Chapter 56: Ren Dao
In the following period of time, Li Weiyi practiced only this one move, “Grand Unity Opens the Sea” every day, seeking that majestic momentum from the battle against Yao Zheng Sheng, as if he could split the sea open with one sword.
Jar Master said that was “Heavenly Law Integration”.
Li Weiyi practiced hundreds of swords every day.
Every sword was with full effort, stopping only when both stamina and magic power were exhausted to the extreme. Attempting over and over, comprehending bit by bit.
After thousands of swords, although he still could not achieve Heavenly Law Integration at will. But in the following days, he finally managed to integrate one or two swords every day.
“Practicing like this alone is useless. You need to fight, to hone yourself, to clash with masters in life-and-death battles. Otherwise, you would need years of effort to succeed.” These were Jar Master’s exact words.
When Jar Master said this, his heart was filled with mixed feelings.
Because, when his master said the same words back then, what followed was “Otherwise, you would need decades of effort to succeed”. After all, who could believe that Li Weiyi, after just half a month of practice, could actively capture the mysteries of the Law Integration Realm, with only a very low success rate.
In the mornings and evenings, at the moments of day and night transition, Li Weiyi, Cai Yutong, and Qin Ke followed Spirit Tablet Senior to cultivate Spirit God mind power and sense spiritual light.
At the same time, every one or two days, Li Weiyi would take Zhao Zhizhuo to the inn to ask that senior master to help reshape the spring eye.
……
…………
Time flew by, and twenty-two days had passed since the attack on Divine Dragon Street.
Zhao Zhizhuo wore a bamboo hat on his head as he walked out of the inn and saw Li Weiyi waiting under the tree shade across the street. He quickly crossed the street to meet him.
“How did it go? Was the Eighth Spring successfully reshaped?” Li Weiyi asked with a smile.
Zhao Zhizhuo pulled Li Weiyi along the river to a secluded spot before taking off the bamboo hat, revealing a ruddy, vigorous, and ancient face full of vitality, with irrepressible excitement in his eyes.
He clasped his hands in salute and bowed deeply.
Li Weiyi said: “Don’t do that! Since the Eight Springs have been reshaped and you’ve returned to Peak of the Spring Realm, remember to pay me back for the spring fluid I bought. It was ninety-three drops total, ninety-three thousand silver coins. I’ll waive the remainder—just ninety thousand.”
“The spring fluid is one thing, but that senior was willing to help me reshape my spring eye because of Brother Li’s face. This regenerating grace, I’m afraid I can never repay it in my lifetime.”
Zhao Zhizhuo stubbornly bowed before saying: “Don’t waive the remainder. I’ll make it an even sum— one hundred thousand silver coins. I’ll write an IOU!”
“One hundred thousand, as you said. I won’t stand on ceremony with you!” Li Weiyi said.
Zhao Zhizhuo was in an excellent mood and laughed: “Haha, don’t stand on ceremony at all. With my current cultivation as old Zhao, earning one hundred thousand silver coins shouldn’t take more than a few years.”
After laughing at each other.
Li Weiyi told Zhao Zhizhuo to wait here a moment, saying he needed to bid farewell to the senior. He briefly returned to the inn to put the stone coffin into the Evil Camel Bell, and the two headed toward the city gate.
As the excitement on Zhao Zhizhuo gradually faded, he said seriously: “One month’s time is almost up. What does Brother Li think? Actually, entering the Dao Academy is really a very good path. Almost all the masters of the Jiu Li Tribe have cultivated there for some time.”
Half a month ago, Young Tribe Leader Cang Li had visited Li Weiyi’s courtyard, assuring them there was no need to worry about safety within a month. At the same time, he invited him, Cai Yutong, and Zhao Meng to join the Cang Li Tribe School, or to compete for spots in the Jiu Li Dao Academy.
Li Weiyi had already made up his mind: “Don’t worry. These few days, I’ll personally go to the tribal school to pay respects and thank Leader Senior. I’ll make a decision then. By the way, I heard that repairing the sea of qi is far more difficult than reshaping the spring eye. It seems to require blood crystals.”
Zhao Zhizhuo didn’t even dare to think about returning to the Five Seas Realm. Having Eight Springs cultivation was already very satisfying, so his mentality was extremely relaxed as he explained: “The Five Seas of the Five Seas Realm refer to the five lung leaves in the human body. To open a sea of qi, you must use magic power to repeatedly refine one lung leaf until it reaches the critical point, giving birth to an inner world ocean.”
“Back then, all five of my lung leaves were pierced, and all five inner world oceans completely withered and shrank. The blood crystals you mentioned can only repair the lung leaves. To rebuild the inner world oceans, either take a Five Seas Pill and rely on luck, or only legendary space magic tools can do it.”
Li Weiyi wasn’t sure if the Evil Camel Bell counted as a space magic tool, so he could only listen as Zhao Zhizhuo continued.
“Five Seas Pills are too hard to obtain now. Even the Cang Li Tribe is severely short internally, and every one is exchanged for a large number of otherworld coffins. In my case, the chance is slim, and taking one would likely just be a waste.”
“Being able to recover to Eight Springs, I’m already very content. I won’t make things difficult for the Young Tribe Leader and Tribe Leader.”
“That’s only for me, but Brother Li is different. If you marry the Fourth Miss, your future will definitely be limitless. With my Eight Springs cultivation as old Zhao, I should be qualified to guard the gate or drive the carriage for you two, right?”
Li Weiyi laughed: “If I don’t marry her, does that mean my future will be bleak?”
Zhao Zhizhuo had only been joking and didn’t mention it again: “Shall we go look for Yao Zheng Sheng, capture him, and bring him to see the Young Tribe Leader or Leader?”
Clearly, after recovering Eight Springs, Zhao Zhizhuo’s confidence had also returned considerably.
Li Weiyi put away his smile: “Yao Zheng Sheng is just a knife. Taking him down—would that topple Yang Yun? Don’t forget the friendship between the Cang Li Tribe and the Yang Clan. Yang Yun is a direct lineage disciple of the Yang Clan, an Eight Springs outstanding person. What are we in the Cang Li Tribe?”
Zhao Zhizhuo was silent for a moment, then said wistfully: “Yang Yun covets both the Fourth Miss and the magic tool in Brother Li’s hands, and nearly killed us. Let me plan something and try a covert stab.”
Li Weiyi was startled. He hadn’t expected old Zhao to suddenly become so bold, and quickly said: “Don’t do anything rash. Behind the Yang Clan is the Sui Sect—not to mention those old guys, just provoking Yang Qingxi would be enough to give us trouble.”
It was already April, and the weather was gradually becoming hot.
The pedestrians on the streets were dressed much more lightly.
The two walked out of the city gate, crossed the several-dozen-zhang-long wooden bridge, and followed the stone paved road along the moat home.
The stone paved road was five zhang wide, with endless suburbs on the other side. Under the eaves, the long stone steps were filled with children wearing straw shoes and tattered clothes.
They were all about five or six years old, sallow and emaciated from hunger, as if they had walked a long way, with feet worn raw and faces covered in thick dirt.
There were probably nearly a hundred of them, sitting there as if resting temporarily.
Li Weiyi walked along, observing these children. Under the eaves opposite, pairs of round eyes were also staring at him and Zhao Zhizhuo.
“Why are there so many children here?” Li Weiyi felt it was abnormal.
Zhao Zhizhuo was unfazed, calmly saying: “Look closely—they’re almost all twins.”
Li Weiyi had indeed noticed this. Usually two children looked extremely alike, with only a very few singles.
Why was the proportion of twins so high?
It was too strange!
Zhao Zhizhuo said: “They are Rice People, the ‘rice’ from water rice.”
“What do you mean?” Li Weiyi was very puzzled.
Zhao Zhizhuo said: “Have you heard of Benevolent Rice?”
Li Weiyi shook his head.
“Benevolent Rice is also known as Human Rice.”
“‘Benevolent’ means both benevolent mercy and the kernel of fruit.”
“Benevolent Rice originally came from the depths of the Nether Realm of the Dead, as food for some mysterious existences in the world of the dead. It only later spread to the Living Realm.”
“One rice ear can grow several, even over a dozen fetuses, all in even numbers. Those growing on the left and right sides of the rice ear look extremely alike, like twins.”
“I’ve heard that in the other states outside, various forces have already begun large-scale planting of Benevolent Rice.”
“First, to select talented individuals from them and train them as dead soldiers. Second, to achieve a massive explosion in labor force in a short time. Third… people are a kind of resource and commodity. Trading Rice People causes few disputes, and no one stands up for them.”
“I’ve heard that some brutal righteous armies even use Rice People to feed exotic beast mounts.”
“In Li Zhou here, several old tribe leaders of the Jiu Li Tribe strongly opposed planting Benevolent Rice back then, feeling it harmed human ethics. They also believed that over time, as the proportion of Rice People rises, it would cause uncontrollable turmoil.”
“But as far as I know, some in the tribe are still secretly planting it in the Mang Mountain Range.”
While Li Weiyi exclaimed in amazement, his mood was very heavy. The existence of Rice People would surely trigger many human nature issues. Looking again at those children sitting by the street, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy and pity.
They had no parents.
Without even parents, who in the world would truly care about them?
Not to mention caring about their happiness or not—probably no one even cared about their life or death.
“Ah Yin, you have to wear your shoes properly, or your feet will get worn. Just endure a bit longer—we’ll be there soon…”
A woman wearing white-clad hermit Buddha robes squatted on the ground, tying the straw rope shoelaces for a Rice Person little girl. Her voice was both pleasant and gentle, like a breeze in summer, unforgettable after one listen.
After tying them, she stood up.
Her figure was very tall and slender.
The hermit robes were loose, revealing only that her hands and legs were long.
On her right wrist was a string of red prayer beads, red like blood condensed into form. The White-Clad Hermit noticed Li Weiyi’s gaze, turned her face, smiled and nodded at him, softly chanting a Buddha’s name: “Amitabha Buddha!”
Li Weiyi naturally heard the Buddha’s name clearly. First he was stunned, then waves of shock surged in his heart.
This wasn’t Earth!
This world actually had Amitabha Buddha too?
Amitabha, also known as “Infinite Buddha”, was the lord of the Western Paradise in mythological legends.
Having finally met a proper Buddha cultivator, Li Weiyi was considering whether to step forward and ask for teachings when the other party approached first.
The White-Clad Hermit was in her twenties, with sallow skin and average looks, slightly high cheekbones.
After respectfully clasping her hands in salute, she said in that pleasant and gentle tone: “This benefactor clearly has a compassionate heart, with soft light of pity for heaven and man in his eyes. May this poor nun boldly beg for a bowl of alms rice?”
Although Li Weiyi valued silver coins highly, a bowl of alms rice was nothing. After returning the salute, he said: “Not just one bowl! Bring all the children. I feel they’ve starved badly.”
