Just after two days, the divine thoughts that Shen Lian could use had quadrupled compared to the time he was born. The enormous Primordial Spirit deep in the bier was like an ever-burning star that kept radiating the powers of the Primordial Spirit. It combined with the Qi of vitality of this region to produce a slightly gloomy Qi of vitality to fuel Shen Lian’s mindfulness.
Shen Lian did not have a sense of stealing from the heaven neither nor viewed the world as a child’s play.
He was not in a hurry to train his body as his bone and structure has yet to form fully. In fact, this was the perfect opportunity for him to switch to a different foundation. After all, Shen Lian had already achieved greatness in his cultivation and it would be hard for him to achieve even greater heights. But with this new body, he could start afresh, take on different paths to test this body and fuel for his future.
He had decided to not re-practice the Taixu Strategy. After all, he was about the same level as the time Founding Master Qingshui transcended beyond the mortal world. This was the perfect time to let go of what he possessed.
After arranging his thoughts, Shen Lian did not feel that the reincarnation put him in an unfavorable situation. In fact, it was the perfect opportunity for him to erase this forerunners, wipe off all his methods to reestablish Dao and make new progress.
Chen Qing and Han Ying recovered physically and went to look for Shen Lian. Chen Qing was, after all, his mother and she did not hide anything from him. She said, “What should we do next?”
Shen Lian responded, “Mother, please do not rush into things. For the sake of the present, we need to first take over a place and that would be the foundation of Xi Liang in the next hundred years. You would also be the greatest Master of the City in the history of Xi Liang and it would be absolutely possible for you to build a country by then.”
If it was not for Shen Lian, Chen Qing would think it was a senseless person speaking nonsense. The three of them were so weak and it was a great achievement to even stay alive, what is more talking about revenge or even building a country.
Chen Qing had been consuming spiritual fruits for the past two days and her mind was clear and sharp. She asked, “Where should we take over? Could it be that you are referring to this mountain?”
Shen Lian replied, “Yes mother, you are right. I have been touring around Mount Jieyang with Xiao Hei for the past two days and noticed that the col has a high condensation of soulful aura. It was really odd and I sensed that there was something strange behind it. Now that the two of you have recovered, we can head there and take a look at it. If we can take over that place, I can set up a Soul Gathering Formation and teach you all the methods of cultivation.”
Chen Qing looked at the infant Shen Lian. It had been two days since they had such conversations and she had gotten used to it. She responded, “Sure, let’s do as you said. According to books, a wife would devote to their husband and if their husband had passed away, they would devote to their son. I do not have a husband but I have a son like you. I would certainly depend on you.”
Shen Lian was moved and said, “Mother, did the books that you read came from Da Xia?”
Chen Qing said, “Every three years during autumn, traders from far away would come over to the city of Xi Liang to purchase goods and import them to Da Xia. Every trip, they would bring some books to sell it to us or the countries along the way to Xi Liang. Although the books were extremely expensive, we would purchase any books that Xi Liang has never had. This is something that we have been practicing since the time of my grandmother. But I can only recognize characters and never really understood the meaning behind the text.”
Shen Lian thought to himself that the inheritance of civilization was highly related to culture and practices. The books could only serve as a guide and to fully fathom the meaning and knowledge of civilization, one would need to experience it personally. Otherwise, wise predecessors would not have said that it was better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books.
Shen Lian did not explain too much as he knew that there would be plenty of time in the future. He said, “Were the traders from Da Xia?”
Chen Qing gave some thoughts about it and answered, “I think they were from a county known as Yin Shang. They were an affiliated country to Da Xia and were experts in trading. As their people were skilled in buying and selling, we refer to them as traders.
In fact, only the traders of Yin Shang were able to come to such a remote place like Xi Liang to trade.
There was once I spoke to a trader and he told me that the lives of traders is getting better. The newly appointed Tianyi Master of the Country of Yin Shang was a person of virtue. He was wise, had a divine vision and was kind to people. Many unique people were willing to serve under him and as a result, Yin Shang flourished greatly. Even people from great dynasties like Da Xia went to him.”
That was how ‘Yin Shang’ and ‘Da Xia’ came to Shen Lian’s mind. He thought it was too coincidental as it coincided with a fraction of the ancient history of the world.
The only thing was the impossibility to verify the eras of the world, especially Xia, a country that only appeared in legends. It was impossible for Shen Lian to reincarnate to the ancient times of the world.
But that does not necessarily means that it was not related. There must be some type of abstruse behind it. He would look for an opportunity to make a trip to Da Xia.
The three of them prepared briefly and departed before the sky turned dark. Shen Lian rode on the neck of the black tiger and led the other two to the col.
While Shen Lian was travelling, he released his divine thoughts and as a result, the entire mountain’s spiritual vigor started to flow along the stream. It then leaped pass a stone bridge and re-routed its direction to flow into a manor as if it was avoiding a place where tigers crouched and dragons coiled.
Shen Lian came up with the plans. He asked Han Ying to carry him and used spiritual telepathy to tell the black tiger to go ahead and explore the path.
With Shen Lian as its anchor, the black tiger had been absorbing the abundance of Qi of vitality of the heaven and earth for the past two days. Its fur was shiny and silky and it was high spirited. It intended to show off as it turned its body to run with the wind. Very quickly, it went up to the stone bridge.
Movements in the manor were then detected. A person in a long robe with the hairstyle of a Daoist came out from the doors. He saw the black tiger but he was not surprised by it. He said, “You little beast! I am fine if you sneakily watch at the foot of the hill but how dare you come over to my place. I will slaughter you and use you as an offering to my stomach.”
The black tiger was relieved that this person was not the person he encountered during his adolescence. Besides, this person had some sort of unpleasant smell to him. He was not as pure as the little master and was not as divine as the person he encountered the last time.
The black tiger roared and charged towards the old man.
Below the feet of the old man was a green lawn. As the black tiger charged across, it scratched a turf.
The old man reacted by opening his mouth and his human head transformed into the head of a python. His opened his mouth so big that he could engulf the black tiger.
The black tiger was hanging in mid-air and was surprised that this was the phyton he encountered when it was younger. It wondered how did it become human-like?
Desperate, the black tiger tilted its body and clawed with force the head of the python. It looked like the inter-knocking between gold and iron as sparks flashed.
The old man had transformed into a giant python that was seventy to eighty feet long. It swiped the black tiger away from its body and entangled him like an old tree.
Shen Lian and the two ladies arrived at the stone bridge and saw the giant python. Chen Qing almost passed out while Han Ying managed to keep a straight face but her hands indicated otherwise as it was slightly trembling.
Shen Lian very swiftly scanned through the manor and the giant python that shapeshifted to a human appearance was the only resident here. It was strange as the giant python’s cultivation experience was not sufficient for shapeshifting. Looks like there was some other reason behind this transformation.
