Chương 52: Chapter 50

I hear Lianhua answer me in a low voice while my eyes stare, in disbelief, at the bowl resting on the table in front of me, glowing with a serene radiance, yet bearing the weight of what seems like a cruel twist of fate. A true fortune, the kind that could change a person's life or even that of an entire family. A fortune like the one, I recall with bitterness, that led to Xia's family being wiped out.

And now, like a cruel joke, I, who need it neither because of my age nor my social standing, find it coming out of nowhere. Though I have no doubt that, if it were known that I have it, it would attract more trouble than I'm willing to face. And the weight of that thought draws a sigh from me, so as my index finger unconsciously traces the rim of the bowl, I break the silence as I look at Lianhua.

"Lianhua", I murmur, my voice barely a whisper.

"Put the bowl away. With everything that it implies, I think it's best that no one finds out this even exists." Without uttering a word, Lianhua reacts to my words, and in just a few moments, the bowl and the stones vanish inside the storage pouch as if they had never been there, which makes me sigh with relief.

And when the bowl vanishes, the only things left unchecked on the table are the two lapis lazuli tablets and the vial, which Lianhua says she doesn't know what it is, so I look at the tablets while pushing the subject of the spirit stones out of my mind. My eyes glide over them with a mixture of curiosity and intrigue, while the hieroglyphs carved into their blue surfaces continue to draw me in like flames to a moth, though I resist.

"Lianhua", I say without taking my eyes off the tablets.

"What did you suspect they were?" She steps closer and leans slightly over the table, studying the tablets intently.

"I'm not entirely sure", she finally tells me.

"But they look like technique tablets." I look up at her, intrigued, and ask "Techniques? What do you mean?"

"It's one of those things I'm not supposed to tell you, Zhāohuán Wen", she says with resignation.

"But I suppose I'll have to tell you, considering the circumstances." I settle in slightly, attentive to what Lianhua is about to explain to me, as it will be yet another small door to the world of cultivation that she is about to open for me.

"Once the gates open, cultivators can begin using techniques that involve manipulating Qi", Lianhua begins to explain.

"Although at the opening of the gates, the techniques that can be used are few and far between, which is why I don't know any."

"And that brings me to the tablets. Cultivators use tablets like these to transmit techniques, and since they're made of jade, that's why I'm hesitant about these", she continues to explain.

"And their significance is that if you press one of these tablets against your head, assuming they're actually technique tablets, and channel Qi into them, they'll directly transmit the information needed to learn the technique they contain into your mind." Lianhua's revelation hits me like a bolt of lightning, and my gaze fixes on the tablets, while my mind races in a thousand directions as I ask Lianhua "Do you mean that if I use one of those tablets, I could start doing all that stuff you see in the stories?

Breathing fire, manipulating water, moving objects with Qi…?"

"It's not that simple, Zhāohuán Wen", she tells me with her usual serenity as she shakes her head.

"As I said, I've never used one, but it's like reading a book and memorizing every word. You have to practice on your own afterward for it to work, and how much you're able to achieve with it depends on you." Hearing this, my shoulders slump a little as I let out a sigh and bid farewell to my fantasies of learning to instantly shoot fireballs as if this were a role-playing game. I look at the tablets again and start comparing their hieroglyphs with the ones I know.

One has what I clearly recognize as the Egyptian symbol for sand, and on the other is clearly the Wedjat, the Eye of Horus. The decision forms in my mind almost without my noticing, and I reach for the tablet with the symbol of sand and hand it to Lianhua.

"Try this one", I say without thinking too much about it. Lianhua frowns at my words as she tries to refuse "You shouldn't, Zhāohuán Wen. It's too valuable, since they're usually single-use. You should save it for when your cultivation is more advanced and you can use it yourself." I make a sad face at her words and draw strength from the bitter logic driving me to say "That's too many years away, and I'd rather you use it.

If something ever happens to me and you could have protected me thanks to the contents of this tablet, it'll be too late for regrets." For a moment, she seems to hesitate, as if trying to argue with me, but finally nods resignedly and says "As you say, Zhāohuán Wen." She takes the tablet and presses it gently against her forehead, but nothing happens. After a few seconds, she sets it aside with a neutral expression and says to me "I can't use this one.

It requires the use of elemental Qi, and I haven't reached that stage of cultivation yet." I nod with a sigh and say "At least we tried. Try the other one." Lianhua carefully places the first tablet on the table, takes the one with the Wedjat symbol, and repeats the gesture, pressing it against her forehead. This time, something happens. The inscriptions begin to fade as the lines slowly dissolve, as if a magical eraser were wiping them from reality, and finally, the tablet is completely smooth.

I hold my breath as I ask anxiously "Did it work?" Lianhua nods, and for the first time, I see a spark of restrained emotion in her eyes as she says "Yes. This one contained a technique that doesn't require elemental Qi, so I was able to learn it." My curiosity skyrockets, and I quickly ask "And what's it called?"

"The technique is called the Vision of Horus", Lianhua replies, as she seems to regain her usual composure.

"And what exactly does the technique do?" I ask curiously, unable to help but sigh inwardly at the meaning behind the names of the ancient inhabitants of the Celestial Fragment.

"I'm not entirely sure, Zhāohuán Wen", Lianhua replies.

"Parts of the technique are sealed. Which is a very strange sensation." The word sealed stirs a tingle of unease within me, so I ask her with a note of concern in my voice "Sealed? What do you mean by that?"

"For now", she replies quickly to reassure me, noticing my concern.

"The technique has only revealed the initial part to me. It's a way to project my vision by separating it from my body, allowing me to see my surroundings from above, as if I were viewing them through the eyes of a hawk suspended in the sky." My eyebrow shoots up instinctively when suddenly a memory comes to mind, and I can't help but compare what Lianhua just said to the eagle's vision from the Assassin's Creed saga, but I quickly push the thought out of my mind to focus on more important things right now.

"And you said there were more parts?" I continue as I refocus.

"And what do you mean by 'they're sealed'?"

"Apparently", says Lianhua as she looks down at her hands, as if she's still processing what she's received.

"The technique is divided, and for now I can only access this first part. The others are there, and I can feel them, as if they were behind different doors that I can't get through. But strange as it may seem, I sense that they'll open in time, as I master the different parts." My thoughts begin to swirl, and I raise a hand to stop her as I say "Wait, wait, wait.

Are you telling me that this tablet has implanted knowledge divided into parts in your head, and that only if you become sufficiently skilled with one part does the next one unlock, and so on?" Lianhua nods slightly as she says to me "That's a good way to sum it up, Zhāohuán Wen." A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I feel a mixture of fear and fascination as a chill runs down my spine.

The idea that information is literally chained in someone's mind until they prove themselves worthy makes me wonder how that was achieved.

"Do you need me to give you more free time to practice this technique?" I ask Lianhua with genuine concern.

"Don't worry", she replies without hesitation.

"My usual schedule is fine, so there's no need to change anything."

"All right", I say, looking at her seriously.

"Still, if you ever need anything to continue your practice, let me know without hesitation." After I speak, Lianhua simply nods in silence. After that, my gaze falls on the jar containing what I assume is sand, when suddenly a question pops into my head, and looking at Lianhua, I ask "Lianhua, now that I think about it, why don't you know any techniques? As my bodyguard, shouldn't they have taught you some so you could do your job better?"

"Because of how the Yushitai works, Zhāohuán Wen", Lianhua replies.

"As I said before, the techniques for the Gate Opening phase are few and far between, so they're not usually taught unless significant contributions are made. That's why, for your protection, instead of techniques, they've given me numerous talismans that can fulfill that task just as well, or even better, since they're more versatile."

Hearing this, I furrow my brow as I recall the talismans that both Lianhua and the assassin used on the night of my seventh birthday, and that prompts me to ask next "And saving me from assassination wasn't enough of an achievement to allow you to learn a technique?"

"Actually, it was", Lianhua replied with a nod.

"A technique was one of the rewards I could have asked for, but since the Yushitai was going to continue providing me with talismans, and within the Imperial Palace they were more than enough, and the available techniques weren't particularly useful for that task, I preferred to exchange the reward for two hours a day for a year of Qi-gathering training to boost my cultivation, since it seemed more useful to me."

I listen to her answer and wonder if I could have resisted the temptation to learn a magical technique in exchange for something more practical, like the chance to boost my cultivation, but suddenly my curiosity gets the better of me, and I ask Lianhua "Just out of curiosity, what's your cultivation level? Though you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"It's no problem to tell you, though don't tell your mother I told you", Lianhua replies.

"Thanks to the boost I got from the Celestial Fragment, I've managed to open the fifth gate and am close to opening the sixth gate."

"And is that a lot?" I ask Lianhua, knowing I won't be able to get much more out of her.

"It's a lot, Zhāohuán Wen", she tells me with a simple, direct answer.

"Well, I'm happy for you", I say sincerely. She doesn't say anything in response to my words, she just nods her head and waits for me to continue. Once my curiosity about the techniques and why Lianhua didn't know any of them is satisfied, I look back at the table and the jar of sand as I say to Lianhua "Well, there's only this jar left. Do you really not know what it is?"

"No, Zhāohuán Wen", Lianhua replies.

"Although it clearly contains a large amount of Qi, just like the spirit stones, it's clearly some kind of elemental Qi, unlike those, which contain neutral Qi."

"Then that means it's valuable", I tell Lianhua, who nods slightly at my words.

"But we don't know if it's just a little valuable or incredibly valuable, so you'd better put it in the bag too until we can figure out what it's worth or what it can be used for." Lianhua quickly picks up the vial, which disappears into the storage pouch. Finally, my gaze sweeps across the room, and on the table there remains only the tablet, which, for now, can't be used, the box of jewels, and the stack of papers.

"Put the remaining tablet in the storage bag too", I tell Lianhua, pointing to the object.

"As for the jewels and papers, put them with the rest of the items you took out of the Celestial Fragment that we plan to show my mother." Lianhua nods and quickly begins to carry out my orders, all with that efficiency that has become so familiar to me. When she's done, she stands by the table, as if she hadn't moved an inch.

"Lianhua", I say after I've said everything that comes to mind, relaxing my shoulders.

"Take me to the courtyard. Let's hang out there while Xia finishes preparing the food for the party."

"As you wish", she says.

"But if you'll give me a moment, I'd like to go put the storage bag in a safe place."

"Of course", I say, cursing myself for having forgotten about it.

"Take as long as you need." I watch as Lianhua leaves the room; even though I told her there was no need to hurry, she doesn't take long to return, after which she pushes my chair out of the room and down the palace corridors.

And as she carries me silently through the corridors, her steps firm yet light, I can't help but think, with a half-smile, that if instead of being reborn in a version of ancient China this were a version of feudal Japan, with her newfound power, Lianhua would be the perfect protagonist for that Assassin's Creed set in the Japanese archipelago that was never made.

I'm sitting at the table in my room, surrounded by the scrolls that Lianhua retrieved from the Celestial Fragment of the Sands, which cover the surface in an organized chaos illuminated by the light streaming through the curtains. I gaze at the scrolls as I think about the categories I've divided them into, and how the first one, which is actually the thickest, is also the most useless, beyond being an anthropological curiosity that, aside from me, surely interests no one else in this world.

Tedious regulations, rules of etiquette, and behavioral guidelines for the inhabitants of the so-called Divine Palace of the Celestial Falcon. A pretentious name, though fitting for what appears to have been a powerful and ceremonial organization that, as far as I can tell, was structured, hierarchical, rule-bound, and obsessively formal, since every corner of the ancient complex seems to have had its own set of regulations. The second pile is more interesting.

In it, I have gathered the copy of the engravings of the central hall that Lianhua reproduced with precision, along with several papyri from the storage pouch, though the latter are puzzling. Although I do not fully understand their content, the similarity in the diagrams allows me to deduce that they refer directly to the central structure of the building. And most fascinatingly, they reveal that this is not a simple room, but a much larger interconnected network, a functional rather than symbolic architecture.

But here the content becomes more cryptic, because the traditional hieroglyphs are intertwined with a series of runes I don't recognize, since they aren't the basic ones I've encountered in the book Introduction to Runes, and their arrangement doesn't seem merely decorative, they are functional and clearly interconnected with the text.

And unfortunately, based on the hieroglyphs alone, I can't make out anything, since it's like having scattered words from two different languages, I simply can't quite grasp the sentences. What I do know is that if I ever want to understand them, I'm going to have to learn about runes for real, something I'd already had in mind, so I'm keeping these pages to myself. After all, no one else would be able to read a single line of the hieroglyphs, much less this mixed gibberish.

And I'd rather no one get the idea that a solution would be to have me translating the hieroglyphs for a group of scholars for years, no, thank you. And then there's the third stack. The thinnest, the most understated, the most valuable, and for me, the real treasure. The Earthly Realm cultivation guide for the outer disciples of the Divine Palace of the Celestial Falcon. Whatever this organization may have been, its outer disciples had a guide that told them how to complete what they called the Earthly Realm.

It was extensive, comprehensive, and, of course, steeped in a mysticism that defies logic. Extracting a coherent structure from it has cost me more than I'm willing to admit. Not only have I had to translate from the Egyptian of the Celestial Fragment but also dissect its metaphysics and render it minimally comprehensible within this world's cultural framework. The constant references to the Ka, the Ba, and the Aj have been especially frustrating.

Each concept is an amalgam of body, energy, soul, and transcendence, all wrapped up in solar metaphors, sacred birds, and spiritual dualities. Adapting that to a cultivation logic based on Qi, dantian, and cores, what lies beyond the gates, has been like trying to fit together pieces from two different puzzles.

I've had to hound Lianhua with questions bordering on interrogation, prying every word out of her about what happens after the doors open, while she, faithful to her duty and her orders, refused to reveal almost anything to me. And yet, driven by frustration and another of those strange trances that take hold of me almost constantly when I'm immersed in some kind of language, I've achieved what I believe is an acceptable synthesis of what the cultivation of the Earthly Realm is in terms of this world.

And the result has been extraordinary. Now I have, in my hands, and only in mine, a structured guide, albeit one with many assumptions, to cultivation until the end of the Earthly Kingdom, with instructions that I believe are quite precise regarding each step, its risks, its thresholds, and the signs of progress. Beyond that point, the text explains nothing.

It merely instructs me to consult an external disciple leader to inquire about the steps to follow regarding the Celestial Kingdom, something I obviously cannot do. And yet, even so, this is more than I ever could have hoped to achieve.

Not only do I have a complete map of a cultivation realm I've barely begun to scratch the surface of, but I also have something I don't know to what extent anyone else in the Empire possesses it, since, according to Lianhua, she only knows up to what she calls Condensation of the Elemental Cores, though in the texts they call it something else, and which, according to my new guide, is the third step of the nine that make up the Earthly Realm.

And I'll be the only one who knows about it as long as I can keep it a secret, which is why I made Lianhua promise not to say a word. Very carefully, I gather the sheets on which I've written the summary I've titled Steps of Earth Realm Cultivation, along with the original texts. For a moment, I hesitate, but finally I also take the documents related to the training found in the strange building. Finally, I turn to Lianhua, who has remained by my side in silence, as is her custom.

"Here", I say as I hand her the papers I've just gathered.

"Put them in the storage pouch. For now, I think that's the safest place we have."

"As you command, Zhāohuán Wen", she replies with her usual calm, accepting the documents without hesitation. Without another word, she slips out of the room, disappearing in the direction of where she keeps the bag. I've never felt the need to ask her exactly where it is, perhaps because I know I couldn't reach it on my own. Although, in an emergency, I could always send Xia to look for it. Maybe I should ask, but that's a matter for another time. And just then, thinking of Xia, I glance over at the bed.

And there she is, sitting in the lotus position with her eyes closed, a thin sheen of sweat covering her forehead. Seeing her, I can't help but smile at her struggle to manifest her third mental hand, because the image strikes me as strangely endearing, I've been through that too, and I can't help but see myself reflected in her gestures of frustration.