Chapter 27: Studying in Fragmented Time

Shigure Rei grabbed a Swiss roll in one hand and took a fierce bite, her movements resembling not someone eating a dessert, but a hunter tearing into freshly roasted meat.

Rina, sitting across the aisle near Gongsun Ce, pressed her palms together and gave an awkward smile. "My bad, it seems I got it wrong."

"Trust me, Miss Rina, she was totally trying to murder me just now," Gongsun Ce said earnestly. "She and I are strictly mission partners with zero personal relationship."

Rina selectively ignored the second half of the sentence. With a fork in her mouth, she said with a worried expression, "Murder is still a problem we can't just overlook. Miss Alice, what should I actually call you?"

The female hunter said coldly, "Shigure Rei."

Rina's expression looked as though she had eagerly unwrapped a premium sushi platter, only to find a super-spicy ham burrito delivered instead.

"Ah, ah... No wonder they sent you..." The shrine maiden pressed a hand to her forehead. "Does this mean I'm going to be put on the wanted list too...?"

"You're overthinking it. If they wanted to use official methods under the guise of investigating Espers, wouldn't it be better to just dispatch the military?" Shigure Rei sneered, pointing at the grey-haired young man. "This guy right here is a Dragon Kind of the highest hazard level. According to regulations, that's enough to have the United Nations airdrop special forces onto Zero Island."

"Please don't throw such wildly surreal vocabulary at me."

Gongsun Ce placated, "Don't worry, Miss Rina. That symbolic meaning far outweighs the practical one. His hazard level is actually not even as high as Shigure Seventeen's."

"What's with that casual tone of 'I've dealt with this before'?! Don't tell me you've actually fought one!"

"Espers of my generation who awakened early on basically all have combat experience against the military. More than half of those who got contained just cooperated willingly." The Esper shrugged. "Of course, back when I was a kid, I didn't know anything about the Impermanence Art. I suppose if the military couldn't handle someone and they wouldn't cooperate, official specialists would have to be sent in to catch them."

Rina took a bite of her cake, feeling that caught between these two, she was like a harmless little sheep. Last time it was Uncle Yan and Shigure Ren'i, and this time it was Gongsun Ce and Shigure Rei. Why did she always end up tagging along with such heavyweight guests? The little shrine maiden let out a heavy sigh, figuring she must just be cursed with a life of endless toil.

"Since there's been so much going on, I never got the chance to ask—what's your relationship with Uncle Yan?"

Shigure Rei acted as if she hadn't heard a thing. A thought stirred in the grey-haired young man's heart, and he decided this was a good opportunity to seek some guidance.

"Yan Qi taught me the basics of the Impermanence Art, but he didn't teach me much before sending me here. You could say he's a cheap master."

Rina's eyes widened. She slapped her hands together and exclaimed, "Did he make you memorize a bunch of classical texts and then tell you they weren't important?! Whenever you had a question, he'd say, 'None of my damn business!' Occasionally he'd tell a story like he was giving out charity! After a whole class, your head would be spinning way more than if you hadn't attended at all!"

"Oh, exactly, exactly!" Gongsun Ce felt a profound sense of finding a kindred spirit. "You've seen that bastard's teaching style too?"

Rina fished out a piece of candy and popped it into her mouth, her smile carrying a trace of easily perceptible superiority.

"Hehehe, that's how he taught me too."

"...Huh?"

Izuna Rina's eyes flashed with mysterious starlight. Like a small-club president who had spent months guarding the clubroom alone and finally welcomed a new member, the high school girl bounced up excitedly and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"That means, Gongsun Ce, you have to call me Senior Sister!"

Gongsun Ce said in dismay and exasperation, "No, no, no, no, no! For a college student to call a high school girl Senior Sister is way too weird?! That makes no sense, hey!"

"Xiao Ce~ Learning the arts is all about seniority~"

"Stop calling me in that grandma-like tone, will you?!!"

Shigure Rei, listening from the side, burst out laughing, and the carriage was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

·

A few minutes later.

"I was wondering why Uncle email-forwarded me telling me to look after this guest more, so that's what it was."

Did I just hear the word 'email'? What era is this, and you're still using email to contact acquaintances? Even more worthy of a吐槽 is that Yan Qi actually sent you an email.

"Ahem, so, since there's some free time now, could Miss Rina tutor me in my practice of the Impermanence Art?"

The high school girl put her hands in her pockets and looked at him with ill intentions.

"Why should Miss Rina teach you the Impermanence Art? Miss Rina is a shrine maiden of the Yellow Springs Shrine, and she has no obligation to teach a guest anything."

Yan Qi, you bastard, you really are something else. Talking about a renowned overseas teacher, expecting an old man or old woman, only to find a high school girl—and a high school girl trained by you at that. Can you tone down your bragging just a little bit?!

Gongsun Ce let out a heavy, gloomy sigh, covered his face, and said, "Teach me, Senior Sister."

Just hearing the laughter coming from beside him was enough to rob him of the courage to look at Shigure Rei's expression.

"No problem, no problem!" Rina instantly changed her tune and sat down familiarly beside him. "What does Senior Sister want to talk about?"

Gongsun Ce said dejectedly, "The origins of the Impermanence Art."

"Eh? Didn't Uncle tell you that story?" Rina made a chopping motion with her hand. "The one about the Emperor slaying the dragon."

"That story isn't just short, it has zero useful information..."

Gongsun Ce recalled the origin of the Impermanence Art that Yan Qi had told him. A large portion of it consisted of old fairy tales he had already read in storybooks when he was a child.

·

In the primordial era, there was a mountain named Li and a river named Huai. Li and Huai bounded the Central Plains; their soil was red clay and fertile, with lush vegetation. The ancient people lived in the Central Plains, knowing neither disease nor hardship, peaceful and joyful.

Beyond the azure heavens, there was a calamity called the dragon. It descended without trace and left without track, flying swiftly like a passing guest. The dragon brought brute force and chaos to the world, creating many strange phenomena. The northern wilderness shifted and transformed, the western mountains grew dark, the Eastern Sea flooded, and the southern plains became vast and hazy. Thus, the living creatures of the world were plunged into misery, and the common people were displaced.

Then a great dragon descended to the world, plunging heaven and earth into darkness, blotting out the sun and moon. People forgot old age and youth, and the land knew neither fertility nor barrenness. A sage said, "If this continues, the people will not survive." He gathered thousands of brave warriors, resolved to die in order to slay the calamity dragon. They fought, but were defeated, crying out, "Heaven wishes to destroy us."

A hero emerged bare-handed, declaring, "Human effort is not yet exhausted; why fear the will of heaven!" He stepped forward alone, soared into the air, and fought the calamity dragon. Wherever he reached, all strange phenomena vanished. His body was harder than iron, and using his hands as blades, he slew the dragon in the wilderness. The calamity dragon's head and body were separated, and the people all marveled at him as a heavenly being.

The heavenly being was nameless, styling himself Lingyang. His hair was like blood, so people called him Crimson, and thus he took the surname Crimson. The sage led the multitudes to bow to Crimson, saying, "Lingyang has slain the dragon; he should be the ruler of men." Lingyang gladly accepted, using the dragon's blood to sacrifice to heaven and earth, ending the primordial era and beginning the human world. He claimed emperorship at Mount Li, established the nation in the Central Plains, and named the dynasty Yongguang.

——Up to this point, it was the founding legend every imperial child had heard. But the story didn't end there; when Yan Qi told it, he added a segment he had never heard before, and that was where he started getting confused.

The Emperor sacrificed the dragon's head to heaven and its body to earth, and heaven and earth grew bright once more. The sage asked about this, and the Emperor said, "This is a ritual." A ritual is a system of laws. The sage built a great hall, sought out the wise and brave, and sought learning from the Emperor. The Emperor taught all he knew, imparting the rituals of sacrificing to heaven and earth, and the Hall of Rituals was completed.

The Emperor toured the Central Plains, saw the sufferings of the people, and angrily slew several dragons. Returning to Li, he pondered for months, and summoned the sage, saying, "The dragon's body is hard yet heartless; the human body is weak yet its heart is strong. I have created a secret technique to draw forth the power of the heart. By striking the heartless with thehearted, the dragon calamity can be eliminated."

The sage was overjoyed, summoned those who had mastered the rituals, and asked the Emperor again. The Emperor said, "Dragons belong to the six realms." After a long silence, he said, "The art of slaying dragons divides the mind into seven phases: Serenity, Emptiness, Spirit, Brahma, Wildness, Calamity, and Wonder. These phases are divided in an orderly fashion and must not be altered. Yet the human heart is impermanent and holds no eternal principle. Protecting the country and pacifying the people, or bringing disaster to the nation and people, all lies in a single thought. You must be cautious." The Emperor created the dragon-slaying art, named it the Impermanence Art, and passed it to the Hall of Rituals. Thus mortals possessed the power to resist calamity. The peace of the world began with Emperor Lingyang.

·

Summarized, it was basically this: Back in the day, the Central Plains was pretty nice, and people lived well. Then suddenly the dragon calamity arrived, and tragedy began. The dragon only stayed in the world for a very short time, but it brought immense disasters. At that time, disasters were everywhere in the Central Plains, and the common people couldn't go on living. Finally, another big dragon appeared, and a smart person said everyone was going to finish if things kept up like this, so he led a bunch of heroes to slay the dragon. But they lost, and everyone despaired, saying heaven was going to kill them and they were doomed.

——Then a red-haired hero let out a roar, soared into the sky, and tore the big dragon into two halves with his bare hands! This was our glorious founding monarch of the Yongguang Empire, Emperor Lingyang!

"From a modern perspective, I think Emperor Lingyang was most likely a World-Creation Adept, otherwise his miracles can't be explained. The part Yan Qi added was the Emperor sacrificing to heaven and earth and teaching the Impermanence Art. Tell me, who could understand a story like this? Just—some super powerhouse suddenly appearing to save the world, and even creating a whole set of mature combat systems out of nowhere. When I heard it back then, I thought the Impermanence Art might as well be alien technology."

"And then we're high-tech warriors inheriting legacy artifacts to fight alien invaders?" Rina squinted and said.

Gongsun Ce nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, yes."

"Yes your head!" Rina delivered a chopping hand strike! Gongsun Ce parried with psychokinesis! "You idiot! Didn't they tell you all this? The Impermanence Art was created by Emperor Lingyang, just remember that and you're good!"

"But this story has way too many suspicious points. It's impossible not to care!"

·

"What did Uncle tell you?"

Gongsun Ce answered hesitantly, "Not to think too much about it."

"That's the point of telling stories to beginners. The story of Emperor Lingyang lets you know that you're learning a very strange technique, and it makes you understand the main point of learning this technique: don't think too much about it." Rina said earnestly, "None of this is something someone in the Spirit-Illumination Realm should be considering."

Shigure Rei laughed out loud. "Tell him more! I can't wait to see him suffer a malignant mental corruption and go berserk!"

Gongsun Ce argued, "I'm at the peak of Spirit-Illumination, that counts as Clarity, alright?"

"Not at all. Until you step onto a Path, it's all just Spirit-Illumination. Clarity only begins once you're on a Path." Rina raised a finger like a tutor coaching a student. "What you really need right now is the cultivation method for the Clarity Realm—Uncle should have taught you the basics, right?"

"He only taught me basic concepts; he didn't mention specific operations at all."

Rina muttered, "That really is his style," then flipped her hand over, producing a piece of paper that in the blink of an eye was filled with neat rows of imperial text.

"Here, precautions for the Clarity Realm. Come ask me anytime if there's anything you don't get."

Gongsun Ce took the paper gratefully. "Many thanks for Senior Sister's notes!"

"Woah, you're calling me Senior Sister without any hesitation now." Rina went back to dealing with her cake. "If you're brave enough, you can practice it tonight when you sleep... Basically, the Clarity Realm won't have issues unless you have a negative talent."

Gongsun Ce thought to himself: Not only do I have a negative talent, it's -15. If I say that, I'm afraid I'll scare you to death. He put away the paper and took out his pocket watch.

The train will arrive at the Hidden Root Forest in a few minutes—

Before he finished speaking, his phone vibrated, and a dialog box popped up on the screen, courtesy of Kira, which read: "Life activity detected on top of the carriage."

"And it looks like someone is coming from above. I'm guessing ninjas." Gongsun Ce shook his head. "Miss Shigure, would you trouble yourself to accompany me up?"

Shigure Rei had already packed her things and stood up, looking unusually ready for battle.

"Quickly finish it, I want to see the cherry blossoms."

Kira had directly scanned the life signatures, so whoever came this time was probably just another cannon fodder sent to test the waters. He asked Kira to hack the system and open the carriage door, and a howling wind rushed into the compartment. Amidst Rina's headache-inducing expression, Gongsun Ce used psychokinesis to vault into the air.

The Esper's feet landed firmly on the dark green roof of the train. He looked up, and ahead of the rails lay a forest of cherry blossoms. Thousands of cherry blossoms were blooming on the branches, dyeing the sky in a refined pale pink. Thin petals drifted slowly downward, blending into the soil of the same hue. This peerless scenery captivated the eye and imprinted the principle of the flourishing inevitably declining deep into one's heart.

A petal drifted by on the wind, landing on the clothing of the flower viewer. That person wore a pristine white kimono, standing alone at the front of the train.

The flower viewer brushed away the petal and softly chanted an ancient waka poem.

"Cherry blossoms vanish like the fleeting world of men; before our eyes a tree of vibrant crimson, in an instant becomes a fragrant grave."

She turned around amidst the sea of blossoms, her hair like flying snow in the air, her face stunningly otherworldly. The cherry blossoms seemed to lose their color, eclipsed by her breathtaking beauty.

"Domo, nice to meet you. I am a Soul-Cutter-class ninja belonging to the Martial Assembly Military Vanguard..."

The white-haired, white-robed woman pressed her palms together and bowed to the young man.

"Leader of our ninja army, Sakura-mai."