Chapter 23 .1: Things have remained the same, but people have changed.
Chapter 23 Part 1
The eighteen-sided bronze die shot down from the air. It was only the size of a fist, but the soaring yin energy shouldn’t be underestimated. Ziying immediately let go of Xi Jia’s wrist and retreated three steps back to avoid the attack.
Wu Xiang Qing Li turned in the air and returned to Ye Jingzhi’s hand. Xi Jia still hadn’t understood what had happened when someone grabbed his left hand. He turned only to see Ye Jingzhi tightly knitting his brows and urgently asking, “Are you okay?”
Xi Jia was stumped for a moment, “Okay.”
Only then was Ye Jingzhi at ease.
By now, the sky was already gradually becoming dark. The crowd of people standing around to watch the crew that had an accident had already dispersed. On Zhu Que Street, the tall young Celestial Master firmly held onto the black haired young man’s hand. After confirming that he’s truly alright, he turned to face the strange man not far away.
In the movie city, people wearing ancient costumes could be seen everywhere. Some were actors from production teams, and some were tourists who had come to this movie city to have fun. At the movie city’s entrance, there’s a small shop specializing in renting out ancient costumes. Visitors could rent the clothes, dress up in ancient clothing, and go in and experience an enjoyable moment of transmigration.
However, how could those low-cost rented film costumes be comparable to the set that Ziying wore?
When the sun sets in the west, the round moon faintly rose in the sky from the east. Because the sun hadn’t fully set, the moon was dim and lacked brightness. When the weak moonlight sprinkled onto Ziying’s black brocade robes, a faint layer of gold slowly appeared.
A giant gold dragon rose from the hems of his clothes, circling him. It charged into the sky and roared.
The pattern could only be seen underneath the moonlight, showcasing its legendary workmanship.
Ye Jingzhi was born with Yin Yang Eyes just like Xi Jia and could directly see yin energy. He silently looked at the strange man in front of him. He couldn’t see even a little bit of yin energy, as if this man really was just an ordinary person.
Xi Jia said in a low voice, “Qin San Shi, Ying Ziying.”
Ye Jingzhi’s eyes contracted and looked at Xi Jia.
Xi Jia seriously looked at him, “He said that he’s Ying Ziying.”
In the next moment, Ye Jingzhi flipped his hand to take out Wu Xiang Qing Li. With a flick of his finger, the bronze die suspended in the air. Ye Jingzhi softly recited a spell, and Wu Xiang Qing Li immediately began to spin rapidly. Ye Jingzhi pointed at the rapidly spinning Wu Xiang Qing Li, and the little die stopped in place with a loud bang, showing one of its sides to its master.
Ye Jingzhi raised his head, looking in Ziying’s direction. The latter’s long hair was set in a hair crown and was also calmly watching them.1
“Eastern Brilliance, Eastern Pole, Nine Qi Azure Palace.2 That which is hidden in the Limitless, go!”
Ye Jingzhi tapped a certain side of Wu Xiang Qing Li. His voice just fell, and that side erupted in golden light. Ye Jingzhi tightened his finger and drew out a blinding golden light from within that surface. This myriad of golden light rapidly flew into the sky. Bang! Bang! Bang! It sounded three times. Three golden long swords shot down from the sky, inserting themselves into the ground.
After these three swords effortlessly inserted themselves into the limestone pavement. The swords acted as a core, linking together to form a triangular enchantment. The three of them stood within the enchantment, and the rest of people in the movie city were outside of it. Xi Jia saw a middle aged man quickly run over from the enchantment’s west side. Just as he ran into the enchantment, his body suddenly appeared at the enchantment’s east side.
It was actually an enchantment to pass through straight!
The man was completely unaware and continued to run forward.
Ye Jingzhi extended his arm, covering Xi Jia behind his body, and seriously said, “Qin San Shi didn’t ascend to the throne for many days, yet he still has the purple aura of a real dragon protecting the body. Furthermore, he has been dead for more than two thousand years. His yin energy is extremely strong, and his strength is not low.”
As if responding to Ye Jingzhi’s words, Xi Jia slowly saw the indistinct purple aura emerge from underneath Ziying’s feet and wrap around his body.
The sunset came from behind him, reflecting a light layer of golden light. As the sun set, the purple aura gradually grew stronger. By the time the moon completely enveloped the earth, the purple dragon aura had reached its peak, and the golden dragon on the black brocade robes released a series of dragon roars.
Ye Jingzhi quickly made pinching hand gestures, and Wu Xiang Qing Li hovered above his head. His finger moved as he pointed at Ziying.
In an instant, countless golden flying swords rushed out of Wu Xiang Qing Li like a rainstorm, shooting towards Ziying. A blood colored dragon roared and came out of the blood red jade pendant at Ziying’s waist. The dragon charged into the flying swords, causing a loud bang.
The blood dragon loudly crashed into the flying swords. The blood dragon dispersed, and the flying swords broke.
“Wu Xiang Qing Li!”
Ye Jingzhi raised his hand to call back the magic weapon, and immediately drew out a sword from within Wu Xiang Qing Li. He then placed Wu Xiang Qing Li into Xi Jia’s hand. He seriously and earnestly looked him in the eye, “Be careful, it will protect you.”
Before Xi Jia had the time to answer, he saw Master Ye holding the long sword and thrusting it toward Ziying.
Ziying turned his body to the side to dodge the sharp strike.
Ye Jingzhi sent another sword strike over. His figure was strong and sturdy yet graceful as he flew. Each of his sword strikes aimed straight at Ziying’s openings, forcing Ziying to yield and yield, unable to resist. Finally, a strike brushed past Ziying’s cheek. Ziying may have gotten out of the way, but a gash appeared on his face.
It was not blood that flowed out from the wound, but yin energy. The yin energy that had been sealed for over two thousand years madly spilled out from the wound. Xi Jia widened his eyes and watched. For the first time, he saw the yin energy that Qin San Shi should have had.
As long as it’s a ghost, there must be yin energy. Even if there’s a purple aura of a real dragon covering the yin energy, the yin energy couldn’t just disappear.
Ye Jingzhi pressed on closely. Wu Xiang Qing Li in Xi Jia’s hand cheerfully trembled as if it’s clapping for its master.
The top person of the Xuanxue world’s younger generation forced Ziying until he couldn’t retreat any further. Ziying stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. He took this advantage and slapped on the ground. Once his palm hit, a layer of dust flew up. Ziying let out a shout and actually pulled out a bronze short sword from the ground, directly obstructing Ye Jingzhi’s sword strike.
Clang!
Ye Jingzhi’s long sword hit the bronze sword and was unexpectedly split apart in a flash.
Wu Xiang Qing Li immediately flew towards Ye Jingzhi from Xi Jia’s hand. It dropped into Ye Jingzhi’s palm, eagerly wanting to launch an attack towards the bronze sword in Ziying’s hand.
Xi Jia squinted his eyes to look at the sword in Ziying’s hand. The sword looked short and light, but once the wind brushed past the edge of the blade, it was instantly split into two halves. It was incomparably sharp. Two small characters in seal script were engraved onto the sword. Xi Jia carefully looked at the characters but didn’t recognize what they were.
Ye Jingzhi stared at Ziying’s bronze sword with a serious expression. But after he looked for a moment, he changed his line of sight again. His gaze landed on the blood colored jade pendant at his waist.
Just a moment ago, a blood colored dragon flew out from the jade pendant. After clashing head-on, Wu Xiang Qing Li’s countless golden swords were actually broken.
In the faint wind, Ziying’s voice seemed to sigh softly, “Lords are the current State Preceptors?”3
Xi Jia thought for a moment before realizing what Ziying had meant.
Qin Shi Huang once placed State Preceptor Xu Fu in an important position. According to what Xu Fu had said, he went to Mt. Tai to perform a ceremony, and ordered Xu Fu to bring 2,000 virgin boys and girls, head east to the East Sea, and look for the legendary mountain of immortals, Penglai. Ultimately, Xu Fu never came back, but Xu Fu was Da Qin’s State Preceptor.
It’s reasonable to say that Xu Fu should also be a Celestial Master and was the most powerful Celestial Master of the Qin Dynasty. If Ye Jingzhi was put into that era, maybe he could also be called a State Preceptor. However, the times have already changed.
Xi Jia replied, “There’s no State Preceptor now, and there’s also no Emperors.”
Ziying widened his eyes, “No……Emperors?”
Xi Jia nodded, “Yes, everyone of the current society are equal. Not separated by high and low social hierarchy or nobility. Even if there’s still some unfairness, there’s no one who would dare say that they’re an emperor.” Pausing for a moment, he remembered a saying. In this way, he explained it so that Ziying could understand, “Chen Sheng once said that Kings, Marquises, Generals, and Prime Ministers are made, not born.4 But now, there’s no more Kings, Marquises, Generals, and Prime Ministers. As long as you are willing to work hard, anyone has a chance to succeed.”
Xi Jia didn’t know how to speak in ancient Chinese. He also didn’t know if Ziying understood those words. In short, after he had finished speaking, Ziying blankly stared at him. After a long time, he suddenly turned his head and looked at the people rushing outside of the enchantment.
In the movie city, the tourists took pictures all over, and the staff members were endlessly busy. But behind them, there’s no one holding a whip, yelling at them to do things. There’s also no one who could leisurely taking a break as he watched them busying about.
Everyone was doing their own thing. Directors, actors, no one would stop for a moment.
Coincidentally, in the crew that had two accidents, the director was currently cursing at the members of the props team. Ziying’s line of sight stopped on them, slowly gaining a strand of hope as if he finally saw the world that he was familiar with.
But in the next moment, the person in charge of the props team threw his clothes in anger and cursed, “Laozi is quitting! What do you understand? You only know how to force people! There’s no problem with the set that we made, there’s no problem both times! Who the fuck knows how it broke! I also don’t want the ceiling to fall, but what can you do besides using force? I quit, you go find someone else, get lost!”
The director, who was just swearing as if he was a master, was suddenly stunned silly as he watched the person in charge of the props team furiously leave the crew.
The last bit of hope in Ziying’s eyes also completely disappeared.
Kings, Marquises, Generals, and Prime Ministers were made and not born?
This phrase had been completely realized. There’s no more nobles and lower classes in this world. Perhaps there’s a difference in status in society and superior and subordinate relationships at work, but no one could dictate the fate of others or determine the life or death of others.
Ziying didn’t know what he should say. Ye Jingzhi’s enchantment separated him from the outside world, trapping him within. An invisible wall was already in front of him when he had escaped from the Mausoleum.
He wandered in this world, but also never blended in with this world.
It’s also impossible to integrate in this life.
Ziying’s eyes became a bit red. He suddenly turned around and lifted his sword to hack down. Ye Jingzhi was about step forward to stop him, but saw that the sword easily cleaved open the enchantment that Wu Xiang Qing Li had laid down. Ziying took a stop out and disappeared in front of Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi.
Translator’s Addition:
Five Boxes of Green Pears: This baby couldn’t show off, everything got broken. ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚
Translator’s Notes:
1 锦冠- Jin guan are hairpieces and guan can mean hat, crown, cap, crest, etc. Something like these:
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2 东华东极，九炁青宫。Eastern Brilliance, Eastern Pole, Nine Qi Azure Palace – exerpt from 敕青宫九龙符咒 Edictal Azure Palace Nine Dragons Incantation. ↵
3 国师 State Preceptor – a high position usually given to Taoists/Daoists, Buddhists, or Feng Shui Masters. Later the title became 帝师 Imperial Preceptor. ↵
4 陈胜 Chen Sheng – He questioned the nobility by saying something along the lines of “Are the noblemen born with their standing?” ↵