In the fifth month, the grasshoppers stir their legs, and in the sixth month, the katydids flutter their wings.
When Yun Qi heard the sound of the katydids chirping, he knew it was time to set out on his journey.
On the morning of the first day of the sixth month, Yun Qi shouldered a well-fitted pack, fastened the "Autumn Water" sword at his waist, and stepped out of his home.
This time, he didn’t leave in secret.
He had already informed the townsfolk of his departure.
As he pushed open the door, the sky was still dim, but the entrance of the Cheng family courtyard was already crowded with people.
Seeing Yun Qi emerge, the crowd parted to make way for him.
Yun Qi smiled and waved to everyone.
"Today, I set out on a long journey. I entrust the care of my old home and my parents' graves to you all."
The quiet crowd suddenly erupted with voices.
"Of course, of course."
"Be careful on your journey, Yun Qi."
"Come back and visit often, Young Master!"
"..."
Amidst the chatter, Yun Qi nodded with a smile.
He walked along the path cleared by the crowd, taking a few steps before turning back to glance at the inscription on the eaves of his house.
It read:
"Clouds and Journeys Begin, Joy and Fortune Arrive."
With a smile on his face, he strode away.
After leaving the town, Yun Qi followed the familiar path to the Yulin Temple.
However, this time, he did not enter the temple.
Like many pilgrims, he lit three sticks of incense at the incense burner in the temple's front square.
As he bowed, he caught sight of the temple master standing at the entrance.
Yun Qi raised his "Autumn Water" sword and waved it a few times in the air.
Over the past few days, Yun Qi had visited the temple almost daily to discuss swordsmanship with the temple master.
He had gained much from these exchanges.
Although the old temple master couldn’t tell Yun Qi exactly how to proceed on his path, he shared his own past mistakes and experiences without reservation.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the temple master was half a mentor to Yun Qi in the way of the sword.
But now, as they parted, there were no lengthy words to be exchanged.
The temple master wore a faint smile as he watched Yun Qi depart.
The young acolyte standing beside the temple master looked up at him, wondering why the old master seemed to have grown younger.
Could it be that the temple master was truly an immortal?
Yun Qi descended Yuxiu Mountain and headed westward.
Unless he encountered an insurmountable natural barrier, he had no intention of riding the clouds on this journey.
More than twenty days later, in the latter half of the sixth month, the summer heat began to intensify.
The early mornings of summer were fascinating.
One moment, the sky was pitch black, and in the blink of an eye, it turned a deep blue.
Before you knew it, it had shifted to a pale gray, and the day broke swiftly.
In an unnamed mountain forest, on a not-too-high peak, stood a dead tree.
Its bark was charred, its trunk hollow, and its branches leafless, as if it had been struck by lightning and burned to a crisp.
For miles around, this tree was the tallest, with no other obstructions in sight.
On a thin branch at the top of the dead tree, Yun Qi sat cross-legged.
The morning summer breeze gently swayed both him and the branch.
Last year, He Bingkun had told Yun Qi that sitting still on a swiftly moving thunderbird was the mark of true mastery in meditation.
Back then, Yun Qi could barely stand steady.
Now, just a year later, he was as light as a leaf, meditating on a thin branch in the wind.
Yun Qi's eyes were slightly closed, his lips slightly parted, leaving a small opening.
As he exhaled, a faint "shh" sound could be heard.
When he inhaled, wisps of wood-element spiritual energy entered his nose, passed through his throat, traversed the twelve-story tower, and circulated through a small wood-element cycle, transforming into a strand of wood-element spiritual power that settled near his liver.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared on the eastern horizon.
The crimson glow shone on Yun Qi's eyelids, and the "shh" sound in his mouth naturally shifted to a "ha" sound as he absorbed the fire energy.
If the monk Su Kong were to enter Yun Qi's inner world at this moment, he would see countless crimson fireflies swirling around the fire palace, far more spectacular than the other four palaces.
Among the four palaces, water and earth spiritual power were the most abundant, followed by wood, with metal being the scarcest.
The weather today was excellent—clear skies, not a cloud in sight, and the sun blazing brightly.
On such a fine day, Yun Qi was in no hurry to continue his journey.
From dawn until noon, he remained motionless, absorbing the sun's fire energy.
It wasn’t until after noon that Yun Qi slowly opened his eyes and stopped absorbing energy.
The sun's fire energy after noon was mixed with the energy of dusk, and since Yun Qi aimed to refine pure yang fire, absorbing too much dusk energy would be counterproductive.
The Daoist tilted his body and dropped from the tree.
He picked up his pack from the ground and prepared to set off again.
For the past half-month, this had been his routine.
When he encountered mineral veins, he absorbed metal energy; in dense forests, he absorbed wood energy; by rivers, he absorbed water energy; under the blazing sun, he absorbed fire energy; and in all other places, he absorbed earth energy.
Yun Qi deliberately chose remote mountains and desolate areas to travel through, as the spiritual energy in bustling towns was far too thin.
But before he left, there was one more thing to do.
He drew his sword and cut off a palm-sized piece of charred bark from the tree.
He had recognized it as a jujube tree.
Jujube wood struck by lightning carried the yang energy of thunder and fire, making it suitable for crafting thunder or fire talismans.
This material wasn’t particularly rare, but stumbling upon it was still a pleasant surprise.
Such things often came unexpectedly, and when you actively sought them, they were hard to find.
This was one of the benefits of traveling—always being open to pleasant surprises.
Yun Qi didn’t take too much, cutting just a small piece and leaving the rest for others who might come across it.
He placed the lightning-struck jujube bark into his pack, sheathed his sword, and set off once more.
As he walked through the forest, a surge of water energy carried by the wind met him head-on.
Yun Qi took a deep breath and, almost instinctively, began to absorb the water energy using the "blow" technique.
He suddenly realized something and looked into the distance.
To the south, he saw an endless expanse of water, misty and shimmering, dotted with islands.
At that moment, a flock of white cranes flew by, making the scene resemble a water kingdom.
He had arrived at Poyang Lake.
Poyang Lake, also known as Dan Stone Lake, was one of the five great lakes, a vast body of water rarely seen in the world.
Mount Sanqing lay to the southeast of Poyang Lake.
Yun Qi had been traveling westward since leaving the mountain and now found himself at the southern edge of the lake.
The Daoist made his way to the lakeside.
Such a magnificent place was not to be missed, and Yun Qi planned to stay for a while.
The abundant water energy here would allow him to accumulate a significant amount of water-element spiritual power.
Moreover, each of the five great lakes had its own elemental attribute, and Poyang Lake was associated with metal, which would benefit his metal-element cultivation.
Metal-element locations were the rarest among the five elements, and currently, his own metal-element spiritual power was the weakest.
Additionally, Poyang Lake was famous for its stones.
Beneath the water, there were likely metal and water-element ores.
If he happened to find a few, they would serve as nourishment for his "Autumn Water" sword.
Back in his mountain home, Yun Qi had a stone lamp gifted by He Bingkun, crafted from Poyang Lake stone.
The lake was right before him, but even with Yun Qi's swift pace, it took him over an hour to reach the shore, a testament to the lake's vastness.
Standing by the lakeside, the afternoon breeze carried a warm touch.
The shimmering waves on the lake resembled floating gold foil, slightly dazzling to the eyes.
Yun Qi squinted as he looked out, but even with his keen vision, he couldn’t see the northern shore.
He had never seen the ocean, but he imagined it to be similarly boundless.
What difference was there between a lake and the sea?
Yun Qi glanced to the sides.
Even the southern shore seemed endless, with no visible boundaries to the east or west.
The area around him was lush with vegetation, the air filled with the roars of tigers and the cries of apes.
Herds of rhinos and crocodiles were visible, but there was no sign of human presence.
Yun Qi looked around and walked along the southern shore, stopping occasionally.
After a while, he finally found a suitable spot.
On the southern shore, there was a flat area jutting into the lake, unobstructed and surrounded by tall osmanthus trees.
Scattered among the trees were several large boulders, the tallest of which rose above the trees.
It was an ideal place for meditation and cultivation.
Most importantly, as he absorbed energy along the way, this spot had the strongest metal energy, which explained the grove of osmanthus trees.
Yun Qi summoned his "Dragon Chariot" and rode it high into the sky, surveying the area within a fifty-mile radius of the osmanthus grove.
He found no signs of disturbance, no traces of other cultivators' dwellings, just a pristine, wild landscape.
Returning to the large boulder at the center of the grove, Yun Qi decided to settle here for a while—perhaps ten days, a month, or until the osmanthus flowers bloomed.
He set down his pack and pulled out a section of vine with nine wooden bells attached.
Eight of the bells were the size of fingernails, while the ninth was about half the size of a palm.
This was a set of magical tools called the "Eight Trigrams Mother-Child Bells."
By placing the eight child bells in the eight trigram positions around him, any movement of spiritual energy or presence of strong life forces would cause the mother bell to ring as a warning.
This was one of the few magical tools Yun Qi had purchased for his journey, costing him ten taels of silver.
He detached the eight child bells and hung them on trees about three miles around the boulder, following the eight trigram positions.
As the bells neared the tree trunks, their stems automatically attached to the bark, as if they had grown there naturally.
Returning to the center of the trigram formation, he placed the vine near an osmanthus tree, and it climbed up on its own, requiring no further attention.
A simple protective warning system was now in place.
When traveling outside the sect, it was wise to be cautious.
While he had no ill intentions toward others, it was best to be prepared.
However, magical tools were still inanimate objects.
Having a guardian spirit or a spiritual pet would be far more convenient and safer.
Unfortunately, Yun Qi had neither at the moment.
All he had in his pocket was a motionless insect corpse.
Yun Qi glanced at the boulders.
There were four in total, each spanning several paces.
The smallest was about the height of a person, while the largest stood two zhang tall.
Yun Qi chose a boulder about twice his height, tapped it, and found it solid and not brittle.
He sat down on the ground near the osmanthus tree with the mother bell and muttered to himself, "I hope it doesn’t rain in the next few days."
He took out a jade slip from his robe, the "Guangcheng Decree of Emptiness and Free Will Chant."
Placing the jade slip against his forehead, he skillfully sent his consciousness into it.
Once again, he saw the forty-nine golden characters floating in the white void.
Yun Qi focused on the character for "split" and, without hesitation, directed his consciousness toward it.
This time, Yun Qi's consciousness was pulled into a blazing white world, like a mountain of knives or a dome of swords.
Everywhere was filled with sharp energy, with golden threads drifting in the air.
A massive white tiger loomed in the sky, its form indistinct.
On the tiger's back sat a shadowy Daoist, his face unclear.
The Daoist formed a hand seal with his left hand, his thumb pressing down on his middle and ring fingers, while his index and little fingers pointed straight at Yun Qi.
At that moment, countless weapons in the world turned toward the direction of the hand seal, their sharp cries resonating with the syllable uttered by the Daoist:
"Split!"
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(End of Chapter)