Beyond the Divine States

Chapter 68 The Name on the Paper

The library stretched out in an annular shape. Behind the stone wall as transparent as the glass, the white light shone into the library and brightened this vast area.

The wooden cabinets and bookshelves were all of the same size, just like the rising cliffs in the valley carved with countless words.

Ning Changjiu, dressed in white, walked into the library as if a pearl or a piece of jade fell into the sea. He was rather small within the space.

Although diligence was the path to the mountain of books, faced with so many mountains, how could one climb them all?

Moreover, these were only a part of the numerous mountains of books in the world.

Ning Changjiu knew that some people could really attain Taoism by reading. They could know massively about the world, think unfetteredly beyond the universe, toss off smart remarks and laws to guide worldly matters or write like an angel able to vividly present the landscapes of the world.

That was an extremely mysterious and splendid realm but it was not for him.

He was forced to read a lot since his childhood but he still didn't like reading because the path of book studying required diligence. What he pursued was the ethereal Taoism but not the benefits and hardships of reading.

He walked inside and glanced at the book backs. Then, he opened some of them from time to time, browsed them and then put them back.

Time fleeted. Instantly, the sword class was over today. There were lots of disciples walking down the stairs to read books.

Ning Changjiu knew that it was time that Xiaoling should come back.

He stopped reading and walked outside.

Several of the inner disciples wearing clean sword clothes noticed him. Because it was a quiet place of the inner peak, where loud talking was not allowed, Ning Changjiu only saw them pointing at him.

He didn't care about being stared at by them and only walked forward directly.

He walked across the wooden stairs against the crowd. When he returned to the room, he was slightly surprised to see Ning Xiaoling was sitting by his table, holding a pile of books and staring at him with an excited look.

"Xiaoling, you are so bold to come to my room flagrantly. Aren't you afraid that the fellow disciples may tell on you?" Ning Changjiu grinned and asked curiously.

Ning Xiaoling said generously, "Of course not."

Ning Changjiu c****d his eyebrows and asked, "Who allowed you to do so?"

Ning Xiaoling pointed at the books and said, "Jiajia gave special approval to me. Because I cannot read, she asked me to learn to read from you for at most three hours."

Ning Changjiu slightly curled up the corner of his mouth and said with a smile out of anger, "Why are you still happy about being unable to read?"

Ning Xiaoling chuckled and said, "I'm only laughing foolishly."

Ning Changjiu suddenly thought of what happened yesterday. His relaxed mood was got rid of by him. Somehow, he felt weird about the fact that Ning Xiaoling could perceive his emotions.

Ning Xiaoling stared at him with her face full of expectations.

Ning Changjiu comforted himself that he could take the opportunity to impose some stress on himself and cultivate his mental strength. If he could control his emotion freely, he would have nothing to worry about then.

"Okay," Ning Changjiu said with a nod, "but you must promise me to study attentively. You mustn't procrastinate on purpose."

Ning Xiaoling agreed and then said worriedly, "Changjiu, will I hold up your cultivation by asking you to teach me?"

Ning Changjiu responded, "I don't cultivate."

Ning Xiaoling was startled and said, "There are usually few people showing up in the inner peak. I guess no one will come to disturb you. Changjiu, don't slack off. If you don't work hard, how can you defeat Xiang'er in three years?"

Ning Changjiu said, "Don't I still have three years?"

Ning Xiaoling stroked her forehead and sighed, "Changjiu, do you abandon yourself?"

Ning Changjiu said, "Don't think too much. I'm only...sharpening my knife."

Ning Xiaoling immediately thought of the proverb and blurted out, "Sharpening your axe will not delay your job of chopping wood?"

Well, the wood was himself.

Ning Changjiu chuckled and said, "Since it is Master's order, I shall start to teach you how to read. Let's get started."

Ning Xiaoling replied with "oh" and then sat up straight.

"I'll teach you the basic strokes first_rightward stroke, downward stroke, falling leftward stroke, falling rightward stroke, turning stroke, dot, bending stroke, hooking stroke... Let me dip the brush pen with the ink and show you."

"Okay."

Ning Changjiu ground the ink, dipped the brush pen in it and spread out a sheet of rice paper. He put the paperweight on the paper and started to write down the strokes squarely on it, which created the gentle beauty on the white rice paper.

"Your writing looks so pretty," Ning Xiaoling sighed sincerely.

Ning Changjiu said resignedly, "You don't know the words."

Ning Xiaoling said seriously, "I don't need to know the words. It's like seeing a stranger. I don't know who he is but I can still recognize whether he is good-looking or not."

Ning Changjiu's wrist stiffened. He took a look at her and said with a smile, "You've cultivated for one day only and you become so glib now?"

Ning Xiaoling stuck out her tongue, saying, "I've been glib all the time."

Ning Changjiu gave a faint smile and continued writing. Meanwhile, he also introduced to Ning Xiaoling the names of the strokes and how to write the strokes properly.

After an hour, Ning Changjiu probably finished talking about the strokes and then asked, "Do you remember all?"

"Yes!" Ning Xiaoling said with confidence.

Ning Changjiu said with a smile, "You've learned so fast. I guess you will master all very soon."

Ning Xiaoling hastened to stroke her head and said dizzily, "Alas. When I learn the latter part, I just forget the former part. I guess I still need your guidance!"

Ning Changjiu couldn't help laughing and then said seriously, "Let's go on. I'll teach you some simplest and most common words."

Ning Xiaoling shook her head and said, "No."

Ning Changjiu took a confused look at her.

Ning Xiaoling said primly, "I want to learn names. My name, yours, Master Jiajia's and Zhao Xiang'er's."

Ning Changjiu was dazed. With a gentle smile, he dipped the brush pen in the ink and wrote a pretty word--Ling on the paper softly and ethereally.

"This is Ling as in Ning Xiaoling. It is composed of two parts."

"It is quite complicated."

"Well. Legend has it that on the Manhuo Mountains in the Northern Wilderness, there was a race of giants called Panri. They made the teeth of the first Giant King the Holy Tablet as a token of the imperial city. Its origin kind of coincided with the word Ling."

"It's so terrifying...and gross." Ning Xiaoling covered her cheek and suddenly felt a phantom toothache.

Ning Xiaoling fetched the brush pen and scribbled following his example while Ning Changjiu continued talking about the words--Chang Jiu.

"These two words are quite simple, which are as pure as you," Ning Xiaoling praised sincerely. After thinking it over, she showed off her little literary knowledge eloquently, "Your name carries an extremely good meaning. Tian Chang Di Jiu (enduring as long as the sky and earth)... Chang Shi Jiu Sheng (longevity)..."

Ning Changjiu said with a grin, "I had another name before."

"Em," Ning Xiaoling said and then nodded. "My family name was not Ning before. I didn't change my family name until I followed Master. By the way, what was your previous name? Do you remember it?"

Ning Changjiu said, "I was named Zhang Jiu."

Ning Xiaoling was a bit disappointed. "Kind of plain."

Ning Changjiu said with a nod, "Yeah, Master didn't like my name so it was changed to Changjiu."

Of course he meant the master in his prelife.

He never met his master but she knew his name and changed it for him.

He felt that there was some secret behind this thing but he couldn't figure it out yet.

Ning Xiaoling fetched the pen with confidence, saying, "I can write it!"

After saying that, she wrote the two words--Chang Jiu on the rice paper.

"You wrote it wrong..."

"As long as the meaning is right."

"Yeah... Okay," Ning Changjiu said resignedly. "May they live long. Good meaning indeed."

Therefore, they kept talking for the following more than two hours.

"Master Jiajia's name is so nice. It can be split into two parts, daughter and home. The daughter goes back home."

"You know the word home?"

"Yeah, home as in 'this Taoist home is of the same age as Heaven'."

...

"The word Xiang in Xiang'er's name is too complicated, even harder to write than Ling."

"Yeah. The word Xiang is so interesting. When it is combined with the word Tu, it will become Rang, which means soil. That day, you passed out so you failed to hear what Xiang'er said on the Jiuling Tower. What a pity!"

"What did she say?"

"She said, well... She said she was the clay figurine made by the goddess with the Nine Heavenly Soil and then burned into a pretty china doll. Hence, the part Tu was removed, leaving the word Xiang," Ning Changjiu talked nonsense primly.

"Oh really..." Ning Xiaoling felt quite confused.

"Why would I lie to you? Zhao Xiang'er is some big potato."

"Then you will be beaten up, won't you?"

"Which side do you take?"

...

This was the first night since they started to cultivate on Tianku Peak.

Ning Xiaoling had left. Ning Changjiu looked at the rice paper full of writings and gained some enlightenment somehow but he failed to grasp it.

With a slight frown, he mulled it over. On the blank of a sheet of paper, he wrote the words--Ning Changjiu again and the two words--Zhang Jiu.

At night, the wind whistled through the mountains, as if everything were wailing. Ning Changjiu stood there quietly, staring at his names in a trance for a long time.