Prologue (Part 2)

Chapter 3: Prologue (Part 2)

"Bai Yu! You little brat! If you've got the guts, stop running! If I don't beat you so badly you can't get out of bed for three days, I'll quit being your senior brother!"

With a thunderous bang, Zhao Longguang's booming, furious shout rang out from the Heavenly Secret Hall.

Then Ning Ye came sprinting out of the hall, clutching his head as he fled. "Senior Brother, spare me! I really didn't do it on purpose. I only made that restriction for fun while I was at it. Who told you to go poking around... Ow!"

Zhao Longguang had already slapped him on the backside. Clutching his butt, Ning Ye bolted into a nearby grove and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Zhao Longguang charged out with a face blackened by soot. His clothes were riddled with holes, and his body was covered in scorch marks. He looked as if he'd just been singed by flames. The burns weren't too severe, but his appearance had certainly taken a beating.

Worst of all was his beloved beard. Ning Ye had singed off more than half of it with a burst of fire, and Zhao Longguang was heartbroken. Now he was dead set on teaching the boy a proper lesson.

Several cultivators were flying overhead, practicing their swordplay. Xin Xiaoye led the group.

Her colorful robes fluttered, and her sword flashed as she glided through the air like a nimble swallow. She was having a wonderful time, but when she saw Zhao Longguang charge out, her eyes shifted, and she descended to the ground.

She came over to Zhao Longguang and giggled. "Senior Brother, did Xiao Jiu prank you again?"

Zhao Longguang was beside himself with rage. "That little rascal spends all day fiddling with crooked tricks instead of practicing properly. Then he has to use his fellow disciples as test subjects. When you fall for one of his traps, he says it's your own fault for poking around. It's enough to drive me mad! Today, I'm going to teach him a good lesson on Master's behalf."

"Give me a break. You threaten him every time, but when it comes to actually laying a hand on him, you never hit very hard." A tall, plump woman descended from the sky. It was Shan Rou.

Zhao Longguang gave a wry smile. "Fifth Sister, they're all fellow disciples. You can't expect me to beat him to death, can you? Besides, if I did, Master would beat me to death."

At that, Shan Rou grew even angrier. "Master favors Xiao Jiu, and so do you!"

"Exactly!" Xin Xiaoye chimed in beside her, nodding repeatedly. "Ever since Xiao Jiu joined the sect, Dad has only had eyes for him. He gives him all the good stuff first, and even I don't get any."

"And he's not the only one," Shan Rou complained. "Fourth Senior Brother too. Last time he brought back a Nine-Ring Fleeceflower from outside, he gave the whole thing to our youngest junior brother."

Of the nine disciples under Xin Ranzi, only Xin Xiaoye and Shan Rou were women. They had once been the most doted upon, but when Ning Ye arrived, he stole the spotlight from them. Now even their words were tinged with jealousy.

Zhao Longguang laughed heartily. "You're both senior sisters. Why fuss over such things? You're all fellow disciples; you should treat one another with respect and affection."

Shan Rou glared at him. "You're no better. When Xiao Jiu wanted Ink Flood Dragon scales last time, didn't you rush off and fight that Ink Flood Dragon for three whole days, then tear off its scales and bring them back?"

Seeing that both women had turned against him, Zhao Longguang hurriedly said, "I'll go find that brat right now and beat him up in front of you. Today, I'll make sure he suffers."

With that, he dashed into the woods.

Seeing him go, Xin Xiaoye and Shan Rou exchanged a glance, then shouted together, "Senior Brother is going to teach Xiao Jiu a lesson! Let's all drag him out!"

At their words, several more people came tumbling down from the sky, shouting, "I'm in!" They charged into the woods together.

Everyone was thrilled at the prospect of teaching Ning Ye a lesson.

Xin Xiaoye rushed into the grove. Seeing no one there, she didn't give it a second thought. She formed a hand seal and began calculating with her fingertips, murmuring, "Heavens and earth shine bright; nothing can hide. Reveal!"

The scene before her instantly cleared.

She looked around with her lovely eyes and spotted Ning Ye lounging on a small tree, legs crossed as he rested.

"Caught you!" Xin Xiaoye rushed toward him, closing in behind Ning Ye and reaching out to grab him.

With a poof, Ning Ye vanished. In his place was a little pink pig. A cloud of pink gas puffed from its backside, swirling all around Xin Xiaoye as a terrible stench swept over her.

Xin Xiaoye was completely dumbfounded.

The little pig was confused too. It turned to look at Xin Xiaoye, unable to understand why she was scratching its butt.

Did she like the way it smelled?

So it let out another one. This time, it was a dazzling rainbow fart, complete with sound, color, and smell—and even a dyeing effect.

Xin Xiaoye was splattered in every color.

She stood there dazed for a moment, then let out a shriek. "Xiao Jiu! You bastard! I'm not done with you!"

With a whoosh, she flew away, clearly off to clean up the miserable mess the Fragrant Dust Pig had left her in.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The senior brothers who had come running at the news burst into laughter, all of them delighted by her misfortune.

Zhao Longguang snorted. He reached toward the empty space beside the pig and grabbed someone out of thin air. It was Ning Ye.

"Brat, pranking me wasn't enough? Now you're pranking your senior sister too?" Zhao Longguang snapped.

"I'm innocent!" Ning Ye protested. "How was I supposed to know who'd come after me? I just wanted to use a decoy. Who knew Senior Sister Xin would be the one to fall for it?"

"Come on. If you hadn't guessed she'd be the one, you wouldn't have used a Fragrant Dust Pig. Of the nine fellow disciples, Xiaoye has the sharpest powers of observation." Third Senior Brother Shen Linxin mercilessly exposed Ning Ye's excuse.

Feng Buting picked up the Fragrant Dust Pig and examined it from every angle. "But, Junior Brother, how did you manage this? It's incredibly difficult to place a restriction on a spirit beast."

Restrictions were a kind of mechanism, sharing their origins with formations. Both belonged to the Dao of Formations, but their uses were very different. Restrictions needed a trigger to activate, making them simpler and more subtle. Formations needed no trigger and were grander in scale.

Feng Buting was the most skilled in formations. In terms of their power, he was far stronger than Ning Ye.

Ning Ye was different. He leaned more toward mechanisms and restrictions. His methods weren't about raw power, but were far more mysterious and subtle. Not only Zhao Longguang, but even Xin Ranzi sometimes fell into Ning Ye's traps. It was clear that when it came to secrecy and deception, Ning Ye had taken things to the extreme.

Restrictions and formations needed certain principles to operate, so they were rarely used on living things. After all, spirit beasts were alive and usually wouldn't cooperate.

That was why Feng Buting was so amazed.

Shen Linxin praised him too. "Junior Brother's tricks really do keep getting better. No wonder that fake hunchback fell for it last time."

"Still not good enough," Ning Ye said, shaking his head. "In my original plan, I wouldn't have needed to use the poison pill at all. With the Refraction Art, I could plant Sunlight Powder inside someone without them noticing. Once it erupted, it would create the effect of a Blazing Sun Martyr Explosion. With a little more work, I should even be able to control when it detonates. That way, if we ever need to deal with a hostile sect, we'd only need to plant this method in one of their disciples and send him back to the sect. Then, at the right moment, we could set it off and bring the heavens crashing down. But Sunlight Powder is too unstable. I need to condense it into a Sunlight Seed with a spell before it can be planted without a trace. And to create an earth-shattering effect, the Sunlight Seed would need to be powerful enough. To suppress such overwhelming power, I'd need to pair it with negative energy... In short, there are still plenty of things to improve. Unfortunately, this method is too vicious, so it wouldn't be suitable to test on you senior brothers."

Ning Ye was still cheerfully rambling, shaking his head as he spoke, when Zhao Longguang rapped him on the forehead.

Zhao Longguang snapped, "All you think about is these unorthodox tricks, and you refuse to practice properly. Look at you! It's been more than three years, and you're still in the Cang Xiang Realm. Master gave you so many benefits, and you've wasted them. Aren't you ashamed?"

Ning Ye rubbed his head, aggrieved. "If you've got something to say, just say it. Don't keep knocking me on the head. You'll make me stupid. Besides, the Dao of the Profound and the Dao of Formations are the foundations of our Heavenly Mechanism Sect. How can you call them unorthodox? I study restrictions, innovate, and invent things like Moon Shadow Cold Sand, Sunlight Martyrdom Blast, and Spiritless Restriction. Some of you have never even seen them before. I'm the sect's number one genius!"

Zhao Longguang was at a loss for words.

Ning Ye wasn't wrong. Those things might be unorthodox tricks to other sects, but to the Heavenly Mechanism Sect, they were the orthodox Great Dao.

It was just that spending all day studying them while neglecting his own cultivation was ultimately not a good idea.

After all, even the best mechanisms and formations still needed someone to wield them. Without sufficient strength, he couldn't create powerful mechanisms and formations either.

Zhao Longguang wasn't good with words, so he could only snap, "I don't care. You have two more months. No matter what, you're breaking through to the Hualun Realm within that time."

"Do I have to?" Ning Ye's face fell.

Zhao Longguang grew even more furious and hammered at Ning Ye's head. "I'm telling you to break through, not trying to hurt you! You good-for-nothing slacker—you'll be the death of me!"

Feng Buting and the others were curious about Moon Shadow Cold Sand and Spiritless Restriction, but Zhao Longguang was still fuming, so they didn't dare ask.

"Enough, enough." The other senior brothers hurriedly came over to smooth things over.

Zhao Longguang was still seething. "The same goes for all of you. You loaf around all day. Practice properly when you have nothing else to do. Tonight's evening class will be twice as long!"

Everyone groaned at that.

Shan Rou angrily kicked Ning Ye in the butt, clearly blaming him for getting her caught in the crossfire. Ning Ye could only smile ruefully and apologize.

"Hm? Where are Second, Fourth, and Seventh?" Zhao Longguang noticed that Yin Tianzhao wasn't there and asked.

"Second Brother's practicing swordplay, Fourth Brother went out drinking, and Seventh naturally went to see that Chang girl of his," Feng Buting said, always happy to gossip about his fellow disciples.

"Call all of them back. Tomorrow is the Ancestor Worship Ceremony. Not a single member of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect can be absent!" Zhao Longguang ordered.

"Yes!" everyone answered in unison.

Just then, Xin Xiaoye came rushing out, having washed off the rainbow fart the Fragrant Dust Pig had left her covered in. She was murderous. "Bai Yu, I'm going to kill you!"

Ning Ye jumped. "Senior Brothers, Senior Sisters, I'm making my escape!"

With that, he vanished in a flash, with Xin Xiaoye chasing after him with her sword, hell-bent on killing him.

The senior brothers all shook their heads and sighed.

"Our junior brother is still a little too mischievous," Lin Yufeng said with a sigh.

Their junior brother was clever, certainly, and usually quite steady. It was just that, for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to care about cultivation. Everyone felt like he was a piece of iron that refused to be forged.

"Exactly," Xin Xiaoye said as she came over. It seemed she hadn't caught up with Ning Ye after all. Though her cultivation was higher and she was stronger than him, the boy was simply too crafty and knew too many tricks. After a few twists and turns, he had vanished without a trace. She fumed, "My dad treats him so well and lets him use every precious treasure we have. And what does he do? He spends all day slacking off. He's eaten so many good things that even the Fragrant Dust Pig should've advanced by now!"

The little Fragrant Dust Pig snorted a few times, as if telling her not to just talk about it.

Everyone could only sigh in helpless sympathy.

When night fell, the Heavenly Mechanism Sect returned to its usual peaceful quiet.

The starry sky above Heavenly Secret Mountain was said to be the most dazzling in the Evergreen Realm.

Whenever the moon disappeared, the stars glittered, and wisps of starlight fell across the land, casting mottled shadows and strange, shifting light. The scene was also steeped in mystery.

Ning Ye quietly left the Heavenly Secret Hall and came to the plaza. He took out a handful of dark blue sand and scattered it. Then he went to a quiet room and did the same. He went from place to place, scattering blue sand all across the Heavenly Mechanism Sect, carefully covering it with soil each time. Only then did he quietly return to his room.

Success.

Ning Ye was beaming. He was just about to do something when he noticed Xin Ranzi sitting in his room, clad in a Bagua robe, with the Heavenly Secret Staff in his hand.

"Master?" Ning Ye froze, his heart suddenly pounding.

Xin Ranzi looked at him and held out his hand. "Hand it over."

Reluctantly, Ning Ye took out a small bag and handed it to Xin Ranzi.

Xin Ranzi opened it and looked inside, puzzled. "What is this?"

Ning Ye lowered his head. "A little something I researched myself."

Xin Ranzi picked up a grain of sand and examined it carefully. He found that he couldn't sense the secrets hidden within it at all, which left him puzzled. "What is it for?"

Seeing that he didn't know, Ning Ye grew excited. "You can't tell, Master?"

Xin Ranzi's face darkened. "Explain."

Ning Ye grinned. "It's Moon Shadow Cold Sand. I came up with it myself. Not bad name, right? As for what it does, it's meant to work with the Kunlun Mirror."

As he spoke, Ning Ye took out the Kunlun Mirror and gestured through the air, talking without pause. "Master, I've always thought it was a waste to use the Kunlun Mirror to divine the secrets of heaven. The Heavenly Secrets are ethereal and hard to pin down. Though the mirror can peer into the mysteries, it hardly ever works, and the secrets of heaven can't be revealed lightly. It's not very practical. But we can look at it the other way around. The Kunlun Mirror may be bad at seeing the future and reading Heaven's will, but it's very good at seeing the past—things that have already happened or are happening right now. So the Kunlun Mirror is an excellent treasure for spying on people's secrets. Of course, there's a problem: my strength is still too low, so I can't see those who are stronger than me. That's why I made Moon Shadow Cold Sand. I combined Mystic Heaven Cold Nether Grass with Void Spirit Stone, then used the Kunlun Mirror to shine on it day after day, forming a spiritual connection. That way, anywhere there's Moon Shadow Cold Sand, I can see what's happening. Don't believe me? Take a look..."

As he spoke, Ning Ye activated the Kunlun Mirror. The image shifted, and places all across the Heavenly Mechanism Sect appeared on its surface.

Ning Ye had clearly been secretly planting Moon Shadow Cold Sand for some time. There was even some in several of his senior brothers' rooms.

As the Kunlun Mirror turned, it showed Zhao Longguang practicing in his room. It turned again, showing Second Senior Brother Lin Yufeng. He was admiring himself in a mirror, gazing at his own reflection while lost in delight, waving a paper fan as he muttered, "There's no one more graceful and handsome than me."

Second Senior Brother Lin Yufeng was known for being vain, but Ning Ye hadn't realized he was this vain. Ning Ye chuckled at the sight, then noticed Xin Ranzi's expression had grown grim. He hurriedly turned the mirror again. This time, it showed Seventh Senior Brother Yin Tianzhao's room, where there was a woman. The two were embracing passionately.

"Hm? Isn't that the Chang girl from the foot of the mountain?" Ning Ye blurted out.

Before he could say anything else, Xin Ranzi smacked him on the head. "Absurd! Stop it at once!"

Ning Ye jumped and hurriedly shut off the Kunlun Mirror.

Xin Ranzi scolded him. "The Great Dao of Heaven's Secrets is meant to uncover profound mysteries. How can you use it to pry into people's private affairs? Such behavior is despicable and beneath us. Don't do this again, and you're not to spy on your senior brothers or sisters!"

"Okay." Ning Ye wasn't convinced.

Ning Ye had once worked as an intelligence analyst. Perhaps because of his background, he had never been very interested in the Great Dao of Heaven's Secrets or in seeing the future through the mysteries.

In his eyes, using the Kunlun Mirror to peer into an illusory future was a waste. Its true purpose wasn't to see the future, but to gather information and investigate things that were already known.

Knowing the past sometimes meant knowing the future.

Unfortunately, the cultivators of this world had minds set in their ways. In the eyes of most cultivators—not just Xin Ranzi—using the mysteries to see what was unknown was the righteous path.

Their different ways of thinking left Ning Ye with little to explain. He could only promise not to use the Kunlun Mirror to spy on anyone again.

Fortunately, Xin Ranzi understood him. With a gesture, Xin Ranzi summoned the Kunlun Mirror, and it floated above his head.

He rapidly formed a few calculations with his fingers. The ancient mirror hovering above him spun without pause, and patches of cloud and mist appeared across its surface. Faint traces of writing seemed to show through, yet remained unreadable. Starlight flickered on and off, too dim to make out.

"So it's still like this?" Xin Ranzi wasn't surprised. He sighed. "The Heavenly Secrets remain hidden, and the path to life is hard to discern. No wonder you chose another path and took up unorthodox methods. But this can't be a permanent solution. If all else fails, you should break through to Hualun first. Perhaps then you'll understand everything."

Hearing this, Ning Ye finally grew serious.

He dropped his earlier frivolous manner and lowered his head. "This disciple understands your intentions, Master. But I still can't forget what I saw that day. Until I find a way to solve it, I don't dare."

Xin Ranzi shook his head. "You think it won't happen if you refuse to advance? What Heaven has decreed will happen, no matter how hard you try to prevent it."

Ning Ye replied, "This disciple understands. I simply believe that what people do matters more than what Heaven decrees."

Xin Ranzi waved his hand. The ancient mirror, hanging overhead like a bright moon, came down and entered Ning Ye's body. "Even so, you'll need enough strength to defy Heaven. Merely clinging to life is not the way of people like us."

Ning Ye replied, "If there's no way back, then I'll raise the banner and rebel!"