Rise of Qinglian Chapter 1
Wang Changsheng
Great Song Dynasty, Ningzhou.
Ping’an County, a sparsely populated place surrounded by mountains and hills, was one of seventy-two counties in Ningzhou. Lotus Island was the sole lake island within Ningzhou.
This island was thus named due to its shape, as well as the numerous lotus flowers growing there.
In the early morning, the blazing, mighty sun rose from the East and illuminated Lotus Island and brought with it a touch of warmth.
At the center of this island was a vast compound abound with airy pavilions and pagodas, flowering courtyards and winding corridors.
And in the middle of this compound was a man-made lake encased within a veil of white mist, rendering it hard to see within.
But as time elapsed, this white mist began to slowly disperse.
A large, cyan-blue lotus flower grew within the waters and a stone platform in the shape of a lotus stood at the center of it all. Atop this platform was a two-story, blue pavilion with a long plaque of the same color hanging above its entrance; the lively and vigorous* calligraphy inscription, ‘Qinglian Pavilion’, was written in gold.
T/L/N: 龙飞凤舞- The calligraphy inscription is described here as being as lively as a pair of flying dragon and phoenix.
In one of the second-floor rooms in the Qinglian Pavilion sat a youth who was older than ten and clad in a blue shirt, on top of a blue cushion.
This blue-clad youth had sword-like brows, distinct and elegant, and thick, long black hair- the whole look of which gave others a very pleasant feeling.
This youth’s eyes were closed and the breaths he took through his nose appeared rhythmic. As he swallowed, a faint blue light emerged around him and slowly enshrouded his whole body.
Time passed in such a fashion as this faint blue light poured steadily into him.
When the youth finally opened his eyes, there was a sharp gleam within his gaze.
“I finally reached the fifth level of Qi Refining.”
Wang Changsheng let out a sigh of relief, a smile on his thin face.
“Ninth Grand Uncle, the morning repast is ready.”
A man’s deferential voice traveled in from outside.
Wang Changsheng smiled lightly as he said, “Qiusheng, bring in the morning repast!”
Wang Changsheng opened the door to leave and headed downstairs.
Another blue-shirted youth in his early twenties pushed open the door and entered with a similar colored tray within his hands.
Upon the tray was a bowl of rice and a plate of simple vegetables and tofu each, all of which gave off a tangy aroma and smelled thoroughly appetizing.
“Ninth Grand Uncle, the morning repast is something Qiuyue made with you in mind. Please see if it is to your taste.”
Wang Qiusheng placed down and arranged the dishes before standing to the side with a look of respect.
Wang Changsheng frowned lightly. “Haven’t I said this before? Let’s share the morning meal together. Why have you only brought my share of it?”
“Father warned me time and again that Ninth Grand Uncle is an elder so this grandson must serve him with attentiveness and mustn’t be neglectful towards Ninth Grand Uncle. This grandson dares not share a table with Ninth Grand Uncle to partake in the meal. I hope Ninth Grand Uncle understands.”
Wang Qiusheng’s face tightened as he carefully and cautiously explained this.
Wang Changsheng exhaled a light sigh and shook his head, saying, “Forget it. Go down and have your morning meal! You can come to clean up the dishes when you’re done.”
“This grandson obeys.”
Wang Qiusheng immediately agreed and after performing a deep bow, withdrew from Qinglian Pavilion.
Five hundred years ago, the ancestor of the Wang Clan, Wang Yuangang, led his family to settle in the Changping Region of Ningzhou.
The Wang was a mere family of seven at the time. However, under the protection of two Foundation Establishment level* cultivators, the Wang Clan population more than doubled in less than a hundred years. Although only a few of them were lucky to possess spiritual roots, it laid the foundation for the Wang Clan’s future generations.
T/L/N: It is the second stage of Taoist Cultivation after Qi Refining.
Through hundreds of years of development, not only did the Wang Clan double in size, but the number of immortal cultivators steadily increased as well. Thus far, the Wang Clan had one hundred and forty-five immortal cultivators and an additional hundreds of thousands more clan members who didn’t possess spiritual roots.
The Wang now resided in the Qinglian Mountains of Changping Region; a majority of the clan members lived within this mountain.
Qinglian Mountain originally had a first-tier, higher grade spiritual vein. But with the efforts of the Wang Clan ancestors, the first-tier spiritual vein became a second-tier, lower grade spiritual vein and provided Foundation Establishment level cultivators with abundant spiritual essence.
As for the hundreds of thousand Wang Clan members who were without spiritual roots, they were scattered throughout the three counties within the Changping Region, namely the Ping’an, Qingyun, and the Qingzhu Counties.
The current Patriarch of the Wang Clan was Wang Mingyuan, the father of Wang Changsheng. He had a spiritual root with only four attributes* and thus, his aptitude for cultivating was not very good. However, he handled matters fairly, and was amicable and modest. He was elected by a majority of the clansmen to be head of the Wang Clan and take care of the internal affairs.
T/L/N: 伪灵根 or ‘Pseudo Spiritual Root’. Because each attribute’s spiritual root is incomplete, it takes them longer to cultivate any results and therefore lack the aptitude.
The Wang Clan’s Foundation Establishment level cultivator, Wang Yaozong, rarely showed himself on a normal basis as he often retreated into isolation to train for most of the year.
Wang Changsheng’s mother, Liu Qing’er, was a rogue* cultivator with three attributes to her spiritual root** and therefore had slightly better prospects than Wang Mingyuan.
T/L/N: *Rogue (散修) as in someone not affiliated with any particular cultivator sect or martial organization.
**She falls under the ‘True Spiritual Root’, where each attribute had sufficient and therefore made cultivation easier and faster. Poor Mingyuan…
Back in the day, Wang Changsheng’s grandfather, Wang Yaozu, disapproved of letting Liu Qing’er enter the Clan. It was because he had intended for Wang Mingyuan to wed the Zhao family’s legitimate daughter from the Guangyang Region in order to strengthen their family ties. The Wang and Zhao families stood on relatively equal grounds in terms of strength and the ancestors from both families had been friends. The marriage was mutually beneficial to both sides.
But Wang Mingyuan refused to accept it and declared he would rather not marry anyone if it wasn’t Liu Qing’er. This enraged Wan Yaozu enough to imprison him far away for three years under strict scrutiny.
Liu Qing’er painstakingly waited for him at Qinglian Mountain for those three years and moved Wang Yaozu’s heart. It was only then that he allowed Liu Qing’er entrance to meet him again.
But it was only when Wang Yaozu learned that Lui Qing’er had worked at a refinery shop as an apprentice for over ten years, that he happily agreed to the marriage.
Wang Changsheng was an only child and was the ninth in seniority within his generation. He had three spiritual root attributes of gold, water, and earth of which the main one was water. Water spiritual root’s sensitivity index reached up to sixty and his aptitude compared to his peers could only be regarded as average. What he trained in was the <XX formula> which had been handed down by the Wang Clan.
This training method was a cultivation technique of character of the first-tier, and could be practiced from the first level of Qi Refining up to the ninth of the same stage. The superiority of this technique was its stability, few obstructions, and bottleneck breakthroughs were easily achieved.
Wang Changsheng entered the Taoist training at five years of age, while literacy studies were handed down by the clan elders as they imparted knowledge on cultivating immortality.
He began his practical training and cultivation at eight years old, and received about ten jin* of lower grade spirit rice** of the first-order.
T/L/N: *about 11lbs (1jin = 1.1lbs)
**Rice that contains spiritual essence.
The year he was thirteen, Wang Changsheng was promoted to the fourth level of Qi Refining and thus, was able to receive three jin of medium grade spirit rice of the first-tier every month.
When Wang Changsheng was sixteen, he was still at the fourth level of Qi Refining. According to clan rules, the clan would provide resources for cultivation without needing to work for it, if under the age of eighteen. If a person failed to be promoted to the fifth level of Qi Refining by the time they turned eighteen, then that person must contribute to the family in exchange for training resources.
But the Wang Clan was now struggling to make ends meet. All Wang Mingyuan could do was have the younger generation start working two years earlier in order to increase their income and reduce expenditure.
Some of the clan elders opposed such a decision. They believed that the younger generation was the future of the clan and should be allowed to cultivate until they are eighteen. They were even willing to take out a portion of their monthly salary to support the younger one generation.
But Wang Mingyuan didn’t believe this was a solution to the family’s dilemma. In order to persuade the elders, he invited Wang Yaozong out and called together a clan meeting.
As the Patriarch of the family, Wang Mingyuan set an example by sending out his own son to serve as the celestial master of the Ping’an County for a four year period.
Ping’an County had the least favorable conditions among the three counties under the Wang family’s jurisdiction. With this example set by Wang Mingyuan and Wang Yaozong’s approval, the opposing voices soon disappeared.
Because of this incident, Liu Qing’er privately complained to Wang Mingyuan, saying that he only had the Wang Clan in his heart and had no space for his own family.
In his sixteenth year, under the reluctant gaze of his mother and the five jin parcel of spirit pastries that she made with haste overnight, Wang Changsheng left Qinglian Mountain and arrived at Ping’an County.
Ping’an was, as mentioned, a rather barren and sparsely populated place. The tens of thousands of Wang Clan members mainly resided within or near the county’s walled towns and villages.
Wang Changsheng’s task was to protect the mortal citizens of Ping’an from evil demons and spirits.
Although those of the Wang Clan who resided in the secular world did not possess spiritual roots, their ancestors did. As a result, these people’s descendants had a high chance of having spiritual roots.
For that reason, the Wang Clan would send out and station immortal cultivators in the three counties under their control and defend them as well as check for those with spiritual roots regularly.
For hundreds of years, there have been a dozen or so people with spiritual roots who emerged from the secular world. Wang Yaozong’s parents themselves were mortals. Because his spiritual roots were detected, he was sent up to Qinglian Mountain to begin training and thus, with the Wang Clan fostering him, he successfully reached the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Because there was a living example in Wang Yaozong, the Wang Clan attached great importance to the clan members living in the secular world. Of course, the Wang Clan valued the other people as well. Although the chance of a mortal being born with an aptitude to be a cultivator was slim, the clan still treated them equally. The Wang Clan would regularly send someone to the secular world and check whether any newborn children had spiritual roots in order to add them into their fold.
The magistrate of Ping’an County was appointed by the Imperial Court and so the Wang Clan did not interfere with the county magistrate’s governmental affairs. Only when there were demons and monsters causing chaos did the Wang Clan send immortal cultivators to deal with them.
Those clan members without spiritual roots did not interfere with neither business trades nor political affairs. But should any of their descendents possess spiritual roots, then they were obligated to send them up to Qinglian Mountain.
Wang Changsheng had already stayed in Ping’an for three years. He normally resided on Lotus Island and rarely left its premises.
There were no spiritual veins on Lotus Island and the spiritual energy was weak. The speed of his cultivation was extremely slow; in the three years he had stayed in Ping’an County, he was only able to rise up to a very small level. This was after he had also used a lot of spirit grains as a supplement. If not for the spirit grains, Wang Changsheng would not be able to rise to the fifth level of Qi Refining even if he was given five years.
The cost of elixir pills were expensive and Wang Changsheng was embarrassingly short of money, so he chose to eat spirit grains instead.
He was currently in the middle stages of Qi Refinement, where it was suitable to eat medium grade spirit grains of the first-tier. Such grains were cooked every two to three years and were valued at one or two spirit stones.
Holding the post of a celestial master in Ping’an County left him with nearly no opportunity to do meritorious service. With a monthly salary of only one spirit stone, the one jin of spirit grain he’d bought previously was soon to be depleted. There was no other option but to eat foods that did not contain spiritual essence.
