For the period that followed, Li Weiyi practiced only a single move each day: "Taiyi Cleaves the Sea," searching for that heroic momentum he had felt when fighting Yao Zhengsheng, as if one strike could cleave open an entire ocean.
Master Jar had said that was "Heavenly Dao Dharma Convergence."
Every day, Li Weiyi drilled hundreds of sword strikes.
He threw his full might into every stroke, stopping only when his physical energy and dharmic power were drained to their utmost limits. Attempt after attempt, insight gathered bit by bit.
After thousands of sword strikes, he was still unable to achieve Heavenly Dao Dharma Convergence at will. Yet in the days that followed, there were finally one or two strikes each day that managed to fall into harmony with it.
"Practicing like this alone won't work. You must fight, be tempered, and engage in life-or-death clashes with top experts. Otherwise, it will take you years of effort to succeed." Those were Master Jar's exact words.
When Master Jar said those words, a tangle of mixed emotions had churned within him.
Because when his own master had said the very same thing to him back then, the timeframe mentioned at the end had been "decades of effort to succeed." After all, who could believe that after practicing for just half a month like this, Li Weiyi would actually be able to grasp the profound mystery of the Dharma Convergence realm of his own volition, even if his success rate was still quite low?
In the early mornings and late evenings, at the turn of day and night, Li Weiyi, Cai Yutong, and Qin Ke followed Senior Tablet to cultivate spirit thought force and perceive spiritual light.
At the same time, every day or two, Li Weiyi would take Zhao Zhizhuo to the inn to seek the aid of that senior expert in reshaping his spring orifices.
...
Time flew by, and twenty-two days had already passed since the ambush on Shenlong Avenue.
Wearing a bamboo conical hat, Zhao Zhizhuo stepped out of the inn. Spotting Li Weiyi waiting under the shade of a tree across the street, he briskly made his way over.
"How did it go? Was the eighth spring successfully reshaped?" Li Weiyi asked with a smile.
Zhao Zhizhuo pulled Li Weiyi along the river until they reached a secluded spot. Only then did he take off his conical hat, revealing a ruddy, vigorous, and rugged face, his eyes brimming with uncontainable excitement.
He cupped his hands and bowed deeply.
Li Weiyi said, "Cut that out! Now that all eight springs are reshaped and you've returned to the peak of the Gushing Spring Realm, remember to pay me back for the spring liquid. A total of ninety-three drops, ninety-three thousand silver coins. I'll waive the remainder—let's just call it ninety thousand."
"The spring liquid is one thing, but that senior was willing to reshape my spring orifices only for your sake, Brother Li. A grace like recreating my life... I'm afraid I won't be able to repay it in a lifetime."
After insisting on finishing his bow, Zhao Zhizhuo said, "Don't waive anything. I'll round it up to one hundred thousand silver coins. I'll write an IOU!"
"One hundred thousand, you said it yourself. I won't be polite then!" Li Weiyi said.
In high spirits, Zhao Zhizhuo laughed. "Haha, please don't be! With old Zhao's current cultivation, earning one hundred thousand silver coins shouldn't take more than a few years."
After laughing together, Li Weiyi told Zhao Zhizhuo to wait there briefly under the pretext of bidding farewell to the senior. He made a quick trip back to the inn to store the stone coffin into the evil camel bell, and then the two made haste toward the city gate.
As his excitement gradually subsided, Zhao Zhizhuo turned solemn. "The one-month deadline is almost up. What are your thoughts, Brother Li? Honestly, entering the Dao Academy is genuinely an excellent path. Nearly all the masters of the Jiuli Clan have cultivated there for a time."
Half a month ago, Young Clan Leader Cang Li had visited their residence, assuring them they had no need to worry about their safety within that month. He had also invited him, Cai Yutong, and Zhao Meng to enter the Cangli Clan Academy or compete for a spot in the Jiuli Dao Academy.
Li Weiyi had already made up his mind long ago. "Don't worry. In the next few days, I'll pay a visit in person to the clan academy to pay my respects and thank Senior First Chief, and I'll make my decision then. By the way, I heard repairing a qi sea is far more difficult than reshaping a spring orifice, and seemingly requires blood crystals."
Zhao Zhizhuo did not dare even dream of returning to the Wuhai Realm. To possess the cultivation of eight springs already satisfied him immensely, so his mindset was completely relaxed. He spoke freely: "The five seas of the Wuhai Realm refer to the five lobes of the human lungs. To open a qi sea, one must use dharmic power to repeatedly temper and cleanse a lung lobe until it crosses the threshold, giving birth to an inner world ocean.
"Back then, all five of my lung lobes were pierced through, and all five inner world oceans dried up and withered away. The blood crystal you mentioned can only repair the lung lobes. To prop open an inner world ocean again, one must either take a Wuhai Pill to try one's luck, or rely on legendary spatial dharma artifacts."
Li Weiyi was not sure whether the evil camel bell counted as a spatial dharma artifact, so he could only listen as Zhao Zhizhuo continued.
"Wuhai Pills are far too difficult to obtain now. Even within the Cangling Tribe, there's a severe shortage. Every single one is traded for a huge number of otherworld coffins. In my situation, the chances are slim anyway; taking one would most likely be a waste.
"To have recovered to eight springs already contents me. I won't put the Young Clan Leader and the Clan Chief in a difficult spot.
"I can only settle for this, but you are different, Brother Li. If you marry the Fourth Young Mistress, your future will certainly be boundless. With my eight-spring cultivation, I should at least be qualified to guard your gate and drive your carriage, right?"
Li Weiyi chuckled. "And if I don't marry her, does that mean my future is bleak?"
It had only been a joke, so Zhao Zhizhuo dropped the subject. "Should we track down Yao Zhengsheng, capture him, and bring him before the Young Clan Leader or the First Chief?"
Clearly, with his eight springs restored, Zhao Zhizhuo's confidence had bounced back considerably.
Li Weiyi pulled back his smile. "Yao Zhengsheng is merely a blade. If we capture him, would that really be enough to bring down Yang Yun? Don't forget the ties between the Cangling Tribe and the Yang clan. Yang Yun is a direct descendant of the Yang clan, an eight-spring standout. What are we to the Cangling Tribe?"
Zhao Zhizhuo fell silent for a long moment before murmuring, "Yang Yun has designs on both the Fourth Young Mistress and Brother Li's dharma artifact, and he nearly got us killed. Let me draw up a plan to try assassinating him in secret."
Li Weiyi was taken aback; he had not expected Old Zhao to suddenly turn so aggressive. He quickly cautioned, "Don't act rashly. Behind the Yang clan stands the Sui Sect. Forget about those old fogies—just provoking Yang Qingxi alone would give us far more trouble than we could swallow."
It was already the fourth month, and the weather was growing warmer by the day.
The pedestrians on the streets were dressed in much lighter clothing.
The two exited the city gate, crossed a wooden gate bridge over a dozen zhang long, and headed home along the paved stone path beside the moat.
The stone path was five zhang wide, with the outskirts stretching boundlessly on the other side. Upon the long stone steps beneath the eaves of buildings sat rows of raggedly dressed children wearing straw sandals.
They all appeared to be only five or six years old, sallow and emaciated. It looked as though they had journeyed from afar; their feet were blistered and torn, and a thick layer of grime coated their faces.
There were nearly a hundred of them, seemingly resting there for a while.
Li Weiyi walked forward, observing the children. Beneath the eaves across from him, pairs of wide, round eyes stared back at him and Zhao Zhizhuo.
"Why are there so many children?" Li Weiyi found it unusual.
Zhao Zhizhuo, however, was unfazed and said calmly, "Look closely. They are almost all twins."
Li Weiyi had indeed noticed that: there were always two children who looked virtually identical, with only very few left by themselves.
Why was the proportion of twins so high?
It was utterly bizarre!
Zhao Zhizhuo said, "They are rice people—rice, as in paddy rice."
"What do you mean?" Li Weiyi asked in bewilderment.
Zhao Zhizhuo asked, "Have you ever heard of Benevolence Rice?"
Li Weiyi shook his head.
"Benevolence Rice is also called human rice.
"'Ren' as in benevolence, but also 'ren' as in a seed kernel.
"Benevolence Rice originally comes from the depths of the Nether Realm of the Dead. It was the sustenance of certain mysterious beings in the world of the dead, and only later was it introduced into the Sheng Realm.
"A single ear of rice can grow several, or even over a dozen fetuses, always in even numbers. The ones growing on the left and right sides of the ear look strikingly alike, just like twins.
"I've heard that in the provinces outside, various factions started cultivating Benevolence Rice on a large scale long ago.
"First, to select exceptionally gifted talents from among them and train them into death-sworn soldiers. Second, to trigger an explosion of labor in a short amount of time. Third... human beings are resources and commodities. Buying and selling rice people brings few disputes, and no one stands behind them.
"I've even heard that some brutal rebel armies feed rice people to their exotic beast mounts.
"Here in Lizhou, several old clan chiefs of the Jiuli Clan strongly opposed planting Benevolence Rice at the time, believing it violated human ethics. They also believed that over time, an increasing proportion of rice people would cause uncontrollable turmoil.
"Yet as far as I know, people within the clan are still secretly cultivating it in the Mount Mang Range."
Even as Li Weiyi marveled at the bizarre tale, his heart grew heavy. The existence of rice people was bound to trigger countless moral crises. Looking again at the children sitting by the roadside, he could not help but feel a pang of sympathy and pity.
They had no parents.
Without even parents, who in this world would truly care about them?
Never mind caring whether they were happy or not—hardly anyone cared whether they lived or died.
"A'yin, you need to wear your shoes properly, or your feet will be chafed raw. Bear with it a little longer, we'll be there soon..."
A woman wearing white Buddhist lay robes crouched on the ground, tying the straw cords of a little rice girl's shoes. Her voice was both melodious and gentle, like a breeze in summer, impossible to forget once heard.
Having tied them, she stood up.
Her figure was remarkably tall and slender.
Her lay robes were loose, revealing only that her arms and legs were long.
Around her right wrist was a string of red prayer beads, red as congealed blood. Sensing Li Weiyi's gaze, the laywoman in white turned, nodded to him with a smile, and softly chanted a Buddhist invocation: "Amitābha!"
Li Weiyi naturally heard the chant clearly. He froze for a moment, and then stormy waves surged within his heart.
This was not Earth!
Did this world also have Amitābha?
Amitābha, also known as the Buddha of Boundless Light, was the lord of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in mythological legend.
Having finally encountered a genuine Buddhist cultivator, Li Weiyi was contemplating whether to step forward and inquire when she walked over first.
The laywoman in white appeared to be in her twenties, with sallow skin, ordinary features, and slightly high cheekbones.
After bowing respectfully, she spoke in that melodious, gentle tone: "Almsgiver clearly possesses a compassionate heart, with a soft light of sorrow and mercy in your eyes. May this humble nun be so bold as to ask for a bowl of vegetarian food?"
Though Li Weiyi placed great value on money, what was a single bowl of vegetarian food worth? Returning the bow, he said, "Never mind just one bowl! Bring all the children along. They look starved."
Chapter 56