Chapter Ninety-Four: Cast Out of the School

Li Chongyuan said, “Might I ask, Uncle-Master, why is this?”

Dunan answered gravely, “I have already informed your master to strike your names from the rolls of the Celestial Mountain disciples. Though you are no longer disciples of Celestial Mountain, your roots still lie here. Whatever trouble you encounter out in the world in days to come, the Celestial Mountain school will remain your support.”

Li Chongyuan and Lin Qingli could not hold back their tears. “We left without farewell and violated the sect’s rules, but we have done no wrong in the world below the mountain. Why must Uncle-Master drive us away?”

Dunan said, “The two of you each carry a profound secret. Should such a secret ever be revealed, it would bring ruin upon Celestial Mountain. For that reason, your Uncle-Master has no choice but to wrong you.

“Chongyuan, not long after you came to Celestial Mountain you began taking Master Qu Beiyuan as your teacher and secretly learning the martial arts of the Northern Sect. Had you not suddenly struck and injured Iron Scale back then, none of us would have known. But after I took your pulse, I discovered that you had already fallen under Qu Beiyuan’s Forgetful River Death-Summons.

“Once one is struck by this art, there is no cure. Only after cultivating the Northern Sect’s Asura Art to the fifth level can one recover without treatment. If I were to force you to stop training in the Asura Art, it would surely cost you your life. Yet I can never allow word of a disciple of the school practicing the Asura Art to leak into the world. So I had no choice but to confine you to Ascension Peak, that isolated place, where you could cultivate and heal.

“At the time I thought your dealings with Qu Beiyuan had been too brief for him to teach you much. On Ascension Peak, with no one to instruct you, this Asura Art could at most be forced to the fifth level, just enough to cure the Forgetful River Death-Summons.

“Who would have imagined that through some twist of fate you not only cultivated both the Prime Unity Art and the Asura Art to extraordinary heights, but even slipped quietly away from Ascension Peak. Why this happened, if you refuse to tell me, I will not ask. But you must never let the Asura Art spread through the martial world. Do you understand?”

Li Chongyuan hurriedly kowtowed and agreed. Dunan then turned to Lin Qingli and said, “Qingli, when you came to seek apprenticeship years ago, you brought a letter from Xu Qianfan, the leader of Kongtong. Your master, Ziwuzhuo, made it very clear at the time that since you came from the Kongtong school, by the rules of the martial world you could only be a recorded disciple, not a true inheritor.

“In truth, among my Celestial Mountain school, a recorded disciple differs little from an inheritor, except that in the event of a great calamity, you are not required to live and die with the sect. Everything else is the same, down to the martial principles taught. Yet you stayed only a few months before leaving the mountain with Chongyuan.

“We are deeply ashamed to have failed in our duty to Master Xu. Celestial Mountain taught you very little. Fortunately, Heaven had its hidden arrangements, and you encountered another strange destiny, learning a wondrous art as well. If this Uncle-Master’s eyes are not mistaken, that art is the Shaolin school’s Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic, is it not?”

Li Chongyuan and Lin Qingli were both shaken to the core. Li Chongyuan had already seen Lin Qingli use her skills several times and had suspected that she had somehow secretly learned the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic; now that Dunan had exposed it in a single sentence, he was still stunned. As for Lin Qingli, ever since arriving at Celestial Mountain she had carefully restrained the circulation of her inner energy, revealing no trace and never displaying her hand. Yet Dunan had recognized it all the same.

This showed that Dunan’s martial cultivation was indeed unfathomably deep. Dunan smiled and said, “When you came up the mountain today, all your attention was on concealing your inner force. But you forgot this: once inner power reaches a profound level, it naturally senses changes in the world around it. Where there is sensation, there is response; where there is response, breath follows.

“The mountain path was filled with heavy snow, yet your steps were light and buoyant. When your feet touched the snow, they sank only slightly. And when flakes drifted down, they veered aside the moment they reached your body.

“This is the sensing of breath. As for true masters, even standing motionless, they can achieve the state of ‘not even a feather can be added to their body’—that is the marvel of inner force. Back then I witnessed the might of the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic, so my impression of it was deeply engraved in my mind, which is why I recognized it. But you have been granted such an unusual fate; whether it is blessing or calamity, I cannot say.

“Your current martial skill is already among the very best of the Celestial Mountain disciples. You can travel the martial world and protect yourself without fear. However, your inner power comes from the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic, while your techniques are drawn from the Kongtong and Celestial Mountain schools, whose forms differ greatly from those of Shaolin.

“So at most your Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic can display the power of the eighth level. If you meet an ultimate Shaolin expert, you may well suffer a disadvantage. Therefore, keep a low profile and do not use your strength to provoke enmity. After you have avenged yourself, leave the martial world as soon as you can and retire to the mountains and forests, and only then can you avoid needless disaster. Do you remember?”

Lin Qingli could not suppress a tremor throughout her body. She bowed several times in great respect and said softly, “This disciple will remember.”

Dunan smiled. “Chongyuan, Qingli, in days to come you will travel through the martial world and roam the vast earth. You will meet many people and many matters. Toward people and affairs, do not cling to sectarian prejudice. Only one whose heart is filled with concern for the common people and the realm may be called a true hero.

“Chongyuan, before you depart, you may go see your old friend. These past few years he has spoken of you every single day.”

Li Chongyuan and Lin Qingli kowtowed and withdrew.

After Li Chongjun returned to Celestial Mountain, he remained in the Hall of Mist and Radiance under Dunan’s personal care. A few days later, once his body and spirit had both recovered, Dunan summoned Wen Wuyai, the chief of the Herb Hall, who excelled in pharmacology, and Miao Wushuang, the chief of the Spirit Pivot Hall, who was skilled in medicine, to personally take up the surgery and treatment.

Though Miao Wushuang’s martial arts were the weakest among the seven chief elders, her medical skill was unmatched on Celestial Mountain; even Master Dunan admitted inferiority.

She opened a medicinal chest of yellow rosewood and took out a small knife glowing with blue light. Neither metal nor jade, it was forged from black ice buried beneath ten thousand years of snow atop Celestial Mountain’s peak, and was known as the Ice Soul Blade.

This Ice Soul Blade was extraordinarily sharp. In surgery, it could sever tendons and cut bone with barely any resistance, and the chill emitted from its blade could freeze the patient’s blood vessels, preventing massive loss of blood. Beneath the freezing cold, the patient felt no pain and the wound would not become infected. Thus the Ice Soul Blade was a supreme treasure of the medical arts.

Holding the thousand-year ice knife, Miao Wushuang gently cut open Li Chongjun’s wrists and ankles. As the blade parted the skin, red flesh immediately turned outward. Carefully, she searched for the tendons and vessels. Those tendons had been severed for a very long time and had already retracted into the upper limbs. She took out a silver hook, extremely slender, and guided it upward through the empty gap left by the retracted tendons. Miaowushuang knitted her brows, held her breath, and concentrated wholly on the slightest sensation transmitted from the tip of the silver hook. Dunan and the others surrounding her knew she could not be disturbed in the least, and so all remained silent.

At last the silver hook gave a faint, delicate twitch. Miao Wushuang knew it had caught the tendon. Slowly and steadily, she drew the tendon out, and the moment its end appeared she quickly clamped it with jade pincers.

Then Hong Mochou handed her a silver needle, already threaded with flesh-colored suture. This suture had been prepared from the lateral line of the salmon peculiar to Heavenly Lake, and after stitching it would fuse of itself with the patient’s flesh, needing no later removal.

Miao Wushuang threaded and sewed with practiced care, stitching the severed tendon back together. When the repair was complete, Wen Wuyai brought forth the blood-nourishing pills and flesh-generating powder he had prepared in advance, and gently applied them to the wound with a jade spoon. After that, he wrapped the area carefully in gauze.

In this way, all the tendons of the limbs were reconnected, and the work took four full hours. Even with her Prime Unity Art inner force, Miao Wushuang was exhausted, her face pale and sweat beading ceaselessly upon her brow. Hong Mochou hurried to support her and wiped her face with a silk handkerchief.

Seeing this, Ziwuzhuo was deeply moved. He was not good with words and could scarcely speak, only repeating, “Thank you, little sister.” Miao Wushuang burst out laughing and said, “We are all of the Celestial Mountain line. There is no need for ceremony. Why not go and properly look after your future son-in-law?” Ziwuzhuo, worried about Li Chongjun, hurried off at once. Standing nearby, Zilan blushed crimson, which made Miao Wushuang laugh even harder.

After Miao Wushuang’s skillful treatment, and with his already profound internal force aided by the miraculous medicines of Celestial Mountain, Li Chongjun should recover very soon; careful convalescence would be enough. Ziwuzhuo then brought him back to Bright Heart Cave, where Zilan attended to his daily needs.

Seeing that Li Chongjun had already been treated and now needed only time to recuperate, Li Chongyuan’s thoughts turned all the more to the grace Qu Beiyuan had once shown in teaching him. After leaving the Hall of Mist and Radiance, he asked Lin Qingli to wait by the Azure Water Pool. Looking at the pool, unchanged as ever, he recalled the days and nights when he had once carried ice on his back to train, and his heart filled with endless emotion.

With a long cry, he unleashed the lightness skill of the Northern Dipper Moon Mirage and ran across the snow toward Demon-Slaying Peak.

When he entered the mountain cave where Qu Beiyuan had been staying, he found that the originally pitch-black cave had become clean and bright. Clearly, someone had altered it. An oak door had also been installed at the entrance. Seeing the door standing open, he rushed straight in.

The moment he stepped inside, he felt a cold wind strike. Instantly he used the Seven Stars Death-Summons Hand to counter and seize it. The other person gave a startled cry, changed claws to palm, and met him head-on. Their palms struck with a loud crash. Li Chongyuan’s body swayed, while the other man staggered back two steps and exclaimed in surprise, “That is Northern Sect martial arts, you...”

Before he could finish, the man recognized him and shouted, “Li Chongyuan! My good disciple, you have returned!” It was none other than Qu Beiyuan. Qu Beiyuan clasped Li Chongyuan tightly in his arms, old tears streaming down his face in overwhelming excitement.

After several years apart, Qu Beiyuan was no longer the gaunt figure Li Chongyuan had first seen. His complexion was now ruddy, and the clothes on his body were no longer in tatters but a half-new fur robe.

Qu Beiyuan patted the fur robe on his body and smiled. “Ever since the year you struck Iron Scale until he spat blood at the grand competition, exposing your Asura Art and causing Dunan to confine you to Ascension Peak, Dunan came here the very next day to question me face-to-face about why I had taken you as my disciple.

“I was furious and scolded him: ‘Why is it that the same Celestial Mountain martial art may be taught by you but not by me? You claim to study Buddhism deeply and understand the true meaning of prajna, yet if even the Buddha teaches that all beings are equal, why should there be inequality within Celestial Mountain itself?’

“Dunan stood dumbfounded for quite a while, then pressed his palms together and said, ‘Many thanks, senior, for your thunderbolt of a reprimand. This junior feels as though sweet nectar has been poured over my head; my confusion is suddenly cleared, and only now do I realize that my cultivation is still insufficient and my horizons far too narrow.’ After saying this, he left. The next day, people came to renovate my cave and brought me clothing and fine food, serving me very comfortably.

“From that day on, they no longer treated me like a prisoner, but as one of their own. The only imperfection was that I still had no Black Nether Sword, and that Black Nether Chain cannot be removed.”

Li Chongyuan said in shame, “A few years ago, when I was rescuing Senior Sister Zilan from danger, I happened to encounter the Ghost Sword Han Qinghua, and that Black Nether Sword was in his hands. Unfortunately, my skill was too shallow and I was no match for him, so I had no way to seize the Black Nether Sword. I have heard that he later joined Zhang Yizhi’s rebellion, and by now no one knows where he has gone into hiding. Finding him would be even harder.”

Qu Beiyuan sighed. “If the Black Nether Sword is in Han Qinghua’s hands, then this will be troublesome. As for swordsmanship, the finest in Celestial Mountain is Ziwuzhuo’s. You must know that twenty years ago, he stood alongside your master Ziwuzhuo among the Four Great Swordsmen. Even if I were to face him, I would not be certain I could take his sword from him, so you need not dwell on it. If I am destined never to remove this chain in my lifetime, then so be it. It has nothing to do with you. Only, I find it strange: how has your inner power become so profound in just these few years, to the point that it is no weaker than mine? There must be a reason for this.”