42: Chapter 42 Han Yuan

After dark, the Loose Cultivators Alliance grew quiet. Stalls in the market were packed away, and the blacksmith shop extinguished its furnace. Only the wind drilled through the alleyways—carrying the scent of rust and old wood.

Lu Chen was packing his things. A few pieces of clothing, a few Spirit Stones, and three finger bones wrapped in cloth were tucked into his bosom. The Green Jade Token was placed separately—the Restriction on the jade plaque would emit a faint light at night. It wasn't because it was pretty; it was a reminder. Three months.

Qin Wu was sharpening a blade in the courtyard. An old short blade taken from the blacksmith shop, its edge rolled in three places—he ground them flat one by one. The sound of the whetstone against the blade was very faint, like insects gnawing on wood.

Someone coughed in the alley.

Qin Wu's hand stopped.

It wasn't the cough of someone ill—it was intentional. The kind that clears one's throat. A way to warn the other party before speaking: "I have arrived."

Lu Chen walked out of the room.

A person stood at the mouth of the alley. A Gray-robed Man. Tall and very thin. His face was hidden in the shadows of his hood, revealing only his chin—which was pointed. His skin was very pale, so pale it didn't look like a living person's.

"Han Yuan."

The Gray-robed Man removed his hood. His face was much the same as when they met outside The Cave at Qingniu Ridge—his cheekbones were a bit higher, his eye sockets a bit deeper. His eyes were still that same color. Grey. The same color as Lu Chen's Spiritual Root.

"Qi Refining Level 5 Peak." Han Yuan's voice wasn't loud, carrying a bit of hoarseness. As if his throat hadn't touched water in a long time. "You are faster than I thought."

"How did you find me?"

"No need to find you. The bone fragment was placed in Qingniu Ridge by me—it had my mark on it. Although it shattered and the mark faded—when you absorbed the bone fragment, you left something behind in your Dantian." Han Yuan pointed to his own temple. "It's not a tracking Spell. It's resonance. Every time you make a Breakthrough—I can feel it."

Lu Chen didn't speak.

"You entered the Inverted Tower." Han Yuan said. "You walked through all five levels. You obtained Li Xuanyi's bones. You also learned about the Ten Fingers Clasped."

"How much do you know?"

"Everything." Han Yuan leaned against the wall at the alley entrance. His hands were tucked into his sleeves, his posture very relaxed—not feigning relaxation. He was truly in no rush. "I knew from the very beginning. The bone fragment was stolen from the Danding Sect by the Ten Thousand Sword Sect—a matter from two hundred years ago. The Ten Thousand Sword Sect studied it for two hundred years, only knowing the bone fragment could help a Grey Spirit Root Cultivate. But they didn't know the bone fragment was the key to the Inverted Tower. Until you used it."

"You deliberately placed the bone fragment at Qingniu Ridge."

"Not deliberately. I had no choice." Han Yuan said. "The Ten Thousand Sword Sect held the bone fragment for two hundred years, and not a single person could use it. There are too few Grey Spirit Roots—the Ten Thousand Sword Sect only had one."

"Jian Wushuang."

Han Yuan's gray eyes flickered. "You know Jian Wushuang."

"I've heard of her."

"She is my mission." Han Yuan said. "The only mission the Ten Thousand Sword Sect gave me—to find a way for a Grey Spirit Root to Cultivate. The bone fragment, the Inverted Tower, the finger bones—all of them are things I chased down by following this trail."

"Now you've caught up."

"I've caught up. But you were faster than me." Han Yuan straightened his body from the wall. "I was stuck on the second level of the Inverted Tower. The Trial of Forgotten Friends—I saw a person. I retreated."

Lu Chen looked at him.

"You entered the fifth level. You obtained the complete truth of Li Xuanyi. You know that Ten Fingers Clasped can reverse the Love-Refining Furnace." Han Yuan took a step forward. "I didn't come to snatch things. You have already absorbed the bone fragment; it cannot be snatched back. The finger bones—they are useless to others. Only a Grey Spirit Root can use them."

"Then what did you come here for?"

"An exchange."

Han Yuan pulled a neatly folded piece of parchment from his bosom. He spread it out. It was a map—not a topographical map. It was a map of Meridians. But it was different from a normal Meridian map—there was an extra line on it. A gray line, starting from the Dantian, bypassing the heart, passing through the throat, to the brain.

"A full Meridian map for a Grey Spirit Root. The result of two hundred years of research by the Ten Thousand Sword Sect—this is the only copy."

"What do you want in exchange?"

"After you arrive at the Hehuan Sect—give me what is in the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires."

Lu Chen stared at that gray line. Unlike the white line on his wrist—this line ran inside the body. Dantian → Heart → Throat → Brain. Four points. Four barriers.

"What is in the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires?"

"The Cave of Ten Thousand Desires was built by the founding Ancestral Master of the Hehuan Sect. She was also a Grey Spirit Root—Li Xuanyi's Senior Sister. Li Xuanyi created the Love-Refining Furnace, and she created the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires. Two Cultivation Techniques, one goal. The Cave of Ten Thousand Desires hides her complete notes on researching Grey Spirit Roots. I want those notes."

"You want the notes. I want the finger bones."

"Not a conflict. The notes belong to me, the finger bones belong to you."

Lu Chen looked at that Meridian map. The four positions the gray line passed through—the Dantian was there, the heart, the throat, the brain.

"This map—what is the gray line?"

"The true path for a Grey Spirit Root to circulate Qi." Han Yuan said. "Your current route for Qi Refining is the route of a normal Cultivator—the Grey Spirit Root is barely adapting. If you walk this gray line—your Cultivation speed will be at least three times faster."

"The cost?"

Han Yuan was silent for a breath. "I don't know. The map was drawn by a Senior of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect; he didn't practice it himself—he didn't have a Grey Spirit Root. What he drew was speculation."

"You don't practice it?"

"I am not a Grey Spirit Root." Han Yuan raised his hand. He opened his palm—there was a small gray patch on his palm. Not a Spiritual Root—it was some kind of mark. Like a scar from being burned. "I am just someone who was affected by a Grey Spirit Root."

Qin Wu walked out of the courtyard. The short blade was still in his hand. The edge of the blade had been sharpened bright.

"Who is he?"

"Han Yuan." Lu Chen took the parchment. "The person who threw the bone fragment at Qingniu Ridge three years ago."

Han Yuan glanced at Qin Wu—looked at the white line on his wrist. Then looked at Lu Chen's wrist. Two lines, the same light.

"Li Xuanyi's line." Han Yuan said.

Lu Chen looked up.

"Li Xuanyi had one on his hand too. Not a white line—it was a black line. Before he passed away, the line broke. I have checked all records of Li Xuanyi in the Ten Thousand Sword Sect. The last time he appeared before others—there was nothing on his wrist."

"What are the conditions for the line to break?"

"I don't know. But Li Xuanyi's line was black." Han Yuan looked at the white line still glowing on Lu Chen's wrist. "Yours is still white. It means you still care."

He shoved the parchment into Lu Chen's hand.

"The map is yours. When you get to the Hehuan Sect—the notes in the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires belong to me. Deal?"

"Deal."

Han Yuan pulled his hood back up. He turned and walked into the alley. He walked a few steps and stopped.

"The Green Jade Token that Fang Jing gave you—there is more than one Restriction."

Lu Chen's fingers touched the jade plaque in his bosom.

"The Restriction on the surface is to seal your Cultivation. It triggers in three months. But there is another layer inside the jade plaque—all Core Disciple tokens of the Xuantian Sect have it. It's called 'Wind Listening Technique'. It's not a Restriction. It's a surveillance Spell. If you carry this jade plaque, every word you say within three months—the Xuantian Sect will know."

"How do you know?"

"The Ten Thousand Sword Sect has spies in the Xuantian Sect. The content of your negotiation yesterday—I knew it last night."

Han Yuan left. The gray robe melted into the darkness of the alley. His footsteps grew light—and disappeared.

Qin Wu sheathed his blade back into his waist. His hand gripped and released the hilt. "Is this person—trustworthy?"

"Not trustworthy." Lu Chen folded the parchment and put it into his bosom. "But he needs me to enter the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires. Before he gets the notes—he won't harm me."

"What about after he gets them?"

"We'll talk about that then."

Lu Chen walked back into the room. He took the Green Jade Token out from his bosom—under the moonlight, the jade plaque was still the same jade plaque. Green. Translucent. A cloud was carved in the center.

He flipped the jade plaque over. The back was smooth. There was nothing.

But Han Yuan said there was a layer of 'Wind Listening Technique' Restriction inside.

He tried to probe his Spiritual Qi into it. His perception at Qi Refining Level 5 seeped in along the texture of the jade plaque—the jade substance was very dense. The Spiritual Qi moved very slowly inside. When it reached the center of the jade plaque—it hit something very hard. It wasn't jade. It was the core of some kind of Spell.

It was moving. Rotating very slowly—like an ear.

He withdrew his Spiritual Qi.

A three-month deadline. A Restriction to seal Cultivation. A surveillance Spell. What Fang Jing gave him wasn't a recommendation letter—it was a cage. Not a cage for a person. A cage for information. From the moment he accepted the Green Jade Token, the Xuantian Sect had been monitoring every word he said.

But he had already accepted it.

"Is there a solution?" Qin Wu said.

"Yes. Don't report to the Xuantian Sect, let the Sect Master lift it personally. Or—" Lu Chen looked at the jade plaque, "break it yourself after Foundation Establishment. The Restriction is a Qi Refining stage Spell. It can be broken after Foundation Establishment."

"Can you reach Foundation Establishment within three months?"

"No."

Qin Wu was silent.

Lu Chen put the Green Jade Token away. "Let's go. We'll set out when it's dawn."

"Where to?"

"The Hehuan Sect. But not directly. First find a place—a quiet place. I want to test the Meridian map Han Yuan gave me."

"Are you not afraid the map is fake?"

"I'm not. His obsession with the notes is real—a person who has chased the secret of the Grey Spirit Root for over a decade won't risk his only collaborator."

Lu Chen closed his eyes. The Spiritual Qi in his Dantian was at ninety-nine percent. Only a thin sheet of paper separated him from the sixth level. If the gray line Meridian map was real—he might be able to make a Breakthrough tonight.

He followed the path drawn on Han Yuan's map—and guided the Spiritual Qi out of his Dantian. He didn't follow the normal Meridians. He walked a very thin, gray, hidden path.

The Spiritual Qi touched it.

The gray hidden path lit up.

It wasn't the warm sensation of normal Meridians. It was cold. Like ice water seeping out from the Dantian, climbing up along a path he had never walked—past the heart, past the throat, to the brain.

The four points shook simultaneously.

Dantian. Heart. Throat. Brain.

The ninety-nine percent Spiritual Qi surged. It wasn't rising—it was pouring into that gray line. Like water finding a lower place. The segment of the gray line in the Dantian—mixed with the Spiritual Qi of the Dantian itself. The deep golden bone-core light and the gray light of the gray line merged together—

Turning into a new color.

Ink-gold.

Lu Chen opened his eyes.

Qi Refining Level 6.

No celestial phenomenon. No vibration. Not even a fluctuation of Spiritual Qi. Only the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian had changed color—from deep gold to ink-gold. His Cultivation had risen by one level. But the feeling was different from before. Before, every time he made a Breakthrough—his Dantian would expand, and the Spiritual Qi would thicken. This time, it didn't. The Dantian didn't get bigger. The Spiritual Qi didn't get thicker. What changed was the color. And the sense of touch.

It wasn't recovery.

It was that he could feel.

His fingers touched the stone on the ground—it was cold. Rough. There were tiny particles grinding against his fingertips.

His sense of touch had returned.

But it wasn't the same return as before. It was—he could choose. After pulling the Spiritual Qi out of the gray line, the sense of touch disappeared. When he poured Spiritual Qi into the gray line—the sense of touch returned. Like a switch.

A switch that a Grey Spirit Root could control.

He looked down at his wrist. The white line was still white. But there was a very, very thin shadow next to the line—a gray one. Not a new line. It was the projection of the white line under some kind of light.

No. It wasn't a projection.

It was the white line itself—a portion of it had turned gray.

tianxuan calendar · taiping Year 19, Spring. Night.

Qi Refining Level 6. The gray line Meridians cleared.

Sense of touch returned—but only temporarily. Like a switch.

A streak of gray appeared on the white line.

Han Yuan said—Li Xuanyi's black line broke before he passed away.