Chapter 7: Chapter 7 — Hardness and Softness

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“Let the imperial decree wait a little? Is that really proper?”
Governor Fang Zetao hesitated when he saw his daughter Fang Qingxue respond so casually to the decree.

“It doesn’t matter.”
Fang Qingxue’s face remained calm. “Matters of secular mortals do not interest me. I am by nature fond of quiet, not noisy crowds. Leave the men who bring the decree to the household to handle. I will remain at home for a few days, in peace, and see which of our family disciples can be cultivated—offer them guidance. Father, you should not be so intoxicated by power. Take time to cultivate yourself; perhaps you will find a way to break through into the Divine Ability Realm.”

“Mm.”
Fang Zetao nodded. “Normally we would celebrate when the decree arrives and you are to be titled a princess. But if you prefer quiet, we shall be discreet. Also—what servants will you need for your Yuhua Mountain palace? I will assign reliable, loyal ones from the household.”

“All right.”
Fang Qingxue closed her eyes slightly.

“One month has passed and there is still no sign of Bai Haichan. Could it be that despite his grievous wounds he swallowed the Nine-Orifice Golden Elixir and escaped?”
she wondered.

The daughter of a great house—the Yuhua Sect’s true-transmission disciple whose name had thundered across the world—fell into deep thought.

As she pondered, a faint shimmer of purple filaments and qi appeared over her head. They coalesced like cranes, dragons, running horses—forms with spirit. This was clearly a manifestation of Divine Ability—a profound, powerful realm.

“Just a little farther, and I could break from the Third Stage of Divine Ability—the Yuan-Gang Realm—into the Fourth Stage, the Yin-Yang Realm. Then my mana and gang-qi would harmonize into a living spirit. This stage is no trifling matter. Only when gang-qi gains true spirit can one reach the Fifth Stage—Heaven-and-Man. With one’s Divine Ability, one may link to the world’s veins and lay down vast formations of boundless power. Among the sect elders, a few have reached Heaven-and-Man, but I was so close—had I not relied on the Dragon Lurking in the Yellow Springs Map to catalyze my breakthrough, I might have shattered into the Fifth Stage, perhaps even take a step beyond to condense a seed of Divine Ability into a manifestation. Alas, fortune betrayed me.”

She inspected her own mana and Divine Ability, displaying an expert’s appraisal of the immortal path.

“Step upon the Seven Stars!”

One night, under the cold, brilliant stars, Fang Han watched the constellations wheel overhead. His muscles surged like a river of stars. He launched into the footwork he had been practicing—Step Upon the Seven Stars—and darted forward in seven flashing paces, then exploded into a kick.

“Kui-Star Kick at the Dipper!”

One sprint, one kick—an eruption. His leg sliced the air with a ripping cry heard far off, sharp and clear.

Crack!

A hardwood sapling as thick as a bowl’s rim snapped beneath the force of his kick.

Crack, crack, crack, crack.

Then Fang Han unleashed thirteen more kicks. His legs blurred like blades; the surrounding trees were cleaved through and fell. Fourteen trees in all were snapped without him losing his breath or flushing. He retracted his fist; the sand under his feet was thrown up. His left hand traced a circle, his right drew a square. He rooted himself like an ancient pine, binding his stance deep into the rock—still as stone.

“Left hand draws a circle, right hand draws a square—hard and soft in harmony.”
Fang Han muttered. “Three nights and I’ve already refined the techniques. I’ve reached the Fourth Stage—Hardness-and-Softness! The Nine-Orifice Golden Elixir has truly laid a solid foundation for me. It looks like the Fifth Stage—Divine Strength—isn’t far off!”

From the place near his heart the Nine-Orifice Golden Elixir sent out its warming power. The pain from his legs—after breaking those trees—was swiftly soothed by that internal heat and fragrant vitality.

After a month of hellish strength training, Fang Han had built a rock-solid foundation. In three days of focused technique practice, he had already made the forms flawless. The Two supreme moves of the Seven-Star Fist—Step Upon the Seven Stars and Kui-Star Kick at the Dipper—had become consummate killing techniques. Their destructive force was enormous.

The Myriad Stars Sect’s Seven-Star Fist contains few moves, but every single one embodies the tracks of heavenly stars and the subtleties of body structure. Step Upon the Seven Stars is an arcane footwork; Kui-Star Kick is a ruthless, deadly leg technique.

Fang Han completed them all and entered the Fourth Stage—Hardness-and-Softness.

For the Fang family’s core disciples, reaching this stage would normally take three to five years of unrelenting practice at best. Yet Fang Han had achieved it in only three months.

Feeling himself grow stronger by the day, he returned home satisfied under the cover of night.

After sleeping for only an hour—at the third watch—he was startled awake by commotion. Someone pounded on his door. He rolled out of bed and opened it to find the head groom standing there in a panic.

“Head groom? What is it? Why wake me at the third watch?”

“Hurry, hurry!”
the head groom barked. “This morning the Second Young Miss is leaving on a long journey. Take Thousand-Li Snow and ride with her.”

“A long journey? To where?”
Fang Han stammered.

“Why ask so much? A servant’s business is to obey. Do you want another whipping from the Second Young Miss?”
the groom scolded and hurried off.

Fang Han wasted no time. Though he had received a miracle, his cultivation was shallow; he was still nothing but a servant. Besides, he needed the Fang household’s patronage to find a path into the Yuhua Sect.

Curious about the legendary Ten Immortal Sects and their immortal abodes, he led Thousand-Li Snow out of the stables and onto the main plaza before the Fang estate.

The Fang residence was the foremost house of Longyuan. The square before its gates was imposing—rows of stone lions, tigers, pixiu, and qilin lined the way like guardians. Standing there, a person felt small and awed.

Servants and guards were gathered in numbers. Carriages laden with gold, silver, and jewels were readied; armored, finely outfitted warriors stood by, and a crowd of attendants filled the yard.

They clustered and made a path as the Fang family’s principal figures stepped out.

Fang Han’s gaze froze on the one in white—pure, immaculate, otherworldly. When she emerged, everyone else seemed to fade; the world felt like a fairyland and an unearthly aura drifted everywhere.

All other faces blurred. Only this woman remained—her presence engraved upon every heart.

“A moon-maiden… Or a dragon-palace princess?”
Fang Han thought, trembling inwardly. He knew this was Fang Qingxue—the Fang elder’s daughter, the Yuhua Sect true-transmission disciple who had slain Bai Haichan. He had imagined that the one who could kill Bai Haichan would be fierce and bloodstained in appearance, but instead she was ethereal and fragile—light as smoke.

In outward bearing, Fang Qingxue gave no impression of a ruthless killer; she was a peerless beauty, like a poem’s immortal.

“Those who step into the Divine Ability Realm all share a kind of aura,”
Fang Han remembered Bai Haichan’s words. He quickly lowered his head.

Yet it seemed Fang Qingxue felt something. Her immortal gaze swept the plaza and landed on him—just one glance, a ripple in her eyes.

“Qingwei, what is the name of the servant leading Thousand-Li Snow?”
Fang Qingxue asked lightly, turning to the Second Young Miss, Fang Qingwei.

In a single glance, Fang Han had been singled out.

Was this fortune… Or misfortune?