When you gazed into the abyss, the abyss gazed back.
Xie An tried to escape that abyssal gaze, but no matter what he did, he could not. Those crimson eyes seemed to see straight through him. They even took control of his limbs and body.
My body... won't move!
Is this... Cocoon Force!?
It's ten times—no, a hundred times—stronger than the Cocoon Force that guided nightmares in Li Family Village!
Is this the Evil God the Xie Household worships?
"Mingxi, you're here. First, offer three sticks of incense to the White Jade Goddess."
Only when his father spoke did Xie An feel the grip on his body loosen. He walked to the incense altar, picked up three sticks, and lit them.
Click.
As he planted the incense in the burner, the smoke rose straight up. Just as it was about to pass the three-meter-high red cloth, it abruptly changed direction and flowed into the cloth.
She's absorbing the incense I lit!
The next moment, the crimson eyes staring at him vanished, and Xie An could move freely again.
Phew!
Xie An let out a long breath. Sweat had soaked through all his clothes. Turning back, he saw his father still kneeling on the prayer cushion, palms pressed together and face full of devotion. Daoist Master Yusu had knelt to his father's left, her palms pressed together in reverent worship.
A thought rose unbidden in Xie An's mind: The Xie Household worships an Evil God this powerful. Won't she turn on us someday?
Xie Zhengtang spoke again. "Don't stand there in a daze. It's deeply disrespectful to the White Jade Goddess. Come and pay your respects."
"Yes."
Xie An gathered himself and knelt on the cushion to his father's right.
Xie Zhengtang bowed deeply to the statue beneath the red cloth. "This is my son, Xie An, courtesy name Mingxi. It's his first time meeting you, Goddess, so he may not know the proper etiquette. If he has offended you in any way, please forgive him."
After paying their respects, Xie Zhengtang led Xie An and Xie Yu beneath the eaves of the shrine's main hall.
"Mingxi, you mustn't tell outsiders the secret of the Xie Clan White Shrine. Daoist Master Yusu will look after it for now. When you have time, come here to see your elder sister. She'll tell you the rest."
With that, Xie Zhengtang patted Xie An's shoulder and nodded. "Your elder sister told me what happened at the Zhou Residence last night. You did well, and the plan you proposed was sound. From now on, learn martial arts diligently from her, and listen to her in everything."
Xie An said, "Got it."
"My son Mingxi really has grown up. Whatever you want to do from now on, go ahead. Your father and elder sister will have your back." With a sigh, Xie Zhengtang turned and left.
Watching his father's retreating figure, Xie An could not help feeling moved.
Earlier, when his father had asked over dinner whether martial arts training was difficult, Xie An had said only, "It's all right," and received a stern lecture for it.
Now his father was sparing no effort to support him in doing what he wanted.
Clearly, his father truly saw him as an adult.
Xie An felt lucky to have a father like him.
"Young Master Mingxi, didn't you want to learn the Spirit Preservation Method? Come inside with me!"
Daoist Master Yusu's words snapped Xie An out of his thoughts. He followed her into the shrine and knelt on a prayer cushion again.
"Elder Sister, is this the Evil... the deity the Xie Household worships?"
Xie Yu nodded firmly. "Yes. The White Jade Goddess."
Xie An was puzzled. "Isn't the White Jade Goddess worshiped exclusively by Returning Dragon Abbey, one of the Inner City Big Three? Our household is in the outer city, so how can we..."
"Shh!"
Xie Yu put a finger to her lips, then shot Xie An a fierce glare. "Why so many questions, Young Master Mingxi? Do you still want to learn the Spirit Preservation Method or not?"
Xie An glanced at the towering Red-Cloth Statue and realized there were many things he should not ask about. He gave an awkward smile. "I do. I'll learn."
Only then did Xie Yu relax. "Then sit cross-legged. Look at the red cloth covering the Goddess before you and follow the incantation I recite."
Xie An sat cross-legged and fixed his gaze on the crimson Red-Cloth Statue ahead.
Xie Yu spoke gently. "You must be devout. Since the Goddess has entered the Xie Household shrine, regard her as an ancestor who will sincerely protect you. Hold her in reverence, and let no distracting thoughts enter your mind."
Xie An did as she said, clearing away his troubling thoughts and doing his best to feel devotion and reverence toward the Goddess.
Sensing that Xie An was ready, Xie Yu began to recite the spirit-preservation incantation from the Illuminating Spirit Scripture. "All people say reaching the gods is hard, not knowing that knowing oneself is harder. If you do not know yourself, how can you know ghosts and gods? If you know yourself, ghosts and gods cannot invade.
"The Spirit Preservation Method has nine volumes, corresponding to the nine apertures of the human body. Opening an aperture does not mean opening the apertures of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind, but the aperture of the heart. Until the heart's aperture opens, all six faculties are blind..."
As each line of the incantation reached his ears, Xie An gradually settled into it.
He sat there all morning.
Daoist Master Yusu's incantation ran through Xie An's mind again and again, while he kept staring at the Red-Cloth Statue before him...
But he made no progress at all.
"Elder Sister, is cultivating the Spirit Preservation Method really just a matter of silently repeating the incantation and staring at the Goddess?"
Xie Yu said, "Don't be impatient, Young Master Mingxi. Even the most gifted talents among the Big Three need two or three years of continuous visualization to cultivate the Spirit Preservation Method. And even then, two or three out of ten succeeding is considered good."
Xie An gave a helpless, rueful smile. "It's that difficult?"
Xie Yu nodded. "Far more difficult than martial arts of intent. Preserving the spirit is the first step toward the extraordinary. It defies the heavens by its very nature. If it were easy, everyone in the world would be extraordinary. How could demons and evil spirits run rampant like this?"
Xie An asked, "Is there any sign that I've begun to master the Spirit Preservation Method?"
Xie Yu said, "The Spirit Preservation Method is divided into inner and outer illumination. Inner illumination is further divided into spirit preservation and Inner Vision. When you can focus your thoughts and make the Red-Cloth Statue appear in your mind, and the statue grants you a special spiritual power, you'll know you've begun to master spirit preservation."
Xie An asked, "A special spiritual power?"
Xie Yu said, "A spiritual power that isn't your own. You'll be able to sense it."
Xie An understood.
Before long, a guard brought lunch.
Xie An offered Xie Yu a bowl and chopsticks. "You've worked so hard teaching me martial arts, Elder Sister. You eat first."
But Xie Yu sat across the table, resting her chin on her hand as she watched Xie An. "I'm not hungry. Eat plenty, Young Master Mingxi. We'll continue this afternoon once you're full."
Experts really do have unusual habits... Xie An did not press her and dug into his food. Every so often, he looked up to find Daoist Master Yusu watching him with a gentle expression.
She really did look a little like an elder sister looking after her younger brother.
After lunch, Xie An practiced in the shrine's main hall all afternoon, but still made no progress.
When night fell, his elder sister said she had something to attend to and went out.
With no one else in the shrine, Xie An immediately opened Ten Thousand Questions. Silently repeating the incantation for the Spirit Preservation Method, he gave an order:
"Estimate the vitality required to transplant the Spirit Preservation Method!"
[Estimating...] [Estimate complete: transplanting the Spirit Preservation Method requires 1.8 mental units]
Mental units... not vitality?
Fortunately, his mental stat was 1.9 too.
Within range.
"Transplant the Spirit Preservation Method into me, please!"
Before you continue