Chapter 106: Success, Breakthrough

Chapter 106: Victory Achieved, Breakthrough

After a moment, Chen Yi returned to the Spring Lotus Garden.

He washed himself simply in the chamber with a basin of hot water, then changed into a new robe, feeling much refreshed at last.

The torrential rain was more ferocious than those early summer days.

Were it not for his martial cultivation, he would have shivered in the night, walking through the storm for half a season.

He rested briefly.

Chen Yi entered the study, lit two candles on the tables, and used their flames to kindle the oil lamp on the desk before settling at its base.

He poured water, ground his ink.

Outside, the night deepened, while within, the room glowed dimly.

Though rain continued to pelt the roof tiles and beams, making a steady *tap-tap* sound, Chen Yi’s mood remained undisturbed.

As his hand moved to grind the ink, the atmosphere grew increasingly tranquil.

That night, what he saw and heard—some entered his eyes, others his ears, and some crept into his heart—all required him to settle his spirit and concentrate his mind.

After a moment, the ink in the stone inkstone had blended evenly.

Chen Yi drew a sheet of cloud-pine paper, plucked a small wolf-hair brush from the brush jar, dipped it in ink, and began to write.

"Within the Xiao Family’s inner guard, four individuals have been discovered, divided into two groups with differing tasks."

"One: Guo Lao, Liu Si Er, and the esteemed uncle, assigned the primary objective of ‘Incubating Birds.’"

"Two: Xiao Dong Ren and his inner guard, tasked with ‘Seizing the Xiao Family.’"

"Others include Liu of Shu Province, Liu of Jing Province, the Huan Yin Sect, and more…"

The first group required no further explanation.

Even if Chen Yi were not naturally composed, he could not allow them to achieve their desires.

Instead, the latter group’s ambitions and threats were far greater.

Now Xiao Dong Ren sought to unleash chaos in the Xiao Family and Shu Province, his aim directed straight at the marketplace.

To fulfill his ambitions, he could not permit the Ling Yuan Army to remain at peace, hence his urgent summons to Guo Lao for matters that night.

Chen Yi mused, *Burning the granaries of the three cities—hardly merciful, is it?*

With such thoughts, he circled “Xiao Dong Ren” on the paper and marked it with an “X.”

Then he continued writing, inscribing the words “Bai Cang Tang.”

*This piece in play has indeed drawn others into the fray.*

Whether Liu of Jing Province or Liu of Shu Province, their aims all stemmed from a desire to see the Xiao Family fail.

And as the two silver-flag officers of the inner guard reported, the elites of Shu Province—beyond just the Liu clan—shared such sentiments.

Thus Xiao Dong Ren sought to topple the Xiao Family, inciting the inner guard and aristocratic houses to rise against them.

Chen Yi gazed at the cloud-pine paper, his mind’s chessboard now adorned with several new pieces.

Xiao Dong Ren, Guo Lao, and others were the inner rebels.

Liu of Shu Province likely referred to the left director of the Shu Provincial Administration Office, Liu Hong—a piece at the head of a small dragon within the black forces.

Behind him loomed the elites of Jing Province and other noble houses.

The white pieces, representing the Xiao Family…

He sat in silent contemplation.

Chen Yi did not yet place a single piece upon his mental chessboard.

In the game of Go, as in war, two armies clash.

Now the white forces stood alone, yet even a single opposing piece remained undiscovered.

He thought of Zhang Xuan, Duke of Qian Guo within Guang-Yue, and the three military garrisons.

Yet these pieces were either too distant or their influence too great to deploy just yet.

*“At the banquet earlier, all those guests seemed to hold Old Duke Hou deeply in esteem.”*

*“In the end, were they merely spectators?”*

Upon careful reflection, it was not so.

Perhaps Xiao Dong Ren and Guo Lao were right—Old Duke was waiting.

Waiting for those others to emerge, after which he would achieve his ends.

*When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.*

*Old Duke is gambling with people’s hearts.*

Chen Yi fixed his thoughts upon the chessboard in his mind.

Now the black pieces had encircled the white.

Yet the white still had a chance to bite into a corner of the black.

Still, if he could not find that opposing piece, defeat was merely a matter of time.

No hope of reversal remained.

Chen Yi shook his head, tore the cloud-pine paper into shreds, and let the oil lamp burn them to ash.

Now only one question remained.

Why had the court secretly conspired against the Xiao Family?

Or why did the court wish for Shu Province to rise into chaos, weakening the power of its houses?

Xiao Dong Ren, Guo Lao, and that “she-tiger” they mentioned all shared this aim.

What was the reason?

To weaken the border garrisons and reclaim military authority?

But did such a move necessitate also suppressing the aristocratic houses of Shu Province?

*It feels as though cutting off one’s own arm.*

Chen Yi gathered his papers, muttering softly as he did so.

There must be a reason he had yet to uncover, something that made this plan feel odd.

After tidying his desk, Chen Yi rose and approached the window, gazing upon the wind-tossed lotus garden.

In the gloom, everything appeared shadowy and indistinct.

Only the lanterns hanging beneath the eaves swayed in the wind, their light dim and unable to reach far.

It resembled the Xiao Family at this very moment.

As he looked, faces from his companions surfaced in his memory.

Xiao Jinghong, Xiao Wan’er, Xiao Wuge, Xiao Die, the old patriarch…

As he remained in the Xiao household for a time, the earlier resolve that could be severed at a moment’s notice gradually faded away.

After all, he was not one to be cold-hearted or merciless.

He fell into a long silence.

Chen Yi exhaled two words from his lips: “Trouble.”

Immediately, he performed a few chest-expanding exercises, breathing in and out, his expression turning serious.

First, he would cultivate the Way of Martial Arts.

He had not forgotten the matter of Xuan Yue Sect’s impending assault on Bai Caotang.

“I wonder if the martial artists Wang Ji had sent to investigate have arrived yet. There can’t be any chance for this scholar to take the initiative, can there?”

Chen Yi idly mused over scattered thoughts, then settled onto a chair, his mind fixed on the newly acquired *Four Symbols Technique*.

“The Four Symbols—Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird, and White Tiger—represent the spiritual qi of the four directions, corresponding to wood, water, fire, and metal…”

“To merge the qi of the four directions into the body’s core, and establish four sacred positions…”

As the incantations of the method surfaced in his mind, Chen Yi sensed the peculiarities of this *Four Symbols Technique*.

Such a mere framework of qi cultivation—how much more profound must those above the earthly and celestial levels be?

Yet, soon, he comprehended.

This *Four Symbols Technique* bore the character “small.”

Its overarching structure could only sustain his cultivation to the fifth rank; beyond that, he would need to seek the subsequent layers of the method.

Chen Yi let out a disdainful sigh, yet he knew the technique itself was not flawed—likely, Xiao Dongcheng or Geo Laozi had learned it this way.

After thoroughly reviewing it,

Chen Yi relaxed his spirit and, following the incantations, attempted the practice—only to find profound mysteries beneath countless esoteric truths surfacing in his mind.

It was the tail of the “Way of Martial Arts Body” buried beneath innumerable esoteric truths.

He suddenly realized: the external cultivation technique and internal essence refinement method were both concealed within the flesh.

The former was the outward form, the latter the inner core; together, they unlocked the body’s hidden reservoirs.

As Chen Yi grasped these truths, his understanding of the *Four Symbols Technique* deepened further, and the internal essence began to flow along the meridians and dantian according to the cultivation path.

At first, it only opened the full cycles of his limbs and internal organs.

Subtly, streams of celestial and terrestrial qi surged toward him.

No longer the faint trickle of before, but distinct “threads” of qi.

Clearly, a method dedicated to refining essence surpassed the Black Tortoise’s Abstinence Incantation by not a single hair’s breadth.

Not long after,

Chen Yi’s spirit submerged into cultivation, threads of celestial qi being drawn into his dantian and lower dantian by the method’s principles, then all transformed into essence.

[Successfully cultivated the *Four Symbols Technique (Mortal Realm)*, rank: Initial Insight]

[Progress achieved; two new meridians opened, cultivation rank surpassed to: Eightfold Rank—Upper]

Outside, the rainstorm raged on, yet not a single sound penetrated the room.

Chen Yi felt his spirit drifting into a sea of cotton, muddled and hazy, yet also floating toward transcendence.

Such feelings, he deemed, were not fit to share with outsiders.

Today was Father’s Day; he had gone out to dine with family, hence the late update.

To all the esteemed masters, please forgive the tardiness.

This chapter was submitted at the witching hour once more; please spare a few monthly votes.

Woe, woe, woe, woe, woe.

(Chapter Complete)