Section Thirty-Eight: Councilman Kidd, Part Two

Then why did you tell me to assassinate Grant? Fei Liguo asked in confusion.

“You failed last time, but I still gave you part of the secret method of the Golden Dragon Infant-Formation Art. Now you only need to carry out my instructions exactly as before. I never expected you to kill him—indeed, I never counted on you killing him at all. If Wei Wuji were the one to act, perhaps there would be a little more hope.” The man who called himself Rider Senior said coldly. Yet perhaps because he was somewhat unwilling to have his own masterpiece misunderstood, he added a few more words. “I only want you to wound him and make things troublesome for him. Best of all would be to keep him focused and idle near Gaul, so that he does not interfere in the war between Landia and the Church. I do not wish to see Landia, assailed on two fronts, surrendering swiftly to the Church.”

“You’re playing with fire,” Fei Liguo said with sarcasm. “What do you think you are? A god looking down upon the earth? A ruler above all living things? You intend to meddle in the wars of this continent?”

Rider Dream-Shadow was not angered in the least; instead, he laughed. “I merely see myself as an observer beside the scales of war. When one side begins to tip, I add a little weight to help restore balance.”

Fei Liguo fell silent. Although Rider Dream-Shadow had explained his conduct, that was surely not his true purpose. But what lay concealed behind him, Fei Liguo did not know.

Fei Liguo had entered the sect far later than Wei Wuji. To become a true disciple and cultivate the Golden Core, he had relied entirely on himself. Yet after entering the Golden Core stage, making another step forward had become unimaginably difficult. From Golden Core to Nascent Soul, what was required was not merely a vast amount of vital energy, but first and foremost a further elevation of one’s realm. Within the Daoist schools, there was indeed a clear path: seek aid from the Scripture of Supreme Methods and Primal Wisdom, hidden deep within Mount Western Kunlun. But one had to offer conditions that satisfied the Daoist elders’ council in order to be granted entry, then complete the demands set by the scripture. Only then would the scripture, according to the seeker’s cultivation state, evolve a suitable formula and point out a path that might possibly lead to greater strength.

This path was good, but for Fei Liguo it was impossible to attain. He had been born poor, and it was only because of his modest talent that the sect had taken him in. Through bitter cultivation he became a true disciple. The resources the sect usually provided him were not few, but merely advancing to Golden Core and raising the rank of his beloved sword, Long Life, had already consumed nearly everything. How could he possibly have any surplus savings left to exchange for the qualification to seek the elders’ council’s permission, let alone know what strange demands the Primal Wisdom Scripture might make?

With no other choice, Fei Liguo had taken a different road: he traveled everywhere, hoping to use another mountain’s jade to strike the stone. He once spent several years roaming the North Sea and the East Sea, and came into contact with many wandering cultivators. Among those he met, some were not inferior to him in power, but if one spoke only of their understanding of the Dao, most were still beneath him. Only then did he return in disappointment, understanding that this path of borrowing another mountain’s jade to strike the stone was not so easy after all. The Daoist inheritance of the Far Eastern lands had endured for thousands of years; in teaching and transmission it had already reached nearly the highest standard of Daoist arts. In other places, perhaps some might surpass the Daoist schools in actual combat, but when it came to unraveling mysteries and imparting instruction, few could exceed them.

Fei Liguo returned to the Far East and digested the gains from his overseas travels. He cultivated in seclusion for several more years. Though he made some modest progress, the Great Dao still felt far beyond reach. Proud by nature and of humble origin, he did not have particularly good relations with the others in the sect, nor could he stand the way ordinary disciples fawned upon true disciples and elders. His heart was set on nothing but attaining the Great Dao. So this time, with grim determination, he chose the overland route. He would walk from the Far East, step by step crossing the realm of gods and demons by his own strength, all the way to the western reaches.

He did not harbor much hope of suddenly encountering some exalted expert who would point him in the right direction. He only knew that the realm of gods and demons was said to contain places of monstrous danger, but also marvelous treasures of heaven and earth. Even the most perilous places yielded peculiar materials; if he encountered any, he might as well gather them along the way. And if heaven took pity and he truly obtained some rare treasure, he could bring it back and present it to the elders’ council. Perhaps then he would be granted the qualification to meet the Scripture of Supreme Methods and Primal Wisdom.

The hardships and perils along the way need not be recounted. The demon races on the road, the naturally treacherous terrain—he threw himself forward with all his might and forced his way through. Looking back to ancient times, there were said to have been sages among the awakened who had crossed the realm of gods and demons, and later even Daoist Fei Liguo had passed through it. He could not help but feel that he had brought honor to the Daoist path.

Until, near the end of his journey through the realm of gods and demons, he encountered the man before him.

This mysterious figure had fought alongside him against the demons and monsters, revealing an unfamiliar familiarity with Daoism and Daoist arts. Although the man’s level of power was not high—he had not even formed a Golden Core—some of the discussions of Daoist arts he casually mentioned gave Fei Liguo the sense that he was on the verge of finding his direction. And in the end, the man told him that all of those discussions came from a scripture called the Golden Dragon Infant-Formation Art, a method that opened the road from Golden Core to Nascent Soul.

Having encountered such a rare opportunity, Fei Liguo naturally refused to let it slip away. Later, he faintly sensed that this man’s identity was bizarre beyond measure, as though it was connected with several names that the Daoist schools had placed on their bounty lists over the past few hundred years—names to be subdued, captured, or killed. Those names had appeared one after another at different times over the centuries, yet there were faint connections among them. Each time one appeared, the Daoist schools treated it as a heterodox evil and sought to exterminate it. But according to the calculations of the Scripture of Supreme Methods and Primal Wisdom, all of them were the same person.

When pressed further, the scripture would no longer reveal more. The Daoist elders’ council inferred from this that it must be a powerfully evil qi-refiner, one who, after being destroyed each time, was reborn and resumed cultivation, continuing to stand against the Daoist schools.

Fei Liguo hesitated only briefly before continuing to follow Rider Dream-Shadow, heedless of all else, and thus the dealings that followed came to be.

Yet Fei Liguo still did not understand why Rider Dream-Shadow would involve himself in the wars of this continent. It was only now, after the other party frankly admitted that he intended to add weight to the scales of war, that Fei Liguo abruptly thought of a possibility.

Daoist arts had originated in the Far East, but later branched out widely. There were quite a few sects overseas as well. Over the centuries, most had been absorbed into the Daoist schools led by the elders’ council, but many still wished to remain independent. Among them were those who, in pursuit of cultivation, threw caution to the winds and were regarded by the Daoist schools as heretical. To achieve their aims they would stop at nothing—refining living people in secret, extracting vital essence from the living, or using extremely cruel methods to harm and kill others so as to force the dead, at the instant of death, to generate an intense fury. Then they would use that rage condensed at the moment of dying to refine essence and cultivate their own techniques.

If Rider Dream-Shadow truly sought to influence the war on this continent and keep the scales in balance, then there could be only one explanation: to make the war more prolonged, the bloodshed greater, the casualties heavier. And if there were a purpose behind such a possibility, it could only be the one just described.

At that thought, Fei Liguo understood everything at last.

No wonder the names behind this man had always been treated as heterodox and evil—no wonder he had become so ruthless in pursuit of his own cultivation. Then should he still cooperate with him? Fei Liguo hesitated for a moment, but in the end his lips moved, and he said nothing.

Even if this man truly belonged to the heretical path, the part of the Golden Dragon Infant-Formation Art he had already given Fei Liguo was, beyond any doubt, a true road leading straight to Nascent Soul.

The body this man now occupied must surely have been newly reborn not long ago, which was why he did not hesitate to slaughter living beings in order to accumulate vital energy and cultivate within a short time. But in any case, Fei Liguo and he were utterly different. The harm and slaughter belonged to him; Fei Liguo harbored no such intentions. He merely wanted to make a trade, obtain the full formula, and then withdraw at once, returning immediately to the Far East.

Thinking thus, Fei Liguo at once felt at ease. Instead, what rankled him was Rider Dream-Shadow’s earlier remark that he had never expected him to kill Grant, and that Wei Wuji might have a somewhat better chance. That left him somewhat unconvinced. Still, there was no need to argue with him over it. When the time came to make his move, he would prove it and strike a hard blow to Rider Dream-Shadow’s face.