Chapter 89: Secrets and the Reverse-Practice Palm

When the child prodigy was first seen seated cross-legged, he was already more than ten feet above the ground, and even then he was still rising, as though he were ascending into the heavens in broad daylight. The assembled guests stared as if they had seen a ghost.

The boys playing music ceased the sound of strings and bamboo flutes, and the deft young attendants in the banquet hall trembled so hard their legs shook.

Wei Wulan’s eyes widened. He stared at the spot more than ten feet beneath Ji Ming’s backside, as though he had glimpsed some clue there, yet his expression only grew more grave.

Most shocked of all was Elder Ape.

As the saying went, an outsider watched the spectacle, while an insider watched the craft. He understood better than anyone at the table the “divine skill” Ji Ming had just displayed.

A pebble appeared in Elder Ape’s hand. He flicked a finger, and it shot through the air, striking into the empty space beneath Ji Ming and lodging there, unable to advance even a fraction.

Ji Ming descended lightly, withdrawing the force that had supported his flesh from below.

“Crane-Controlling Art!” said Elder Ape.

Ji Ming was somewhat surprised. He had never revealed his studies before Elder Ape, and there were many secret techniques in the world that could project force beyond the body. Yet Elder Ape had guessed his school at a glance.

“How did Elder Ape know?”

“There are many secret arts that can cultivate force beyond the air, but the one I know of that can both release and retract that force is the Crane-Controlling Art of Mount Peace.”

After a moment’s thought, he added, “If I am not mistaken, the force you released already bears the three qualities of hardness, ferocity, and fierceness. It can subdue a tiger and bear heavy loads. I fear your Crane-Controlling Art has already reached perfection, enough to qualify you for further study of Mount Peace’s Great Seizing Hand of One Breath.”

“The Great Seizing Hand of One Breath?”

Ji Ming was slightly embarrassed. To be honest, he still did not know which art followed after Crane-Controlling Art. The old Taoist, Flying Heron, had always kept silent about such matters, fearing to distract him.

After all, these arts belonged to the second level of refining qi, and even the third level would only begin to touch upon them.

In order to ensure he would not begin cultivation before his foundations were strong, they had not even given him the Crane-Controlling secret manual until he reached the Fire Ruins Cave on Purple Melt Peak.

“Come to think of it, that secret manual.”

Ji Ming suddenly remembered the manual in his storage pouch. He seemed to have rarely opened it.

Knowing the old Taoist’s fondness for elaborate mysteries, there was no telling what he had hidden within. Perhaps some concealment method. This time, Ji Ming had truly been careless.

He looked toward Wei Wulan, remembering the secret art the man had practiced in reverse, and asked, “You once said that among secret arts, the higher stages also differ in strength. I wonder how my art compares to yours?”

Ever since Ji Ming had displayed that skill, Wei Wulan seemed to be seeing him anew. Only after a long pause did he answer, “It should be about evenly matched.”

Remembering that Ji Ming had only recently begun cultivation, he carefully explained, “Ordinary arts are like implements without spirit; they have no potential to be refined further into magical treasures.

“Unordinary arts, however, are like treasured implements, possessing the potential to be refined again.”

“And above arts, what comes next?”

“Divine powers!”

It was Elder Ape who answered. He said, “As one of the heirs of the Central Heaven lineage, the Master is noble beyond measure, and yet he became a true adept residing on Purple Melt Peak of Mount Rift-Horizontal precisely because of a divine power.”

“I know,” said Spirit Maiden, eagerly raising her hand. “Sister Su Su told me that this divine power can turn a place into a prison and shrink distances to a single step. It is called Heaven Round, Earth Square.”

Elder Ape smiled at Spirit Maiden and nodded. “Indeed, that is the one.”

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, everyone gradually relaxed. Laughter rose little by little, and the affection in Elder Ape’s eyes toward Ji Ming grew even warmer.

In Elder Ape’s view, no cultivator was an isolated individual.

As the saying went, there is always a mountain higher than the one before. If one wished not to be crushed by a greater mountain, one had to carefully cultivate one’s relationships and network in order to live freely amid the Three Heavens.

As for those solitary souls who strove only in bitter retreat, as though living in a void—such a path was neither one he admired nor one he believed could succeed.

They could not even live in the void of the Three Heavens, yet they imagined they could. How laughable.

As for the child prodigy, he had only been on Purple Melt Peak for a little more than a year, yet he had already made connections with Wei Wulan and himself, and had even made an appearance before the Master. Advancing step by step with steady footing, his future was truly bright.

Moreover, Elder Ape had a premonition that this child prodigy always seemed able to surprise him at just the right moment.

In his heart, he was already calculating that he should find an opportunity to suggest before the Master that the child prodigy be allowed to reside in Fire Ruins Cave, thereby adding a touch of elegance to the affair and repaying a favor with added grace.

Back in his quiet chamber, Ji Ming took out the Crane-Controlling Art.

It was not a stitched booklet, but a scroll made of cloth. When unfolded, it stretched to seven or eight feet long, covered with diagrams and writing.

Ji Ming sat before the scroll, holding a candlestick in his hand, and heated it over the parchment.

He roasted it for a long time, but nothing unusual appeared. Ji Ming shook his head and smiled.

He felt he was truly getting carried away. Even if the old Taoist Flying Heron had intentionally set him a trial, surely he would not use such a crude method as “heat by fire, soak in water to reveal the secrets.”

Thinking this, Ji Ming poured a bowl of water over the cloth.

The clear water quickly soaked through it. The secret art’s words, diagrams, and even annotations vanished one by one, replaced by different text.

Ji Ming stared at the writing that emerged on the scroll, stunned for a moment before muttering, “How boring.”

Then he read carefully the words revealed upon the cloth:

My disciple, you must already have begun cultivating the secret art, your hands never leaving the scroll day and night, and thus have been able to discern your master’s method and see the hidden writing upon it.

This is not some empty mystification, but a test of your resolve to seek the Way.

If, upon the peak, you do nothing but indulge yourself in the buildings and grow lax in the cultivation of the Small Heavenly Circuit and its secret art, then such words would be nothing but a source of vexation to you.

Seeing this, Ji Ming felt a touch of helplessness. His master probably could never have imagined his present circumstances. This arrangement was wasted on a blind man.

With your talent, I need not worry whether you can win the Master’s regard and receive instruction in the Dao. The only concern is whether, before you bind your hair, you can fully drive through the governing and conception channels and attain qi blossom.

“Bind my hair?”

Ji Ming touched the two small topknots on his head.

In ancient times, men bound their hair at fifteen. He had been sent here at twelve, and in only a year he had already attained qi blossom. In other words, he had completed the old Taoist’s target two years early.

Ji Ming read on. Next, it should mention the method of concealment.

In the Dao Citizen examination, there are two tests: Dao Scripture and Talisman-Chart Interpretation.

The Dao Scriptures are classics such as the Three Prayers for Dispelling Calamity and Resolving Misfortune, the Central Heaven Chapter, and the Azure Heaven Injection of Dao Breath. There is no need to study them deeply; simply memorize them by rote.

As for the talisman charts, they are mostly Small Heavenly Circuit talisman diagrams. No profound ritual observances are required; they can be resolved by the common rustic rites used among wandering cultivators.

Such Dao Citizen examinations should be taken sooner rather than later. I hope you will redouble your efforts, steady your mind, nurture your nature, read the Dao Scriptures in the building, and learn a thing or two about ritual methods.

At the end of the writing is recorded the method of reverse cultivation of Crane-Controlling Art. Only after attaining one qi blossom can the body be kept, after reverse cultivation, from easily succumbing to deviation and madness.

If you have already achieved this, you need only reverse-cultivate the two palms into demonic transformation.

Remember: do not cultivate too deeply, so that the entire body is reversed and transformed. Otherwise the accumulated weight of it will be impossible to undo, and man will become demon.

“So it really is reverse cultivation.”

Ji Ming’s mood grew rather heavy. A single look at Wei Wulan was enough to show the danger in this matter.

Still, if he wanted a permanent solution and to be free from the threat of Su Luozi, obtaining the identity of a Dao Citizen of Mount Peace was only the first step.

Higher still lay the great examination for Dao Disciples in the second realm of refining qi. Only after passing that exam would he have any real standing within Mount Peace’s central altar.

In the future, even if Su Luozi discovered his identity as a heavenly being, the stern laws of Mount Peace would prevent him from daring to strike openly.

All arrangements have already been set in motion within the region.

Now we only await my disciple’s success. Write a prayer text and cast it into the Jing River beneath Mount Rift-Horizontal, and the local earth spirit will deliver it to me.

Reading this, Ji Ming felt much more at ease.

Flying Heron had governed the Crane Song region for many years; his methods were naturally superb. He must have begun arranging this long ago, simply waiting for Ji Ming to take his place.

The only matter of concern was how many years the old Taoist still had left.

This was somewhat taboo, and Ji Ming did not dare ask him to confirm it.

However, seeing that the old Taoist had set the minimum age for attaining qi blossom at fifteen, it seemed this was a mature calculation based on his own approaching limit.

His gaze fell to the end of the writing, where a reverse-cultivation method came into view, drawing him into its depths.

The pine and crane exhale qi, and auspicious radiance spreads in all directions, descending into the hundred bones and transforming into the forms of a hundred birds.