The moment he heard that Ling Yier was willing to teach him magic, Xing Yan was overjoyed!
At the thought that he might someday be "a fish in water" in Poyang Lake, Xing Yan hurriedly offered assurance after assurance:
"I've got an affinity for water! I've got one! I may not be good at much else, but I'm a mighty fine swimmer!"
"I may be a mountain lad, but I'm often in Raozhou City. When the weather turns hot, is there a ditch or channel in the city I haven't swum in?"
Seeing the boy's eagerness, Ling Yier could not help bursting into a little laugh.
"That affinity for water I mentioned has nothing to do with whether you can swim!"
"Huh? What else could it mean?"
"You don't know, do you? What I meant was whether you were born with a water affinity among the five phases!"
"To learn our Dragon Palace's Water-Repelling Spell, Xing Yan, you must have the water attribute among your five phases!"
"Oh? There's a condition like that? This water attribute... I reckon I might have it? How can we find out whether I've got this affinity?"
Now worried that he might be unable to learn the spell, the boy looked anxiously at Ling Yier.
"Actually, I don't know how to determine your five-phase affinities either..."
"Ah! Then what are we going to do?!"
Concern threw the mind into turmoil. Easygoing as Xing Yan usually was, he now felt as though a hundred claws were scratching at his heart. He had no idea what to do and could only fret over what he might gain or lose.
"Hee! You're so silly! Once I tell you how to cast the Water-Repelling Spell, you can simply try it and see whether it works!"
"Oh! That's true! How come I didn't think of that...?"
The boy scratched his head and laughed.
"Only..." Xing Yan immediately thought of a serious problem. "If I haven't got the water attribute and the spell fails, won't I drown?!"
No wonder Xing Yan was so worried—his life was at stake, no trifling matter. He felt it best to ask clearly beforehand. From Lingyi's tone, failure seemed quite likely. If lacking that five-phase water affinity meant throwing away his life, it was hardly a fair bargain. Perhaps he had better not learn it at all!
"Hee hee! I thought a lazy rogue like you feared neither heaven nor earth, but you're afraid of dying after all! Don't worry, I'll be right beside you! If you really are too stupid to learn the Water-Repelling Spell, I'll cast the Water-Traveling Art on you immediately. You won't die!"
"Ha! Then I can relax. Hurry up and tell me the incantation!"
With Ling Yier's assurance, Xing Yan felt as though he had swallowed a pill to settle his nerves, and his courage swelled at once!
Smiling at the boy's utterly candid behavior, Ling Yier teased him no further. The young princess of the Four Rivers Dragon Palace explained the Water-Repelling Spell to Xing Yan in full. Once he had memorized it completely, she went through every point requiring care.
With such patience, the girl truly resembled a conscientious teacher.
For Xing Yan, this was the first time in his life he had properly studied a spell, and he naturally took it very seriously.
Now the streetwise boy from Raozhou City pricked up his ears to listen to Lingyi's explanation, afraid of missing even a single word.
After a little while, having reviewed it several times, Xing Yan felt there should be no difficulty. Following Ling Yier's instructions, he quieted his mind, focused his spirit, and began silently reciting the incantation.
The girl beside him seemed even more nervous than Xing Yan himself. Her bright eyes, clear as autumn waters, watched him without so much as a blink.
After seven or eight lines, Xing Yan suddenly felt the force he had dubbed "Great Splendor Dao Power" being drawn by the incantation he was reciting, circulating through the channels and meridians of his body. Though this Great Splendor Dao Power remained rather weak, he could clearly sense its watery flow.
Ha! Looks like Lingyi wasn't teasing me. There really is something to this Water-Repelling Spell!
Yet the instant the boy's attention wandered, the circulating energy vanished without a trace! Alerted, Xing Yan immediately concentrated, calmed himself, and repeatedly recited the incantation Princess Lingyi had just taught him.
A little later, Princess Lingyi, who had begun growing restless as she waited, suddenly saw the bright membrane of water before them split down the middle with a sharp swish!
"It worked!"
Lingyi and Xing Yan were both overwhelmed with delight!
Although that flicker of thought immediately closed the divided membrane, Xing Yan now had the experience of one success. He recited the incantation again, and soon the watery veil separating the mortal world from the immortal palace parted once more.
Seeing that the spell had worked, Xing Yan formed the hand seal Lingyi had taught him and leaped into the waters of Poyang Lake.
The clear, cold autumn waters parted of their own accord whenever they met the boy. Seen from a distance, his entire body seemed enclosed in a huge, egg-shaped bubble of air-
Thus, in the late autumn of his sixteenth year, Zhang Xingyan, a streetwise Raozhou boy raised in the countryside, learned his first true spell amid the shimmering autumn waters of Poyang Lake.
Seeing the boy cast the Water-Repelling Spell so easily, Ling Yier was not only delighted but rather surprised.
Oh! Perhaps there was some truth in all that praise Grandfather gave him. If he learned this spell so quickly, he really must have some ability.
He does have quite a few good points-he's just rather rude, and all he ever does is bully me!
While weighing these thoughts, Ling Yier casually cast her own spell and led Xing Yan's great bubble toward the shore of Poyang Lake.
Yet Xing Yan was surprised to discover that there was no bubble around Lingyi ahead of him. Her supple, seemingly boneless body moved freely through Poyang Lake like a swimming fish.
After a while, Xing Yan gradually grew familiar with the Water-Repelling Spell. His mind relaxed, leaving him enough leisure to ponder a few things.
This is incredible! I've actually learned an immortal's magic!
Xing Yan was immensely excited.
Ha! It's all thanks to my princess teacher. I reckon I'll never have to worry about food and clothing again!
The boy thought with great confidence:
Who would have thought I, Zhang Xingyan, would have such an extraordinary encounter? If I ever lose my job at the Flower Moon House, I can use this Water-Repelling Spell to gather mussels and snails from the bottom of Poyang Lake for a living!
Yes! Whichever way I look at it, Father was right. Learn a trade, and you'll never have to fear starving!
While the boy indulged in these wandering thoughts, the watery current of Great Splendor Dao Power within him seemed to circulate and ripple with the pressure and rocking of the lake against his bubble. Yet there was no discernible pattern, only a shapeless flow like water spreading over a slab of stone.
Well now! This Great Splendor Dao Power I've cultivated really is useful! My success with this spell probably has quite a lot to do with that strange Great Splendor force.
Even as Xing Yan secretly congratulated himself, he felt a little dissatisfied.
What a pity! Ever since I used it to play Water Dragon's Chant on Horseshoe Mountain that night, my Great Splendor power has been as thin as a drifting thread. What if there isn't enough someday?
Hmm, once I get back, I'll have to make time to study that Upper Clarity Scripture again and see whether it offers any hints about cultivation.
Naturally, Xing Yan's thoughts turned to the only Daoist scripture he owned.
Thinking all the way, he soon reached, with Ling Yier, the place where she had dragged him underwater the night before. With two splashes, the young pair leaped ashore.
Though it was now morning and the autumn sun shone high, Poyang Lake covered a vast expanse, and this stretch of shore was secluded. There was little fear of anyone witnessing the water-demon-like antics of Xing Yan and Lingyi.
Once ashore, Xing Yan caught his breath, then stepped before Ling Yier, bowed deeply, and said sincerely:
"Thank you, Master Ling Yier, for teaching me such marvelous magic!"
"Hee! No need for such ceremony, my disciple. Even your teacher never imagined she was so gifted at instruction that a stupid boy like you could learn at once!"
Ling Yier teased him with a radiant smile. Against her pale yellow embroidered collar, that bright smile looked especially lovely.
"Ha! Quite right, quite right!"
"By the way, Ling Yier, what spell were you using just now? How come you didn't need to part the water around you?"
Xing Yan was plainly curious about Ling Yier's much freer way of moving through water.
"That was the Water-Traveling Art I mentioned earlier! It's not that I'm hiding it from you. Having a water affinity among the five phases isn't enough to learn it-your water attribute must be exceptionally strong. Grandfather and the others told me that, generally, only we waterfolk can master this art."
"But most waterfolk can swim by instinct and don't need to study it. So, practically speaking, only someone as eager to learn as I am knows this art!"
Ling Yier wore a playful smile, clearly not truly trying to boast.
"Ah, what a pity!"
"It is! If an ordinary person learned the Water-Traveling Art, he could move freely underwater, almost no differently from a fish! And that's not all. After long years of practice, once his mastery grew profound, he could travel a thousand miles through water in an instant!"
"Ah! It's that powerful? You really know a lot, Lingyi!"
"Hee! Grandfather and the others told me all of this!"
"...Then, Master, why not let me try this Water-Traveling Art too?"
Clearly, hearing Ling Yier praise the art so highly had set the boy's heart fluttering with desire. His recent success had also given him considerably more confidence.
"Oh! You really are greedy!"
After a pause, Ling Yier continued:
"Well, all right. You won't be able to learn it anyway. If I don't let you try, you'll only say afterward that your teacher refused to teach you!"
This time, Ling Yier truly intended nothing more than an experiment as she recited the Water-Traveling Art's incantation to Xing Yan.
Knowing that this was no ordinary spell and should be harder to learn, Xing Yan listened with particular care.
Yet after Ling Yier's explanation, Xing Yan discovered that the Water-Traveling Art's incantation was not nearly as complicated as he had imagined. Compared with the Water-Repelling Spell he had just learned, it was actually much shorter.
Looks like Ling Yier was right. The difficulty of this Water-Traveling Art probably lies in the learner's innate affinity!
Whatever the case, I'll give it a try. With Ling Yier guarding me, the worst that can happen is swallowing a few mouthfuls of water. I won't drown!
A little later, as the boy, rather emboldened by having someone to rely on, formed the Water-Traveling Art's hand seal and entered the water, the dragon princess Ling Yier stood beside him in great suspense. She had already prepared the incantation on her lips, ready to rescue him at any moment.
Even in the bright daylight, a faint, clear radiance could be seen emanating from the girl's delicate hand, whiter than frost and snow...
A moment later, a boy and girl could be seen in Poyang Lake, one following the other, roaming freely like fish through its limpid autumn waters...
The brilliant autumn sunlight passed through Poyang Lake's crystal-clear waters, blending with their gleam into a pale radiance that fell upon the young pair. Their graceful figures, amid the shifting light and shadow, resembled immortals wandering among clouds in the heavens...
Following behind the boy, the girl in a yellow skirt and pale silk jacket watched his flowing movements and could not stop thinking:
Could it be... could Grandfather and the others have deceived me? Can any passerby learn this Water-Traveling Art?
When they returned to the shore of Poyang Lake, Ling Yier truly regarded this streetwise boy in a new light.
In a rare moment, Ling Yier offered Xing Yan a word of praise:
"Hmm, it seems it wasn't just my excellent teaching. You've done your teacher proud too! Learning two spells so quickly-you really do have quite a talent, Xing Yan!"
"Ha!"
Hearing her praise, Xing Yan was delighted.
"Actually... I've always thought I learned things pretty quickly! Ha ha, ha ha ha!"
Seeing the boy's irreverent grin, Ling Yier ignored him. She took a folded silk booklet from her sleeve, handed it to Xing Yan, and said:
"Here, take it. This is the... Wind and Water Invocation I promised to teach you."
Toward the end, her words grew rather hesitant.
Hearing this, Xing Yan hurriedly accepted the thin silk booklet from Lingyi.
"Huh? Why does the title say...?"
Xing Yan had discovered that the cover of the pale green silk booklet did not bear the title "Wind and Water Invocation." Instead, three elegantly written characters read "Thoughts of Yi."
"...Silly! Thoughts of Yi is just another name for Wind and Water Invocation! Look more carefully at the picture on the cover."
At Ling Yier's words, Xing Yan examined the silk cover again. Without her prompting, he would never have noticed, but now he saw that the few slanting, textured strokes of silvery gray ink on the pale green silk were precisely the cursive characters for "Wind and Water Invocation." At first glance, he had taken them for a freely sketched clump of orchids!
"Ha ha, my eyes failed me."
As he spoke, the boy tucked the silk booklet into his robe. He could study it carefully once he got back; there was no need to leaf through it in haste now.
Come to think of it, the girl who had always been so headstrong had taught him quite a few things over these past two days. At that thought, Xing Yan sincerely thanked her again.
"Thank you, Master, for granting me this score!"
"..."
"Who would have thought a rude fellow like you could be so courteous? All right, all right, don't call me Master anymore! Keep calling me that and you'll make me old!"
"Oh! Then..."
Xing Yan had called her "Master" with complete sincerity. He was about to protest, but a glance at the autumn-water shimmer in her eyes made him swallow his polite objections.
"All right, then! Actually, calling you that felt rather awkward to me too. Ha!"
As the two exchanged these idle remarks, Xing Yan and Lingyi suddenly felt the ground beneath their feet begin trembling again.
Remembering the shaking he had experienced on the road yesterday, Xing Yan was about to tell Ling Yier when the ground suddenly gave a violent jolt. Caught unprepared, the girl lost her footing, pitched forward, and flung her arms around him!
Only with the boy's support did Ling Yier barely manage to steady herself.
It had happened so suddenly that neither of them had time to react.
After a moment, Ling Yier came to her senses. Yet she did not immediately let go. Only after a slight hesitation did she release her delicate hands and jump aside-
Only the girl herself understood that instant of hesitation.
The ground beneath them continued trembling, and the still-shy girl's heart kept pounding as well.
Xing Yan, however, was plainly oblivious to all of this and continued joking.
"Ha! Fairy Lingyi, you can't blame me this time. You were the one who hugged me first!"
At these words, the usually pampered dragon princess offered no retort, merely standing there without a word.
Puzzled by her reaction, Xing Yan fell silent too.
Thus the young pair stood beside Poyang Lake on the trembling earth, swaying as though they were up among the clouds.
Before long, the strange tremors beneath their feet stopped again.
"How odd. The ground kept shaking yesterday too."
Xing Yan found the tremors rather baffling.
"Well, I've given you the Wind and Water Invocation, so I'll head back now."
While Xing Yan was musing, Ling Yier suddenly spoke beside him. Then, without waiting for an answer, she turned and drifted into the waters of Poyang Lake.
As she slowly sank beneath the surface, Lingyi looked at Xing Yan, still standing bewildered on the shore, and suddenly smiled sweetly.
"I'll come find you when I have time."
With that, she vanished into the shimmering waters, taking with her that smile like a lotus in full bloom.
Drifting in, drifting away-this Ling Yier really is no ordinary girl...
Her lovely figure had vanished, its path lost amid the misty waves. Gazing across the boundless waters of Poyang Lake, Xing Yan could not help reflecting:
Last time, it was here beside Poyang Lake that I first saw Miss Ju Ying's true face. Now Ling Yier comes and goes so swiftly among these misty waves. Ha! Just as the verse says: "The one I long for stands beyond the waters; following downstream, she seems amid the stream..." It looks as though these lovely ladies all have a bond with water!
After gazing blankly at the misty lake for a while, Xing Yan suddenly remembered that he still had to return to work at the Flower Moon House. At once, the distracted boy gathered his thoughts, turned back to the road, and headed toward Raozhou City.
Having said farewell to the Dragon Palace's princess, the boy's heart was now full of joy.
Ha! What virtue or ability do I, Zhang Xingyan, possess to have met two girls as lovely as heavenly immortals? Ha ha, for a poor lad who scrapes together food and clothing amid taverns and pleasure houses, what more could I ask?
Remembering his former aching longing for Ju Ying, the boy now merely smiled serenely and thought:
What do I have left to resent or lament? What I've already received is more than my due. If I keep longing for more, I might only squander my blessings.
Having understood this, the boy felt wonderfully light at heart.
I'd better hurry back to the Flower Moon House. If I work diligently, I can earn more silver to take home for my parents.
The boy quickened his pace and, with light footsteps, left Poyang Lake behind, heading straight for Raozhou City.
And so the days drifted leisurely by.
Besides attending to his duties, Xing Yan often took out the Upper Clarity Scripture and studied it carefully.
After witnessing the wonders of magic in Poyang Lake that day, Xing Yan no longer dismissed such seemingly supernatural things as he once had. Though he still read the sages' poetry and books, he now also paid attention to these scriptures on magical arts.
Since his "master," Ling Yier, had led him into the inner chambers of the art, Xing Yan found that many passages of the Upper Clarity Scripture he had previously failed to understand suddenly became clear. Although the two later sections, "Refining Spirit into Void," remained obscure and difficult, after entering that marvelous state of nonaction on Horseshoe Mountain that night, he was no longer entirely at a loss when reading them.
During those days, Ling Yier came to see him several more times. Whenever she came, the boy, having settled his thoughts, could face her naturally. They chatted and laughed without reserve, quite oblivious to the gulf between mortal and divine.
Yet whenever Lingyi came to find Xing Yan, however much she obscured her beauty, she still drew sidelong glances from all the women of the Flower Moon House.
In the Flower Moon House, Aunt Xia was as kindly as ever, Lady Rui as detached as ever, and Ying'er as talkative as ever. None of the people around him seemed to have changed in any noticeable way.
The earth of Raozhou beneath their feet, however, still shook every few days; as time passed, people grew rather accustomed to it-
Until that day in the second month of the following year, when all of this, every last bit of it, suddenly changed for the boy.
It was a night of the full moon.
The disc-shaped moon hung silently in the heavens, spilling its silvery light over the land of Raozhou. It was now just past three in the morning, and everyone was sleeping soundly.
The change came suddenly, at that very moment.
-Everyone lost in dreams suddenly sensed, through the haze of sleep, that the beds beneath them were swaying from side to side.
"Ugh... another earthquake."
By now, the people of Raozhou were accustomed to such tremors; after a little while, the shaking would die away on its own.
Those who were more awake almost seemed to enjoy the rocking, while those still heavy with sleep sank back into slumber to its cradle-like rhythm.
Only this time, the trembling earth did not immediately settle as it had before. An incense stick's worth of time had passed, and people realized that the jolting and swaying beneath them had not faded at all. Instead, it was growing worse.
Only then did they grow frightened, hastily gathering up clothes and valuables and fleeing to the open spaces outside.
Xing Yan was no exception in retreating before these strange tremors. Bold though he was by nature, the boy's heart quailed at this prolonged, unceasing shaking. After a familiar servant called several times from outside his door, urging him to hurry, Xing Yan hastily dressed and tucked all the silver and books beneath his bed into his robes. Even in his panic, he did not forget to slip the Jade Flute, Divine Snow, into his sash.
As he stepped out, the boy also picked up the nameless, blunt sword; if he encountered anything strange, he could at least ward it off. It was better than nothing.
Only after leaving the Flower Moon House did Xing Yan discover that the moonlit street was already crowded with neighbors. Everyone was whispering to one another, discussing the persistent tremors. The street, which should have been quiet and peaceful at this hour, was as noisy as a morning vegetable market.
Gradually, everyone felt the shaking beneath their feet grow stronger and stronger. The noisy conversations slowly subsided. No one had any desire to talk anymore, and without a word of agreement, they all gathered in the more open spaces.
When Xing Yan occasionally looked up, he found that the moon overhead was still a perfect disc, without a wisp of cloud to obscure it. Yet this was precisely what was strange-the radiance of that wheel-round full moon now seemed utterly dim and lightless!
An eerie darkness had spread across the entire sky.
As Xing Yan gazed at the ink-black heavens, lost in thought, he suddenly discovered that the Nameless Sword in his hand had begun to tremble. It bucked and leaped between his fingers, as though about to fly from his grasp. Greatly startled, Xing Yan hurriedly tightened his grip on the iron sword. In that bewildering instant, the boy almost seemed to hear the thing in his hand singing out in excitement!
Still caught between shock and doubt, the boy happened to glance down and discovered that Divine Snow, tucked into his sash, was also emitting a soft emerald glow-
Fortunately, no one besides Xing Yan was in any position to notice the Jade Flute's unusual state. For at that very moment, many people suddenly cried out in alarm as one:
"Quick, look to the east!"
Startled by their cries, Xing Yan hurriedly looked toward the east of the city-at that instant, everyone in Raozhou City, from the humblest commoner to the most eminent dignitary, saw a spectacle both uncanny and magnificent:
Above the eastern side of Raozhou City, streams of many-colored light were coursing through the eerily black night sky. Like rain, like hail, like dragons, like snakes, they flashed, danced, and surged. The entire ink-dark sky now seemed filled with a wild, disorderly shower of falling stars.
Suddenly, along with the shaking beneath their feet, everyone felt it: at the very instant that shower of falling stars descended and vanished in the eastern heavens, a boom seemed to erupt deep within their hearts. An immense force burst forth like a flood, battering and shaking their souls.
It was a thunderous sound no ear could hear, yet it seemed to rouse even the deaf.
With that uncanny crash, the strong-willed boy in the crowd found that he could barely hold on to the sword in his hand-even with his already extraordinary strength, he could only just keep his grip on the Nameless Sword by exerting every ounce of strength in his body!
Fortunately, after that soul-shaking crash, the tremors beneath everyone's feet slowly subsided. The Nameless Sword in Xing Yan's hand also seemed utterly exhausted. At last it relaxed, lying quietly in the boy's grasp, once more a lump of dull, unknowing iron.
Although the strange tremors had ceased, the shaken people still dared not return indoors. They remained gathered in little groups, discussing what had just happened, some frightened, others excited. Among the crowds scattered about the street corners, disagreements occasionally flared into arguments.
As that uncanny moon gradually sank into the western sky and the first faint morning light began to brighten the east, everyone fell silent. Holding their breath, they all gazed toward the east, where dawn was just beginning to show:
There, to the east of Raozhou City, in a stretch of sky that should have held nothing at all, a magnificent mountain peak now towered high, thrusting straight into the clouds!
That year, the Raozhou Gazetteer recorded: "At winter's end, in the second month, on the full-moon day of bingxu, the earth shook violently. The stars streamed eastward, falling like rain. When the star shower vanished, an immortal mountain appeared."
The Poyang County Gazetteer recorded: "In winter, in the second month, on the full-moon day of bingxu, the full moon was eclipsed, the earth shook greatly, and stars fell like rain. At dawn, a lofty peak stood suddenly revealed west of Poyang County..."
As the verse goes:
A thousand years concealed, no more than a brief sleep,
While village elders hoed its slopes as fields.
One day its towering grandeur rose restored,
Soaring straight up through the ninefold heavens.
End of volume three of Dust Along the Immortal Road.
Please look forward to volume four:
"A dream of immortal wandering leads to Luofu"
Before you continue