The landscape of Mount Jieyang was like a treasure bowl. The Qi of vitality within a hundred miles radius was gathered on the mountain. It was no wonder the black tiger on the mountain possessed spirituality.
Shen Lian walked to a spot and signaled the black tiger to stop. He pointed at the col ahead and communicated via spiritual telepathy, “What is over there?”
Mount Jieyang was indeed filled with spiritual Qi. According to the trends of the mountain range, the spiritual cave should be further downwards and not at the col. The position of the col that Shen Lian pointed to did not quite make sense. The entire mountain’s soulful aura was gathered at that spot and yet it showed no traces of man-made formations.
The black tiger looked towards the col and roared.
Shen Lian was able to made sense of what the tiger conveyed. According to the black tiger, someone with a similar temperament as Shen Lian once resided there. The black tiger was not sure of the situation now as it did not dare to go survey the landscape.
Shen Lian gazed intensely at the col and knew that there was something strange about it. However, he decided to not be a busybody this time as the sky was getting dark. He would come back here another day.
He ordered the black tiger, who caught a goat, and headed towards the lair of the black tiger.
The bright moon has risen and Shen Lian fixed his gaze on the moon. It was a full moon that was as shiny as a silver plate filled with mercury.
The moon lit up the forest, painting it in a flowing shade of silver.
He observed the moon for a bit and felt that there was a layer of mirage that shielded the true side of the moon. In other words, there were some kind of unspeakable existence that was hidden beneath the moon.
The moonlight was a reflection of the vigorousity of the Power of Taiyin. Shen Lian had a recollection of scriptures of the ‘Code of the Bright Moon’ that Bai Suhuan cultivated. With such pure and vigorous power of Taiyin, it should be easy to cultivate the ‘Code of the Bright Moon’.
But at his current level, power was always readily available. What he really needed to explore was not something as simple as cultivation and Qigong practice.
When he arrived at the cave, he noticed the bonfire. When noise could be heard from outside, Han Ying who was dressed in black saw Shen Lian and the black tiger who had a goat in its mouth.
The black tiger tossed the goat next to the mountain stream and entered the cave. Shen Lian’s mother, Chen Qing was already awake.
There was a hint of happiness in her pale face as she hesitantly asked, “Son?”
Shen Lian nodded and said, “Mother, looks like she has informed you about me. You don’t have to worry about it. Now that I was reincarnated as your son, I would never deny it.”
Back then when Buddha was swallowed by a peacock, he came out and took the initiative to recognize the peacock as his mother and gave her the title of Mother of Buddha Mahamayuri. Although Shen Lian was far from the level of Buddha, he still had the generosity of Buddha.
He picked several incidents that happened during his foetal stage and spoke about it in detail. Chen Qing was then convinced and cleared her doubts. She thought that it was strange that she did not bear a daughter after consuming the waters of the River of Mother. Instead, she conceived such a unique person.
As Shen Lian did not conceal his identity, the both of them had an inseparable bond that was accumulated during the ten months of pregnancy. However, they did not have a very strong mother-son relationship like other mothers and sons.
Shen Lian has displayed several unbelievable abilities and he was actually capable of taming ferocious beasts like the black tiger. It was as if he walked out into reality from a legendary fiction.
As the daughter of the Master of the city, Chen Qing has studied many literatures. She recalled reading a book from Da Xia that had a saying, ‘As he grew he showed himself to be sincere, wise, honest and compassionate. He became very learned and developed keen powers.’
It was a description of a somewhat legendary figure but compared to her son, it felt like nothing.
She was a well read person. If not, she would not have told her sister, Chen Yun about folktales and other stories. Shen Lian knew of that and concluded that they would be able to communicate.
Chen Qing said, “I am the daughter of The Master of Xi Liang City. Chen is our family name. Do you want to take up our family name or do you want to have your own name?”
She knew that extraordinary people needed to be treated extraordinarily. Moreover, with the current insurgency in the city, it would definitely be impossible for her and Han Ying to hold back the uprising. But things could possibly turn around with the help of her extraordinary son.
Han Ying was a warrior groomed by her mother. She knew nothing about the world compared to Chen Qing. All she knew was that the world was a big place where miracles exist.
Shen Lian replied with a childish voice, “I have experienced two lifetimes and it’s unnecessary for me to change my name. Fortunately I have a mother but not a father. It is perfectly explainable that we do not share the same family name. Mother and this sister here, you can call me ‘Shen Lian’.”
When he said ‘Shen Lian’, the two of them knew immediately that which two characters he was referring to and their awe-inspired level towards Shen Lian increased.
Shen Lian then started to converse with the two of them.
The city of Xi Liang had a long history of over thousands of years. The Master of City then led a group of poverty-stricken and oppressed women and laid the foundation of the city. The River of Mother was the fundament of the city as the women of Xi Liang would not need to depend on men outside of the city to reproduce and continue their lineage.
After thousands of years of development, the city of Xi Liang was no longer like how it used to be. They now have thousands of citizens and each had their own responsibilities. Once in a while, traders from Da Xia would visit the city to trade for silk and textiles. They would import it back to Da Xia to seek huge profits.
As long as human exists, there would be fights. Forty years ago, an uprising broke out in Xi Liang which led to a decline in the power of the Master of the City. On the other hand, the Gao family started to rise and took control of the military power.
The Gao family too has secured the trade with the trades of Da Xia, making them even stronger financially.
The collision of the two parties was the perfect formula for an uprising.
The uprising was the result of the bitterness over the many years. Just days ago, Han Ying dealt with an expert assassin that was assigned to assassinate Chen Qing who was the first legitimate heir of the Master of the City.
After all, the Master of the City had two daughters, Chen Qing and Chen Yun. Chen Yun was still young and if they got rid of Chen Qing, the Gao family would have one less problem.
Shen Lian was not too bothered by trivial affairs as such. But now that he was the son of Chen Qing, there were things that he would need to do. Besides, he would benefit from the restoration of the city of Xi Liang. He could use this secular power to explore the mysteries of this world secretly and conveniently.
When his Primordial Spirit crossed the distance to reincarnate here, he did not have the time to explore the world. But from the moment he was set free from the blood-red sea, he realized that the golden light that took of some of his pressure was released by someone of an extraordinary level.
It was just that he did not have the opportunity to explore the power and could not tell how deep or shallow the person was. While he was secretly deducing the situation, he was sure that the person was not inferior to him, and maybe even more cultivated compared to him.
Moreover, the ray of golden light coincidentally landed on him and took off some pressure from him. Shen Lian could not help but ponder if it was done intentionally.
He was excited by the thought of the mysteries waiting for him to unveil.
Everything began from this city of Xi Liang.
