Find me, and I'll lift your curse

Chi Yu went to rent a cultivation room for a day. The cheapest cost just one low-grade spirit stone and came with a stone bed.

Once he had rented the room, Chi Yu could no longer sleep anyway. Xie Xiyi had chilled him wide awake.

Ling Hezhou chatted with him. "Why is this spirit sword so attached to you?"

"No idea," Chi Yu said. "Maybe I'm the chosen one, and it was awed by my domineering aura and willingly followed me."

"Huh?" said Ling Hezhou.

Chi Yu spoke in an inscrutable tone. "There's a kind of person in this world who's Heaven's own son. Every resource gravitates toward him. Even the most outstanding prodigies of the immortal sects become his stepping stones and whetstones. Usually, he has the following traits. First, he comes from humble beginnings. Second, he generally has the worst kind of spiritual roots: five-element spiritual roots. Third, he comes with a white-bearded old grandpa hiding in a ring, a thumb ring, a parchment scroll, or something like that, who teaches him, answers his questions, and gives him all sorts of help. Fourth, he generally gets bullied and provoked by all sorts of people. Fifth, lots of spirit treasures, legacies, handsome men, and beautiful women flock to him. Sixth, he eventually becomes an unrivaled prodigy of his generation and grinds everyone else into the dirt. Anyone who fits these traits generally goes by one name: Long Aotian."

"?" said Ling Hezhou.

"Look at how many of those fit me," Chi Yu said.

"Uh." Ling Hezhou thought for a moment, then asked, "That third one-you don't mean me, do you?"

"Exactly!" Chi Yu said. "Unworthy though I am, I meet a mere five of those conditions. The last one is my future progressive tense."

Ling Hezhou thought back. "I feel like I've heard the name Long Aotian somewhere before."

"Hm? You've heard of him?" Chi Yu asked.

Ling Hezhou thought for a while. "I really have. I think he was from my father's generation. He really was an astonishingly talented figure. Apparently, my father was very good friends with him."

"Why 'apparently'?" Chi Yu asked.

"Because he had lots of friends." Talking about his father made Ling Hezhou enthusiastic. "Speaking of which, my father once studied at a Chan sect on Zizai Continent. Zizai Continent is a Buddhist holy land, and most cultivators there practice Chan. Don't get the wrong idea-not everyone who goes to Zizai Continent to study is a monk. Lots of cultivators go there, actually. The land there helps people comprehend the Dao, and it abounds in a sacred Buddhist treasure, the pippala tree, otherwise known as the bodhi tree. Every single leaf on the bodhi trees there is a supreme treasure that can increase your chances of sudden enlightenment. Your cultivation is still too low for you to understand, but lots of cultivators get stuck at that hurdle. If they achieve sudden enlightenment, they advance a major realm and gain over a thousand years of life. If they don't, they die and their Dao vanishes. That's why studying on Zizai Continent was so popular back then.

"Ordinary cultivators couldn't even go. You had to have truly outstanding aptitude, and there was also the matter of karmic affinity. Without that affinity, they wouldn't accept you, no matter how unparalleled a genius you were. I'm telling you all this because something strange happened back then. My father never mentioned it; I heard it from someone else. Among those studying alongside him was someone already earmarked to become the Buddha-son of the Anuttara Buddhist Sect. There was a rumor about him at the time: if he didn't practice Buddhism, he would fall into endless hell. His practicing Chan and entering the Buddhist path was an act of immense merit. Chan Master Ruoku, who had recommended him to the Chan sect, immediately advanced a major cultivation realm after he began his studies. If that man truly attained Buddhahood, Chan Master Ruoku would transcend the convergence of causes and conditions and attain Nirvana without remainder."

At this point, he paused with extraordinary deliberateness. Sure enough, Chi Yu took the bait and pressed, "And then?"

Satisfied, Ling Hezhou continued, "And then? Then that prospective Buddha-son defected from the Chan sect, killed lots of people, and fell completely into demonhood. Chan Master Ruoku, who had recommended him, was severely implicated too. Not only did he lose all his cultivation, but he was also sentenced to five hundred years of punishment."

Chi Yu clicked his tongue. "Isn't that excessive? Such a harsh punishment just for recommending someone?"

"He bet that the man could attain Buddhahood," Ling Hezhou said. "If he won, he and everyone connected to him would ascend to glory. Merit would descend upon him, opening his wisdom and granting enlightenment, allowing him to attain nirvana, neither arising nor ceasing, free and unbound through nonaction. If he lost, he would only lose all his cultivation and receive five hundred years of punishment. That punishment was already very mild. If he'd won, the merit would have been unimaginable. He might even have become a Pratyekabuddha."

"I don't really understand," Chi Yu admitted. "I've never studied any of this."

Ling Hezhou laughed. "It's normal that you don't understand. If you have a chance in the future, you can visit Zizai Continent. The land there is very special, perfectly suited to cultivation. But ever since that incident, Zizai Continent has become extremely hostile to outsiders, and the Chan sects that accept cultivators have grown much stricter too. Getting in to study is very difficult. We'll talk about it if the chance comes."

Chi Yu made a mental note, then asked, "What about that friend of your father's you mentioned? Is he still around?"

"Probably not," Ling Hezhou said. "I saw his memorial tablet in my father's treasure pavilion. Among mortals, a memorial tablet is a wooden plaque used to commemorate the dead. On special holidays, they offer three kinds of sacrificial meat and fine wine. It's a very interesting custom. But, like you burying those bodies along the road, it doesn't really mean much."

"..." said Chi Yu.

Chi Yu continued spiritedly, "The old Long Aotian has passed away, and a new Long Aotian is rising like the morning sun. That's right, I mean me!"

He lowered his head and asked Phantom Lightning, "Phantom Lightning! Will you lend me your strength?"

Phantom Lightning rubbed against him, expressing its eager willingness.

Chi Yu asked Ling Hezhou, "Ling Hezhou, will you be my white-bearded old grandpa?"

"Ah..." said Ling Hezhou.

Seeing the demon's sword switch sides so smoothly shook him. Then an indescribable sense of crisis rose in his heart, making him blurt out, "Uh, I will... but only temporarily. I still have to return to the Tianyan Sect."

"That's fine," Chi Yu said. "The white-bearded old grandpa is always temporary. By the middle or later stages, he either tries to possess Long Aotian or gets squeezed dry and laid off."

"..." said Ling Hezhou.

Chi Yu said happily, "Though my origins are humble, my ambitions soar."

"One day the great roc shall rise with the wind, soaring straight up ninety thousand li! Today, a traveler returning to rivers and seas; another day, one who roams ten thousand li of the skies![Note 1]"

His happiness seemed to infect Phantom Lightning in his arms. It answered him with a clear, ringing sword cry unlike any it had made before.

Ling Hezhou's heart jolted, his feelings tangled. He had never met anyone like this.

His happiness and joy came without any reason, brimming with a vitality even more vigorous than a spell that brought withered trees back to life. Just watching him was enough to make someone feel happy, as though infected and drawn into the same mood.

"Oh, right," Chi Yu said. "Don't call me by my name anymore. Call me Long Aotian! When you're out in the world, you give yourself your own identity. I say I'm Long Aotian, so I'm Long Aotian!"

"..." said Ling Hezhou.

That name doesn't sound as nice as Chi Yu.

Author's note:

Pss, [Note 1] quotes classical poetry.

Chapter 10: Find me, and I'll lift your curse

After livening up the atmosphere, Chi Yu turned to serious matters with Phantom Lightning. "You heard what your master said, right? He's already said he'll give you a chance. I know you're in one camp with your heart in another, but you should at least put on an act. Don't make your master angry. What if he gets angry and snaps you in half?"

Phantom Lightning nodded. Though highly intelligent, it could never develop an artifact spirit. Moreover, because of its material, no other artifact spirit could ever inhabit it either. Thus, it could not express its thoughts in words, nor did it have particularly complex emotions. Its likes were pure and simple, and it had no feelings of fear.

It was not afraid of Xie Xiyi snapping it, nor could it understand overly complicated words. It had not really understood what Chi Yu had just said, but that did not matter. It just had to nod like crazy.

Chi Yu explained a great many more things to it. When he finished and saw it nodding frantically, he found it so adorable that he could not resist giving it a kiss. Phantom Lightning froze on the spot, its tip trembling uncontrollably.

Chi Yu did not notice. He smacked his lips and said, "You seem to have been thoroughly marinated too. There's a bloody smell, a little pungent."

"..." said Phantom Lightning.

It wilted at once.

Chi Yu said cheerfully again, "It's fine. I'll soak you in some ginger water to get rid of the smell."

With that, he took a pot out of his Sumeru Ring, filled it with spirit spring water, cut up a few pieces of ginger grown in his spirit field and tossed them in, then finally dropped Phantom Lightning into it.

"...Can ginger be used like that?" Ling Hezhou asked.

"Oh, right." Chi Yu took out a bunch of scallions and some garlic, chopped them up, and tossed them in as well. Looking satisfied, he said, "I forgot the scallions and garlic."

"..." said Ling Hezhou.

He desperately wanted to shake Chi Yu by the shoulders and ask how he dared do something like this to that archdemon's sword!

But he felt too awkward to say it, because the sword itself was perfectly willing.

The next day, Xie Xiyi came soundlessly to retrieve Phantom Lightning. The moment he took it in hand, he smelled the pungent odor of ginger, scallions, and garlic on it.

Before he could react, Chi Yu spoke first. "Don't worry, boss. I've already given Huandian a proper talking-to! It definitely won't make any more mistakes!"

Xie Xiyi said nothing, merely staring at the sword.

"What's wrong, boss?" Chi Yu asked. "Is there something you're unhappy with?"

Ling Hezhou was sweating buckets inside. Why are you asking when you know perfectly well?

He worried for Chi Yu, afraid Xie Xiyi would kill him in a rage.

Over this time, he had come to understand Xie Xiyi's brutality deeply. Whatever Xie Xiyi did felt entirely foreseeable. Yet Chi Yu, who had clearly faced it firsthand, seemed completely unafraid. Ling Hezhou felt he truly did not understand Chi Yu at all. And Chi Yu was only at the Qi Refining stage! How did he dare?!

Xie Xiyi smiled faintly, a trace of laughter in his voice making him sound somewhat casual. "You did something unnecessary."

Chi Yu smiled sheepishly. "You mean giving Phantom Lightning a bath? I felt it really needed one, so I took it upon myself to wash it. If you don't like it, boss, I won't do it again."

His apology was so swift and sincere that it instead left little for anyone to say.

Xie Xiyi took out a Taowu hide and wiped Phantom Lightning thoroughly, removing the smell, before saying to Chi Yu, "Do something unnecessary again, and I'll pull out your finger bones to make a Soul-Refining Lamp."