Chapter 6: The Great Vow
Chapter 6: The Great Vow
After shaking off Mu Qingyuan and his group, Mu Feng gathered some more herbs and returned home late at night.
He moved quietly, intending to slip back to his own room without disturbing his mother’s sleep. Unexpectedly, before he had taken more than a few steps, his mother came out, wrapped in her outer robe. She was still awake in the deep silence of the night.
“Though spring has arrived, the nights are still quite cold. Make sure to wear more layers so you don’t catch a chill.” Situ Qing’s reminder came just as a cold breeze blew by, causing her to pull her outer robe tighter. Although she was only in her thirties, a few strands of white hair were visible under the hazy moonlight, and her slender hands were no longer pale and delicate.
Under the pressures of life, the young lady from a prominent family of the past was almost unrecognizable.
“Mm,” Mu Feng responded and headed towards his room.
“Wait, stop right there!”
He had only taken a few steps when his mother’s voice suddenly called him back. “Did you offend Second Young Master Mu Qingyuan? Did you talk back to him again?”
Mu Feng denied it immediately, not wanting to worry his mother. “No, it’s all just idle gossip and rumors. Mother, please don’t pay it any mind!”
“This evening, the steward sent someone over. They said this year’s Tribute Payment has been increased by twenty-seven taels compared to last year. If we can’t pay it within five days, we’ll have to move out of Mu Manor.” Situ Qing’s expression was calm as she looked faintly at her son, who was now a head taller than her, speaking as if it were a matter unrelated to them.
“What? Mother, I…”
Mu Feng shuddered all over, quickly understanding what was happening. He spun around sharply. “Mu Qingyuan! It must be that scoundrel’s doing!”
“Stop! What do you think you’re doing?”
Situ Qing’s cold shout halted her furious son. “So what if it was Second Young Master’s doing? Are you going to kill him? Or are you going to seek out the Punishment Elder or complain to the Family Patriarch? Don’t tell me you feel you haven’t caused enough trouble already?”
“Mother…”
Mu Feng’s eyes turned red, and he clenched his fists tightly. Although he knew Mu Qingyuan was no good person, he never expected him to be so cunning and despicable!
If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have held back so much in the bamboo grove. He should have just slain him outright with a single thrust of his spear!
“A man is a mountain; he must act with steadiness. A man is the sea; he must have a broad mind and understand forbearance. One must have integrity, but also know the broader situation and when to advance or withdraw. If you cannot endure temporary setbacks, you will never achieve great things! Alright, let this matter rest here. I will handle it.” Situ Qing gave Mu Feng a calm glance, then turned to leave. After a few steps, she looked back and said, “Feng’er, compared to your father, you still have a long way to go!”
“Yes!”
Mu Feng hung his head somewhat shamefully. After watching his mother close her door, his expression quickly turned icy cold.
“Mu… Qing… Yuan…”
Mu Feng gritted his teeth, the veins on his neck bulging.
If not for his concern for his mother, he would have immediately and without hesitation stormed over to kill him. If gods blocked his path, he’d slay the gods; if buddhas stood in his way, he’d cut down the buddhas. He was determined to crush that sinister, despicable scoundrel alive!
In his rage, the flamboyant ‘Sorcerer’ character reappeared between his brows. Inexplicable strands of power drifted from the horizon, accompanied by an ancient, timeless aura. The Blood Pearl he had swallowed spun faster, making his blood run hot throughout his body, like a savage beast on the verge of eruption!
“A man is a mountain, a man is the sea…”
At this critical moment, Mu Feng remembered his mother’s admonition. His crimson eyes gradually cleared, and he turned to leave.
Revenge would come in its own time!
When the day for vengeance arrived, he would make that scoundrel Mu Qingyuan pay back double, forcing him to bear a heavy price for his foolishness, arrogance, and wickedness!
“Mu Yuan, do you see? Your son’s temper is exactly like yours. Why? Why didn’t you listen to me that last time?”
Thinking of her husband, who had been as stubborn as Mu Feng, Situ Qing’s eyes reddened. The tragic scene from years ago resurfaced in her mind, bringing a wave of sorrow.
After a long while, she finally lifted her head, wiped the tears from her face, and slowly took down the hair bun from her head. She gently caressed it, unable to put it down, recalling the first time she met Mu Feng’s father in the Imperial Capital. With a sigh, she wrapped the bun in a cloth and placed it on the table.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle…
As Situ Qing sat before her dressing table, unable to bear looking back on the past, Mu Feng was already sitting cross-legged on the floor in deep cultivation, channeling his burning anger into motivation for training.
Study literature to understand principles; practice martial arts to strengthen the body!
His mother was right—born a man, one should strive hard. But now, he felt that learning martial arts shouldn’t just be about strengthening the body.
Some people were inherently trash, tumors on society. Such individuals could only be dealt with by killing them; no other solution would suffice, no matter the cost!
“Stand firm between heaven and earth, and only rest after death!”
Suddenly, the evaluation of the Ancient Great Sorcerers from the “Guangling Miscellany” came to Mu Feng’s mind. He recalled from his unfamiliar memories the scene where the hundred-zhang tall Ancient Primordial Witch Zhu Youxuan made a grasping motion in the air, causing tens of thousands of immortals and ancient buddhas to fall one after another, transforming into droplets of Blood Pearls.
“I, Mu Feng, disciple of the Sorcerer’s Gate, hereby swear that in this lifetime, I will stand atop the Cultivation Peak and restore the Sorcerer’s Gate. I will bring peace to the world, leaving no injustices. If the heavens are unjust, I will tear a hole through the sky! If I break this oath, may my soul scatter and I fall into the endless abyss of Samsara!”
A blood oath!
Mu Feng slashed his own wrist, letting the blood spray onto the ground as he made the most solemn and severe vow of a Sorcerer’s Gate disciple, pronouncing his great vow.
His voice was not loud, but it was resolute and powerful, echoing through the Nine Heavens. Instantly, scattered remnants of Ancient Great Sorcerers from across various timelines converged, piercing through time and space to enter his body. The Ancestral Sorcerer Blood Pearl inside him then displayed numerous mystical Talismanic Scripts, throbbing with waves of pure energy, causing the blood and qi within him to churn.
Focusing his mind for a closer look, he saw these were not mere Talismanic Scripts, but images of Ancient Great Sorcerers either sitting or standing, hands forming Sorcerer Seals as they prayed and made sacrifices. They reenacted the glorious age of the Ancient Era, when Great Sorcerers contended with heaven and earth and vied with the sun and moon! Gradually, the energy pulsed out by the Blood Pearl grew increasingly vast, penetrating his limbs and bones, repairing and clearing his damaged meridians. It gathered into clusters, transforming into pure Spiritual Power, slowly circulating along a profound path within his body.
Once this mighty Spiritual Power broke through the blocked and damaged meridians, completing one full cycle smoothly, he would break through the bottleneck and step into the Early Mortal Realm, officially crossing the threshold of cultivation!
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom…
More and more remnants of Great Sorcerers converged across time and space, densely covering the Blood Pearl with Talismanic Scripts. Each Talismanic Script represented the will, residual soul, and power of an Ancient Great Sorcerer, or even an Ancient Primordial Witch. From high above, one could see that the entire Mu Manor was enveloped by an ancient and majestic aura.
Ancient Witchery—Soul Gathering!
From the complex and vast memories of Ancient Primordial Witch Zhu Youxuan, an arcane cultivation mantra suddenly surfaced in Mu Feng’s heart. His body involuntarily began to move in a dance.
Swift as the wind, still as a pine tree—every movement seemed to drain the strength from his body. Taking one step forward and sharply lifting his head, thunder rumbled in the sky, forming a swirling energy vortex that spanned a hundred li. Deep within every soul, a sudden tremor was felt, as if their spirits shook and were about to drift out of their bodies.
In the eastern city’s disorderly graveyard, sharp sounds of nails scratching against coffin boards emanated from underground, as if millennia-old corpses buried for centuries were awakening!
“Tiger’s roar and thunder peal, Thunder Sound Bone Tempering…”
Mu Feng roared, striving with all his might to surge the Spiritual Power within him, hoping to seize this moment to break through the bottleneck in one go!
Once he officially stepped onto the path of cultivation, he could register at the Chuangong Hall and be exempt from the annual Tribute Payment.
He had only five short days left!