Volume One: A Stream Through a Thousand Years — Chapter 30: The Reply

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Ever since Fu Zhe discovered the boy’s talent, he had let Sun Zikai cultivate on his own, providing him with every convenience he needed.

Relying on his status as the sect master’s senior disciple, Sun Zikai could come and go freely within the Tower of Full Modesty, even reaching the tenth floor directly. Yet he was in no hurry to go there. Instead, he devoted himself to tending his vegetable garden.

The greens had grown to maturity, and fingerlings had been released into the pond. Sun Zikai sat at its edge, his lower legs immersed in the water.

He lost himself in nature and became ever more aware of its wonders. The water was clear; when it met an object, ripples formed, then rolled back again, carrying a single green leaf upon their undulations.

He reached into the water, tracing the fish by touch—the hidden currents stirred by their swaying bodies, the bubbles rising as their gills moved. Everything seemed governed by patterns, as though all things existed within the laws of nature.

Sun Zikai reached to the side, where two manuals of sorcery lay. After hesitating for a moment, he did not pick up The Way of Fire Manipulation, but instead took the other, a thick volume entitled Divination of Material Forms.

When he opened it, he found few words and many illustrations. Compared with The Way of Fire Manipulation, Divination of Material Forms was far easier to understand. Even someone without the slightest talent could read it. It was a manual for summoning spirits, containing seventy-two spirit seals. Each seal was drawn with extraordinary clarity, and the spirits it summoned belonged to various types.

Yet the manual’s flaws were equally obvious. The practitioner had to memorize the method for drawing every seal while also possessing exceedingly delicate control over spiritual energy. Each seal consumed a tremendous amount of energy; by the time an ordinary person finished drawing the second, they would already be struggling.

But that was not the true problem. The greatest reason the manual had been abandoned was the extreme unpredictability of its summons. The same seal, drawn by the same person, might summon spirits vastly different from one another at different times. Some possessed no combat ability at all, being inferior even to an ordinary dog, yet still consumed enormous quantities of the user’s spiritual energy.

Sun Zikai turned through the manual from beginning to end. In the span of an hour and a half, he committed all seventy-two seals to memory. Then he raised his hand and began drawing in the air with energy. Before long, a seal was complete, and Sun Zikai sensed some kind of law beginning to flow the moment it was formed.

The pond churned as though it were boiling. Three breaths later, a spirit-shaped being thirty yards tall and twenty yards wide stood motionless before Sun Zikai. It had no physical body, only a form outlined in golden light. Because it was so enormous, it appeared to be squatting atop the pond.

“Eh?”

Sun Zikai stood only a few feet from the spirit, close enough to touch, yet his hand met nothing solid.

“Are you of the Earthbound lineage? What exactly did I summon? Ah, you don’t seem to possess any consciousness. Are you actually useful? If this technique can’t be controlled, then using it in battle is like drawing lots. I’d have no idea what kind of demon or monster would appear.”

Sun Zikai immediately lost interest in the technique. Still, the seals had broadened his horizons. Before abandoning it entirely, he had a sudden idea: he drew several seals over the same area. To his surprise, the overlapping seals all took effect, producing a chaotic, misshapen spirit.

At that moment, a voice sounded from behind him.

“This technique is useless. Try another.”

Sun Zikai had known someone was approaching. Turning around, he saw that it was Gao Yang.

“If it’s useless, why would it be kept in the Tower of Full Modesty?”

Gao Yang walked to the pond and looked at the chaotic spirit.

“This isn’t really a spell manual. Long ago, the founding patriarch of the Sorcery Sect took the seventy-two strange creatures he had encountered throughout his life, outlined them with spiritual energy, and compressed each into a single seal. By drawing the seal, one could summon the spirit. But what it summons is only a spirit framework, which must then be driven by spiritual energy. It’s clumsy and possesses little combat ability.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the spirit before them suddenly blasted out a great wave of air. Gao Yang’s hair flew loose, and he bent nearly double.

“The one you summoned is somewhat different.”

Sun Zikai had drawn the seal with energy, so naturally its effect differed from one drawn with spiritual energy.

“What brings you here, Brother Gao?”

“I came to deliver a message from Junior Sister. She asked me to tell you that Master is strict, and she is devoted to her cultivation and unable to leave. You should visit the Artifact Sect to see her from time to time.”

“Oh, thank—”

Sun Zikai had not finished speaking when Gao Yang drew a sword and pointed it directly at him.

“Brother Gao?”

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“I lost to Junior Sister in swordsmanship.”

“Impossible. That girl is no match for you. Still, if you didn’t know her abilities and let down your guard, allowing her to seize an opening, then with the speed of her footwork she could indeed strike your vital point within two moves.”

“A loss is a loss. My skill was inferior. But I heard that her swordsmanship and footwork were taught by you. I came today not only to deliver the message, but also to seek your instruction.”

Sun Zikai rose to his feet, barefoot.

“Come, then.”

Gao Yang did not hold back. Sword shadows layered one upon another. Taking Jiang Yuqin’s advice, he discarded all useless flourishes and thrust rapidly toward Sun Zikai’s vital points.

But Sun Zikai suddenly punched into empty air. Several breaths later, Gao Yang finally recovered his senses and looked back. His sword was already in Sun Zikai’s grasp.

Sun Zikai had just begun to speak when Gao Yang raised his hand in salute.

“Thank you for the instruction. I understand the gap between us now.”

“Uh, Brother Gao—”

Gao Yang took the sword from Sun Zikai, slid it into its sheath, and walked away without looking back.

Sun Zikai felt troubled. He thought that he truly ought to visit Jiang Yuqin more often, lest that girl one day end up in the same state as Gao Yang.

The chaotic spirit once more blasted a wave of air toward him. Sun Zikai cast a Dissolution Seal and scattered it.

“Could it be because I used energy?”

He drew another seal, but this time he used only spiritual energy. A moment later, the Earthbound summon appeared. It was still outlined in light, yet luminous surfaces now filled the spaces between the lines, as though flesh had grown over a skeleton. It stood five feet tall and four feet wide. Once infused with spiritual energy, it began moving like a dog, though it possessed no combat ability whatsoever.

“So this is a dog.”

Sun Zikai drew the seal again. This time it resembled a bear. He drew it once more, and it looked like something between a wolf and a fox.

By then, Sun Zikai understood completely. This was not a combat technique at all, but merely a record of the founding patriarch’s memories. Yet the seals inspired him greatly and stirred his interest. The Earthbound seal seemed to represent the unique skeletal structure shared by canine spirits. That patriarch had probably grouped wolves, dogs, bears, tigers, and similar creatures into one lineage, selecting the structures they shared and combining them into a single seal.

The process of drawing the seal afterward was, in truth, a matter of assembling those bones. Since the angle and form of the assembly could differ, the creature that emerged could also look vastly different.

Sun Zikai wondered whether drawing the precise structure of every individual creature would make each one unique. If so, there would be far more than seventy-two seals. He did not care what practical use they might have; he simply found the idea interesting. He even intended to name these special seals spirit sigils.

He placed eight seals together, then redrew them with energy. Another chaotic “spirit” appeared, nothing more than a framework outlined in light.

Sun Zikai began to imagine aloud.

“Let’s say you have bones already. We’ll add some flesh. Earth first—and you’ll need water, too. A little fire as well. I’ll give you a bit of everything. Then you’ll become a ‘thing.’ If only I could give you some consciousness or thoughts. Then you’d truly be alive.”

“What an ugly creature. If I pile everything onto you, will you still be able to move? Hmph.”

The corner of Sun Zikai’s mouth lifted as he spoke lazily.

“I’ll give you a name. You shall be called—the Qilin.”

He waved his hand, and the spirit dispersed. Someone had arrived.

It was Feng Yueyi, but Sun Zikai immediately knew that the person before him was an impostor. The vitality and energy within this creature were nowhere near the level of a nine-year-old girl, though it had perfectly replicated the familiar appearance.

Without changing expression, Sun Zikai asked, “What brings you here? Has your master sent for me?”

Feng Yueyi replied coldly, “Of course. Come with me at once.”

“Where are we going?”

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“Just follow me. Stop asking questions. Your master is waiting for you there as well.”

Feng Yueyi appeared extremely anxious.

Sun Zikai was willing to play along. He put on his shoes and followed her south. They passed through the southern gate, descended the perilous path beyond the ridge, and eventually arrived within the Fourteen City Domain.

Sun Zikai did not say a word along the way. Feng Yueyi found this rather strange, but did not take the boy seriously.

They boarded a carriage and continued until they were dozens of miles from the mountain ridge. Only then did Feng Yueyi stop and lead Sun Zikai into a remote ravine.

Feng Yueyi turned around and looked at Sun Zikai suspiciously. He had assumed that he would eventually have to attack and forcibly drag the boy away from the sect, yet Sun Zikai had followed him without a word.

Feng Yueyi spoke first, his voice cold.

“What are you trying to say?”

Sun Zikai replied calmly, “If you wanted to kill me, you could have simply told me. We could have gone to the First Garden instead. There was no need to come all this way. And you didn’t need to change your appearance. Even if you had come as yourself, I would still have followed.”

“Hah. What are you talking about?” Feng Yueyi retorted.

“Yesterday, you stopped me but didn’t kill me. Your master wasn’t pleased, was he?”

Feng Yueyi’s figure slowly changed, finally returning to its true appearance. He was the member of the Ma family who had blocked Sun Zikai and Feng Yueyi behind the High Bridge in the First Garden the previous day.

He sneered.

“Since you knew it was me, you still dared to follow?”

Sun Zikai spread his hands.

“I’ll eventually kill every member of the Ma family anyway. What difference does it make if you die a little sooner? I promised my master that before killing someone, I would always inform him first. But for people like you, there’s no need to go through such a troublesome process.”

“Boy, have you lost your mind?”

The man had no desire to waste words. He had to complete his mission flawlessly and return to report.

He used only twenty percent of his strength. A single technique pierced through Sun Zikai’s body, and the man watched as Sun Zikai collapsed heavily to the ground. He walked over.

Sun Zikai slowly raised a hand. The man looked at him mockingly and brought his foot down upon it.

Sun Zikai asked, “How are you going to report back to your master?”

The man replied viciously, “I’ll cut off your head and deliver it to him. That should count as completing the mission.”

“I see. Now I understand.”

Sun Zikai’s hand seized the man’s ankle...

At noon, Ma Dairan had just returned from a banquet at the Sorcery Sect. Drunk and bleary-eyed, he entered his room and sat down beside the table. An object upon it suddenly left him stunned.

The window stood open, and a breeze blew inside. In an instant, his drunkenness vanished.

On the table lay the head of his nephew—the man himself. The blood had already run dry, and his hair was completely white. It was unmistakably him, yet he looked as though he had aged several decades.

Ma Dairan instinctively called for someone to come in, but when that person was about to push open the door, he shouted for him to leave. Supporting his head with both hands, he sat at the table and meditated for a long while...