Chapter 59: Miracle

To the common folk, a miracle is something inconceivable and beyond understanding. However, to the proprietress, "Miracle" is the name of a place.

The origins of this place are unknown to all. Within it lie many rare treasures, arcane arts, supernatural powers, and things that defy imagination. "Miracle" drifts between heaven and earth, never intentionally staying in any one location. To enter, one must possess a token—a relic that has drifted out from within the place itself. Only through the aura lingering on such a token can one enter "Miracle" without being repelled.

Few people are aware of this. Even those who have entered never speak of it upon their return; one can only catch glimpses of clues in certain Taoist scriptures, or perhaps have it calculated by some supreme master. A high adept of the Nine Lotus Secret Sect once entered "Miracle," and the "Sutra of the Extinction of the Law" was a path-technique brought out from within.

Were it not for the sake of their past friendship, the proprietress, Zhou Ling, would never have taken such risks. Precisely because both women were disciples of the same master and knew each other’s deepest secrets, the proprietress had tried several times to seize the token after it fell into Chao Xiaoyu’s hands, but failed every time. Because of this, Zhou Ling had not expected Chao Xiaoyu to come looking for her again.

Chao Xiaoyu flicked her graceful sleeve, and between her fingers—tender as white jade—appeared an oval leaf. It was a verdant green, thick and lustrous, tapering to a pointed, drooping tip. A subtle, profound aura radiated from it, instantly filling the room with a sense of light.

With a flick of her fingertip, the leaf drifted toward the proprietress. As it landed in Zhou Ling's hand, the faint, wisp-like black aura surrounding her seemed startled and vanished in the blink of an eye.

The proprietress looked deeply at Chao Xiaoyu and asked, "You actually gave it to me so readily?"

Chao Xiaoyu sighed. "Sister, do you truly believe I am the one setting myself against you? Not to mention that you may not have the karmic fortune to find that place, even if you did find it and succeeded in mastering the supernatural powers as you wish, you would still have no hope of challenging that person."

The proprietress remained silent, offering no rebuttal.

Chao Xiaoyu continued, "Given his cultivation, the moment you master those powers, he will surely sense it and calculate this cause and effect. His temperament has always been to root out trouble entirely. I fear the day you achieve your path will also be the day you meet your end."

The proprietress understood this without Chao Xiaoyu needing to say it. Chao Xiaoyu spoke only because she felt compelled to. She did not understand why her sister would choose to act despite knowing the futility. With her own cold heart, she could not empathize with her sister's motives; she found them as incomprehensible as Shen Lian’s refusal to sever his emotions and desires. Mortals are entangled in such things simply because they lack the method for transcendence and the wisdom to see through them.

For those like them, who aim for transcendence and to stand above all living beings, wallowing in the trivial hatreds of the mortal world is truly meaningless. Were it not for the fact that her path conflicts with the Empress, they could be locked in a life-or-death struggle one moment and have all grievances erased the next.

The proprietress suddenly replied, "Do you know why I broke with you? Because when Master passed away, you didn't feel a shred of sadness. Not even a little."

Chao Xiaoyu said indifferently, "But would sadness have been of any use? If I were to fall in a confrontation with her, would you feel sad?"

"Naturally," the proprietress replied.

Chao Xiaoyu said softly, "But if you died, I still would not feel sorrow."

When she walks among the mortal world, she can be charming and tender, graceful and eloquent. But these are merely methods for dealing with worldly affairs while her Taoist heart remains singular. To her, these social graces are no different from spells, and she employs them with greater effect than those who are truly emotionally rich. Yet, means are ultimately just means; they cannot affect her pursuit.

"Actually, I don't understand why you insist on this path. You weren't like this when you were young."

"Sister, have you ever seen the flowers on a cliff? Only by rising above all living beings can one bloom into the most beautiful flower. For me, it is the same."

The door pushed open to a torrential downpour. Chao Xiaoyu did not open an umbrella; the rain was pushed aside by an invisible force before it could touch her. Her figure vanished into the vast, rainy night.

***

The rain fell all night and showed no signs of stopping by the next morning. The Anping Canal, with its deep riverbed, carried the water that fell into the capital city out beyond its walls, sparing the city from flooding. Watching the heavy rain, Shen Lian knew clearly that this downpour was no mere coincidence.

Ever since that silent confrontation at Xiangji Temple, the changes in the capital’s atmospheric energy had become increasingly violent, as if a slumbering dragon had been suddenly awakened. If one were to compare the entire capital and its surrounding landscape to a great Feng Shui formation, Xiangji Temple would be the dragon's scales, and the Imperial City would be its belly.

The Empress is the spirit of this great dragon, and the gathered earth energy and the aspirations of all living beings are the blood flowing through it. In Taoism, there is a profound state called "The Unity of Heaven and Man," where one merges oneself with the universe to draw upon its power and manifest immense strength. The Empress shares similarities with this state; within the capital, her authority is absolute.

However, compared to the vastness of heaven and earth, the Empress is still fragile. That is why she built Xiangji Temple, using secret arts to canonize deities and divert the excess power weighing upon her own body. As the Xiangji Buddha grows, she likely progresses alongside it, the two forming a mystical connection.

In truth, if the Xiangji Buddha were replaced by a Taoist deity, or the temple by a Taoist monastery, it would make little difference. But because Taoism was favored by the previous dynasty and is less effective at gathering faith than Buddhism, the Empress discarded it.

That long arrow shattering the power of the Xiangji Buddha seems to have caused the Empress significant trouble, breaking the balance of her momentum. The Empress’s change of era was not in accordance with the mandate of heaven, so the dragon energy is unstable and harbors hidden dangers. A chain reaction ensued, triggering changes in the capital’s earthly energy and causing these atmospheric responses.

Chao Xiaoyu saw through this. She acted in accordance with the flow of heaven, using the hands of others to dismantle the layout of Xiangji Temple. The Empress likely sensed this in the dark, which is why she took command at the temple, yet she did not expect the black aura on that arrow to be the very thing that countered the Xiangji Buddha’s power—a single misstep.

Even so, despite all that Chao Xiaoyu has done, the best result is only that she has earned the right to a fair duel with the Empress. The time for their final confrontation is likely not far off.

Analyzing all this brought no joy to Shen Lian. It seemed that even with the insight into this Feng Shui formation and the manipulation of earth energy, he still had not found how to naturally manipulate the Eight Qi of the Great Void. Of course, he felt he was only a hair's breadth away from entering the path of the "Great Void Strategy," merely needing the right opportunity. Perhaps the moment of the Empress and Chao Xiaoyu’s decisive clash would be his own moment of destiny.