Emperor of the Human Way Chapter 9

"Don’t worry, with me here a soul weapon can’t injure you."

Suddenly little Xin Huo’s voice came from Zhong Yue’s sea of consciousness: "However I need to borrow your body, I can’t do anything otherwise. I’m afraid I’ll be exposed afterwards and many people will have greedy thoughts towards me. You and me can only flee to a faraway place… Huh? Someone else already acted!"

That soul weapon was only a hair’s breadth away from piercing between Zhong Yue’s eyebrows when suddenly a hand stretched forward from the side. The thumb and index lightly pinched together and captured that piercing soul weapon between them.

Fine cold sweat appeared on Zhong Yue’s forehead. He felt like his soul was trembling at the sword qi faintly coming from within that soul weapon.

It was dangerous to the extreme right now, and he felt for a dazzled moment that he had been standing on the edge of life and death!

"Too bad!"

Little Xin Huo flew back and forth inside his sea of consciousness and kept sighing in regret: "After exposing myself I was planning on igniting all the demon souls repressed in this place, release those demon souls and let them kill off everyone on this Sword Sect mountain. We would have been able to roam the world and look for a pure blood f.u.xi G.o.d race then…"

Zhong Yue shuddered, he felt that those words from Xin Huo were even more terrifying than that sword strike from earlier.

The soul weapon was still continuously shaking and it seemed like it was trying to escape from the two fingers’ hold.

"Second uncle, please stop."

Those two fingers belonged to a young man draped in purple clothes with a handsome appearance and eyes like the stars and moon. He smiled at the old clansman from the Tian Feng clan: "Your stealthy actions can’t be hidden from other Qi Refining Warriors. Even if you managed to kill him you would only make people laugh and mock the moral character of our Tian Feng clan."

That old Tian Feng clansman felt his heart jump and he hurried out of the Teaching Pavilion while saying: "Why did you come to the upper yard?"

"Zuo Xiangsheng beat second uncle, took away our Tian Feng Clan’s Blue Sky Hall and damaged our Tian Feng clan’s face. How can our Tian Feng clan tolerate it?"

That young man smiled mildly and said: "I came to meet him and see how much skill he’s got!"

That old Tian Feng clansman’s eyes immediately brightened: "With you here we can certainly take the Blue Sky Hall back!"

That young man shook his head and smiled: "What Zuo Xiangsheng did was actually pretty good. We indeed need to leave a road for poor disciples, let’s just leave the Blue Sky Hall in his hands. I came down the mountain this time mainly to earn back face for our Tian Feng clan. I’ll beat him and let him know that there are still people to be aware of in our Tian Feng clan!"

He turned to look at Zhong Yue, and bowed as he said: "My second uncle has been rude, I’ll apologize to you in his stead."

Zhong Yue hurriedly returned the politeness. He couldn’t help but hold some favorable impression of the man as he said: "Apprentice brother is?"

"Sword Sect’s Qi Refining Warrior, Tian Feng clan’s Tian Yanzong."

Tian Yanzong stood back up and floated away as he said: "Second uncle, don’t embarra.s.s him. I came down the mountain this time to fight Zuo Xiangsheng and restore our clan’s face, second uncle please don’t lose any more face for our Tian Feng clan!"

The expression on the face of that old man from the Tian Feng clan was flickering and he suddenly rushed back inside the Teaching Pavilion.

"Hahahaha, is apprentice brother Zuo Xiangsheng from the Zuo Qiu[1] clan present?

Tian Yanzong floated in mid air and laughed loudly, the sound of his laughter spreading across the mountain: "Tian Feng clan’s Tian Yanzong came to ask for advice!"

Zhong Yue followed Tian Yanzong with his gaze as the latter drifted away and said quietly: "This Tian Yanzong has a heart of boldness that isn’t inferior to Zuo Xiangsheng. He has the heart, he has the bearing, he’s also a hero…"

"Tian Yanzong and Zuo Xiangsheng are both young, around twenty years old. They’re only five or six years older than me but they already have this kind of momentum and this kind of vision. They will both become extraordinary characters of the Great Wilderness in the future!"

"Qi Refining Warriors, only they are like the Qi Refining Warriors I aspire to, genuine Qi Refining Warriors!"

Zhong Yue state of mind fluctuated up and down like waves of an ocean. Zhong Yue would hold no fascination towards becoming a Qi Refining Warrior if he were to look only at the conduct of examiner Tian. But looking at Zuo Xiangsheng and Tian Yanzong had let him know what was a Qi Refining Warrior’s breadth of vision!

"This encounter has made your mood calmer and your state of mind suddenly broader. Now you already have a bit of a Qi Refining Warrior’s style."

Little Xin Huo praised him inside his sea of consciousness: "In the future you might become an extraordinary Qi Refining Warrior. Of course, Qi Refining Warrior this kind of country b.u.mpkin existence falls far short of a pure-blooded Soul Fire inheritor."

Zhong Yue was used to his extravagant words and didn’t pay him attention. He thought in his heart: "Even if the Tian Feng clan doesn’t make trouble for me, no one will come take me as a hanger-on and teach me techniques. Without battle techniques I still have no way of exploiting my own strength."

For example, earlier when that upper yard disciple infused his soul weapon and displayed his sword art, Zhong Yue had no response and couldn’t withstand it. He could only make things more chaotic with small tricks. If he were also proficient in some battle techniques he wouldn’t have been forced to the point he could only escape.

But now although the Tian Feng clan won’t nominally make things difficult for him, but still no Qi Refining Warrior would take him under their wing and teach him any technique. Zhong Yue had no way of learning those battle arts and had no way to funnel his strength.

"Living in his world, if the ambition within your chest is small then no matter how great your talent you won’t achieve anything great. They don’t want to take me in, but does that mean I can’t can go listen on my own initiative? As long as I can learn some abilities, what do I care about reputation or status?"

Zhong Yue’s eyes shone brightly as he strode into the Teaching Pavilion. When the Sword Sect’s Qi Refining Warriors came to the upper yard they would often transmit methods to disciples inside the Teaching Pavilion. Today there were a dozen Qi Refining Warriors in the Teaching Pavilion and each of them were guiding around a hundred upper yard disciples, pa.s.sing on their own cultivation truths.

Zhong Yue walked inside a cultivation room and stood in the corner. Around a hundred upper yard disciples sat cross legged and were quietly listening to the lecture from the old Qi Refining Warrior on the stage.

When this old Qi Refining Warrior saw him come in he couldn’t help but be slightly startled, and he nodded faintly.

Other upper yard disciples also looked in his direction, but the old Qi Refining Warrior went on with his lesson, his voice like a flood: "Mountains have mountain spirits, rivers have river spirits, trees have tree spirits, gra.s.ses have gra.s.s spirits, clouds have cloud spirits, metals have metal spirits, the soil has soil spirits, the moon has moon spirits, the sun has sun spirits!"

"When you induce a spirit of heaven and earth, a corresponding spirit will take shape inside your sea of consciousness!"

"The so-called spirit is a spirit of the totem, a spirit of worship!"

"The people of the Great Wilderness worship all year round the mountains, the great rivers, the divine trees, the spirit herbs, the wind and clouds, the sun and moon. As times goes by the mountains, rivers, trees, wind and clouds, sun and moon acquired spirituality. Only people with a strong enough soul can induce that spirituality between heaven and earth and welcome it inside their own body!"

"You can only become a Qi Refining Warrior if you possess such a spirit! Spirit and soul combining into one, that is precisely the spiritual soul, it is precisely the primordial spirit!"

"Look carefully, this is my spirit!"

A sword gate suddenly appeared on top of the old Qi Refining Warrior’s head, and a foot long stone man came out when the gate opened. It had four arms, and when it opened its palms there was an eye in each of them shining with a strange light!

"My spirit is a mountain spirit, soul and mountain spirit combine into a spiritual soul, also called primordial spirit! The deity of the mountain has four eyes, looking over every direction, hence my spirit also has four eyes!"

The soul flew out of that old Qi Refining Warrior and combined with the mountain spirit merging into a single body. The primordial spirit became bigger and bigger, higher and higher, until it transformed into a four-armed stone man a thousand feet high, standing behind his body. It seemed incredibly stalwart, and when it opened its four arms four eyes looked in every direction, making the numerous upper yard disciple stare dumbstruck!

Zhong Yue was also extremely shocked within his heart. He had always heard other people talk bout "spirit", other called it "totem spirit" or "spirit within the totem", but he still had no idea what kind of thing this "spirit" was in the end. Today he could finally observe a "spirit" upclose and gain some understanding about them.

"If you want to induce a spirit, you need a sufficiently powerful soul, and that sufficiently powerful soul needs to painstaking cultivate, learn through experience, and temper itself. If you wish to gain experience in the the depths of the Great Wilderness, you need a powerful strength."

That old Qi Refining Warrior spoke patiently, talking on and on, taking them through each step of the topic. He smiled and said, "And a powerful strength needs battle techniques to funnel it. Your foundation can’t be lacking since you all reached the Sword Sect’s upper yard, and your mind power is powerful enough. Your soul can also break out of your body, and your battle awareness isn’t weak. You will be able to cultivate the battle technique I am pa.s.sing on to you today, the Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword!"

His words were entrancing, and gradually carried laymen like Zhong Yue inside a wonderful world.

"The Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword consist of visualizing the spring thunder with your mind power, the year’s first strike of spring thunder[2]. I need you to use your mind power to construct a totem of thunderbolts. When you can use the thunderbolt totem to cultivate sword qi, then your Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword will have achieved small completion."

"This Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword’ sword qi moves like the blossom of spring thunder. In long range battle it can attack through a thousand li in the wink of an eye, the sword cutting from a thousand li away! In close range battles, it will kill in ten steps and the erupting rumble of thunder will destroy everything in its path!

The disciples didn’t feel time go by as that old Qi Refining Warrior imparted to them all the critical keys of the Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword point by point. He used his own powerful mind power to show the many disciples how to engrave the thunderbolt totem. He didn’t hold anything back.

Zhong Yue was intoxicated as he listened. The old Qi Refining Warrior closed his eyes when he was done describing the Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword and didn’t speak anymore. Only then did the many upper yard disciples wake up from their trance.

The disciples were one and all inexplicably excited. Many of them raised their hands and practiced the Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword, and some disciples even dueled each other, observing each other’s deficiencies and offering tips on how to improve.

"Thunder possesses extreme speed, it strikes down from the sky in a single blink. Existences starting from antiquity have worshiped thunder and lightning, and only then were born thunderbolt totems that can harness the might of thunder."

Zhong Yue didn’t try to immediately draw the thunderbolts or examine the Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword. Instead continued to visualize while thinking in his heart: "The key point of this Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword lies in this thunderbolt totem. The pattern that old Qi Refining Warrior has drawn is both wonderful and remarkably true to life, but the main thing doesn’t lie in the form of the thunderbolt totem, but rather on whether the thunderbolt totem can display the entire momentum of the explosive echo when the spring thunder strikes down!"

"The thunderbolt totem is complex to the extreme, it’s too difficult to grasp in a short term every transformation of the thunderbolt. Only by grasping the thunderbolt totem’s grace first can I quickly learn the Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword and use it during combat. I can slowly complete the thunderbolt totem later and improve the Surging Thunder Sword’ might!

He fell into deep visualization and thought back to the times he had witnessed the spectacle of lightning striking down from the sky, like a sword piercing heaven and earth, its flash of sword light shining through thousand li and ten thousand li!

Moreover the spring thunder was the thunder’s first roar of the year, expelling the winter away, shaking heart and mind; it was another kind of concept!

After a long while, Zhong Yue opened his eyes and stood up as he started to exercise the Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword.

There were already quite a few upper yard disciples that had exercised the Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword to a great degree resemblance with the old Qi Refining Warrior. It didn’t seem like there was much difference when they put the sword technique to use.

But the Secrets of the Surging Thunder Sword that Zhong Yue practiced was greatly different compared to the old Qi Refining Warrior. It looked extremely clumsy and possessed none of the surging thunder’s nimbleness.

That old Qi Refining Warrior was sitting with his eyes closed as before, but behind him the four-armed and four-eyed mountain G.o.d opened its eyes and carefully observed the upper yard disciples’ every move.

After a long while, the old Qi Refining Warrior sighed as he stood and left, saying a little desolately: "There is only one person who obtained my true inheritance…"

Translator notes:

[1] Possibly refers to Zuo Quiming, a contemporary of Confucius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuo_Qiuming

[2] Chinese year, which starts with spring.