Chapter 94 - Sculpting the Sun (1/2)
In front of Zhong Yue's cave dwelling stood a young man and Ta Wuyou. The young man then asked, "Is this the place?"
"Yes, this is it!"
Looking ashamed, Ta Wuyou nodded his head and said, "Wulu, I was beaten by the Zhong Shan Clan member here. He mustn't be underestimated…."
"I will not make such an amateurish mistake. Although we, the Ta Lin Clan are not one of the top ten clans; but as your elder brother, I will avenge your defeat and reclaim the honor of the Ta Lin Clan."
Ta Wulu placed his hands on his back, his voice was indifferent, "He was the one who could stand equally with Shui Qingyan, they were both listed as the strongest disciples in the Swords Gate upper house. Shui Qingyan has already manifested her spirit and coalesced it with her soul, her improvements are staggering and she is now a Rebirth Qi Practitioner. How could I underestimate them when he was someone who could stand toe to toe with Shui Qingyan? I'd once dueled with Shui Qingyan, her skills were undeniably strong, and she is deserving of the accolade of the top on the inner hall Dragon and Tiger Challenger List."
"Ta Wulu of the Ta Lin Clan, what are you doing here?"
Before Ta Wulu could sound a word, two young ladies walked over; the face of one of the young ladies was badly beaten up, she was the same person who got stomped into the ground by Zhong Yue. The other young woman appeared to be slightly older than her.
"Huang Luoshi of the Huang Zhang Clan?"
Ta Wulu frowned slightly, and said, " What are you doing here?".
"My sister was humiliated in public by the Zhong Shan Clan member, I obviously have to seek justice for her, or otherwise the Huang Zhang Clan will be disdained on by others, they would say that the Huang Zhang Clan has no strong cultivators."
Huang Luoshi grinned and said, "At first, my sister wanted to have a match with the Zhong Shan Clan member to claim the sword token, at first I was of the mind that they were being frivolous in trying to fool around with their newly promoted junior martial brother. But now it seems like the Zhong Shan Clan member has quite some skills under his sleeves, he alone is worth my journey here. Sister, go ahead and knock on the door, let us meet with this Zhong Shan Clan's member."
The young lady whose face was badly beaten up stepped forward and knocked on the door, but there was no response. All of a sudden, a black bull appeared from the woods around the Zhong Yue's abode, it opened its mouth in fear and trepidation, "Dear masters, the Zhong Shan Clan member has went out and has yet to return".
"This bull looks like Brat Tan Xiao's mount."
Ta Wuyou looked at the black bull and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I have received orders from Master Tan's cousin, Master Tan Zhen, to keep an eye on the Zhong Shan Clan member's movements, and to immediately report back to Master Tan Zhen as soon as he returns. Master Tan Zhen then plans to storm over to reclaim the honor of the Han Tan Clan," said the black bull while smiling.
Tan Zhen wants to seek revenge from the Zhong Shan Clan member too?"
Ta Wuyou was startled and thought to himself, Tan Zhen, ranked 32nd in the inner hall Dragon and Tiger Challenger List, he is even higher than my elder brother.
"Sister, the Zhong Shan Clan member is not here, what should we do?" asked the young lady with the bruised face.
"We wait!" Huang Luoshi answered.
Outside of Zhong Yue's abode, a few Qi Practitioners sat in the lotus position with their heads lowered awaiting Zhong Yue's return. But after days of waiting, Zhong Yue was still nowhere to be seen.
Ta Wulu and Huang Luoshi clenched their teeth, they thought in their hearts, Where on earth is this Zhong Shan Clan member?
In the jade forest, Zhong Yue was stunned and he asked, "Me? Sculpting? Elder, is sculpting also a way to cultivate?
Although the elderly man looked old and was as skinny as a toothpick, his eyes were bright, deep yet gentle. He laughed and said, "Even walking, eating and sleeping are considered a form of cultivation, how is sculpting any different?
"Walking, eating and sleeping are also considered cultivating?
Zhong Yue's heart skipped a beat, the underlying meanings behind the words dawned on him; what the elder alluded to were not the conventional modes of cultivation, but rather the states of subconscious and unconscious visualization!
Zhong Yue had achieved the stage of unconscious visualization, his cultivation was unremitting, even in his sleep!
Daily routines such as walking, eating and sleeping may have seemed to be very usual and mundane, but they are all potential avenues for cultivation, so maybe sculpting really does also have some profundities in and of itself.
Zhong Yue settled his mind and immersed himself in his thoughts. After some time, he picked up a jade the size of a washbasin from the ground; the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi flitted out from his fingertips as he imitated the old man and started sculpting the jade.
Chi——
He exerted too much force, chipping away a big chunk of jade, he quickly reigned in the force he used; but this time the force was too weak, resulting in only a fine white nick on jade's surface.
He used to think that sculpting was hard, but as he started sculpting, he realized that it was actually way much more difficult than what he ever imagined. It required a very fine control over the sculptor's strength, as every single strand of strength of the Sword Qi needed to be precisely exerted.
After a short while, there was already quite a number of trashed jade chunks below Zhong Yue's feet.
"When we Qi Practitioners visualize something, it is equivalent to the process of sculpting."
The old man smiled and said, "Tales and legends were recorded down by our ancestors, so that we can visualize the godly figures in the records. In fact, it was nothing more than using our psyches to create sculptures in the image of these godly figures, and deriving the exceedingly exceptional power from within them. The psyches move like dragons and snakes, and so would the Sword Qi move like the dragons and snakes accordingly."