Chapter 125

The boy looked obedient, yet was draped in heavy armor.

Chen Qingyan lowered her gaze, her fingers—having just retracted—extended again, tapping the boy's forehead.

She paused, her expression cold and indifferent.

Yet she still said softly: "... Come with me."

Li Guanyi exhaled in relief, before he could react, he saw the tall, icy woman reach out—then his feet left the ground; Chen Qingyan seized the nape of his collar, lifting him and his twenty-odd jin of armor as easily as plucking a tuft of fluff, and stepped forward.

White frost gathered beneath his feet like clouds, as if riding mist and clouds.

Li Guanyi felt his vision blur instantly, nothing visible.

He had not cultivated his eye orifices.

His dynamic visual acuity remained at normal human levels.

The speed was too great for his mind to process; had his physique not been immeasurably stronger than in his past life, he would have fainted from vertigo and vomited long ago—yet now, holding himself together, only three breaths had passed before they appeared at the forbidden library on the palace's edge, near the Fire Qilin Palace.

Along the way, numerous experts failed to sense them.

At least none sensed the Princess held a Gold Guard in her grasp.

Chen Qingyan released her grip.

Li Guanyi landed on the ground, barely steadying himself.

He looked up and saw the sealed library; the top three floors glowed with light.

The Turtle Manifestation naturally appeared, crouching on Li Guanyi's shoulder, neck stretching out.

It drifted several zhang through the air, then turned back to gaze at Li Guanyi, one claw pointing toward the library, paused, then pointed again—more forcefully.

Its mung-bean-sized eyes brimmed with longing.

If he didn't move soon, Li Guanyi felt the Turtle Manifestation would beg aloud.

Yet the light on the top three floors unmistakably signaled the presence of aged elite experts of the Chen royal house—powerful beyond reckoning in this world; Li Guanyi cautiously recalled the Turtle, soothing it inwardly, until the Manifestation dispersed again.

Chen Qingyan had already entered the wooden hut, glancing back at Li Guanyi, and said softly:

"Come in."

Li Guanyi grinned, stepping in obediently; the hut was plain, merely an ordinary dwelling. Chen Qingyan lit the lamps—inside, shelves held countless scrolls. The Princess, her temples streaked white, turned to him and said coldly:

"Breaking into the forbidden palace, killing to steal treasures—clever tactics. Ruthless."

Chen Qingyan's tone was icy and calm, her gaze like moonlight; Li Guanyi shrank his neck.

Then came a clear sound.

On the table beside him lay a white porcelain plate, holding pastries.

Chen Qingyan poured a cup of hot tea.

Then she froze it to the perfect drinking temperature, placed it on the table, and said coldly: "You've got guts."

Li Guanyi blinked, instantly assessed the situation, and removed his helmet.

Then scratched his head, wearing a shy expression, and said:

"Thank you, Auntie Qingyan."

Chen Qingyan lowered her gaze and said softly: "Don't think calling me that will change anything."

She took out a jade vial filled with divine honey, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Li Guanyi.

Then she said calmly: "Those two fled for the Mountain Marrow—why do you want it?"

Li Guanyi took the jade vial obediently, drizzled honey over the pastries—the pure qi within clearly wasn't ordinary honey—and ate while telling Chen Qingyan of the Fire Qilin; unlike Xue Lao, the Princess knew his origins, so he could speak freely without fear.

Chen Qingyan said softly: "Qilin."

"Even if not the Fire Qilin, the Earth Auspicious Qilin is a spiritual entity, its rank higher than the Fire Qilin. Once you leave, others will covet you. If danger arises, go to the Central State Academy, present the Qilin, and the Sixth Master of the Academy, Gongyang Su Wang, will protect you."

She did not forbid him from taking the Qilin—she told him where to go.

Seeing Li Guanyi hesitate, Chen Qingyan said softly:

"The Auspicious Qilin is a Confucian sacred artifact."

"There, one has lived for three thousand years."

"Everyone knows that one is the purest Auspicious Qilin—saved by the First Master during the ancient kings' spring hunt; all sorcerers and alchemists crave its immortality; all martialists and heretics yearn for its Qilin fire."

"Yet the Qilin remains there—why do none take it?"

Li Guanyi said: "Su Wang?"

Chen Qingyan said softly: "Gongyang Su Wang is no pedantic Confucian. When the Qilin appears, he will not seize it—he will keep you and the Qilin within the Confucian Academy, and pour all his effort into teaching you. Within the Three-Foot Corridor of the Heart-Examining Hall, Confucian righteous qi fills the Academy."

"Gongyang Su Wang—invincible under heaven."

Invincible under heaven…

Li Guanyi was no longer the humble herbalist of Yicheng. He had seen General Yue Qianfeng's grandeur, knew Xue Dao Yong could pierce fifty li with a single arrow, shatter mountains and cleave peaks, had witnessed the might of divine generals leading ten thousand iron cavalry in charge.

So he understood the weight of Chen Qingyan's words: "invincible under heaven."

He committed this destination to memory.

Central State, Academy.

Chen Qingyan looked at Li Guanyi and said: "Come here."

Li Guanyi walked over obediently. The woman before him was cold, radiating a faint aura like a frost-blooming lotus. Her gaze swept over him, and she said: "Your qi leaks outward. You've had an opportunity—you've reached the threshold of breaking through the orifices. Why haven't you broken through?"

Li Guanyi thought, then said: "I've wandered with my aunt all my life. She was injured, we fled for ten years. Only recently did I learn martial arts—I truly don't know which step to take next."

He did not embellish his words.

He simply spoke his past.

Merely this, it struck Chen Qingyan deeply.

Chen Qingyan fell silent for a long while.

"Murong Xiao Niang."

"How is she?"

Li Guanyi smiled and said: "Auntie's Dharma Form is trapped, but her spirit is still excellent—she loves pastries, loves roasted goose, once chased away thirty or forty petty thieves with an iron wok, very formidable. As for Auntie's music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, I haven't mastered any of them yet."

Chen Qingyan listened quietly as Li Guanyi spoke of the old friend.

It was as if the seventeen-year-old girl stood vividly before her.

At seventeen, she was the true heir of the Murong Clan, born with innate musical soul, ranked among the top ten beauties of the martial world, yet relied on her sister and brother-in-law to live freely, at will—such a radiant girl still carried the infant Li Guanyi, disguised and in hiding, fleeing for ten years.

The Princess extended her finger and suddenly pointed toward Li Guanyi's third eye.

Pointing at the third eye brought a faint stagnation, an unease.

Chen Qingyan's movement was slow.

Thus, the solemn unease at the third eye grew heavier instead.

Li Guanyi instinctively stepped back.

A strand of frost touched his third eye.

On Chen Qingyan's fingertip condensed a spike of ice, pressing just above Li Guanyi's third eye.

She murmured: "Strike here."

Li Guanyi said: "This is…"

Chen Qingyan said: "The third eye's ancestral aperture. The world cultivates only the nine orifices, unaware of this place. The Western Regions speak of the seven chakras, naming the third eye chakra with specific location—but even that falls into inferior methods."

"This place has no fixed location, no written form."

"It is neither within the body nor outside it; cannot be opened by groping, only awaited through silent stillness."

"It stands apart from the nine orifices, outside the chakras. The Daoist sect's direct transmission, the Supreme Golden Light Scripture, cultivates only this place. In our travels, we once met a young Lü Daoist Priest. Your father drank with him for ten days and nights, and literally drank the Daoist priest to vomiting—obtaining this method from him."

Li Guanyi stared, dumbfounded: "Then, my father…"

Chen Qingyan's lips seemed to curve slightly, then she murmured:

"Your father vomited worse."

Li Guanyi grimaced.

Chen Qingyan said: "This method is said to have been left eight hundred years ago, not for ordinary people. I observe your Soul Essence—you've cultivated the Murong Clan's 'Twelve Storied Mist of Jiangnan' for at least ten years. I suspect that after taking you away, Murong Xiao Niang guided you in through her zither."

"Your Soul Essence is strong enough to cultivate this ancestral aperture."

"The essence lies in the word 'ancestor'—the seat of all one's spirit, recognized as ancestor; like grasping the main thread, the cultivation method is called 'Return Light, Cease Contemplation.' When mastered, it allows one to perceive illusions and secret arts, preserving inner clarity."

"Through this ancestral seat, one may command the nine orifices; its intent rises above the third eye chakra, allowing concurrent cultivation of chakra arts."

Li Guanyi said: "Thank you, Auntie."

Chen Qingyan suddenly stepped forward—in an instant, a faint breeze brushed his face. Li Guanyi felt his body instantly turn to ice. He looked down and saw his body transformed into millennia-frozen ice, pupils contracting.

He had no time to wonder why Chen Qingyan attacked him.

Li Guanyi instinctively wrenched free, leaping upward.

He sought to escape this ice imprisonment.

Suddenly, his vision brightened.

He had broken free of the confinement.

Li Guanyi saw Chen Qingyan—and another himself.

Still seated cross-legged.

Two of himself?

No—this was his Soul Essence.

Li Guanyi suddenly sensed the mystery. Chen Qingyan raised her gaze to three inches above Li Guanyi's physical head and murmured: "The body is frozen, the Soul Essence stirs slightly—this is precisely what the scroll described as most wondrous and most perilous."

"For ordinary people, the Soul Essence stirs only at death—that is perilous."

"But if it stirs naturally, that is the Daoist sect's untransmitted secret of the Heavenly Heart."

"That is wondrous."

"Daoists, Buddhists, alchemists—all cultivate this method, believing the Soul Essence's wonder, when perfected, renders martial cultivators crude. Yet indulging in the lightness of soul and spirit makes one unable to resist life and death."

"It is merely the moon in water, the flower in the mirror."

Li Guanyi's Soul Essence returned to his body—his physical form had not turned to millennia-frozen ice.

Chen Qingyan murmured: "It was an illusion imposed upon you."

Li Guanyi hesitated, then said: "If you unleashed your full power, would the victim's body truly believe it had frozen to death?"

Chen Qingyan gave no answer.

Li Guanyi bowed deeply: "Thank you, Auntie, for your guidance. I know how to break through now."

Chen Qingyan hummed, then murmured: "Break through."

Li Guanyi: "Huh?"

The woman with snow-white temples pointed ahead, calmly: "Here."

Li Guanyi sat down obediently, crossed his legs, and circulated his Qi. Ten years of playing and listening to the zither had never been abandoned. His Soul Essence stirred, internal Qi surged, striking the third eye's Heavenly Heart. The Heavenly Heart returned its light—gradually, his vision filled with brilliant gold. Unconsciously, his spirit grew pleasantly light, as if floating upward.

Li Guanyi "saw" celestial maidens scattering flowers, countless strange phenomena.

Had this been an ordinary person, they would have long sunk into them. The boy remained silent.

He freed himself from this boundless wonder by his own will.

He sighed.

He drew his sword and swept it horizontally.

The myriad illusions shattered. Before him, silence returned—only pure Jin Guang remained.

The boy felt something within his third eye. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Outside the window, dusk had become midnight. His meditation had lasted three full hours—by the reckoning of his past life's time, from seven p. m. to one a. m.

Yet he felt no stiffness in his blood, no numbness in his legs.

His spirit was especially clear and refreshing.

Chen Qingyan said: "The ancestral aperture at your third eye has opened. For the next several days, constantly warm it with your own primordial qi—it will gradually stabilize. If you persist without slackening, the ancestral aperture will make your spirit lively and greatly enhance your comprehension. Secret arts of sorcerers, Yin-Yang specialists, and the Xuan Sect at your same realm will lose their effect on you."

"If you have secret arts, their power should also increase."

Li Guanyi opened his eyes and looked outward; within his gaze swirled primordial qi. The Yin-Yang specialist's Qi-seeing art revealed things more clearly and from farther away. Within the imperial palace, numerous vast qi currents lay coiled like dragons and tigers.

Chen Qingyan flicked her finger lightly against Li Guanyi's forehead: "In the imperial palace, use Qi-seeing art sparingly."

Li Guanyi nodded obediently.

He thought for a moment and said: "Auntie Qingyan, I have a question."

Chen Qingyan said: "Speak."

Li Guanyi said: "How can one enter the inner library of the Scripture Pavilion?"

Chen Qingyan replied coolly: "The Emperor's legitimate son, or a noble who has rendered great merit."

"The Xue family has exerted pressure—Si Qing has been transferred away."

"But inside the inner library are three Laozu of Chen State; they only emerge when the nation faces destruction. Their internal power runs deep. Even with my own rare fortune, I would be detected."

"I cannot take you up there."

Li Guanyi felt a pang of regret.

The Laozu of Chen State—just thinking about them, you knew how deep the waters ran.

No wonder Si Qing was no longer in the Scripture Pavilion—and seemed to have specifically come looking for me.

Xue Lao had used some method to directly kick out this mole in the Chancellor's residence. After scheming for years, he was now unemployed. Even someone like Si Tu Deqing, with his temperament, would feel displeased.

In direct combat, he was no match for Xue Lao, so he came to vent his frustration on Li Guanyi.

That old bastard.

Chen Qingyan thought for a moment, then said coolly:

"If you win first place in the Grand Sacrifice's martial contest among the states, you may enter."

"Also…"

Chen Qingyan said: "The Wu Gong you practice, the Six Void Four Union Divine Art, is known to only a handful within the Chen royal house. Your third uncle has a free-spirited nature and has studied many Wu Gong. If you earn his favor, he might secretly teach you the second level—enough to master five qi currents."

"At that time, I will give you one Kunlun Heart Decree qi current."

Li Guanyi bowed deeply and thanked sincerely: "Thank you, Auntie Qingyan."

Chen Qingyan nodded slightly, then reached out and lifted Li Guanyi.

Just as an elder might carry a child, she did not levitate—but moved with astonishing speed, carrying him beyond the palace gates, then departed naturally. Li Guanyi bowed deeply with clasped hands, then hurried back to the Xue residence, avoiding the main gate.

Dozens of eyes were watching the main gate of the Xue residence.

The boy thought for a moment, then climbed over his own wall, crouching atop it.

He dropped down from the wall.

Li Guanyi suddenly understood why both Yao Guang and Master Siming always entered through walls and corners—truly a seasoned choice!

Only when Li Guanyi returned to the Xue residence where Xue Lao was present did he truly feel at ease.

He increasingly sensed how deep the waters of Jingcheng were, yet his actions as a Gold Guard retrieving treasures had already been perilous. After perceiving his ancestral aperture, he felt this seemed to simultaneously follow the methods of the Nine Orifices and the Seven Chakras.

His perception had improved; the effect of Qi-seeing art had strengthened.

His sensitivity to the Dharma Phases had also grown stronger.

Li Guanyi thought for a moment, flicked his fingers, and projected two qi currents: one blazing like fire, the other like the dark water of the Black Tortoise, swirling and shifting, subtly opening according to the transformation of the 【Four Symbols Sealing Spirit Array】. The two qi currents circled, forming a Yin-Yang array, controlled by his spirit, spinning in empty space for several breaths before dissipating.

"Grandfather said that with the second level of the Book of Imperial Supreme Ages, one can begin attempting to form an array alone. Indeed… after cultivating the ancestral aperture, I can already do so."

Li Guanyi rejoiced. Though, with his current cultivation level, the 【Four Symbols Sealing Spirit Array】 could only manifest as a Yin-Yang formation in empty space—and only briefly—it was already marvelously refined.

He would wait until the Grand Sacrifice's martial contest, then enter the inner library to see what the Black Tortoise desired.

Then he could take the Fire Qilin away.

Li Guanyi pulled out the box. When he had taken it, the Mountain Marrow had been inside. Curious about the true Mountain Marrow, he gently opened it—radiant light shimmered, the thick golden-yellow glow deeply alluring. Li Guanyi reached out and touched it.

"This is the Mountain Marrow…"

The moment he touched the Mountain Marrow, a sudden change occurred.

The thick yellow qi swirling within the crystal reversed direction.

Li Guanyi suddenly realized a deadly truth: the Mountain Marrow was qi!

That qi surged directly into Li Guanyi's body. Instinctively, he tried to hold it back, refusing to let the Mountain Marrow sink into the earth—otherwise, all his effort would be in vain. He unleashed his cultivation power, when suddenly a roar like a dragon and a tiger erupted.

The Fire Qilin Dharma Phase appeared behind him!

The Mountain Marrow's qi had entered the body of the Fire Qilin Dharma Phase!

?? Recommend a book to a friend

? Martial arts, folk customs, the Jianghu, secret sects… Li Yan holds his blade and walks, unbound by taboos!