No sooner had the talisman seal appeared than Qin Sang felt a pulling force. He released his hold on it, and the seal was drawn up into the clouds.
A short while later the cloud mist behind the archway parted in two, and two golden-armored guards stepped out. "Greetings, Real Person Qingfeng. The talisman seal is genuine. To which office does the Real Person wish to go, and which immortal official do you seek?"
Qin Sang bowed with hands clasped in return. "The Merit Office."
Within the Dao Court's two courts, the Celestial Pivot Court and the Northern Pole Exorcism Court were organized alike, both after the manner of mortal government bureaus: the various jing and altars governed the four quarters, and at the diocesan altars were further tiers of halls, pavilions, and offices that oversaw the jing altars and divided the various duties among themselves.
For cultivators outside the Dao Court, the office they dealt with most often was the Merit Office. As the name suggested, the Dao Court's Dharma summonses issued from this office; it was the place where merit was recorded and weighed.
The two guards exchanged a glance. He saw them work no talisman or spell, yet the cloud mist split apart to reveal a cloud road that seemed to lead toward the immortal palace.
"The Real Person is invited to proceed!"
The golden-armored guards led the way. Qin Sang followed close behind.
This was the very hub of the Dao Court. Lest he collide with some Great Real Person and bring needless trouble on himself, Qin Sang did not wake the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to peer about.
Clouds and mist coiled everywhere.
Once inside the clouds, the vapor was very thick at first, yet utterly unlike the auspicious clouds of the Jushan Diocesan Altar.
Here all was steady, with none of the heaving, disordered primal energy. The immortal palace ahead seemed ever more ethereal, and for no reason he could name, his heart and spirit grew calm.
Perhaps the Jushan Diocesan Altar had once looked like this as well.
Qin Sang faintly sensed the presence of formation restrictions. Though they had not been triggered, he felt a pang of dread and did not dare be rash.
Passing through cloud and mist, the scene ahead gradually grew clear, and Qin Sang saw that the two golden-armored guards were leading him toward a cluster of golden halls.
He was well familiar with this style of golden hall; it resembled those of the Jushan Diocesan Altar, except that most of the Jushan ones were ruined, and those that remained gave off an air of ancient, weathered age.
At the end of the cloud road his feet came down on solid ground. Before him lay a courtyard, its plaque reading: Merit Office.
Qin Sang lifted his head to the sky and found that the immortal palace still lay ahead, though he could see it more clearly now: among the sea of clouds stood immortal peaks one after another, golden halls tier on tier, rising to the blue heaven itself—a sight to fill the heart with longing.
Having delivered Qin Sang, the two golden-armored guards bowed and withdrew.
Qin Sang glanced around and saw no other immortal officials. As he wondered at this, a Daoist came out from the courtyard.
After they had exchanged greetings, Qin Sang followed him toward the main hall, before which stood a man.
This man wore a Two Primes in Harmony crown with a rhinoceros-horn pin. He was clad in a crimson stole of twenty-four strips worked with blue-green three-hued clouds, mountains and waters, and the Seven Stars, together with a pale yellow Daoist robe patterned in blue-green three-hued clouds, a pale yellow inner garment, and a pale yellow skirt of five panels and four gores. He wore a white jade pendant and vermilion shoes. Sword-straight brows and star-bright eyes—he stood out from all others.
Mid Deity Transformation cultivation. Fourth rank proper, Ninth Heaven Investigating Envoy!
Qin Sang's heart stirred. This man must be the Chief Registrar of the Merit Office, the head official of the whole office.
Ordinary people never got to see the Chief Registrar. Only because Qin Sang was likewise a Dongxuan Real Person was he received by the Chief Registrar in person.
"This poor Daoist is Qingfeng; I pay my respects to the Ninth Heaven Investigating Envoy." Qin Sang bowed with hands clasped.
The Daoist did not stand on his dignity or put on the airs of a Dao Court immortal official. Returning the courtesy with a smile, he said, "Greetings to Real Person Qingfeng. My Daoist name is Ningluo. Real Person Wan sent word to the Merit Office not long ago, and I am already acquainted with every merit you have earned. When word reached me that you had slain Marquis Li single-handed, I was moved to no small admiration—and now at last I see your true face."
Qin Sang, neither puffed with pride nor impatient, said only that it had been luck.
After a few such words, the two came to the matter at hand.
Real Person Ninglu walked back behind the desk and drew out a jade slip, holding it in his hand.
"The merit for slaying a demon marquis follows the Merit Office's own rules. However, Real Person Wan took away the demon corpse, and the corpse's value is difficult to fix, so it must be settled with you in person. Would the Real Person prefer to exchange it for merit, or for other treasures?"
Many factors affected the value of a demon corpse.
Qin Sang had taken away the most precious parts, the demon core among them, but the remaining bone, scales, sinews, and blood were worth no small sum either.
The least troublesome course was to exchange it for another demon corpse of similar quality.
The jade slip in Real Person Ninglu's hand recorded all manner of treasures available for exchange, of greater and lesser value, though all fell roughly within a certain range.
Qin Sang's aim lay elsewhere. He asked directly, "For my merit in slaying Marquis Li, may I exchange it for the qualification to be advanced to a third-tier talismanic register?"
"Which register does the Real Person cultivate?" Real Person Ninglu asked.
"The Most High Divine Empyrean Register!"
Real Person Ninglu considered. "The third-tier register of the Most High Divine Empyrean Register is the Five Thunder Secret Register. It can be conferred by the Exorcism Court, and exchanging no more than Marquis Li's corpse for the qualification would still leave a surplus. However, though the Exorcism Court does hold the corresponding immortal summons to the Myriad Gods Thunder Office, I do not know which immortal true being could…"
Real Person Zhigui had already warned Qin Sang about this.
Qin Sang at once said that he still wished to receive the Five Thunder Secret Register.
Real Person Ninglu nodded and at once sent word to the Register Conferral Office. "By custom, when an altar is opened to confer a register upon a single Real Person, the Register Conferral Office needs three days to prepare. Three days from now, the Real Person may go straight to the Register Conferral Office."
At last the matter was settled.
Qin Sang could not help but feel relieved. He looked at the jade slip in Real Person Ninglu's hand but did not reach for it. Instead he said, "For the remaining merit, I would like to exchange for notes left by seniors who cultivated the Five Thunder Secret Register on how they forged their altar. Would that be possible?"
Unlike the first two tiers of registers, which Qin Sang had been able to fathom swiftly on the strength of his cultivation, from now on he would have to cultivate and ponder the talisman forms side by side, forging his altar step by step.
With a senior's experience, he could avoid many detours and save a great deal of time.
This request in fact touched on the true transmission of the Most High Divine Empyrean Register, and Qin Sang was somewhat uneasy, not knowing whether the Dao Court would agree.
Had Marquis Li been only at early Deity Transformation, he reckoned his hopes would be slight.
Real Person Ninglu did not seem surprised by Qin Sang's request. Setting down the jade slip, he said thoughtfully, "The Exorcism Court does hold a number of related texts, and in such matters the two courts share what they have with each other. I can fetch texts from both courts for the Real Person to study…"
Qin Sang was delighted, having not expected it to go so smoothly—and then Real Person Ninglu's tone turned.
"However, I have one condition. Once the Real Person cultivates the Five Thunder Secret Register, if you succeed in invoking a Thunder Division heavenly god from the Myriad Gods Thunder Office immortal summons to guard your altar, you must report it to the Dao Court at once and record your insights without the least reservation."
With a smile, Real Person Ninglu went on, "If the Real Person can perform such a good deed, it will truly be a blessing for those who come after. Then I can try to mediate and obtain a portion of the texts from the Left and Right Thunder Bureaus. You cultivate both Dharma and body, a talent rarely seen in this world; surely the two Bureau Lords would be glad to see it succeed as well."
Hearing this, Qin Sang was somewhat surprised.
He had originally suspected that the Dao Court deliberately withheld guidance on invoking gods, so as to restrain outside powers and preserve the Daoist order's supreme position.
From Real Person Ninglu's tone, it seemed the Thunder Division heavenly gods truly were hard to invoke.
Could even the Left and Right Thunder Bureaus fail to invoke a heavenly god?
Qin Sang's heart stirred as a question came to him.
It was settled fact that an altar-guarding divine general formed through visualization of the inner true deity shielded the primordial spirit less well than a heavenly god.
By Real Person Zhigui's account, by the ordinary reckoning it could at least carry him through to a breakthrough in late Deity Transformation.
When the inner true deity reached its limit and could shield him no longer, he would have no choice but to request an additional register from the Dao Court.
In the future, if his cultivation passed that limit, and he could neither invoke a Thunder Division heavenly god nor go to the Dao Court for another register, it was certain to draw the Dao Court's suspicion.
Qin Sang could not help but waver a little.
He did not know when he would find the path of ascension, nor could he be sure how long he would remain in this world.
On second thought, he was still far from late Deity Transformation; he could contrive some excuse when the time came.
The texts of the Dao Court and the Left and Right Thunder Bureaus could help him enormously, and the benefits plainly outweighed the drawbacks.
If one day the Dao Court truly pressed him, then, to keep the jade Buddha from being exposed, he could at worst feign a disordered primordial spirit and request an additional register.
At this thought, Qin Sang nodded and agreed at once, swearing an oath as the pact.
Real Person Ninglu looked pleased. "Reaching agreement with the Celestial Pivot Court and the Left and Right Thunder Bureaus will take time, and their value can only be fixed once the texts are all assembled. I must trouble the Real Person to stay a few more days at the diocesan altar…"
Qin Sang found the terms Real Person Ninglu offered truly generous: if merit remained over, he could go on exchanging for other treasures, and if his merit fell short, he could even buy on credit.
He felt the goodwill the other was extending, but could not tell whether Real Person Ninglu was acting on his own initiative or the Dao Court thought highly of him.
"It is necessary to show a measure of strength at the proper time," Qin Sang said to himself, and thanked Real Person Ninglu.
Real Person Ninglu gave Qin Sang a token; for this period he might lodge free of charge in a cave residence at the diocesan altar while he waited for word.
His purpose achieved, Qin Sang did not linger, and withdrew from the Northern Pole Exorcism Court.
Walking the road, Qin Sang turned over the many things ahead and planned to go straight to the cave residence for quiet cultivation, there to await the register advancement three days hence.
The cave residences stood beside the Northern Pole Exorcism Court. Ordinarily they were rented out to outsiders, being property of the Dao Court as well.
On the immortal peaks there were stone grottoes, halls and pavilions, and secluded courtyards hidden among misty woods and hills—all of them cave residences, of higher and lower grade.
Qin Sang produced the token, and a Daoist led him toward the district of the upper-grade residences.
Looking at the upper-grade cave residences half-hidden among the woods, each sealed off by formation restrictions, Qin Sang seemed to recall something and suddenly halted. To the Daoist beside him he said, "Tell me where my cave residence is, and then withdraw."
The Daoist bowed in assent, not daring to ask why, told Qin Sang the secret incantation for opening the residence, and turned back down the mountain.
Qin Sang glanced toward his own cave residence, mused for a moment, then set off in another direction.
Before long he came to a courtyard.
Unlike the other courtyards, this one stood in a remote, out-of-the-way spot and was very rough: its outer wall was a fence, not even laid out evenly, and two wooden doors stood ajar.
Behind the fence lay a broad expanse of good land broken into herb plots. The spirit herbs grew vigorously, plainly tended by someone who lived here and worked them often.
Inside the courtyard rose several black stone houses, set four-square in a ring—a very strange arrangement.
Qin Sang sensed the dense fire-element energy of the place, smiled slightly, and triggered the restriction. "This poor Daoist is Qingfeng, come to call on Master Gu."
Before his voice had faded, a little Daoist child, pretty as carved jade, stepped out of the stone house.
The child walked quickly to the gate and recited primly, "My master says she will not open the furnace for ten years. If the senior wishes to forge a magic treasure, please seek another worthy."
This Master Gu whom Qin Sang had come to visit was a master forger, on friendly terms with Master Lingxu. Qin Sang had learned of Master Gu's residence from Master Lingxu; back then he had meant to ask this master to examine those damaged treasures.
"I must trouble you to announce me, little Daoist. I have not come to have anything forged. I have a treasure whose origin I do not know, and I wish Master Gu to appraise it."
The child at once went back into the stone house, and before long hastened out again to invite Qin Sang inside.
The stone house held a world of its own, its furnishings exceedingly refined. A bronze Boshan incense burner stood there, its lid tall and pointed, pierced with openwork, shaped like mountains piled upon mountains, carved with cloud patterns, figures, birds, and beasts—workmanship that outdid nature itself.
Incense burned within, and light smoke drifted out to coil around the body of the burner, naturally producing the effect of mountains veiled in haze with beasts floating among them, as though it were an immortal peak.
The whole room was sweet with fragrance.
A refined female cultivator sat cross-legged on a mat—none other than Master Gu, the very opposite extreme of the unkempt Master Qi.
"Be seated, Real Person Qingfeng. I believe we have not met before."
Master Gu's voice was cool and clear.
"This poor Daoist cultivates in Jushan Diocese. I broke through to the Dongxuan Dharma rank not long ago and am at the diocesan altar waiting to be advanced in my register," Qin Sang explained.
Master Gu's face cleared in understanding; she had heard of such cases before.
One obtains a supreme treasure while one's cultivation is still low, does not know its use, and dreads the crime of possessing a jade; only when one's cultivation is sufficient does one dare seek an appraisal.
A treasure that even a Dongxuan Real Person could not identify…
She could not help but feel a stir of anticipation. "What treasure does Real Person Qingfeng wish to have appraised?"
"A broken drum…" Qin Sang said hesitantly.
Of the three damaged treasures the Wuxiang Immortal Sect had obtained, two remained whose nature he did not know.
Qin Sang reasoned that this place lay very close to the Northern Pole Exorcism Court, and that the broken drum plainly had a large hole in it; even if it were some rare treasure, a mere damaged remnant could hardly raise much of a stir.
The Chengying Sword, by contrast, looked entirely undamaged, so it was best to find another master forger for that one.
So saying, Qin Sang at once took out the broken drum and set it on the desk.
There was an obvious hole in the drumhead, and it showed none of the strange manifestations by which fragments of a true treasure could be plainly recognized.
Yet the moment Master Gu saw the broken drum, her gaze was caught and held fast, unable to move away for a long while.
Noting her expression, Qin Sang's heart stirred, and he thought to himself that the Wuxiang Immortal Sect had hauled a great many fine treasures out of the immortal hall.
Master Gu drew a deep breath and glanced at Qin Sang; he understood and gave a slight nod.
Master Gu picked up the broken drum, her motions exceedingly gentle, as though admiring some rare treasure of the world.
Then, with a light crook of a jade-white finger, she drew the smoke from the Boshan burner, and it curled around the broken drum.
Thread by thread the smoke seeped in through the great hole in the drumhead, while the smoke outside shifted unpredictably, taking the shapes of countless birds and beasts that hurled themselves again and again at the drum, their smoke-formed bodies scattering on impact.
"So it is a rare treasure of the artifact-forging path," Qin Sang thought, glancing at the Boshan burner.
He could vaguely make out what was happening: Master Gu was employing secret arts to fathom the treasure, and her arts were far more exquisite than Master Qi's—no wonder she was a master forger of the Daoist school.
Soon the room was wreathed in smoke.
Master Gu paid it no mind, changing from one secret art to another in succession, yet the anticipation and excitement in her eyes gradually faded, giving way to disappointment.
Qin Sang, who had been watching her all the while, could not help but turn grave, thinking that this boded ill.
Slowly withdrawing her arts, Master Gu set down the drum and looked at Qin Sang. "This treasure should be a damaged acquired spirit treasure."
An acquired spirit treasure! Qin Sang's spirits lifted—so it was as he had thought.
In assisting Master Qi with his forging, Qin Sang's own attainments in the artifact-forging path had advanced by leaps and bounds; he had in fact made certain discoveries before, and by a conservative estimate judged it a spirit treasure.
The difficulty was how to repair an acquired spirit treasure.
Qin Sang had tried many times, but the broken drum never responded; unrepairable, it was worthless.
Then Qin Sang saw Master Gu sigh softly, and with deep regret she said, "It is a pity the artifact spirit has already perished."
Chapter 1799