Rinsing Jade

"Huh?!" Qin Xuan shuddered all over, suddenly realizing he was basically roasting a nuclear warhead, and hurriedly took the bronze divine beast zun off the hearth. The next moment, he spun around, staring at the pine tree as if he had seen a ghost. "Old... cough, Fellow Daoist Pine, was that you speaking just now?" The pine tree remained utterly still; everything that had just occurred seemed like an illusion. "Could you have... attained a spirit?" Qin Xuan asked once more, but then reconsidered: if she had only recently developed spiritual awareness, it would be impossible for her to recognize treasures. The pine tree still offered no answer. Yet within a few breaths, Qin Xuan suddenly felt his eyelids grow heavy and drifted off to sleep. In his daze, the familiar sensation of pine nuts pelting his head returned with vivid clarity. This time was somewhat different from before: after pelting him several hundred times, Qin Xuan woke up. Clutching his head, understanding finally dawned on him. He hurried into the house to fetch the water that had soaked the spirit herbs blessed by the ancient mirror and poured it over Old Pine. "Hello? Fellow Daoist Pine, are you there?" Qin Xuan knocked lightly on the pine tree a few times, as though calling at a friend's door. This time, there was finally a response: "I am." Just this single word filled Qin Xuan with pleasant surprise, like a mute friend who had suddenly spoken. Yet on second thought, recalling how he had talked to himself and rambled to her for several years, he instantly felt... somewhat embarrassed. Qin Xuan probed, "Have you possessed consciousness all along, or is it because of me?" The pine tree seemed to ponder. After quite a while, a gentle female voice brushed softly against his mind: "I slept for a very long time, and I do not know why I awakened. My consciousness is not fully clear." "Then you probably didn't hear what I said in the past, right?" The female voice said, "Only vaguely. It was like hearing someone telling stories in a dream, talking about being tricked by a female ghost and nearly sleeping in a desolate grave, then being targeted by a female demonic cultivator, escaping successfully, yet boasting of one's own handsome looks..." Qin Xuan cut in to interrupt, "All right, all right, that's enough." Old Pine's voice was very soft, but Qin Xuan felt she was not kind at all—in fact, she was rather sly. This was what she called not fully clear? Still, now was not the time to fret over such things. "Fellow Daoist Pine, are you related to Yuansong Temple?" The female voice countered with a question: "How are the years reckoned now?" "At present, the world calls it Recent Antiquity." "One hundred and twenty-nine thousand years ago, it was called Chaotic Antiquity. The Nine Provinces had many kingdoms, along with three great imperial dynasties: Great Xia, Great Yan, and Great Shu. The land beneath our feet is the Eastern Ascendant Continent, where Great Yan largely bears the sovereign way, while numerous religions and immortal sects share the incense to anchor the fortunes of their grand orders." Qin Xuan continued, "According to Great Yan's era name, it is presently the seventy-third year of Zhenyuan. The dynasty's sovereign is one hundred and ninety-three years old, and in seven more years, the throne must change hands." Puzzlement crept into the female voice: "This sovereign is barely two hundred years old. That is far too young." "The sovereign is blessed by dragon veins, bearing immense fortune and wielding great authority. Immortal Dao Qi Refining cultivators cannot bear such burdens, so the post is always held by those who cannot cultivate. A lifespan of two hundred years is already quite long." "Things have changed greatly. It seems different from what I remember." Qin Xuan had no interest in pursuing that topic. "Since you now know the reckoning of time, let us talk about your situation." She seemed to be thinking. After a long while, an exceedingly calm female voice came through: "I was originally a small pine sapling at the foot of a high mountain. By chance, I listened to several senior Dao Sect masters expound scriptures and discuss the Dao, and thus spiritual awareness was born within me. "After the Primordial Great Kalpa, the Chaotic Antiquity Great Tribulation arrived. Those who had attained the Dao all answered their tribulations, and I too was muddle-headed amidst the tribulation qi. Among the seniors who enlightened me back then, there was one from your lineage, but..." At this point, Qin Xuan heard a trace of sorrow in her voice: "When the tribulation qi surged, that senior had already dissolved into the Dao..." A small pine sapling at the foot of a high mountain? Qin Xuan was slightly disappointed, but he quickly dismissed the thought. If she were truly some formidable old monster, it was hard to say whether he would even remain safe and sound. "Do you still remember things from the past?" "I slept for a long time, only feeling that someone was suddenly dripping water into my dream, so I pulled you into the dream and pelted you with pine nuts, hoping you would wake me. "Past matters, except for the most crucial ones, are mostly hazy. However, the stories you told me and the romantic tales you recited are becoming clearer and clearer in my memory now." Qin Xuan's face darkened. "Those can be forgotten." Songsong replied helplessly, "Those are hard to forget." Qin Xuan threatened, "Fellow Daoist Pine, if you act like this, it will be hard for me to water you in the future." The female voice was gentle in tone: "I will pelt you with pine nuts." Qin Xuan picked up the bronze divine beast zun and put it back on the hearth, resuming the roasting. Fine, let us all be destroyed together. After roasting it for merely a few breaths, his nerve failed, and he took the treasure back off. In the end, he still valued his life. He had only meant to scare Old Pine, never expecting she would be so bold. Looking at the bronze divine beast zun, Qin Xuan suddenly broke into a smile, his tone softening considerably: "Fellow Daoist Pine, how should I wield this treasure? Do you have any supreme scriptures that point directly to the Great Dao?" The female voice said: "This treasure must have lain dormant for many years. With your current magic power, you cannot activate it at all. Unless you have mastered its divine sense imprint-incantation, only then can your magic power filter through the imprint-incantation to barely channel a shred of its might." The so-called divine sense imprint-incantation was similar to Senior Mao Yan's talisman imprint-incantation. With the talisman imprint-incantation, he could unleash the Secret Demon Divine Quail True Fire within the earthen jar. If one knew the imprint-incantation left behind by a magic treasure's owner, one could naturally control the treasure. But for something excavated from a tomb whose master had died long ago, how could anyone know it? Qin Xuan furrowed his brows. "If I do not know the imprint-incantation, when will I be able to use this treasure?" The female voice was unhurried: "The Central Dipper Heavenly Tiangang within this treasure seems to be a strike its owner never managed to unleash before dying. Once you achieve Jade Fluid Reverted Dan and refine Golden Core True Fire, using it to protect your body, you can gradually release the heavenly tiangang qi within. When the tiangang qi is fully vented and you re-refine it, you will be able to harness part of its power. "Or..." "You could find a Qi Refining cultivator at or above Spirit Transformation to help you discharge the heavenly tiangang, and then slowly refine it yourself. "I would not recommend doing that. This treasure is extraordinary. Normally speaking, the Central Dipper Heavenly Tiangang within would not endure for so long. Your cultivation is too low; the treasure would be stolen from you." Hearing her explanation, Qin Xuan felt mostly delight. In any case, it was an extraordinary treasure. Good cat, good cat! It would be best if Madam Wei and Tiandu Fairy both looked down upon it; Qin Xuan was more than willing to adopt it and give the cat a new home. Qin Xuan fetched more spirit water and poured a few more ladlefuls. "Fellow Daoist Pine, when you listened to the Dao Sect seniors expound scriptures, did you hear of any Great Dao scriptures or secret arts?" "I only heard those seniors speak of a few things, and I understand merely a bit of the surface." Seeming to take pity on Qin Xuan for watering her, she asked, "Which classic do you cultivate?" Qin Xuan held great respect even for Songsong's "bit of the surface," so he answered earnestly, "I belong to the lineage of Perfected Xuangling of Guanjiang Mountain. Core disciples cultivate our sect's introductory secret learning, the Lesser Heavenly Circulation Mind Technique." "The Lesser Heavenly Circulation Mind Technique? It does not suit you very well..." Qin Xuan grew slightly nervous. "How does it not suit me?" "Have you not practiced the Scripture of Rinsing Jade? During Qi Refining, that classic is considered truly superior." "No," Qin Xuan murmured, thinking back over the texts in the Scripture Pavilion. "My lineage does not seem to have the scripture you speak of. Oh, right, there is a Rinsing Jade Art, but it is only considered exoteric learning." Grand sects and exoteric teachings invariably encompassed breathing guidance, refining qi and taking elixirs, pure sitting in forgetfulness, and condensing spirit to gather nature. Exoteric learning was an extension of exoteric teaching, taught by high-ranking priests in the sect and open for all disciples to cultivate. Even the lowest tier of secret learning, by contrast, required temple contributions. The Lesser Heavenly Circulation Mind Technique was cultivated even at Guanjiang Mountain, so it had to be superior to the Rinsing Jade Art. Thus, Qin Xuan remained skeptical of Songsong's words; perhaps she truly only knew the surface. "The Rinsing Jade Art? Bring it for me to look at." Qin Xuan thought about it. "All right." He decided to give it a try; in any case, it would cost him nothing. Stowing away the bronze divine beast zun, he left the courtyard and quietly made his way to the Scripture Pavilion. Under Elder Shi's slightly puzzled gaze, he checked out the Rinsing Jade Art. Fortunately, Elder Shi was engrossed in talismans and did not ask further... ...