The night Ye Huan arrived at the mining district.
Lantie City Police Department.
The safe house.
A middle-aged woman with her hair pinned up, dressed in a long skirt and sitting with one leg crossed over the other, sat across from Luosha, quietly watching her take a phone call.
"Luosha, trust me on this. She's a major figure, someone I went out of my way to invite just to help you. You have to work hard and make me proud."
"Sorry, I said that wrong. It's not about making me proud—this is genuinely crucial to your own future."
"You can do it!"
Xia Li's urging came through the receiver.
"Okay… Thank you, Xia Li." Luosha hung up, an uneasy expression still lingering on her face.
"No need to be uncomfortable," the middle-aged woman said with a gentle smile. "I'm her master. She buzzed in my ear all day long, so I came all this way just to take a look at you. Nothing more."
"Yes, thank you. How should I address you?" Luosha's tone remained slightly tense.
"Don't worry about forms of address, and don't bother with worldly etiquette. We're pressed for time right now. I'll transmit a secret mnemonic to you. Try to memorize it and grasp a sense of it."
The middle-aged woman took a long slip of paper from her handbag and handed it to Luosha.
Luosha took it and read it carefully for a moment.
The middle-aged woman kept her eyes on the wall clock.
After the second hand completed five full rotations, she promptly took the slip back from Luosha's hands and lit it on fire, burning it to ashes.
"This is an esoteric art."
"Many people aren't born into conditions that allow them to come into contact with martial arts."
"Some haven't trained in martial arts even into their twenties or thirties."
"Yet because their numbers are so vast, there will always be that one-in-a-million or one-in-ten-million chance that an extraordinary genius remains hidden among them."
"This secret art is prepared specifically for people like that."
"—Open the acupoints first, then cultivate martial arts."
Luosha looked thoroughly puzzled and asked, "I've heard opening acupoints is very difficult. Why can they be opened all at once?"
The middle-aged woman explained patiently, "Ordinary martial artists must repeatedly build up their vital energy and blood, force open meridians, and ignite acupoints to awaken life's latent potential and enhance their strength.
"Yet for a genius, the body itself is a boundless treasure trove, inexhaustible and limitless.
"Having read the secret art, they already inherently understand how to draw forth the potential within their bodies.
"This is inverting cause and effect—
"They do not need acupoints to awaken their potential; rather, they already possess boundless potential, and only then do they open acupoints to enter the path of martial cultivation.
"Come, give it a try."
Luosha only half-understood, but remembering Xia Li's words, she obediently closed her eyes and silently circulated the secret art described in the mnemonic.
The middle-aged woman leaned back against the chair, waiting with keen interest.
At seventeen or eighteen, it was already late for this girl to start practicing martial arts.
Only by using this secret art would she have any hope of catching up to other practitioners her age.
Still—
That kid Xia Luoning had never been reliable.
She herself must have lost her senses. Spoiling the girl too much on normal days, she had let Xia Luoning's sweet talk soften her resolve to the point where she had actually traveled to this backwater in person.
Ah well.
As long as the girl opened even a single acupoint, she would concede that Xia Luoning had made progress and grown more dependable.
Time ticked quietly by.
Luosha showed no reaction whatsoever.
No expression appeared on the middle-aged woman's face either.
She merely asked in a calm tone, "Not working? Is it a bit too difficult for you?"
"…Yes," Luosha murmured uneasily, a hint of anxiety surfacing in her eyes. "I'm a little scared."
"Scared? For a martial artist, what is there to fear in this?"
As she spoke, the middle-aged woman smoothed her skirt and prepared to stand up and leave.
"Everything here is in good condition," Luosha said.
The middle-aged woman paused, slowly looking up at the girl across from her. "What do you mean?"
"I've already adjusted myself and can complete the art's instructions at any moment. But I also felt the changes in my body. It will create a huge commotion… I'm afraid if things here get destroyed… I won't have the money to pay for the damages…" Luosha said in a small voice.
The middle-aged woman fell silent for a moment before suddenly laughing. In a soft voice, she said, "There's no need to hide it from you. I am 'Xia Li's' master. No matter how large a commotion you cause here, I can guarantee everything will be fine.
"Even if something gets destroyed, you don't need to worry about compensation.
"The sect will cover all of it. We won't make things difficult for you.
"We brought money."
Only then did Luosha breathe a sigh of relief.
The middle-aged woman added, "I believe I mentioned—we're pressed for time.
"Begin. Unleash the final step of the secret art now."
"Yes," Luosha said.
She stood up and assumed a fist stance with both hands.
The middle-aged woman watched quietly, but suddenly her expression shifted drastically, and she leapt backward.
From the void—
A vast, magnificent toll of a bell resonated.
"This is… the resonance of the Ether!" the middle-aged woman blurted out in shock.
The chime shook the void ten consecutive times. Everything in the room disintegrated into powder, swirling into a vortex that settled into a pile at Luosha's feet.
Luosha listened quietly to the chimes, an enlightened expression on her face.
Yet at this moment, she looked no different from before.
Even that ostentatious divinity that had previously clung to her was completely restrained, no longer displaying itself brazenly.
"So many things got damaged…" Luosha said apologetically.
"Do you know what that bell toll just now meant?" the middle-aged woman asked.
"No."
"In legends from the far, ancient past, if a human's 'genes' are arranged in an extraordinarily exquisite, elevated, and creative order, the Ether will toll ten times when that person steps onto the path of evolution.
"The Taiyin Sect's Talent-Gathering Bell was modeled after this anomaly of the Ether; it is struck a set number of times when inducting geniuses.
"—Because such a person will inevitably open ten acupoints in succession within a very short span of time."
"What are genes?" Luosha asked curiously.
"The fundamental makeup of humanity. It's said that in civilizations of long ago, human makeup was fixed, but later certain things occurred… The knowledge in that field runs very deep. If you're interested later on, you can pursue advanced studies in it," the middle-aged woman said.
She stepped forward, warmly taking Luosha's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, beaming with joy. "Ten acupoints opened, just as expected.
"Your aura isn't manifesting externally partly because you still need to practice martial arts from scratch, and partly because your body instinctively conceals its own power.
"Remarkable. Truly remarkable.
"Xia Luoning has achieved tremendous merit in this matter! Come, come! Return with me, we cannot delay for a single moment."
"Ah, leaving right now?" Luosha couldn't help asking.
"You are a priceless treasure. Staying in this borderland leaves you at far too great a risk of demon attacks—every extra second is an extra second of danger!" The middle-aged woman took her hand and turned to leave.
"But I still have a lot of things left un—" Luosha hesitated.
The middle-aged woman cut her off. "It doesn't matter. Everything can wait until you're safe. The Taiyin Sect will handle everything concerning you properly."
She led Luosha toward the door.
Yet she was pulled to a halt.
Luosha stood firmly in place.
"Don't tell me someone saved your life?" the middle-aged woman said jokingly.
"Yes. A friend of mine is in an extremely dangerous situation right now. Could we find a way to protect him?" Luosha asked.
"A life debt, is it? Very well. Speak—it just so happens that Ding Ming is already here. Having him handle it will be enough. He is an expert of our Taiyin Sect. Does that satisfy you?"
"…Yes." Luosha nodded gently.
The middle-aged woman pulled out a phone and dialed a number.
"Yes, it's me.
"I came here solely to recruit a new disciple. It won't affect your plans.
"I can't be bothered with Ding Ming's business; I only care about the newcomer.
"—However, go instruct him to do one thing, and it must be done. Yes, this is my new disciple's wish.
"What's the situation with the newcomer? Heh heh!
"Tell the Sect Master to summon the eight great elders, open Canghai Pavilion, and strike the Talent-Gathering Bell ten times!"
***
Elsewhere.
An underground secret chamber.
An Qi, draped in a red cloak and holding a scepter, stood before the eyes of the crowd to welcome back several figures.
"You returned at just the right time. Go kill someone immediately. Within three hours, I want his head."
An Qi spoke with a faint smile.
Chapter 62