Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue

The fifteenth day.

By the time Ning Buhui emerged from the library, it was already pitch-dark. The evening breeze sent a few dead leaves rolling past his feet. Just as he was about to turn into the covered corridor, a young deacon came jogging toward him and said in a low voice, "His Holiness the Pope summons you to the side hall."

He stopped, and the string that had been drawn taut in his heart for half a month gave a faint tremor.

"Now?"

"Yes."

He asked no more questions and followed the deacon to the side hall. The lamps along the way were already lit, their warm yellow light reflected on the white walls and stretching his shadow long one moment and short the next. Ning Buhui's expression remained unchanged, but his fingers tightened slightly around his sleeve.

The side hall was warmer than outside. The windows were shut, and an unknown incense burned in a beast-shaped golden censer, giving off the faintest scent. Bibi Dong sat behind the desk. The documents before her had been cleared away, leaving only a palm-sized brocade box on the desk.

Ning Buhui entered and bowed. "Teacher."

Bibi Dong didn't look up. She merely lifted her chin toward the box. "Open it."

He stepped forward and flipped open the lid. Inside, on a bed of dark velvet, lay an object the size of an adult's fist. It was pitch-black all over, with a deep oily sheen under the lamplight. It felt hard and cold to the touch, like a stone.

Whale Rubber.

Ning Buhui lifted it in his palm. It was quite heavy. He brought it close and sniffed, detecting only the faintest salty, fishy scent, as though the sea breeze had been trapped inside a stone.

"Ten-thousand-year quality," Bibi Dong said. "It was shipped from beyond Sea God Island. It took some effort to obtain."

"Thank you, teacher." Ning Buhui put the Whale Rubber back in the box and took half a step back.

Bibi Dong set down her brush and finally looked up at him. "It's here. How do you plan to test it?"

Ning Buhui said, "I'd like to ask your permission to take it here in the hall, teacher."

"Here?"

"Yes. For now, it wouldn't be wise to let too many people know about this. If it really works, you can decide what to do, teacher. If it doesn't, at least it won't cause a storm throughout the city."

Bibi Dong looked at him for two seconds. She didn't object, merely asking, "How much do you remember about how to take Whale Rubber?"

"All of it," Ning Buhui said. "Whale Rubber can't be eaten directly. It's this hard at room temperature-you can't even bite into it. It has to be heated to a high temperature to soften it first, and then its medicinal power has to be guided and refined."

He pulled a note he had written beforehand from his sleeve and laid it on the edge of the desk. "The medicinal power of ten-thousand-year-quality Whale Rubber is supremely yang and supremely rigid. It's extremely overbearing. The body can't withstand swallowing it all at once, so it has to be taken in portions, at least three, to keep an excessive surge of medicinal power from striking the meridians. After each portion, you have to meditate immediately and use Soul Power to guide the medicinal power through the meridians and bones throughout the body. Otherwise, you'll have eaten it for nothing and suffered for no reason."

Bibi Dong picked up the note and glanced over it. It was densely covered in writing, with everything from the temperature and dosage to the circulation route clearly laid out. She didn't ask any more questions, knowing she wouldn't get any answers. It was hard to tell whether she believed Ning Buhui's story or not.

Bibi Dong looked at him and suddenly gave a very soft laugh. It vanished in an instant, like a breeze skimming a lake's surface, leaving ripples too faint to make out.

"You certainly are bold." She swept up a hand and shut the hall doors tight, then gave an order to those outside the window. "All of you, withdraw. No one is to enter unless I summon them."

A series of very faint footsteps sounded outside, receded, and disappeared.

Only the two of them remained in the hall. Ning Buhui carried the box to the open space in the center and sat down cross-legged. He borrowed a Soul Power lamp from Bibi Dong and removed its outer flame guard, leaving only the little cluster of soul fire at the wick. The flame was far hotter than an ordinary furnace fire. Using two thin iron plates he had found, he held the Whale Rubber between them and slowly heated it over the lamp.

The process was slower than he had imagined. At first, the black lump showed no change at all. Only after nearly half an incense stick's time over the flame did its edges begin to soften. Its dead black color faded bit by bit, as though drops of golden lacquer had fallen into ink. As the heat rose, a strange, rich fragrance seeped from the mass of glue, lingering without dispersing.

Ning Buhui turned it over with complete concentration, sweat gradually beading at his temples. He carefully tested its softness with a fingertip, then waited until its surface had deepened to a golden yellow before pushing the Soul Power lamp aside.

Softened by the heat, the Whale Rubber was pliable but did not stick to his hands. It had become a translucent jelly, like a half-melted piece of candy. He placed it on a clean porcelain plate and tore off the first piece by hand. It was the size of an adult's thumb. The first thing he tasted was a strong fishy flavor, but it lingered only briefly before turning into a scalding current that slid down his throat and into his stomach, as though a tiny flame were burning everywhere it passed.

He wasted no time. Closing his eyes at once, he turned his palms, soles, and the crown of his head toward the sky, sank his consciousness into his body, and began guiding his Soul Power.

At first, he felt nothing. His stomach was pleasantly warm, as though he had just drunk a bowl of hot soup. Before long, however, the warmth began to grow hotter, like countless tiny flames darting wildly through his body. The pain nearly made Ning Buhui cry out. He endured it and continued absorbing the medicinal power. Then the Nine Hell Soul-Suppressing Pagoda appeared of its own accord, hovering above his head as the yin-yang twin fish swam rapidly around it. A phantom taiji diagram appeared beneath Ning Buhui, and he felt the heat subside in an instant.

The medicinal power of the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue was even more overbearing than he had imagined. Fortunately, the Nine Hell Soul-Suppressing Pagoda balanced the heat and cushioned the side effects; otherwise, it would probably have been difficult to endure. He didn't dare lose focus. Thread by thread, he pressed the medicinal power into the spaces between his bones, guiding it along the route described in the book: through his shoulder blades, back, chest and abdomen, and both legs, before finally bringing it to the soles of his feet. Wherever the hot current passed, his flesh tightened and trembled, and he felt as though something were being stretched open and then smoothed flat.

Once. Twice. Three times.

The medicinal power gradually settled down, like a group of children who had finally played themselves out and were willing to lie down and sleep. Ning Buhui was drenched in hot sweat, his clothes plastered to his back, but there was a palpable swelling sensation between his bones, as though every one of them had been recast in molten iron.

Ning Buhui opened his eyes, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and looked toward Bibi Dong behind the desk. She had been watching the whole time, her expression shifting only slightly when the Nine Hell Soul-Suppressing Pagoda appeared.

"How does it feel?" she asked.

"It works," Ning Buhui said hoarsely. "It's just not obvious yet. That was only the first bite, after all. The medicinal power is even more overbearing than I expected."

Bibi Dong nodded. "Then take it in five portions. That's enough for today. Your foundation is still shallow; taking too much will only do harm."

Ning Buhui shook his head. "There's no need. Three portions will do. My Martial Soul helps me balance the heat from the medicinal power."

Bibi Dong's gaze deepened slightly at his words. "As long as you know your own limits. That Martial Soul of yours is quite extraordinary."

"Thank you for the praise, teacher." Ning Buhui braced himself against the floor and stood up, his legs a little weak. He looked down at his hands. His palms were very red, but his blood and Qi were circulating more than a little faster than before.

"Teacher," he said suddenly.

"Go on."

"If this method really works, I'd like to keep it under wraps for now, rather than report it to the higher-ups."

Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow, a faint smile on her lips. "Didn't you say the other day that if it worked, it would be of great use to Spirit Hall?"

"It would be useful," Ning Buhui said. "But the time isn't right yet. A folk remedy offered by a six-year-old child and a secret method verified by the Pope's disciple don't carry the same weight. Once I've absorbed my First Soul Ring, I can let the actual results speak for themselves. If we report it then, it'll be enough to command respect."

The hall fell silent for a moment. Bibi Dong lifted her teacup, gently brushed aside the foam, and tossed him a remark. "I thought you'd say you were afraid someone would steal your credit."

"I am afraid of that too." Ning Buhui was quite honest.

Bibi Dong said no more and simply waved a hand. "Put everything away. Come back at this time tomorrow for the second portion. Remember, once you leave this hall, let everything that happened here rot in your stomach."

Ning Buhui carefully wrapped up the remaining Whale Rubber and carried it together with the porcelain plate. He bowed and withdrew. The hall doors closed behind him, and the night wind struck him in the face. He shivered, but his steps remained perfectly steady.

Behind him, in the side hall, Bibi Dong remained seated where she was, her gaze resting on the tightly shut doors for a long time without moving. Outside the window, moonlight lay white as frost, casting her silhouette on the floor, stark and solitary as a sword half drawn from its sheath.

He had already gone far, but she knew that from today onward, this child's life would not follow the same path as other people's, because his starting point might be a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. That was something other Soul Masters wouldn't even dare imagine. She thought again of one of Xiaogang's ten core theories. Once this Whale Rubber came to light, the whole landscape would probably be redrawn.