Chương 3: Was It Worth It?

'I am lucky to survive another day! Really, there are too many Young Masters looking for trouble,' Tong Zhi thought, almost tearing up at the unfairness. "F**k, how can some thug treat me like that in front of the Xun Kuang Sect? Truly, evil is innate and ethics control it.'

Tong Zhi slowed down as she pushed through the brambles. Cutting herself on some branches or getting poisoned was the last thing she wanted.

'Still, now that I think about it, that Young Master must be that annoying cousin of mine who always bothered me. For once, he showed his face. No one must have believed him to be the Young Master of the Tong Clan otherwise. Strange how fate reduced a braggart like him to an oaf relying on some muscle hired from shady sectors in the city.'

Tong Zhi grabbed the dagger and cut through an especially troublesome thicket.

'It goes to show cultivation is always a dangerous task. I'm not deranged enough to think I am exempt, unlike those idiots. Clearly, the virtues they practice are incomplete. Irredeemable traditionalists are stuck propounding the same practices and expect to progress? Pathetic!'

Tong Zhi breathed heavily, tired from all the recent excitement. She pushed through into a clearing and sat on a particularly flat rock.

'Whew. Maybe I should succumb to the machinations of fate. Could my destiny be inevitable that I am to suffer unless I abstain from the wonders of this world? What a shame, really.'

An errant wind tossed up Tong Zhi's hair, setting it free to flutter behind her like a shroud of darkness. Her appearance was no less dignified than a Chief Magistrate, yet her face shone with such handsomeness, it begged to be punched by the envious. Tong Zhi's refinement surpassed the white chrysanthemum, capable of surviving the coldest of treatments. In the end, a dignified mortal meditating in the woodlands came a far cry from those transcending their limitations through cultivation.

"Perhaps it is time to become a bhikkhuni," Tong Zhi laughed.

"This humble scholar did not take this young woman to listen to a benefactor about a person in a well, and to leap in without hesitation," spoke a voice as cutting as cold steel. "One must see the ground to walk on, lest all one stands on is air."

Tong Zhi widened her eyes and inspected her surroundings. She fingered her dagger and listened more intently.

"This little woman greets this Honorable Scholar. For what reason is my decision rash?"

"The right conviction leads the farmer to tend to his fields. Halfheartedness causes the crops to suffer. Wasting the potential of a harvest is to waste the opportunity at hand."

Tong Zhi followed the voice to an ancient Bodhi Tree. Its venerated size stretched far around the clearing, and suffused a presence of wisdom.

"If Inanity Cultivation is compared to Sanity Cultivation, tens of times of the strength can be achieved with a tenth of the risk, at the cost of ten times the effort. The inherited knowledge from the ancient Teachers are long lost, and paving a new path is fraught with danger."

"Whilst the current knowledge may be lacking, if an inheritance is all this young woman desires, this humble scholar can verily provide. Certainly, these teachings should surpass the commonplace standards."

Tong Zhi eyed a strange pile of mossy stones stacked beneath the Bodhi Tree. She rose from the flat rock and slowly approached the voice emanating from thence.

"This little woman is undeserving of great knowledge. How can any normal person comprehend the profundities of revered Masters?"

"This young woman speaks with a glib tongue yet continues to approach this humble scholar? Surely, the Golden Rule is not lost upon this generation? The conviction of this humble scholar guides him to tend to a seed of potential. If the harvest begets more seeds, then this humble scholar is more than satisfied."

Tong Zhi stared at the stones which seemed to speak.

"...Could it be that this Honorable Scholar is but a ghost?"

The voice refused to reply, leaving Tong Zhi to lean closer to the stones.

"Would this Honorable Scholar regret not having disciples, and be left with regrets so heavy, that passing the mortal world became an impossibility?"

"The methods of the educated can produce results most wondrous to the uneducated. It is useless for an illiterate farmer to question the wisdom of the Emperor. The question remains for this young woman in accepting the inheritance."

"If this scholar is to be impolite to this young woman, why maintain the pretense of formality?"

"As this humble scholar understands this woman refuses to listen to counsel, this humble scholar will oblige."

The sharp voice cleared its throat.

"Baby, listen to me, and I can rock your world."

"Pffft!"

"We started off with a rocky relationship, but I hope this doesn't rock the boat."

Long Zhi laughed at the pile of stones.

"I've got killer moves that will leave you stone cold."

"Haha...ha? Why did that also sound like a threat?"

"Nevermind that. Are you willing, or not?"

Tong Zhi crouched down next to the stones.

"Are you able to come with me?"

"No."

"Then, bye."

Tong Zhi immediately stood up and walked away.

"Wait, WAIT! You can't just leave me here for something so silly!"

Tong Zhi turned to give the pile of stones a look questioning the capacity of the scholar.

"Huh? I'm being chased down. If I stay here, my life is at risk. I have to get to a Temple as soon as possible. Playing with a ghost goes against conventional thought."

"You seriously aren't considering inheriting my teachings? You could ascend with leaps and bounds with your Jade Essence Constitution!"

"Why would I listen to a ghost? How would I know if you were a demon or a vengeful spirit seeking to snatch my body? I'd rather leave."

Tong Zhi continued walking away.

"WAIT! I have proof! These stones mark my grave. Dig but a few feet and you can identify I am the Master Zai Wo.

Ai, the shameful circumstances of my death revolves around seeking enlightenment. As I climbed the Bodhi Tree and meditated, a damnable tit landed on my shoulder. Surprised, I fell and snapped my neck. I barely survived, only to be crudely buried by an ignorant and ascetic monk. I suffocated as my limbs were completely paralyzed, and left without being able to notify others of my passing.

Then, you arrived! As the accomplished disciple of Master Kong, I would recognize the Jade Essence Constitution!

The Jade Essence Constitution is legendary for a reason! Its resonance allows one to be in tune with the world and the body. How else would the three prominent figures in history be unstoppable? The Master Kong! The Gautama Buddha! The Arhat Khema!

I sealed my soul within a jade tablet in hopes of finding a successor, and remained in obscurity for so long. If not, could any ordinary ghost communicate with the living? Do you sense resentment? A baleful aura? A frigid chill of yin energy? It's impossible!

Our resonance must be fated! Please, absolve my regrets, or I shan't be an accomplished Master! I may as well extinguish my soul!"

Tong Zhi backpedaled and stood in front of the stones.

"Don't be so dramatic. So, you're stored in a jade tablet? Why did you say you cannot come with me?"

"It is not as simple as storing my soul. The seal locking my soul down is meant for a powerful demon. It is attached to a formation that cannot move from my corpse. Should the jade tablet be moved, the seal will be undone and my soul will disperse!"

"The seal should not be that weak?"

"Theoretically, the formation would power the seal by drawing the energy of the world for eternity. By sealing my soul, I thought I could teach disciples for eternity. Fate would have it my efforts were imperceptible except for the possessors of the Jade Essence Constitution! Being so strong, it would last a year before dispersing."

"Isn't a year short?"

"Ai! How would you know the exorbitant price I paid for this result? I don't think the core ingredients even exist any longer in this era!"

"Fine, fine. I'll take you with me."

"Wah! Young woman, you do know I was exaggerating before? Even while sealed, I am fine in waiting for you to come back. I only wished not to be completely forgotten."

Tong Zhi glared at the pile of rocks.

"A Master like you reneges on his words?!"

"Patience is a virtue! Mindlessly— WAIT, WAIT!"

Tong Zhi knocked over the stones, causing them to spill.

"Be respectful to the dead!"

Tong Zhi kicked away more of the stones.

"Ai! Don't break the jade tablet!"

Tong Zhi eventually made it to a reeking pit. Decaying bones nestled within the sparse clothing left. Insects ran rampant within, as centipedes crawled along and worms squirmed.

"Ugh, you never said anything about this."

"Ah ha!" Zai Wo interjected. "Leave my jade tablet alone and be educated! This Bodhi Tree is perfect for enlightenment!"

"Are you cursing me to die like you?"

"..."

Tong Zhi walked away once more.

"Wait, you aren't abandoning me, are you?!"

"Who knows?"

"You! Hrrrmmm! Ha, you will definitely be back! I don't believe you have the guts to leave a huge inheritance behind!"

Tong Zhi almost crossed the limit of his range.

"You can't be serious!?"

"I learned ruthlessness is needed for the weak. I cut my ties to my parents so they remained unaffected by my powerlessness. I cut ties with my one friend so they remained unaffected by my banishment. I remained a pawn for the Tong Clan and endured countless harassments.

If I am so ruthless to myself that I would grovel and bark at the cost of my face, you think I won't be ruthless enough to cut ties with a forgotten Master? I can bide my time to earn power of my own. I am not so desperate to trust a selfish man, looking to preserve his legacy."

"What you are stirring up is more than mud. How can you learn the wealth of my inheritance if I, as Master Kong's disciple, took much more than a year to complete his teachings? Even with my inheritance, would you properly practice the right principles and virtues?"

"I wonder why I even tried talking with you. Regardless if you are a true master, your knowledge resulted in you dying from a fall. Would any Sanity Cultivator pathetically die?"

"You! This is the folly of youth! Advancements in cultivation cannot be created on flimsy foundations. If one relied solely on the aspect of good faith and advanced, their cultivation would inexorably be linked! Any failures in honesty or sincerity would result in a damaged foundation, or cultivation deviation at worst!

How much time and resources would be wasted in creating something to be destroyed? Only when I shed my laxness and lacking filial piety, did I begin to start my cultivation. If you are interested in learning, I am here!"

"What would your methods matter then, being so time-consuming and more restrictive than Inanity Cultivation? I may as well return to emptiness by purging my desires. The practitioners may speak nonsense at times, but their power is real and unhindered by virtues.

If being unable to take a life is the price to pay, I am willing. The cycle of violence would end if all were not driven to desire."

"When you return in failure, I told you so."

"If I return? You should worry if you could return! Fool! Your upturned grave will incite opportunistic thieves to swipe what is buried. Whether or not we are fated to meet again, depends on the good graces of strangers!"

"Fool! You should worry if my inheritance is now doomed! Being so petty sentenced me to an endangered existence, but do you not worry about karma? Was it worth snubbing me? Was it worth it?"