have another bowl.”
Jing Liuli finally remembered the role she was playing, took Ding Ning’s bowl and started to serve him rice.
“Min Mountain Sword Sect can guarantee your safety. If you are willing, you can leave Changling at any time.”
Ding Ning looked at the rice grains that were full and clear after a cultivator’s tactics, and poured a scoop of goose soup on the rice. He said seriously, “What secrets can you tell us about her?”
“In reality, the palace attendant the empress liked before was not her, but a Palace Attendant Huang.” Zhang Luyang took over the rice that Jing Liuli served him and slowly started to eat. He said slowly, “But that palace attendant said some things she should not have and was awarded death.”
Jing Liuli was about to speak but then she remembered her role and that Ding Ning told her to listen more and speak less. So she understood and bowed her head to eat.
“That palace attendant leaked a secret regarding something three years before the Holy One’s ascension.”
Zhang Luyang did not look at her and only Ding Ning, saying, “The Holy One went through a period of time of not liking women. The empress was with that person at the time, but the empress disguised herself as another woman and had relations with the Holy One. The Holy One had no more room to maneuver and so started the change.”
Even though Jing Liuli wanted to quietly listen to the story, after hearing these words, her expression immediately changed.
This kind of secret was so enormous.
Ding Ning took a deep breath. He put down his bowl and looked at Zhang Luyang, saying slowly, “So this matter was Palace Attendant Rong using the other palace attendant to leak on?”
Zhang Luyang nodded and grimaced. “This matter was almost written into storybooks. The Great Scholar Academy and the One Path Academy were burned down due to this matter. There were almost a hundred scholars burned to death.”
“Just this one matter is enough,” Ding Ning nodded and said.
“In reality, there is a flaw in this matter, so she thinks of it day and night, and mentions it frequently in her dreams.” Zhang Luyang looked at Ding Ning and whispered. “What she did caused an investigation into the day Palace Attendant Huang leaked this matter. At that time, Palace Attendant Huang was meeting someone who could have acted as witness. But that person did not know the connection between Palace Attendant Huang’s death and the fires of Great Scholar Academy and One Path Academy. He did not know what happened then, and Palace Attendant Huang herself did not know what the discovered clues all pointed to that time.”
“The bureaus would not have left behind the case files of the investigation but the empress has a good memory, and this matter will have left a great impression on her so she will remember every detail.”
“That person is Mo Shoucheng. She does not have the ability to kill someone of such status, so this has always been a weight on her mind.”
**
When Zhang Luyang finished speaking, Ding Ning had finished his bowl.
He looked at Jing Liuli who had half a bowl left and stood up. He bowed slightly to Zhang Luyang, and said, “Thank you for your help.”
Seeing him stand up and bow to leave, Jing Liuli also stood up and followed.
Zhang Luyang returned the bow but did not see them out of the tea garden.
As Jing Liuli started to drive the carriage to leave, Ding Ning said softly, “He is lying.”
Volume 3 114 - Who Is He?
Jing Liuli was still immersed in Zhang Luyang and Palace Attendant Rong’s strange relationship as well as the past secret of Empress Zheng Xiu and Emperor Yuanwu that Zhang Luyang had exposed. Hearing Ding Ning’s words, she could not help but shake despite her strong mind.
“What do you mean?” She whispered.
Ding Ning glanced at the hut in the tea garden and said simply, “He made too many mistakes.”
Jing Liuli frowned deeply and said, “I did not even see even one mistake.”
Ding Ning said slowly, “His greatest mistake is that all his knowledge comes from Palace Attendant Rong’s sleep talking. No matter how many secrets they hold, how many realm six cultivators have you heard of that would talk in their sleep?”
Jing Liuli turned to look at him and did not speak.
“When one reaches realm five, their mind would be open. Vital Energy and primal energies will nourish the body better than most medicines in the world. One’s soul will be calm. If they speak in their sleep, I fear they will immediately wake up. How could they speak for so long?”
Ding Ning said calmly, “When one reaches realm six and seven, they can clearly hear the sound of insects in grass, and rain in their ears like thunder. Any unusual response in their body would be like lightning and thunder, causing the cultivator to wake up immediately. Unless this cultivator is seriously wounded or sickly, then their minds would weaken…… but you and I have seen Palace Attendant Rong. She has a calm presence, but she is limited by her talent so she cannot touch realm seven. How can she frequently sleep talk?”
Jing Liuli’s expression grew more serious. She said coldly, “This is indeed an enormous mistake.”
“He takes advantage of us not being in realm six, and feels we are ignorant of what is in realm six,” Ding Ning looked up and said with a hint of coldness, “Just now, you saw his cultivation. He is realm six. How can a realm six not know about realm six.”
“Using something shocking to disturb people’s emotions will easily make them lose their usual judgement.” Ding Ning said slowly after a pause, “He said that Zheng Xiu disguised herself as another woman and had relations with Emperor Yuanwu, forcing Emperor Yuanwu to start his change. This matter is astounding. The fires of the Great Scholar Academy and One Path Academy should be true, and can be traced. People who listen to his words will be taken in by him and assume all he says next is true. This is a common psychological tactic. Many people, especially generals, will do this when directing troops in battle.”
Jing Liuli’s expression turned frosty. “You mean the entire matter is false?”
“It does not matter if the entire matter is true or not.” Ding Ning had a coldness he usually did not carry. “At least, some important details are false. Even if we make this matter reach Zheng Xiu’s ears, this matter will not have much connection with Palace Attendant Rong. Zheng Xiu will just feel that we are unscrupulous and have created something false to damage her reputation in order to gain revenge. At that time, we will not get a good outcome.”
Jing Liuli’s hands tensed. She could not help but want to pull the carriage to a stop.
“Do not stop. Maybe he is looking at us,” Ding Ning shook his head and said softly.
Jing Liuli took a deep breath and continued to drive. “So he really does not want Palace Attendant Rong to die, he wants to help her against us?”
Ding Ning smiled and nodded. “He also has a great flaw…… when I said Min Mountain Sword Sect could protect him, and even implied that he could go into Min Mountain Sword Sect to avoid the calamity, he was not joyful, and his gaze seemed to avoid mine. When we left, he sighed in relief like he had finished something. He did not even ask when people from Min Mountain Sword Sect will come, and how we will arrange for him to go there. Those issues were not confirmed. We had no arrangements…… but he does not worry about this matter of life and death.”
Jing Liuli was silent for a moment and said, “I understand what you say, but since you knew from the start he was lying, you did not expose him. You are unable to learn Palace Attendant Rong’s secrets from his mouth. Are you going to beat them at their own game?”
“I have no way of doing so.” Ding Ning looked at her, and an odd emotion flashed through his eyes. “But through our conversation, I thought of some things that are enough to deal with Palace Attendant Rong.”
Jing Liuli turned to look curiously at him. “What ways?”
Ding Ning looked in the direction of the distant imperial palace and said indifferently, “In Changling now, there are many things only Zheng Xiu and Palace Attendant Rong know…… if a third person knows of this, Palace Attendant Rong would definitely be the one to have leaked it. Even if something like this does not reach Zheng Xiu’s ears, Palace Attendant Rong will be afraid.”
Jing Liuli looked in puzzlement at Ding Ning and could not think.
She thought, if this was something only the empress and Palace Attendant Rong knew about, how could other people know? If other people know, even if it was something that old Changling inhabitants like Forefather Zhou or Xue Wangxu knew about, why would only the empress and Palace Attendant Rong know of it?
“You do not need to understand now. Since you are learning from me, as long as you remember the processes, you will understand in the future.”
Ding Ning did not explain more. He faced her puzzled gaze and said, “Zhang Luyang used this shocking matter to get us to take the bait, risking the danger of angering Zheng Xiu. He is gambling with his own life and death…… This means that he and Palace Attendant Rong are faking it, and have lied to everyone.”
Jing Liuli suddenly understood slightly and said, “So he and Palace Attendant Rong are truly in love.”
Ding Ning nodded and said with a hint of pleasure, “So there are ways of dealing with Zhang Luyang. At a key moment, Zhang Luyang can be the last piece to break through her mind’s defenses.”
Jing Liuli said after a moment of silence, “You seem to innately understand these things…… Honestly, you are more suited than I at being the next master of Min Mountain Sword Sect.”
Ding Ning looked at her. She did not respond.
It was not because of Jing Liuli’s words, but because when he looked at Jing Liuli, he thought that Jing Liuli was really similar to a certain person from the past.
Their conversation stopped but the carriage did not.
From the remote and quiet tea garden, the carriage drove into some of Changling’s prosperous streets.
Ding Ning seemed slightly tired in the cabin and his eyes grew lidded.
Jing Liuli’s gaze suddenly grew sharp. But this time, she hid well and did not raise her head or unconsciously put her attention to her waist where her sword usually rested.
There was a large tea house ahead. At the door to the tea house, a youth in blue robes walked out towards their carriage.
She did not stop the carriage and advanced like she was unaware.
About a hundred feet away, this handsome blue-robed youth’s hand landed on his sword hilt. His body gave off a faint presence.
The dust on the street in front of him slowly floated forward, forming a sword that blocked the street ahead of the carriage.
This had a clearer meaning.
Even the idle people who were on the streets or eating sunflowers in the tea house immediately understood this youth’s intentions.
This blue-robed youth was going to challenge the people in the carriage.
**
Palace Attendant Rong’s face gave off a porcelain-like light.
She was walking on foot back to the palace. While she did not stop at all, the news about Ding Ning constantly reached her ears.
She knew about the waste carriage that had crashed towards Ding Ning. She also knew that Ding Ning had gone to the tea garden. She also knew that a blue-robed youth was challenging Ding Ning.
Her expression did not change, but cold flames burned deep in her eyes. She feared everyone in Changling would think that it was her behind that waste carriage and even the blue-robed youth.
Yet she knew this all had nothing to do with her.
Then who was doing all this. Was it Ding Ning himself, or those important people of Guanzhong?
She could not understand.
What she did not know was, in a teahouse on another street not far from the blue-robed youth, a general in ordinary robes was looking at the scenery.
Volume 3 115 - The Last to Exit
The blue-robed youth who was blocking the way used a sword of dust to stop Jing Liuli’s carriage. His was an interesting name – Chen Fuchen, meaning Floating Dust.
Seeing Jing Liuli who had stopped the carriage, the blue-robed youth bowed slightly towards the carriage behind Jing Liuli and said, “This one is Chen Fuchen and wants to challenge Ding Ning.”
When Chen Fuchen’s soft and faint sword essence appeared, the passersby on the street had sensed the extraordinary nature of this youth. When they heard the name “Ding Ning,” gasps immediately filled the air.
With the Min Mountain Sword Trials having ended many days ago, Ding Ning’s name was so famous that it immediately stirred everyone’s emotions.
“Inside the carriage is the Falling Parasol wineshop youth?”
“That’s the victor of the Min Mountain Sword Trials, Ding Ning?”
Many people exclaimed in shock as their gazes were unconsciously attracted to the seemingly ordinary carriage. The curtain slowly opened outwards. Ding Ning walked out.
The surrounding people saw this calm youth and then the broken sword at his waist. Immediately, numerous exclamations sounded and swept the street in a wave.
Ding Ning had won the Min Mountain Sword Trials. For Changling’s commoners, he was just a myth. No matter how great his power, they had not seen it with their own eyes. Now, someone was challenging him in the street. This was a chance for them to see him fight with their own eyes.
This was truly a great spectacle in the streets.
Ding Ning looked calmly at the blue-robed youth who had looked like he was ready to fight and did not immediately respond.
Jing Liuli frowned slightly and said in a voice only she and Ding Ning could hear, “You should decide fast whether to accept or not. Otherwise, the shops here will collapse because of the crowd.”
“This is not a question of accepting or not, but how to deal with him.” Ding Ning’s gaze stayed on the blue-robed youth as he said slowly in a voice only the two of them could hear, “There are many choices in a fight. You can just kill him, injure him severely, or force the other to abandon his sword and forfeit. This is something you must consider after you become the master of Min Mountain Sword Sect in the future. Since you take me as your teacher and learn from me, this is one of the most important things you need to learn in my opinion.”
Jing Liuli was slightly annoyed and thought, this was only a sword fight, how could it be so troublesome? Yet she felt Ding Ning’s words were unusually correct so she controlled her emotions and said softly, “What to do?”
“The tea house he walked out of is expensive, and cannot be affordable to ordinary people. While he came out of there, and his clothes are luxurious, his expression and actions were slightly cautious. He was more relaxed when he walked out. This means he does not come from a wealthy family. You can see the skin on his face and his hands are slightly rough. They have not been taken care of like nobles are. He speaks naturally when he says he is Chen Fuchen. This means it is his real name. His cultivation is high, but his real name is not known in Changling. This means he comes from an outside commandery. See how heated his gaze is. He greatly desires fame…… after seeing so much, you can generally judge that he is a youth of ordinary birth who has cultivated diligently in an outside commandery, and desires to become famous in Changling. He likely knows not the dangers of Changling and is being used,” Ding Ning whispered softly and then said, “After knowing all this, it is up to you how you fight him. You need to know that when you fight in Changling, you definitely cannot just consider which of the two swords are stronger.”
Jing Liuli’s expression grew solemn as she listened. She felt she had overlooked many things in the past. Or rather, her status as the next master of Min Mountain Sword Sect caused her to overlook too many things. Because she did not need to judge certain things as Tantai Guanjian and others would indoctrinate her with the conclusions.
“Regardless of whether I have to judge on my own or not, I need to have my own judgement on some matters,” she took a deep breath, nodded and said.
Ding Ning smiled and did not say anything else.
As a smile appeared on Ding Ning’s lips, Chen Fuchen’s eyebrows rose. His sword essence had long been restless and eager. The reason he had been able to wait for a while was that Ding Ning’s calm gaze invisibly intimidated him.
In his view, Ding Ning had gotten famous in the Min Mountain Sword Trials yet he was unknown. He needed to step on Ding Ning to get famous. He was a junior right now, and waiting was normal.
The other reason was that there were not enough people coming in to visit after they heard…… To him, the more people were watching this battle, the more people would help spread his name in the future. Yet the streets were filled with people. If he waited longer, he feared there would not be even room to fight.
His eyebrows rose, and his lips moved. His sword lifted up slightly and he was going to speak.
But Ding Ning looked at him and said at this time, “How do you qualify to challenge me?”
At those words, the surroundings went silent. The chaotic streets immediately became soundless.
In the hot heat, the people who had come to watch crowded together. They were not restless and they unconsciously felt that Ding Ning was correct.
Chen Fuchen was shocked.
Previously, he had only just felt the cultivators of Changling were proud, and in all the rumors the cultivators of Changling were famed for their bravery and never feared accepting any challenge. Dodging a challenge would cause them to be looked down as weak and cowardly so he had never considered this problem before.
“My cultivation in realm five,” he took a deep breath and said what he thought was the most convincing reason after a pause.
Exclamations sounded.
There were cultivators present and they naturally knew what it meant when this blue-robed youth had realm five cultivation at such an age.
Yet Ding Ning’s expression remained calm. He looked at Chen Fuchen and said clearly, “So what? Some of my opponents in the Min Mountain Sword Trials passed realm five long ago.”
Chen Fuchen froze.
Many of the cultivators who felt that the blue-robed youth qualified to challenge Ding Ning also stilled.
“If you want to challenge me, you need to first have some fame in Changling. You are too impatient.” Ding Ning did not give them much time to think. “If you cannot even win against my attendant, how do you qualify to challenge me?”
“What?”
Gasps sounded at Ding Ning’s words. Chen Fuchen and everyone else focused on Jing Liuli.
Chen Fuchen’s body trembled minutely. He felt he was being scorned, and became angry.
“If I win against your attendant?” He took a breath, pushed out his chest, and said directly, “Will you fight me then?”
“If you can win against her, I will accept your challenge.” Ding Ning smiled and sat back in the cabin.
His faint smile angered Chen Fuchen even more. His anger seemed to burn in his eyes.
“Then I will challenge you first.” He took a deep breath and emphasized each word as he looked at Jing Liuli. At the same time, he raised his sword that he held tightly.
His sword was in a wooden scabbard. The wood scabbard was a metallic grey color, and the patterns were unique, like layers of feathers. His sword hilt was made from a certain kind of jade stone. As his presence surged, white cloudy energies seemed to float out of his light grey sword hilt.
Hearing his angry and cold words, Jing Liuli’s brow did not even twitch.
She looked calmly and gravely at the sword of dust in front of him like she could see something and said in a calm tone, “I accept your challenge.”
Volume 3 116 - The Last Person to Walk Out
Chen Fuchen’s chest rose and fell rapidly, as his eyes sprayed fire.
Seeing Chen Fuchen unable to control his anger upon her acceptance of the challenge, Jing Liuli slowly raised an eyebrow. “Regardless of how highly you think of yourself, you have to understand at least, you count for nothing in Changling right now. If you cannot even control your mind, I fear you will not last long in Changling.”
She was Jing Liuli. One of the two great cultivation monsters publicly recognized in the entire Qin Dynasty, and the heir to the Min Mountain Sword Sect. Even if she appeared like Ding Ning’s attendant right now, her words still had an unique authority. Chen Fuchen’s breathing unconsciously stilled. His anger invisibly halved, and his mind calmed down.
In the next moment, Chen Fuchen had a slight self-deprecating smile. He thought, other than his cultivation, he had nothing worthy of being proud, and his identity was not very different from Ding Ning’s attendant.
His mind calmed down even more. In a breath, his anger dissipated, and so did his smile into seriousness.
“Please.” He nodded gravely, and held his sword horizontally across his chest. He looked at Jing Liuli who remained motionless and was confused. “Where is your sword?”
Jing Liuli looked coldly at him and said, “When you attack, I will draw my sword.”
Seeing Jing Liuli’s presence, Chen Fuchen did not dare to underestimate the enemy and said, “If so, then I will attack now.”
As he spoke, he attacked with his sword.
Zzt zzzt zzt zzt!
The sound of energy bursts came from the hilt of his sword. The light grey sword hilt was connected to the light grey blade which separated completely from the scabbard before his words had finished. There were many grey sword energies flowing out of his sword tip like a long tassel.
At this moment, Chen Fuchen’s palm had separated from his sword hilt.
As the hilt left his hand, it still followed his will and moved according to the path he wanted.
This was a flying sword. The light grey sword spun backwards, turning like a grey comet and sweeping towards Jing Liuli.
The flying sword skill Chen Fuchen displayed in this moment was not especially stunning, and was not very different from throwing his sword as he pulled it out. But gasps sounded as the floating dust on the ground in front of him started to move forward as his sword spun away from his hand.
Previously, the dust had been moved by the sword essence of his body to form a block on the road. Now, the tip of this dust sword had turned directly against Jing Liuli, and gave off a sharp sword essence.
In the next moment, this dust sword was going to fly, and it appeared faster than the grey flying sword.
One sword formed two sword essences that could face the enemy at the same time. This was rare swordsmanship!
Many of the spectating cultivators looked in disbelief at Chen Fuchen. They could not believe this unknown youth could use such a move…… They were sure that only a few among Changling’s youthful talents could withstand this blow.
No one thought that Ding Ning’s attendant could withstand it.
But at this time, there was an unexpected surprise.
Jing Liuli stretched out her hand. She had no sword in her hand. No light came from her sleeves or robes, but as her right hand stretched out straight, energy rippled from her fingertips. The dust sword about to stab towards her suddenly collapsed back into dust.
To everyone’s shock, as the dust collapsed, it accelerated and moved backwards, growing faster and drawing white energy flows in the air. Each speck of dust had their own path, and immediately formed into a dust sword.
The tip of the sword faced Chen Fuchen. Even the sword essence was the same as Chen Fuchen previously, but it had grown stronger.
Crack!
The space in front of Chen Fuchen seemed to be cleaved apart by this dust sword as it reached Chen Fuchen’s sword at an unimaginable speed.
Chen Fuchen’s flying sword had flown ten feet away from his hand and would not be in time to block this dust sword. Chen Fuchen was basically empty-handed!
Chen Fuchen was pale white, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief. In this moment, his hands immediately came together. He compressed all of his vital energy through his palms into a blade that sprayed out.
Boom!
A dust ball exploded in front of him. There were flames within the dust ball as though it was burning.
Among the tsunami of gasps, Chen Fuchen could not stand still, and his body was thrown into the air backwards.
Jing Liuli’s body did not move at all.
In the collision of the dust sword and Chen Fuchen’s power, she seemed to be unconnected to the dust sword at all. Before the spreading flows of energy even reached her, she took a step forward with a calm expression and grasped forward with her hand.
The spinning light grey longsword in the air fell into her hand. This sword appeared to belong to her, not resisting at all as it went along with her momentum and sword essence slashed forward.
Snap!
The dust ball that had just exploded, appearing to be on the verge of burning, was cut by this sword essence in half.
The powerful sword energy reached Chen Fuchen.
Chen Fuchen screamed and pushed forward with his hand once again.
Bang!
His body was thrown flying to the ground, crashing violently as ripples of dust spread outwards.
Jing Liuli bowed her head as though she did not even want to look and casually threw the sword she held away.
The light grey longsword landed on the ground in front of Chen Fuchen, stuck in the stone as it wavered slightly.
Chen Fuchen forced himself off the ground and opened his mouth to speak. But in this moment, the power rippling out of the swaying light grey sword hit his chest in a wave.
He could not make a sound when he opened his mouth. He sprayed bright red blood on the ground in front of him.
**
Jing Liuli did not pause at all and turned to return to the carriage. The surrounding streets had grown deathly silent.
Many people rubbed their eyes. They did not seem to have seen clearly and did not understand. But even so, they could clearly sense the power of the “attendant”.
“Why is it like this?”
Many cultivators looked at Jing Liuli’s figure and were so shocked their hands uncontrollably trembled.
This was not a difference in cultivation…… Jing Liuli had not used her sword at all. She did not carry a sword with her!
First, it was the dust sword, then Chen Fuchen’s sword.
Chen Fuchen had formed two swords, but Jing Liuli first took his dust sword, and then casually picked up his personal sword. She had used Chen Fuchen’s sword to defeat Chen Fuchen and he had no ability to fight back.
Who was this attendant!
How could she be so strong!
“I understand what you mean.”
Under everyone’s shocked and speechless gaze, Jing Liuli bowed slightly to Ding Ning in the carriage. She said at a volume only the pair of them could hear, “You do not have me carry the sword, not because you do not want me to rely on my sword and force me to think of more tactics against enemies, but because you do not want me to gain fixed habits.”
Ding Ning nodded and said with a small smile, “Some fixed ways of thinking and habits are the greatest shackles of a cultivator.”
The surrounding people could not hear Jing Liuli and Ding Ning’s words, but they all saw Jing Liuli and Ding Ning’s movements and expressions.
In everyone’s view, this was a true and natural meeting of a student and their teacher. So people found it even harder to understand where Ding Ning’s powerful attendant had come from.
“This is using the situation. Sometimes, Zheng Xiu does not need to care about the thoughts of Changling’s commoners. But most of Changling’s people are ordinary people, and they can help us accomplish many things,” Ding Ning said softly to Jing Liuli.
Then he looked up and raised his folded hands in a bow to all the spectators in the streets and said, “That Palace Attendant Rong forced White Goat Cave’s Cave Master Xue to the point he could not see the end of the event before the Min Mountain Sword Trials even started. She forced me to use up my vital energy before the event. Everyone, comment, do I have reason to challenge her publicly?”
After saying this, he indicated to Jing Liuli they could leave.
He knew he did not have to speak of the details. Just the words were enough for these people who had heard to investigate what had happened. This was enough for today’s events and what had happened before the Min Mountain Sword Trials to reach every corner of Changling.
Volume 3 117 - Fire
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