Chapter 331: Washing the Brush to Practice the Tao

Ying Ruoli took two steps closer to Ji Yuan and whispered.

“Uncle Ji, this should be a Realm-Crossing Ferry. There are probably several hundred people on board, and its barrier techniques seem to be from an immortal sect. I’m not sure which sect it belongs to.”

“Hmm.”

Ji Yuan hummed in acknowledgement, observing the flying ship in the distance. Although his expression revealed nothing, he was in fact full of curiosity.

Though the flying ship was cloaked by barrier techniques, with Ji Yuan’s supernatural eyes, he could still discern that there were quite a few mortals on board.

Seeing cultivators, monsters, and even evil spirits was normal to Ji Yuan. Seeing a few mortals wasn’t out of the ordinary either, but seeing over a third or more of the crowd was mortal was quite unusual.

One must understand that for ordinary people, even traveling to a few of the adjacent counties within a single nation was considered a long journey. Such was the nature of the era’s society. Yet, to now see ordinary people aboard a Realm-Crossing Ferry was quite surprising, at least for Ji Yuan.

“Ruoli, I have never ridden a realm-crossing ferry before. Are there always so many ordinary people on board?”

The Dragon Daughter glanced into the distance and shook her head.

“Uncle Ji, you might not take them often, but neither do I. I was born a flood dragon; if I wanted to to cross realms, swimming through the seas or flying through the heavens would be far more comfortable than this.”

“That’s true. But it seems they are quite wary of you?”

Ying Ruoli smiled faintly.

“While it’s true I don’t pay much heed to this flying ship, they likely misunderstood that I was responsible for the great thunderstorm just now. They probably think I might be at a crucial stage of cultivation, or perhaps in a bad mood, and thus do not wish to provoke me.”

Ji Yuan nodded. Dragons and flood dragons were indeed not to be trifled with, especially on the vast open sea. Who knew whether their lair lay beneath them, or whether they were accompanied by aquatic monsters?

“They are bowing to us. Let us return the courtesy.”

“Okay!”

Ying Ruoli acknowledged Ji Yuan’s words. She first took the brush Ji Yuan handed her, walked to the desk, and gently placed it on the brush stand. Only then did she and Ji Yuan bow together towards the distant flying ship.

The two True Immortals on the flying ship, who could clearly see this scene from afar, relaxed slightly. Less trouble was always better, but they dared not be negligent, bowing again towards the giant whale, though this time primarily towards Ji Yuan.

“Who is that person writing at the desk upon the whale’s back? And the flood dragon lady appears to be attending him?”

“I am not entirely sure. It is also unclear whether he is also a dragon or flood dragon, but he appears quite amiable.”

As the two True Immortals were discussing, the other mortals, those whose cultivation was insufficient or completely lacking, could not clearly discern the situation in the distance. The dragon just now was so immense that everyone had been excited to see it. Now, they could see a large fish swimming below, but the person on its back was as tiny as a sesame seed, making it impossible to distinguish any particulars.

“True Immortal Chi, should we fly away immediately or approach a little closer? Everyone on the ship is eager to see what’s over there.”

A cultivator responsible for steering the flying ship approached to ask. The two True Immortals exchanged a glance, then looked at the numerous curious individuals peering over the ship’s railing, as well as those observing from the mystic windows of the cabins below. They thought for a moment before speaking.

“We can descend to a suitable distance, then slowly sail past them. However, inform the passengers on board not to shout, and to remember to bow towards the back of the giant whale as as we pass.”

The two individuals they encountered riding on the back of a whale on the Eastern Sea—one a flood dragon, the other writing at a desk atop the whale—were clearly no ordinary beings. It was only proper to pay them a respectful visit, and concurrently satisfy the curiosity of some of the passengers.

Thus, before Ji Yuan and Ying Ruoli’s eyes, the colossal ship in the sky slowly descended, gradually approaching them.

“Uncle Ji, shall I chase them away?”

Ying Ruoli asked, knowing that Uncle Ji might be about to perform some technique. Ji Yuan, however, shook his head.

“Let them be. The timing is just right, and there’s no need to divert my attention. They won’t disturb me. When I perform the technique in a moment, you should pay close attention as well; it will be beneficial for your future transformation into a true dragon.”

Tonight, besides his custom of having the Green Vine Sword gather pure Qi and Ji Yuan’s own cultivation, he also needed to temper the wolf-hair brush in his hand. With both the wolf-hair brush and the pure Qi at hand, Ji Yuan felt he could try out some of the ideas in his mind. Perhaps he could allow the Dragon Daughter to observe more clearly.

However, the General Giant Whale beneath their feet let out a defiant cry.

“It’s one thing for this ship to fly in the sky, but on the sea, does it truly intend to outpace me? Hmph!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Yuan distinctly felt his body lean backward. The General Giant Whale had indeed increased its speed. However, the Dragon Daughter stomped her foot heavily, and the General Giant Whale cried out in pain, immediately becoming docile.

“Tonight is New Year’s Eve. Uncle Ji asked me to disperse the thunderstorm for a reason, so don’t cause any more trouble.”

Ying Ruoli spoke coldly to the General Giant Whale, who naturally dared not argue.

“Yes, yes, Lady Ruoli is right.”

The General Giant Whale dared not stir up the water recklessly again; in fact, its speed was even slower than before, seeking only stability.

Ji Yuan ignored the farce, his gaze having shifted from the distant flying ship to the starry sky above.

At this moment, stars and moon shone brightly. The sky was cloudless. It wasn’t long before midnight.

He did not need to deliberately calculate the time; he merely needed to observe the shifting of the Qi of Heaven and Earth. He had witnessed the transition between old and new years many times, with different atmospheres and environments bringing about different changes. He wondered what it would be like now, out on the open sea.

Before long, in Ji Yuan’s wide-open supernatural eyes, a faint glimmer of light subtly appeared between Heaven and Earth. Everything that had previous been blurry in Ji Yuan’s vision seemed to sharpen into clarity in an instant.

A haze of Qi rose between Heaven and Earth, yet two distinct auras accumulated within it. It was precisely this transformation of Qi that made the world exceptionally clear in Ji Yuan’s eyes.

Even with the vast Eastern Sea untouched by the Qi of human civilization, the transition from old to new was still awe-inspiring.

The hazy Qi emerging between Heaven and Earth stretched as far as the eye could see, beginning to split between pure and impure Qi. The pure qi accumulated and ascended, while the turbid energy dissipated as it descended, “tearing open” a new space between the split.

From within this space, emerged the pure Qi of spring, drawing back the curtain of the new year amidst the clouds rising to the heavens.

At this moment of transition, the Dragon Daughter merely sensed a vague shift in the heavens, but felt little impact. It was even less clear for the General Giant Whale and the vast majority of people on the distant flying vessel.

However, in Ji Yuan’s eyes, it was a profound transformation of Heaven and Earth that astonished him every time he witnessed it.

Unless he was completely unconscious, Ji Yuan never missed this moment each year. This year was no exception. He waved his hand, and the Green Vine Sword immediately shot into the sky, piercing directly above the Ninth Heaven in an instant and soaring into the pure energy of spring that was about to dissipate into the world.

“Clang…”

The clear chime of a sword rang out from the far reaches of the sky.

The world was still shrouded in night, yet to those with keen spiritual perception, it was as if a flash of silvery-white light had illuminated that very instant.

The Green Vine Sword skillfully cut off a small sliver of the pure Qi of spring, wrapped it around itself, and returned to the ocean surface. At the same moment, Ji Yuan reached out and grasped the brush handle, twisting the tip of the brush towards the sky a few times, drawing wisps of cloud-like energy from the green vine sword to coil around the brush tip, subsequently channeling it through his own body.

It was all merely a matter of a few breaths, yet to Ji Yuan, it felt as though he had undergone a long and fulfilling cultivation session.

At this moment, Ji Yuan’s posture as he twisted and flicked the brush in the air shifted again. It was as if he was rapidly writing something in the sky, using this method to ensure that not a single wisp of the remaining pure Qi was wasted, all of it coiling around the brush tip.

“Concentrate on the tip of the brush. Observe the separation of turbid and pure energies between Heaven and Earth.”

Ying Ruoli was momentarily startled, then quickly adjusted her mind, pouring her attention into the tip of the wolf-hair brush in Ji Yuan’s hand. Below, the General Giant Whale, who had been swimming quietly, also had a flash of inspiration. One of its sharp eyes pivoted intensely, using his difficult angle to determinedly observe.

The tip of the wolf-hair brush seemed to bloom with exquisite strokes. Streams of pure energy gathered like invisible ink, outlining fleeting characters, a kind of Edict written in Heavenly Script that could never be preserved.

Even with Ying Ruoli’s cultivation, she could only catch a fleeting glimpse as they rapidly flashed by. But that single instant was enough to make her mind feel as though it were shattering, illusions and strange phenomena flashing before her eyes, as if she had seen the moment, mere breaths ago, when Heaven and Earth’s pure and turbid Qi separated, drawing back the curtain of the new year.

“What is this…”

Ying Ruoli mumbled to herself in a daze. She wanted to observe more closely, but the wolf-hair brush in Ji Yuan’s hand had already stopped writing in the air.

General Giant Whale, however, was different. He couldn’t perceive the Heavenly Script Edict—which only existed for mere breaths—as clearly as the Dragon Daughter could. Yet he could sense the profound shifts in the pure and turbid Qi within them. He was now completely dazed and sluggish, even his swimming appearing to sway erratically from side to side.

From the perspective of those on the Realm-Crossing Ferry, whether they were cultivators, mortals, or even the few spirits and monsters among them, none could witness the wondrous sight Ji Yuan had, nor could they perceive the Edict in Heavenly Script from the tip of the brush as the Dragon Daughter had. They were even far from having the advantage of proximity as General Giant Whale had, even if all he could glean was the moon’s reflection in the water.

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But though they could not glimpse the energy of Heaven and Earth directly, they received a far more exaggerated and indescribable feeling simply by observing the person.

A few breaths ago, the old year had transitioned into the new.

Be they cultivators, mortals, spirits, or monsters aboard the flying ship, they all felt as though as one man wielded his brush from the distant General Giant Whale’s back, that very spot seemed to transform into a boundless expanse, vague and infinite, yet paradoxically clear enough to feel within reach.

This allowed even mortals to clearly see the scene on the General Giant Whale’s back, as if they were standing nearby.

It gave them a strange sensation, simultaneously clear and distinct, yet murky and chaotic, intertwined. Everything around them, apart from that spot, appeared as if shrouded in a foggy haze. Then, within mere moments, all blurriness vanished, leaving only a lingering blue light from the tip of the green-robed man’s brush, from where he stood atop the whale’s back.

“What just happened?”

On the flying ship, a True Immortal dazedly asked his senior brother. He knew something extraordinary had occurred, but he did not know what it was.

The yellow-robed True Immortal beside him was similarly lost in thought for a long while, but he murmured continuously to himself.

“All the cleansing of Heaven and Earth that we experienced just now originated from that man’s brush. The immortal scriptures state that at the moment of transition between old and new years, turbid and pure energies permeate Heaven and Earth, containing myriad wondrous transformations, which are the very foundation of all life. Could this person be…”

The yellow-robed man froze for a moment, then blurted out.

“Washing the brush purifies the old year’s impurities; wielding the brush brings forth the new year’s pure energy. This esteemed senior is using the pure Qi of Heaven and Earth’s separation to cleanse his brush and practice his cultivation!”

T/n: I’ll be honest, I’m not sure exactly what they’re talking about with the “brush cleansing” here. I’m pretty sure it’s something suitably grand though, LOL

i.e. an ephemeral glimpse