Chapter 70: Stone Marker
Li Yan was currently walking along a path lined with slender bamboo, where wisps of cloud occasionally drifted past.
Thinking about the helplessness that cultivating the "Fractured Poison Body" brought him, and recalling the agony of separating his meridians, he couldn't help but shiver. He shook his head, as if trying to shake off these unpleasant memories.
Lifting his head to glance around, he noticed that on the path he was walking, another smaller trail would occasionally veer off diagonally to the side. This reminded him of the time, a month ago, when he had searched for a place to practice his immortal techniques.
That day, after deciding to find a practice spot outside his courtyard, he had left and begun searching nearby.
But that area was a residential zone. Although the courtyards were spaced fairly far apart, he bore the Fractured Poison Body, who knew what collateral damage his poison might cause?
After a while of searching and finding nothing suitable, he ended up walking behind the western side of his courtyard, where he found a small path leading toward the mountain peak. On a whim, he followed it.
The trail wound through densely clustered bamboo, with white clouds drifting gently through the leaves and birds occasionally flying across the azure sky, a scene of pure serenity.
As he walked, Li Yan searched for a place suitable for his training, while also enjoying the quiet, ethereal atmosphere. After some distance, he came upon a fork in the path. On impulse, he turned onto the side trail.
This narrow trail twisted and turned through the bamboo forest. After walking for about half a cup of tea's time, Li Yan reached a dead end.
The end of the trail was blocked by an even denser thicket of bamboo. The gaps between stalks were so tight that only something the size of a house mouse could squeeze through.
Looking around, the available open space wasn't large enough for proper training.
Casually, Li Yan shook a few bamboo stalks. It was just a random gesture with no purpose, and he was already planning to turn back and look elsewhere.
But when his hand landed on one particular bamboo stalk, he grabbed at empty air. His palm passed right through as if touching nothing but void. He was stunned.
He froze, withdrew his hand, and hesitated. Then he pressed his hand to a different bamboo stalk nearby. This time, he touched something solid.
Curious, he once again reached toward the bamboo at the path's end and again felt nothing, just like before.
Li Yan felt a wave of confusion. Carefully, he extended his divine sense. When it touched the dense bamboo grove, he felt a familiar sensation, exactly like when his divine sense probed the defensive array around his courtyard.
The moment it reached the grove, his divine sense was repelled.
Startled, he muttered, "Why is there an illusion formation here?"
Though he hadn't been cultivating long, Li Yan had read many books on cultivation. He knew a bit about formation types.
Just as he prepared to push his divine sense further, a cold voice suddenly echoed out.
"What are you doing here?"
The abrupt voice made Li Yan jump. The entire walk had been as silent as an empty valley, save for birds in the sky and rustling bamboo. This sudden interruption shattered the tranquility like a stone in still water.
He quickly stepped back and looked around, but saw no one.
As he hesitated, the dense bamboo ahead shimmered and rippled like waves. From within emerged a tall and striking figure.
She stood quietly, staring coldly at him.
Li Yan looked closely, it was his sixth senior sister, Gong Chenying, with her short hair and athletic frame. She wore a tight-fitting outfit that accentuated her fiery curves, her chest rising and falling slightly, with glistening sweat still on her healthy, sun-kissed skin. She clearly had just been training.
Staring at the cool, aloof girl who stood a little taller than him, Li Yan was momentarily dazed. Then he quickly cupped his fists.
"Greetings, Sixth Senior Sister. I was just looking for a place to train outside my courtyard and saw this path, so I followed it. It seems I've intruded on your space. Apologies, I'll leave right away."
Li Yan wasn't sure what this place was. Could it be her residence? But didn't she live in one of the bamboo courtyard dwellings? Questions rose in his mind, though he of course didn't dare to ask them aloud.
Gong Chenying didn't respond. She merely stared at him coldly, expressionless.
Li Yan gave a wry smile and turned to leave.
"If there's a stone marker at a trail's entrance, don't go down it. Those areas are important zones or restricted grounds of Little Bamboo Peak.
"Also, you may go no farther than fifty li upward. Beyond that point, all the way to the summit, is forbidden to everyone except the master and the elder. Not that someone like you could get in even if you tried."
Just as he was turning back, that frosty voice called out again.
Li Yan turned, surprised, but there was no trace of anyone in the bamboo grove, only her words lingered in the air.
A slight smile tugged at his lips. It seemed his sixth senior sister wasn't as aloof as she appeared. Still, her words had been rather cutting.
Thinking back, he didn't remember seeing any "stone marker" or "stone stele" when he entered the trail. Had he missed it?
Half a cup of tea's time later, Li Yan stood once more on the main mountain path. Glancing toward the smaller path he had taken, he spotted a small stone upright at the fork.
He gave a bitter chuckle. He had searched high and low for the "stone marker" Sixth Senior Sister mentioned, and all he found was a stone less than a foot tall, surrounded by gravel.
There were no characters or carvings on it, it looked like a naturally formed rock.
"No wonder she said 'stone marker' instead of 'stele.' If she hadn't mentioned it, any new disciple walking past would never guess what it was."
Li Yan shook his head. He couldn't understand why everything on Little Bamboo Peak seemed to be done in the simplest way possible. So simple, in fact, that it left him utterly confused.
Continuing upward, he passed several more forks in the path. At three of them, he saw similar foot-high stones.
He also encountered several people entering and leaving those side paths, none of whom he recognized.
He found this odd. Of his fellow disciples, he hadn't met Third or Fifth Senior Brother yet. But judging by the sleeve markings on these strangers, none of them were from Little Bamboo Peak.
They came from all over: Boundless Peak, Old Lord Peak, Four Symbols Peak, and Spirit Insect Peak.
This puzzled Li Yan. What were all these people doing going in and out of those little side paths?
Although he was curious, Li Yan gave up the idea of going inside. What he needed most right now was to quickly improve his strength, so that he could one day return to the small mountain village at the foot of Great Qing Mountain.
Those who passed by had also noticed Li Yan. Seeing his unfamiliar face and sensing the faint spiritual power emanating from him, many wore looks of surprise.
But upon noticing the disciple robe he wore, clearly different from that of a mere servant, and especially the golden bamboo insignia on his sleeve, they looked even more puzzled or suspicious, but ultimately just brushed past him without a word.
Li Yan noticed how disciplined these people were. They only entered or exited through the paths marked with stone markers, never stepping elsewhere. Once out, they would fly off immediately, never lingering on Little Bamboo Peak.
Finding this curious, Li Yan continued up the mountain. He didn't want to practice his immortal techniques anywhere near a crowd.
After walking another seven or eight li upward, he saw no more stone markers next to the side paths. At the same time, he encountered not a single soul, which gave him some ideas about the purpose of those previous paths.
A quarter of an hour later, he finally found a few suitable places. However, he didn't start practicing right away, recalling something that his cold-faced, curvaceous Sixth Senior Sister had said:
"You can only go fifty li up!"
There was no one else around. With no eyes watching and his curiosity still piqued, Li Yan decided to walk just a little further.
Thus, weaving his way along the trail, he discovered several more decent spots, especially one platform halfway up the mountain that satisfied him greatly.
The platform was about ten zhang wide, reached by a path winding through the bamboo forest. Three sides of the platform were encircled by dense bamboo, while the fourth jutted out over the mountainside, facing an endless sea of clouds.
Standing there, Li Yan could see far-off ranges rolling in waves. Aside from a few peaks that could rival Little Bamboo Peak, most only poked the tips of their summits through the clouds.
The distant sky swirled with drifting clouds, just the sight of it made one feel refreshed and at peace. Truly, it was a scene that made all other mountains seem small. Li Yan took a deep liking to the place and decided it would be his training spot.
After descending from the platform, he continued up the mountain, still haunted by his senior sister's words.
Looking at the stone path beneath his feet, he felt puzzled, why was it that this mountain's back path, as well as the smaller ones threading through the bamboo forest, were all only wide enough for two or three people walking shoulder to shoulder?
Walking among them, surrounded on all sides by seemingly endless bamboo, gave one the eerie illusion that the world had no end…
Perhaps it was deliberate, these stone paths, with their constant winds and rustling leaves, soon gave a person the overwhelming feeling of being utterly alone. Loneliness and isolation naturally rose in one's heart.
An hour later, Li Yan saw the path bend once more and vanish into another thicket of bamboo ahead.
Yet he didn't feel irritated. In fact, he liked the quiet of the long trail. By nature, he wasn't talkative, one might even call him solitary.
Estimating the distance, he figured he was about fifty li from where his Sixth Senior Sister had warned him to stop. But he didn't feel any restrictions in place.
Looking around, he decided to round the next bamboo grove. If the scenery remained the same, he'd simply turn back.
By this point, he was starting to feel uneasy, if he really stumbled into some powerful restriction, he'd be in trouble. His curiosity had been gradually replaced by reason, but just enough of it remained to push him a little farther.
It only showed he wasn't yet a true adult. A youth's curiosity about the unknown often triumphed over logic.
Thinking this, Li Yan kept walking. Rounding the bend, he looked up and froze.
After so long trekking through endless bamboo forests, his mind had been filled with nothing but visions of more bamboo. He naturally assumed the next scene would be the same.
But instead, he was met with a massive open plaza, no bamboo at all, just a vast, empty expanse. In the very center stood a towering stone stele.
This was no stone marker. This was a monument, some three to four zhang wide and more than twenty zhang tall. It bore no words or images, yet radiated an overwhelming presence, as if a divine being stood watch over all beneath it.
Li Yan had only glanced at it once when his mind was struck as if by lightning. His chest surged with turbulent blood, threatening to burst from his veins.
Terrified, he staggered backward. Blood spurted from his mouth in several waves as he retreated until the bend in the bamboo forest blocked the plaza from sight. Only then did the crushing pressure finally lift.
Panting heavily, hands on his knees, Li Yan gasped for air. Blood still dripped from the corner of his mouth, and the monument's shadow still loomed in his mind, towering, earth-shaking.
He didn't know what had just happened. All that remained in his head was the image of that stone stele and the faint outline of a path leading deeper into the mountains beyond it.
After a long time catching his breath, he straightened up and wiped the blood from his mouth, a bitter smile on his lips. He had only himself to blame.
This was practically suicide. The power of immortals was beyond comprehension. He was still just a mortal who had only glimpsed the path to immortality, yet here he was, practically offering himself up.
The Sixth Senior Sister had already warned him. He had ignored her, actively courting death.
It was in this moment that Li Yan truly understood what cultivation meant. It was a supreme, untouchable path. An unassailable pressure. A power he couldn't even fathom.
Without a glance back, Li Yan made his way down the mountain. For the first time, he truly felt his own insignificance, no more than an ant, whose life could end at any moment.
And yet, within him, something had begun to stir: a hunger for that unreachable power.
The youngster had begun to grow.
(Chapter End)