Chapter 344: 353 Ashes

In front of Tang Zhao lay a row of silver-white stone Talismans, each an inch long and square.

On the surface of the stone Talismans, there were carved...

It seemed something was carved, perhaps characters. But those characters were very shallow, almost blending into the silver-white stone base. At a glance, they were unclear; looking again made one feel dizzy.

"Come, pick one."

Qin Yongcheng hesitated and said, "I... cannot see clearly."

Saying this, he felt a bit dejected and somewhat irritable.

He did not think his inability to see clearly was a problem with his eyesight, but rather knew there must be some other reason.

Although this was his first time seeing such characters, he had experienced similar situations—there were things others could all see, but he could not. Even when others called out that it was one, two, or three, he could only see a blur of mist or a shadow, unable to grasp the shape.

The root cause was that damned Inspiration, Inspiration, Inspiration.

Being born with low Inspiration isolated him from a colorful world. Even if he stood outside the window with his face pressed against the glass, he could only see the various hazy colors that were visible but unreachable.

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "No need to see clearly; I never intended for you to see clearly. Don't worry about the shape; touch your chest and pick the one you have a feeling for."

Have a feeling...

Qin Yongcheng was not sure what having a feeling meant. He scanned the row of stone Talismans and felt he had no feeling for any of them.

It's over...

Another wave of dejection struck, and Qin Yongcheng was silent for a moment.

He did not want to tell the truth.

Finally, he steeled his heart and picked the one right in front of him.

The moment his hand touched the stone Talisman, a silver light flashed, and a trace of silver light flowed across the surface of the stone Talisman, intersecting like a spider web, finally condensing into a pattern.

"It... it reacted!"

Qin Yongcheng felt his mouth go dry; this was the first time he had ever had a reaction with such a miracle. In the past, no matter what Art Tool it was, it felt like rotten wood or stubborn stone in his hands. Those turntables used for testing would spin wildly in others' hands, but in his, they would be stuck as if jammed.

Tang Zhao nodded, wrote two characters on a piece of paper, and said, "I understand. Which one do you want to pick next?"

Encouraged, Qin Yongcheng picked another one at random, but this one had no reaction at all; it was silver, but without the slightest glow.

"Hmm." Tang Zhao's expression was calm as he said, "Continue. Pick whichever one you want from this table."

Qin Yongcheng finally saw it; talk of feelings or no feelings was all empty—only by holding them in his hand could he see the truth. He simply picked them up from the start and tested them one by one. In the end, three of them reacted, displaying different silver characters.

Tang Zhao recorded them one by one, writing and drawing on the paper. Finally, he wrote a long string of Rune Characters, nodded with satisfaction, and took out a square stone slab a foot wide.

He said to Qin Yongcheng solemnly, "That was just a confirmation. The results of your previous test are out. I can see your direction leans toward fire, with tendencies like producing smoke and burning. Your direction is a bit like mine."

Qin Yongcheng was overjoyed; he was happy that he had finally tested his direction, and happy that his direction was similar to Instructor Tang's.

This was an indescribable honor.

Tang Zhao said, "It is still very broad, though. Relying only on my guess would be too vague. I have selected some basic and standard Talismans of the fire direction for you to try, to precisely locate it for the future."

He pointed to the first Talisman and said, "This Talisman means 'Ash'. It is the standard Talisman you are most compatible with."

Qin Yongcheng nodded, firmly remembering it; if he had a glimmer of hope in the future, it would start from here.

"The second is 'Burning'. This is a basic Talisman second only to the four great Origin Talismans; nine out of ten people with a fire direction will be compatible with it, so let's ignore it for now."

"This third one is 'Spark'." Tang Zhao said, "A very faint spark that is likely to go out. The spark is not the point; the main thing is its meaning of being faint. This direction is quite interesting and not often seen. Your Sword Intent needs to be compatible with one of them, preferably all three, to have the best chance."

Qin Yongcheng followed his train of thought: Ash, Burning, Spark...

"So, I have combined these three Talismans into a Rune Formula, similar to your future Sword Intent. You can try it."

As Tang Zhao spoke, he used a Rune needle to brush and dot on the Origin Stone, sketching out a line of Rune Formula, and pushed it in front of Qin Yongcheng.

Qin Yongcheng took it with trembling fingers.

The moment he received the Rune Formula, it lit up, as if sparks were left unextinguished in the ashes, and the air was filled with the faint smell of extinguished charcoal smoke.

"Not bad." Tang Zhao nodded with satisfaction. "Triggering it without a source—to be able to do this means it is actively calling to you; it must be close to your direction. I will give you this Origin Talisman. You can use your Gang Qi to trigger it if you encounter danger. Remember to keep it safe. Also, regarding the Mysterious Technique, I have looked at our library's collection. There is a 'Great Furnace Molten Fire Technique' that is very suitable for you. You can try it; if the results are not satisfactory after a month, then switch to the 'Great Light Art' and 'Impermanence Scroll' in that order. Try to follow my sequence as much as possible."

Qin Yongcheng excitedly wrapped up the Origin Talisman, clutched it in his hand, stood up to bow to Tang Zhao, and asked, "Instructor, what does this Rune Formula mean?"

Tang Zhao answered seriously, "Dead ashes burning again."

Qin Yongcheng left Tang Zhao's room, his feet stepping on the ground, yet he felt as light as if he were on the clouds.

At this moment, his close friend Xin Ying came up and asked, "How was it? What did he say inside?"

Qin Yongcheng opened his mouth, feeling that if he said too much, it would be a disservice to Instructor Tang's thorough preparation—the Instructor had prepared a corresponding Rune Formula for everyone; how much effort did that take? If he said it all, he would shave off three parts of surprise and three parts of the unexpected, losing the thrill of falling to the bottom and then seeing the light of a new day; wouldn't that be boring? He only said, "The Instructor... is very amazing. Everything you want to know has an answer."

Having said that, he floated away, leaving Xin Ying with a puzzled look.

It was not until he walked halfway that he gradually calmed down.

Today was indeed a good thing; the things he had been thinking about day and night finally had answers... and then what?

Was this enough?

Knowing his direction and changing his Mysterious Technique, could he become a Sword Guest?

Now, it was just as the Instructor said, leaving behind a glimmer of life.

A glimmer of faint life...

One must know, how many young talents with stronger Inspiration, better opportunities, and broader directions than his own never encounter a suitable sword in their entire lives? How could he happen to encounter his one-in-ten-thousand possibility?

Rely on Heaven's will?

Heaven's will had never favored him.

Heaven's will is always hard to ask, yet had he done all he could as a human? On the day he needed to ask Heaven's will, could he truly say he had no regrets?

Was there any possibility to fight a bit more? To do something else?

Unknowingly, he walked to the No. 2 Training Ground he often frequented—there were too many people of the same batch at the No. 1 Training Ground, which he never liked, so he only exercised at the quiet No. 2 Training Ground.

However, at this time, the No. 2 Training Ground was sealed off, with a roadblock set up at the entrance and a Teaching Assistant on guard.

This was very rare. Qin Yongcheng felt strange, and since he was somewhat familiar with that Teaching Assistant, he hurriedly asked, "Teaching Assistant Mu, what is going on here?"

Teaching Assistant Mu was one batch older than Teaching Assistant Pei and was twenty this year. He was usually kind to others and said, "It's nothing. The newcomers will be entering the camp in a while and will gather at the No. 2 Training Ground. Instructor Dong will do a rough test before making arrangements."

Qin Yongcheng was first taken aback, then immediately asked curiously, "That's not right. We haven't graduated yet, and the barracks haven't even been cleared out, so why are they recruiting people so early?"

It wasn't as if he hadn't been a new student himself; back then, he had entered the camp only after the New Year. The rule of the Training Camp was that senior students graduated in the eleventh lunar month, and new students entered in the spring. What month is it even now?

Mu Zhujiao, who had always liked to talk, said softly, "Because these students come from a special place. You know, there is a place that was previously taboo, but is only now slowly being opened up..."

Qin Yongcheng followed up in a low voice, "Yinhuo Township."

Mu Zhujiao nodded vigorously.

Qin Yongcheng pondered, "Isn't it said that they started recruiting children of these refugees starting the year before last?"

Mu Zhujiao said, "That's right, they've been recruiting for two years, have you seen any?"

Qin Yongcheng shook his head. Although their cohort didn't have any, logically the next cohort should have. The three grade levels shared teaching facilities, so they should have been able to meet, and most were already familiar faces, but he truly had never seen these "strange people" from Yinhuo Township.

Mu Zhujiao said, "That is still the case. Because they couldn't gauge the situation for the first two cohorts, they recruited a portion of students, but they were separated into individual classes and taught separately, and they lived in separate barracks, so you couldn't see them. After the attempts of these two cohorts, it should be considered quite successful; the refugee students are no different from ordinary students, so starting from the next cohort, they will no longer be separated into different classes. However, the refugee students are recruited uniformly from within Yinhuo Township, and their travel schedules are different, so they will arrive early."

Qin Yongcheng said, "I see..."

He came from the common streets and had grown up accustomed to hearing all sorts of discussions about Yinhuo Township in the alleys. Even though he knew there were many fallacies and rumors among them, he still felt an unconscious apprehension.

Mu Zhujiao, however, said, "Rest assured. I went there last year and spent a year bringing back refugees. As long as you don't go out of your way to find fault, they are just ordinary children. They are the same as all of you; they eat, drink, cry, and laugh. They are even more sensible than the average young person. We are the Land Inspection Division; how can we have the same narrow-minded views as mediocre, worldly people? We aren't even afraid of Heavenly Demons, so why should we be afraid of these children?"

Qin Yongcheng let out a breath and said, "The Teaching Assistant's reprimand is correct."

As they were speaking, several carriages drove in from outside. The carriages were covered with thick curtains, isolating the inside from the outside.

Qin Yongcheng helped Mu Zhujiao move the road block aside to let the carriage convoy enter the Inner area.

Logically, there was nothing for him to do here, but Qin Yongcheng was still curious and took a few extra looks.

Those carriages stopped after entering the drill ground, the curtains were lifted, and one after another, thin and weak boys and girls stepped down.

They were indeed just children, pitifully thin. According to the standard enrollment age of thirteen or fourteen, they looked like they were only eleven or twelve.

He looked for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the children's hair.

Many of their hairs were gray.

If those youths' hair were red or green, one could still call it strange or laughable, but gray was the hair color of an old person in their twilight years, making them appear all the more prematurely aged, weak, and pitiful, just like burnt-out ashes...

Ashes?

Qin Yongcheng's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked Mu Zhujiao, "Which Yinhuo Township, which Demon Cave did they come from?"

Mu Zhujiao said, "They came from several counties west of Yuxia Jun. The Demon Cave over there should be... the Ash Demon Cave?"