Chapter 361: 209, Red Dust Pavilion, Establishing Heart between Heaven and Earth, That Little Princess (Chapter 5k2) _2
Su Che was not like Gou Renshu of the Holy Word School, who had a significant reputation on the Human Rankings and Earth List. Su Che’s fame hadn’t reached Xu Xing’s ears yet.
She only knew about Su Che because the Starfall Sect was quite close to the Daoist Sect. She had seen Su Che’s information in the sect’s records. However, Su Che’s information wasn’t prominent; it was just briefly mentioned.
"An old acquaintance."
"We were once imprisoned together in the same dungeon..." Xu Xing thought for a while and casually explained.
This was his past in the Mortal World and involved Zhao Yunniang; it was not appropriate to explain it to Wu Miao in great detail.
Wu Miao didn’t think too deeply and focused on introducing to Xu Xing all she knew about Su Che. "Su Che belongs to the Sacred Heart School of the Daoist Sect, cultivating a Literary Heart. Even mortals can practice in this school; they enter Daoism through literature and temper their acquired physical constitution. Su Che is a genius of the Sacred Heart School. However, within the Daoist Sect, the Sacred Heart School mostly admits ordinary disciples. He... even though he stands out in the Sacred Heart School, he isn’t particularly well-known within the Daoist Sect."
The Daoist Sect is also one of the Ten Major Sects. However, unlike various sects, most of the cultivators accepted by the Daoist Sect were scholars and erudites before they embarked on the path of Daoism.
"Sacred Heart School..." Xu Xing nodded.
When he made the breakthrough into the Returning Core Realm, he had run into Gou Renshu, second in the Human Rankings, and Li Xiaoyun, third in the Human Rankings, fighting in the Wangchuan Sea. Afterward, he looked into some information about the Daoist Sect and learned about the differences between the Sacred Heart School and the Holy Word School. Although both schools accepted mortals, the Holy Word School tended toward talisman cultivation, while the Sacred Heart School tended toward Divine Cultivation. This Divine Cultivation was not cultivating the divine path, but rather cultivation centered around the development of Divine Sense.
Wu Miao glanced at Scholar Su among the crowd. Seeing him place a large ceramic bowl in front of him and wave his white folding fan, she had a rough idea of his intentions. "He has started storytelling..." she said. "This is the process of him molding his Literary Heart, using literature to carry the Dao."
"Fellow Daoists, I have 136 Mortal World tales here and 27 Immortal Path tales. I wonder which story you would like to hear?" As Scholar Su poured tea for himself to moisten his throat, he looked at the cultivators on the Deck of the Sea-Crossing flying boat and asked with a smile.
Cultivators with a Fifth Class Boat Ticket didn’t have any Cave Mansions to live in on the flying boat. Since the flying boat had activated its protective Large Array, absorbing the Spiritual Energy around it, cultivating on the Deck was equivalent to cultivating in a place devoid of Spiritual Energy. It was not very cost-effective. Usually, most cultivators wouldn’t be so extravagant as to use Spirit Shells and Spirit Pearls for their daily cultivation. The diffused Spiritual Energy gathered by the Cave Mansion Spirit-Gathering Array contributed most to their cultivation progress. Therefore, only those cultivators with a Fifth Class Boat Ticket would have the leisure to listen to his stories.
"I want to hear a Mortal World story."
"The Immortal Path is long and arduous; the stories of those short-lived mortals are more interesting..." A female cultivator stepped forward and threw a Spirit Shell into the ceramic bowl in front of Scholar Su.
CLINK! CLINK!
The clear sound made the bustling Deck of the flying boat go silent for a moment.
"A Mortal World story then!" Scholar Su wiped the tea stains at the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. "This time I’ll tell a story about a princess.
"In an unknown year, in an unknown month, on the banks of the Fengxi River, there was a Fengxi Country...
"The little princess was beloved by the emperor since birth. Whether she wanted to pluck a star or the moon, the emperor would grant her every wish...
"That year, an official’s poetry moved the whole country and set a trend in the literary world.
"That year, he was demoted and confined to the Sky Prison. There, he encountered a convicted official who was imprisoned with him...
"When the little princess got married, the emperor granted a nationwide amnesty. The civil official wrote a poem for the princess and was successfully released from prison. On that day, the convicted official who shared the same cell as the civil official also wrote a poem."
Scholar Su then recited the poem written by the convicted official.
"The emperor was defeated in battle and committed suicide. And the little princess became the convicted official’s Felon...
"The convicted official married the little princess and bestowed upon her the title of his empress."
When the story reached this point, Scholar Su used the lid of his Tea Cup to skim off the froth, blew on the scorching tea, took a sip, and signaled the end of this Mortal World tale.
"This story is not that impressive; tell us another one."
The cultivators were disappointed after listening.
The trope of a Deceased Country Princess marrying her enemy might be intriguing for those hearing it for the first time. But they, cultivators, who had experienced the vicissitudes of the world, found such stories not at all novel.
"It’s a very old story." Wu Miao curled her lips, displaying the rare demeanor of a young girl. "When I was a princess, I heard many stories like this. This story doesn’t seem like one a scholar of the Sacred Heart School could come up with," she added.
"However, the same cell..." Wu Miao carefully pondered the story Scholar Su had just told, feeling it was somehow familiar. A Deceased Country Princess... a rebel leader... This seemed a bit similar to Xu Xing’s experiences.
She looked up cautiously, examining Xu Xing’s expression. Seeing it was still so extremely calm, she secretly let out a sigh of relief.
There are countless tales of love, hate, and national feuds in East Huangzhou. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about Senior Brother Xu, Wu Miao thought to herself.
「Half a day later.」
Scholar Su on the Deck of the Sea-Crossing flying boat finished telling three Mortal World tales and one Immortal Path tale. After he finished, he rubbed his aching knees from sitting for so long and said, "The storytelling for today is over. If you are interested, you can attend again tomorrow morning."