Chapter 118: 113 Insights

Tang Zhao sat in the circular hall, watching the fish swimming overhead for a long time before knocking on that door.

The door opened automatically; inside was not a storeroom, but a study.

Tang Zhao had never seen such a large study; it was at least ten zhang in every direction, surrounded by bookshelves reaching the ceiling, with rows of shelves in the middle acting like screens, intersecting to divide the room into several sections.

Aside from the wooden floor, the study had little decoration, with everything centered on books, except for a cleared space in the very center, which was arranged very comfortably. Naturally, the study did not use open flames; Artifice Lamps hung throughout, with the lamps above the bookshelves primarily in cool tones. The lamps in the open space were warm and bright. The floor was covered with rugs, furnished with a writing desk and a tea table, and also equipped with scattered small round tables. There were also five or six chairs of varying hardness and height.

Most of the chairs were white, each decorated with a small black tail resembling a crane's feather, and depending on their height, they looked like standing cranes, swimming cranes, or resting cranes. The tea table was equipped with various small teapots, the spouts of which resembled crane beaks.

This style of decoration reminded Tang Zhao of Maotouying Zhi Jia; father and daughter were indeed father and daughter. He couldn't help but wonder, once he had his own Sword Hut, what theme he should use for decoration?

Xue Xianyun was sitting on a high stool, as if riding an immortal crane, the fragrance from the teapot on the table curling upward. He said, "Have you sorted out your thoughts?"

Tang Zhao had already thought it through, but he still felt nervous inside. He said, "I don't know if it's correct. I feel that from one storeroom to the next, it is a process from illusion to reality."

Xue Xianyun interrupted him, saying, "Does it start from illusion?"

Tang Zhao steadied himself and pondered, "No, illusion is also 'existence'. It should be a process from 'non-existence' to 'existence'."

Xue Xianyun said, "Continue."

Tang Zhao felt a bit more settled and first repeated what he had seen: "The very beginning is the Sword Seed, in an empty room. Everything there is 'empty', and the Sword Seed is also a form of emptiness. They cannot exist on their own; only through the contrast of the Strange Stone can their existence be revealed."

"Then there is the room of wind. Wind certainly exists and can be felt, but it can only be felt passively. It has no physical form, only properties, or perhaps... concepts?"

"Then the room of fire. Light, fire, lightning, Gang Qi, and Shadow. It seems their commonality is that they can be seen, but their essential trait is energy; however, they possess all the properties that wind has."

"After that is water. It has all the traits fire has, but with more mass than fire."

"Finally, there is earth, which can also be called land. This is the most real matter; it has more shape than water. By this step, everything is present. From 'non-existence' to 'existence', or from 'illusion' to 'reality', everything becomes a complete form here."

Xue Xianyun said, "Your memory is not bad, but you're like a bear picking corn—forgetting the front as you look at the back. What else?"

Tang Zhao said, "There is also the metaphysical aspect? From non-existence to existence, from emptiness to earth, it is the birth of a world. The so-called 'the One produces the Two, the Two produce the Three, and the Three produce all things.' But I don't know if the birth of the world follows this order. The beginning must be emptiness, but is wind necessarily born before fire? Perhaps it is actually the opposite? Because there is land, there is water; because there is water, there is fire... and only then is there wind?"

He spoke while thinking, "Compared to a profound and difficult worldview, I find it more practical to treat it as a methodology."

Xue Xianyun had been listening expressionlessly, but upon hearing the word "methodology," he became thoughtful.

"From emptiness to earth, each layer is more real and more concrete than the last. It can be treated as five levels of analyzing the world, or perhaps five dimensions? Our objective world, throughout history and in every aspect, can be summarized by these five levels."

Tang Zhao said, "The practical application I can imagine, most immediately, is Sword Casting. Since the Sword Seed is emptiness, and a sword possesses all five dimensions, it must be earth. Therefore, Sword Casting is the process of a sword being born from nothing to something."

Xue Xianyun straightened up and said, "Oh?"

Tang Zhao said, "Connecting this to how you collect materials of various levels in categories, I suspect that since Sword Casting starts with emptiness, does it require four steps? First use wind to add properties, use fire to inject energy, use water to accumulate mass, and finally use earth to fix the shape. This is the process of a Sword Seed becoming a sword—its descent in dimensions, or rather, its arrival in the real world."

Xue Xianyun slowly stood up and said, "Continue."

Actually, by this point, Tang Zhao had said everything he could think of, but since Xue Xianyun kept asking, he could only force himself to add, "I think Sword Casting is a process of addition and also a process of harmonization. It goes without saying that the combination of various levels must have unity, but they don't necessarily have to be from the same sequence. For example, Spirit must be paired with Soul, blood, and Bone; there should be various combinations. The rules for these combinations are what need to be learned. And does every layer of material added require a special ability? Is it a Rune Formula? Or the Sword Casting Art?"

Xue Xianyun said indifferently, "It is the Sword Casting Art; the Sword Casting Art existed before the Rune Formula. Integrating materials of the same level requires Rune Formulas."

Tang Zhao said, "So that's how it is! It's truly complex. I couldn't think of those specific academic details even if I racked my brains. This is all the student can think of; please correct me, Manor Master."

Xue Xianyun paused for a moment and said, "Everything you just said, did you think of it entirely by yourself?"

Tang Zhao answered honestly, "No, I referred to settings from some stories. And... the classification of Demon Caves by the Land Inspection Department. Previously, when I followed the officials of the Land Inspection Department to fight in a Demon Cave, a river fell from the sky with surging waves. It turned out that Inspector Xing said it was an Earth-type Demon Cave. I was always puzzled, and later when I asked the Inspector, I learned that the classification of Demon Caves refers to the degree of the Demon Cave's interference with reality. From completely real to spatial displacement, isn't this also a rise and fall of levels? I thought their classification and the Sword Smith's classification might originate from the same source?"

Xue Xianyun's face darkened, and he said coldly, "Plagiarism! This is plagiarism! You stole a bit of knowledge from us Sword Smiths and changed it into something neither fish nor fowl—you are honest, at least, for saying where you thought of it."

Tang Zhao said, "The student is young and has limited knowledge; I haven't seen much of the world, so how could I have any groundbreaking insights? I am merely repeating the words of others. But am I right or wrong in my thinking?"

Xue Xianyun turned his back and said, "Far-fetched and full of holes. For instance, who told you that the properties of a sword are injected by wind? Wind only serves to circulate information, allowing the Sword Seed to be perceived. You value the materials too much and the Sword Seed too little. With your shallow knowledge, how could you understand even a ten-thousandth of the mysteries of the Sword Casting Art?"

Tang Zhao said sincerely, "Please guide me, Master."

Xue Xianyun said coldly, "Guide you? That's easy to say. Is the Sword Casting Art so easy to learn? Can you learn it just by listening to a few words of my guidance? Listen, you only have three years."

He held up three fingers behind his back and said, "Three years from now, there will be an assessment. In that same year, I will cast a Treasure Sword. If your assessment results satisfy me, I will allow you to attend at my side at that time, acting as an assistant, to witness the birth of a sword with your own eyes. You only have one chance. If you don't want to regret it for the rest of your life, study hard during these three years. Martial arts, Rune Formulas, Sword Casting Art—others study for ten years, you only have three."

Tang Zhao felt a surge of spirit and said, "Yes. Then how do I..."

Just as he was about to bring up what Li Zhihai had reminded him of, to ask the Manor Master to confirm who he should learn from, Xue Xianyun interrupted him, "Learning is your own business. I am busy with a thousand tasks every day; how would I have time to manage you? You have at most half an hour from me each day. Let's see—" He looked at a water clock nearby, "at the start of the Hai hour. You come for class at the start of the Hai hour every day, using the path along the bank."

"Listen well, my time is precious, and I have none to waste on you. Only I can say you don't need to come; you are never to break an appointment. Regardless of wind or rain, or whether you have a headache or fever, as long as you aren't dead, crawl here if you have to. If you miss once, you need never come again."

Tang Zhao said happily, "Yes. Thank you, Master."

Xue Xianyun shouted, "What are you laughing at! If you are distracted, perfunctory, or slacking off in class, get out!"

Just as he was speaking, the Talisman Puppet A Xiao entered, carrying a key.

Xue Xianyun grabbed the key, looked at it carefully, and said angrily, "You idiot—you took the wrong one again. I told you to take the key to the entrance of the passage; who asked you to take the one for the study? This is the study; do I need you to take it?" After saying this, he flew up and kicked the Talisman Puppet.

The Talisman Puppet was extremely agile, sliding back several zhang and retreating to the other side of the bookshelves, spreading its hands and emitting a mocking "hee-hee-hee" sound.

Purple Qi rose to Xue Xianyun's face, and he reached out to grab a fat crane-shaped teacup, intending to throw it, but Tang Zhao called out, "Master, please calm your anger."

Xue Xianyun put it down sullenly and said, "This fool! I wanted to add some intelligence to it so it would know how to learn autonomously, but it's still so stupid. It only learned the gesture of spreading its hands, and it uses it everywhere. I'll say it again: the key in the third compartment from the bottom on the left side of my cabinet—bring it to me, hurry!"

Following his roar, the Talisman Puppet laughed "hee-hee-hee" and slid out the door.

Tang Zhao steadied himself. Seeing that Xue Xianyun's anger had not subsided and that there was still a hint of embarrassment on his face, he wanted to say something else to change the subject. Suddenly, he remembered something, took a book from his sleeve, and said, "Master, this is a Mysterious Technique that Xue Daxia entrusted me to pass on to you. I wonder if Xue Daxia mentioned it to you?"

"Paulownia Flower Inviting Phoenix Art."

This book was originally written in Han characters, and Tang Zhao had re-transcribed it himself using Jin script. Xue Daxia had originally told him to decide for himself whether to deliver it or not. After experiencing these events, Tang Zhao had arrived at Zhuoyu Villa and decided to live here; even Xue Daxia was staying here, so there was no reason not to hand it over.

Xue Xianyun took it and said, "Oh, this cultivation method. I heard back then that his Mysterious Technique was not ordinary and that the Internal Energy he practiced was a high-quality material, so I wanted to borrow it to take a look. Ten years have passed, and I had forgotten, but he still remembers. Paulownia Flower Inviting Phoenix Art... Hmm? The name has been changed? Wasn't it called Wutong Inviting Phoenix Art? Paulownia Flower... this name doesn't flow well. Since ancient times, it has been the Wutong tree that invites the phoenix; does the Paulownia flower also invite the phoenix?"

"Ah..."

Tang Zhao's heart stirred, and for a moment, he felt a bit sorrowful.

Xue Xianyun said, "What is it? Do you know why it was changed? Does the Tong flower fit the cultivation method better?"

Tang Zhao said softly, "The cultivation method has nothing to do with the Tong flower. I think Uncle Xue changed it for me."

"'The Tong flowers stretch for ten thousand miles along the mountain road; the fledgling phoenix's voice is clearer than the old phoenix's.' This must be his expectation for me."

This was the expectation and blessing from Xue Laiyi, who at the time felt his life was nearing its end, for Tang Zhao, whom he had never met.

Xue Xianyun was stunned for a moment and shook his head, saying, "This hides a literary allusion? Is this the refined interest between you scholars?"

Tang Zhao showed a look of nostalgia—rather than a scholar's interest, it was perhaps the tacit understanding between the only two people left in the world who still had a connection to Chen Zong.

Xue Xianyun threw the key in his hand to him and said, "Since you like reading, the study is yours to clean. It's better than that fool A Xiao. Be diligent with your hands and don't let this place gather dust."

Tang Zhao said, "Yes. If there is any work like serving tea or pouring water, this Disciple can also perform those tasks."

Xue Xianyun said, "Would I be polite if I needed to order you around? Right, I will not teach you martial arts, and there are not many people in the mountain villa who are good at martial arts either. If you want to learn good skills, go find Shen Yi; only he has some level of skill."

Just as he was speaking, a bell sound rang out from above, and Xue Xianyun beckoned with his hand, causing a bell hanging overhead to descend and press against Xue Xianyun's ear, as if it were transmitting a message.

"A guest has arrived, the Inspection Division? What a nuisance, the people under the Gaoyuan Marquis have so much business and are so stingy." Xue Xianyun let go of the bell.

Tang Zhao knew in his heart it was Xing Ji, and since he had come here on official business, he hurriedly bowed and said, "This Disciple will take his leave first."

Xue Xianyun said unhappily, "What are you leaving for? Have you already forgotten what you just said about serving tea and pouring water? I have had enough of that idiot A Xiao; from now on, you are responsible for receiving guests."