Lanke Chess Edge

Chapter 412: Harnessing Momentum

Ji Yuan let out a hearty laugh inside the house. The characters who had been watching from outside seemed to understand that their master must have accomplished something, and the slightly tense atmosphere eased.At this moment, the roosters in Tian Niu Lane began to crow one after another, and roosters throughout Ning’an County joined in.

Upon hearing the roosters crowing, and knowing that their master was awake and in a good mood, the small characters immediately grew excited.

“Coo coo-coo coo!”

“Coo coo-coo, coo…”

“Hahaha, I sounded just like it!”

“Mine sounded identical!”

“Coo coo-coo, coo…”

“Mine is even closer!”

…

The small characters outside imitated the crowing of the roosters one by one. Any little thing, given enough time, could become a source of bickering or joy among them.

“Haha, these little guys are quite carefree and happy.”

In a sense, these small characters often embodied the spirit of the immortal path.

Ji Yuan chuckled and stood up from his seat, holding the Warrior Talisman in his hand.

He walked to the door and opened it with a creak. Then he slowly stepped into the courtyard. As he did so, a group of calligraphy spirits gathered around, their attention focused on Ji Yuan’s hands.

“A paper doll?”

“A Warrior Talisman!”

“Was the Master making this all night?”

“Is this the big guy with red skin?”

“What else could possibly have red skin?”

“A monkey’s butt!”

“Hahahaha……”

…

Ji Yuan ignored the small characters around him and tossed the Warrior Talisman in his hand forward at the table in the courtyard, muttering something under his breath.

“I call upon my Warrior!”

With a whoosh and a flash of golden light, a burly warrior clad in golden armor and yellow tabards appeared in the courtyard.

The warrior faced Ji Yuan, clasped his hands together, and slowly bowed, his voice like a deep, resonant bell.

“Your Honor.”

The warrior’s gaze remained fixed. His muscular body gleamed in his golden armor, exuding an aura of solemn authority. The group of characters who had been making fun of him subconsciously lowered their voices and then quietly surrounded the warrior.

Even with the noisy crowd of calligraphy spirits, the warrior’s gaze remained unmoved.

After Ji Yuan hummed in acknowledgement, the golden-armored warrior slowly straightened up, his arms hanging at his sides. His gaze was only slightly directed at Ji Yuan, and he paid no attention to anything else.

Sure enough, it was still that same old “arrogant” attitude.

Ji Yuan wasn’t exactly disappointed. Although the golden-armored warrior looked exactly the same as before, he knew that this warrior was different now.

A group of small characters gathered around the golden-armored warrior, watching curiously. Although they already knew a little about the Warrior Talisman, this was the first time they had seen a real golden-armored warrior up close.

They were all commenting and discussing just how strong the warrior really was.

Before the characters could even settle down, Ji Yuan had already given the Golden-Armored Warrior an order. With a mere thought, the golden-armored warrior, who had previously been standing still at attention, began to move.

“Everyone, get out of the way, or you’ll get swept away.”

Ji Yuan gave a warning, letting the small characters scatter.

At that moment, the golden-armored warrior leaned back slightly, his left leg already in a lunge stance, his left arm positioned forward in a block, his right arm clenched into a fist and extending back, yellow scarf hanging down to the ground. A subtle, imperceptible aura emanated from beneath his feet.

The golden-armored warrior arched slightly, his entire body resembling a taut bow. This change affected the atmosphere of the surrounding space, creating a sense of tension. The small characters had already fled, watching from afar from the tree or behind house pillars.

“Haah–“

The golden-armored warrior let out a deep, resonant roar, and in the same instant, he threw a punch diagonally upwards.

The fist made a whistling sound as it tore through the air, striking the sky diagonally above him.

“…”

The ground trembled slightly.

The fist that landed in the air produced a muffled explosion. Ji Yuan could clearly feel the airflow compressing and exploding at the point of impact. While all of this mihgt have been invisible to an ordinary person, to Ji Yuan, the airflow seemed to take on a distinct color at that moment.

It seemed as there had been a moment of stillness, then immediately after…

The distorted airflow, carrying a wild shockwave, spread upwards and outwards.

The branches and leaves of the jujube tree swayed violently, dust billowed up in the courtyard, and even the ashes of paper scattered on the floor of Ji Yuan’s bedroom were all tossed up, as if a small whirlwind had just landed in Ju’an Pavilion, stirring up dust everywhere.

After a long while, the aura subsided. Ji Yuan’s fluttering sleeves came back to rest at his sides, and he golden-armored warrior slowly withdrew from his punching stance and stood quietly by the table pnce again.

Ji Yuan brushed back the lock of hair that had been blown to one side by the strong wind, and looked up in the direction where the golden-armored warrior had thrown his punch. Hecould vaguely sense the fluctuating energy in the sky, with layers of white mist swirling around in the distance before gradually dissipating.

“In the past, I only relied on brute force to win. Now, after a brief test, I found that not only is his strength indeed greater, but it also carries a certain momentum. Not bad!”

Ji Yuan exclaimed in admiration. He was quite satisfied with this golden-armored warrior. The power and momentum weren’t due to the warrior’s large size and imposing appearance, but rather had been integrated into the techniques that he used, a feat that was far more difficult to achieve than pure brute force.

Seeing that everything had calmed down, the small characters regained their courage and gathered around again.

“Did the master spend the whole night forging this warrior?”

“I think so!”

“This guy almost hit the branches of the jujube tree.”

“Exactly, that was so careless!”

“He didn’t hit it yet!”

“But he was very close!”

“Is his whole body red? Is his butt red too?”

“He doesn’t seem to be breathing?”

“No, he does breathe, but he’s inhales spiritual energy!”

“Hmm, his breathing is so slow!”

“He’s really big.”

“Is his butt really red too?”

“Can’t you stop talking about butts?”

“I know!”

“Don’t say it!”

“Just say it!”

“Waaaaaah!”

“Aaaaah!”

…

The small characters were making a ruckus around the golden-armored warrior, commenting and arguing, while Ji Yuan was looking at the golden-armored warrior’s yellow tabards, the spot on which his feet were standing, and at his mouth and nose.

Just as the little characters said, this warrior was indeed actually breathing, albeit at a very low frequency, with long, drawn-out breaths. However, he was definitely breathing, inhaling the spiritual energy in the courtyard of Ju’an Pavilion. As for the spot where he stood, he could sense a faint trace of earth elemental energy permeating the air.

This didn’t mean that the golden-armored warrior had gained life or intelligence, but it was nonetheless a very interesting phenomenon.

In the past, the warrior’s survival depended heavily on Ji Yuan’s spiritual energy. When his feet were planted firmly on the ground, the consumption was reduced; when off the ground, the consumption of spiritual energy was more intense. It naturally incorporated the surrounding spiritual energy and earth elemental energy, but overall the consumption was greater.

However, this warrior was somewhat different. It was unclear whether this would affect the Golden-Armored Warrior’s other abilities, but in terms of endurance and sustained abilities they were most likely much stronger than before.

“Alright then, you can stand in the courtyard tonight. As for spiritual energy, Ju’an Pavilion is not bad.”

Ji Yuan said to the golden-armored warrior. He then stretched his limbs, covered his mouth with his right hand, squinted his eyes, and yawned.

“Oh… it’s almost dawn, I’m going to rest for a while. Be quiet, everyone.”

Upon hearing this, and knowing that the master rarely gave such a personal commands, all the characters immediately fell silent.

Ji Yuan strode towards the bedroom, swept all the ashes from the paper cuttings out the door and into the kitchen ash pit with a flick of his sleeve, then stepped into the room. He glanced at the quiet calligraphy spirits and closed the door.

Not long after, Ji Yuan sat on the edge of his bed. He had not fallen asleep immediately. Instead, he glanced at the window and opened his eyes as if he could see through the wall.

The small characters outside had begun to divide into several groups. They engaged in lively debates, their interactions not merely about combining words, but also the flow and shifts of reasoning between then, inquiries which were very worthy of careful consideration.

The little characters themselves might not have been aware of anything special, but for Ji Yuan it was an interesting observation; he had never looked down on these little characters.

Before he had even started repairing the Warrior Talisman, those small characters had already been compared and contrasting themselves against each other. Ji Yuan had actually paid attention to them, but now he was even more careful.

It had to be said that these little characters communicated freely. They also explored and experimented as they played, combining various characters with different meanings or similar but different characters in some basic ways to create a variety of “variable formations”.

After observing for a while, when another rooster crowed, Ji Yuan finally felt sleepy. He took out the jade hairpin from his head and put it aside, letting strands of his black hair fall down. Only then did he fall asleep.

He closed his eyes, but he still couldn’t fall asleep immediately. Scenes from the past few days flashed before his eyes.

The moment he entered the city, in front of Sun’s noodle stall, the public wells in Tian Niu Lane, the old man he had met later, the changes in the government, the aged Zhu Yanxu, the thick stack of letters, the middle-aged doctor in Ji Medical Hall…

And then he thought about how the year was drawing to a close.

“Time stands still in the mountains, and the passing of years goes unnoticed… Some things are beyond human control. Cultivating immortality can make one lose sensitivity to time without realizing it, and many years can pass in the blink of an eye.”

“I must go see Master Yin!”

Ji Yuan spoke with a touch of emotion, his eyes closed. He wanted to see Yin Zhaoxian, not because the Yin family was an important figure in the dynasty of Dazhen, but simply because he missed his friend.

Ji Yuan never intended to pull the Yin family into the path of immortality. It wasn’t that they couldn’t or weren’t suited for it; rather, everyone had their own destiny, and not everyone was suited to cultivate immortality.

Admittedly, Ji Yuan now had the ability to guide many people, even those who were quite mediocre, onto the path of immortality. However, he often easily saw through the human nature and people’s hearts, and saw the obsessions of ordinary people. Some people who did enter the path of immortality might have been destined to have a more peaceful end in quiet old age. Not to mention that some people had to express sense of purpose in their areas of expertise.

It had been quite a few years since he had last seen the Yin family. He wondered if Yin Qing had gotten married and had children, and how tall the second child in the Yin family was now.

Without calculating any divinations, and with the warm concern that was common between relatives and friends, Ji Yuan drifted off to sleep.