Ling Zhang, seeing his father’s attention was soon distracted by Yuwen Tong, finally felt a sense of relief, and went into the inner hall with Ji Yanlai. The inner hall was like a meditation room. It was very spacious but had no furnishings inside except for a couple of cattail hassocks. Opposite the doorway of the inner hall was not a wall but four columns, which allowed people to have a wide view of the outside and plenty of light to come in, and between which were see-through hangings. Beyond the hangings was a large carpet of grass, and farther away the giant trunk of that towering phoenix tree.
“This tree has been here since before our ancestors moved here to dwell in seclusion. I don’t know how old it is – perhaps even older than the Millennium Pavilion,” explained Ji Yanlai as he saw Ling Zhang curiously gaze at that tree. “Sit. There’s no table or chair here. You may sit on one of the cattail hassocks.”
Ling Zhang thought for a brief moment and then sat down.
Ji Yanlai and Ji Yin also settled themselves on hassocks.
“You’ve been following our mental cultivation method of internal energy for quite some time. Are there any questions you want to ask me?” said Ji Yanlai.
Ling Zhang had got explanations from Ji Yin for most of the things that he’d found confusing during his cultivation of internal energy. Right now he mostly had some queries about the so-called Force of Blood.
“My grandfather told me that as the Force of Blood in me grows stronger, I might develop the ability to communicate with all kinds of animals. Is that true?”
Smiling, Ji Yanlai flicked a glance at Ji Yin, who let out a somewhat embarrassed cough. After all, in respect of the ability to communicate with animals, the incumbent clan leader was hitherto the only one who was capable of it apart from the missing former clan leader. It was very difficult for other people to reach that level. Even Ji Yin himself probably would never make it to the eleventh layer.
Ji Yin was just about to explain when he heard Ji Yanlai reply, “It is.”
“It’s quite difficult for other members of our clan, but you’re different from them. The Force of Blood in you is so strong that even I have become somewhat interested in it. As long as you don’t die before reaching the eleventh layer, it won’t be hard for you to develop the ability to communicate with animals.”
His conjecture confirmed, Ling Zhang only felt amazed. “Is the Blood of the Millennium Pavilion really so divine?”
Ji Yanlai gave a smile. “It’s the Blood of the Phoenix Clan, to be precise. Half of the members of the Millennium Pavilion don’t bear the surname Ji, and it’s impossible that any of them has this kind of endowment. The other half are descendants of the original Ji family, and more than eighty percent of these people surnamed Ji are not suitable to adopt this method left by our ancestors to cultivate internal energy, which means only less than twenty percent of them could do that, and then more than half of this twenty percent progress very slow in their cultivation, because the Force of Blood in them is too weak. In a word, the Blood of the Phoenix Clan is divine for none but a very few.”
Ji Yin, standing on the side, observed, “The Force of Blood in me could be regarded as relatively strong, and I originally thought that your mother and uncle had inherited it from me, but it’d never occurred to me they were not suitable to cultivate at all. So you see, the inheritance pattern of the Force of Blood is really very erratic.”
The only exception was the hereditary clan leaders. As though it’d been predestined, one of every previous clan leader’s offspring had possessed strong Force of Blood, which enabled them to get twice the result with half the effort, and most of them had reached the eleventh layer and been capable of communicating with animals, and at the same time led the Millennium Pavilion, but even so, almost all previous clan leaders had been stuck in the acme of the eleventh layer and failed to make a further breakthrough to reach the twelfth layer, as though there was some kind of innate restriction. Over the years, generations of members of the Ji family had adopted numerous methods, trying to make a difference, but all their attempts had eventually been met with disappointing failures.
Ji Yin didn’t tell Ling Zhang about this, for the time was not ripe yet. Besides, in the presence of Ji Yanlai, he didn’t dare disclose everything.
“So, you could say that it’s divine, but not everybody can do that. You’re very lucky,” Ji Yanlai told Ling Zhang.
His mouth a thin line, Ling Zhang kept silent for a few moments and then said, “Previously I never felt there was anything special about me.”
Ji Yanlai replied, “Of course you didn’t. Before adopting our method to cultivate internal energy and activating the Force of Blood, a descendant of the Phoenix Clan is no different than the next person.”
“Besides…” Ji Yanlai looked at Ling Zhang meaningfully. “There’s something going on in you – something I cannot completely see through for the moment, right?”
Ling Zhang gave a start. What was Ji Yanlai referring to?
Had his rebirth come to Ji Yanlai’s knowledge, by any chance?
He tensed all over in spite of himself and replied, “I don’t quite understand, Clan Leader.”
Ji Yanlai gazed at him for a while, the mood in the hall going somewhat subdued. Taken aback, Ji Yin watched them worriedly.
Right at the time when Ling Zhang felt the palpable aura of power radiating from Ji Yanlai was going beyond his endurance and was about to blurt out the truth, Ji Yanlai, to Ling Zhang’s surprise, suddenly stopped emanating that sense of power and said, “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. Actually I’ve more or less guessed part of it. You’re such an interesting guy. I thought this kind of thing should be impossible, for after all, it couldn’t sound any more absurd, but you gave me a pleasant surprise, Ling Zhang. You’re really a character.”
Ling Zhang could feel cold sweat on his back, and even that scarlet mole in the middle of Ji Yanlai’s forehead now struck him as rather creepy.
“Don’t worry. Since you’re unwilling to tell me, naturally I won’t make you, but if you keep it from me and anything by any chance happens to you in future, I wouldn’t be able to offer you help,” remarked Ji Yanlai, sitting idly.
Ling Zhang lapsed into silence. He was positive that Ji Yanlai had come to know it, but he still wouldn’t tell him the truth. This was his deepest secret, so he wouldn’t confide it, not even to descendants of the Phoenix Clan who were the most likely to understand him, for he couldn’t trust these people completely yet. After all, he was not technically a member of the Millennium Pavilion. The only person he could trust was Yuwen Tong, but he wouldn’t even tell this secret to Yuwen Tong unless the occasion arose.
Ji Yanlai, seeing that Ling Zhang was utterly unswayed, made no further attempt to persuade him. He just looked at the phoenix tree in the distance, a deep and impenetrable expression in his eyes. “The Blood of the Phoenix Clan has been passed down over countless generations. Even descendants of the Phoenix Clan don’t know all the history of it. Maybe there have been people like you in the past. If you don’t feel like telling us, keep it. The Blood of the Phoenix Clan in you is very strong, and maybe you’ll be the second person who manages to reach the highest layer. If you have any questions, feel free to come here to ask me.”
“Thank you,” said Ling Zhang in a deep voice. He appreciated Ji Yanlai’s understanding, but he didn’t believe Ji Yanlai’s statement about him standing a chance of reaching the highest layer of the mental cultivation method of internal energy.
Ji Yin was thrown into perplexity by their bewildering remarks, his countenance growing grave. He knew that this meant Ling Zhang was keeping something from him, and it was about the Force of Blood. Though deeply concerned, he felt it inappropriate to ask about it in Ji Yanlai’s presence.
After a while, Ji Yanlai’s eyes flashed towards the front of Ling Zhang’s robes. “Remove that medicinal jade pendant you’re wearing.”
Ling Zhang was sent into a brief trance of surprise and then removed the pendant from his neck. The originally blackish green pendant was now much lighter in color. It had been gradually whitening.
Ling Zhang looked at it with mild eyes. “It saved my life twice.”
Then he told them about Jia Yuanling’s using knockout powder on him as well as his being bitten by Yuwen Qi’s venomous snake.
Ji Yanlai’s countenance, however, had been inscrutable all along, his eyes which seemed to be able to see through many things boring into Ling Zhang.
His gaze made Ling Zhang’s skin crawl. From a few moments ago, he had been feeling that Ji Yanlai had come to know all his secrets as though he could read his mind.
Eyes on Ji Yanlai, Ji Yin asked anxiously, “Is there a problem with this medicinal jade pendant, Clan Leader?”
Ji Yanlai took his staring eyes off Ling Zhang. After quite a while, he said, “There’s nothing wrong with the pendant, but the power it holds is somewhat weak now. Leave it here with me for a couple of days. You may take it back when you’re leaving.”
Ling Zhang nodded, removed the pendant from the string and handed it to Ji Yanlai.
Ji Yin looked at the pendant and said, “This pendant originally belonged to Zhang’er’s mother. I find this very strange. Never have I ever seen such a great decrease in the healing power of a medicinal jade pendant before. I wonder whether or not it is because Zhang’er is not the original owner of it. Clan Leader, how about we give Zhang’er a pendant of his own?”
Ji Yanlai took the pendant Ling Zhang handed him and said, “That won’t be necessary. This jade pendant has acknowledged him as its master.”
Ji Yin was astonished. “H–How’s that possible?”
Ling Zhang was somewhat confused. “Grandfather, are you saying that this jade pendant is capable of choosing its own master?”
Instead of making an immediate reply, Ji Yin looked at Ji Yanlai, as though asking him for permission.
Ji Yanlai directly responded, “To be honest, there are some things that I always believed were unnecessary… What happened today turns out to be a revelation to me.”
His words brought a thoughtful look to Ling Zhang’s face, but he still couldn’t completely fathom out what Ji Yanlai could possibly mean.
“The making of a medicinal jade pendant like this requires not only precious medicinal herbs but also extremely special refining techniques which were passed down from clan leaders to their successors. This is a secret of the Millennium Pavilion, and I’m not going to disclose more details about it. My father personally made this pendant for your mother. He’s more powerful than me. It’s just that he’s taken a back seat. Actually I don’t even know where he is. Compared with having me make a new pendant for you, continuing to use this pendant that has already acknowledged you as its master is a better choice.”
Special refining techniques? Ling Zhang was befuddled by these words. In addition, Ji Yanlai still hadn’t explained how a jade pendant acknowledged someone as its master.
“You’ll be able to solve some of the mysteries concerning this pendant after you reach the ninth layer in your cultivation of internal energy. There’s no hurry about finding out the answers.”
Ling Zhang kept silent for a while and then inclined his head. “Okay, then. Thank you for helping repair this pendant, Clan Leader.”
Eyes on the jade pendant in his hand, Ji Yanlai gave a quite amused smile, as though having found something fascinating. “You may rest assured that I’ll restore its healing power. It’ll be returned to you intact on the day you leave.”
From Ji Yanlai, Ling Zhang had got answers to some of his questions, but at the same time some new questions had emerged, which obviously Ji Yanlai was in no hurry to answer but expect Ling Zhang to find the answers to them himself.
…
“Clan Leader, what is wrong with this pendant of Zhang’er exactly?” asked Ji Yin in an anxious tone immediately after Ling Zhang left. “And what were those charades-like remarks of yours and Zhang’er’s about?”
Ji Yanlai gave a mysterious smile. “Some day, when I’m in a better mood, maybe I’ll tell you.”
Ji Yin, “…”
Ji Yin rose to his feet and hastened outside to catch up with his grandson, feeling that he had a better shot at getting the answer from his grandson than he did from the Clan Leader.
