Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Snow Ape Stone

Chu Youcai had not expected that Shangguan Wanru would misunderstand him. He was about to explain, but her eyes were already burning with anger as she said, “Don’t think that just because you have the Shadow Blade Fishscale Sabre, I can do nothing to you!” As she spoke, her hand moved, and suddenly a piece of jade appeared.

It was a jade stone the size of a fist, perfectly proportioned, black and white in sharp contrast. Though cracks marred its many facets, they did not diminish its beauty. Upon the jade, the image of an ape was intricately carved, brimming with natural spirit, as if it gathered the essence of the world within itself—vivid and lifelike.

The ape depicted seemed ready to unleash a world-shaking blow, as if to crumble mountains and shake the earth to its core.

This was unmistakably the treasured Snow Ape Stone he had seen in his previous life.

In that instant, Chu Youcai felt an endless, violent and icy aura emanate from the stone. His body turned cold, and even his fingers could no longer move. Under that oppressive spiritual force, the aura of the Fishscale Sabre at his chest vanished, as if completely suppressed.

“The artifact in Shangguan Wanru’s hand must be a cursed treasure, and one even stronger than this Fishscale Sabre!” Chu Youcai was inwardly shocked.

At the same time, he felt the Toad Dragon Mountain River Pearl against his chest grow hot—not only was it unaffected by the Snow Ape Stone, it even seemed to desire to devour it, radiating searing heat.

Bathed in that heat, Chu Youcai’s body suddenly regained freedom.

Clearly, there was a hierarchy among cursed treasures, each suppressing those beneath it.

As the scorching energy of the Mountain River Pearl surged, Chu Youcai suddenly sensed countless starlit rays from a distant sky descending upon him. Though it was broad daylight, his body felt as pure as jade, even emitting a faint, extraordinary fragrance.

This sensation allowed Chu Youcai to glimpse some illumination of the “Dao.”

“You possess the Foundation of Daoist Arts!” Seeing Chu Youcai resist the mental domination of the Snow Ape Stone, Shangguan Wanru could scarcely believe her eyes. The strange transformation in the man before her clearly indicated the foundation of Daoist Arts!

Indeed, the aura that had first attracted her to Chu Youcai was the peculiar fragrance produced by those newly initiated into the Dao and who had comprehended its arts.

Ordinary people could not perceive this aroma; only those with heightened spiritual perception would be drawn to it. Like certain monks who, after lifetimes of virtue, upon entering the Dao would exude an aroma that could drive even monsters mad with hunger.

Yet, only a day ago, she had sensed nothing of the Dao from Chu Youcai!

How could this be?

Shangguan Wanru gave her head a firm shake and looked again at Chu Youcai, confirming that the Foundation of Daoist Arts was indeed present. She muttered to herself, “All Daoist arts under heaven, no matter which Dao master left the legacy, are treasures beyond price. They are never passed to outsiders, and it is impossible to achieve mastery in a single day. Countless people toil for ten, twenty, even thirty or forty years, and even with Dao roots and virtuous merit, they still cannot lay the foundation.”

“Unless the exalted Lord Haotian of the Execution Immortal Court at the Sacred Gate of the world reverses the stars and the yin and yang of heaven and earth, so that a person could awaken the Dao’s legacy overnight. But Lord Haotian has not appeared for many years—how could that be?”

“Then the only possible explanation is...”

She abruptly fell silent.

Chu Youcai was startled, eager to know what that single possibility could be.

At that moment, Shangguan Wanru’s gaze hardened, fixed intently on Chu Youcai’s face. “The only possibility is that someone enlightened you in Daoist arts for the first time yesterday. Combined with your inherent merit and innate wisdom, you were able to enter the Dao in a single night!”

With that, she put away the Snow Ape Stone, and her look toward Chu Youcai changed completely.

How could one who entered the Dao in a single night be a lackey of a treacherous minister?

Chu Youcai now recalled that it was Madam Second who had first enlightened him in Daoist arts the previous day. He also possessed merit and the wisdom of “unity of knowledge and action,” just as Shangguan Wanru had described. Was that sensation of starlight entering his body last night truly the laying of the Daoist foundation?

To lay the Daoist foundation was to overcome the hardest barrier, as if crossing in one night the distance that would take others decades of struggle.

Indeed, after searching a thousand times in vain, one turns to find that the sought-after one has been there all along, quietly in the shadows!

At this moment, Chu Youcai’s spirit soared, filled with boundless hope.

Meanwhile, in Shangguan Wanru’s mind, she recalled how Master Yuan had shaken his head the first time he saw her and said, “You lack the root of wisdom.”

She had trained bitterly for three years, braving ice and snow, living on the knife’s edge, never shirking a single day. Yet Master Yuan always told her, “You lack the root of wisdom.”

She did not know what this root was, only that it was something she could never reach.

She remembered Master Yuan saying that only those with the root of wisdom could attain enlightenment, enter the Daoist foundation, then accumulate virtue over time, transform their bodies, and finally, after their body became one with the Dao, practice the Daoist arts.

She had never managed even the first step, so she could only turn to swordsmanship.

Yet Chu Youcai before her held the very root of wisdom she so desperately longed for.

What hidden talent did this man possess?

Having confirmed that Chu Youcai had entered the Dao in a single night, Shangguan Wanru’s mind conjured the image of a certain woman.

“Only she, with her deep knowledge of Daoist arts, her chivalrous heart and bold nature, would offer guidance and open the Daoist foundation for a stranger at their first meeting!”

“With the locust plague looming, only she could both foresee the disaster and rush across the land to help!”

“And only she knows my past so well!”

Now Shangguan Wanru was certain of that woman’s identity—it could only be Madam Second!

She let out a soft sigh, all murderous intent gone, and gently moved her lips without a sound. Yet in Chu Youcai’s ear, her voice rang clear: “Madam Second’s identity is a secret—never reveal it to anyone, not even your kin!”

This was a secret voice transmission, a special technique.

Chu Youcai was taken aback. He hadn’t expected the other party to know Madam Second, much less to have guessed her identity. Judging by Shangguan Wanru’s tone, Madam Second’s identity was of utmost importance.

The trouble was, he had no idea who Madam Second actually was!

Just as Chu Youcai was pondering this, Shangguan Wanru sent another silent message: “Remember, do not tell anyone about my past.” But compared to her previous words, this time her tone was much softer.

At that moment, a faint cough sounded from the old lady sleeping inside. Shangguan Wanru turned and walked toward the room, but as she did, she shot Chu Youcai a glance. The killing intent was gone from her eyes, which now seemed gentle as distant mountains, suddenly making her appear approachable.