Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 177: Another Year’s End

In late December, light snowflakes drifted from a pale gray sky.

Several letters lay before Ding Songyan, replies that had arrived one after another from his motley circle of friends.

Su Qingli’s had arrived first, back at the end of September. She said her family took the Demon Seed matter very seriously and thanked him for the two birthday gifts. Finally, she asked Ding Songyan to write again in early spring, as she was leaving home to travel and spend the winter elsewhere.

She had also asked when Ding Songyan’s birthday was. To his surprise, he did not know how to answer. Should he give the birthday from his previous life, or the day he awoke in this body?

The second reply came from Ren Youyang. That fellow had earnestly posed several questions: Could a ghost-deity be implanted with a Demon Seed and grow a second face? If someone already had two heads joined at the back, could another face still grow there...?

After reading all that, Ding Songyan wanted to reply with a single word: "Scram."

Xie Fengchao and Xing Chang had replied as well. Both lamented that when they killed He Luo, they had never imagined the Demon Seed could be so terrifying. Xing Chang specifically noted that cultivators of arts like the Heaven-Shattering Precious Record, which placed great emphasis on willpower, should be able to suppress the Demon Seed’s influence after reaching a certain realm and prevent the second face from growing. He judged that threshold to be the perfected Great Proliferation Realm, based on the Xingtian clan’s experiences with true Two-Faced over the past millenia.

Xie Fengchao marveled at how well the Demon Seed could hide. It could silently corrupt many key figures, and if that truly came to pass, another catastrophe would engulf the world.

Ding Songyan was not quite so pessimistic.

He had carefully considered one question during this time: Why did the Demon Sovereign need to use the consort selection to bring a Demon Seed Two-Faced close to the Jianwu Emperor? Why not quietly corrupt and control those who regularly left the palace to purchase supplies and handle errands? A palace of such size could never completely seal itself off. Every necessity of daily life depended on the outside world.

After thinking it through, Ding Songyan realized that approach could never accomplish anything significant.

From what he currently knew, routine purchases and errands were handled by eunuchs with some authority but little status. They had no contact with the most important chief eunuchs or the more favored consorts, much less the Jianwu Emperor himself. Moreover, someone bearing a Demon Seed could transform only two people, while a Two-Faced transformed by a Demon Seed could not corrupt anyone else.

Thus, even if a eunuch who left the palace on errands were secretly implanted with a Demon Seed, he could only influence a eunuch or female official one level above him. Even if those people had opportunities to meet more important figures, they would be unable to transform them into Two-Faced.

This method could cause trouble and bring disaster into the forbidden palace, but it could never raise a major storm. It could only reach assistants, but not an official, much less a sovereign.

If a Demon Seed Two-Faced became a favored consort; however, matters would be entirely different.

If the Jianwu Emperor became a Two-Faced, the world would truly descend into chaos. It remains unclear how obedient a Two-Faced transformed by a Demon Seed Two-Faced would be toward the Demon Sovereign. After all, they would no longer carry a Demon Seed...

There are still no clues on how to resist Demon Seeds or find new ways to expose them. Sigh, we killed those Two-Faced too quickly before. Next time, we need to keep one alive and study it carefully...

Research like that would be quite dangerous. Aside from me, protected by the Chaos Realm, and those capable of resisting the Two-Faced’s corruption, anyone involved would be in serious danger. One moment of carelessness, and the researcher could be corrupted and become Two-Faced...

This resembles an epidemic. Tan Guanchan sacrificed transmissibility to improve concealment and control. I wonder what price he paid.

Come to think of it, Demon Seed Two-Faced are better suited to covert work than true Two-Faced. He Luo spent years at Dangkang Temple without ever giving himself away. Fu Yangquan had barely arrived at Liang Qian’s courtyard before he struggled to restrain his malice and revealed something amiss. Liang Qian’s extensive experience in the jianghu and constant vigilance certainly played a part, but the main difference was that one was more obedient while the other was more self-directed.

While considering the Demon Seed, Ding Songyan naturally turned to another question.

In dealing with Master, Tan Guanchan could not have relied solely on Bai Zhaolin’s challenge and two additional layers of preparation in the shadows.

As long as Fu Yangquan was not exposed, delaying Bai Zhaolin’s deathmatch by several days or even more than ten would not have affected the outcome. But what if Master had refused the deathmatch?

Given Master’s character, there was a 90 percent chance she would accept, but that still left a 10 percent chance of an accident. I often predict how people will act, but I never assume someone will behave exactly as expected. I always prepare a backup plan.

For example, if Bai Zhaolin had refused my deathmatch and left me no time to recover, I would have attacked him by force.

Tan Guanchan could not possibly have staked everything on Bai Zhaolin’s deathmatch being accepted...

Either he had another arrangement that would ensure Master accepted, or he had prepared an entirely separate plan.

Over the past few months, Ding Songyan had followed this line of thought while investigating the Brightnight Sect’s members. But too much time had passed, and the supposed backup plan had never surfaced. Unlike the Ghost Yu Way assassin and the others, who ultimately had to approach the lake island and inevitably left some traces, he failed to make any new discoveries. Ding Songyan felt as though he were matching wits with empty air.

Ding Songyan devoted so much effort to this not because he could not let go, but because he feared the Demon Sovereign’s backup plan concealed some danger within the Brightnight Sect. Moreover, he would inevitably cross paths with Tan Guanchan in the future. He hoped to glimpse the man’s habits of thought and action through such arrangements.

Know yourself and your enemy, and you need never fear defeat.

Ding Songyan had now cultivated the Celestial Stars Scripture to the perfected Dharma Realm, at the cost of three years of his lifespan. Although cultivating the Candlelit Nocturne Sutra to that realm would mean that his Celestial Stars Sword Art and similar techniques were not much weaker, there was still a slight difference. Besides, Ding Songyan intended to perfect the Celestial Stars Scripture. He could hardly neglect its cultivation.

By the end of November, his Celestial Stars Sword Art had finally reached lesser mastery. He had now finished cultivating the Brightnight Sect’s own martial arts. From here on, he would focus on refining and perfecting them.

He had also extracted the Great Proliferation Chapters of the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chapter and the Scripture of Returning to Stillness, but had yet to find suitable candidates to cultivate and verify them.

Aside from condensing his external apertures, Ding Songyan now focused on two tasks. The first was continuing to improve Kindling Passes to Candle. At present, he could only use the Chaos Realm to perform it himself. He could not yet enable Zheng Zhuxi, who had perfected the Human Realm Chapter of the Lesser Limitless Art, to cultivate it, much less the Brightnight Sect’s other members. He already had an idea for the former, but the latter remained far beyond his reach.

The second was studying and practicing the various arts collected by the Brightnight Sect. He did not seek to master every one. He only intended to understand, dissect, and summarize them, then integrate their principles with everything he had learned. This marked his first true step onto a martial path that drew from countless schools.

Ding Songyan’s gaze swept across the papers on the table, and he sighed silently.

There was still no letter from his senior sister.

He had already written to her twice, mainly describing recent events in the Brightnight Sect, small details about familiar disciples, and insights from his cultivation.

After a while, Yang Shiduo came to see him.

Ding Songyan put away the letters and looked toward the door. His gaze settled on the small jar of rose dew in Yang Shiduo’s hand.

"What’s this?" he asked Yang Shiduo, who wore new dark red clothes.

Delight showed on the dark-skinned Yang Shiduo’s face.

"I have improved by leaps and bounds over the past year. My master thinks highly of me and plans to take me to the Flame Capital to meet his junior brother. He will ask Master Uncle to find me a good position so I can save what I need for viscera installation."

Over the past year, using the money from selling his family’s courtyard, various subsidies from his master, and the jobs he took, Yang Shiduo had forged seven alien apertures. He now displayed a few subtle physical abnormalities.

In the Brightnight Sect, he would have ranked somewhat above average. But to Hall Master Liu, he was a genius unmatched in their lineage for three generations.

Hall Master Liu had decided to take Yang Shiduo to the Flame Capital and seek out the most successful of his fellow disciples, hoping the man could pave a better path for his disciple.

The stronger his disciple became, the more comfortable his own later years would be!

"If you only lack money, I can lend you some without interest," Ding Songyan offered after some thought.

He had a large sum of money with nowhere to spend it.

Yang Shiduo shook his head with a smile.

"It is not only about money, but opportunity as well.

"Next year will mark His Majesty’s tenth year on the throne, and there will likely be an Orchid Examination. I want to participate and see whether I can place highly enough to switch to the Impregnable Fortress Divine Art.

"The Flame Capital has countless martial artists of every style. Here in the prefectural city, everyone already knows each other inside and out. Further sparring will bring little improvement. Going to the Flame Capital early will be the perfect chance to temper myself."

Over the past year, Yang Shiduo had gradually earned an undefeated reputation among the martial halls of Dingjiang Prefecture. This was also why the jobs he found paid so well.

That is true. Only by fighting different martial artists can I test my ideas about martial arts... Ding Songyan said nothing more and merely smiled.

"Must you leave during the New Year?"

"The New Year is the best time to pay visits and build connections." Yang Shiduo looked somewhat embarrassed as he repeated his master’s words.

Hall Master Liu knew his disciple often spent time with Xu Chang’an and Ding Songyan, and believed this was the main reason for his rapid progress. After all, Zheng Zhuxi and Ding Songyan were always together, so they were bound to offer a few pointers.

Ding Songyan understood.

"Are you leaving today?"

"Mm. I am traveling with a merchant caravan and serving as a guard along the way." Yang Shiduo chatted with him until a servant brought two wine bowls.

He broke the clay seal on the wine jar and filled his bowl to the brim.

"Ding Songyan, I will always remember your guidance and support over the past year." Yang Shiduo gave him a deeply formal salute, then solemnly raised the wine bowl and drained it in several gulps.

Then he poured himself another bowl and saluted again.

"You have been both mentor and friend. I will never forget it."

After draining the second bowl, Yang Shiduo filled it again. A smile touched his face.

"This bowl is to you for never looking down on me and truly treating me as a friend."

Ding Songyan did not stand on ceremony. He finally picked up his own bowl and clinked it against Yang Shiduo’s with a smile.

"Take care on the road. Until we meet again in the jianghu."

"Until we meet again in the jianghu." Looking at ease, Yang Shiduo drained his bowl.

He set down his bowl and left the wine jar behind. Then he turned into the courtyard and walked away through the drifting snow.

Ding Songyan slowly left the main room. The moment he reached the front hall, he saw Xu Chang’an arrive.

"Are you leaving too?" Ding Songyan raised an eyebrow.

Xu Chang’an froze.

"Where would I go?"

Am I not a Dingjiang Prefecture local?