Will He Be the First to Ignite His Essence Fire?

Ten Essence Platforms!

Whether it was because each additional Essence Platform was harder to form, as Yunzhi had said, or because it was difficult to reap the same spirit fruit's benefits more than once, Chen Du gained only two Essence Platforms when he ate the second fruit, and just one when he ate the third.

In the end, he stopped at ten Essence Platforms.

He had twenty-three spirit fruits left.

He ate no more.

Yunzhi had told him that even the ambitious among the ancient qi refiners had started with no more than ten Essence Platforms. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to ignite them.

After all, the longer he waited to ignite his Essence Fire, the longer he would have to remain in his "mortal body." The problem was, he was a great cultivator, and he needed to recover his magical power sooner.

He could always add more after igniting them.

Following Yunzhi's instructions, he ignored the false Essence Platforms that had formed in error and made a few attempts to ignite the ten real ones. Once he was reasonably sure it would work, he stopped.

When his cat had first ignited its Essence Fire, it had clearly triggered a somewhat uncontrolled response from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Yunzhi had noticed it at the time.

Early the next morning.

In a fine mood, Chen Du pushed open the door and went outside.

For one thing, the spirit fruits had left him more energetic and in better physical condition than ever before, so naturally he was in a good mood.

For another, he felt a little anticipation.

He first went to the spirit tree in the courtyard and examined it carefully.

The spirit tree hadn't withered the moment its fruit was picked, as trees did in some films and shows, but neither did it have the obvious spiritual glow it once had. Looking closely, he could still see it slowly drawing in and releasing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon. It seemed capable of flowering and bearing fruit again.

He looked up and saw his cat sitting upright on the Taoist temple's tiled eaves, gazing at the sky as it drew in and released the essence of the sun and moon. A woman dressed in Ming-style hanfu sat beside it, occasionally offering explanations.

The two yaoguai seemed to be getting along well. They were even eating, looking quite relaxed.

"Side-Swept Bangs!"

Chen Du called out.

The cat on the roof immediately looked down. When it saw him beckon, it got up at once and made its way down.

Light on its feet, it walked to the bottom of the tiled eaves, then leaped gently onto a pine branch. A few steps along the branch and it jumped down, coming to Chen Du's feet before lowering itself into a stretch.

Chen Du watched it, and as it jumped down, he caught sight of the milk tea cup on the windowsill outside Yunzhi's room.

It was empty, washed spotless and set there to dry.

"What does this mean?"

Chen Du couldn't help being taken aback.

Yunzhi also jumped down from the roof, though she floated straight down from its highest point, graceful as a swan goose. Once she landed, she said, a little flustered:

"Immortal Master, I was only drying it here. I intended to return it to you once it was dry."

In truth, she thought the cup was exquisite and cute, and she liked it. Since she didn't have a cup of her own, she had washed it and planned to use it for drinking water once it dried.

But the cup had been bestowed by the Immortal Master, after all, and she felt it would be improper to claim it without a word. So she had put it in a conspicuous spot on the windowsill. If the Immortal Master never said anything, he clearly didn't want it anymore. As everyone knew, anything people didn't want could be enjoyed by the cats, dogs, insects, mice, ants, yaoguai and ghosts in the house.

Now that the Immortal Master had asked, she hurried to return it.

"Return it to me?" Chen Du was taken aback again. "It's disposable. Oh, that means it can only be used once. You throw it away after you're done."

"What?"

Such a pretty mica cup, thrown away after a single use?

The yaoguai, who had never experienced the industrial age, was deeply shocked. It even had a cute design on it.

"Not just that. Side-Swept Bangs' food cans are disposable too. Once it's eaten what's inside, you can just throw them away. There's no need to wash them."

As Chen Du spoke, he saw her expression of shock and distress. It occurred to him that she really didn't seem to have a cup, and that she'd been at the temple for several days. He didn't know how she'd been drinking water, so he added:

"I'll find you a cup in a bit. You can have it."

"Yes, yes..."

Yunzhi's mind went blank. She didn't know what to say and could only agree numbly.

When she thought about what she had done, her scalp even tingled for a moment.

"Oh, right. The spiritual energy has been growing denser lately, and there's often been movement on the mountain. Now that spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, I'm planning to take Side-Swept Bangs up the mountain for a look around, to see if anything else is going on. The temple can't be left unattended, so sorry to trouble you, but could you watch it for me?" Chen Du instructed her. "Don't wander off. If any worshippers come, just receive them as you did before."

"Yes..."

Chen Du went back and found a cup for her. A worshipper had given it to him some time ago, and it happened to have a picture of a black-and-white kitten with side-parted, side-swept bangs. It was quite cute too.

"Let's go!"

The cat was well-behaved and loved going out to play. As soon as Chen Du called, it followed him with quick little steps, bobbing its head and repeating his words:

"Let's dough!"

Man and cat left and headed up the mountain.

Yunzhi stood alone beneath the old pine tree at the temple, the ceramic cup the Immortal Master had just found for her in one hand and the translucent milk tea cup, with its teal coloring and cute design, in the other. She looked back and forth between them, her shock and reluctance undiminished.

She had seen the former before, but never the latter, and for the moment she couldn't tell which was more precious.

Who would have thought the latter was to be thrown away after use?

How was that any different from carving exquisite flowers out of fine wood and then burning them as firewood? She had only heard of certain princes and nobles doing such things.

"Alas..."

She still couldn't bear to throw it away. She took the plastic cup back to her room and put it on the table to hold the few discarded flower petals she had left, then took the mug to scoop herself some water.

At last, she had a cup to drink from.

Chen Du set foot on the mountain path, a black-and-white cat with a side-parted hairstyle walking alongside him.

Chen Du's steps were steady and firm.

The cat, however, was lively and restless. It would often dash madly ahead of him, sniffing flowers and biting grass, or climb a tree beside the path and refuse to move. Only when he had walked far ahead would it jump down and bound after him like a rabbit, spreading both arms to pounce on his leg.

"What were you talking about this morning?"

Chen Du found a chance to ask his cat.

"Talking! About! What?"

The cat stopped, but only tilted its head and curiously repeated his words. Cats rarely called out in a continuous stream to begin with, and it still wasn't used to it, so it could only speak one word at a time.

"..."

Exasperated by its lack of smarts, Chen Du asked, "Then what were you eating?"

"Birds!"

"..."

Now you can say it fluently.

"What kind of bird?" Chen Du gestured to show two sizes. "This big? Or this big?"

"Meow!"

"That's called a bug," Chen Du said, his head aching. "If you've eaten bugs, you're not allowed to lick me."

"Allowed to lick!"

"Not allowed!"

"Allowed!"

"Just remember one thing: if Yunzhi asks you about me, don't say too much. As it happens, what you do best is pretend you can't hear people, or pretend you don't understand when you can."

"Can't hear!"

"That's right!"

Chen Du didn't tell it anything about being on guard against Yunzhi. His cat was still young, and that wouldn't be good for a child. If it could get along happily with Yunzhi, he would let it be happy. Being happy was better.

Before they had said much more, his cat ran ahead like the wind and vanished again.

The mountain was sizable. Hikers came equipped with outdoor jackets, hiking shoes and trekking poles, while local Taoists familiar with the paths needed only their robes and cloth shoes.

Normally, even he would be a little out of breath climbing the mountain. Now his ten Essence Platforms, more than three times as many as a normal person's and two and a half times what he had had yesterday, supplied him with an endless stream of vital essence. Walking was as easy as strolling through a quiet courtyard. Not only was he untired, he even had energy to spare.

At ease, he had more energy to admire the scenery.

After the Awakening of Insects, spring had warmed and the flowers were in bloom.

There were many fruit trees on the mountain. Those far from the temple were mostly wild, while those nearby had mostly been planted by the temple's predecessors. Life at the temple was poor, and going down the mountain wasn't easy, so planting fruit trees gave them a treat when the fruit ripened. The peach, plum, apricot and pear trees all flowered around this time, with slight differences in timing.

Along with the other wildflowers and grasses, they made the mountain a riot of color. In the spring sunshine, every shade became brighter and more vivid, and walking among them lifted his spirits.

Although Chen Du did indeed intend to find a secluded spot on the mountain and try to ignite his Essence Fire, he hadn't lied-

He had been wondering whether the treasure tree in the courtyard had grown there because a predecessor at the temple had left behind a seed in ancient times, or because the mountain's dense spiritual energy had brought it forth and it had happened to grow in the courtyard.

If it was the former, that was that. But if it was the latter, might there be other treasure trees and spirit plants growing on the mountain?

That was why he wanted to take a look.

And with the spring sunshine so lovely, what Taoist since ancient times hadn't gone up the mountain for a spring outing at a time like this?

He used to come every year, first with his master, and later with his cat.

Walking at a leisurely pace, he reached the summit around noon. After looking around several times, he still saw no place where spiritual energy gathered in any unusual concentration. He walked a little way down the other side of the mountain and came upon a wild peach tree, which had grown on the edge of a cliff for who knew how many years. Its branches were covered in charming peach blossoms, a delightful sight. Beneath it, a rock protruded from the ground, fallen blossoms scattered over it, and it made a perfect seat.

Thirsty and hungry, Chen Du went over and sat down.

He took out a mooncake a worshipper had given him at last year's Mid-Autumn Festival and took a bite. Finding it a little dry, he took out his flask and drank some tea. Chinese pastries and tea were a perfect match.

Now this was more like a Taoist!

"Ah..."

Chen Du let out a long, contented sigh. Forget Essence Fire and qi seas: with the gentle mountain breeze blowing, the warm spring sun on him, and pink peach blossoms swaying and falling before his eyes, he already felt he could rival an immortal.

This was also one reason he had chosen to return to the temple after his master's death. Even without the spiritual energy's resurgence or cultivation and longevity, such a simple, leisurely life was actually quite nice.

But now, gazing into the distance, he saw that although the mountains stretched on and on and the world appeared vast, around him were only a peach tree, a few slender bamboos and several banana leaves. Somewhere else, there would merely be different plants and trees. He was all the more certain that he had to embark on the path of cultivation and could never remain trapped on this mountain.

"Go and play, but remember not to go too far. I still need you to keep watch for anyone coming. If Yunzhi comes, remember to wake me."

After eating and drinking his fill, Chen Du said this to his cat, then sat cross-legged, closed his eyes and continued trying.

According to Yunzhi, what was called Essence Fire was the key to refining spiritual energy, produced by a special method once one's primal essence had grown strong enough and one's vital essence was abundant.

Would I be the first person in the whole world to ignite Essence Fire in this resurgence of spiritual energy?

Chen Du couldn't help wondering.