Primordial Script

Huanglong City bustled with voices. This year's Third Month Shangsi Festival was even livelier than usual.

The Immortal Market in particular had gathered cultivators and scholars from every corner of the land. They sat and discoursed on the Dao, gesturing grandly as they gave free rein to their ambitions.

In comparison, Prince Wu'an's Residence seemed rather deserted. Most of the servants had left the city to return home, purify themselves and wash their caps, and offer sacrifices to their ancestors. They would not return for another two or three days.

Only some of Xu Fei's personal troops and a few maids with no family or kin remained in the entire residence.

Xu Ling Sha was in a gloomy mood. She sat on the railing before the residence's main gate with a sorrowful face, chin propped on her hand as she gazed toward the horizon.

She waited there until noon before she finally saw that familiar figure return atop a Blood-Sweat Dragon Colt.

Xu Yan still wore that unhurried, breezy look, his expression as still as ancient waters.

"Xu Yan!" Xu Ling Sha rose and hurried lightly over to him. "How was it? Did you find a way to open your apertures?"

Xu Yan fell silent for several breaths, then smiled wistfully and teased, "Those without aspects find it difficult to open their apertures. I sat on the bluestone by Cliff Sea all morning until my legs went numb, yet there was still no sign of an aperture opening."

At once, Xu Ling Sha's expression darkened. "How could this be? Is there really no way at all? Father's magical power runs deep. He can surely help you open your apertures!"

Xu Yan calmly shook his head. "Why trouble my adoptive father and make him expend such effort? One's talent and innate foundation are decreed by heaven. Besides, studying literature and seeking office is not a bad path either."

"So what if you enter officialdom and become the current dynasty's prime minister? Cultivating and seeking the Dao, attaining immortality and roaming free—do you truly have no desire for any of that? I'll go ask Father to open the residence treasury. Even an aspectless aperture may have a chance to open with enough heavenly materials and earthly treasures." As Xu Ling Sha spoke, she turned to go find Xu Fei.

Xu Yan drew a deep breath, stepped in front of her, and caught her wrist. "Princess, the Immortal Market is exceptionally lively today. Shall we go take a look?"

The Immortal Market was Huanglong's city within a city. Cultivators from all corners of the land filled the place, heads bobbing through the crowds as the hubbub never ceased.

Huanglong City lay more than ten thousand li from the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains. Rogue Cultivators often entered those ancient mountains in search of fortuitous encounters, and many ancient books and artifacts passed through this place. Whenever Xu Yan had nothing to do, he liked to stroll around here.

But after spring, he likely would not be able to come anymore.

The two walked shoulder to shoulder down the street. As Xu Ling Sha listened to Xu Yan speak of his future plans, she abruptly stopped. Her eyes blazed as she glared at him, her voice stern. "You're going to Shangyin Academy?"

"Mhm." Xu Yan nodded.

"Dongli Prefecture City is less than a hundred li from the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains, and Shangyin Academy sits on the outskirts of Mang Mountain. It's far too dangerous. If any demons or evil spirits come running out, how will you deal with them without any cultivation?" Xu Ling Sha knitted her brows tightly.

She truly could not understand why her father wanted Xu Yan to attend Shangyin Academy. If he intended for Xu Yan to enter officialdom in the future, would it not be better to send him to Great Yin Academy in the imperial capital?

"Master Xun is no ordinary scholar. He has perfected the five realms of the human world. With him there, what evil spirit or demon would dare invade? Besides, soldiers guard the academy day and night. There is no need to worry." Xu Yan shook his head with a smile.

As they walked, they came to a stop at an open dojo within the Immortal Market.

Many Daoists had gathered there, pointing and whispering at a stall in the dojo. Its owner was a middle-aged man with a thick beard, his expression weary. His Daoist robe was stained with quite a bit of dirt, as though he had just fled from some ancient hidden trove.

"If you cannot decipher it, then disperse on your own. Do not crowd around here," the middle-aged man said coldly, his expression stern.

"With Primordial Script like this, why don't you seek out a master at an academy to decipher it? How long do you intend to sit here and wait?" someone mocked.

"Who did I think it was? It's Zhang Gan of Daque Temple. Of all people to offend, he had to incur the wrath of a Grand Secretariat scholar. In all of Great Yin now, what academy would dare decipher texts or answer his questions for him?"

"Only within Prince Wu'an's territory can he still remain alive. In another prince's fief, he might already have been beaten to death."

Xu Yan approached and saw that only two items had been placed on the stall.

One was an excellent rhizome of Rehmannia essence, while the other was a yellowed Daoist book steeped in an ancient, simple aura. It was densely covered in Primordial Script. Merely glancing at it was enough to make one's head split with pain.

Xu Yan stepped into the dojo, pointed at the Rehmannia essence, and asked calmly, "How old is this earthly treasure?"

The surrounding Daoists brightened upon seeing Xu Yan. Quite a few recognized him at once as Prince Wu'an's adoptive son. Someone immediately jumped out and hurried up to him. "Young Master Yan, this fellow isn't selling his earthly treasure. He says it is the reward for deciphering this Primordial Script."

When Zhang Gan saw who had come, his face immediately darkened, and he said awkwardly, "Young Master Yan, please do not make things difficult for me."

In Huanglong City and its eighteen prefectures, no one with any sense dared offend those of Prince Wu'an's Residence. If Xu Yan wished to force a purchase, the man would have no choice but to sell. Yet Xu Yan would not do such a thing. Even Xu Ling Sha knew where the line lay.

The court's situation was complicated. If someone with ill intent seized upon it and claimed that Prince Wu'an oppressed the people of his territory, it would damage the prestige Xu Fei had accumulated over decades.

"Who said I was going to make things difficult for you?" Xu Yan shook his head with a smile.

"Young Master, are you going to decipher the Primordial Script?" A Daoist nearby froze in surprise.

Zhang Gan frowned, his gaze sweeping over Xu Yan. The latter was merely a boy of fourteen or fifteen and had not even opened his apertures or broken through his meridians. How could Zhang Gan possibly believe in him?

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, do not underestimate Young Master Yan. Who in Huanglong City does not know that he could read the Thousand-Branch Derivation Book from cover to cover at the age of ten? Within only a few years, he could even understand seventy or eighty percent of the original Ancient Solar Record. Perhaps he really can help you decipher this Primordial Script."

"Give me only half an hour. If I cannot decipher it, I will leave on my own and never trouble you. How about it?" Xu Yan said calmly.

Zhang Gan's eyes darkened as he pondered for a moment. Then he made a beckoning gesture and took brush, ink, paper, and inkstone from his storage pouch, setting them upon the table. With a solemn expression, he said, "This Rehmannia essence is a thousand-year earthly treasure. There are not even a few such plants to be found across the outskirts of Mang Mountain. If you can decipher the script for me, it will be yours."

At this, Xu Yan flicked his azure sleeve and folded his legs beneath him.

With a composed expression, he picked up the Daoist book in his left hand and casually flipped through a few pages. At the same time, he settled his mind, and his divine sense gradually entered the Human-Snake Ancient Jade hanging around his neck. His right hand lifted the brush and began to write slowly upon the paper.

Ancient writing was currently divided broadly into two categories: Primordial Script and Archaic Edict Script.

Primordial Script was the oldest surviving writing in all lands beneath the four seas, traceable back several million years to a primordial age when great demons ran rampant and true dragons emerged into the world.

Archaic Edict Script, meanwhile, was the writing of the recent ancient era.

If it had been Archaic Edict Script, Xu Yan was confident he could decipher it all within half an hour. But Primordial Script held a thousand meanings in every character. This yellowed ancient Daoist book contained no fewer than several thousand such characters. Without the Human-Snake Ancient Jade, Xu Yan would need at least ten days to half a month to fully understand and decipher it.