Chapter 203

  Over the Summit (IX)

  I didn't really understand the true gravity of the Inscriptions. I mean, how could I? I have no frame of reference for it. Because of that, I stealthily kept my eye on Long Tao, but either he, too, didn't know (unlikely), or he simply didn't bother to display any emotion (probably), with the end result being... I still didn't know.

  "Thank you," regardless; just the Word of Enduring alone sounded beyond life-saving, and those were precisely the kind of treasures that I wanted to have the most of in my possession.

  "You're leaving today?" she asked.

  "Yes."

  "Do you mind if we talk in private?" Dai Xiu immediately perked up and was about to say something when I saw Xi Zhao quickly put his hand literally over her mouth.

  "Yes, let's go." I quickly pulled us out of there as Lilia and Zhu tried to stifle their laughter.

  We didn't walk far--just outside the house and over to the nearby pile of snow. The day was surprisingly clear for how it started, though I still feared the turn for the worse later on.

  "Our Clan of Shamans has only ever produced one Godking," she said. "Our founder. Most of the things keeping us alive today, truly, are still the echoes of his accomplishments. The magic formation that hides our dwelling and protects it, the crop of lybul trees that we grow on the mountain and use as the basis for creating Inscription Paper--as well as the process of how to make it itself--and a small myriad of other things, all stem from that one man who, over six thousand years ago, reached the pinnacle of Shamanic Arts."

  Alright. A weird tangent, but let's hear where she goes with it.

  "It's a dream of every Shaman to eventually get there," she said. "But... it's practically impossible."

  "How so?" I asked.

  "Because we are mortal," she turned toward me and smiled. "The Founder became the Godking at the age of 97, and he died merely 8 years later. He was as powerful as your Emperors and Empresses, yet he did not enjoy their thousands of years of life."

  It was strange, actually, the discrepancy.

  They, too, worked with a special sort of energy and even entombed it within their bodies, so why was it that cultivators, even those with barely any talent, got to live for centuries, while they were no different than mortals?

  "I... I want to ask you for a favor." She bit her lip and lowered her head. "I'd always thought of trying something that nobody else in the Clan did, as they consider it heresy of the highest order. If I'm ever discovered, I'd probably be executed on the spot and erased from all records."

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  "..."

  "But... I am unwilling to fold," she added. "Blood Fiend found a way to endure--but his way was... well, you know. I want to try something else."

  "You want me to teach you a cultivation method?" I figured it was probably that. She likely thought about combining both and seeing how far it could take her.

  "... I understand that I'm probably committing such a sin by merely even implying that; you have every right to kill me on the spot. And, chances are that combining those two energies will probably do that anyway, hah. But..."

  Yeah.

  I can honestly imagine. Looking over the fence and seeing some truly horrid monsters living for thousands of years while everyone you love can't even get to a triple-digit number.

  Sort of like how it was seeing all those rich people fly jets whenever and wherever they wanted, while I struggled to keep power in the winter so I wouldn't freeze to death.

  "I don't mind it." I actually procured two methods--the method I briefly used to reach the Peak of the Spirit Manifestation Realm--Rudimentary Qi Law. Since I didn't know if her body needed to undergo Body Purification like mine (which is the only way she could use this one), I had to also offer the most basic method that the Spirit Sword Sect taught to all Disciples. "Try this one first." I pointed at Rudimentary Qi Law. "If nothing happens, try the other one. Unfortunately, neither of them is particularly good or desirable, but they are decent for when starting out, at least."

  "... thank you." She took both books with shaky hands, her head still lowered. "Thank you so much."

  "I hope you succeed," I said.

  "You think I can?" she asked with a faint smile.

  "There's a saying in my old hometown--where there's a will, there's a way. Even if the two energies are incompatible and cannot coexist, try building two independent vessels to store and utilize them. I imagine you're only utilizing cultivation for lifespan, so little else besides where the Qi is stored should matter."

  "... if I fail," she said. "There won't be a grave you can visit me at, should you come to the compound. And everyone will pretend I never existed. There's a small brook by my hut, in the far west of the compound. At its center, there's a small tunnel my mother dug out years ago, and it leads to a small, underground chamber. I will have stored all my wealth there--all the Words I've Inscribed, all the tools I've gathered, and everything else of note. Feel free to rob me clean."

  "Is it really robbery if I have the permission?"

  "Ha ha, I suppose not. Again... thank you. In a morbid way, I truly have been blessed to come here of all places."

  "Good luck."

  "You too."

  As she stepped past me and walked away, I looked up toward the sky. Can she succeed? I don't know. I hope she can. But something deep inside of me tells me it's a futile effort.

  "She'll probably die," Goddammit, you old monster!! You'll give me a heart attack if you keep just appearing out of nowhere every. Single. Time!!

  "What makes you say that?" I asked, taking a deep breath to hide the fact I nearly shat my pants.

  "Do you really think nobody's attempted it before?" Long Tao shrugged, his gaze drifting over to the small set of streets into which she disappeared. "It goes both ways, you know. Cultivators, too, yearned to learn how to Inscribe the Words as there is nothing quite as versatile we can do. But... two energies, even upon the faintest contact, simply... implode and annihilate everything."

  Hm.

  Sounds sort of like matter and antimatter, no?

  "If she's lucky... no, if she follows your advice and tries to store them separately--"

  "--she'll succeed?"

  "No." Ugh. "But she might just live to admit just how stupid she was being."

  "... why did you follow us, by the way? Were you worried she might try to kill me?"

  "I was worried she might try to seduce you," he said. "And succeed."

  "You really think so little of me?"

  "My mother has said many-a-time," he cracked a smile. "There's nothing quite so fickle as a man's heart."

  "Poor woman," I said. "Her husband must have been a nightmare for her to think that."

  "..."

  "..."

  "We should go. There's a storm brewing eastward, and we need to get to the other side before it traps us up at the summit." he said, as though he wasn't just about to burst into laughter.