In Search of Dharma

After seeking Master Lan's advice, Chi secretly returned to the human Qin State, infiltrated the old lands of the former Zhou Royal Family, and scoured ancient texts, hoping to find records about the Yunshui Clan.

Yet, with the nine cauldrons gone from Luoyang, myriad volumes were lost, leaving only the common folk's memories of Great Zhou.

At a complete loss.

It then occurred to him: since the Zhou Royal Family hid their myriad ancient volumes in the repository at Luoyang, accessible only to the Ji clan, wouldn't Qin likely do the same!

He set off for Qin.

Passing by the Si River en route, he saw over a hundred farmers fishing—but not for fish. Puzzled, he inquired and learned that when the former Qin destroyed Eastern Zhou, they transported the nine cauldrons back to Xianyang. Passing the Si River, one cauldron reportedly sank, unwilling to be defiled by feudal lords. Later, King Zhuangxiang ordered three diving attempts, all fruitless, and he passed away within the year.

Later, King Zheng of Qin, for ancestral rites, proclaimed: "Anyone revealing the sunken cauldron's location shall be rewarded with fertile land and tax reduction; anyone who retrieves it and summons officials to witness shall be rewarded with ten taels of gold and the rank of centurion; anyone who delivers it to Xianyang shall be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold and the title 'Marquis of Sishui'!" Hence, they fished not for fish, but for the cauldron.

Chi had no interest in a sunk, useless cauldron. A cultivator stands between heaven and earth; who could be a god? They were merely mighty experts, not unbeatable. Fight once, and the world stirs; how could victory be impossible? The so-called nine cauldrons formed a grand array only when united, activated by bloodline in the eastern capital Luoyang. Their function was merely to awaken bloodline power, and that only once. The Qin people wanted it just to proclaim their power to the world—what good was that?

So he crossed the river toward Great Qin.

During the journey, he heard that over a hundred carts had accompanied the cauldrons, and the Zhou's myriad volumes were among them. They had encountered a great storm, so some texts might be damaged or lost unknowingly.

Chi triple-checked, scouring every inch within a hundred-li radius along the route. Confirming nothing was amiss, he proceeded to Xianyang.

The imperial palace was vast, imposing, dwarfing barren hills. Commoners farmed, merchants gathered, and harmony reigned—the state had prospered since King Zhaoxiang.

Now, with a new king on the throne, the dowager regent ruled. Powerful ministers overrode the monarch under the pretext of his "tender age." Thus, the palace was sealed, guards vigilant; even under night's cover, entry was hard. The repository's location remained unknown.

After much deliberation, with no time to waste, he infiltrated the palace at night, nearly getting caught, but was fortunately aided by Su, the sworn brother of the Son of Heaven.

This man was renowned far and wide. Though physically frail, he had protected the king during their flight from Zhao. In King Zhuangxiang's era, he traveled to the Western Regions, later journeyed with Great Qin's original crown prince and Prince Dan of Yan, reclaiming states and facilitating trade. Recently, he persuaded his younger brother Chengjiao to become Lord of Loulan, resolving fraternal strife and fostering good relations with the Heterodox Clan and Wind Clan, securing half the Western Regions' governance.

"Young Master Ying, why help me?" Chi naturally wondered.

"You seek your wife anxiously, yet know not her maternal clan's whereabouts, thus daring to breach the palace at night. Su admires such courage, hence the aid." Young Master Ying explained his reason and led Chi to the repository.

"Whether information on the Yunshui Clan lies within, Su does not know. Having browsed many volumes, I recall none. If your search fails, seek my paternal clan; knowing the reason, they likely won't conceal it."

"Your assistance alone is deeply appreciated!" Chi wasted no time, turning immediately to the old Zhou Royal Family scrolls.

After searching three cartloads of scrolls, he found nothing related to the Yunshui Clan.

Later, Young Master Ying took him to the former residences of the Zhou nobles, where he learned the Yunshui line had dwindled to extinction. As for Lan Jinxi, she was the last descendant—perhaps the sole remaining Yunshui.

"Where are the ruins of Yunshui?" Chi immediately thought to search the old site for cultivation methods.

"The Yunshui Clan perished a century ago! Their ruins may be gone. As for Lan Jinxi, she..." Yan's father's words suddenly halted, and he shook his head.

"Su, born of the Ying Clan, sensed remnants of temporal power upon you. Perhaps..." Young Master Ying placed a hand on Chi's shoulder, allowing his qi to circulate around him, then patted his shoulder.

"She is real!" Chi shouted in agitation, his voice booming.

"The past cannot be changed, the future may be preordained!" Young Master Ying's tone grew much graver. "As for the Yunshui ruins... I once saw in a book mentioning they were located amidst the damp woods of the far south, long since fallen to ruin!"

Chi was straightforward by nature, stubborn as a mule. Even if he ran into a stone wall, he'd bang his head against it. Naturally, the two couldn't dissuade him, and he headed south.

The journey led into vast marshes, past the Baiyue territories. The far south was humid; his fire spiritual root was suppressed instead. Deep mists and thick fog, ever-changing. Mornings were bitterly cold, evenings scorching hot—the shifts were instantaneous, giving birth to yin and yang.

Suddenly, his foot sank. He pulled back, and a ravine appeared before his eyes. Crumbling houses and broken tiles lay hidden in the mire. Could this be related to Yunshui?

Chi then crouched and crawled inside.

The opening was wide enough for one person. The walls on both sides were littered with broken tiles, their carvings similar to those embroidered on Lan Jinxi's private garments.

The passage grew narrower. At the very end, with the truth seemingly within reach, Chi steeled his heart. His hair flowed over his shoulders, his blood seemed to melt, and everything around him transformed into magma. He began digging downward.

Suddenly, he felt a wall barring his way, impossible to dig through. Yet he faintly sensed his goal was just ahead. Clenching his fist, he punched forward, the surrounding magma surging in unison.

One strike! A tremendous recoil vibrated through his arm, numbing it.

Two strikes! Cracks appeared on the surface, but the good news was the barrier before him also developed fissures.

Three strikes! The cracks grew larger. Though his arm could barely withstand it, hope was right before him.

Four strikes! The barrier shattered, but he was instantly sucked into it, plummeting downward.

Time... he could no longer feel it. Space... seemed to dissolve. Sensation vanished from his arms; they might already be shattered. All his cultivation seemed to have dissipated. The light he emitted was swallowed by darkness, or rather, absorbed by the pitch black surrounding him.

He didn't know how long he fell. He could see nothing, perceive nothing. With a 'plop,' he landed in water.

"Husband... farewell!" A tearful Lan Jinxi, her face streaked with tears, held Chi's hand, reluctantly letting go. Or perhaps she didn't let go, but simply couldn't hold on anymore.

"No! Jinxi! Jinxi! Come back! Come back...!" Chi jolted upright violently. He was on a bed, inside a wooden hut. He looked around; everything was utterly unfamiliar.

He stumbled out of the house. The path was muddy. The houses were all propped up on countless bamboo poles, or perhaps built directly atop them, strikingly similar to the stilt-style architecture he once studied. But compared to what he'd seen before, it was cruder, more primitive.

"Where is this..." He examined his surroundings curiously when someone suddenly patted his back from behind, chattering something incomprehensible. It sounded just like when Lan Jinxi spoke in her dazed state, but fortunately, Lan Jinxi had later taught him this language.

"Hello, where is this place?" Chi turned and asked.

"This place? This is the camp of the Yunshui major tribe! You suddenly fell from the sky into the Divine Pool, your whole body ablaze, brighter than the sun! Are you a deity?" The speaker behind him was a woman.

"Good! I need to see your chieftain!" Chi trembled with excitement, grabbing the woman's shoulders as he spoke.

"Huh? Father took the men to discuss matters with the other tribes a while ago! What do you want?" The woman was clearly startled, taking two steps back.

"Oh, my apologies! I am Chi, from the Central Plains, son of King Nan of Zhou from the Zhou Royal Family, Ji Yan. I am also a disciple of Master Lan from the Sub-Institute 'Micro.' I hope you can inform the chieftain upon his return!" Chi, realizing he had been too forceful, quickly withdrew his hands and introduced himself.

"The Zhou Royal Family... but who is King Nan of Zhou? A new king? I remember a King Ping of Zhou coming once before. He brought troops to negotiate peace with us, demanding the five tribes submit. We fought them off with the Ancestral Artifact. It seems you need something, yet you identify as a member of the Zhou house—isn't that just asking for trouble?" The woman looked at Chi as if he were a fool.

"Huh? King Ping has already been here?" Chi was at a loss. He realized he might be in the past, but he didn't recall the Zhou Royal Family having any dealings with the Yunshui Clan.

"Yes!" The woman examined Chi curiously. "Judging by your attire... it's different from the Zhou Royal Family's, right?" She then walked right behind him and lifted his robe. "Haha! You're also not wearing trousers!"

Chi hurriedly pressed down his long robe, somewhat displeased. "Did your father not teach you that such behavior is very rude?"

"Ah? Sorry, I really couldn't help it. In the mountains, if someone dressed like this..." The woman took a deep breath, barely containing her laughter. "The legs might... hahaha!" She failed to hold it in. "Sorry, sorry! Tell me why you've come! I'll try my best to persuade Father for you!"

"I wish to request your clan's bloodline regulation technique!" Clenching his teeth, Chi knelt before her. "I beg you, you must try!"

The woman suddenly froze. After a moment, she hurriedly helped Chi up. "What you speak of... No, that technique can only be cultivated by my Yunshui Clan! What use do you have for it?"

"My fiancée is also of the Yunshui Clan. She overexerted her bloodline and is in critical condition. Although treated by a senior, without this technique, it only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause. Eventually, she will relapse and die!"

"For a thousand years, none in our clan has married out. How could..." The woman was baffled again. "Let's speak in private!" She led Chi back into the house. "Your fiancée is also Yunshui Clan. What is her name?"

"Lan Jinxi!" Chi replied.

"Our clan is indeed of the Lan lineage, but I haven't heard this name!" The woman pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered something. "Hey! My younger sister was just born! You're already eyeing her?! You must have come with King Ping and seen her! You Central Plains people are truly unreasonable!"

"No, no! That's not what I meant!" Chi quickly explained. "I didn't know your sister was also named Lan Jinxi! But my fiancée really has that name too! If you don't believe me, I'll draw her portrait for you!" With that, Chi picked up a wooden board from nearby and a stone, and began carving on it. Soon, the portrait of Lan Jinxi appeared.

"Hey, quite pretty! Your skill is good!" The woman looked at the portrait, examining the details carefully, then suddenly sprang up. "Isn't this my sister?! You Central Plains people have superb painting skills. I've long heard you can predict a child's looks at three and their future at seven!"

Seeing this made things even harder to explain, Chi pulled out a jade pendant from over his heart. "Look! This is our betrothal token!"

"This carving style... it is indeed from my Yunshui Clan." The woman calmed down, took the pendant, and examined it. She then excused herself for a moment. When she returned, her expression held a new complexity. "This pendant was personally carved by Father, one for me and one for my sister. He said it was for our future betrothals. Besides him and me, no one has seen them. And this jade is fine-quality jade unique to our area..."

"Just who are you?" The woman looked at Chi seriously and asked, "My sister's pendant is intact. But yours is identical to the left half of hers, except for this extra chip here. Given your clumsy nature, that part is understandable."

Chi remained silent, unsure how to explain.

"You're from the future, aren't you?" the woman asked after looking at the pendant and thinking for a while.

Chi stared at her in disbelief.

"It seems I guessed right! Don't worry! I'll keep your secret for you!" the woman said smugly. "Well, what you said does make sense. But how could Jinxi overuse her bloodline? Our clan's foundational technique is passed to each clansman on their third birthday. After that, using the bloodline should never be a problem! And if you really were exploiting her, you wouldn't kneel before me just for a foundational technique, would you? What happened in the future?" After reasoning to herself for a while, she suddenly leaned in close to Chi and asked.

"Ah, what?" Chi was at a loss. The woman before him had actually deduced he was from the future based on such scant clues, and her reasoning about many things was roughly on point.

"You still don't believe you've traveled through time?" Seeing Chi's stunned expression, the woman shook her head, stepped forward, and pinched his cheek. "Look, even an old-fashioned relic from the past like me can believe it. Why can't you?"

"I come from... a hundred years later!" Chi finally managed to squeeze the words out.

The woman exclaimed in shock, retreating a few steps in disbelief.

"From the time King Ping moved the capital to my father's era when Zhou perished, over five hundred years passed!" Chi reviewed the history from his memory and spoke slowly. "As for this place... there are no records in the ancient texts."

"You mean... we've been long dead? What about Jinxi..." The sheer volume of information was overwhelming for a moment; she let out a sigh to steady herself.

"But how could you be so certain I'm from the future?" Chi countered.

"When I was young, I once dreamt of a white-haired Daoist, unlike anyone in this age. He told me that someone from the future would travel back to preserve the last of our clan's bloodline during a calamity." The woman recounted, then suddenly gasped sharply. "Recently, I heard the Grand Priest say that when Venus shines, it will be the day the Yunshui Clan perishes. But he didn't specify details. That's why Father is now meeting with the other four branches to discuss countermeasures!"

"That can't be true, right? Your story is even more fantastical than mine!" Chi asked with an incredulous laugh.

"But future-man, you have come!" the woman said with a serious expression. She grabbed Chi's hand and pulled him outside, stopping only when they reached the vicinity of an altar. "We are descendants of the Water God Gonggong. Our ancestor, after being defeated by Zhu Rong, came here. This place was a sea of fire due to a demon's mischief. The ancestor exhausted his strength to defeat it but lacked the power to kill it, so he could only seal it beneath this mountain. Our clan has guarded it generation after generation."

"You mean..." Chi walked closer to the altar, feeling his entire bloodline being stirred and boiling. This was a resonance unique to his Heaven-grade Fire Spirit Root. "The seal... is about to break!"

The woman said nothing, merely nodding.

"But your Yunshui Clan isn't..." Chi turned to ask, only to see the woman's expression stiffen.

"That battle with the Central Plains cost us dearly. Now, the five branches have less than five hundred men combined. Father, our most powerful cultivator, is only nearing the Ancestor rank, and he still has a gap compared to a typical Ancestor. How can we face a foe our ancestor could only barely defeat?!"

"It's been sealed, so its combat power must be diminished. With the support of formations, victory isn't impossible!"

"Ji Chi, you're too optimistic!" The woman pulled Chi back. "Putting aside the fact that the five branches can't muster a single true Ancestor and all the branch leaders are injured, meaning a joint effort might not even unleash Ancestor-level power... That fiend was only defeated because our ancestor's technique countered it. I've read ancient texts stating it can gradually adapt to damage from the outside and even alter its own attributes. A thousand years have passed; even sealed, that nature remains. Once it breaks the seal on its own, its transformation will be complete. How could we possibly win then?!"

"Don't you still have the Ancestral Artifact?"

"Just one strike. If it fails, we perish! You're a natural fire spirit root, and you came from the future. Perhaps there's a destined way for you to return. My sister is our clan's unparalleled genius. I will pass my clan's secret technique to you. Once Father returns and I explain, you must leave immediately!" The woman spoke, shoving a cultivation manual into Chi's arms, but Chi hesitated.

"When I first arrived, I left an ember spark outside... but after coming here, I lost contact with it. I also lost contact with my sect brothers and sisters... This isn't a secret realm; it's reality. And... perhaps... I can't go back either." Chi stammered out.

"Then you take Jinxi to Great Qin! Their Ying Clan values temporal stability above all. Find an excuse, and they will surely send you back!"

...