Fate-Weighing

At Supreme Mystery Mountain, in the Founding Ancestor Hall.

Hua Chunning was still in something of a daze.

How had a situation that looked so promising fallen apart in the blink of an eye, leaving a complete mess?

Li Chengxuan examined her carefully with the Qi Observation Technique.

Sure enough, Hua Chunning's Manifestation had grown much stronger.

The methods of creating a spiritual atmosphere and gathering Spring Qi had indeed worked.

Unfortunately, she probably would not be able to use them again anytime soon.

Hua Chunning came back to herself and bowed her head in greeting. "Greetings, Sect Leader. This disciple was incapable and has disappointed you."

"There's no need for that." Li Chengxuan shook his head slightly and sighed. "You should have told me sooner that the situation in the Grotto-Heaven had changed."

"If I hadn't noticed something was wrong and brought you out of the Grotto-Heaven, your Manifestation would most likely have been scattered completely by now."

Tears filled Hua Chunning's eyes, and she lowered her head without a word.

The Sect Leader had trusted her and let her enter the Grotto-Heaven to strengthen her Manifestation, an immense favor already. How could she dare trouble him further?

When problems arose, she naturally had to do her best to solve them herself.

She had never expected that one moment of inattention would undo all her previous efforts.

Li Chengxuan said no more about it and continued, "How much progress did you make strengthening your Manifestation?"

"Sect Leader, I finished gathering the Manifestations of the Beginning of Spring and Rain Water." Hua Chunning forced herself to rally and answered earnestly. "Before I left the Grotto-Heaven, I had reached the Manifestation of the Awakening of Insects, but I had only gathered the first two pentads, 'Peach Blossoms Begin to Bloom' and 'Orioles Sing.'"

"The third pentad, 'Hawks Transform into Doves,' involves the transformation of living things. This disciple had no idea how to approach it and had not yet started."

"It seems you weren't too far off." Li Chengxuan nodded at her words. After thinking carefully for a moment, he comforted her. "'Hawks Transform into Doves' doesn't belong to Yi Wood, nor does it have any connection or conflict with the Fragrance of a Hundred Flowers. Leaving it ungathered is no great matter."

A light appeared in Hua Chunning's eyes. "Could it be... this disciple still has a chance?" she asked in disbelief.

"How will we know if we don't try?" Li Chengxuan sighed and spoke frankly. "The cultivation path I laid out for you was a winding little trail to begin with. I couldn't see it clearly myself, much less say I'd walked it."

"Now the imagery associated with you has shifted considerably from before, and it really has grown much stronger."

"The Beginning of Spring, Rain Water, and Awakening of Insects all belong to the rising of yang Qi. It is newly risen yang, also known as lesser yang."

"The next solar term, the Spring Equinox, is when yin and yang are in balance. Its second pentad is also a thunder manifestation: Mystic Thunder, born of the clash between yin and yang. It conflicts with the imagery of Arousing Thunder in the Beginning of Spring, where lesser yang surges against yin."

"Looking at it now, stopping at the third pentad of the Awakening of Insects may actually have been a good thing."

"Taking the Fragrance of a Hundred Flowers to enter the Dao, then joining it with half a season's Spring Qi to inherit lesser yang-the Dao principles seem sound. You may still have a chance."

Hua Chunning took a deep breath.

Now that things had come to this, she could only stake everything on one attempt.

Whether she succeeded or failed depended entirely on fate.

In any case, she would never give up!

Hearing the Sect Leader say that her hope of cultivation had not been completely cut off, Hua Chunning gradually calmed down. She could not help voicing the question on her mind. "May I ask, Sect Leader, if I return to the Grotto-Heaven next spring and gather the remaining Spring Qi, would my chances be better?"

"I don't know either. But you should understand the principle: the first drumbeat rouses the spirit, the second weakens it, and the third exhausts it." Li Chengxuan pondered for a moment, then explained patiently, "You're the first person under me to enter the Grotto-Heaven to strengthen your Manifestation. There's no experience to draw on."

"But you weren't born in the Grotto-Heaven. Forcibly gathering its Manifestation is no different from stealing."

"Letting you gather a full half season's Spring Qi is already no small amount."

"After all, that Grotto-Heaven has many mortals, and its standing is not low."

"Though it has no Spiritual Qi and its Heavenly Dao has never manifested, it can still give rise to Mortal World Tribulations to obstruct you."

"I'm afraid that if you wait until next year, other tribulations may be waiting for you."

Hua Chunning's heart tightened, and she felt somewhat helpless. She could only nod and say, "This disciple's mind is unsettled and her thoughts are in disarray."

"Please allow me a few days to recuperate, Sect Leader. I'll make my decision afterward."

After leaving the Founding Ancestor Hall, Hua Chunning had no heart to read any more Dao treatises. She went straight down the mountain to the Hua Household's residence.

If anyone besides herself and the Sect Leader cared about her Dao Path, it had to be her grandfather, who had raised her himself.

The Hua Household's direct line lived at the foot of Supreme Mystery Mountain. Though they were not as comfortable as they had been in Rejuvenation Valley, at least they were safe.

Hua Chunning made her way without obstruction to the ancestral hall.

Hua Mingcheng had already received word and was waiting. Seeing that something was wrong with her expression, he hurriedly asked, "Chunning, what happened to you?"

"Grandfather!" Hua Chunning was still young, after all, and today she had suffered every sort of fright and grievance. She had not dared show it in front of Li Chengxuan for fear of disappointing the Sect Leader, but now, seeing her closest kin, her eyes immediately reddened. "Your granddaughter was incapable. I'm afraid I've cut off my own Dao Path."

Hua Mingcheng was shaken to the core and hurriedly pressed her for details.

Hua Chunning only shook her head and offered no explanation.

After all, the Grotto-Heaven was a closely guarded sect secret.

If she revealed it, she would be courting death and implicating the entire Hua clan as well.

Hua Mingcheng was old and shrewd. Sensing something amiss, he stopped pressing for details and asked only, "Tell me clearly: has your Dao Path been cut off or not?"

"I don't know either." Before her closest kin, Hua Chunning did not conceal her true thoughts. "I failed to live up to the Sect Leader's painstaking efforts. After a year of hard work, I still fell short at the last hurdle."

"The Sect Leader has astounding wisdom in the Dao, and he managed to find me a faint glimmer of hope."

"But after hearing him out, I felt he didn't have much confidence either. He was probably treating a dead horse as though it were alive."

Hua Mingcheng frowned and paced around the ancestral hall, muttering to himself. At last, he gritted his teeth and asked, "Think back carefully. Was Immortal Master Li merely offering empty comfort, or is there really hope?"

Hua Chunning lowered her head and thought for a moment before saying, "He probably wasn't offering empty comfort. I'm only a Registered Disciple; I'm not worth the Sect Leader's effort to deceive with smooth words."

"Then there's hope!" Hua Mingcheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Having come to a certain decision, he said in a low voice, "Chunning, the clan still has a few Human Pills. Nothing is better for strengthening Blood Qi and Manifestation!"

"But you must be careful. You absolutely mustn't let Immortal Master Li see through it."

"Otherwise, you could die and the clan could be wiped out."

"Human Pills!" Hua Chunning was shocked. The Hua Household had fallen into the mortal world for a hundred years, yet it still possessed such major pills.

Hua Chunning did not feel much resistance to taking Human Pills.

As long as it could help her enter the Dao and cultivate, Hua Chunning would try any method.

"No!" After thinking it over for a moment, Hua Chunning shook her head and rejected the idea. "Even if I could hide it from the Sect Leader, I can't do it."

"I read many Daoist scriptures on the mountain, and today I also listened to the Sect Leader explain Dao principles."

"I have a vague feeling that the Dao Path I'm to cultivate does not favor Human Pills or Blood Qi."

"If I took a Human Pill, I'm afraid that really would cut off my Dao Path."

Spring possessed the virtue of wood, which forbade killing and protected life.

The lesser yang she would inherit was newly risen yang.

Though it was not like greater yang, which burned away wickedness and slew evil, it still did not favor Outer Dao methods such as Human Pills.

As for Arousing Thunder, which was involved in strengthening her Manifestation, it was an even greater bane to the Blood Qi of such Human Pills.

"So there's a restriction like that too." Hua Mingcheng frowned. He vaguely understood that his granddaughter was probably not cultivating Yi Wood, but he did not dare ask further. He said only, "Then tell me, why did Immortal Master Li say your Dao Path held little hope?"

Hua Chunning smiled bitterly. "Because my Manifestation is shallow and my fate is insufficient, of course."

"Manifestation, fate..." Hua Mingcheng murmured the words a few times. He took a battered wooden basin from a corner of the ancestral hall, then carefully brought out a jade vial and poured a shallow layer of water into the basin.

Hua Chunning watched in puzzlement.

The battered wooden basin looked very familiar. It had been there for as long as Hua Chunning could remember, and her grandfather used it to sort medicinal seeds.

It was simple to use.

Fill the basin with water, then scatter the seeds into it.

Full, plump seeds sank to the bottom.

Shriveled or damaged ones floated.

Watching her grandfather, Hua Chunning asked carefully, "Grandfather, what are you doing?"

"Weighing your fate!" Hua Mingcheng set down the jade vial and spoke with a mixture of pride and emotion. "This is the Hua Household's most precious Law Artifact, the Azure Origin Fate-Weighing Plate!"