A True Immortal Bestows a Blessing

Shi Feiyang was bewildered by that shouted rebuke. He had no idea where the voice had come from and thought someone had discovered him cultivating here.

He focused his senses and examined his surroundings. Finding nothing unusual, he began to suspect he had fallen into a Demonic Illusion.

Only after finally calming himself did he begin playing again.

Meanwhile, Ancestor Hollow Space was regretting how his rebuke of Zheng Yuan Gui had interrupted the "celestial music." He waited a long while, but the music did not resume. Unable to fathom the mysteries of the Earthfrost Bell, he feared he had offended an immortal and would never hear it again.

He felt his disciples' foundations were too poor—not one of them amounted to anything—and that they were unworthy of hearing this celestial music. He drove them all out and remained alone before the bell. Focusing his mind and steadying his will, he prayed sincerely, "This junior of the lower realm, Lin You, has been fortunate enough to hear the wondrous music of the Immortal Realm. Truly, this is a blessing earned over three lifetimes. Just now, my disciple's shallow foundation put him on the verge of cultivation deviation, leaving me no choice but to intervene. I had no intention of disturbing the celestial music. Please forgive me..."

He repeated his prayer three times, and suddenly the bell rang again.

Shi Feiyang had once more plucked the strings with his thoughts, reestablishing the connection between zither and bell. This time, he heard Ancestor Hollow Space's prayer.

As soon as the bell rang, Ancestor Hollow Space rejoiced, believing his prayers had worked. "The True Immortal is magnanimous indeed..."

Hearing someone speak startled Shi Feiyang as well. He stopped the music again, severing the connection between zither and bell, and could no longer hear anything.

After testing this several times, he pieced together one fact from the intermittent prayers: someone was listening to him play. The listener also sounded exceedingly humble, addressing him as "High Immortal," "True Immortal of the Upper Realm," and "senior."

He was puzzled. I sealed this place so tightly. How could anyone still hear the music? Is someone really listening to me play, or have I fallen into a Demonic Illusion and begun hallucinating?

Only while he was playing could the zither connect to the bell, allowing him to hear Ancestor Hollow Space's voice. But then the music and speech mingled, making the words difficult to distinguish. Once the music stopped and the connection broke, he could hear nothing at all.

After some thought, he began casting a spell. This time, instead of music, he produced natural sounds: wind and rain, thunder and lightning, flowing water. These many sounds blended into human speech. It was like a painting that, examined closely, consisted of countless bananas, radishes, cabbages, and tomatoes, yet viewed from afar formed a human figure. Listening closely to his sounds, one heard roaring gales, torrential rain, flashing lightning and booming thunder, and surging waves. Taken as a whole, however, they sounded as though a heavenly god were speaking between heaven and earth.

"Who are you?"

Ancestor Hollow Space understood the words and was instantly delighted. All these days, the other party had played while he merely listened. Now that the other party had taken the initiative to ask who he was, they could communicate both ways. If he could win the "True Immortal's" compassion and receive instruction and guidance, that would be far better than blindly guessing and trying to glean insights from the music himself.

He hurriedly answered, "This junior is Lin You, a nameless nobody in the lower realm."

Hearing the voice identify its owner as Lin You, Shi Feiyang immediately realized it was Ancestor Hollow Space, which gave him another fright. What is going on? How can Ancestor Hollow Space hear my music? And why is he treating me as a True Immortal of the Upper Realm, calling himself a nameless nobody in the lower realm?

He took a deep breath and asked, "How are you able to hear my music?"

Ancestor Hollow Space explained, "This junior was fortunate enough to obtain an immortal abode at the North Pole many years ago. Within it was an Earthfrost Bell left by a senior. These past few days, the bell has sounded of its own accord for no apparent reason, ringing with celestial music. Hearing the profound truths of the Heavenly Dao within it, this junior devoted himself to comprehending them..."

Then he hastily begged forgiveness again. "Just now, this junior did not mean to interrupt your performance of celestial music, senior. It was only because an unworthy disciple of mine lacked the fortune to partake of it and was about to suffer cultivation deviation. My shouted rebuke as I drove him away disturbed you. I beg your forgiveness."

Through their conversation, Shi Feiyang learned that, for some unknown reason, his Dongling Zither had begun resonating with the Earthfrost Bell. The other man had heard all his practice over the past several days. Inwardly, he thought how close a call it had been. Fortunately, Ancestor Hollow Space belonged to the Unorthodox Path. Though his magical power was formidable, it had its limits, and he valued techniques more than the Dao, allowing this misunderstanding to arise. Had it been someone from an orthodox Daoist lineage, or someone versed in musical theory, they might well have seen through him.

Even so, he still suspected this was a Demonic Illusion. He put away the Dongling Zither, left the cave, and found a random disciple in the palace to question. He learned that they really had spent these past few days listening to the bell outside Frostglory Hall, and the disciple gave him a vivid account of it.

Only then was Shi Feiyang certain it was real.

When he abruptly broke off their conversation, Ancestor Hollow Space again assumed he had offended the "High Immortal" and began reflecting on his faults and praying incessantly.

Shi Feiyang returned to the cave and spoke to him again. "The Unorthodox Path of the lower realm makes attaining the Dao difficult. The road of immortal cultivation is fraught with twists and turns. Not one in a thousand ultimately achieves perfect ascension; most perish amid heavenly tribulations and man-made calamities."

Ancestor Hollow Space hastily agreed. This troubled him greatly as well. The reason he had stayed secluded here for centuries was his fear that venturing outside would entangle him in karma and invite disaster. Yet while man-made calamities were easy to avoid, heavenly tribulations were difficult to dispel. When the time came, he would still vanish like smoke, his body and soul utterly destroyed.

Hearing a True Immortal of the Upper Realm say this, he hurriedly sought instruction on how to survive tribulations.

What did Shi Feiyang know about surviving tribulations? Of what he currently knew, the Lesser Book of Heaven was powerful, but it still belonged to the Unorthodox Path, and its upper limit would not surpass Ancestor Hollow Space's level. Wei Fengniang's cultivation notes and the Tianshan Sect's Daoist arts were unorthodox as well. As for Bruninga's Demon Cult spells, those were even less suitable.

There were also the Twenty-Eight Scripture and Thirty-Seven Scripture. When Sikong Hu recited them to him, he had inevitably made some mistakes at crucial points. Shi Feiyang merely examined their broad outlines and used their principles to cultivate his inner cores, without employing any of their specific cultivation methods.

These things might fool others, but if he tried to fool Ancestor Hollow Space with them, a few sentences would expose him.

If he could take out the Heavenly Book inside the Jade Casket, he might be able to bluff his way through a few remarks. Unfortunately, he could not get it out yet. Even if he did, it was all written in ancient Tadpole Script, which he would still have to find a way to decipher...

The only things he could use were the few sheets of paper he had obtained from Lady Baoxiang.

Shi Feiyang pondered briefly, then spoke through the Dongling Zither. "Surviving tribulations and averting calamity is not particularly difficult. Gods commonly use the Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations and the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Transformations. Which would you like to learn?"

Ancestor Hollow Space was overjoyed. "This junior would like to learn the Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations."

Shi Feiyang could not understand it. In Journey to the West, even Sun Wukong chose to learn the larger number. Why is this fellow choosing the smaller one instead?

"Why did you choose the Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations?"

Ancestor Hollow Space said, "This junior follows the Unorthodox Path, and my cultivation method has many inherent flaws, making it difficult to comprehend the Great Dao even over a lifetime. The heavenly transformations draw their qi from heaven. Their very name sounds grander and more majestic, upright and honorable, so I wish to learn them."

"Very well. I shall teach you. The transformations of heaven number thirty-six, and those of earth number seventy-two. For the Heavenly Dao moves through ten degrees to pass beyond the celestial stations. Earth takes heaven as its model; the Heavenly Dao brings things into being, and the Earthly Dao brings them to completion. Earthly qi transforms once every five days..."

Shi Feiyang recited these lines from the paper, then asked Ancestor Hollow Space, "What do you think these lines of scripture mean?"