Chapter 230 - Pointers from His Grandfather and a Real Eye-opener (1/2)
Chapter 230: Pointers from His Grandfather and a Real Eye-opener
Translator: DragonRider
Ling Zhang, who had a sense of propriety, didn’t persist with his questioning but said, “Since Shan Congwen is in the emperor of the Wan Kingdom’s confidence and not a fool, this suggests that Yuwen Tong was not the reason why he tried to kill me. Even if he did that because of Yuwen Tong, venting his anger was not the purpose. There was some deeper reason, and I was just a springboard for it.”
Ji Yin remarked seriously, “This is the tricky part. Given that Shan Congwen has stayed in the Great Yue for such a long time, he must have some ulterior motive. It was undoubtedly to a certain end that he waded in, so he probably would stop at nothing to take your life.”
Ling Zhang saw what Ji Yin meant. Shan Congwen had attempted to kill him for a purpose, one he would resort to whatever means necessary to achieve.
Shan Congwen was the King Ming’en of the Wan Kingdom and represented the interests of the Wan Kingdom. What was motivating Shan Congwen to do this was, without doubt, beneficial to the Wan Kingdom and detrimental to the Great Yue.
If only he could ascertain what Shan Congwen’s intention was exactly.
The King Hui was in league with the Wan Kingdom… Wasn’t it no different from a hen cooperating with a weasel? Was he not afraid that the Great Yue would be put at a disadvantage again? After such a heavy price was paid to bring a turnabout of the situation between the Great Yue and the Wan Kingdom, he intended to hand this advantage to the enemy on a silver platter?!
Ling Zhang’s impression of the King Hui worsened even further.
Ji Yin kept nothing back while instructing Ling Zhang in internal energy. Though Ling Zhang was still recovering from arm injury, it was no hindrance to him mobilizing his internal energy. Ji Yin stood right beside him, carefully offering him useful tips. This was different from Ling Zhang cultivating alone. With Ji Yin instructing him, he was getting twice the result with half the effort. Ling Zhang had got a general idea of how far away he was from the third layer.
Ji Yin was the best mentor. He was not only experienced but also capable of identifying at a glance which part Ling Zhang was not doing right. No matter what question Ling Zhang asked, he could always give an answer that struck home.
As a result, during the next two days, with Ji Yin in the Ling Mansion, Ling Zhang made great progress in his cultivation of internal energy, though he couldn’t go outside.
Two days later, Yuwen Tong seemed to have found something during the inquiry, but he was still not back.
Ling Zhang guessed that he must be very busy – after all, it was a prince that he was working against. The King Hui couldn’t hold a candle to Yuwen Tong, but because he had a great number of followers who formed a very complicated network in the imperial court, bringing him down was not something that could be done in a day or two, though he was not really a formidable opponent.
Ling Zhang patiently waited, but on this day Ji Yin told him that he would teach him martial formations after he finished the cultivation of the second layer and reached the third layer.
Ling Zhang, who could comprehend the many formations his mother had taught him all by himself, was somewhat confused. Were there any formations he needed to reach the third layer of the mental cultivation method first to be ready to learn, by any chance?
Ji Yin didn’t answer him directly but took him to the drill ground.
It had come to the knowledge of almost everybody in the Ling Mansion, except for some servants, that Ji Yin was grandfather to their young master. They also knew that their young master’s grandfather was a kung fu expert with formidable martial arts prowess, who gained entry into the Ling Mansion unseen by all of them every day.
The first time he’d made his appearance, Yao Yi and the other bodyguards had been reduced to cold sweat.
Now seeing Ji Yin and Ling Zhang walking over, all of them stopped at the same time what they were doing, as if there was some kind of tacit agreement among them. “Young Master, Mr. Ji.”
There was a confused look in their eyes. Ling Zhang, who was also perplexed, looked at his grandfather.
Ji Yin didn’t utter a word, but all of a sudden he raised his hand and, without moving an inch, transferred a couple of boulders from a side of the drill ground to the middle of it, as if by telekinetic powers. The positions of those boulders didn’t seem to follow a particular pattern, but as they landed, both the s.p.a.ce and the atmosphere on the drill ground changed. The drill ground, which had been quite s.p.a.cious a moment ago, instantly made Ling Zhang feel that he had just entered a forest of boulders. Not only were people around him out of sight, even what he saw, heard and sensed was different now. At the same time, he went restless and subdued in spite of himself.
Also, he didn’t know when, but gusts of wind accompanied by sand had started howling outside the drill ground. Weirdly enough, the dusty wind was whirling around the drill ground like a gigantic tornado, engulfing the whole place.
Ling Zhang, who had been standing beside his grandfather all along, had a vague idea of what Ji Yin had done to conjure up this tornado, but there were still many details he couldn’t comprehend for the moment. More importantly, this formation had been finished in an instant and almost with the greatest ease. In his eyes, it would require concerted efforts of quite some men to finish a formation like this, but Ji Yin had made it happen all by himself.
Ling Zhang, watching the drill ground in shock, raised his hand to s.h.i.+eld his eyes against the dusty wind, mind filled with incredulity.
“Grandfather, h–how’s this possible?”
Ji Yin smiled, “This is just one of the most common containment formations. After you reach the third layer, you’ll master more and more formations every one of which you could finish laying in a flash all by yourself, each more powerful than the last. When you reach the same level as mine, it’ll even be possible for you to lay a containment formation holding enough power to trap a city.”
Ling Zhang widened his mouth in astonishment. Some day he could do that as well?
Ji Yin said, “Your comprehension of the formations taught to you by your mother is at a decent level, but you still need more men to realize their full potential. The formations you’re capable of laying by yourself could only trap one or two men. As regards formations of larger scales, you need cooperation of multiple helpers to lay them in an acceptable amount of time, and the helpers have to have adequate acquaintance with the formations and the teamwork between you and them has to be good enough, too. Neither of them could be achieved in a short time. They require years’ practice. But if the level of your internal energy is high enough, you’ll be able to lay these formations unaided, and only when laying a formation of a very large scale – the kind Marshal Yuwen uses on the battlefield, for example – will you need many others to cooperate with you.”
Ling Zhang’s eyes were glinting with excitement. The existence of such formations had never crossed his mind before. This was a real eye-opener!
The dusty wind around the drill ground slowly died down. Ling Zhang had seen Ji Yin throw a couple of palm strikes generating lasting and powerful currents which stopped the dusty whirlwind. After Ji Yin removed those boulders as well as some other items that he had previously transferred here in a seemingly telekinetic way, the drill ground returned to normal, s.p.a.cious and open, and those who had been stuck in the formation finally could see the situation outside the formation now, all of them sweating buckets from horror.