Chapter 1112 — The Real Lesson

CHAPTER 1112

The Real Lesson

Lin Langtian drew a circle in the ash on the cave floor with one finger.

“Lesson One,” Lin Langtian said. “And this one’s real.”

Shi Feng sat against the wall with his strapped arm in his lap and a bowl of congee in his other hand. It was the third morning since Pinefall. His qi had come back to about half, his ribs ground when he turned, and his left hand could close now if he watched it do it. Qin Wuyan stood at the door with his back to them, clearly listening.

“I’m listening,” Shi Feng said.

“You’re eating,” Lin Langtian said. “Put it down. Senior Brother is about to say something wise, and I want you to look moved.”

Shi Feng put the bowl down.

Lin Langtian tapped the circle.

“Everything past Shattering Void starts here,” Lin Langtian said. “A Profound Heaven cultivator opens a space inside himself. Not a storage ring and not a fold. A heaven. Ground, sky, light, wind, rules. It has to imitate the real heaven so well that when heaven looks down, it sees itself and passes over you.” He drew a line through the circle. “That’s why no tribulation falls at Profound Heaven. Heaven doesn’t strike what it thinks is part of itself. But if you leave any piece out, that’s a flaw, and heaven can see a flaw. It strikes there.”

“How big does it have to be?” Shi Feng asked.

Lin Langtian blinked. “That’s your first question?”

“It’s a practical one,” Shi Feng said. “I need to know how much I have to build.”

“Most people make a courtyard,” Lin Langtian said. “Good ones make a valley. It doesn’t need to be big. It needs to be whole.”

“How much qi does the opening take?” Shi Feng asked.

“All of it. Then more,” Lin Langtian said.

“Can it be done hurt?” Shi Feng asked, flexing his left hand.

“Yes. Badly,” Lin Langtian said.

“How long does it take?” Shi Feng asked.

“A night for a courtyard. Longer for a valley,” Lin Langtian said, staring at him. “Junior Brother, do you know how many people would kneel in the snow for a month to hear this? Old ancestors of great families would sell their grandsons for it. And you’re asking me about it like you’re buying rice.”

“I’ll be doing it hurt,” Shi Feng said. “I need to know what it costs before I start.”

Qin Wuyan spoke from the doorway without turning round.

“The Pavilion’s records say that of those who open an inner heaven while wounded, one in three never closes the crack,” Qin Wuyan said.

“There,” Lin Langtian said, pointing at the door. “That’s the cost. Are you happy now?”

“Yes,” Shi Feng said. “What happens to the other two?”

Lin Langtian opened his mouth, closed it, and threw up his hands.

“This is the most insulting way anyone has ever listened to me!” Lin Langtian said. “No gasps. No ‘Senior Brother is truly profound.’ Not one tear. Just ‘how much qi’ and ‘how many fail.’ A thousand gold can’t buy a good teacher, and Yours Truly is wasting himself on an accountant!”

“Senior Brother is truly profound,” Shi Feng said. “What happens to the other two?”

Lin Langtian glared at him. Then he laughed in spite of himself and sat back on his heels.

“The other two are fine,” Lin Langtian said. “They just remember it for the rest of their lives.”

He rubbed out the circle with his palm. His hand was shaking again. It shook worst in the mornings, and every morning he called it the cold.

“Senior Brother,” Shi Feng said. “When you opened yours, who was there?”

Lin Langtian’s hand stopped moving in the ash.

For a moment he didn’t answer. The fire popped. At the door, Qin Wuyan stood very still.

“The last time I opened mine, I did it alone,” Lin Langtian said quietly. “Don’t.”

Then he forced a grin, wide and bright.

“Because there was nobody there to see how handsome I looked doing it!” Lin Langtian said loudly. “A tragedy. A great loss to the world. Learn from it, Junior Brother. Always have an audience.”

Shi Feng didn’t laugh. He was saddened by what Lin Langtian wouldn’t say. He looked at the smudged ash where the circle had been, then at Lin Langtian’s shaking hand, and chose not to press him.

“I won’t do it alone,” Shi Feng said. “You and Senior Qin will be there.”

“Good. Then Yours Truly will finally have an audience,” Lin Langtian said.

“This one will be watching the sky,” Qin Wuyan said from the door.

“Watch my Junior Brother instead, Guardian Qin. The sky won’t be half as interesting,” Lin Langtian said.

Shi Feng picked his congee back up and finished it. Then he asked the last question, the one he’d been saving since Lin Langtian drew the circle.

“When heaven looks down,” Shi Feng said, “what does it see first?”

Lin Langtian stopped smiling.

“Whatever you’re hiding,” Lin Langtian said.