Scripture of Days Past

Sixteenth year of the Yong’an Era, May 30th.

The head instructor was assessing the rankings from the previous monthly examination, while the lecturers and instructors delivered their reports on the trainees’ progress.

”Everyone’s cultivation has been coming along nicely,” Yang Ling reported. ”In addition to Li He and Jiang Longyu, Chi Shude has also reached the fourth state. Over the past five months, all of them have really begun to tap into their latent potential. The number of trainees reaching the fourth state is only going to increase from here, and by my estimate, that number should exceed twenty by the end of the year-long training period.”

Zhong Shan’e nodded in response. These trainees were prodigies selected from all over the empire, and most of them had already reached the third state quite some time ago, so it was no surprise that some were now beginning to reach the fourth state.

”You’ve been doing a great job lately, Yang Ling,” he praised.

He ran his gaze down the rankings. The top four trainees were Li He, Jiang Longyu, Chi Shude, and Chu Qiguang, in descending order from first to fourth.

”How is Chu Qiguang doing?” Zhong Shan’e asked.

”There’s... been a bit of a problem with him,” Yang Ling sighed with a disappointed look on his face.

”What’s wrong?” Zhong Shan’e asked.

”On top of the Primordial High Zenith Qigong and the Heavenly Demon Vanquishing Palms, he’s also begun cultivating the Star Shifting Shadow Movement Techniques and the Soaring Cloud Piercing Step,” Yang Ling explained with a concerned expression. ”Recently, he’s also expressed a desire to begin mastering a weapon.”

”That’s absurd!” Zhong Shan’e snapped. ”Why is he trying to take on so much at once when he’s only at the third state? How could you let him do this? Right now, his top priority should be advancing his cultivation base!”

”Most of my attention has been focused on Jiang Longyu and Chi Shude lately, so I’ll admit that I haven’t been as diligent in guiding Chu Qiguang. However, I’ve already advised him to focus on improving his cultivation base rather than spreading himself too thin,” Yang Ling replied.

”Make sure to keep a close eye on him,” Zhong Shan’e instructed. ”Don’t let him waste the cultivation resources given to him by the Demon Vanquishing Department.”

***

That night, in the secluded courtyard, Chu Qiguang channeled the Primordial High Zenith Demonic Arts. Having reached the third level, his skin took on a black coloration, making it appear as if he were clad in a suit of black armor that covered his entire body from head to toe.

In the next instant, a sound akin to a turbulent river began to ring out from within his body. It was the sound of his circulating qi and blood.

The temperature in the entire courtyard began to rise drastically, and the surrounding weeds and grass turned yellow and withered.

Chu Qiguang directed the mighty power of his qi and blood into his hands as he unleashed the Heavenly Demon Vanquishing Palms. He thrust his palm forward with such tremendous force that he compressed the air into layers of gale force.

After reaching the third level of the Heavenly Demon Vanquishing Palms, he was finally able to unleash gale force. His level of mastery over gale force paled in comparison to Qiao Zhi’s, but it still served to enhance the power of his Heavenly Demon Vanquishing Palms.

His palms struck the granite boulder repeatedly, producing bursts of thunderous rumbling. Faint cracking sounds began to ring out as large chunks of loose rock peeled off the boulder and fell to the ground.

By this point, the granite boulder was already significantly smaller than it had originally been. After pounding away at it for some time, Chu Qiguang gently exhaled before looking down at the five tentacles extending from his shadow, as well as the sixth one that was beginning to take shape.

This boulder isn’t going to last much longer. I’m going to have to find someone to use as a training aide.

Recently, Chu Qiguang had been making rapid strides in his cultivation, but even though he had received several boons from the Ring of Ignorance, none of them had given him the option to upgrade the Primordial High Zenith Demonic Arts any further.

However, he had managed to elevate the Heavenly Demon Vanquishing Palms to the third level. Another boon had combined his Star Shifting Shadow Movement Techniques and Soaring Cloud Piercing Step into the Star Shifting Cloud Piercing Step. The new movement technique combined the best elements of its two constituent movement techniques, and he had reached the third level in it as well.

Then, there was also the Undying Seal. Even though he hadn’t been able to upgrade it even once with his boons, he had been diligently cultivating it all this time and had also reached the third level.

Furthermore, he had been reading as many Buddhist scriptures as he could before heading down the mountain to cultivate the Sumeru King Scripture, and his physical constitution, qi and blood, and heat tolerance had all been significantly enhanced.

These were the main factors contributing to him being close to gaining a sixth tentacle.

Chu Qiguang was very pleased with the progress he had made over the past few months on Jade Face Mountain, and he was now confident that he would be able to defeat Yi Siman even without relying on Qiao Zhi or the Ring of Ignorance.

***

One morning, Chu Qiguang arrived at Li Jian’s courtyard.

In light of what he had learned about Li Jian from Qiao Zhi, Chu Qiguang had been intentionally getting closer to the pill lecturer, and the procurement assignments he had been tasked with gave him the perfect excuse to pay frequent visits to Li Jian.

Over time, Chu Qiguang came to discover that Li Jian was essentially a scientist or researcher in the purest sense of the word, and the only thing that interested him was learning more about pills and medicinal ingredients.

His fixation on his research meant that he had neglected his cultivation, and as a result, his cultivation base and combat prowess had remained stagnant for many years. That, coupled with his reclusive nature, was why he was ostracized and picked on by his peers.

Chu Qiguang had encountered many people similar to Li Jian in his past life. He wasn’t stupid or cold-blooded, he simply couldn’t be bothered to maintain interpersonal relationships because, in his mind, he had more important things to focus on.

Thus, he was able to quickly befriend Li Jian after helping him only a few times.

Li Jian’s eyes instantly lit up at the sight of the seeds that Chu Qiguang had delivered to him.

”Did you manage to get them?”

”I think so,” Chu Qiguang replied. ”I asked someone to bring me these seeds from the capital. I just don’t know if they’re what you’re looking for.”

Li Jian began carefully inspecting the seeds as he mused, ”I heard from a friend in the capital that this crop is resistant to both drought and cold, making it superior to rice and wheat. Apparently, the imperial court is planning to propagate it.”

After getting to know Li Jian, Chu Qiguang had learned something rather surprising about him, which was that aside from pills and medicinal ingredients, Li Jian was also very interested in agriculture. In fact, he had even planted his own wheat, and on this occasion, he had asked Chu Qiguang to bring him seeds for a new crop that was all the rage in the capital.

Before long, Li Jian’s attention was entirely focused on the seeds, while Chu Qiguang turned to examine the neat rows of jars and containers arranged on his work bench.

Through his conversations with Li Jian, he had learned that those containers held substances such as saltpeter, wood ash, and gypsum powder.

For this era, he’s basically a chemist. The stuff he’s whipping up is really similar to chemical fertilizer.

”Oh, by the way, during our meeting today, the head instructor was really unhappy with you,” Li Jian suddenly said. ”He says you shouldn’t try to master so many techniques at once and that your main focus should be on improving your cultivation base. Honestly, I agree. Otherwise, your ranking in the monthly examinations will continue to slip, and you might even get kicked out of the advanced school.”