Chapter 129: Come Quickly

This confinement caused Bian Chunzhou to miss the New Year’s Day sunrise at Juyong Hall. Granted, he had been at a critical juncture in modifying his Transmission Talismans at the time, so he hadn’t paid any attention to the passage of time.

He had originally thought that being cooped up for half a year would drive him crazy, but… it turned out to be quite alright. He even had the illusion that he had only been locked away for half a month. As expected, cultivation made one lose all track of time.

“Why do you two look like you barely know each other?” Bian Chunzhou looked from one to the other. “Did something happen between you two while I was gone?”

Chen Zui looked surprised. “Really? We’re doing great.”

It’s great on his end, Wen Xu thought. He silently pulled out the stack of harassing Transmission Talismans that Chen Zui had sent him during this period.

“Why did you give me these Transmission Talismans? So many? Did you rob the warehouse of some talisman shop at the foot of the mountain?” Bian Chunzhou pulled a stack off the top. Good grief, every single one of them bore Chen Zuizui’s spiritual energy signature.

“As you can see, while you were away, he took over some of your duties,” Wen Xu said dryly.

No way, Bian Chunzhou thought. I was never that dramatic. At most, I sent one or two a day. Out loud, he said, “What’s gotten into you? And you two actually went behind my back to watch the sunrise at Juyong Hall…”

“We didn’t go,” Wen Xu said, a faint smile playing on his lips. “The Sect Master was keeping too close an eye on things. Word is that after he returned from burning incense at Foguang Temple, he was in a terrible mood and went straight to the cloud steps below Juyong Hall to catch people.”

“Other people went up to watch the sunrise besides us? Who leaked the news?” Last year, it had only been the three of them. “Was it you, Chen Zuizui?”

Chen Zui shook his head. “I was busy practicing my saber. I only wrote that talisman because I occasionally heard Senior Brother mention it.”

It wasn’t him, it wasn’t Wen Xuxu, and it wasn’t Chen Zuizui. Could it be… the Sect Master?! Bian Chunzhou’s eyes widened. He would never have guessed that the Sect Master, with his upright and honest appearance, would play such an underhanded trick as a sting operation.

“So, are you still looking for an opportunity to achieve Foundation Establishment?”

To his surprise, Chen Zui shook his head. “No.”

“You found it?”

“No, I gave up.”

…Good grief, what did he mean by giving up? Bian Chunzhou couldn’t help but look at Wen Xuxu. Seeing the slightly weary smile on Wen Xuxu’s face, he knew there had to be more to this “giving up” than met the eye.

“You’re not going to establish your foundation?”

“No, I’ve decided to follow Senior Brother Shi Yijian’s example. Since I can’t find the opportunity right now, I’ll just focus on training hard. When the opportunity eventually comes, I’ll break through directly to late-stage Foundation Establishment.” Chen Zui had shaved today, and his face was completely serene. “Enough talk, I’m going to practice my saber.”

With that, he ran off.

Bian Chunzhou was utterly dumbfounded. “I… he… how on earth did he undergo such a shocking shift in mindset in just half a year? Did you teach him that?”

Wen Xu hesitated for a moment. “I don’t know either.”

“You don’t know?” Half a year. It had only been half a year! Had the sky fallen outside?

“Actually, going by a normal person’s way of thinking, they wouldn’t have had this kind of shift,” Wen Xu sighed. “But I forgot that he’s quite different from normal people.”

Quite different? He was practically light-years away.

“So, why exactly is he stuck at a bottleneck?” If even Wen Xuxu couldn’t guide him, it must be incredibly difficult.

Wen Xu sighed again. “Actually, if he had never thought about how to achieve Foundation Establishment, he might have naturally broken through one day while practicing his saber or fighting. But he just had to put his mind to it and study it deeply.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” If Chen Zuizui didn’t use his brain, he might actually forget how to think. Correcting it early during the Qi Refining Stage seemed perfectly fine to Bian Chunzhou.

“His Dao is different from yours and mine. He is a… very pure person. Once he realized that Foundation Establishment is a serious matter that could affect his saber training, what do you think he would think?”

What would he think? Knowing that guy’s obsession with the saber, Bian Chunzhou’s eyes widened. “He wants a Perfect Foundation Establishment?” No way. How many Perfect Foundation Establishments had there been in the history of cultivation? Chen Zuizui was certainly a confident guy.

Wen Xu nodded. “He feels that only the best foundation is worthy of his saber.”

Venerable Yanshan had probably said something along the lines of the saber not being flawless, and Wen Xu had also dropped hints several times. Unfortunately, Chen Zui didn’t understand. Or rather, Chen Zui’s perception of the world was strictly black and white. Black was black, white was white, with no gray areas in between. And so… things had ended up like this.

“Then we’re doomed. Are you going to try and change his perspective on the saber?” Bian Chunzhou’s eyes widened dramatically. “That’s impossible. Knowing him, he’s the type who would crash into a brick wall and only think the wall was too flimsy for him to break through.”

However, Wen Xu had already come to terms with it. “But I thought about it later. There are no set rules in cultivation. Perhaps one day, he will find the opportunity he’s looking for.”

Rather than the path right before his eyes that either he or Venerable Yanshan could see. He shouldn’t use his own way of thinking to confine others. Chen Zui wasn’t him, nor was he someone who rushed for quick results.

“I see.” Bian Chunzhou nodded in agreement. “That makes sense. He loves the saber so much, it won’t let him down. It’s a mutual devotion. I’m just a bit surprised.”

“Surprised by what?”

Resting his chin on his hand, Bian Chunzhou said, “I originally thought that someone as straightforward and frank as Chen Zuizui would have an almost intuitive grasp of Foundation Establishment, making it easier for him to break through than it is for me.”

After all, didn’t people say that heaven favors the simple-minded? Many straightforward people had no distracting thoughts, making it easier for them to advance their cultivation.

“Actually, I used to think so too.” Wen Xu had even felt that compared to Chunzhou and Chen Zui, he would be the one who struggled the most with Foundation Establishment. He hadn’t expected to be the fastest to break through, and to achieve a Perfect Foundation Establishment at that.

In fact, before his breakthrough, he hadn’t given the concept of a Perfect Foundation Establishment any thought at all.

“Right? But look at him. He isn’t anxious at all. As long as he’s practicing his saber, he can fully immerse himself in it. I believe in him.” Bian Chunzhou had been a little worried at first, but on second thought, since Chen Zuizui was so confident, he, as a friend, should naturally have faith in him too.

“What about you?” Wen Xu suddenly asked.

Chen Zuizui had actually asked him this question before, so Bian Chunzhou repeated his answer: “I’m in no rush. I’m still in the trial-and-error phase, and the progress bar is already halfway there.”

Especially during his recent forced confinement, his efficiency had skyrocketed, and his cultivation had made another small step forward.

“Speaking of which, did anything major happen on Yonglu Mountain over the past half year?”

Wen Xu thought about it and realized he hadn’t paid much attention. “Probably not. Though your two-thousand-word self-reflection essay did become quite popular in the Discipline Hall for a while.”

Bian Chunzhou: slowly crumbling.jpg

“Wait, isn’t that thing just to check off a box? How did it become popular?”

Wen Xu couldn’t help but chuckle. “Your self-reflection was posted right next to Senior Sister Xiang He’s. You should still remember what you wrote, right?”

Oh god, Bian Chunzhou cringed so hard his toes curled. Elder Zhao Qi was a truly cruel cultivator!

“Did Senior Sister Xiang He write hers really well?”

“Not really. The two of you wrote… with your own unique styles, but Senior Sister Xiang He’s handwriting is nicer than yours.” Chunzhou’s handwriting was indeed a bit lacking.

Half of Bian Chunzhou’s soul silently drifted out of his head. “Is it too late for me to go back into confinement for another six months?”

Wen Xu thought it was probably too late. Chunzhou was just too popular. Besides, they were all cultivators with excellent memories; even after another half year, everyone would still remember exactly what was written in that self-reflection.

“Alright, alright, I get it. You don’t need to say any more.” Bian Chunzhou slumped onto the table, but quickly sat back up. “Oh, right. Before I was put in confinement, the business with Xiaoshu Village wasn’t wrapped up yet. How did it end?”

Wen Xu had naturally paid attention to this, and he had expected Chunzhou to ask. “Elder Zhao Qi personally led people to interrogate the women of Xiaoshu Village. Perhaps knowing they were about to be freed, they confessed everything readily. They even pointed out where the bones of the men lured into Xiaoshu Village from the outside were buried.”

“It wasn’t under that big tree, was it?”

“Yes. Later, the sect disciples dug them up and reburied them in an auspicious location.”

“What about the tree?”

Wen Xu fell silent for a brief moment. “It was used as firewood.”

“What? Really?”

To be honest, when he first heard this outcome, he highly suspected his master had gone to make things difficult for the sect master. But it didn’t seem so. Of course, it was also possible his master just refused to admit it. “It’s true.”

He hadn’t expected Yonglu Mountain to be so wild in its methods. “But a tree that big, how long would it take to burn it all?”

“It’s said that once the tree’s life force was cut off, the spiritual energy inside it returned to nature. The senior brother who went to collect the firewood said there wasn’t actually much wood left.” By now, it had probably long since burned to ashes.

“So the women of Xiaoshu Village…”

Wen Xu nodded. “They have all passed on to the next life.”

Bian Chunzhou had always been an emotional person. Although he had expected this, hearing it still made him feel a bit sad. “Actually, they… I don’t really blame them.” Although he had been furious when forced to marry, thinking about it now, their lives were a tragedy that had already ended. “I want to pay my respects to them. Is that okay?”

Although they had also harmed people, those illusions had been too cruel. It was hard for Bian Chunzhou not to feel sympathetic.

“Sure. Next time we go down the mountain, I’ll go with you.”

“Then I’ll ask Senior Sister Xiang He and Chen Zuizui, and we can find a time to go together.”

*

Cultivation was a dull and repetitive process, but it was certainly a great way to kill time. Even for someone who couldn’t sit still, once they calmed their mind for a moment, they would find that hours had passed by the time they woke up.

Bian Chunzhou was exactly that kind of person. Ever since he finished his confinement, he had curbed his curiosity. After all, Transmission Talismans hadn’t reached mass production yet. It was already a stroke of massive luck that one had saved him once; he had to be content.

Rather than waiting for others to rescue him, he needed to raise his cultivation level as quickly as possible. After all, Wen Xuxu and Chen Zuizui had both asked about his progress. Time to speed up his progress bar!

In this high-spirited and optimistic mood, a year later, Bian Chunzhou had finally explored every path he could think of for the derivation of his Water-Fire Spiritual Root. It was just like running experiments; once the experimental data was in place, he could produce the results.

The results were quite pleasing. Surprisingly, three paths were viable in both theory and data.

He had originally thought there was no path forward, which was why he had been so cautious. But now that three broad avenues had suddenly appeared, it was even more distressing. There was no difference in difficulty between them (because they were all difficult), nor did he have a preference; laid out before him were three paths of almost equal size.

It seemed like he could choose any of them, yet it also felt like he would regret whichever one he chose. After all, cultivation was not like running an experiment. If an experiment failed, he could start over, but cultivation only went forward. If his cultivation level ever regressed, that would be a disaster.

“So, which one should I actually choose?”

Bian Chunzhou had been agonizing over this for more than half a month, even eating a few bites less at dinner. He now understood the state Chen Zuizui had been in when he was close to Foundation Establishment but couldn’t find the way in. It was indeed anxiety-inducing.

So this was what it felt like: hesitating yet unable to stop moving forward, moving forward yet unable to stop hesitating. Feeling timid and hesitant, always feeling like he was just one step away, yet terrified that once he stepped through, there would be no going back.

Bian Chunzhou thought about it carefully. Wasn’t this just like his past self, about to hand in an exam paper but unsure about the final multiple-choice question? He was literally playing himself.

“Maybe I should draw straws. It’s so hard to choose when they’re all so evenly matched. I’m an adult, why can’t I have all of them?”

Seeing Chunzhou actually preparing bamboo slips to draw straws, Wen Xu was astonished. “That’s a bit casual, isn’t it?”

“It’s fine. Look, I’ll pick two first, and the remaining one will definitely be the correct answer!” Bian Chunzhou scratched his head, then scratched it again. “I’ve compared the three paths in every aspect, and they really are about the same. Any of them would work. But you know, people are always greedy, just like in that famous fable.”

“What fable?”

“It’s the story of picking flowers. A… city lord decreed that only the person who picked the largest and most beautiful flower in the garden could receive the lord’s reward. Everyone only had one chance to enter the garden, could never turn back, and only had one chance to pick a flower.” Bian Chunzhou localized the Western fable slightly as he explained it.

Hearing this, Wen Xu suddenly remembered a saying: Choice is more important than effort.

This was what the Secret Realm Elder had told him when he left the Back Mountain Secret Realm. He had gone to the secret realm to cultivate a few times after that, but he had never heard that voice again.

“So, you want to pick the flower that is actually the best?”

Bian Chunzhou nodded. “Why does it feel like Chen Zuizui and I are on the same path? But I actually know that in the flower-picking story, you only need to beat the flowers picked by others to get the lord’s reward. You don’t actually need to pick the absolute largest and most beautiful one.”

“You and Chen Zui are still different.”

“How so?”

“You haven’t made a choice yet. He, from the very beginning, didn’t even know there were other choices.”

Bian Chunzhou finally understood why so many people reached the peak of Qi Refining but never advanced to Foundation Establishment. Was it because they didn’t want to? It was entirely because they were terrified of Foundation Establishment, afraid that if they didn’t do it right, it would affect their future path.

Looking at it this way, Wen Xuxu was simply too decisive.

“Didn’t you think about this back then?” He had to admit, he was a little curious.

Wen Xu’s Foundation Establishment had actually happened two years ago. Recently, he had even touched the threshold of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, but to avoid putting too much pressure on his two friends, he didn’t mention it. “No, I…”

“What?”

Wen Xu thought to himself that among the three of them, he seemed to be the most meticulous. In truth, however, he was the reckless one. When he achieved Foundation Establishment, he had never thought about this question at all. Even the breakthrough itself had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Fortunately, the outcome wasn’t bad.

“I…” Feeling Bian Chunzhou’s expectant gaze, Wen Xu chose to keep him in suspense. “I’ll tell you after you achieve Foundation Establishment.”

“Wow, Wen Xuxu, you’ve gone bad too! You’re actually leaving me hanging!”

Wen Xu gave a soft snort. “If that’s what you think, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Speaking of which, why hasn’t that guy Chen Zui returned to the mountain yet? It’s been a while since he went out to cultivate with the senior brothers from Saber Peak, hasn’t it?” It had already been three months. He couldn’t have secretly achieved Foundation Establishment and planned to return and shock everyone, could he?

“If you’re worried about him, send him a Transmission Talisman.”

Bian Chunzhou tucked his hands into his sleeves and shook his head. “No, no, no, no. He’ll just complain that I’m interrupting his saber practice again.”

Just then, both of them received a Transmission Talisman at the same time. The talisman flashed with spiritual light, and Chen Zui’s deep, resonant voice rang out: “I’m about to achieve Foundation Establishment! Come quick!”