NOVEL FROG Chapter 62: Preparations
Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?
Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?
Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 62: Preparations
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The amount of money the BMFS Faction had was almost hard to fathom. Countless rare and expensive drake parts, Dragonblood Spirit Crystals, rare spiritual herbs, fruits and plants. Keeping a small portion for their own use and selling the rest, an endless torrent of Spirit Stones arrived at their doorstep.
Li Ji managed all of it, divining the Karmic Wealth flows with the Manyfold Good Fortune Dao-Enshrining Scripture, he perfectly navigated the marketplace, finding the best deals, and squeezing out huge gains from the desperate.
Thousands and thousands of jade messaging tablets were broken as he weaved deals, examined various auction houses, and expedited the process of liquidating the humongous pile of valuable assets.
Thankfully, even the backwater Bird Talon Continent had automated market systems that allowed one to transport and sell industrial amounts of resources in moments. Bing Meilu shuddered at how long it might take to sell if they had to physically transport it to stores.
In just a day, Li Ji reached the barrier of Core Formation and had to suppress his breakthrough because he was not prepared for the Tribulation. The path of Yin Metal was tied to money and Li Ji had finally gotten a taste of just how shameless the Dao of Wealth really was.
Months of bitter cultivation, absorbing dregs of Karmic Wealth from the air, had barely gotten him to the fourth stage of Foundation Establishment. A day of making huge gains brought him to Core Formation. This was, of course, a double-edged sword, but so long as his wealth kept expanding, so would his cultivation.
Li Ji took a short break from his sales, preparing the next level of his mastery of the Evading The Jade Palace Heavenly Steps. This time he would pursue an even more advanced and profound technique... he would fake his own death!
After all, you couldn't be punished when you were dead!
He found an open area for his tribulation and let it begin. Popping several defensive pills and donning expensive thunder-resistant armour, he waited.
A terrifying tribulation gathered above, and Li Ji watched as hundreds of searing lightning bolts shot down to embrace him. He let loose a shrill scream as the armour melted and his flesh burnt.
"Fuck! I didn't think this through- Ah! Why does it hurt so much more than last time?!" Li Ji whined. "Note to self; never make a plan that involves being hit by fucking tribulation lighting again!"
Bones poked out from his shoulders, charred black by smouldering lightning. He turned and twisted his body, moving in accordance with the Heavenly Steps. His whole form seemed to twist the air, until he disappeared, leaving behind what seemed to be a charred corpse.
Within his real body, countless Jade rivers melted and crumbled, pouring into the center of his Dantian, where a Jade Core grew outwards, filled with Yin Metal Qi.
Five-coloured lighting soared down, pouring into his 'corpse'. Compared to before, the attack was extremely gentle. A carcass did not need the full wrath of the tribulation. His body sizzled and burnt until it appear half liquidated. A desolate aura of death qi poured from him.
Satisfied its mark was extinguished, the tribulations cloud retracted, and Li Ji let loose a sigh of relief.
"I did it! Core Formation!" he cheered.
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Meanwhile, Bing Meilu sat before the assembled members of the BMFS faction.
"As you may have heard, we will be auctioning out factions' loyalty to the highest bidder. Before the bidding starts, we're going to put on a little show, an advertisement of why our services are worth a high price. As such, we must maximize our power until then."
The leader turned to the nine members of her Outer Circle. Aside from the two who had been lieutenants when she joined, the lower seven were all at the peak of Qi Condensation.
She had warned them they would have difficulty surviving their tribulation, so they had been practicing constantly, strengthing their mastery of the Manyhearts Shield and Sword Formation. They were focused totally on increasing their combat strength and survivability.
"Show me your progress," Bing Meilu demanded.
The seven in Qi condensation formed into a formation, two lines, with three in the first line and four in the second. An invisible ripple of Qi spread across them. This was the Manyhearts Sheild Formation.
Bing Meilu created a spear of ice, launching it forward. It shattered uselessly against their barrier. She nodded. Stable enough.
'Utpala Lotus Palm!'
The white-robed girl leapt forward, her outstretched palm slamming into the stomach of one of the privates. An icy white light exploded outwards. The shield cracked but did not buckle.
She ducked as a massive Qi blade slashed at her throat. Several more appeared from bizarre angles, shooting toward her. Yin light gently shattered each blade. Bing Meilu stepped backwards, nodding.
"You're ready. Take a day to prepare your hearts and then breakthrough to the Second Realm," Bing Meilu said.
"Those of you in the Inner circle, I will be holding a lecture on the Dao. You will all attend."
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Ji Hui, Xi Fu, Jiang Hu, Shen Xinyue, Li Ji, Xia Xuefeng and the Elemental Five all gathered beneath a tree, waiting for Bing Meilu.
Li Ji smugly smirked as he arrived, waving at his fellow slaves.
"Ah, if it isn't junior brother Xi Fu? I see you've finally reached the fourth stage of Core Formation? Impressive. Perhaps one day you'll catch up to me!"
Ever since breaking through to Core Formation, Li Ji's cultivation had rocketed forward unimpeded, constantly managing huge sums of wealth. He was already at the sixth stage of Core Formation and soon to reach the seventh.
Xi Fu raised an eyebrow, an aura thundering with Heaven-Defying Spear Intent pouring from him. A terrifying pressure locked onto the wealth cultivator, whose face turned pale.
"Hahah! I was just joking, Brother Xi Fu. Have a sense of humour!"
Bing Meilu flew down from above, landing upon a tree branch. She looked at the terrified Li Ji with a raised eyebrow.
"This disciple greets Master!" Shen Xinyue immediately bowed deeply. Xia Xuefeng joined her awkwardly.
"You're all here, good. Today, I will be giving you all a lecture on the Dao. It will be beneficial to your cultivation, so listen closely and try to comprehend my words."
Bing Meilu inhaled deeply before she began to speak, her voice low and serious.
"There are numerous ways, three thousand Daos. All who live follow their own path. Some say that every Way is equal, that all streams will one day reach the ocean... These people are utterly wrong! There is but one correct path. Mine.
Accumulation cultivators are all cowards who scamper at the sign of danger, Weapon cultivators are battle-headed idiots with no brains. The faces of Formation cultivators are always hilarious when you force them to fight you without a numbers advantage.
Those foolish Buddhists sit on their asses, preaching to empty air as if we care. Music cultivators are decadent wastrels with no resolve, and the less said about dual cultivators, the better.
Body cultivation is for idiots unable to comprehend the Dao and Body-Qi cultivators are fickle fools who can't commit to a single direction. Blood cultivators? You can't cultivate without other people around you. What a joke!"
Bing Meilu's voice rose arrogantly as she mocked every kind of cultivation. Those listening frowned and in confusion and offence, as their master spat on each and every one of their individual paths with complete disdain. Was this really their 'Dao lecture'?
"Throughout the three thousand Daos, there is but one correct Way! I, Bing Meilu, am an orthodox Daoist Cultivator. I seek comprehension of the myriad's truths so I might transcend even the Nameless. The masses may err, I cannot! Of all the countless paths and myriad ways, I alone shall reach the Peak. Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the honoured one."
Xi Fu tried to calm himself. What bullshit was this? She had encouraged him to seek weapon cultivation, but now she was spitting on it?
"What's the meaning of this? Is this Dao lecture just to make fun of us?" Xi Fu asked.
"You don't get it, Xi Fu," it was Ji Hui who spoke, his eyes closed in deep comprehension. "She didn't say her path is correct. She said My path is correct."
"Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the Honored One. My path is correct, my path is true. The Dao of the Spirit Dog is alone, unrivalled, the one true way." He murmured.
Xi Fu blinked as he finally understood Bing Meilu's words. A cultivator had to have absolute faith in their path, to challenge Heaven. But what did it mean to say 'my path is correct'... If all paths were correct? If every way was equal, then it didn't matter which way you follow, no matter what, it would have been right for you. But... that was wrong!
Xi Fu couldn't imagine himself as anything else but a Spear Cultivator. This was His Path, His Way. It wasn't equal to others, in Xi Fu's eyes it was superior.
That was the Essence of Bing Meilu's words.
"There are countless types of cultivators... but all of them are beneath me. I alone am walking the true way... The path of the Spear... Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the honoured one. I alone shall reach the peak." Xi Fu spoke hesitantly, imitating Ji Hui.
They had to have faith in their own path, to the point they could confidently and boldly declare every path inferior to their own. Only with that level of confidence was Xi Fu qualified to overturn the heavens themself. He felt like seeds of doubt were excised from his mind until only a single faith towards the spear remained.
"There are countless types of cultivators, but all of them are beneath me. I alone am walking the true way, the path of the Spear! Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the honoured one. I alone shall reach the peak!" Xi Fu spoke, heart firm with determination.
Everyone fell into meditation, cultivations progressing, Daohearts firming.
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A humble darkness rumbled, ever so slowly growing. It could make nothing of its own, but it nourished everything that was given to it.
Words drifted into it and the humble darkness nourished them too. Words grew into a seed, a seed into a spark.
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The next day, Bing Meilu held a second Dao lecture. The area, a small grove atop a mountain near the port, had changed already. The spiritual energy had become denser, the nearby plants and flowers had all bloomed and grown. It was as if Bing Meilu simply speaking had brought numerous benefits to the landscape.
With everyone assembled, Bing Meilu began her second Dao lecture.
"What do you all think is the most important part of seeking the Dao?"
"In the Immortal Worlds, there is an old joke about young cultivators who think they know everything. Imagine a young alchemist, studying the numerous spiritual plants to master the Dao of Life. One day, he beholds a fungus growing from the corpse of a plant, and he cries in shock."
Bing Meilu gave an exaggerated gasp of shock, as if she had just uncovered the deepest depths of the universe.
"If there is life... There is death!!"
She seemed the perfect picture of a young genius who thought they had stumbled upon a deep and shocking truth of the world.
"Tell me, do you think these young cultivators have stumbled upon something profound? Do you think they are masters of the Dao?"
No one spoke, hanging on the girl's words.
"Ji Hui, you've begun to comprehend Taiji. Tell me, do you know what happens if I combine Steller Precept Fire Iron with a flower of from the Nine Purple Yin Lotus?"
Ji Hui shook his head.
"Xia Xuefeng, can you tell me the unique properties of the blood of the Crystal Heaven Dragon?"
The girl also shook her head.
"Xi Fu, can you name every type of spear?"
"No? But surely that's not a requirement for the Spear Dao-"
"Of course it is. The numerous spears under Heaven and Earth do not proceed from the Spear Dao. They are the Spear Dao. Every haft, every blade, every thrust and slash. The world is one with its laws, the laws are one with the world. To understand one is to understand the other. A painting is made up of every brushstroke, every drop of dye. Once you've comprehended everything, only then do you truly understand the art. Having never seen its ink, do you think you can know what the painting looks like?"
"This alchemist has not yet even come close to becoming a master of the Dao of Life... but he has just built a foundation. Every grand construction begins with a humble foundation. But you cannot stop there, you must build upon that. Real comprehension requires deep understanding. It means you understand the countless transformations, the endless interactions between numerous variations. Life can take ten thousand forms, and each one is but a fragment of the grand Dao. With every truth you learn, every transformation you've seen, you get closer and closer to a true understanding of the world."
"Daoist Earthheart, of the five phases, what element is drained by Earth?"
"Earth smothers fire in the Draining cycle, boss," the man replied.
"But do you know what would happen if I had a fire drained into Earth while at the same time, Fire generated Earth as part of the generative cycle?"
The man fell silent, pondering.
"It would.. cancel out? The earth would drain the fire until it disappeared, and then the generation would stop?"
"It would produce metal." Daoist Goldsnake spoke up.
"Earth bears metal in the generative cycle, and fire vaporizes metal in the overacting cycle. Therefore, the fire is suppressing the birth of metal, but when the earth smothers the fire, metal would be born," Bing Meilu nodded. "Now what would happen is I had water rusting metal per the draining cycle all the while I have Earth damming water per the overacting cycle, while metal is bearing water and earth is bearing metal and water is muddying earth in the insulting cycle?"
None of the Elemental Five answered.
"You have a good foundation of understanding in the five phases, but you have only begun to scratch the surface of the countless profound transformations. There is a vast and tall tower of true understanding waiting to be built. When I can ask you any questions about the interactions of the elements, and you can immediately understand, you'll have truly mastered the Five Bones of the Origin God."
"You've enlightened this lowly one boss!" Ji Hui declared, fires of dedication lighting in his eyes. " Before I was arrogantly and foolish, like a frog at the bottom of the well, thinking the sky is a tiny circle. Now I know the truth. Until the day I can recite the name of every Spirit-Dog in existence, I have not yet even begun to truly walk upon my Dao!"
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Deep in darkness, a slow mind pondered. Its thoughts took ten thousand years, and its mind measured in eras.
Within it, a spark grew into a flame, then a blaze. Words growing into enlightenment, the first self-conscious thought flittered through the mind.
It could not create, but perhaps it could comprehend?... And so, a Continent began to cultivate.
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The day before the auction began, the Elemental Five broke through to Core Formation. Far away from the Sect in a humble abandoned field, they all of them took the step together.
Gathered in the shape of the World-Genesis Procession of the Four Symbols, five guardian beasts appeared, representing the Five Phases, the Four Symbols. Around them floated the Eight Trigrams.,
Enormous power gathered above, five terrifying and destructive tribulations gathered, more power than the sum of its parts. No life force or love could be felt from the furious wrath of the skies.
Lighting and desolation rained down from above. I was all subjugated by their formation. Lighting swirled and poured into them, transforming into the energy of the five phases.
In the end, Heavenly wrath became nourishment for their advancement.