Rise of Qinglian Chapter 2
Wangjia Town
Besides Wang Changsheng himself, there were ten mortals also on the island who were sent by their families in Ping’an County to take care of his food and lodgings.
Wang Qiusheng was tasked with serving the meals and collecting the dishes. According to seniority, he was to address Wang Changsheng as Ninth Grand Uncle.
Wang Changsheng sat down and scooped up some white rice with his chopsticks. Its color was a pure, pearly white, soft and delicious. It was a pity that it didn’t contain an ounce of spiritual essence.
After having the morning repast, Wang Changsheng left Qinglian Pavilion and with a silent uttering, a white mist formed below his feet.
Once the white mist gathered together and condensed, it turned into a mass of white clouds of about three metres* in length, floating there as if no different from the ground itself.
T/L/N: 一丈许- This is the old Chinese system of measurement and is about 10 feet.
The technique of harnessing the mass and riding the clouds is a basic, lower-ranking incantation. It wasn’t the fastest way to fly, but in the absence of an aviation-type spirit weapon, most practitioners would train in using this technique during the Qi Refining Stage.
Wang Changsheng stepped onto the mass of white clouds. It slowly rose into the air and flew towards the distance.
Before long, Wang Changsheng descended into a valley. The precipice on both sides of the valley were pitted, and the ground was scattered with a lot of rubble. He often came here to train in incantations.
Because Lotus Island was almost barren of spiritual essence and the fruits of his training were halved there, he would spend most of his time here instead.
Wang Changsheng released a sigh. He began uttering the lines of the formula as his two hands moved through the gestures without faltering, forming a strange incantation seal.
After a while, a large amount of blue light emerged from Wang Changsheng’s body, quickly condensing into a crystalized ice piton about one foot long that exuded bursts of cold air.
“Go.”
Wang Changsheng softly commanded this as he reached out his hand to point lightly towards the cliff wall.
As soon as the word came out, the crystal clear ice piton rushed straight towards the indicated direction.
There was a loud cracking sound after which another hollow pit about a foot deep was added to the cliff face.The area surrounding the hole was covered with a layer of frost.
“Success!”
When Wang Changsheng saw this scene, his face erupted in joy.
The incantation for the ice piton is a low to mid-level technique. It was not particularly powerful and Wang Changsheng spent half a year in order to perfect this technique.
Incantations were divided into three stages according to their level of potency and activation time: Initiation, Inceptive Advancement, and Great Perfection. Under normal circumstances, it would take ten days to half a month for a low-level incantation to advance past the Initiation stage and if one wants to get it to the Inceptive Advancement stage, it would most likely take another two or three months. To advance a basic level incantation up to the Great Perfection stage, it would take six months or more.
In all honesty, when Wang Changsheng first arrived at Lotus Island where even birds don’t give a sh*t about it, his heart had been full of criticism towards his father. But after staying here for three years, his perspective gradually changed, now understanding the difficulties his father faced.
In the past three years, the rate of his cultivation growth was like that of a crawling turtle, yet his frame of mind remained firm and unwavering. Additionally, he also practiced with five basic- level incantations until they reached the Great Perfection stage and could now cast them instantaneously. Had he stayed within the clan compound, he would not have spent as much effort and time to perfect them.
The hours of the morning soon passed quickly and Wang Changsheng had spent that entire time training in incantations.
Just as he returned to Qinglian Pavilion at noon, Wang Qiusheng came to deliver the afternoon meal right at that moment.
Wang Qiusheng arranged the meal as usual and then left.
Two dishes and a soup: steamed sparrow eggs, tofu and meatball soup, and red braised venison.
All the ingredients were sent over from the Wang clan and were of good quality; the kitchen’s cook was also a skilled one. The only shortcoming, again, was that it lacked spiritual essence.
Wang Changsheng had just finished the soup and was about to take up his chopsticks when Wang Qiusheng returned with hastened steps, a letter in his hand. Tension saturated his face.
“Ninth Grand Uncle, citizens of Wangjia Town* have been dying one after the other and seems considerably peculiar. Will you have a look?”
T/L/N: The name basically translates to the Wang clan’s town, but I’ll be keeping the name as is for smoother dialogue.
Wang Changsheng’s brows twitched then replied, “Let me see it.”
Wang Qiusheng handed the letter over without further delay.
Wang Changsheng skimmed it quickly, pondered for a moment before speaking, “Are you familiar with the mayor of that town?”
“I am. According to seniority, the mayor of Wangjia Town, Wang Qingyun, is this grandson’s third uncle.”
“Go back and make preparations, including dry rations. You will be paying a visit with me to Wangjia Town.”
Ninety percent of the citizens living there were Wang family clansmen. Those living in that town were the main quarry of Wang Changsheng’s protection.
So if something goes amiss in Wangjia Town, Wang Changsheng would naturally not neglect it.
A quarter of an hour later, Wang Qiusheng returned to Qinglian Pavilion with a baggage on his back. There was also another person, a pretty girl in a blue dress, right behind him.
Wang Changsheng turned towards the blue dressed girl and instructed, “Qiuyue, while I’m away, Lotus Island will be under your care. If any letters arrive, have them sent over to Wangjia Town immediately.”
“Understood, Ninth Grand Uncle.”
Wang Changsheng uttered an incantation silently upon exiting Qinglian Pavilion and a mass of white clouds arose out of thin air once more.
Despite this not being the first time they saw Wang Changsheng casting a spell, Wang Qiusheng and Wang Qiuyue still showed faces full of admiration.
The mass of white clouds carrying Wang Changsheng and Wang Qiusheng gradually rose up and flew off. The two soon disappeared into the horizon.
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Wangjia Town was a small town occupied by about five thousand people. North of the town was a small river a little over nine meters* wide with a large expanse of farmland alongside it.
T/L/N: About thirty-two fee
Farming and hunting were the main livelihoods of its citizens and maintained a self-sufficient lifestyle.
Wangjia Town only has one main road leading from the North to the South. In the Southern end were hundreds of wooden and brick structures of which one of them held a most beautiful courtyard. A six and a half meter* tall gate painted in vermillion red stood with majestic air and its surface was tacked with shiny, brass nails that reflected brightly under the sunlight.
T/L/N: About twenty-two feet
On either side of the courtyard entrance stood a fierce looking stone lion.
Atop the gate hung a three meter* long, black plaque with the four characters, ‘Wang Family Clan Hall’ engraved in conspicuous gold.
T/L/N: 10 feet
More than twenty elders, all over half a century old, sat gathered within the main hall. Sitting in the leader’s seat was an elderly looking to be in his fifty’s and sixty’s- Mayor Wang Qingyun.
Wang Qingyun was, as of today, sixty-seven years old and the one with the highest seniority in Wangjia Town. He was very much respected and was unanimously voted in to be the mayor.
The old men on either side of him were representatives of various branches of Wangjia Town.
It was worth noting that standing near Wang Qingyun were two constables, one short and the other tall, both with solemn expressions.
While these two constables were also part of the Wang clan, they were originally not eligible to participate in a clan meeting of this scale. But now that cases of death have occurred, Wang Qingyun let them participate in today’s meeting.
A tall, thin elderly stood from his seat and made his obeisance* towards Wang Qingyun before speaking. “Third Uncle, just what exactly is happening? Has the culprit not been caught yet? Tianhu and Tianlong, as constables, how have neither of you arrested the killer after so many days?”
T/L/N: It’s the type where one cups a hand over the other in front of the chest, as Chinese martial artists are often seen doing.
“Sixth Uncle, it’s not that we brothers are incompetent but rather we are powerless. None of the victims showed signs of injury nor did their houses indicate evidence of fighting or struggling; there have been no outside visitors in town either. This is proving to be the work of spirits or demons”, explained the shorter, chubbier of the two constables, a bitter smile on his face.
Although the citizens of Wangjia Town were unable to cultivate immortality, they knew that cultivators, as well as evil spirits and demons, existed in the world. The short, chubby constable’s conclusion was acknowledged by many.
“As I’ve said! Sure enough, just like my prediction, this incident is definitely not the work of human beings.”
“Indeed, indeed. I also noticed this was the result of evil spirits or demons.”
“Now that we know it is the work of evil spirits and demons, what are we waiting for? I know that there is a celestial master residing within Ping’an County who has been protecting us. Fifth Uncle, quickly send someone over to usher our celestial master over to eradicate this evil being. Otherwise, none of us will dare sleep at night for fear of dying in the most foolish fashion, while only being able to rest our eyes during the day.”
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Each representative was speaking one after the other, each expressing this opinion or that perspective.
Wang Qingyun waved his hand and commanded, “Enough. Silence. I have sent a carrier pigeon with a letter to inform our celestial master. Before our celestial master rushes over, restrict our clansmen with a curfew; they are not to step out of their homes at night to avoid another clansman meeting an ill-fated end.”
It was at this moment that a tall, middle-aged man came running in, his face full of joy.
“Father, Older Cousin Qiusheng brought over our celestial master.”
Wang Qingyun immediately stood up upon hearing those words and asked urgently, “Where is the celestial master? Quickly show the way, we mustn’t be negligent.”
After saying this, Wang Qingyun headed out with quickened steps and the other clansmen followed close behind.
