Night of the Broken Gliph

Dozens of gliph strings tattooed on Tse Yu Bak at the same time, and within five minutes, the gliph on his back had already taken form. Unlike Chui Yim’s expectation, the gliph on Tse Yu Bak looked odd. 

It was a spiral shape gliph that looked like it was made of numerous circles.

What is this gliph exactly? 

The higher class a gliph was, the more mysterious it’d be. But as the saying went, “Essence remain the same despite all apparent changes”, most higher class gliphs were derivations of basic gliphs. Despite being unfamiliar with the gliph, Chui Yim guessed that it worked as a buff to the glipher from the composition. 

And like what Chui Yim suggested, the gliph tattooed on Tse Yu Bak’s heart chamber was enormous. It spanned across his back, and the Fourth elder was shocked to find that there was still a huge amount of energliph left in Tse Yu Bak’s body despite having the gliph drawn large. 

Lastly, Fourth Elder drew a finger sized cloud-like gliph on each of Tse Yu Bak’s shoulder blades. Chui Yim recognised the gliph—the Hidden Cloud gliph. 

“You can try introducing the leftover energliph into his other chambers,” Chui Yim pointed out. He understood Tse Yu Bak’s body well. 

But the Fourth Elder frowned upon hearing him. “Introducing energliph into a glipher’s chamber is not as simple as a piece of cake. The glipher must have comprehended the chamber before this is possible.”

“He has so much energliph to spare, so why not try instead of letting it go to waste?” Chui Yim shrugged. 

Fourth Elder took a glance at Tse Chun who gave him a nod in reply before he started to work on Tse Yu Bak’s leftover energliph that was going out of hand without hesitation. 

The energliph was of a moderate amount that would not cause harm to Tse Yu Bak, but, it was still a considerable amount. Thus with the mindset of recycling, Fourth Elder tried to introduce energliph into his other chambers. 

Wind chamber, blocked. 

Left arm chamber, blocked. 

Left leg chamber, blocked. 

Right arm chamber, blocked. 

Right leg chamber…

Forth Elder’s eyes widened like a goldfish. It worked! The remaining energliph went into Tse Yu Bak’s right leg chamber. After some time, he turned to Tse Chun, bowing with a huge smile on his face. “Congratulations, Clan Leader. With Yu Bak around, the Tse Clan will be blessed for another century!” 

The comprehension of chambers got increasingly tedious after a glipher had managed to do so for one. Innate chambers was the chamber that the glipher would be an expert in. After breaking through to the innate chamber successfully, it didn’t mean that one would be able to cultivate the second chamber immediately. The glipher needed time to understand the body part fully before he was able to cultivate and store energliph to another chamber.

That was why it was said that one must reach the one-chambered state before he or she turned twelve. From then to age sixteen, it was the golden time for one’s body to pick up new knowledge and turn it into a habit. If one broke through to the one-chambered state before twelve, he would have ample time to understand and discover the next most suitable chamber for himself. 

And that was what most talented gliphers did. They reached the one-chambered state before twelve and figured out the sequence of chambers that followed after their innate chambers, then broke through to the next achievable chamber of theirs. Just like Chor Shing Chit, before he cultivated his second chamber, he had already comprehended the right arm and heart chamber. Afterwards, it was all about accumulation. 

But Tse Yu Bak was an exception. He was a genius that had been poisoned by the snow centipede’s dissolved tendon powder, causing his energliph to stay stagnant. But that didn’t change the fact he was a genius; he was able to comprehend his right leg chamber even before he even reached the one-chambered state. Despite not having the energliph, he had already stepped into the state. 

After the poison was cured, Tse Yu Bak regained his energliph and an exaggerated gliph was carved on his innate chamber. The leftover energliph were then stored in his second chamber; in just a day, he had caught up six years’ worth of cultivating. 

Afterwards, Tse Chun wore a smile on his face the entire day. It was unknown how long the Tse Clan had not seen their clan leader so happy. White Lion King, Tse Chun was one of the most powerful cultivators in the South. However, Tse Chun was no longer young. 

As a powerful four-chambered state glipher, other than ability, his life span was also a lot shorter than a five-chambered state glipher. The Tse Clan were not just a powerful clan, but a plate of juicy meat too. 

If other clans, or even the Lam dynasty realised that the Tse Clan showed signs of exhaustion and lacked powerful successors, these wolves would share the juicy meal instantly. Thus, every clan cared a lot about tradition. And it seemed like after some time, Tse Yu Bak would definitely be a powerful glipher with the capability of carrying the entire clan on his back. 

These days, Chui Yim, Chor Shing Chit and Bak Wun led a great life. Thanks to Chi Yim who saved Tse Yu Bak, and even the entire Tse Clan to some extent, they were viewed as notable guests and Tse Chun even mentioned that they would try their best to meet all needs of Chui Yim, who would be considered as a friend of the Tse Clan forever. 

Thus the trio were now having a good time and were treated with delicacies. Despite having a worry-free time, Chui Yim locked himself up in the Tse Clan’s forging workshop, working on who knew what. A month passed by like that. 

During the night, the breeze made trees in Tse Clan rustle.Chui Yim sat outside on the steps, staring into the night blankly.  

“Huff.” A figure appeared out of nowhere next to Chui Yim, sending him jumping up. “Principal, why do you walk so silently? Can you call me first next time! You’ll give me a heart attack!” 

Instead of replying to him, Bak Wun munched on his apple. “I say, little kid, how long are you planning to stay here?” 

“I don’t know.” Chui Yim shook his head after being slightly taken aback by the question. 

“There are higher institutions in the Night Lion City too. You can choose to stay here.” Bak Wun nodded. 

“Where are you planning to bring me originally, principal?” Chui Yim asked Bak Wun. 

But Bak Wun only smiled at him mysteriously. “I shall keep it a secret first. But I want to see if you like the life here. There’s no reason for me to tell you if you choose to stay here, and I’ll then return to the Riding Clouds Academy and continue to be a principal. Even though you’re extremely talented, you can’t squander it. Look at Tse Yu Bak, he might be poisoned but he never stopped cultivating, or he’d not be able to be tattooed with that scary gliph he has and have access to his second chamber. 

“Think through it and make up your mind. I’ll come to you tomorrow for an answer again.” Bak Wun patted Chui Yim’s shoulder and left.  

Chui Yim stared into the space blankly. In fact, he was at a loss of what to do next. Due to Chan Shue Gun, he had to graduate earlier than expected. However, he only missed out by a very short time, thus he would have to leave Southary no matter what. But he had no idea where to go after that. 

Afterwards, event came after event. After Chan Shue Gun, he was seriously injured while helping Chor Shing Chit tattoo a gliph even before the one-gliphic state. When he finally recovered, he was caught in Tse Yu Bak’s matter again. He did not even have the time to plan his future. 

But maybe now was the time.