Way of Choices: Book II - Youths We Were, Schoolmates, Part 2

by Mao Ni

  "Junior Brother's words are reasonable, but I think that it probably will not happen. To go from being unable to perform Purification to Ethereal Opening in the short span of three months… it's impossible."

  Gou Hanshi continued, "This is not a problem of cultivation, but a simple question of math. Without discussing Purification or Meditation, even opening the door of the Ethereal Palace requires borrowing the power of starlight for one hundred nights. Unless those divine artifacts of legend that can slow time really do exist, it will be impossible for Chen Changsheng to reach Ethereal Opening by the time of the Grand Examination."

  He had studied tens of thousands of books and was well aware that only math could not lie, so he was very sure about his conclusion.

  When his three juniors heard this, they understand why their senior brother was so sure.

  At the Grand Examination, if Chen Changsheng was not at Ethereal Opening, he could not take first rank of the first banner.

  Because their second-eldest brother was already at Ethereal Opening.

  There were also a few young students at Ethereal Opening that might come to the capital for the Grand Examination.

  Ethereal Opening was a pass of life or death, and also a high threshold. Before and beyond this threshold were truly two different worlds.

  * * *

  In the blizzards of the north, a youth turned toward the south, his fingers stained with blood.

  Outside Scholartree Manor in the south, several blue-clothed scholars bid farewell to their schoolmates.

  In various places on the Central Continent, the youths participating in the Grand Examination, one by one, began to move.

  In contrast to past years, they all shared one common goal.

  It was called Chen Changsheng.

  * * *

  "It's just building interest in him, but… the momentum is truly rather impressive." The Divine Empress walked along the pool to the base of the Imperial Palace's walls. Extending a hand, she plucked a chrysanthemum and handed it to her side as she continued, "If not for Chen Changsheng's truly being too young, even I would wonder at what those people were doing."

  There was no one at her side except the Black Goat.

  The Black Goat slightly tilted its head, avoiding the chrysanthemum that she offered, indicating that it was not interested in such food.

  The Divine Empress shook her head and then pushed upon the door in the wall. Passing through the long and quiet passage, she brought the Black Goat to the Hundred Herb Garden, then said, "You also haven't come in many years. If there's any you want to eat, go eat it."

  All sorts of extremely rare medicinal herbs and magical fruits were grown in the Hundred Herb Garden, the prices of the medicines made with them incalculable. Even the nobles of the capital would find it extremely difficult to get their hands on a few such plants, but to the Divine Empress, they were all just snacks for the Black Goat, ones that she didn't even know if it wanted to eat.

  There was a tale beyond the palace walls that said that the Black Goat that pulled the small bamboo carriage had been raised by Lady Mo Yu, but this was not the case… and this Black Goat had also not been raised by the Divine Empress. On the contrary, back when she had been locked in the cold sideroom of the Hundred Herb Garden by Emperor Taizong for the first time, she would often go hungry, but luckily, the Black Goat would from time to time bring fruits in its mouth for her to eat.

  Walking to the stone table, the Divine Empress began to drink tea. There was clearly no one attending upon her, but the teapot had been filled with tea, as had the teacup, and the tea was even giving off steam.

  The Black Goat had wandered off to eat.

  She looked past the steam and looked upon the autumn forest, looked upon that academy wall.

  This academy wall was the Orthodox Academy's.

  * * *

  Chen Changsheng was not in the library, but in his own room within the house. He sat by the window, one hand holding a book, one hand extended out the window, attempting to touch the starlight descending from the night sky.

  The archbishop's declaration had stirred all sorts of gossip within the capital that had transformed into a storm that overcame the walls and loomed over the Orthodox Academy. No matter how little he paid attention to external matters, the noise of this storm was too great to shut out of his ears. As a result, his mood was rather depressed. He did not know what the archbishop was thinking, nor did he know why the archbishop knew that he had to take first rank of the first banner in the Grand Examination, and he knew even less what sort of meaning participating in the Grand Examination would have if he could not even succeed in Purification.

  The starlight fell onto his palm, vividly illuminating his veins, but nothing changed.

  He could clearly sense that star in the depths of the night sky that was his own. That barely discernible connection gradually caused him to calm down.

  The book in his hand was the 'Four Classics on Meditation'. In the past few days, he had been researching all the various methods of the Meditation Realm so as to make preparations for when Luoluo and Tang Thirty-Six broke through the life-or-death pass that was Ethereal Opening. However, he had also not given up on his own cultivation. He had spent many nights drawing in starlight for Purification, yet still no transformation occurred with his body. This exhausted him, and even caused him some measure of despair.

  However, just now, he had seen a certain passage in the 'Four Classics on Meditation' that made him think of a certain possibility.

  He slightly spread out his five fingers. The starlight fell through the cracks between his fingers and onto the window frame.

  Chapter 118 – Starlight Between the Fingers (II)

  If one's fingers were to slightly exert their strength and close together, they could hold things. However, some things were very difficult to grab hold of, like sand, the sea breeze, sunlight, starlight, or time.

  Chen Changsheng spread apart his fingers, and the starlight leaked out.

  In those countless nights from spring until the late autumn, did that starlight falling upon his body trickle out just like this?

  The beginning of cultivation was the lighting of one's Fated Star and then drawing in starlight for Purification. For thousands of years, countless cultivators had repeated this same course. The radiance of the stars that fell from their Fated Stars silently changed their bodies, from their hair, fingers, and skin, all the way to their bones, muscles, and organs. There had never been a case in which the starlight leaked out from the body of a cultivator.

  The body of a cultivator was not made of colored glass, nor was it made of water.

  Chen Changsheng was well-versed in the Daoist Canon, but even he had not read of any similar case. However, when he was reading the appendix of the 'Four Classics on Meditation', he had seen a certain passage regarding a medical case. A hundred-some years ago, a southerner had mysteriously combusted. Later on, when the authorities and a neighboring sect went to investigate the cause of this person's death, they were unable to turn up any hints. The only thing they found out was that this person had undergone Purification for thirteen years but had never succeeded.

  As someone who had been learning the medical arts from Daoist Ji since he was a child, Chen Changsheng noticed several details of this case. The author mentioned that this southerner who had combusted was afflicted with a leakage disease.

  A leakage disease referred to an inborn deficiency of Qi and blood, making the body weak. What did it have to do with combusting to death?

  From this passage, the bizarre medical case, and his own strange situation, Chen Changsheng obtained a most audacious and absurd hypothesis.

  The leakage disease that afflicted this southerner who had combusted was actually just a result of his rather unique body. When he drew in starlight for Purification, the starlight did not cause any changes in his hair or skin but went directly through it, entering the deepest part of his body.

  That person had und
ergone Purification for thirteen years, so it could be imagined how much starlight had ultimately accumulated in that person's body. Later on, for some reason—a reason that Chen Changsheng could already vaguely guess at—the radiance of the stars that had accumulated for so many years had suddenly exploded, catching the person completely unawares.

  This sort of hypothesis seemed rather difficult to accept—why was starlight able to pass through one's skin? Though when this was carefully considered, one realized that when a cultivator meditated, not even the roof or his clothes could cut off the connection between the cultivator and his Fated Star, nor could they cut off the starlight. Thus, why couldn't starlight pass through the skin and directly enter one's body?

  And if this was a complete impossibility, why had that virtuous predecessor of the Orthodoxy so solemnly recorded this medical case in the appendix of the 'Four Classics on Meditation' several hundred years ago?

  The main reason Chen Changsheng had developed such an audacious hypothesis was still that he had encountered too many incomprehensible problems in his cultivation. That he was able to light his Fated Star was proof that his spiritual sense was strong enough. Logically speaking, the steps that followed should be like water flowing through a canal, a right and expected matter. Who would ever expect to be stopped at Purification for half a year?

  Even if it was because his meridians were different from others and he could not practice Purification in the same manner as normal people, where had all the starlight gone? Had it all truly just scattered without a trace?

  No, he did not believe that. After all these nights, he had long had his doubts about the matter, but he still felt that such a thing was baseless. If the Heavenly Dao was said to reward the diligent, was there anyone in the world as diligent as him? Of course, if the Heavenly Dao truly was unfair, then there was nothing he could say. However, at this very moment, he firmly believed that he had at least accomplished drawing in starlight for Purification.

  Yet even an expert like Jin Yulu could not sense a single ripple of true essence within his body. If the starlight he had drawn in over those many nights was all in his body, where was it? How could he find it and then begin to use it?

  Just like when searching for one's Fated Star, when one wanted to learn the situation in one's own body, oneself was the best observer.

  Chen Changsheng knew what he had to do.

  He had to perform Meditative Introspection.

  * * *

  Cultivators first lit their Fated Stars, then went through Purification, and only after that did they perform Meditative Introspection. This order was absolute, as straying from it would result in death or severe injury for the cultivator with no exception. Countless years ago, there were still some cultivators attempting other paths, but now, no one dared to try such a crazy thing.

  The body of a human cultivator was the weakest amongst the three races of Demon, Demi-human, and Human. Without succeeding at Purification, without ensuring that the meridians were strong and wide enough to hold and convert starlight into true essence, someone attempting Meditative Introspection and using one's spiritual sense to stimulate true essence was just seeking their own death.

  Without even ensuring the dikes of the river were firmed up, he wanted to let the sea water pour in?

  Without thoroughly strengthening every hair and bone of his body through Purification, he dared to let the power of true essence run free through his body, opening new lands and wantonly making changes?

  If one wanted to perform Meditative Introspection, greater completion of Purification was the most basic requirement. Chen Changsheng was no demi-human, so he had to respect this iron law. If he attempted to jump over the pass of Purification and directly perform Meditative Introspection using the knowledge contained within the Daoist Canon, even if he could find where the radiance of the stars was hiding in his body, there was probably a high chance that he would immediately die once he triggered it.

  If his conjectures were not wrong, the southerner who had combusted to death written about in the appendix of the 'Four Classics on Meditation' had very evidently blundered this way into their death.

  But if he did not perform Meditative Introspection, he would never be able to find where the radiance was hiding in his body, and he would remain for the rest of his life at Purification, never able to take another step forward. How could he not despair at this?

  This was a dilemma.

  Even someone who so cherished time as him had to spend a long time in thought, weighing the pros and cons and hesitating between both sides.

  But the Grand Examination was not far, and there truly was not much time left for him.

  The Heavenly Dao and fate were truly very unfair.

  His fate was truly dismal. Not only did he have such an incurable illness, it now seemed that a situation rarely encountered by cultivators had fallen upon him.

  He was stewing in depression when he heard Xuanyuan Po call from far away that it was time to eat midnight snacks.

  For reasons of health, he very rarely partook in midnight snacks, so he felt even more depressed.

  He didn't want to see them, so he walked out of the house, pushed upon the gate in the academy wall, and walked into the Hundred Herb Garden.

  The trees of the forest lightly swayed in the night breeze. In the distance was a faint light.

  What should he do? He was still hesitant. Very naturally, he recalled the Black Dragon beneath the Imperial Palace, recalled the words he had once said to it.

  If he wanted to live, it seemed that he really did have to put his life on the line.

  Then he recalled that he had promised to go and see the Black Dragon, but he had never found the opportunity.

  Just then, he saw a pitch-black, almost mystical, existence.

  It was not the Black Dragon.

  It was the Black Goat.

  Somewhat surprised, Chen Changsheng walked up to the Black Goat and squatted down, asking, "How did you end up here?"

  Chapter 119 – Riddle

  The Black Goat quietly gazed at Chen Changsheng, then suddenly lowered its head and lightly pressed it against Chen Changsheng's forehead.

  Chen Changsheng thought he understood what it wanted and felt his clothes in search of something it could eat. However, he realized that he didn't bring any, and raised his head to look around. He saw that on his right-hand side was a tree bearing several fire loquats that seemed to have just ripened. He gestured at the Black Goat to keep silent, stood on his tiptoes and picked one, and then offered it to the Black Goat.

  The Black Goat tilted its head and continued to calmly watch him. This made him feel rather embarrassed, as if he was just a joke in its eyes, which in turn caused him to feel at a loss for what to do. Right then, the Black Goat lowered its head, took the fire loquat in his hands, and began to slowly chew on it.

  Chen Changsheng exhaled, feeling like he had accomplished a most extraordinary feat.

  Once the Black Goat finished the fruit, it nudged Chen Changsheng on the knee and then walked into the forest. In the Imperial Palace, it had done the same thing when it was showing Chen Changsheng the way to Weiyang Palace. Chen Changsheng followed it, thinking, Where are you taking me? The moment he thought this, he saw the light shining from the forest.

  It was still that stone table, that oil lamp, that teapot, those two teacups, and that mute middle-aged woman.

  Chen Changsheng bowed to the middle-aged woman, his expression calm but his heart nervous. He knew that the Black Goat had a very special status within the Great Zhou Imperial Palace. It was rumored that only Mo Yu was able to be intimate with it. Tonight, however, the Black Goat had followed the middle-aged woman to the Hundred Herb Garden, so just who was she?

  In the past, he had believed the middle-aged woman to be a female official of the Imperial Palace, even the extremely powerful leader of them all. Now it seemed that her status might be even higher.

  He thought of another possibility but
immediately rejected it. After all, the entire world knew that that Saint's radiant beauty dazzled the world. In Taizong's era, she was already known as the most renowned beauty of the continent. If this middle-aged woman really was that Saint, why would she deliberately change her appearance to meet such a minor character like him?

  Upon discovering that her visitor was Chen Changsheng, the middle-aged woman did not show any surprise. She only slightly raised her brows at the Black Goat as if disapproving of its bringing him here. The Black Goat, perhaps guessing that she did not want to be disturbed, departed immediately after bringing Chen Changsheng, not even meeting her gaze.

  Tap, tap. The middle-aged woman lightly rapped her finger on the stone table.

  Chen Changsheng sat down and used the teapot to fill the teacups, then respectfully placed one in front of the middle-aged woman.

  The middle-aged woman used two of her fingers to pick up the teacup as if it was some rock by a stream, and slowly took a sip.

  Chen Changsheng used his two hands to raise the teacup as if he was carrying a Night Pearl, and lightly blew on it.

  Seeing his appearance, the middle-aged woman silently laughed. Her expression showed an indescribable ease and naturalness, and she seemed to be laughing at his extreme caution.

  "It's too hot, it's not for any other reason."

  Chen Changsheng explained, feeling rather embarrassed. Then he remembered that she couldn't speak and didn't seem to be able to hear either. He put down the teacup and made a few gestures.

  After that, they drank tea.

  On their first meeting in the Hundred Herb Garden, the woman and youth did not engage in much conversation. They only drank tea, with even their gazes rarely falling on each other.