Outside the Five Elements Hall, Kong Hou stood at the entrance, not moving.
“What’s wrong?” Cheng Yi saw Kong Hou hesitating at the entrance, not daring to go in. Now she knew to be afraid? He had thought she truly feared nothing under heaven or earth, taking storybook content as universal truth.
“It’s, it’s nothing.” Kong Hou wouldn’t admit that she was worried she didn’t have the protagonist’s good luck from storybooks. She straightened the fur vest on her body, putting on a brave front. “I’m just arranging my clothes.”
Cheng Yi laughed out loud and took her hand. “Junior martial sister, no matter what kind of aptitude you have, you’re still my junior martial sister. No one in all of Yunhua Sect dares let you suffer grievances.”
Kong Hou bit her lower lip. “Do useless people also have value?”
The people in the palace said that Emperor Jing Hong kept her alive because she still had some use, which was why he left this bloodline of the previous dynasty alive. Young as she was, she understood very early that after Mother Empress passed away, there would never again be anyone in the world who would treat her well without expecting compensation.
Coming to Yunhua Sect, she dared not walk around carelessly or speak randomly, afraid of bringing trouble to Master, and also afraid Master and senior martial brothers would despise her.
Seeing Kong Hou’s uneasy appearance, Cheng Yi crouched down and looked her straight in the eyes. “Kong Hou, senior martial brother’s aptitude isn’t top-tier. If you possessed proud natural talent, senior martial brother would be of no use to you. Would senior martial brother then have no value?”
Kong Hou repeatedly shook her head. “No, eldest senior martial brother is very good. Master and second senior martial brother are good too.”
“So you see, in our eyes, Kong Hou is also very good, no matter what kind of aptitude you have.” Cheng Yi smiled warmly and extended his hand before Kong Hou. “Don’t be afraid. Senior martial brother will accompany you inside.”
Kong Hou slowly placed her hand in Cheng Yi’s palm. Eldest senior martial brother’s hand was very large and very warm, able to completely envelope her hand. It was like… like Father’s hand, giving her infinite courage.
The Five Elements Hall steward saw Cheng Yi leading Kong Hou inside and secretly stuffed the tangram he was playing with into his sleeve. “Greetings to both martial uncles.” These past few days there had been few matters in the sect, and he was bored with nothing to do. He had just taken out the tangram and hadn’t even played for a quarter hour when he was discovered by the two martial uncles. His timing was truly terrible.
Cheng Yi pretended not to see the steward’s small movements. “Junior martial sister just arrived at the sect. I’m bringing her to test her aptitude.”
The steward thought to himself that last time, before his words had even left his mouth, they were glared back by Martial Uncle Cheng Yi. Now he was voluntarily coming forward again. Qiyue Peak’s way of doing things always left people unable to figure it out.
He led the senior and junior martial siblings to the back courtyard. Inside were Five Elements Stones with talisman arrays drawn on them. People with spiritual roots only needed to place the spirit stone at their forehead to test their aptitude. This young martial uncle came from the mortal realm, and they hadn’t even dared test her aptitude before holding the disciple acceptance ceremony. Her aptitude probably wasn’t good at all.
After the steward finished explaining what to do, Kong Hou picked up the fifth Five Elements Stone from the table. She felt the character for “five” was fated with her—perhaps it could bring her good luck.
The Five Elements Stone felt cool to the touch. The moment it pressed against her forehead, Kong Hou felt a cool energy rush into her brain. It was somewhat cold, but more than that, it was comfortable, just like floodwater washing away mud from stone slabs, becoming refreshing and clear.
“Close your eyes and relax your body and mind.” Cheng Yi saw the Five Elements Stone had no reaction. “Take it slowly.”
The courtyard was extremely quiet. Apart from the rustling sound of drifting snowflakes falling on tree leaves, there were no other sounds.
After waiting a moment, the Five Elements Stone still had no reaction. The steward wanted to say that this young martial uncle fundamentally had no spiritual roots and thus couldn’t step onto the cultivation path. But seeing the young martial uncle’s earnest appearance, he chose silence.
Perhaps if they waited a bit longer, the Five Elements Stone would react.
After waiting a bit more, Cheng Yi took a deep breath and placed his hand on Kong Hou’s shoulder. “Junior martial sister…”
Suddenly air currents surged around Kong Hou’s body. The snowflakes on the ground were swept into the air. Cheng Yi was blown backward by this air current, retreating two consecutive steps before barely managing to stabilize himself. “Junior martial sister!”
Kong Hou couldn’t hear Cheng Yi’s call. Her entire person had fallen into an extremely comfortable state, as if wrapped by some very pleasant energy. Her whole body from top to bottom was breathing freely, light and floating as if flying in the sky.
When she opened her eyes again, what she saw was the back courtyard in complete disarray, and the steward covered from head to face in accumulated snow. Turning back to look at eldest senior martial brother, although he didn’t look as disheveled as the steward, his robes were also covered in snowflakes. Everything before her eyes left Kong Hou very confused. Could she have caused this?
“Are you two alright?” Kong Hou hurriedly put the Five Elements Stone back on the table, feeling somewhat guilty. Having broken so many things, would she have to pay compensation?
“I’m fine. Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?” Cheng Yi strode forward and placed his hand on Kong Hou’s pulse point. After confirming she wasn’t injured, he breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately nothing was wrong. Junior martial sister was young—if there were any problems with her meridians, that would be a lifelong issue.
“The, the Five Elements Stone!” The steward held the Five Elements Stone that Kong Hou had just placed back on the table, his voice beginning to stutter.
Cheng Yi looked toward what the steward held in his hands and saw that the Five Elements Stone had shattered. Mottled cracks appeared on the stone’s surface, and the spiritual energy inside had leaked out completely clean.
Kong Hou grabbed Cheng Yi’s sleeve corner and hid behind Cheng Yi a bit. She was done for. She’d been in the cultivation realm less than ten days and already had to have senior martial brother compensate for her.
Cheng Yi took out a message talisman and touched it with spiritual power. Several talisman patterns flew out like lightning. According to the rules, when juniors in the sect consulted elders, they should personally pay a visit at the cave dwelling entrance. But the current situation was special, and he couldn’t worry about such things now.
Seeing eldest senior martial brother and the steward’s grave expressions, Kong Hou said in a voice like a mosquito’s buzz, “Eldest senior martial brother, did I cause a huge disaster?”
“No.” Cheng Yi awoke from his shock and hurriedly soothed Kong Hou’s emotions, smiling at her. “Junior martial sister, you have spiritual roots. In the future you can cultivate together with us.”
It was just that junior martial sister’s spiritual roots might be somewhat complex and required waiting for the Elders to come before they could figure out what was really going on.
“Then…” Kong Hou tugged at Cheng Yi’s sleeve, making him lower his head to hear her whisper. “Then for breaking things here, how much money do I have to pay?”
“The sect is your home. If you broke something at home, would you still have to pay compensation?” Cheng Yi couldn’t help but laugh. “For all matters, Master and senior martial brothers are here. You don’t need to worry about these things.”
“When I broke things in the palace, I didn’t have to pay money, but my monthly stipend would be deducted.” According to the rules, Kong Hou also received treasures bestowed by the Emperor and Empress each year, but these were all managed by the female officials around her. Nominally they were hers, but she didn’t even have a chance to touch them. With great difficulty she had picked up a silver peanut on the ground that must have been dropped by some noble lady. The day she bought the sugar painting, she felt sorry for the old man who still had to make sugar paintings in the bitter cold of deep winter, so she gave him the entire silver peanut.
Now, although she knew the old man was Master, she was too embarrassed to ask Master to return that silver peanut.
“This place is different from the imperial palace. You’ll grow to like it more and more here.” Cheng Yi rubbed the top of Kong Hou’s head. Kong Hou’s hair today had been tied by him—the two buns on either side looked simple, but it had taken him several days to barely make them presentable.
Kong Hou quietly kicked a broken table leg under the table and set her mind at ease.
Wang Tong and the two Elders arrived very quickly. Wang Tong walked into the back courtyard, saw the complete disarray on the ground, and his expression immediately became tense. “Is Kong Hou alright?”
“Master, I’m fine.” Kong Hou poked her head out from behind Cheng Yi, looking somewhat timid.
“As long as the person is fine, that’s good.” Wang Tong walked to Kong Hou’s side, pulled her behind himself, and very shamelessly said to the steward, “If compensation is needed, deduct spirit stones from Qiyue Peak’s general account.”
Steward: …
The spirit stones that Qiyue Peak owed the sect had already been deducted to fifty years in the future. Where were there still spirit stones to deduct on the account books?
“Master, this matter isn’t junior martial sister’s fault.” Cheng Yi told Wang Tong about the process and consequences of what happened.
“The Five Elements Stone shattered?” Guyu picked up the Five Elements Stone from the table and looked at it several times. He took out a crystal stone from his storage bag, walked before Kong Hou, and asked, “Are you afraid?”
Kong Hou clutched Wang Tong’s sleeve corner. “Grand-martial Uncle, I’m not afraid.”
Guyu bent down and touched the top of her head, placing the crystal stone on it. Instantly the crystal stone lit up. A fierce wind arose all around once again, and snowflakes danced wildly. Seeing this, Guyu hurriedly withdrew the crystal stone, looking at Wang Tong with an extremely subtle expression.
“Grand-martial Uncle, how is my little disciple’s aptitude?” Wang Tong was stared at by Guyu until his heart turned cold. He feared nothing under heaven or earth except Grand-martial Uncle Guyu looking at him. This made him recall the terror from eight hundred years ago when he was locked in a small dark room by his martial uncle and stared at for three days and three nights.
“Heaven and earth have five elements, mutually generating and restraining. As long as one is born in this heaven and earth, one cannot escape these five elements, nor can one be separated from them.” Guyu looked down at the still-young little girl. “A very small portion are born receiving heaven and earth’s deep favor, bearing all five elements, both offensive and defensive. But this is both fortune and misfortune. If such people cannot endure hardship, they’re not even as good as ordinary cultivators. But if they cultivate with dedication, they become outstanding figures in the cultivation world, with almost no one able to match them.”
Wang Tong looked thoughtful. After a long while he said, “Martial Uncle, please speak more simply.”
Guyu placed his hands behind his back and said expressionlessly, “What I mean is, you’ve accepted a good disciple. She has five spiritual roots.”
Two thousand years ago, the cultivation world still thought five spiritual roots were the most worthless aptitude. But as one five-spiritual-root cultivator after another became great powers, the major sects finally realized that five-spiritual-root cultivators, as long as they were willing to endure hardship, were even more formidable in later cultivation than single-spiritual-root cultivators.
However, fate was sometimes just this strange. When everyone didn’t value five-spiritual-root cultivators, there were still a small number of five-spiritual-root cultivators appearing. When all sects realized the importance of five-spiritual-root cultivators and began recruiting five-spiritual-root disciples in great numbers, cultivators with five spiritual roots became increasingly rare, almost extinct. On the rare occasions when five-spiritual-root cultivators appeared, they were snatched away by the most prominent sects, and it could never be Yunhua Sect’s turn.
So now the most sought-after in the cultivation world were five-spiritual-root cultivators, followed by single-spiritual-root cultivators. Truly, thirty centuries in the east, thirty centuries in the west—there was never any certainty.
Now Wang Tong had casually brought back a little girl from the mortal realm, and she possessed five spiritual roots. Moreover, her meridians were powerful—even the Five Elements Stone couldn’t withstand the attraction to spiritual energy from her body. This was even rarer than a sword cultivator refining a furnace of top-grade medicinal pills.
“You…” Guyu patted Wang Tong’s shoulder. “In the future, don’t run around carelessly. Stay properly in the sect and teach your disciples.”
No wonder his luck was usually so poor—he had saved up all his good fortune in one place to use for accepting disciples.
Wang Tong was stunned for a long while, then suddenly bent down and picked up Kong Hou. “Good disciple, you’re a genius!”
Startled into screaming by Master’s sudden action, Kong Hou wrapped her arms around Wang Tong’s neck. After coming back to her senses, she said to Cheng Yi behind Wang Tong, “Eldest senior martial brother, the storybook really didn’t deceive me!”
Cheng Yi: “…”
No, junior martial sister, storybooks really can’t be trusted—this is just a coincidence!
—
Author’s Note: Cheng Yi: Unscrupulous storybooks harm people.
Storybook: I’m not, I didn’t.