The Summer Solstice of the Second Year

Ice and snow melted, orioles took wing, grass grew tall, and the plum rains fell without end.

As though in the blink of an eye, the summer solstice of the second year had arrived.

Yu Zhang lay along the lower reaches of the Yangtze. It was now the plum-rain season, and ceaseless rain and unending thunder formed the season's long refrain.

On Pine Green Lake.

Rain scattered across pine needles, turning the forest an even richer green, green as a pool of water. Rain battered Pine Green Lake, shattering its surface into a bed of sand.

Amid the misty rain.

A fireball darted through the downpour, delicate and translucent, like an exquisite glass orb carved with openwork flame patterns.

Within the fireball, a young Daoist rode a cloud.

The Daoist maintained his water-repelling shield while bringing two fingers of his right hand together. Pointing toward a spot, he let a syllable burst from his mouth,

"Drown!"

The fierce wind and driving rain above the lake suddenly seemed to find a direction. The lake water surged into mighty waves, and all of it rushed toward the point the Daoist indicated.

"Aooo~"

A green chi dragon soared through the curtain of rain. At the sight of the oncoming wind, rain, and waves, she cried out in delight and swung her body forward into the wind-

The green chi broke through the huge waves, rain and lake water washing her scales emerald green. Then she flew back to her original position, her enormous jade-green eyes fixed on the Daoist. She seemed very fond of this game.

Yunqi smiled at the sight. "Fellow Daoist, that's enough of the [Drown] incantation for today. Let's try something else!"

The green chi immediately lost interest. She gave a whimper, offering a reluctant agreement.

With a flick of her tail, she began swimming swiftly through the rain, becoming a flurry of green shadows like willow branches in a raging storm.

Yunqi kept his eyes fixed on her, barely able to catch a trace of her afterimage. He pressed his left thumb against his little finger, straightening the three fingers between them toward the sky. His right hand formed sword fingers, poised but unreleased.

Once again, Yunqi entered that self-forgetting state of meditation. The howling wind and sobbing rain fell silent. The instant he caught the green chi's figure, his right sword fingers thrust out like a blade, pointing straight at her.

"Suppress!"

Yunqi uttered an incantation.

As the sound echoed, phantom images of three lofty mountains suddenly appeared in the space around the green chi. They vanished in an instant, and her swimming body stalled for a brief moment. Then she resumed roaming freely, as though nothing had happened.

Yunqi rested for a dozen breaths, then repeated it,

"Suppress!"

The three mountain phantoms appeared again, and the green chi's body faltered for another instant. But it was so brief, and the mountains were so obscured by the rain, that it was almost impossible to notice.

Yunqi, however, was thoroughly pleased.

These three mountains came from his contemplation of Jade Capital Mountain, Jade Splendor Mountain, and Jade Void Mountain. For now, they were only rough sketches. If he someday grasped even a fraction of those mountains' true essence, the result would be extraordinary. If he found the leisure to travel through the Five Great Mountains, observe their forms, and grasp their essence, casting this incantation afterward would yield an entirely different spectacle.

Yunqi was happy, but the green chi would no longer play along. The young dragon plunged into the lake, leaving only a pair of lustrous green eyes above the surface.

She was very clever. They had agreed beforehand: three [Drown] incantations in exchange for one [Suppress]. The Daoist had called [Drown] six times today, so she would let him [Suppress] her only twice. No more.

Besides, whenever this Daoist uttered [Suppress], it felt as though someone forcibly pinned her down. It was deeply uncomfortable, and she was being held for longer and longer.

Her shining green eyes rolled, and she extended her two foreclaws. Each had four toes. She kept her left claw unchanged, but curled three toes on her right, leaving only one extended.

Yunqi laughed. He understood: this clever little rascal was saying that henceforth, he would have to cast [Drown] four times before she would help him practice [Suppress] once.

Yunqi descended to the lake's surface. His "dragon carriage" touched the water, and wherever they met, its fiery clouds boiled the lake water.

Yunqi sat down on the "dragon carriage," bringing his upper body level with the green chi's eyes. He took two objects from inside his robe. Neither was small; both were larger than an adult's palm, and they had been digging uncomfortably into him.

They were two lake-snail shells. Supposedly, the shells came from Yunmeng Marsh and had been refined into magical artifacts of low grade but considerable charm. Yunqi had traded talisman paper to Deng Wanchun on Watercolor Street for them.

One shell was milky white, the other a colorful blue.

Yunqi first picked up the blue one. It was inlaid with multicolored agates and had a silver mouthpiece, exquisitely crafted.

He brought it to his lips and blew hard, producing a melodious sound. His cheeks puffed in and out as he played a tune, clear and lilting: "Fisher Girl."

The green chi's jade eyes lit up with longing. Her right claw, still raised, suddenly extended two more toes.

Amused once again, Yunqi chuckled and handed her the colorful shell.

The green chi thrust her head forward. Before Yunqi could make out her movements, she had swallowed the shell.

Yunqi tentatively reached out to stroke her head. She did not dodge. Her scales were very smooth and very cold.

He picked up the other, milky-white shell. It looked like mutton-fat jade and emitted a faint glow.

Holding the white shell, Yunqi placed it beside the green chi's ear.

At first, she did not know what this Daoist intended. Soon, however, the radiance blooming in her eyes clearly expressed her inward delight.

Yunqi smiled happily too. The colorful shell had been a musical conch, while this white one was a sound-recording conch. What the green chi now heard was the recording he had secretly made when he last played "Fisher Girl" on Heavenly Wind Over Pine and Snow. It also held several other ancient Tang tunes he had played on an ordinary qin.

The green chi immediately stretched her right claw straight out, displaying all four toes. From the effort she put into it, she looked as though she wished she could grow a fifth.

Yunqi stroked her head again and said with a smile, "I'll come practice spells with you when I return. I'm planning to leave the sect for a while, sometime in the next day or two."

The green chi froze at his words, then immediately grew unhappy. The light in her jade eyes dimmed, and she sank her head beneath the water, just beyond the reach of Yunqi's hand.

Yunqi did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Fellow Daoist, you and I are different. I can sense that even though you spend your days playing, your magical power grows more each day than the last. Mine doesn't. Over the past month or two, I've clearly felt its growth reach a bottleneck. I know the Fangtang Library better than my own courtyard now. The sages said that reading ten thousand books is no match for traveling ten thousand miles. I think it's time I left the sect and saw something of the world."

The young Daoist braced his left elbow on his left knee and rested his chin on his half-closed fist. His right hand held the white shell, letting it dangle in the water and sway with the currents below.

The sound of rain swallowed all his words. Only the chi dragon right beside him could hear:

"Actually, there are plenty of other reasons to leave the sect. I heard that a genius named Li Yingqiong recently emerged from Emei Mountain in western Shu. She's traveling outside her sect now too, carrying a fire sword. Wherever she goes, demons bow their heads. She's young, a young heroine, and everyone says she has the makings of a sword immortal.

"Actually, I wanted to become a sword immortal too. I always have. Even if I truly fail to attain immortality, becoming a sword hero shouldn't be a problem, should it? I'm only sixteen this year. While I'm still young, I want to leave the sect with sword in hand and make a name for myself. Once I'm past twenty, even if my fame spreads throughout the world, people will still say that Li Yingqiong, or whatever her name is, was more impressive in her teens. Don't you think?

"Besides, people have been saying in recent years that sword immortals come from Shu. I think that's rather one-sided.

"Also, Daoist Brother Ji Hu has been away from the sect for over a year. Why hasn't there been any news of him? Sister Jixuan couldn't sit still any longer in early spring, and she left the sect to search for him too.

"And another thing, another thing-I've been away from home for over a year as well. It's time I went back to add fresh earth to my parents' graves and dust off the old house."

As Yunqi spoke softly, he suddenly felt something cool against his hand. The green chi had swum back up and lifted his hand with her forehead.

Yunqi smiled gently and stroked her. "You're far too lazy. With your bloodline, how long could refining your transverse bone possibly take?"

The spirits and monsters of this world also possessed throat apertures. In humans, this aperture was called the Twelve-Storied Tower; in spirits and monsters, it was called the transverse bone. Once they refined it, they could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth faster. They also had to refine this bone before they could speak human words.

The green chi did not care to hear this. She bit down on the white shell in Yunqi's hand, twisted around, and dove into the lake's depths, disappearing from sight.

Yunqi laughed helplessly and prepared to leave.

Just then, however, a chi dragon's cry sounded from the lakebed. Unsure what was happening, Yunqi waited a while.

Before long, an object floated up from the bottom of the lake and stopped right beside Yunqi's feet. It was fan-shaped.

Yunqi bent down to pick it up. The palm-sized object felt smooth and cold, its lush green color almost dripping from it. Wasn't this a chi dragon's scale?

"Could chi dragons shed their skin like snakes? Is this a scale the green chi shed?"

Yunqi squeezed it and found it very sturdy. Of course it was-how could a dragon's scale be anything else? He guessed that, upon hearing he was leaving the sect, she had specially given it to him for protection. He clasped his hands and bowed toward the lake, then rode his cloud away.

Rumble!

Yunqi returned to his dwelling. Outside, heavy rain still fell amid rolling thunder.

He took the bundle from his table and put the chi scale inside. He had packed it long ago and could leave the sect at any moment.

In fact, the best thing to bring on a long journey was a Void Cave Stone or a Void Talisman Treasure. These stones and talisman treasures contained spaces of their own: some seven or eight feet square, some twenty or thirty feet across, and some a luxurious four or five mu in area. They were extremely convenient for storing belongings, making long journeys light and easy.

But scarcity made things precious, and these were truly hard to obtain. Void grotto stone deposits were rarer even than fangzhu gold deposits. Supposedly, they originated in the great cosmic calamities and slaughter calamities of earlier ages, when famed immortals and ancient gods had shattered the void in their battles. Fragments of the void fell into the earth and attached themselves to stone, forming void grotto stone.

As for Void Talisman Treasures, only great cultivators of the golden core realm could refine them. They also consumed considerable effort and materials, making them difficult to obtain.

The sect's General Affairs Office did sell Void Talisman Treasures, but they were truly expensive. Yunqi could not afford one. He had long since spent all the gold the All-Teachings Institute had awarded him the previous year.

Over the past year, acquiring a cloud mount and buying Visualization Diagrams had consumed the bulk of his reward. Besides, Yunqi took an interest in everything—spells, swordsmanship, talismans, alchemy, artifact refinement. He wanted to try it all. Reading and studying were easy enough, since he specifically chose books he could borrow for free. But reading alone could not produce talismans or pills.

To learn talisman arts, he needed talisman paper, brushes, and ink. To learn alchemy, he needed minerals, herbs, and a furnace. One expense after another had emptied his purse.

Afterward, Yunqi had lived entirely by drawing talismans and bartering them for goods.

After all, brushes, ink, and paper were relatively cheap, whereas minerals and herbs were expensive. As for the swordsmanship Yunqi longed for most, his empty purse had kept him from buying even one magical sword. He had, however, practiced every commonplace sword move in the books with a wooden branch.

This was another reason Yunqi wanted to leave the sect. The older disciples all said that slaying monsters and vanquishing demons outside was the fastest way to make money!

Yunqi had long yearned for it.

But there was one more thing: why had Daoist Brother Bingkun still not achieved palace-opening?

He Bingkun had repeatedly told Yunqi that he would open his palace by this summer at the latest. The time was almost upon them, and Yunqi wanted to see He Bingkun succeed before leaving. He would wait another two days at most, then depart for certain.

Rumble!

Another peal of rolling thunder.

Why was it so bright, so loud?

Huh? Something's wrong!

Yunqi sprang up and pulled open the door. One glance shocked him: heavenly lightning had blasted a huge hole in the roof of He Bingkun's dwelling opposite. The downpour had found the opening and rushed inside with a roar. Water was already flowing out through the gap beneath the door.

Remembering that He Bingkun was still in seclusion, Yunqi was horrified. He dashed into He Bingkun's house in a single bound.

"I did it! I did it!"

A voice louder than the heavenly thunder rang out from the wrecked house.

Yunqi looked and found He Bingkun sitting there unharmed, his entire body crackling with lightning.

"Thunder commands the rain, water is driven by thunder! Heavenly thunder arrives, and the water palace opens wide! Today, I, He Bingkun, have opened my water palace!"

He Bingkun threw back his head and laughed.

Yunqi laughed too. So this fellow had deliberately summoned the lightning.

Only once he relaxed did Yunqi realize that, in his haste, he had neglected to cast his water-repelling spell and was drenched like a chicken in the soup. He Bingkun had been wholly focused on opening his palace and had naturally paid no attention to repelling water either. He was just as soaked.

He Bingkun pointed at Yunqi, and the rainwater on Yunqi's body immediately lifted away. Next, the water on He Bingkun himself and throughout the house all gathered at his fingertip, forming a ball that he flung outside.

Seeing this, Yunqi flicked out a "Sealing Talisman" and sealed the hole in the roof, stopping the rain.

He Bingkun had drawn away every bit of rainwater in the room. For a moment, Yunqi actually found it somewhat dry.

He approached He Bingkun and bowed with a smile. "Congratulations, Daoist Brother! My warmest congratulations!"

He Bingkun seized Yunqi in an embrace and threw back his head, laughing so loudly that it exploded like thunder beside Yunqi's ear. As the laughter went on, Yunqi felt something was wrong. Why did it sound like wailing?

He looked up. The man really was crying!

"Eight years! Eight whole years! Yunqi, it took me, He Bingkun, eight years to open my palace! Do you know that among the people who entered the mountain with me, I was the first to open an abode? Three months after beginning to consume qi, I opened my thunder abode! I received a gold reward from the All-Teachings Institute too! Do you believe me?"

Watching tears and snot stream down He Bingkun's face, Yunqi nodded repeatedly. "I believe you, Brother! I believe you!"

Still unable to contain himself, He Bingkun wailed as he recounted how he had painstakingly cultivated his nasal aperture, cleverly opened his wind abode, and cleared his Twelve-Storied Tower. He had cultivated even in his sleep, turning from a quiet sleeper into someone whose snores thundered and howled like the wind.

"Everything's fine now!"

After his tears had soaked Yunqi's entire shoulder and arm, and he had secretly dried them with his water-control technique, the man was full of vigor again. "I mastered the wind, cloud, and thunder aspects long ago. Now that I've opened my water palace and completed the rain aspect, my heavenly will four aspects are whole. Moreover, the three abodes are above and the water palace below, linking heaven and earth. In time, water will nourish wood, wood will receive heavenly thunder and give rise to fire, charred wood will fall into water, and rotten wood will become mud, thereby nurturing true gold. The road ahead is vast!"

Yunqi clapped a hand over He Bingkun's mouth. "My dear brother, how can you shout out your own Dao Path like that?!"

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