Chapter 26

If Chen Chang Sheng started to directly absorb starlight into his body and started to purify his body, the girl who was spiritually in the Herb Garden, one wall away from the Tradition Academy could have used her inborn talent to track the remaining sensation to discover Chen Chang Sheng’s location. Also, if his sweat that gathered on the floor did not strangely disappear along the wind or become invisible as it permeated on the floor, she might have been able to find him.
The problem was, at this moment Chen Chang Sheng again showed a personality different from common people. He unhesitantly resisted his temptation to achieve purification and directly went back to the small building. He took a shower and then went to sleep. The floor that he sat on did not have a single drop of sweat.
On the second day, Chen Chang Sheng deeply reread the Purification, especially the last part about absorbing starlights to purify the body. He even made annotations to understand it more thoroughly. After ensuring that he understood the contents completely, he went to the grassland next to the lake and took a rest until the sun lowered beneath the city wall. When night came, he ensured that his body and mentality were in good condition. He then opened up the library and started the purification.
His spirit spread out in air, but it did not pass through the library’s roof and go into the sky. He knew he had already established a connection between the distant red star and himself. But the feeling was not real. To be accurate, the connection between the star and him did not leave any trace in his body nor in his mentality. He was very certain that the star was there and no one could snatch it away.
Like what that Pope said that year: The line was actually there.
Chen Chang Sheng closed his eyes, calmed his mind, opened up his soul, and followed the method of Purification. He entered into an empty and absolutely relax state. Then he quietly waited for the starlights to solidify and come to him along that line.
Time gradually elapsed. The wind in night sometimes softened and sometimes solidified.
The forest outside of the library was completely silent. Yesterday the workers from the department of traditional education came and did some cleaning. Many branches were cut down and those broken branches were left on the ground. The scent of trees were sent far away by the night wind.
The reason why the scent of trees were strong was because of the transparent jelly like material flowing outside, which was sap. The Tradition Academy had a variety of trees including fruit trees, which made the area smell nice.
There was a very thick pagoda tree. Its branches that were near the ground were all chopped off. One of the broken parts looked like a scar. There were already a lot of
tree jelly
and as the wind blew, the saps flowed down the branches slowly. If the people who enjoy killing saw this image, they would feel that the pagoda tree’s arms was cut off and that blood was spilling out. However, under the silver starlight the flowing sap was more like sweet honey.
After a really long while, the honey-like sap finally fell to the ground upon a patch of grass. For the lack of a better word, it luckily, or rather brutally, made an insect into the primary form of amber which meant that it would eventually be another insects’ food.
A similar scene happened in the library too.
Infinite amount of starlights fell on that shapeless but also insensible line. The starlights solidified the line into a slightly dense essence. It then followed along the line and slowly fell to the ground. It is unsure of how far the starlights travelled but they went through the roof of the library and landed on Chen Chang Sheng’s body.
The starlights were soft and the skin of Chen Chang Sheng’s face became jadelike. But one moment later, the starlights, like sand and wind passing through his fingers, penetrated his body and could no longer could be seen. Even so, his face was just like it was before as if nothing had happened.
As time passed more and more starlights continued to fall on him. These starlights seemed to have the ability to ignore all obstacles. They easily passed through his clothes, fell on the surface of his body, and went deep into his body. Their destination was unknown.
Chen Chang Sheng closed his eyes. He did not see any of these images and did not know what had happened.
Not until the sun had fully risen over the capital and the chicken had started to tweet did he finally wake up.
He was somewhat excited. In the last fourteen years, he was rarely this excited. Because if he purified successfully, then he would step on the path of xiu xing. With this, regardless of whether or not he could get first place at the Great Trial, he would get some voice to his fate.
‘Such thoughts are not good for the body’ he said soundlessly to himself. Because he had an extremely mature attitude for his age, he was able to calm himself down quickly. Then he looked at his hands. His feeling slightly changed and his eyes were filled with confusion and bewilderment.
His hands did not change at all and were as clean as last night.
He took out a little round mirror and looked at his face in the mirror. Then he put down his little round mirror, pulled up his collar, and look at his body. He found out that nothing had changed and he was just as clean as he was in the past years.
A successful purification, should be like this.
According to the saying in the Purification, when humans lived, ate, drank, breathed, and absorbed nutrients, they also took the dirty Qi in the world into their body. Therefore they had to absorb starlights into their body. Then they would use the stars’ purest and softest power to completely expel the dirty Qi in their bodies.
However, Chen Chang Sheng’s body did not have any change.
Because of his mysophobia, he loved to stay clean. But now he actually desired to see dirty and stinky black oils on his body. He felt that the oils provided him with evidence that the dirty Qi inside his body were excreted out.
Chen Chang Sheng looked at the rising sun outside and remained silent for a really long time.
Suddenly, he put the back of his hand on the floor and rubbed against it hard. Not until he felt pain and a big red mark could be seen on the back of his hand did he stop and take a glance at his hand. He could faintly see a small blood streak and he realized that he indeed did not purify successfully.
When the starlights come, it first interacted with the skin. In the beginning of the purification, his skin was strengthened.
His skin did not change at all in comparison to yesterday.
Chen Chang Sheng remained silent. Originally he thought the problem with his broken vessels would only cause his soul to easily flow out. Later on, it would be very hard for him to convert starlights into Qi and keep them inside his body. Despite this, he thought he could at least complete the purification stage. He did not know that he would not be able to purify himself.
The morning light gradually brightened up. He stood up and walked out of the library. Because he sat with his legs crossed the entire night. His body felt somewhat sore. He had to walk slowly. Looking from the back, he looked like a kid who had just recovered from a fatal disease.
Walking back to the small building, he saw that the water pot had already heated up on the stove. He felt a little upset. In accord with the Purification, he thought that when he came back, he would definitely be dirty so he got the hot water ready beforehand. Who could expect that he did not even have a single sweat.
He thought for a while and eventually decided to take a shower.
It was neither because he had sat on the floor for an entire night nor because the school was dirty.
His body had a serious problem which made him curse his body. He always thought his body was somewhat dirty.
He washed himself frequently. He loved to be clean and had a small degree of mysophobia.
He put the hot water into the big bucket by the corner of the wall, walked inside, covered his face with a wet towel, lied on the edge of the bucket, opened up his arms, and lied backward. He was exhausted.
Beneath the wet towel, he heaved an inaudible sigh.
At that moment, on the other side of the wall a faint sigh could be heard.
Chen Chang Sheng thought ‘sad people were actually anywhere.’
………………………………………..
No one knew that Chen Chang Sheng had attempted to purify. Even those who saw him lighting up his destined star didn’t know. Because purification was more common than lighting up the destined star, it didn’t matter if xiu xingists were at the purification stage or the starfusing stage. As long as he was xiu xinging, then he needed to do so night by night. Moreover, the people who could see the destined stars being light up couldn’t see the line. Because of this, they wouldn’t know who was on the opposite end of the line.
There was no limit to human’s self strengthening.
Purification was never a one day thing.
At night, Chen Chang Sheng walked into the library again and sat on the floor to continue xiu xing.
A fourteen year old kid aroused himself again from disappointment and loss. The time taken was indeed too little. He had to appreciate all of his past experiences and the things that he would experience soon but of course the benefits that he experience won’t be liked by others.
He had no time to feel disappointed, he could only keep trying.
If not succeed, then die. These five words were most prominent in his mind.
He calmed down again and began meditation. The infinitive dense yet invisible starlight essence followed its shapeless fate. It continued to fall from the high and far night sky and land onto him like spring wind coiling him up and not leaving.
The starlights, just like it had last night, soundlessly penetrated his body and became invisible.
This process continued for so long. Just before the sun rose, he woke up again.
He looked closely at his hands and did not find any change. He touched his forehead and did not find a single drop of sweat. The old clothes on him were still clean. The morning wind flew in from outside and blew on his sleeves.
He did not understand. Even though his body’s vessels were broken, when his skin and hair had absorbed starlights, there were no changes.
Where did the starlight go?
He thought that the starlights had all spread into the air and transformed into nothing.
He did not know. He was confident that when he closed his eyes and meditated, the starlights had passed through his black hair and his hands, had passed through his old clothes and the little sword on his waist and had quietly entered his body. There was no loss.
It was like snow that passed through the wind and trees to fall onto the ground.
Not a single leaf carried any snow. This was an extremely rare occurrence.
Yet it actually occurred.
Now, this tree still looked green and was not white at all.
In actuality, the ground under the trees was being stacked with snow.
This was the so called accumulation.
One day, it would eventually rise.
Or explode.