Chapter 278: Chapter 11: Simple and Complex
Wang Ping was a little slow to react. He couldn’t help but think of the wooden box in his storage bag, the one containing Wulang’s head.
After a few silent breaths, he let out a laugh, just as Leng Kezhen had.
He thought back to before his promotion, before he was the Pacification Envoy of this region, before he held the title of Third Seat. He had exhausted every means trying to find any trace of Li Yan and Wulang.
But in the end, he had found nothing. Now, after advancing to the Third Realm, he hadn’t even had to say a word. The very thing he wanted was delivered right to his doorstep, just like that.
Across from him, Leng Kezhen saw Wang Ping laugh, and his own laughter grew louder.
"He schemed his entire life, only to throw it all away. How pathetic."
Wang Ping sent out a wisp of Wood Spirit Qi to confirm that it was indeed Li Yan inside, then said to Yu Lian, "Go and ask my master to come here."
Yu Lian immediately soared into the air.
Leng Kezhen stood up. As he bowed respectfully to Wang Ping, he took out a palm-sized, silver-white mirror and presented it deferentially.
Wang Ping didn’t stand on ceremony. With a flick of his left hand, the mirror appeared in his grasp. It felt smooth to the touch. When he probed it with his Primordial Spirit Consciousness, he discovered that its internal structure was incredibly complex, much like the inside of a Demon Soldier, expanding infinitely until he could see no end.
Its back was covered in concentric circles of mysterious lines and patterns that converged in the center to form the inscription ’Grotto Heaven’. A single glance told him this was a man-made Magical Artifact, not a naturally formed Demon Soldier.
Just then, a streak of light landed beside Wang Ping. Yu Cheng Taoist materialized, glanced at Wang Ping, then turned his gaze to Leng Kezhen and asked coldly, "Where is Li Yan?"
His aura was aggressive and overbearing, devoid of his usual humility and gentleness.
Yu Lian, who had landed on Wang Ping, saw Yu Cheng’s expression and, with a practiced mix of fear and skill, scurried into his sleeve, leaving only her small head peeking out to observe.
"This is..."
Leng Kezhen knew who had arrived the moment Wang Ping stood to bow. He bowed as well, then pointed to the wooden box on the edge of the chessboard and repeated, "Inside here is..."
CRACK!
The wooden box shattered instantly. Wood Spirit Qi swirled around Yu Cheng’s hands as he snatched up the head with barely contained impatience. He held it in his hands, his eyes locked on the ghastly white face. At that moment, with the seal broken, blood began to seep continuously from the head, staining a large patch of Yu Cheng’s Daoist robes red.
But Yu Cheng Taoist didn’t seem to notice at all. He stared intently at Li Yan’s pale face, then suddenly burst out laughing. He began to mutter to himself:
"This, I suppose, is karmic retribution. He plotted and schemed endlessly, hiding underground for centuries just to stay alive. You never imagined it, did you? That you would end up losing your life like this."
His laughter was somewhat grating, perhaps because he hadn’t laughed so freely in a long time. After about ten breaths, he stopped, looked at Wang Ping beside him, and said, "Forgive my rudeness."
"Not at all, Master."
"I’ll be taking this head with me. I will be the one to read the memories within."
"Of course!"
Wang Ping nodded.
Yu Cheng Taoist’s gaze fell on the Pocket World Mirror in Wang Ping’s hand. Wang Ping handed the Pocket World Mirror to his master without hesitation.
"You should keep it..."
As he spoke, Yu Cheng used his other hand to retrieve a jade slip from his storage bag. "This contains the methods for refining and using the Pocket World Mirror," he said.
"Thank you, Master."
As Wang Ping cupped his fist in thanks, Yu Cheng picked up Li Yan’s head and transformed into a streak of light, heading toward the rear courtyard.
"What do you want?"
Wang Ping looked up, watching his master depart, feeling the crisp autumn wind on his face. He casually asked how this transaction was to be completed.
Yu Lian emerged from his sleeve. With a light sweep of her tail, she cleaned up the bloodstains on the ground, then gestured that the tea Wang Ping had been brewing was almost ready.
Wang Ping teased Yu Lian for a moment before sitting back down and lifting the teapot from the stove.
Leng Kezhen stared at the scalding tea being poured from the pot and said with a smile, "His Majesty the Emperor intends to promote General Wang Lian to Governor of Shangning Road, to oversee all military and civil affairs there."
"And?" Wang Ping asked.
"Before His Majesty ascended the throne, he and Her Majesty the Empress had a son named Wen Yi. He has outstanding innate talent, also cultivates the Wood Spirit Skill, and has already succeeded in Qi Cultivation. He wishes to be accepted as your disciple, Daoist."
"Is there more?" Wang Ping asked again.
"Just these two requests."
"That seems reasonable."
Wang Ping nodded. If he were still only in the Second Realm, this deal would have been a massive gain for him. But now that he had advanced to the Third Realm, was in charge of Nanlin Road, and was also the Third Seat of the Daoist Scripture Hall, such a transaction could only be described as reasonable.
"Our Emperor’s mastery of the Divine Technique must be truly lacking if he can still harbor such strong personal desires," Wang Ping commented after agreeing, offering his assessment of the Emperor.
Leng Kezhen added, "It also means he can live a bit longer!"
"Oh?"
Wang Ping showed the perfect amount of curiosity and invited Leng Kezhen to sit and continue their unfinished game.
After sitting down, Leng Kezhen explained, "Half of the destiny of the Zhongzhou Land has been diverted to Princess Xia Yao. The pressure of the imperial inheritance he bears won’t be enough to claim his life in twenty years. With the help of some Elixirs, our His Majesty the Emperor might be able to reign for over thirty years."
"In recent years, he has sent young members of the Imperial Family with decent innate talent to various parts of Zhongzhou, but he could never bear to send Prince Wen Yi away. That is, until you recently advanced to the Third Realm, Daoist, and Princess Xia Yao personally wrote a letter to His Majesty the Emperor..."
"This Prince Wen Yi is a fine seedling. He has also cultivated the Divine Technique..."
Leng Kezhen lowered his voice for this last sentence. After speaking, he decisively placed a piece on the board.
Upon hearing this, Wang Ping pushed a teacup toward Leng Kezhen, handed another to Yu Lian, and said with a smile, "The Emperor wants me to teach him the Taiyan Talisman?"
Leng Kezhen shook his head. "Whether you teach it to him or not is entirely up to you, Daoist."
...
After three games of chess, all of which Wang Ping won steadily, their conversation shifted from the initial topic of the Court’s political situation to the culture and geography of Zhongzhou.
Without delving deeper, Wang Ping had always assumed the Shangjing Region was the most civilized area in Zhongzhou, where the common people were at least mostly enlightened. In reality, however, the existence of the Divine Technique had led to the prevalence of sacrificial rites in many areas. The groups who controlled these rites gradually became a privileged noble class.
Consequently, they had developed all sorts of elaborate sacrificial ceremonies. In some places, they even practiced human sacrifice. So-called human sacrifice meant beheading serfs for each ritual. Some areas even emulated the debauchery of primitive tribes, leaving Wang Ping utterly stunned as he listened.
The local Prefecture Magistrate’s Offices didn’t dare to investigate too deeply, because the faith of the common people was vital to the Xia Dynasty’s rule!
When the three games were over, Leng Kezhen rose and called in the attendant who had been waiting outside the garden gate for a long time. This was Prince Wen Yi. He had handsome features, yet also possessed the masculine vigor of a martial artist. His hair was bound with a simple strip of hemp cloth, and he wore a common short robe of gray cotton.
His innate talent was indeed superior. It had likely been enhanced once by the Upper Dan Sect. The Spiritual Qi in his Qi Sea roiled, a clear sign that he had already succeeded in Qi Cultivation.
With Leng Kezhen as a witness, he performed the grand rite of three kneelings and nine kowtows to Wang Ping before the old locust tree, becoming another of Wang Ping’s nominal disciples. As for becoming a true successor, that would depend on his future cultivation.
Afterward, Leng Kezhen took his leave.
Wang Ping did not ask him to stay.
The two agreed to meet again when Wang Ping went to the Daoist Scripture Hall headquarters in Shangjing City to register.
After Leng Kezhen left, Wen Yi did not appear flustered. He stood quietly by Wang Ping’s side, awaiting his next instruction.
"Clean out the room on the left side of the courtyard where your senior sister used to live. Then, study the Taoist Scriptures in the room. If there is anything you don’t understand, you may ask your senior sister..."
It was rare for Wang Ping to find a disciple with such good innate talent, and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of appreciation for it. At this point, he instructed Yu Lian, "Summon Xiaozhu."
Yu Lian was gone for several hours.
It turned out that Shen Xiaozhu had some thoughts about the recent attack. She had spent the last few days patrolling the foot of the mountain, using the hardships of the mortal world to sharpen her fading sense of crisis.
When she saw Wen Yi, who was younger and more talented than her, her sense of crisis deepened, causing a slight ripple in her usually calm state of mind.
This was precisely the change Wang Ping wanted. Shen Xiaozhu’s heart was too tranquil, which was useful in the early stages of cultivation. But in the later stages, when one needed to fight against the consciousness within their Spirit Vein, sufficient determination and strong emotions were necessary.
The rest was simple. Wang Ping had Shen Xiaozhu show her junior brother around the Daoist Temple, inside and out. He also sent someone to the Daoist Scripture Hall to arrange an Identity Token for Xia Wen Yi. With that, their master-disciple relationship was formally established.
With time on his hands, Wang Ping began to ponder how to build his puppet while waiting for the Daoist Scripture Hall’s assembly to begin again.
「The next day.」
Yu Cheng Taoist arrived at his small courtyard.
"I always believed it was the Xiao Shan Lord who plotted against our Qianmu Temple back then. But from Li Yan’s memories, I’ve read that the one who gave the orders was most likely Wu Ma Daoist. What he wanted were my master’s memories."
"Wu Ma Daoist?"
An image of Wu Ma Daoist from the wall of the previous three-seat council meeting surfaced in Wang Ping’s mind. His impression of this mysterious Taiyan Fourth Realm expert was limited to the incident where he had plotted against Zi Luan and the others.
"Is he looking for something?" Wang Ping asked.
"Probably. And it’s related to our Ancestral Master. But as for what it is, I don’t know either. After my master died, many of the inherited traditions were lost." Yu Cheng Taoist’s spirits were low.
The master and disciple both fell silent.
After a long while, Wang Ping broke the silence. "Master, have you considered trying to advance to the Third Realm?"
Yu Cheng Taoist met Wang Ping’s gaze. "You don’t need to worry about me. Although the Luck-Borrowing Talisman completely depleted my Spirit Vein, it actually helped me in a way. Otherwise, I would have been devoured by my Heart Demon years ago. Now that the Heart Demon is gone, I just need to reignite my Spirit Vein. I should have no problem watching over this legacy for you for another one or two hundred years."
He sighed. "As for advancing to the Third Realm... I know my own limits. I won’t waste time on that."
Wang Ping discreetly used his Wood Spirit Qi to probe his master’s condition. With the Heart Demon gone, his master’s Spirit Vein was indeed showing faint signs of recovery.
"It’s been a long time since I invited some old friends for a drink. I plan to have a good gathering with them this time. You don’t need to worry about me."
"Yes!"
"One more thing. This is the advancement method for the Second Realm of the Wood Gathering Skill, which I read from Li Yan’s memories. Take it and see if you can make any improvements."
