Legacy

"We'll have to make another trip to the Five Qi Pavilion."

After making some preparations on Misty Gorge Mountain, Chen Qing planned to visit Bai Shaoyou and see if he could obtain some intelligence about the Immortal Dynasty to put to use. He also wanted to ask whether there was a pill formula that could suppress bloodline mutations.

Before leaving, however, he first summoned Fang Da'ao.

"Uncle-Master, did you have something to tell me?" Seeing Chen Qing's solemn expression, Fang Da'ao bowed with equal gravity.

Chen Qing asked directly, "How is the warmth in your abdomen?"

Fang Da'ao immediately replied, "Uncle-Master, it's become even more noticeable over the past two days. Especially when I get up in the morning to practice my fist, that heat rushes straight to my chest and surges without end!"

"Good." Chen Qing gave a slight nod and flicked his sleeve. A roll of yellowed parchment slid into Fang Da'ao's hands. "The time has come."

Fang Da'ao's body shook violently, joy blazing in his eyes. "Uncle-Master, do you mean I can try to break through?!"

"Indeed. You've accumulated enough by now. You can try opening your Yellow Court Palace and achieving the First Realm of cultivation." Chen Qing glanced at the parchment. "Remember, this step is no different in essence from what came before. You simply need to take an additional ingredient in your medicine: earth spirit grass. Then supplement it with visualization."

"Uncle-Master, what about me?" Qu Xiaoyao immediately came over when she heard this.

Chen Qing chuckled. "The path of cultivation is taken one step at a time. You can't rush it. Your foundation is still shallow and needs more polishing."

Qu Xiaoyao pouted but didn't dare say more. She only gazed longingly at the scroll.

Fang Da'ao took the scroll with trembling hands and carefully unfolded it. On it was a scene of mountains and sea leaning against each other: the mountain range was imposing, but one corner was missing, while the towering waves were somewhat faded in color.

"Is this the Mountain Sea Diagram?"

"Indeed." Chen Qing looked over the somewhat incomplete, blurred landscape on the parchment. The mountains were imposing, yet one corner was missing; the sea was vast, yet lacked some of its liveliness. He said, "Wait a moment."

He took up brush and ink, closed his eyes, and gathered his focus.

In an instant, the aura around him seemed to merge with heaven and earth. An invisible presence spread outward.

Fang Da'ao and Qu Xiaoyao instinctively held their breath.

Chen Qing touched brush to paper!

The brush fell, and wind and rain erupted!

Ink snaked across the page like dragons and serpents rising from the earth.

His mighty brushwork instantly completed the blurred, broken mountain range. Jagged and strange, it seemed ready to burst through the paper! Waves rolled and turned, the ink growing darker by degrees, as though it held the awesome force of the tides. Tiny flecks of ink seemed to spray from the page!

As he set down the final stroke, a soft radiance suddenly suffused the entire painting!

The mountains stood majestic, the sea surged and roared, and a vast, boundless vision rushed toward them!

Fang Da'ao and Qu Xiaoyao stared in stunned silence, their minds wholly captured by the painting, as if they stood between a raging sea and a solitary peak!

"Chirp, chirp, chirp—"

A few monkey cries suddenly rang out in the distance, jolting them back to their senses.

"Uncle-Master... is this, is this an immortal's art?" Fang Da'ao's voice trembled.

Chen Qing lowered his brush. His aura returned to the ordinary, and he shook his head. "I merely borrowed a little of the insights left by those who came before and copied their forms." He knew that the spirit captured in this painting was far from matching the Grand Mountain Diagram and the All Rivers Returning to the Sea Diagram from his dreams.

It'll do for now. Once I've improved further in the art of painting, I can complete it more fully.

With that thought, he pointed at the painting and said to Fang Da'ao, "After taking your medicine each day, gaze quietly at this diagram and guide qi into your body. Once the forms of the mountains and sea have stabilized in your Sea of Consciousness, practice the Five-Animal Combined Fist. Let your force flow through every bone, and knock open the gate of the Yellow Court."

"This disciple will remember!" Fang Da'ao treasured the scroll like a precious jewel and carefully put it away.

Qu Xiaoyao watched with longing, her little hands twisting the hem of her clothes. "Uncle-Master, when will I be able to..."

Chen Qing patted her little head. "I just told you: your foundation isn't firm yet, so you can't rush. First, practice the Five-Animal Guidance Technique until spirit and form unite. Your opportunity will come in time."

After giving his instructions, Chen Qing looked up at the sky. "Guard the mountain gate and activate the grand formation."

"Yes!" Fang Da'ao nodded firmly.

Chen Qing was especially cautious on his way down the mountain. He kept his aura concealed, appearing like an ordinary person, and took several winding detours to make sure no one was following before entering Lesser Yingzhou.

The area in front of the Five Qi Pavilion was still bustling with traffic. Just as he was about to take out the Five Qi Token from his robes, Shopkeeper Old Zhou hurried out to greet him, his face wreathed in smiles. "Daoist Chen! You've finally come! The young master has barely eaten or slept these past few days, waiting for you! Please, come in!"

The beaded curtain in the upstairs private room rustled.

"Daoist Chen, you couldn't have come at a better time! I was just planning to visit you!" When Bai Shaoyou saw Chen Qing enter, he set down the book in his hand, delight shining in his eyes, and rose to welcome him. "That story of yours last time left me tossing and turning day and night! I've just acquired two new items because of it, and I'd like to have you examine them."

His tone was warm, with the particular reserve of an aristocratic clan's young master. He then gestured for the attendant to serve tea and bring out the items.

Chen Qing's interest stirred.

Soon, tea was served, and an attendant brought in a three-foot sandalwood box, ancient and heavy.

Bai Shaoyou smiled. "Daoist Chen, you've seen and heard much. Do you recognize this item?" He then waved his hand.

The lid lifted—

"Zheng—"

A clear, lofty sword cry suddenly rang out! It seemed to cross through ten thousand years of time, carrying endless desolation and keen resolve as it reverberated through the private room.

Chen Qing's pupils contracted as his gaze fell on the object inside!

An ancient, deep-blue sword lay quietly on the brocade.

Its blade was mottled, with faint patterns like flowing water. Nine spirals coiled around its hilt like fox tails.

Its shape, its aura... cold and keen, carrying a trace of aloof grandeur.

It was so similar!

No, it wasn't similar!

The Flowing Water Sword!

Xu Zhaoying's sword!

But the seals on the sword had long since rotted away. Even the materials used to forge it had nearly worn out, and it had long lost its supernatural qualities, becoming little more than ordinary iron.

An indescribable feeling of things changed while the world remained, mingled with the weight and chill of historical dust, seized Chen Qing's heart in an instant!

"This sword is called 'Flowing Goblet,'" Bai Shaoyou said at just the right moment, his voice steady, with a hint of scrutiny. "According to the secret archives, when the ancient Heavenly Fox transformed into human form, she forged it from the essence of cold jade from Qingxi. But now it's only an antique relic. Don't even think of wielding it with telekinesis; even the slightest movement might damage it."

His gaze seemed to fall casually on Chen Qing's face, but in truth, he was scrutinizing him.

The Samadhi True Fire Talisman stirred in Chen Qing's Sea of Consciousness, suppressing his emotions. His expression remained as still as an ancient well. He even leisurely lifted the spirit tea from the table, the surface of the water perfectly still.

"An archaic design, with an aloof and noble spirit. It is indeed a treasure from antiquity."

His tone was indifferent, as though he were appraising an ordinary antique. Yet several earlier suspicions rose in his mind—

Had the illusion created by the Grand Void Dao Evolution Record truly reflected real history? Had it plucked fragments from the past?

Or perhaps...

When he had first heard about Heavenly Fox Xiyao, Chen Qing had already vaguely suspected that the Grand Void Dao Evolution Record had taken fragments of real history and constructed the dream world. So the existence of a historical prototype hadn't surprised him all that much.

But...

Xu Zhaoying's sword—was it forged when the Heavenly Fox transformed into human form?

As countless fragments of details from his dreams came together, a thought took shape in his mind.

Seeing that Chen Qing remained far calmer than expected, Bai Shaoyou smiled faintly and stopped testing him. Instead, he took a yellowed bamboo slip from beneath the table.

"There's also this. Daoist Chen, take a look—and pay attention to the first sentence..."

He slowly unfurled the bamboo slip with both hands, his manner solemn.

The ancient seal script on the slip glimmered faintly.

Chen Qing's gaze swept over the opening words, and his expression immediately tightened—

[At the founding of the Immortal Dynasty, there was one Chen Clan's Xu, whose ancestor had been a former general of the Immortal Emperor. Xu held command of the western wastes, sat in treasonous conspiracy, and was stripped of his position...]