Chapter 198: Impossible, Absolutely Impossible

Chapter 198: Impossible, Absolutely Impossible

Vermilion Bird was so furious she nearly ground her teeth to dust, thinking to herself that your thought process and Xia Chichi’s were in perfect alignment—no wonder you were “mutually in love”; your brains were left with nothing but that.

You started off saying you wanted to solve the meridian problem, which, though a lofty condition, was at least a normal one—then the conversation took a sharp turn into what kind of nonsense?

Vermilion Bird held back again and again, finally grinding her teeth: “Do you take the Four Symbols Sect for a Brothel of Ten Thousand Flowers? To pick out girls for you? You might as well go find Tang Wanzhuang—she’s the one who truly runs a Brothel of Ten Thousand Flowers!”

Zhao Changhe sighed: “And who do you think taught me this zither?”

“...” Vermilion Bird said coldly: “Starting to talk about what others are offering, are we?”

“Not at all.” Zhao Changhe said earnestly: “Chief Tang has been utterly devoted to me; I won’t use that as a bargaining chip with others.”

Vermilion Bird said: “But the court and the Four Symbols Sect are in conflict. Since you are so loyal to Tang Wanzhuang, we have nothing to discuss.”

Zhao Changhe was silent for a moment, then slowly said: “Times change, why speak so absolutely? Half a year ago, the Venerable Vermilion Bird wouldn’t have thought she’d want to invite me, Zhao Changhe, into the sect. Two months earlier, you might have wanted to kill me over Chichi’s affair and be done with it. And now?”

Vermilion Bird said nothing. Speaking of this, she regretted it. Zhao Changhe had been right under her nose back then; she could have easily made him join the sect, and he would likely have been grateful for the shelter and guidance. Who knew…

But come to think of it, that Zhao Changhe might not have become the Zhao Changhe of today.

Zhao Changhe added: “Venerable Vermilion Bird’s cultist thinking is still a bit too strong. Why jump straight to bargaining? Let’s first get to know each other over some time, let me delve deeper into your doctrines, and let you see if I’m truly suitable. Then we can decide naturally—wouldn’t that be better? As it is now, you’re awkward, and I’m awkward. Besides proposing to loosen the restrictions on Chichi and me, what else can I say?”

Vermilion Bird said coldly: “Easy for you to say. Where do I have the leisure to get to know you long-term? As for the Saintess being with you, don’t even mention it. No matter how long she spends with you, she’ll only sing your praises in the end—it’s as good as nothing.”

“Then have someone else get in touch. I think you’d be quite suitable, wouldn’t you?”

Vermilion Bird couldn’t help herself: “...Were you two born from the same father?”

Oh, that remark… So Chichi had also proposed this?

As expected of my wife.

Speaking of which, the father you’re all imagining for me now is actually Chichi’s father—that does make a bit of sense.

Vermilion Bird said irritably: “We wear masks; we can’t stay with you unless you’re willing to be seen by the world as one of the Four Symbols Sect.”

“What if you take off the masks and show your true faces? Then no one would know who you are, right?”

“Then wouldn’t you know? My true face has its own identity—do you think I’d casually reveal it to you? Besides, I don’t have the time.” Vermilion Bird said flatly: “Let’s leave it at that. I understand your meaning; I’ll convey it to the Venerable. Bargaining directly does seem a bit crude, not as shamelessly subtle as Tang Wanzhuang.”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

“Alright, I’m off. From my analysis, at least during the Wang family banquet, the Venerable won’t be too strict about your relationship with the Saintess. Make good use of it.”

Her voice turned somewhat seductive, with a hint of amusement, and soon a flash of fire streaked across the sky, vanishing.

Zhao Changhe shook his head slightly, not taking it to heart, and continued playing the zither. In his view, this encounter with the Four Symbols Sect was merely basic contact—a coincidence that they were both in Langya, starting tentative communication. They hadn’t even really talked yet; deeper exchanges would likely follow in time.

But he hadn’t expected that before he could finish another zither piece, Vermilion Bird returned.

Zhao Changhe looked helplessly at the seductive, alluring red lips of the Venerable before him, sighed, and said: “Venerable has nothing to do, so you come to the Daoist temple to listen to music?”

Vermilion Bird said flatly: “I heard from Yi Huo She that you are troubled by internal energy and meridian issues?”

“That’s right.”

“Do not place your hopes on dual cultivation, or I will be very disappointed.” Vermilion Bird said flatly: “Your meridians are fixed and narrow. Long-term dual cultivation might be somewhat beneficial for improving this condition, but using it solely for a short-term breakthrough is the most inferior behavior, no different from the Maitreya Sect. Dual cultivation has never been a divine art—only an auxiliary technique. Know this.”

Zhao Changhe said: “Venerable, are you trying to compete with Chief Tang over who teaches better?”

“I cannot teach you, but I can give you a taste of sweetness, at least to let you know how great the benefits are of joining my Sacred Sect.” Vermilion Bird suddenly reached out and tapped a finger on Zhao Changhe’s brow.

Zhao Changhe, once again, hadn’t even had the thought of dodging before he was struck. He resignedly accepted reality—if Vermilion Bird wanted to kill him, it would be a matter of a single finger; there was no point in struggling.

As the finger touched his brow, a kind of ethereal intent seemed to transmit into his spiritual platform. Zhao Changhe’s mind exploded with a bang, and suddenly he saw a sky full of stars.

Those were not stars, but his own body’s acupoints, shining brilliantly like stars.

In fact, he had felt this when first learning internal energy—the dantian like the moon, acupoints like stars, revolving through the firmament—the human body as its own universe.

Pity that was only a display of the overall “outline” at the beginning. With more cultivation, he could no longer sense this macroscopic experience; he could only slowly uncover it corner by corner, through one meridian and one acupoint, hoping one day to see the entire sky.

Now, with this finger from Vermilion Bird, he was led back to that initial outline, seeing the most macroscopic night.

The difference from that earlier experience was that Vermilion Bird’s guidance in internal vision strongly highlighted the forms of the Four Symbols. The brightest stars in the night sky formed the shapes of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Corresponding to acupoints, some were already lit and opened, but most were not.

“This is the principle of the Four Symbols Sect’s techniques. Whichever system you are suited for, you follow that system’s star chart. For example, I am Vermilion Bird; Chichi has both Azure Dragon and White Tiger.” Vermilion Bird’s voice echoed in his ear: “Showing you the star chart is not to teach you the techniques, but to teach you a method of collateral understanding.”

Zhao Changhe took a deep breath: “Please instruct.”

“Suppose you can resonate with your star position. Then you can call upon the power of that star position to charge through your unbroken barriers, without having to stubbornly follow a single meridian until you’re exhausted. This can to some extent circumvent your narrow meridian problem. It’s like one arrow cannot defeat a strong enemy, but a volley of ten thousand arrows naturally can.” Vermilion Bird said flatly: “The question now is whether you can resonate with your own star sign. If not, then forget it—it means you have no affinity with my Four Symbols Sect.”

“And if I can?”

“Then that position is yours. I will negotiate terms with you again. This is also what you call the further process of getting to know each other.”

“Good. How do I resonate?”

“Your cultivation hasn’t reached those acupoints, so you shouldn’t be able to resonate. But I have activated the star chart for you. You only need to immerse your consciousness and sense these acupoints. Whichever one suits you will naturally light up in my star chart, and I will know.”

With those words, the Four Symbols star chart that had just lit up all went dark.

Zhao Changhe silently looked inward, trying to sense them, to make them light up again.

He found that this not only tested his martial arts aptitude but also his memory. With so many stars, how could he trace the shapes from before? Zhao Changhe realized he had already forgotten them all. How could he remember?

Forget it, it didn’t matter. Whatever the shape, he would sense them one by one, lighting up as many as he could—that was the true fate. Vermilion Bird probably thought the same.

Zhao Changhe tried to light up the most remote star at the bottom. He found it effortless; it lit up instantly.

Vermilion Bird’s eyes also lit up. She thought to herself, setting aside everything else, at least this showed he was very suited to practicing the Four Symbols Sect’s techniques, almost without any obstacle.

Second star, third star…

Gradually, the entire southern region lit up, including the shape of Vermilion Bird, and even the stars not belonging to the Vermilion Bird constellation all lit up.

Vermilion Bird’s bright eyes bulged. What did this mean?

She had never seen this before. It completely violated the Four Symbols pattern. Why could everything light up?

In the meaning of the Four Symbols Sect, every star belonged to a specific type of martial art, especially the Four Symbols themselves, which were four very typical categories. It was impossible for anyone to be all-encompassing. Otherwise, what would that be?

That would be the Night Emperor!

Zhao Changhe didn’t know why either, but he felt this was very easy. It was much like the experience of watching the Sword Emperor’s live demonstration in the Heavenly Book illusion—he could make the Sword Emperor demonstrate whatever part he wanted. With these stars, it was the same: he could light up whichever he wished.

A moment later, the entire sky full of stars blazed in the night, all lit up.

Vermilion Bird abruptly withdrew her hand, staggering back two steps in shock.

Zhao Changhe opened his eyes in bewilderment: “Is something wrong? Does my lighting up everything mean I’m actually diametrically opposed to the Four Symbols’ intent?”

“Yes… yes.” Vermilion Bird’s voice trembled slightly: “This is likely… the intent of an emperor. Not, not the Four Symbols’ intent. You and I… you and I…”

She wanted to say it didn’t match, but she trembled and couldn’t get the words out.

Perhaps it didn’t necessarily not match. There was another case where it would match.

If it were the Night Emperor?

Then of course the entire starry sky would be at his command, and all martial arts in the world would be within him.

Was that possible?

Impossible, absolutely impossible…

Zhao Changhe was asking: “As you said, I haven’t cultivated to these acupoints yet. Even if I can sense and light them up, how can I make them possess power to help me charge through the barriers?”

"They themselves possess power, but ordinary people simply cannot sense it. Since you can sense it, you can try to summon it to help you break through—I will impart a method to you..." Zhuque secretly thought to try again. If you cannot summon it, then it's nothing.

The next moment, Zhao Changhe closed his eyes. Thousands of acupoints blazed in the bright hall, as if countless strands of qi fell like rain from all directions of the sky, charging toward the fifth barrier, the Huagai acupoint.

At the same time, the Six Harmonies Divine Art within his dantian operated fully, surging upward along the central axis, straight to the Huagai.

As if with a "boom" illusion, the fifth inner barrier was fiercely breached, without the slightest obstruction.

Zhao Changhe opened his eyes and met Zhuque's gaze.

Zhuque's expression was as if she had seen a ghost.