Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 113: Martial Fanatic

Seeing Ding Songyan agree just like that, Liang Qian could hardly believe it.

Based on his jianghu experience and his impressions from their prior dealings, he had expected Young Hero Ding to take the opportunity to pressure or even intimidate him. That would have matched his impression of the young man as someone equally righteous and ruthless, with the heart of a monk but the hands of a demon.

"And, what about Heroine Zheng?" Liang Qian didn’t dare ask why Ding Songyan had agreed so readily, afraid of anything backfiring.

Ding Songyan gave an amused laugh.

"You still doubt what kind of person my senior sister is?

"Even without your request, she wouldn’t spread it around."

"Then I believe you." The only reason Liang Qian had troubled himself to come to Baoping Lane was because he hadn’t trusted Ding Songyan.

After a few more pleasantries, Liang Qian rose to leave. Ding Songyan considered for a moment and said,

"Elder Liang, if you ever find yourself in a difficult situation or facing destruction in the future, as long as it doesn’t violate the jianghu code, you’re welcome to come to me for help. I will ask for payment, of course. If I lack the ability to help, then there’s nothing more to be said."

Liang Qian was utterly baffled.

As the biggest fence chief of the prefecture city, his jianghu experience was anything but shallow, yet he still couldn’t understand why Young Hero Ding had suddenly offered to help him in the future.

Unsolicited flattery means someone’s after something. What does this young hero want from me? At my age, the only thing I can offer is reading people’s thoughts... He doesn’t even know I have two beautiful daughters. Then again, they’re nowhere near Zheng Zhuxi’s league... Full of bewilderment, Liang Qian tentatively agreed.

Thinking of how the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years could serve as half a Mirror Lake Divine Reflection when it came to knowing others’ true thoughts, Ding Songyan let out a breath and kept greed from getting the better of him.

He was about to leave the front hall when Zheng Zhuxi walked gracefully in.

The young woman had changed into a plain white jacket with green trim, paired with a green pleated skirt. Her dark hair was simply pinned up with a white ribbon. Her complexion still held a faint pallor, but her spirits were full. She glanced around and said, "Elder Liang came and left?"

Ding Songyan gave a small nod and walked her through Liang Qian’s purpose and his own reply.

Zheng Zhuxi’s brow creased slightly, a hint of surprise crossing her face.

"You just agreed like that? I thought you’d make him trade the Mirror Lake Divine Reflection for it. Don’t you want it quite badly?"

Senior Sister’s getting sharper by the day... Ding Songyan immediately cried injustice.

"Senior Sister, do you really think so little of me? I may be flexible in my methods, but at my core I’m still Master’s personal disciple and your true junior brother. How could chivalry have no place in my heart?"

Zheng Zhuxi pressed her lips together with a faint smile.

"Knowing you can do this, as your senior sister, I’m very glad."

Then the young woman broke into a sudden grin.

"So you really do want the Mirror Lake Divine Reflection. You didn’t even deny that part."

"..." Ding Songyan paused. "Senior Sister, you’ve changed."

She’s tricking me now!

Zheng Zhuxi lifted her chin slightly, looking a little pleased with herself.

"You taught me!"

The reason Ding Songyan hadn’t denied it was that he had actually wanted to lay his cards on the table. After all, he might be traveling around Dingjiang Prefecture with his senior sister soon, looking for real combat experience, and she would likely notice something was off. Better to tell her in advance and let her feel that he truly trusted her.

And yet that one moment of carelessness had walked him straight into his senior sister’s trap.

In high spirits, Zheng Zhuxi wiped her smile and spoke seriously.

"I was only testing just now. If the person across from me isn’t a heretic, I wouldn’t lay traps like that."

She grew clearer and more steadfast in her own path with each passing day.

Ding Songyan took the opportunity to seal off the six directions and lowered his voice.

"Senior Sister, I have a special ability. I can derive other people’s martial arts, much like the Yin-Yang Order’s Boundless Forms Art. Whether it’s the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years or the Mirror Lake Divine Reflection, both are highly practical, which is why I want to get my hands on them. But I won’t lose sight of the jianghu code or abandon my sense of chivalry for that."

"You can derive other people’s arts?" Zheng Zhuxi was startled at first, then a few guesses began to form. "Junior Brother, just how many of these abilities are you hiding..."

Over the past months she had practically worn out her copy of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, and she had kept careful mental note of the peculiarities Ding Songyan had displayed—suppressing evil, his fast-and-slow swordsmanship, how rapidly he learned martial arts, and his exceptional perception. Now that she could add "derive other people’s arts" to the list, the answer was almost on her lips.

Without pressing further, Zheng Zhuxi muttered, "If you got your hands on the Mirror Lake Divine Reflection manual and mastered it, I wouldn’t dare get close to you."

"Don’t worry, if I derive the Mirror Lake Divine Reflection, I’ll develop physical anomalies similar to Elder Liang’s," Ding Songyan reassured her with a smile.

Zheng Zhuxi’s eyes moved with curiosity.

"You already have the pre-Dharma Realm Chapters of the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years. How long will it take to master and derive it? A year? Half a year?"

She had originally guessed three years, but thinking of how quickly Junior Brother Ding had progressed through the Brightnight Sect’s arts, she felt that was too much of an underestimate.

Ding Songyan gave his senior sister a long look, suppressing a smile, and spoke as though it were nothing remarkable.

"I’ve already mastered it."

"What?" Zheng Zhuxi was equal parts bewildered and astonished.

Junior Brother Ding had only had the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years manual for a few hours, and he’d already mastered it?

"Mastered it, yes, but at the cost of four or five years of lifespan." Ding Songyan gave a rough account of how he had used the Celestial Heart imprint and the Celestial Heart Art to aid his training.

These were all things Zheng Zhuxi already knew about, but she hadn’t been able to connect them to accelerating his training speed.

"No wonder you picked the Grass-and-Wood Longevity Pill." Zheng Zhuxi understood now, and murmured with a touch of regret, "A pity..."

"A pity what? That you didn’t keep the xun grass pill for me?" Ding Songyan teased.

Zheng Zhuxi shot him a sideways look.

"I’m not that selfless. It’s just a pity the lifespan-extending effect of the xun grass pill can’t be separated out."

She paused, looked at Ding Songyan, and said sincerely, "Junior Brother, unless a martial art is truly exceptional, I don’t think it’s worth it. The Brightnight Sect’s arts are actually quite comprehensive. If you master all of them, that would be enough. Lifespan is important—every lifespan-extending item only works the first time."

"Agreed." Ding Songyan thought the same way himself.

Then Zheng Zhuxi’s eyes moved slightly, and she asked with a touch of hesitation, "Have you tested the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years?"

"I used your dream to test it, Senior Sister. Once I confirmed I could enter, I exited immediately. I didn’t pry into your dream," Ding Songyan said this with complete openness.

Zheng Zhuxi listened quietly, her eyes shifting with an unspoken feeling. Then she broke into a bright smile.

"I believe you."

That smile was radiant enough to leave even Ding Songyan, accustomed as he was to great beauties, briefly stunned.

He quickly muttered to himself, After taking the xun grass pill, Senior Sister is truly a beauty with milky skin and sword-like spirit. Her looks seem to have risen a full tier...

Since the kitchen had not yet finished preparing the food, Ding Songyan simply fell into a discussion with Zheng Zhuxi about the various applications of the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years and how they could be combined with his own abilities.

He smiled eagerly.

"Senior Sister, would you like to try out the sword intent I’ve infused with the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years?"

"Sure." Zheng Zhuxi rose and drew Autumnwater.

Since they were only testing sword intent, neither moved to the courtyard. Ding Songyan derived his Huangliang True Qi, drew Frostshade with a ring, and thrust it toward Zheng Zhuxi through the air.

As she watched the translucent sword approach slowly, Zheng Zhuxi felt as though she were trapped in a nightmare.

She struggled to "wake up," but every time she "woke," she was still inside the dream, as if swaddled by an invisible, heavy quilt she couldn’t shake off.

Within her sea of consciousness, a candle flame leapt up suddenly. Its warm, amber light flooded the depths and scattered the nightmare.

Zheng Zhuxi finally "woke." She saw Frostshade already at her front and hurriedly raised Autumnwater, barely managing to deflect it.

"If I didn’t have the Candlelight Sword Intent, I’d have lost just now." Zheng Zhuxi reflected.

"That technique is called the Nightmare Sword. There’s another called the Dream Sword," Ding Songyan introduced them with enthusiasm.

He drew Frostshade back and thrust it out from a distance once more.

Almost simultaneously, Zheng Zhuxi felt a chill. She seemed to return to a past life, finding herself on a snow-covered mountain, transformed into a small white snake, body rigid with cold. Then a hunter with Ding Songyan’s face picked her up and tucked her into his chest to keep her warm...

An instant later she felt the bone-deep cold of a sword intent on her skin, and snapped fully awake. She struck out in time, deflecting Ding Songyan’s Frostshade.

After asking about her experience, Ding Songyan began musing aloud.

"What I was aiming for is this: one stroke of the sword leads to the four seasons cycling. The target is pulled into the wheel of past lives, taken on a journey through their mind and spirit, and ultimately broken. They would be captured without a fight. But from what I can tell, I’m still a fair way off. This technique is far from complete..."

"The wheel of past lives?" Zheng Zhuxi blurted out in surprise.

Ding Songyan, already absorbed in his own thoughts, said casually, "It’s fabricated, of course, conjured with Embodying Nightmares and various stories to deceive the target. How would I know what your past lives looked like? Besides, those are past lives. They have nothing to do with this one. If you ever encounter a similar technique in the future, don’t let it lead you astray. Keep your mind grounded."

Zheng Zhuxi was confused for a moment.

"I knew it felt familiar. Was that the opening of The Legend of the White Snake?

"Still, that very familiarity deceived me. I almost genuinely believed it was a past life. It felt so uncanny..."

"Using a story the target is somewhat familiar with amplifies the sense of déjà vu, and that makes them feel as though they’ve truly lived it?" Ding Songyan responded thoughtfully.

He continued working through how to refine the Dream Sword, exchanging ideas with Zheng Zhuxi from time to time.

Watching him absorbed in his martial arts, Zheng Zhuxi chuckled.

"Junior Brother, you look far more upright when you’re obsessing over martial arts than when you’re scheming."

"Hm?" Ding Songyan looked up blankly.

What is Senior Sister saying?

Zheng Zhuxi didn’t explain. She thought for a moment and said, "If you want to perfect the Dream Sword, you could spar with a Grandmaster from the Huangliang Sect. If I remember correctly, their Dharma Realm Chapter contains something like the story of the Southern Locust Dream that doesn’t involve past lives. However, I think it would count as a past-life experience within a dream, wouldn’t it?"

Being in the same province, the Brightnight Sect knew a fair amount about the Huangliang Sect.

"Really?" Ding Songyan’s eyes lit up.

Zheng Zhuxi’s dimples showed as she gave a bright smile.

"Why else would it be called the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years?"