Going too far

"Little girl, you're amazing!"

Chen Shi'an was genuinely impressed. When he had practiced pouring water from the porcelain bottle, it had taken him a full hour just to make some headway.

Chen Tiantian had only watched once before doing it herself. Her talent was extraordinary.

But when he saw two tiny beads of water on Chen Tiantian's hand, his expression immediately turned stern. "Tiantian, your uncle told you-not even half a drop of water can touch your hand."

Sensing Chen Shi'an's seriousness, Chen Tiantian stopped smiling.

She quickly filled the porcelain bottle with water and repeated the movement.

Once again, she poured out the water without getting any on her hand, but she was a little slower than the first time.

"You have to finish this movement within three breaths, without letting even half a drop land on your hand.

Starting now, you must keep practicing it until tomorrow," Chen Shi'an added, his tone softening somewhat.

"Uncle, I'm sure I can do it. Can you tell me what this is for?"

Chen Tiantian tilted her little head. "Is it for the Spirit Medium Selection the day after tomorrow?"

Chen Shi'an nodded. "Tomorrow, when you carry your Spirit Script to the altar, you'll need to pour what's in the porcelain bottle onto it.

It's hidden in the water and can burn on its own. There won't be much, but if it gets on your hand, it'll still burn your skin.

Practice this movement until you've mastered it, and you won't have to suffer those burns."

"Something that hides in water but can still burn? What is it?" Chen Tiantian looked utterly puzzled.

Chen Shi'an hesitated briefly. "It's called white phosphorus."

"White phosphorus? What's that?" Chen Tiantian was completely at sea.

"The more your uncle explains that question, the more confused you'll get."

Chen Shi'an smiled. "All you need to do is practice pouring until you can do it flawlessly, without the slightest mistake.

If you slack off and end up crying over a burn, your uncle won't be able to help you."

Chen Tiantian nodded, then asked, "Uncle, can you show me what white phosphorus looks like?"

"You can't see it yet. I'll show you tomorrow evening."

Chen Shi'an chuckled. "Tiantian, remember not to tell anyone about the white phosphorus.

Besides, even if you told them, they wouldn't understand. They'd just think you were a liar or a fool."

Chen Tiantian shook her head repeatedly. "Showing off something you don't even understand yourself-that's what a real fool does."

Chen Shi'an smiled without speaking.

Even a ten-year-old girl understood that, yet plenty of adults never tired of doing exactly that.

Once Chen Tiantian had left, he walked to the corner.

A wooden bucket stood there, with a piece of layered flint soaking in water.

After learning about the Spirit Medium Selection Contest, Chen Shi'an had immediately found some flint and left it soaking ever since.

By tomorrow, it should have soaked long enough.

The next day.

Another restaurant came to buy chili sauce. It did not want as much as Anfeng Restaurant, but it still wanted a hundred jars.

Chen Shi'an stayed out of sight and let Su Qingrou handle it alone.

Su Qingrou had quite a knack for business.

The buyer had intended to haggle, but instead of getting the price lowered, they ended up buying another fifty jars.

Seeing this, Chen Shi'an was reassured.

With a little more time and experience, Su Qingrou should be able to get the chili sauce business running on her own, without him needing to worry too much.

He had more important matters to attend to. In the Desolate Ruins, having silver was certainly a good thing, but without the strength to protect it, it became a source of disaster.

Su Qingrou would earn silver selling chili sauce.

Chen Shi'an needed to grow stronger to protect that silver, and to protect Su Qingrou and her daughter.

The day soon passed.

That evening, Chen Shi'an called Chen Tiantian into his room.

Before him, Chen Tiantian filled and emptied the bottle ten times in succession. Her movements were practiced and quick, and she did not spill even half a drop.

Only then did Chen Shi'an relax and carry the bucket from the corner beneath the oil lamp.

"Uncle, is this the white phosphorus you mentioned?" Chen Tiantian looked at the flint in the bucket, confusion written all over her face.

Chen Shi'an smiled faintly and fetched a wooden stick and a bamboo-and-wood ladle with a long, narrow spout.

Then he struck the flint hard with the wooden stick.

After more than thirty blows, powder seeped out of the flint, clouding the water.

He stopped striking and stirred the water continuously with the stick.

After about half an incense stick's worth of time, a small clump of pale yellow, waxlike substance floated to the surface.

"See that? That's white phosphorus."

As Chen Shi'an spoke, his hands moved swiftly. He quickly scooped up the waxlike clump with the bamboo ladle and put it into the little porcelain bottle.

He added water, then quickly pushed in the stopper.

"Uncle, didn't you say white phosphorus burns on its own?" Chen Tiantian asked in confusion.

Chen Shi'an explained quietly, "White phosphorus can indeed burn on its own, but it needs a certain temperature.

It's winter now, and the temperature is too low.

But during tomorrow's Spirit Medium Selection Contest, there will be bonfires burning around the altar, along with plenty of torches. The temperature will certainly be high enough for it to burn."

"Uncle, you're going to burn the Spirit Script and create a miracle?" Chen Tiantian finally understood Chen Shi'an's intention.

"Clever girl!"

Chen Shi'an nodded. "In tomorrow's final selection, you'll have nine competitors. Their families have either wealth or influence-or both.

If you want to beat them, you'll have to blaze a different trail."

Chen Tiantian blinked. "Uncle, I really want to become a Reserve Divination Medium too.

But if we create a miracle ourselves, won't we anger the gods?"

Chen Shi'an chuckled. "If the gods really do get angry, it certainly won't be at us. It'll be at those examiners who took bribes.

Look at all the past Spirit Mediums in our Stronghold. Was there a single decent-looking one among them? They couldn't even compare to my Tiantian's toenail.

They became Spirit Mediums because their families pulled strings and paved the way with silver.

If the gods have any awareness at all, they'd surely be eager for my Tiantian to become a Spirit Medium."

Both corners of Chen Tiantian's mouth curled high. "You might be exaggerating just a tiny bit, Uncle, but I like hearing it."

Chen Shi'an brushed a finger over his niece's little cheek and pressed the porcelain bottle into her hand. "Only you and I know about this. Don't even tell your mother.

Knowing would only give her another reason to worry."

Chen Tiantian narrowed her pretty eyes. "Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know."

With that, she held out her right pinky.

Chen Shi'an shook his head helplessly, then held out his own finger and hooked it around hers.

The Spirit Medium Selection in Windrise Stronghold consisted of an open screening, a preliminary selection, a second selection, a verification selection, a main selection, and a final selection.

The purpose of all these stages was not to choose the most suitable Spirit Medium, but to make it easier for the examiners to manipulate the process and weed out the many children from ordinary families.

Apart from the final selection, all the other stages took place simultaneously at multiple locations throughout the city.

The final selection ceremony would determine the Reserve Divination Medium outright, so it was especially grand and held in Windrise Stronghold's central square.

A tall, square platform had been built in the square overnight.

A circular altar stood at its center.

The Spirit Script produced by the Spirit Mediums would be burned on that altar.

Four bonfires burned at the platform's eastern, southern, western, and northern sides, with blazing torches planted all around.

With a quarter of an hour still to go before seven in the morning, all of Windrise Stronghold's influential figures had taken their seats in the central viewing stand.

Xiang Chuxiong, the City Lord of Windrise Stronghold, sat squarely in the middle, his bearing bold and imposing.

The other influential figures sat in order to his left and right. Lu Chenyang and Wang Tianye were among them, as was Tao Yaoyao.

Tao Yaoyao sat right beside Xiang Chuxiong, and the two were chatting and laughing.

In the waiting area to the platform's right, Chen Tiantian and the other nine children sat upright, waiting nervously.

Chen Shi'an had not been lying. Of the ten children, apart from Chen Tiantian, not one was particularly good-looking.

Yet every one of them wore luxurious clothing, standing in stark contrast to Chen Tiantian's coarse cloth garments.

That contrast also drew considerable attention.

In every previous Spirit Medium Selection, the children who reached the final selection had been either rich or noble. Ordinary children like Chen Tiantian were almost unheard of.

Wang Tianye recognized Chen Tiantian at a glance, and his expression darkened.

His gaze swept the crowd, soon finding Chen Shi'an and Su Qingrou not far from the waiting area.

At once, Wang Tianye's eyes turned cold and sharp, fixing tightly on Chen Shi'an.

Sensing something, Chen Shi'an looked up at the central viewing stand and met Wang Tianye's gaze.

Wang Tianye narrowed his eyes slightly, while the corners of Chen Shi'an's mouth lifted.

Seven o'clock arrived.

An old man in a black robe immediately walked slowly onto the central platform, kowtowing repeatedly before the altar and chanting with solemn conviction.

Only after a full two incense sticks' worth of time did he stop, turn toward Xiang Chuxiong in the central viewing stand, and bow respectfully.

Xiang Chuxiong rose, walked slowly to the edge of the viewing stand, and gave a soft cough.

The previously noisy square instantly fell as silent as crows and sparrows gone mute. Everyone shut their mouths.

Xiang Chuxiong nodded in satisfaction, delivered the customary address, and announced the start of the final selection.

Soon, a girl dressed in red walked onto the platform and, following the black-robed elder's directions, stood before the altar.

Then two sturdy men carried a large, round, black incense burner onto the platform.

At the top of the burner, a long writing brush was tied by a cord to a slender bamboo rod, leaving it suspended inside.

At the bottom of the burner was an opening roughly two inches high.

The girl in red first bowed three times toward the altar, then respectfully accepted with both hands a sheet of yellow paper about the size of four sheets of A4 paper from the black-robed elder.

She walked slowly to the incense burner, then carefully slid the yellow paper through the opening at its base.

The black-robed elder shook a bronze bell and chanted again, circling the incense burner three times before dipping the suspended brush in thick ink.

The girl in red stepped forward slowly. As she walked around the incense burner, she gently tapped the bamboo rod at its top.

The brush immediately began trembling inside the burner, moving up and down, left and right.

After about a quarter of an hour, the girl in red finally stopped, bent down, and took the yellow paper out of the incense burner.

By then, the yellow paper was covered in a chaotic jumble of ink lines.

Although Chen Shi'an stood a full sixty or seventy feet from the central platform, his body had undergone seven rounds of marrow-washing and bone-tempering, and he was now a First-Rank Martial Artist. His eyesight was exceptional, allowing him to see the black lines on the yellow paper clearly.

This was the Spirit Script produced under divine guidance.

He studied it for a long while until the tangle of lines dazzled his eyes, yet he could make neither head nor tail of it.

Using this to judge who was closer to the gods and better suited to becoming a Spirit Medium left far too much room for manipulation.

The girl respectfully held up the yellow paper, walked slowly to the altar, and gently laid it down before withdrawing deferentially to one side.

The black-robed elder approached the altar, still shaking his bronze bell and murmuring as he circled it three times.

Then a sturdy man stepped forward with a torch and set the Spirit Script on the altar alight.

Once the Spirit Script had burned away, the man immediately gathered its ashes and placed them in a round black bowl.

With that, the girl in red's spirit-writing ritual officially ended.

Meanwhile, in the viewing stand to the right of the central platform, a dozen or so examiners were making notes on paper to assess her performance.

Soon, one child after another went onto the platform and repeated the same actions.

The spectators below gradually grew weary, their initial anticipation and excitement fading.

Chen Tiantian was the sixth to take the stage. Because of her background, many spectators perked up again, and some even shouted encouragement for her.

After all, ordinary people always made up the majority.

Seeing her daughter take the stage, Su Qingrou felt both proud and intensely nervous, unconsciously clutching Chen Shi'an's arm.

"Sister-in-law, don't worry. Tiantian will definitely be fine," Chen Shi'an reassured her softly.

Su Qingrou shook her head. "I've never expected her to become a Reserve Divination Medium. Having such a meaningful experience is enough."

Chen Shi'an smiled faintly. "What if Tiantian really does become a Spirit Medium?"

Su Qingrou shook her head again. "We shouldn't entertain that thought.

I've watched so many Spirit Medium Selections, and I've never seen a child from an ordinary family become a Spirit Medium.

Tiantian reaching the final selection is already an enormous stroke of luck. We shouldn't hope for more."

The corners of Chen Shi'an's mouth lifted slightly, and he said nothing further.

In the central viewing stand, the Stronghold's influential figures likewise turned their attention to Chen Tiantian.

The appearance of Chen Tiantian, a girl from an ordinary family, at the final selection ceremony naturally stirred their curiosity and attention.

As Chen Tiantian stood prettily on the platform, a flash of greed crossed Wang Tianye's eyes. Then he spoke in an inscrutable tone:

"A child of such humble birth is a rare sight at the final round of the Spirit Medium Selection."

At those words, the expressions of the influential figures in the stand changed.

They had all participated in, or been connected to, the various shady dealings in the Spirit Medium Selection to some degree.

"It's a good thing that an ordinary child can reach the final selection. It demonstrates our Stronghold's fairness, impartiality, and transparency," someone replied.

Wang Tianye chuckled. "The point is, I suspect she reached the final selection through her connections to a certain important figure."

After saying that, he cast a casual glance at Lu Chenyang.

Clearly, he thought Lu Chenyang was the one who had gotten Chen Tiantian into the final round.

Earlier, Lu Chenyang had told him not to touch Chen Tiantian, and he had complied, giving Lu Chenyang face.

He knew Lu Chenyang well and had thought his protection of Chen Tiantian was only temporary.

But now, Lu Chenyang had actually helped Chen Tiantian reach the final round of the Spirit Medium Selection, clearly intent on protecting her to the bitter end. This was taking things too far.

If he could swallow this, what couldn't he swallow!

Although Lu Chenyang enjoyed the City Lord's deep trust, he himself was the dignified Commander of the City Guard Battalion. He would not stand for such humiliation.