CH 4

Days passed, and Mu Xiyun had been studying in Tianji Peak for three months. Spring came just as fast and in the blink of an eye, the grasses grew taller and warblers flew, while the bare branches of the plum trees were now thick in leaves. Cherry blossoms at the mountain’s base were now in full bloom, however the disciples remained as cheerful and carefree as always.

Since Xiyun’s advancement on New Year’s Eve, his sword technique also made great progress. In the past three months, he had practiced hard day and night and he can now control his sword qi to move freely, like surging and amassing the flow of the qi to attack as to that of a sword strike. Its effect was as equal as that of a real sword. In his sea of consciousness, spiritual energy was gradually gathered and the meridians were also greatly expanded. According to his experience fifty years ago, developing a sword intent should not be far away. 

However, he always felt that his cultivation was hindered and couldn’t make further progress. On this day, after he finished his practice, he returned to his room and meditated. After a while, he felt that there was a sudden movement in the meridians. His qi was flowing faster and becoming erratic and there was a faint sense of breaking through. Xiyun took a deep breath and immediately guided it into his sea of consciousness. The spiritual energy was constantly circling in the sea of consciousness but the body felt stiff as a stone and did not feel as comfortable as it should. Suddenly, his body shook violently and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Ge Liang, who was playing near his room at the moment, heard the strange movement. He poked his head into the open window and saw that his brother was vomiting blood and his face was pale. He hurriedly called his other martial brothers for help.

Gu Weijie took Mu Xiyun’s hand and felt his pulse, only to discover that Xiyun’s qi was chaotic. He tried to send a small amount of spiritual energy but was immediately counterattacked. Gu Weijie’s right shoulder became sore and went numb. He took two steps back and did not dare to try again. That’s when Mo Zhiqi strode in.

As soon as Mo Zhiqi grasped his hand, he knew that the matter was serious. He hurriedly asked his disciples to move him into the cold rock cave and instructed the disciples to continue practicing outside and not to disturb him. Only then did he open the mechanism and put the person into the cold jade coffin, made a hand seal and transferred qi into the cold jade coffin, enveloping Xiyun’s entire body. 

An hour later, Xiyun’s face slowly recovered a little blood and his body no longer trembled. Mo Zhiqi withdrew his spiritual energy and asked the disciples again to send him back to his room. 

When Mu Xiyun woke up, it was the next morning.

He fixedly looked at the ceiling, the pain in the meridians was still tingling yet he was not really afraid of pain. The pain that he felt served as assurance that he’s still alive.

If no one saved him yesterday, would he just let things be? Would there be a sense of contentment after?

Along with the sound of footsteps coming from outside, Mo Zhiqi pushed open the door and entered. Mu Xiyun immediately got out of bed and saluted, “Thank you Elder for your help!” “No need.” Looking at his expression, Mo Zhiqi knew that his body should already be fine. “Do you know why you had qi deviation yesterday? According to your temperament, you shouldn’t be too impatient.”

“It’s really strange,” Xiyun pondered. “Fifty years ago, when launching an attack using spiritual force, I knew the process and the way by heart. When doing it yesterday, there was no abnormality.” With that, Xiyun described the feeling at that time. 

Reaching out his hand to check his pulse again, Mo Zhiqi said, “The chaotic qi in your meridians had been straightened out, but there is this coldness in your body, which had remained stagnant.” Mo Zhiqi got up and poured two cups of tea. He picked up a cup by himself, pondered for a while, and asked, “Do you remember what helped you advance that night? Did you come across something?”

“That day?” Xiyun thought back, “Before the abrupt surge of spiritual energy, under the plum tree… I remembered an… old friend.”

“But what’s the difference?” Mo Zhiqi asked. The feeling in his heart was uncertain, and Xiyun hesitated. “Last time, there seemed to be an inconspicuous unknown force that hindered the flow of spiritual energy in the meridians. Yet when I broke through, it disappeared. “

“Then what about this time?”

“The same as when I’m about to advance in my cultivation back then, signs of a rise in spiritual energy and a smooth attack using spiritual force, made me think that I was about to break through. I tried my luck and released more force. That time, I hadn’t felt that inconspicuous force”

“Fifty years ago, Brother Mu entered the Dao through sword cultivation, right?” 

“Yes.” 

Mo Zhiqi was silent for a while, then raised his head to look at Xiyun. “Then this time, the opportunity for you is probably not through the way of the sword but through the heart.” 

There were thousands of cultivators, but each had different opportunities. The reason why no one can explain it clearly was because of the profoundness of the way of entering and breaking through, it may be the knowledge of the sword, or the sense of sight, or even enlightenment by unraveling the knot of the heart. That’s why one should “put down the butcher knife and become a Buddha on the spot.” When the opportunity comes, it will naturally be understood. If an opportunity does not arise, it is useless to worry. 

The two were still talking when they heard a knock on the door. It was the eldest disciple, Gu Weijie, who came in. “Is something wrong?” Mo Zhiqi nodded and signaled him to come over.

“Sect Master Zheng sent someone to say that this year’s array inspection will be the turn of Tiankui and Tianji Peak disciples and asked if you have decided on the candidate. If there is already, he will go down the mountain in a few days.”

“I understand. I need to think about this matter again and I will send someone to deliver a message later.” Mo Zhiqi sent the eldest disciple away and then turned back to ask Xiyun. “Brother Mu doesn’t know about the inspection of the spirit array?”

“I don’t know about this.” Xiyun replied. “Oftentimes I hear disciples mentioning it, but it’s just a few words, and I don’t know the details.”

“The spirit array was built after your death, therefore you wouldn’t know about it.” Mo Zhiqi put down the teacup. “However, it was also because of the Linmo Abyss War that year.”

During that year, all the disciples of every Immortal Sect participated in the war and the losses were not small. The head of Moyun Mountain was injured and Mu Xiyun died. The head of the Qin family in Taiyuan fell as well. From large to small sects, many died and many got wounded. The vitality of the immortal world was greatly damaged including the children of different factions. At that point, Zheng Genran, the head of Moyun Mountain, proposed to gather the power of various factions to find a place full of spiritual energy in the Central Plains, and build five great spirit arrays. 

The spirit array absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, ‘gathering sand into a pagoda’ and creating a holy place for cultivating immortals. Disciples of all sects can send their disciples to cultivate in the spiritual array by doing their best to replenish a certain number of spiritual stones for the spiritual array every year.

Prior to this, there were already many cultivators in the human world and they all knew that cultivating to such a place would get them twice the result with half the effort. That’s why cases of competition for territory often arose. In the early years, there was even a battle over a spiritual mountain, where human monks were said to have slaughtered a demon clan, forcing the demon clan to move back to the Demon Realm. Moreover, the faction that had won the spiritual land must also be on high alert, for fear of letting others take advantage. Regardless of the friction between other sects, just robbing them would cause a lot of internal friction in the Immortal Cultivation World.

The battle of Linmo Abyss had aroused some people of great wisdom. The human world cannot avoid disputes and enjoy peace forever. If the talents were not replenished in time and enhanced their strength, someday the demons from the Demon Realm will stir up trouble again and the consequences cannot be imagined. Therefore, when the Sect Master Zheng, who led the heroes to turn the tide in the battle of Linmo Abyss, proposed to build a spiritual array, everyone expressed their support. In just two years, the five major spiritual formations have been completed. The various sects send their disciples to go there every year and disputes disappear for a while. The various sects cooperated with each other. Moyun Mountain had also won the unanimous praise of various cultivation schools. 

The spiritual array runs automatically and does not require much maintenance. Moyun Mountain will send several disciples to inspect every year, replenish spiritual stones, and solve some local troubles along the way. This year, it was the turn of Tiankui and Tianji Peak’s disciples.

Mo Zhiqi went back and thought about it for a few days. After morning class one day, he called for Xiyun to stay. “I’ve been thinking about it for the past few days,” Mo Zhiqi started, “You were originally a disciple of Tianliang Peak and you were already a renowned swordsman fifty years ago. No one can teach you anything about swordsmanship. You have to work hard on your own and you can only gain insight in actual combat. You will never learn anything new in my peak. You are talented and smart. Now that three months have passed, you are better than most of my disciples in terms of medical skills. There is really no reason to keep you in the peak. That being the case, it would be better to leave this inspection of the spirit array to you.”

There was another reason that Elder Mo did not explicitly say. Mu Xiyun hasn’t had any major emotional fluctuations since his breakthrough. Looking at such a stone-like person every day, Elder Mo felt that life was not very easy. Why not let him go down the mountain for a walk, maybe he’ll have a chance encounter due to fate that will help him in his progress. 

“This disciple understands,” Xiyun saluted. “I’m going to prepare now. “

He turned around and walked out of the room. Under the eaves, a pair of swallows were flying out of their nests and chasing away in the sun.