NOVEL NEXT Chapter 71: Your Happiness
~~~
"There shall be times when a cultivator must give certain aspects of themselves to advance the Path. Their pride, their morals, their very flesh. Yet there are two things one must hold dear, lest their cultivation deviate entirely and they lose themselves.
"First, your beliefs are your own. The experiences you carry and the people you meet may influence the shape of it, but ultimately, the Path that makes a person is utterly unique. It is built upon the way you perceive the world; the nature you believe the universe must take. Do not betray yourself. Ever.
"Second, your heart is your own, yet unlike your belief, it must be given away to materialise its potential. It may be to a mentor you deeply respect. It may be to a nation whose ideals you wish to uphold. It may even be to a person you love. The important thing is to ensure their beliefs align with yours.
"It need not be perfect; such things are almost impossible. But a certain rapport must be present to ensure your heart will survive the passing from your soul to theirs. To walk the Path with another is a sacred and powerful thing, but know that it also leaves you horrifically vulnerable.
"Do not allow yourself to be betrayed. Ever."
— The humble advice of an unassuming wanderer
Present…
A silence soon fell upon the hall of the Guest Estate. To call it comfortable would be inaccurate, yet neither was it awkward. Despite the scathing words exchanged earlier, the pair would not begrudge the other's company. Not after they had yearned for it for nearly a decade.
Feng had so many questions to ask — worries that had piled across the empty years when their means of communication were denied. He had no way to ascertain Yunjin's safety within the Decaying Greyroots Sect, under the cruel gaze of Patriarch Ru.
No matter what others may say or think, she was his responsibility. His. He was the one who tore down the walls of her prison. He was the one who made her the promise to protect her. Despite the consequences that came after, Feng never once regretted his decision to save her.
Faced with the depth of her suffering in that cell, the helplessness in her eyes…
He rejected every final outcome that did not lead to her ultimate happiness.
And yet, for all of his grandiose claims, their first encounter had been their last. Yunjin was forced once more into isolation training following their ill-fated 'escape' attempt, though the conditions of her new prison were significantly improved over the last.
The tribulations of their escape had seen her awaken as a cultivator. No longer was she a mortal worm, and thus her status as Heiress of the Decaying Greyroots Sect was renewed, along with the appropriate privileges afforded to a practitioner of her political position.
That she was only a cultivator in the Foundation Realm was of surprisingly little consequence. The unnaturally poisonous Dantian she had produced upon her awakening was killing just about everything within a half-kilometre radius around her. From the sheer quality of her Dantian alone, she was hailed as an unprecedented prodigy never seen before in the Sect, making her a worthy successor to the esteemed Patriarch Ru.
Feng, after the diplomatic incident he had caused, was never again allowed to enter the Decaying Greyroots Sect. Even his Father had never contested the clause, even going so far as to offer Patriarch Ru due compensation for his son's misdeeds.
Though at the time, Feng remembered the grin on his father's face, and how Patriarch Ru's expression was one of forced stoicism as he declined the need for reparations.
Many agreed that the Young Master was lucky to leave the Sect with his life. Had it not been for the fortuitous awakening of the Young Miss he was trying to escape with, not even his political status would have saved him from Patriarch Ru's wrath.
Though as he grew older, Feng wondered from time to time if he was not simply a pawn played across a greater game.
Despite that turbulent first meeting between them and the subsequent isolation that followed, the pair of scions continued their connections through letters — a reluctant privilege afforded to Feng by Patriarch Ru for the boy's 'help' in awakening his daughter to the Foundation Realm, and a condition insisted by Patriarch Hei Shang, who had been surprisingly amicable to Feng's demands of maintaining contact with the Ru Heirness.
The letters had always been scarce, and the content within was likely restricted, given Yunjin's state of captivity. Nonetheless, it was at least a means of communication between them, and Feng had made the effort to keep her spirits up, making all manner of promises that, perhaps, had no place being written within letters between two scions of differing sects.
Those letters, however, stopped entirely when the Young Miss entered the Shaping Realm two years ago. Since then, he had heard nothing, and all attempts to try and meet her again personally had either been denied or had ended in failure. Feng never saw or heard from her again.
Until now.
In the end, it was Yunjin who broke the silence first.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"You look terrible," she noted. "Have you been sleeping?"
She likely meant the words to sound indifferent, but Feng had her concern all the same.
"Recent events have taken their toll," he replied automatically, before wincing as he realised how that implied when taken into context that it was his wedding to Lianshi that was burdening him. "The fault lies with my inadequacies, but regardless, I am well and happy."
"You have circles under bloodshot eyes, and your qi is unbalanced," she said evenly. "Those are not the signs of a happy man."
"Happiness can manifest in different ways," he retorted lightly. "Rest assured, I am simply excited for the wedding."
Rather than mock him further, Yunjin simply looked at him, studying the visible signs of stress.
"I thought you would look happier," she finally said. Her voice was tentative, unsure. "For your marriage, I mean. But when I first saw you three days ago, you looked better suited for a funeral than a wedding."
She saw, but never greeted him?
"Ouch," Feng chuckled. "Always without mincing words."
Three days. She had been here for three days, and he had not known at all. Neither had the Young Miss even tried to seek him out for a conversation. If anything, she was actively hiding from him.
Feng did not know what to make of that, but it was likely nothing good.
"Politeness is for those with too much time to waste," Yunjin stated plainly. "The Decaying Greyroots Sect has no need to entertain such niceties. Not any more. Our strength amidst the Four Mountain Sect Group is uncontested. We reign supreme."
Feng snorted. "You know that's not true. Far be it from me to challenge your lethality, Yunjin, but the rest of your disciples are rather lacking in martial talents."
Strictly speaking, the quality of the Decaying Greyroots disciples was not superior to that of the other Sects. Those of the Beheaded Phoenix possessed, on average, greater martial prowess. The Split-headed Carnivore boasted the most dangerous Core Disciples, while the Inverted Monk retained the greatest number of practitioners — albeit only by a small margin, and with most of them being raving lunatics who had lost their minds to the labyrinthine trials of their Divine Arts.
The Decaying Greyroots' primary excellence mainly lay in their artisans and alchemists. Their Divine Arts and unique constitution also made them more resilient than that of the typical Disciple. However, their martial techniques were often thought to be weaker than those of the other Sects, with a heavy reliance on decisive first strikes or alchemical tools to even the odds.
For a time, they had even been mocked as the weakest of the four Sects — especially with the absence of their leader, who had been secluded in cultivation for the longest time.
None of that mattered anymore, of course, when their Patriarch finally emerged from his century-long isolation training. The man returned with unprecedented success, becoming the first Jade Realm Cultivator to rise within the Outer Province.
After that, there was no mistaking the clear leader of the Four Mountain Sect Group, no matter how much the other Sects pretended the balance of power was still equal.
"You would attribute cultivation excellence to mere barbarism in combat?" Yunjin lightly questioned, raising an eyebrow. "How fitting that the Sect of fiendish bloodletters would claim preeminence through the decimation of their ranks."
Feng smiled grimly. "Are your Sect's casualties any better, Young Miss?"
"Don't be so judgmental, Young Master," Yunjin clicked her teeth. "All practitioners merely seek to emulate the tragedy of their gods."
"The inner machinations of your enigmatic Sect are a mystery to most outsiders," Feng replied with no small amount of amusement. "So I shall take your word for it."
"You have no right calling others 'enigmatic'," Yunjin scoffed, a half-smile on her face. "Your behaviour thus far has left the people of the Four Mountains quite baffled indeed. The wife-to-be is lovely and desired beyond compare, yet the lucky man blessed to be her husband seems to avoid her at every turn. What conclusions should one draw from his actions, I wonder?"
Feng grimaced. "I came to ask you questions, yet it appears I am the one being interrogated."
"Now you know how I feel with you barging into my accommodations unannounced, possessing all the subtlety of a descending star," the Young Miss mocked, shaking her head. "Good grief, what is it about Young Miss Lianshi that you disapprove of? Anyone could tell the girl is smitten with you. Have you any idea how rare that is? A stronger cultivator loving their weaker spouse… It almost seems like even the Dead Heavens themselves have decided to bless your fate."
"That is—"
He cut himself off. A shimmer of red and green flashed at the corner of his eyes.
Not again. Not now!
No matter how desperately he tried to deny it, however, the phantom visage was still there.
That lone eye of jade green, studying him from beneath the curtains of her blood red hair.
"Curious. I had not thought you one to seek distractions in the wake of impending disaster. Is it daring or stupidity that has you seek another promised concubine when you are already incapable of taking care of yourself, let alone another?"
"Even greed should have limits, my foolish God."
Faced with mocking words, Feng turned to face the wraith once again.
Sect Martial Training, Part 2
Among weapon training, the use of polearms are by far the most popularly taught among Sects, not only because of their long history of use among the Imperial Army, but because they are also much cheaper to mass produce.
Quality Spirit ore and metal are difficult resources to obtain, after all. In the right hands, a polearm is no less deadly than a sword or a great cavalry sabre, despite requiring only a fraction of the required metal to smith.
That said, the expensive cost of manufacturing swords — particularly those with flight enhancements — has given the vaulted blades a sort of noble status. The legends of flying Sword Saints within the Empire have also helped gift the weapon a loftier reputation than what it perhaps deserves.
Those who utilise the sword are considered the pinnacle of weapon martial artists, though whether or not the cultivator is actually able to bring their 'prestigious' abilities to bear against a skilled opponent is another matter entirely. The wealthier Clans within the Inner and Core Provinces often exclusively wield swords or cavalry sabres, both to uphold their noble titles and to showcase their fortunes.
– Excerpt from A Citizen's Guide to the Flesh-Grafted Empire