The Genius of the Luo Clan
Yu Xian City.
The Luo Clan.
Within a small side courtyard, at one corner of the yard, an ancient maple tree stood tall and unmoving.
Its canopy was stained in deep crimson, its branches leaning like a silent figure, sighing through countless seasons of falling leaves.
"When… will I finally have an ending that belongs to me alone?"
Facing the tree was a brown wooden step. The grain had faded with time, blending with the fallen leaves. For a moment, it was hard to tell where earth ended and wood began.
Above the steps stood a simple wooden door, leading into the inner room.
In the courtyard, maple leaves fell sparsely, one layer pressing upon another, brilliant yet tranquil like a painting with no painter. A few leaves drifted far with the wind and landed softly upon the wooden floor.
At the entrance of the courtyard, a youth stepped in.
He wore a simple, clean white robe. His eyes shone with the brightness of youth, his face ordinary.
Yet his long jet black hair, damp with morning dew and neatly tied high, gave him a composure beyond his years.
The youth walked in with familiarity, casually stepping onto the wooden platform and skillfully pushing open the door. A sigh lingered in his movements before it could even leave his lips.
As the door opened, a draft slipped through the gap, carrying the chill of the courtyard inside.
Within, candlelight flickered in the darkness, wavering as though about to die out. Pink wax dripped down in drops, each one solidifying layer by layer along the rim of the cup.
The sound of pages flipping rustled beneath the flickering glow, scholarly yet faintly eerie.
The room was surrounded on all sides by books. Tall shelves rose up, enclosing the space like a vast library.
At the center stood a towering pile of books, paper mixed with strips of cloth. Black and white interwove like a chessboard with no victor yet decided.
Within that heap lay a fourteen year old youth curled up inside.
In his hand was a book bearing peculiar characters, vaguely recognizable as the four words Cultivation Hundred Arts.
He wore entirely black robes, his hair messy, several strands loosely tied with a red thread.
A yellow talisman was pasted on his right cheek. Its intricate patterns stretched from his eyelid down to the side of his nose.
His face was pale, dark circles heavy beneath his eyes. His complexion was haggard, as though he had spent countless nights bathing in an ocean of knowledge.
The pink candlelight illuminated one side of his cheek, the shadows trembling with the breeze.
At this moment, the white robed youth entered. He stood at the doorway, one hand still on the door, his voice calm but clear.
"Brother Qiu, you stayed up late reading again. Staying up so much is not good for your health."
"I am making up for sleep right now."
The black robed youth slowly rose and stepped out from the pile of books, rubbing his eyes. The dark circles were obvious.
The books around him slid down and fell with dull thuds. One rolled near the candle cup, tipping it over. It rolled a few turns before stopping at his feet, wax spilling in a long streak across the wooden floor.
This person was called Luo Tian Qiu, son of the late Second Elder. Within the clan, he was often called the genius of the Luo Clan.
If anyone asked where his parents were, he would simply answer,
"I do not know. Since I was four, I have not seen them."
He had few relatives. Once each month, the Grand Elder would personally deliver the clan stipend.
Not a few people assumed the old man was backing Luo Tian Qiu from behind.
At this moment, he reached into his sleeve, took out a medicinal pill, and swallowed it.
Warmth quickly spread through his body, dispelling some of the fatigue. The dark circles faded slightly, but the haggard look remained.
Indifferently, he stepped barefoot onto the flame, extinguishing the pink glow.
Hot wax stuck to his foot, burning, yet he acted as if nothing had happened.
The sweet scent of melted wax lingered in the closed room, drifting outward with the breeze like immortal qi.
Luo Tian Qiu yawned and lazily shuffled outside. His gaze swept across the courtyard, shifted to Luo Wu Chang standing beneath the maple tree, then stopped at the broom resting by the other's feet.
For ten years, the scenery had not changed. The maple still fell, the leaves still withered.
With every passing moment, another wave of leaves descended, layer upon layer, day after day.
Luo Tian Qiu slipped on his sandals, stepped into the yard, and began sweeping away the fallen leaves.
The maple continued to fall, the man continued to sweep. Each morning upon waking, it was another act of brushing away the past.
Yet it was still there, existing to this very moment. The past might fade with time, but it would never disappear.
Luo Wu Chang stepped back to give him space and casually asked, "Why do you always skip class?"
"Skip class?" Tian Qiu frowned and glanced at him. "Chang Chang, what are you saying? I am merely making use of free time."
The other could only smile awkwardly.
"Whatever you say is right."
Luo Tian Qiu sighed, moving the broom back and forth. "Tell me. What do the clan elders teach at the academy?"
Luo Wu Chang raised a hand to his mouth, thinking, eyes turned upward.
"Pills, artifacts, talismans, formations, and mechanism arts."
Luo Tian Qiu paused and asked seriously.
"What do they teach about pills?"
After asking, he resumed sweeping. Unfortunately, a maple leaf slipped into his heel. He tossed the broom aside, took off his sandal, picked out the leaf, and cursed.
"Damn it. Sweeping every morning is already tiring, and now I have to deal with you too."
"I know my sandals are dirty, but who asked you to sweep for me?"
Meanwhile, Luo Wu Chang continued answering earnestly.
"Identifying medicinal herbs and pills by color and scent."
"For alchemy, one must grasp the four steps. Prepare the herbs, control the ratios and composition, regulate the flame temperature, and finally condense the pill."
As Tian Qiu put his sandal back on, he continued, "Artifacts?"
Wu Chang frowned slightly, recalling the lessons.
"Understanding forging materials through properties and color, and learning how to craft a simple magical artifact."
"To refine one, you must master two basics: temperature control and the formation inscription of the artifact."
"Each artifact requires different heat and inscriptions. For example, the Fire Fish Wheel needs high temperature and the Blazing Sun pattern, while the Cloud Frost Sword requires subzero cold below a thousand degrees and the Frost pattern."
Under the sunlight, Luo Tian Qiu's faint smile slowly faded.
"Talismans?"
"Recognizing talismans through patterns and color. For crafting, memorize materials and strokes. Actually drawing one successfully is not easy." At this point, Wu Chang grinned. "In the world, probably only you are that skillful."
Luo Tian Qiu rubbed his nose, unaware it had metaphorically grown ten meters longer. Though praised, he did not relent.
"What about formations?"
"How to set up arrays and key points for breaking them. The most prominent are the Five Elements Grand Array and the Yin Yang Grand Array. The former freely controls the five elements within the formation, the latter manipulates yin and yang."
Growing excited, Wu Chang clenched his fist toward the sky. "Master both, and controlling heaven and earth is only a short distance away."
Tian Qiu looked at him with suspicion.
"Do you think I still need to study mechanism arts?"
Wu Chang hesitated. That was the path he himself pursued.
To become a mechanism master, one must first understand pills, artifacts, talismans, and formations.
Tian Qiu had already mastered them. He had not.
"No," Wu Chang answered dejectedly.
After finishing the sweeping and gathering a pile of leaves, Luo Tian Qiu turned.
"You see, I have already learned everything that needs to be learned."
"Out in the world, do you really need to know so many pills, talismans, formations, and artifacts? Enough to use is sufficient."
He leaned the broom against the maple tree, raised his right hand toward the sky, gaze distant.
"Tell me, how many people in this world truly master all cultivation knowledge and still live as long as heaven and earth?"
"In the end, they are either killed, or their lifespan runs dry."
As his words fell, the drifting maple leaves seemed to reply.
"Is immortality truly good? I have lived a hundred years, yet never grasped a single spring, nor understood the withering of winter."
"Now I am little more than a walking corpse. I cannot fully live again, nor can I properly die."
Luo Wu Chang was speechless.
"But you are going against what you just said."
"Am I?" Luo Tian Qiu froze for a few seconds, looking blank as if realizing he contradicted himself.
"I did not tell you to read less. I only told you to take care of your health. How you live is your business. Whether you have the life to live is another matter."
Who told Luo Tian Qiu to be so gifted? He had mastered basic alchemy, artifact forging, formation arrays.
Especially talisman drawing. His level could rival masters, enough to stand alongside the geniuses of Immortal City.
After sweeping, Luo Wu Chang suddenly asked, "Did you bathe?"
"I did," Tian Qiu replied casually.
Wu Chang's eyes were full of suspicion. "Since last night?"
"I bathed this morning and then went straight to sleep."
"With what water?" Wu Chang asked. "Book water?"
Seeing Tian Qiu hesitate, Wu Chang sighed.
"No wonder you still do not have a girlfriend."
Tian Qiu finally lost patience, took off his sandal, ready to throw it.
"Say that again?"
"Who is dirty?"
Wu Chang quickly cupped his hands in apology.
"I was wrong. I am the dirty one."
"Even though I bathe daily, keep my house tidy, sleep on a bed instead of in a study room. Still, I am the dirty one."
That apology sounded like mockery.
"Damn it."
Tian Qiu put his sandal back on, glared at him as if at a lunatic.
After walking a few steps, he stopped.
"By the way, during my days off, anything interesting happen?"
Wu Chang did not answer immediately.
"You have not eaten breakfast, have you?"
"No hurry." Tian Qiu smiled faintly. "Let us talk at the restaurant."
He walked quickly. Wu Chang hurried after him.
"You are not changing your sandals?"
Tian Qiu's voice was full of confidence.
"Sandals are for the strong. I am the genius of the Luo Clan. Of course I have the right to wear them."