Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 298: Trifling Matters

After Jiang Lanting finished and everyone had marveled for a while at the mystery and wonder of the Heaven-Man Realm, Ding Songyan asked as if casually, "When will Divine Monk Dazhi hold his next Dharma talk?"

He planned to go listen, look, and observe for himself, hoping to reach some judgment.

And a Dharma talk was the only legitimate chance he’d have to see Divine Monk Dazhi.

Jiang Lanting’s bright eyes turned as he thought it over.

"It should be once every ten days."

That would be the first day of my next days off... Ding Songyan made a note of it.

Spurred on by the wonders of the Heaven-Man Realm, the four of them were eager to discuss and spar. Ding Songyan also took the chance to see Bai Qilin’s martial arts from the Tianyu Scripture and Book of Mountains, Rivers, Wind, and Rain, no longer limited to knowing them theoretically.

Compared to the Wind-Rain Eight Wilds Strategy and other wind-and-rain arts Ding Songyan had seen, the biggest difference in the Tianyu Sect’s martial arts was a greater emphasis on "concealment." Qi hidden in wind, swords hidden in rain, secretive and unpredictable, making them impossible to guard against.

"Once you reach the Dharma Realm, even flowers, grass, and trees can become swords, and natural things all come to your aid," Bai Qilin said at the end.

An embodiment of "The Way Follows Nature"? Ding Songyan looked up at the darkening sky and asked Jiang Lanting with concern, "Any signs of the Ghost Yu Way’s third assassination attempt?"

There was still no news from Ge Heng.

Jiang Lanting’s lips curled in a faint smile.

"Not yet.

"I don’t plan to go out for a while. Before, I was out every day and never home so the Ghost Yu Way would make the second attempt sooner and not prepare so thoroughly. They won’t fall for that again, so naturally I need to focus on training and polish everything, raising all my martial arts to the Dharma Realm and becoming a true Grandmaster.

"And as long as I rarely go out, I don’t have to worry about Ghost Yu Way assassins. Staying in the temple is pretty safe."

"Not necessarily," Ding Songyan countered.

He smiled and added, "The safest place might be the most dangerous. The Ghost Yu Way may exploit your relaxed guard inside the Yin-Yang Temple."

Jiang Lanting furrowed his dark brows.

"Do they have a death wish?

"Even if they could get past the daily guards and kill me in a few moves, they couldn’t escape from here. Supreme Masters aren’t decorations."

"What if they really don’t care about dying?" Ding Songyan asked in return.

Jiang Lanting, Xie Fengchao, and the others suddenly remembered several assassins who had left their names in history.

They had gone into their assassinations resolved to die, never thinking of escape and never arranging a way out.

Seeing Young Master Jiang fall silent, Ding Songyan continued, "I know a bit about the Ghost Yu Way. Except for the Heaven-class assassins who’ve become people in power and some of the Earth-class, they don’t actually care whether their subordinates die, as long as the mission gets done.

"All their assassins are trained as tools. When an ordinary weapon breaks, they replace it. A fine weapon gets a pang of regret but isn’t irreplaceable. Only the great divine weapons of the age might make them reluctant."

Jiang Lanting sucked in a breath, as if his tooth hurt.

"That was my oversight. Thank you for the reminder, Brother Ding.

"It seems that no matter where I am, I have to stay on guard at all times."

Now that’s what you call tempering... Ding Songyan muttered.

Before long, a Daoist boy brought a spread of dishes for Master Granduncle Jiang, and the four, ravenous from sparring, swept it clean like a gale blowing away the clouds.

Ding Songyan sincerely felt that the Yin-Yang Temple’s food was a cut above Shilin Temple’s, and more delicious.

Though Shilin Temple’s vegetarian dishes were the best in the Flame Capital, the Yin-Yang Temple had more than vegetables. It also had plenty of meat and fish. Their order observed no dietary taboos against meat or pungent vegetables like garlic and onions, and its members were free to marry.

After bidding farewell to Miss Jiang, who had changed back into women’s clothes, Ding Songyan, Xie Fengchao, and Bai Qilin left the Yin-Yang Temple and walked toward Golden Pool.

While chatting, Xie Fengchao looked back toward the north.

"I was thinking we could all have a drink together on Xing Chang’s next day off, but that guy didn’t come into the city last month for some reason. No idea what he’s busy with. Let’s see this month."

"Second Brother Xing is in the Left Guard Army, guarding Zhukou Camp?" Ding Songyan recalled what Fifth Xie had said before.

Xie Fengchao tersely acknowledged.

"His personal guards are all Headless. There are only ten of them, but together, even an ordinary Grandmaster wouldn’t come out ahead."

Ten Headless, famous for their strength and will, willing to fight to the death without retreating. Even at only the Great Proliferation Realm, that’s already terrifying... Ding Songyan waved goodbye to Xie Fengchao and Bai Qilin and, under the lanterns that were now lit one after another, returned to the streets around the Prince’s estate.

The dinner rush at the Cheap Wine Shop was nearly over, with only a few tables of customers left. As Ding Songyan passed by the kitchen on his way to the back courtyard, he saw Chef Shi sharpening knives there.

Shi Wuyan gave Ding Songyan a slight nod, far friendlier than his usual cold indifference.

My senior sister coming for a visit and going out with Twelfth Madam has improved my reputation quite a bit. At least Chef Shi truly believes I never lied to him and that I really had no designs on Twelfth Madam... Ding Songyan returned a warm, gratified smile.

He suddenly remembered that he still had Master Xiaozhang and company looking for traces of Returning Abyss Order members on his behalf.

Now that he had reached the perfected Dharma Realm and refined his last aperture, he no longer needed the "help" of Returning Abyss Order members.

Calling off the commission now would probably save quite a bit of silver... But the Returning Abyss Order is cooperating with the Accumulated Evil Way and the Shamanism Order, so maybe a breakthrough can be found through them to figure out the Demon Sovereign’s real plan... Ding Songyan’s thoughts rose and fell, but in the end he decided to keep looking for Returning Abyss Order members.

In the main room of the back courtyard, Twelfth Madam Luo was setting up a Go game by herself, toying with the black and white pieces.

Ding Songyan sat across from her and went through his experiences at the Yin-Yang Temple today, then asked at the end, "Do you think Perfected Xiang is Jiang Weichen?"

"If you can’t judge that, how could I?" Twelfth Madam Luo asked back in amusement. "I’m not someone like you two, full of twists and turns."

"You two" meant Ding Songyan and Ji Hanyi.

"No, no, no." Ding Songyan shook his head with a smile. "In my mind, Twelfth Madam, you’re very sharp. You just don’t like beating around the bush. Could someone who isn’t smart master everything they learn?"

Twelfth Madam Luo glanced across at Ding Songyan and chuckled.

"You flatter me every day.

"At least in my view, it’s not so coincidental. Neither early nor late, Perfected Xiang’s action is what we call a ’response,’ an answer to your sudden visit to Jiang Lanting. Even if he isn’t Jiang Weichen, he has some connection to Jiang Weichen."

"I think so too." Ding Songyan nodded solemnly. "Twelfth Madam, do you know much about Divine Monk Dazhi?"

Twelfth Madam Luo shook her head.

"He’s a Supreme Master from my parents’ generation. I’ve never had any contact with him. All I know is what circulates in the jianghu."

After they had talked for a while, Ding Songyan changed the subject.

"I wonder how things are going on Ge Heng’s end. I’m still waiting to help you gander the Military School’s martial arts and ideas, Twelfth Madam.

"Mm, before that, I need to improve my art. Ideally I could pull you into the target’s dream as well, which would save a lot of trouble."

Seeing it in a dream, observing it in a dream, with nothing false mixed in.

"Which martial art do you use to enter dreams?" Twelfth Madam Luo asked casually.

"The Huangliang Sect’s Great Dream of Three Thousand Years," Ding Songyan answered frankly.

Twelfth Madam Luo suddenly smiled.

"The Dharma Realm Chapter of the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years can already do what you described. It just requires me to be asleep too."

Chen Jindong, at the perfected Great Proliferation Realm, could do that too, and could even connect two dreams together... As expected of the Huangliang Sect’s prodigy, he really had a gift for the Way of dreams. Mm, he could do it because he had Soul Displaced Sickness, which let his mind split in two... Mind split in two... Since he could do it, I should be able to too with some study, preferably without using the Celestial Heart imprint’s ability to split the mind... Ding Songyan nodded thoughtfully.

He remembered that a Huangliang Sect Grandmaster was currently serving as a Director in the Martial Prohibition Bureau.

The Martial Prohibition Bureau had always recruited martial artists with all sorts of unusual arts. Both the Brightnight Sect and the Huangliang Sect had disciples in the Bureau, though not necessarily in the Flame Capital.

For relatively independent sects like the Brightnight Sect and the Huangliang Sect, disciples could join the army or go the route of the court, and naturally could serve the Martial Prohibition Bureau too, but Dharma Realm Grandmasters couldn’t. For one thing, the number of Grandmasters was limited, barely enough for their own needs. For another, they weren’t willing to depend on the court more deeply.

The Huangliang Sect had only put a Dharma Realm Grandmaster among the Bureau’s many Directors after the Chen Jindong affair. From Ding Songyan’s view, it looked like the authorities had them in their grip and had pulled them closer to the court.

"You aren’t planning to find a Huangliang Sect Grandmaster and exchange views in dreams, are you?" Twelfth Madam Luo asked with a smile, looking at Ding Songyan, lost in thought.

Ding Songyan answered with righteous solemnity, "I only enter dreams to observe the martial arts of evil heretics.

"If the Huangliang Sect’s founding patriarch could create such a martial art and walk such a path, why can’t I?"

Don’t look down on Manifesting the Way and its Virtue!

Before Twelfth Madam Luo could say more, Ding Songyan put on a big smile and said, "But just sparring with a Huangliang Sect Dharma Realm powerhouse and observing the variations doesn’t go against chivalry, does it?"

Twelfth Madam Luo gave him an eye roll.

It doesn’t go against chivalry, but why did you have to say those first two lines?

"It’s not late yet. How about a game of Go?" Ding Songyan changed the subject.

"Sure." Twelfth Madam Luo immediately perked up.

The Go in this world had developed rules very similar to Ding Songyan’s previous life’s Go. As they played, the smile on Twelfth Madam Luo’s face disappeared. Sometimes she thought long, sometimes she ground her teeth.

Why is this person’s playing style just like the person himself, like a sticky plaster that won’t come off once it’s stuck on, always stirring up trouble out of nowhere and ruining the elegance?

Ding Songyan wasn’t having an easy time either. Twelfth Madam’s Go was clearly stronger than that so-called "Go Monk" Huien. At first he wasn’t used to her style and moves, but gradually found some ideas, controlling the big picture while fighting at close quarters, unafraid of battle.

After nearly two hours, Twelfth Madam Luo resigned, saying through gritted teeth to Ding Songyan, "Another game tomorrow!"

Her bright eyes were full of life.

A few more games and I’ll be forced to use Manifesting the Way and its Virtue... No, no, no, not yet. Better to lose gracefully and let Twelfth Madam feel a sense of accomplishment for a while, to be happy, and then use it... Ding Songyan agreed and returned to the Prince’s estate’s side courtyard.

Li Baima was waiting for him in the courtyard and, the moment Ding Songyan crossed the threshold, stood up and said, "Brother Ding, for the coming days, we’ve been assigned to guard the estate’s shrine, from 11 pm to 3 am."

The shrine referred to the divine ancestral hall in Prince Kang’s estate, which enshrined the ancestor Zhurong.