Chapter 136 — Dream Walk

Before the Hall of the Imperial Academy, more than a thousand scholars, together with the whole of the Directorate of Education, the Palace Library, and the Libationers, stood transfixed, all eyes turning toward the place from which the laughter came. One scholar said, dazed, "What has he succeeded in refining?

" A scholar beside him looked just as lost.

"What he spoke of seemed to be a thread of vital qi. .

.

I must have misheard! " The officials of the Directorate and the Palace Library and the Libationers wore awkward faces too, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry. Libationer Bashan laughed despite himself.

"An amusing little fellow.

The vital qi thread is the foundation of every sword art. If he has not even refined a vital qi thread, how did he become a scholar of our Imperial Academy? Which examiner did he bribe to get in?

" "Libationer Bashan, you have been away from the Imperial Academy these past months, so you do not know him.

" One of the Directorate officials said with a smile, "That rascal is named Shen Mu, a castoff from the Desolate Ruins. He defeated Daoist Lingyun, and the Emperor himself named him a scholar of the Imperial Academy.

When the Emperor names a man, who would dare bar him from entering? " "A castoff of the Desolate Ruins beat Lingyun, and the Emperor named him himself? " Libationer Bashan looked at Daoist Lingyun and sneered, "Lingyun, did you pull your blows?

Was the Emperor bribed as well?

" Daoist Lingyun was both ashamed and furious.

He had been driven out of the Hall of Pure Yang by Shen Mu, had thrust two sword caskets empty, and had made a great fool of himself before the Emperor, the civil and military ministers, his colleagues, and all these scholars. And this was supposed to be pulling his blows? Was that what a bought-off, blow-pulling defeat looked like? The price was a little too steep, surely? But Bashan was, after all, a Libationer, second only to the Grand Libationer, and could not lightly be offended; so Lingyun could only keep his face stiff and say nothing, lest he bring trouble down on himself. After all, this Libationer Bashan was famous throughout the Imperial Academy for his enormous voice and his merciless tongue.

Nearly all the rumors and assorted wild tidings of the Academy were spread by him, and so behind his back people called him "Bashan the Big Mouth.

" Quarrel with him, and by the next day even the chickens in the coop would know of your humiliation. Not far away, Fu Yuanqing felt a surge of delight in his heart: "So that is my young junior brother, fellow disciple under the same master! He looks quite foolish.

Our master was rather inept, to have found such a blockhead; anyone can see he is easy to bully!

" "Seven or eight years of bitter cultivation, and at last I have refined a vital qi thread! " Shen Mu was beside himself with joy, unable to conceal the excitement in his heart as he gazed at the thread of vital qi before him. Now at last he need not put forth that grossly thick "vital qi thread"; now his vital qi thread could be fine and delicate as well.

Between his fingers and palm the vital qi thread flowed gently, fine as a hair, quite perfect.

Look closely, and one could tell that Shen Mu's thread of vital qi was unlike any other.

This thread was in truth formed of countless exquisitely slender blades of sword qi linked one to another; every blade was forever changing, forever coiling, and yet the vital qi thread moved with such nimbleness that one would never guess it had a structure at all. "I wonder how far my vital qi thread can reach? " Shen Mu looked this way and that, wanting to test how far his vital qi thread could extend, when all at once his gaze swept past Imperial Preceptor Jingping and he could not help but start slightly. Imperial Preceptor Jingping was looking at his hand, his gaze resting on the thread of vital qi moving between his fingers and palm; he seemed to sense Shen Mu's gaze, and lifted his eyes a little.

Their eyes met.

Imperial Preceptor Jingping broke into a smile and said in a low voice, "Interesting. .

. " Shen Mu withdrew his gaze and gave up the thought; there were too many people here for him to experiment. Imperial Preceptor Jingping waited a while longer, then spoke.

"Very well.

Now I will teach you the second basic sword stance: the Circling Sword Stance.

A sword flying through the air knows no restriction, and the form of a sword knows no restriction either; therefore a sword may roam — as a dragon roams, as a snake roams, as a fish roams, as a phoenix soars through the sky, as immortals and gods tread the void. Why must one be bound by the basic sword arts of those who came before? " Shen Mu's spirits lifted. The second basic sword art that Imperial Preceptor Jingping had created was, as before, refreshing and eye-opening, as though a door had been pushed open onto a broader world. "I was right to come to the Imperial Academy; the Patriarch saw what others did not," he thought to himself.

Before the mountain gate, Daoist Danyang raised his head and looked up. Upon Jade Peak, palaces and towers lay in layer upon layer, deep and solemn; the grasses and trees of the mountain were lush, dyed jade-green by the qi of the Nine Dragons. Now and then the wind carried down a phrase or two of Imperial Preceptor Jingping's voice from the mountain, and hearing them gave him a feeling of sudden, wide clarity.

"Uncle-Master Danyang.

" The Dao-son Linxuan, too, faintly heard the voice drifting down from the mountain. He hesitated, then said, "Is the man lecturing up there Imperial Preceptor Jingping? I can catch only a phrase or two of his words, and already I profit greatly. I even feel that he.

.

. " Daoist Danyang smiled. "Speak freely.

" The Dao-son Linxuan gathered his courage.

"Though I have not heard the whole of his discourse to the scholars, his sword art has indeed reached an inconceivable realm. The arts our Daoist sect has handed down are deep in foundation and all-encompassing, yet his insights surpass them. This disciple believes Imperial Preceptor Jingping may truly wish to advance the development of Daoist arts and divine powers. If that is so, why must we blockade his gate? " Daoist Danyang smiled. "Dao-son, one must not only listen to a man's words but observe his deeds; that is the way to conduct oneself in the world.

No one denies Imperial Preceptor Jingping's talent. In his early years he met the Dao Sovereign, and the Dao Sovereign deemed him a genius such as appears once in five hundred years, one who in time would become a Sage; you can see how highly the Dao Sovereign appraised him. But what if he does not become a Sage, and instead turns to evil? " The Dao-son Linxuan was perplexed. Daoist Danyang sneered.

"With his strength he could well advance the divine arts and the Dao.

But he harbors a wolf's ambition: he means to subdue the great sects and leave them no way to live. That is the first. The second is that Imperial Preceptor Jingping actually makes use of the doctrines of the Dark Demon Cult! The Dark Demon Cult is a false Dao, borrowing the name of sages while practicing the way of demons in truth. Imperial Preceptor Jingping keeps company with the Dark Demon Cult; he is an enemy of our righteous path! " The Dao-son Linxuan felt a chill of awe.

"The righteous and the evil cannot stand together. If he keeps company with the demon path, then the greater his talent, the greater the threat!