Chapter 47: The Chance to Enter One's Own Realm, the Age of Great Struggle

Li Guanyi had never seen such a shameless old man.

He clung to Li Guanyi's thigh on the street, refusing to let go, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Master! Master!"—drawing a crowd. Li Guanyi grew furious, when suddenly the old man lightly tapped his leg; the boy's breath instantly froze, his meridians seized control.

The old man suddenly shouted: "Ah! Master! What's wrong with you, Master?"

"Oh no! I told you not to turn into a child!"

"Look! You've had another fit!"

"Don't worry, disciple will see you to your end!"

He scooped Li Guanyi up by the waist, slammed him onto his shoulder with flawless ease, and sprinted off on legs like withered branches, vanishing in a flash to a deserted alley corner, where he dropped Li Guanyi, plopped down, and leaned close, scanning him up and down.

"Good. Very good."

The elder grinned, looking flustered, rubbing his hands:

"I'll release the binding spell on you. Don't move."

Li Guanyi saw a transparent rope, woven from Qi, binding him; the Dragon and Tiger writhed in fury, tearing at it. The elder's finger flicked lightly—the rope snapped, dissolving into invisible Qi that flowed into heaven and earth.

Li Guanyi recognized the profundity of this technique and did not instantly leap away.

Instead, he placed his hand on the hilt of Murong Qiushui and said: "Elder… what exactly do you want?"

The old man said nothing, only stared intently at Li Guanyi: "You saw it?"

"How did you see it?"

"When did you see it?!"

Li Guanyi chose his words carefully: "Since I was a child."

The elder frowned: "Huh? You never ate any fruit, never witnessed any anomaly, never touched any treasure?"

Li Guanyi answered naturally:

"Yes. I was born with it."

The old man scratched his head, glancing at the Black Tortoise: "Old friend, what do you think?"

The Black Tortoise gazed at Li Guanyi; his gaze seemed to pierce through the boy's sincerity. Li Guanyi even saw a faint, gentle smile on the tortoise's mottled face. The Black Tortoise shook his head, saying nothing. The elder said: "You mean he's a good child—no need to worry."

Master Siming said: "Indeed. How you saw it is none of my concern."

"The fact that you saw it—that's what matters."

The elder looked at Li Guanyi, raised his palm to his chest, his expression solemn and calm: "I am Master Siming, one of the top three among the Twelve Chief Stewards of Yin-Yang School. You may call me your teacher—or your disciple—as you please."

Li Guanyi's lips twitched.

A rich voice replied: "He's asking whether you wish to join the Yin-Yang School."

Li Guanyi stared at the Black Tortoise as if seeing a ghost.

Influenced by his emotion, the Bai Hu on his shoulder glanced at Li Guanyi, then at the Black Tortoise.

It too widened its eyes, staring in shock at the Black Tortoise.

The latter spoke slowly: "Don't look at me. Human speech isn't difficult—live long enough, and you'll understand easily. Child, this generation's Master Siming is a playful brat. Don't let his words sway you."

Li Guanyi thought carefully, then asked bluntly:

"What benefits will I gain by joining the Yin-Yang School?"

The elder froze, then burst into laughter, pointing at Li Guanyi: "Look! My disciple and I are destined to be alike—his shamelessness matches mine!"

"Still, this directness is good."

"Our Yin-Yang lineage is one of the Nine Schools of the Hundred Philosophers. We govern the Two Qi of Heaven and Earth, divide the Five Phases, and transform them. If you enter our sect, benefits will be endless—your name will resound across the land; kings and princes will revere you."

The Black Tortoise spoke slowly: "The main house of the Yin-Yang School is one of the few in this age qualified to preside over state sacrifices. Since seven hundred years ago, when the world stabilized and kings were enfeoffed in Heaven's name, any ruler seeking to found a state or claim a throne must receive the Mandate of Heaven. The main house of the Yin-Yang School, which can interpret the Mandate, is valued by kings."

"But once a king falls, the former Yin-Yang School master is replaced."

"In one country you're honored; in another, you're seen as a court flatterer. Over a hundred years ago, the Purple Palace burned down, and over a hundred officials from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau were executed. Even then, a Yin-Yang School master was present—amid chaos, it was no longer a prominent school."

The old man bristled at his old friend's interruption.

But the Black Tortoise didn't care.

He continued calmly: "Yet mastering the Five Phases, the flow of Yin and Yang, and ultimately comprehending the mystery of the One—that is an exalted lineage. One who can read the hints given by all things, avoid misfortune and seek fortune, read geomancy, and tread upon Yin and Yang."

"Your talent, if untrained, would be wasted."

Li Guanyi looked at the Black Tortoise—and suddenly understood.

The boy sat cross-legged, released his grip on the sword, and placed his hands on his knees. He smiled slightly: "You are the true 【Master Siming】."

"Is that so?"

Both the Black Tortoise and the old man showed a flicker of surprise.

The Black Tortoise's face softened: "…Clever child."

"All things in heaven and earth are divided into Yin and Yang Qi. Living beings belong to Yang; manifestations belong to Yin. The flow of Yin and Yang allows a human who can perceive manifestations to possess a power attainable only after reaching a certain level in Yin-Yang cultivation. One who sees me may receive my inheritance and inherit the title of 【Master Siming】."

Li Guanyi felt the bronze tripod could not extract even a drop of jade fluid from the ancient tortoise.

As if the tortoise emitted not a single wisp of Qi or aura.

Was it the tripod's weakness—or his own realm too low to affect it? The tortoise smiled gently:

"Child, learning some Yin-Yang arts will do no harm to your destiny."

Li Guanyi said: "Then that technique that bound me earlier."

The Black Tortoise explained: "That was a Qi-congealing technique—more unique than a martial artist's acupoint pinning or a Daoist's meridian suppression. Only an artificer who can perceive Qi can distinguish it, and only one who masters the calibration of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases can break it. Unfortunately, only after entering One's Own Realm, when one's Qi can leave the body, can one begin cultivation."

Li Guanyi felt regret.

Again, it was about entering One's Own Realm.

Before and after entering One's Own Realm, the distinction holds special meaning in every Gejiage Sect.

Thus, the depth of one's entry into One's Own Realm is especially crucial.

The Black Tortoise looked at the old man, who puffed his cheeks and glared, refusing to speak.

"You're the Master Siming, why are you looking at me?"

The Black Tortoise nudged the old man.

Reluctantly, he casually picked up a straight tree branch, scratched the ground a few times, and every stroke left behind a wisp of qi.

Then the branch in his hand tapped the center of the pattern, and the qi began to flow.

The earth suddenly grew thick, then sprouted a bud; the bud grew, spread, and finally became a flowering tree. The tree burst into great clusters of winter plum blossoms; the petals fell into the youth's palm, and then the plum tree instantly withered and turned into raging fire; the fire rolled and transformed into flowing water, which fell to the ground and returned to dust. It was all like an illusion.

But Li Guanyi looked at his palm—and that single winter plum blossom was still there.

The old man tossed the wooden stick in his hand aside, offered no explanation, and simply tilted his chin up.

The Black Tortoise said: "This is the power of our Yin-Yang school—the transformations of yin and yang, the arising and perishing of the five elements."

"It is a power that can probe the very roots of Heaven and Earth, full of mysteries, but it's not skilled at killing. A martial artist of the same realm who gets close to you is basically dead. But even if it's not those martial artists, Daoist Priests and Monks with a similar level of qi—we can't beat them either. We're only barely stronger than those fellows who cultivate the classics of calculation, I suppose?"

Li Guanyi said: "The Confucians?"

The old man cursed loudly: "Confucian scholars are crude—they're especially good at throwing bamboo slips at people!"

【Black Tortoise】 said: "Although we're not skilled at killing, if one masters this Way, one can summon winds that sweep over rivers and streams, use great formations to disrupt the heavens, send sand and stones flying, and alter battle arrays—these are all easy matters."

"Since ancient times, strategists have all mastered this Way."

"In these chaotic times of the world, the Yin-Yang school's military strategists change the weather, the counselors balance the great currents, the great masters of the classics of calculation deduce the national strength of every kingdom, and finally upon the battlefield, fierce generals charge the lines and storm the passes, fighting against thousands upon thousands of troops. The sovereign sits high in the ancestral hall, and the common folk drift through the mortal world—just like the five elements."

"Child, if you wish to learn, then wait until you enter the realm, and come find me here again."

"Let's not speak of any master-and-disciple business."

The tortoise shell on 【Black Tortoise】's back radiated power, and a portion of it voluntarily dispersed outward. Li Guanyi felt the bronze cauldron hum, and this power fell into it, naturally transforming into a Black Tortoise. It did not obtain the Jade Marrow, but the Black Tortoise had already been branded upon it.

It was the first time Li Guanyi had seen a Dharma Aspect voluntarily offer its own qi to its master.

The Black Tortoise said gently: "If one were to meet such a fine talent and not pass on the teachings, then old friends would have to crawl out of their graves."

"After you enter the realm, I can use the secret methods of the Yin-Yang school to transmit to you a 'Dharma Aspect.'"

The old man glared at his old friend.

How did you start snatching people away?! The Yin-Yang school's method of giving a 'Dharma Aspect' is actually just splitting off a portion of one's own qi, shaping one, and sending it over—it is also the most core method of transmission in the Yin-Yang school.

Li Guanyi sensed the change upon the bronze cauldron, understood the Black Tortoise's meaning, and his expression grew solemn. Looking at the plum blossom in his hand, he accepted this bond of dharma transmission. When he rose to take his leave, he asked: "You are…"

The Black Tortoise said: "Me?"

"No need to mind it."

"I'm nothing more than the old turtle who once carried the Luo Shu on his back."

…………

Li Guanyi had gone far away. The old man and the Black Tortoise gazed into the distance. The Black Tortoise said: "Friend Zu should be arriving soon. The Confucian Wang Tong has also come. The Seventh Mo Juzi of the Mohist school has already slipped into the city. The qi of weapons and the qi of literary grace have both already surged up to the heavens."

"What are you looking at?"

The old man said: "I'm looking at his stars."

Though it was clearly daytime, the old man stared wide-eyed at the sky. His grizzled beard and hair fluttered, stirring slightly in the wind. The Black Tortoise looked at this Master Siming, the most gifted in a thousand years. Siming is the chief seat of the Yin-Yang school, the one who presides over the Mandate of Heaven.

In the domain of observing the stars and the myriad phenomena of the heavens, no one could surpass him.

This old man had once presided over the great ancestral sacrifice of a great kingdom. In that solemn scene, even the sovereign knelt and sat below the high platform. Green smoke and enormous banners unfurled, as if connecting to the clouds above. The Master Siming, dressed in elaborate and solemn vestments, sat cross-legged before a great bronze cauldron, gravely and majestically chanting the ancient sacrificial verses.

Everyone said he was the most gifted great master of the Yin-Yang school.

Only the Black Tortoise knew that the old man at that time was dead drunk, sitting there with his head nodding little by little. His solemn expression was only because his hangover gave him a headache and his brows were tightly furrowed. When divining with the tortoise shell, he would first use a sharp file to carve hidden patterns on the inside of the shell in advance, then burn them to produce the desired markings.

His lips parted slightly, and beneath the solemn elegant music, the Black Tortoise heard clearly:

"Damn it all, it hurts me to death."

He was the most gifted Master Siming, and also the generation that treated the Yin-Yang school's so-called Mandate of Heaven with the greatest contempt.

Yet now he sighed: "So that's how it is. He is not of the Bai Hu Da Zong."

The Black Tortoise looked at his old friend.

The old man said quietly: "I cannot see that star, but the star representing his fate hangs high, like a whirlpool in the Eastern Sea. The surrounding stars, the starlight of the Sixiangda Sect—all have been swallowed and swept up by it. But even so, his fate star has not emitted a single glimmer of light."

"Like a pure black whirlpool-star that ought not to belong to the starry sky."

"I… can no longer read his fate…"

"However, fate is only innate. Whether one accomplishes anything still depends on this person's capacity. This time, the matter of Yicheng gathers both martial and literary qi—jianghu, court, the State of Ying, the State of Chen, noble houses, beyond the passes, the Confucians, the Daoists, the Mohists, the Militarists, great merchants."

"Every faction has entered the stage—this is the most fitting time and place for the dragon and the tiger."

"Like water surging into waves, the fish borrows the fortune of this age of great contention to soar upward, transforming into a true dragon. Borrowing the time and place to enter the realm, one can reach the very first tier of foundation."

"How far he can go—whether to fame, or to obscurity without a name—"

"depends on this very moment."

The Black Tortoise was silent: "Why didn't you tell him?"

The old man faltered: "…………Forgot."

Man and turtle stared at each other. The old man leapt up and broke into a sprint: "Disciple! Master! Wait for me!"

"Wait!"

…………

Li Guanyi headed back to the Xue household. He wanted to remind Xue Lao of the changes in the city's border defenses—although the old man might already know, he could not remain silent about it. He also wanted his aunt to move temporarily into the Xue family's side residence. At the gate, however, Li Guanyi saw a line of carriages paying a visit.

The visitors' bearing and temperament differed from those of Jiangnan Dao; they carried a fierce, robust air.

Li Guanyi was curious. The Xue family's guards, upon seeing him, greeted him and addressed him as Guest Minister. This caused a man of some thirty-odd years on the carriage to pause. He turned to look at the youth—his hair knot immaculate, a jade hairpin binding his hair, his complexion fair and gentle, with a mustache trimmed in the figure-eight style.

In Li Guanyi's eyes, qi flowed, and a white fox emerged from the man's shoulder.

Beside Li Guanyi's qi, Bai Hu paced, and a crimson dragon coiled.

A Dharma Aspect?! Something's off. These are things only the heroes of the world possess. In the past ten years, Li Guanyi had never seen one, yet in this single month, so many had gathered in Yicheng?! Li Guanyi instinctively sensed something was wrong. Thinking of the changes in the city's defenses, he felt a pressure like a storm about to break.

The man's lips curved slightly upward, and he smiled: "Guest Minister?"

"Such a young Guest Elder—the Xue clan's younger generation truly produces outstanding talents."

Li Guanyi said, "Mr., you are also of remarkable bearing."

"Hahaha, I am merely a humble traveling merchant from Longxi and Guanzhong; I cannot bear the title of Mr."

The handsome young man offered a slight salute: "A man of Longxi, my compound surname is Changsun, my given name Wuchou."

"It is an honor to meet you, young Mr."

(End of chapter)