Coming out of the hall, the slanting sun already pressed down on half the sky. Standing atop the stairs and looking down upon the four corners of the land, the layered buildings of the Royal Capital filled her view. The evening sun shone on azure tiles, like late pear blossoms carpeting the ground.
This seemingly lofty dome was also situated beneath another world. The Martial Way had already entered its twilight; the truly cruel era was only just about to arrive. Zhao Chun let out a long sigh.
Zhou Pianran, not understanding, cast an inquisitive gaze her way. She shook her head.
“It’s nothing, I was just thinking about something.”
“Don’t fall behind. Just now, I saw you were lost in thought even while walking.”
Given that the hour was late, that Abbey Master Liang had someone lead them to be settled in for now. In the future, if fate allowed, he would naturally meet with them. As for what constituted fate, no one knew.
The one leading the way was a fair-faced, beardless young Daoist who introduced himself with the surname Min, and the given name Shunxing. He was extremely polite to them, a constant smile on his face the entire way. When they arrived at their lodgings, he even answered everyone’s questions for a quarter of an hour.
“If any of you need anything, just give an order at the Miscellaneous Affairs Office up ahead. Meals, clothing, travel carriages, anything at all is fine. We have everything.”
Min Shunxing spoke as if sharing in the glory, a look of smug satisfaction on his face. It was a spacious courtyard, divided in the middle by a wall with an eave. On the left, where green bamboo grew in tranquil beauty, lived Liu Ziyi and his group.
On the right was a scene of flourishing flowers. Zhou Pianran pulled Zhao Chun inside and had no desire to leave. Thanks to Wang Fang, Wang Chuyan was able to live with them.
The three of them each got a wing-room. Zhou Pianran chose the one beneath the flowers, while Zhao Chun preferred the one in the corner by the well. Although the sun had completely set, Zhao Chun had not the slightest desire to sleep.
After eating the delivered meal, she lit a candle, bent over the desk, and began to study the Sympathetic Resonance True Perception Dharma Scripture she had received. The first page was a warning, cautioning the reader that nothing could be accomplished in a single stroke. Turning the page, it began with an interpretation of the Five Elements.
It explained the principles of mutual generation and restraint, and then explained why it was better to have fewer Spiritual Roots. Ultimately, it came down to the principle of being too greedy to chew what one bites off. The more Spiritual Roots one had, the more types of spiritual qi one could draw in.
But this was not a good thing. The total amount of spiritual qi drawn in during a single session of Tuna Breathing was fixed. The attributes of a False Spiritual Root were too mixed, so after the spiritual qi was divided among them, the amount of each type was small.
The reason a Single Spiritual Root was so precious was that it could naturally only draw in one type of spiritual qi, making its cultivation speed far exceed others. Further on, it explained how to guide qi into the body. Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi drifted outside the human body, invisible to the naked eye.
The Dharma Scripture imparted a Tuna Breathing Heart Incantation that could nurture the body and allow one to sense the spiritual qi outside, then activate the Spiritual Root, causing the spiritual qi to be summoned into the body. For the fast, this step only required a moment.
As for the slow, the book recorded that the longest was a disciple of the Green Toad Sect, who failed to guide qi into his body for three years. Zhao Chun recalled Cao Wenguan saying that Probationary Disciples had only five years.
Guiding qi into the body was just the first step; one still had to cleanse the meridians and rush open the acupoints. If too much time was spent at the very beginning, it would be difficult later on. She took out a sheet of white paper and wrote a line of words.
Qi Guiding must be fast. Below that, the scripture moved on to the chapter on meridians. After spiritual qi entered the body through the skin and flesh, it was guided by the Spiritual Root to the Dantian.
A Cultivator had to circulate the qi to make it enter the meridians. Humans were originally of a mortal body and fleshly womb, their meridians filled with too much mortal filth, preventing the spiritual qi from circulating to form a heavenly cycle.
By first washing them with spiritual qi and clearing the twelve meridians, one could enter the acupoint rushing stage. The principle of the acupoint chapter was the same as the meridian chapter, only more complex. There were twelve meridians, but the acupoints that needed to be opened numbered in the hundreds, and it could not be done randomly.
The fifty-two single acupoints came first, followed by the three hundred double acupoints, and finally the fifty extraordinary acupoints. Acupoints had the function of accumulating spiritual qi, helping to direct its flow, and accelerating the operation of the heavenly cycle, so rushing the acupoints was an indispensable part of cultivation.
Zhao Chun sketched the diagram of human meridians and acupoints on the paper and wrote down the sequence for rushing acupoints beside it.
“Things have their roots and branches, affairs have their beginning and end. To know what comes first and what comes last is to be near the Dao.”
She thought to herself, "The wisdom of the ancestors truly applies everywhere." Zhao Chun wanted to flip further, but found she had reached the end. A sentence was added at the end of the book: “Probationary Disciples may view the next volume after entering the sect.”
She knew that she wouldn't be able to see the continuation for a long time. However, this knowledge was enough for her. She could first try the Incantation for sensing qi and start nurturing her body.
The map of meridians and acupoints also had to be memorized. This month, she would do as much of the foundational work as she could to save time later. There was no time to lose.
She flipped back to the page with the heart incantation and began to memorize it. The words were still the same words, but when combined, they became obscure. She felt as if she had returned to her school days, back to those days of grappling with text.
If she couldn't decipher the meaning of the sentences, the difficulty of rote memorization would only increase exponentially. She broke each paragraph down, comprehending it word by word, sentence by sentence, and finally linked them together to grasp the overall meaning. The heart incantation was too profound, and it was her first time encountering such a secret text.
After only roughly understanding two sentences, she already felt her spirit flagging.
“One must not be too greedy in anything. If I continue to decipher it, I will only make mistakes. It’s better to rest first and start again tomorrow with a replenished spirit.”
She rubbed her eyes and extinguished the candle. Perhaps she had truly expended too much mental energy, for Zhao Chun slept very deeply. When she opened her eyes again, the sun was already “three poles high, its scarlet light tinged with yellow.”
She exhaled a breath of turbid qi, then got up and dressed. After coiling her hair up in a few motions, she pushed open the door, planning to fetch water to wash up. If she remembered correctly, there was a well right outside this wing-room.
When she reached the well, she discovered there was no tool for drawing water. Zhao Chun turned back to get a bucket, only to be called to a halt.
“Are you going to fetch water?”
Wang Chuyan had changed out of her bright and beautiful clothes and was wearing only a simple, moon-white cotton dress. Her face was clean; she must have woken up early to wash.
“Yes, but I didn’t see anything to hold water in, so I was about to go get something.”
“No need, there’s no water in this well.”
She pointed into the distance.
“If you follow that small path around, there’s a place for washing up. Today is the first day, so they don’t know when we’ll get up. You have to go to the Miscellaneous Affairs Office to register first, and then someone will deliver water in the future.”
Zhao Chun thanked her. She smiled and said, “There’s nothing to thank me for. We all came from the same place, so we should definitely help each other out.”
This was said with deep meaning. The two of them were clearly from different places. If one had to force a connection, one could only say they were both people from the State of Chu.
Zhao Chun asked, “The same place?” Wang Chuyan said in surprise, “You don’t know yet? My older brother told me.
It wasn't just the State of Chu; all the various states were within the scope of disciple selection. States like Jin and Wu selected even more people than us.” She lowered her voice.
“Brother said that Deacon Cao even lost his temper.”
Zhao Chun’s expression turned grave as she replied, “If you hadn't told me today, I wouldn't have known.” The path of cultivation was also a path of competition. Only by studying and cultivating diligently could she avoid being pushed aside by others.
“You don’t need to worry too much. Hurry up and go wash. Deacon Cao has an extraordinary background and holds a respectable position in the Outer Sect. With him around, others certainly won’t dare to look down on us.”
Her older brother was Cao Wenguan's close junior martial brother. Loving the house means loving the crow on it, so she would naturally be protected by him. As for Zhao Chun, she had only been selected by him.
Strictly speaking, it was Cao Wenguan who had shown her the grace of guidance. She did not dare to hope that Cao Wenguan would be so benevolent as to give special care to a few probationary disciples like them. After bidding farewell to Wang Chuyan, she walked forward through a camphor tree forest and indeed saw several vacant washing basins.
After hastily washing up, Zhao Chun planned to return to her room to continue memorizing the heart incantation.
(End of this chapter)