45 – Out of the Frying Pan…

The Heart Refining Pagoda manifested in all its majestic glory once more. A deep gong sounded. Then twice. And finally thrice. Each resonant boom echoed through the hearts of nearly every monk gathered at Lingshan Temple. Their anticipation swelled, waiting for their Abbot’s triumphant return and the vanquishing of evil.

The broken-down main door slowly creaked open.

Cheers erupted from the monks.

“Victory to the Abbot!”

“The evil has been purged!”

“Justice has been served!”

“Praise the Abbot for his righteous judgment!”

Only to be immediately silenced as a deer skull peeks through. Its unnatural three purple eyes looking left and right awkwardly.

“I’m… sorry to have killed the mood,” Xuan Danxing said as he stepped out, closing the door behind him. “I’ll uh… leave you to it.”

The crowd of monks parted as he quickly walked away from the situation. Jianglong watched, his unease finally easing. New worries about the temple’s future arose, but he concluded that this was more bearable than the burden of betraying everything he had been taught.

On the opposite end of the grounds and in hearts, Changsheng watches with clenched teeth. Though his smile never faded from his face. Unlike his eldest brother, his heart was increasingly filled with trepidation about what was to come. After all, he had been taught, and had learned differently, after what happened to their second brother, the Abbot’s second disciple. He could not settle with the growing sense of wrongness in letting the Xuan go. But he made peace with the knowledge that his heart would always belong to the temple. No matter what happened, or what needed to be done. Perhaps even some gratitude, that this does not put a crack in their relationship.

On the guest grounds, Elder Baoji’s mouth scrunched forward in a failed attempt to hide his signature grin. It only made the expression look more mocking. Old Man Zichen, sitting in front of him, was fighting to keep his expression neutral.

“I’m not betting with you ever again,” Zichen finally said, still remembering the terms of their wager.

“You and everyone else.” Baoji let out a boisterously loud laugh. “And don’t worry, when the time comes you will hand them over without any doubt.”

Fumo watched in puzzlement from the side. He had heard that cultivators frequently gambled over the slightest things, but this was the first time he had seen it in person.

“Hey hey, what did my father bet this time?” Princess Mengli whispered to Fumo. Behind her, Qingling and Yunyi sat calmly. The three of them had arrived a few days ago, surprising both Fumo and Qingling with the quick reunion. (From chapter 30)

“I…” Fumo was taken aback by the question and the princess’s improper closeness. “I am not privy to the details.”

“Weird old man Baoji made a bet twice with old man Zichen,” Yinrui appeared in the middle and whispered. “First is through the board game with black and white rocks. The second is about some perfect outcome for the trial.”

“What’s the wager?” Princess Mengli asked excitedly. She had never seen her father this worked up, so the wager must be very important.

“It’s… hmmm… it’s some big words,” Yinrui tried to remember. “They just keep calling it that after I ask what it means. I don’t hear the second thing.”

Mengli nodded. There were only a few items personally precious to her father. But she couldn’t believe he would put those as a wager unless it was something equally priceless.

“The three of you, we are departing!” Zichen announced.

“So soon?” Mengli asked in surprise. “We are not going to meet him?”

“No.” Zichen answered, deep irritation in his voice. “Just the thought of handing them to the boy is driving me insane. I might end up killing him myself.”

The sentence struck Fumo, Qingling, and Mengli like thunder. Elder Baoji had bet in favor of the Xuan. And the fact that Zichen had accepted the bet… This was even more shocking for Mengli. It was before her time, but almost everyone knew that a certain Xuan had killed five of her siblings during the war more than three hundred years ago. None dared to discuss the wager after knowing this, leaving only the clueless Yinrui.

Mengli, Qingling, and Yunyi moved behind Zichen. Then, with a snap of his fingers, they immediately teleported away from the location.

Danxing appears soon after. Walking with exaggerated steps. one leg kicking straight forward, then the other, with his hands and elbows held level at his chest. Yinrui immediately ran and leapt toward him, expecting to be caught as usual.

“UEEGGH!” Instead, she crashed directly into his stomach, knocking him out cold. His Qi and soul power were practically exhausted.

—

“It was how long?” I blinked and asked once more.

“You take one month and three weeks to complete the trials.” Fumo repeated. “Then, you are unconscious for a month.”

“Damn.”

I immediately sat up from the bed, feeling surprisingly well-rested. Which felt like a myth, but here I was. Checking myself, it seemed my Qi and soul power had fully recovered.

“Where’s Yinrui?” I looked around and saw her peeking from the corner of the door.

“I’m sorry for knocking you out,” she apologized as she walked in, eyes downcast.

“Well, alright then.” I opened my arms, gesturing for her to come. “Come on, don’t keep me waiting.”

She looked hesitant at first but ultimately decided to jump into my arms. “Don’t worry about it. There will be times I won’t be able to do this anymore, or you’ll be too embarrassed to ask. So enjoy it while it lasts.”

Her ears finally perked up. “Yes!”

“Now let’s go home,” I said as I exited the building.

“You won’t be staying longer?” Fumo asked.

“I think we both know I’ve overstayed my welcome,” I replied, pulling out my map to figure out where Lingshan Temple was and how to get home. Tianhe Sect was the southernmost sect, so I used that as a reference and traced northward.

“Hmmmmmm.” My humming continued as I traced the distance. Past the Kingdom of Jin and the southern mountain range. Then the Great River Yan, another kingdom further north, and still more distance beyond that. Lingshan Temple sat near the center of the Xian Empire on a lone mountain range.

What the fuck? Why is the temple so far away? Even the Tianjian Sect where Gujian came from and the Zixiao Palace where Qingling came from were closer south than Lingshan Temple. I put down my map, calculating the distance. If using my truck, it would be another month of travel. Could be more. There was no graphic scale on the map, and even if there was, it would refer to the Li distance measurement and not kilometers.

I store my map. Only to immediately see Abbot Zhaoshi already waiting at the entrance arch. Fortunately, my face could no longer cringe.

“Master.” Fumo greets.

“Well, hello.” I do the same. “What do you want now?”

There’s a brief silence. As if the Abbot is carefully considering his words.

“It is… nothing drastic.” Abbot Zhaoshi starts. Then, he slightly lowered his head. “But first, I would like to apologize for my conduct and the… personal grudge I have unjustly put on you.”

“Hmm?” I never thought he would apologize. “Does that mean you will let go of whatever the grudge you have with my father?”

“That… I do not know. Even as I would have liked to say yes.” For the first time, a brief flicker of grief appeared in the Abbot’s emotional halo. So it must be a very personal thing. I guess my father had killed a lot of people who mattered to him.

“Understandable. It is impossible to be completely detached. Hence why I call the first trial bullshit.” I still stood my ground. “Doesn’t mean I forgive or trust you yet though.”

“I understand. It would be unreasonable to expect otherwise.” Abbot Zhaoshi nods. “I also come to… offer you a proper discussion about our respective faiths and the purpose of the trials that I have used for my own selfish needs.”

“Pass. I don’t think I want to stay here too long.” I refused politely. “No offense.” I said to Fumo as I passed the Abbot.

“Very well, but are you ready to face those under the mountain?” Abbot Zhaoshi asked as I put my first step on the stairs down.

“The what now?” (A group of Cultivators that camps outside the temple. In Chapter 38)

“There’s a group of five cultivators waiting near the entrance of our sect. We have… denied them entry because of their purpose. But they are the one that alerts us of your identity. I do not think they will be leaving anytime soon until they hear the news of your death.” Abbot Zhaoshi calmly explains.

I took a deep breath. FUCK!

I look at Fumo.

“Unfortunately, we cannot allow any of us to help you.” Abbot Zhaoshi answers before I can ask for help. “They are from the surrounding sects and clans. Please understand that we are already in a precarious position.”

Alright, so there’s more than personal grudge in killing me. I guess they, like the Abbot, have a grudge against my father and are now dumping them on me. What the fuck did he do man? Why does everyone want to kill me in return? Was he a murderhobo before?

“Don’t worry about that.” Now that I have no more reason to stay here and Fumo won’t be blamed if I run away, I pull out the teleport talisman the old man gave to me. It should work exactly like Fumo’s teleportation talisman that brought me here.

I check the talisman in my hand. Checking the symbols on the front and back. How do I use this again?

‘Just infuse Qi.’ Fumo helped with a quick telepathy.

Right, of course. I infuse my Qi into the talisman. Burning the talisman and poot. The talisman created a fart with its smoke. I looked around, and I am still here.

“Well, haha.” I swallow. “Can I stay for another month?”

“You may stay as long as three months. We cannot give you more. Our training grounds are open to you. And… I hope you will consider my offer.” Abbot Zhaoshi said before leaving.

—

I paced around the edges of the open training grounds. Unlike the one back at Tianhe Sect, which was a separate space, Lingshan’s grounds were simply a large square arena surrounded by buildings.

My mind raced. There were five cultivators waiting down the mountain. Maybe more. How powerful were they? Most likely Foundation Establishment. Golden Core? Probably not. Else Lingshan temple wouldn’t be able to deny them at the gates. Maybe. 

I had around sixty railgun shots’ worth of Qi left. Assuming normal-sized ones, not the oversized version I used at Jinchuan. I needed crowd control. Projecting cruise missiles? That drained too much Qi last time. Then there was the Qi cost for maintaining my AT field, which depended on how strong the incoming attacks were. Great Thundergod Steps? Assuming no one had a faster movement technique, I could outrun them. But certainly not the entire journey home. Why didn’t my talisman work? Logically, that meant there were countermeasures in place. I have a thousand spirit stones in my storage ring. So I can grind them and snort them like back at Jinchuan to restore my Qi. What else had I missed?

“Where’s Zichen?” I turned to Fumo and Yinrui, who were sitting just outside the square. Only now did I notice Zichen was gone. Elder Baoji was also there, uninvited as usual, still grinning.

“He already left with his daughter,” Fumo answered.

“Right. He did say that. So he’s here only for that?” I step down from the arena towards them. I need to think of something else to calm down.

“He’s…” Fumo looks towards Elder Baoji, looking slightly uncomfortable. “Discussing something with Elder Baoji.”

With Elder Baoji? So it must be about some fortune telling or divination? 

“Is it about a forced prophecy?" I blurt out the only thing I know that might be relevant.

The grin faded from Baoji’s face. He walked toward me, and I instinctively took a step back, creeped out by his sudden seriousness. He handed me a green jade tablet.

“Do not open this before you reach Golden Core,” he said gravely, leaving no room for questions.

“Okay?” Then, like before, he simply leapt into the sky and vanished. Whatever it was, the thing in my hand felt serious enough that I just put it in my storage ring.

This should have been a calming, banal conversation. Not more things to worry about. Fuck it. I stepped back into the arena.

There was one thing from the trial that had given me an idea.