Chapter Two: The Coiling Dragon Seal

The heart serene as ice, the heavens may fall without a tremor.

Human beings are truly strange creatures. When he first found himself thrown into this new world, An Xin had been so gloomy that he had even wanted to die.

Yet after he finished building up his courage and convinced himself to adapt, he found his mind once again filling with dreams of the future.

Jostling on horseback, An Xin kept adjusting his state of mind, his thoughts racing as he searched for a way out.

But a scholar meeting soldiers can never reason with them. And what he faced now were bandits who killed without blinking and robbed without leaving so much as a grain of salt behind.

Though his life had been temporarily spared, he had no clue how to escape for the moment.

If he wanted to keep this useful body alive, should he first endure humiliation and try to join the thieves?

"Entering the borders of Wu Ren County."

He did not know how long had passed. His stomach roiling and his head swimming from the ride, An Xin suddenly realized, in a moment of clarity, that he had entered the domain of Wu Ren County.

And in the endless darkness, he also suddenly saw a faint blue-green glow.

"What is that? Why does it look so familiar?"

His spirit lifting, An Xin looked through the light in astonishment and saw a glowing seal.

He quickly realized that it was the seal stone that had been unearthed when an old temple was demolished back in his village, during the time he served as first secretary there.

It had been sold off as village collective property. An Xin had spent money to buy it back and wash it clean, and had found the seal exquisitely carved and gently warm in texture, so he would often turn it over in his hands for pleasure.

It had never shown anything mysterious while he was on Earth. After the crossing, he had thought it lost, never expecting it to merge with his consciousness.

As An Xin stood there in surprise and confusion, a stream of information surfaced in his heart.

"The Dragon-Treading Seal: it allows me to cultivate by drawing upon the empire's dragon energy."

"So long as I hold office, I can influence the fortunes of the dynasty. The seal then judges my positive impact upon the realm according to rank, jurisdiction, population, authority, and the people's recognition of me, and grants me extraordinary power."

Analyzing the information he had gained, An Xin thought, "From the way these factors are calculated, could it be that as an official in one place, ruling the people for the state, I earn the dynasty a share of fortune, and then use that fortune to assist my own cultivation?"

"Whoa!"

Just as he was studying the seal, the bandits suddenly reined in their horses and came to a stop.

The clamor interrupted An Xin's thoughts.

"Second Brother's back!"

"Second Brother, this girl is really something."

"I've never played with such a fresh little dame before. Her skin is so smooth! Damn, she's a beauty!"

"You came back just in time. Second Boss snatched the wife of that rich old fool from San Yuan Township on the way. When the brothers up on the mountain have had their fill, you can go up and have your fun too."

With a sharp crack of a slap, the sound of men laughing uproariously mingled with a woman's frightened screams and reached An Xin's ears.

Though he could not see it, he could imagine the scene perfectly.

An effortful tug suddenly yanked An Xin from the horse. He staggered, then lost his footing and sat hard on the ground.

"Dammit, this bunch of vile dogs!"

After An Xin got back on his feet, he was shoved onward.

They began the ascent!

He counted his steps. After nearly a thousand, they finally came to a halt.

Amid a din of voices, An Xin knew he had arrived at the bandits' lair.

His hood was roughly torn off, and only then did he realize that night had already fallen.

The woman had her own hood ripped away as well. She was not exactly stunning, but compared with the village girls he had known, she was far more refined.

"Take this girl to the Hall of Sworn Brotherhood and call the brothers in line."

Second Blind Eye said to the bandits who had come to meet them.

At once, a wave of excited howls and obscene whistles rose in response.

"This brat doesn't even have a travel pass on him, so we don't know his roots. Have him write home and send money to Zi Province. If we don't see silver in ten days, slit his throat and throw him behind the mountain for the wolves!"

After giving his orders, Second Blind Eye glanced at An Xin.

Under the torchlight, that single eye was especially vicious and poisonous, like a viper flicking out its tongue.

If there had not been two ten-tael silver ingots in An Xin's purse, Second Blind Eye would have felt that he might really have been quite well off; he might have killed him on the mountain road and casually thrown him off the cliff to feed the wolves.

In these times, a person dying in the wilderness would not even make a splash.

When one is away from home, one is worth little, especially alone.

If the common folk do not complain, the officials will not investigate. A dead man by the roadside is no different from a dead wild dog.

"First throw this brat into the dungeon!"

An Xin was shoved forward and thrown into the cell.

Darkness. Dampness.

A stench of rot hit him full in the face.

An Xin looked around. Only a faint sliver of light leaked through the cracks in the trapdoor above; everywhere else in the dungeon was pitch-black.

There were also rats fighting, squeaking sharply. Once the rats sorted out their victor and fell quiet, the tiny skittering of insects along the walls drifted into his ears, making his skin crawl.

An Xin had no time to care about the dreadful surroundings. Sitting down on the ground, he rubbed his wrists a few times where they had been bound raw and bruised, then focused his awareness on the Dragon-Treading Seal floating within his sea of consciousness.

Its blue-green radiance was like a pale azure sun, hazily spanning the void above.

Beside it were two more clusters of blue light, revolving around the precious seal like two tiny satellites.

These were the gifts An Xin had received after entering the scope of his own jurisdiction.

He touched one of the blue clusters with his awareness. The cluster shattered, scattering into countless light motes that poured into the ocean of his mind.

A vast body of knowledge flooded forcibly into his brain, and he quickly grasped and understood it.

"Body-Immobilizing Technique!"

It can immobilize an enemy's body, and is one of the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Arts.

An Xin was overjoyed.

This was a genuine immortal art.

He touched the other blue cluster. Disturbed by his awareness, the blue light swelled brilliant and vast, radiating glow and heat that overpowered the seal's own azure radiance, like a sun hanging high above his sea of consciousness.

An Xin's awareness returned to his body, and he felt a warm current seeping out from every limb and bone, nourishing the muscles and channels throughout him. Vitality surged up. His battered body, exhausted and aching after the long journey, recovered rapidly within a few breaths.

Life was surging.

Strength was taking root.

Though he was in a dark, damp dungeon, he felt as if he were soaking in a hot spring. No one knew how much time had passed before he only felt all chronic ailments vanish and his whole body become light and easy. Even the neck and shoulder pain caused by long hours bent over a desk was gone.

His originally subhealthy body was rapidly growing stronger in every respect.

"Young master, were you also captured by the horse bandits?"

A woman's voice suddenly sounded.

It was hoarse, trembling, and clearly carried the strain of a mind stretched taut.

An Xin opened his eyes.

Somehow, dawn had already broken outside. Sunlight seeped through the cracks in the trapdoor and fell into the dungeon, lending it a little light.

An Xin found that his eyes had grown keen; even in such dimness, he could see the other person clearly.

Sitting, it was impossible to tell her height.

Her face was dirty, making her features impossible to discern.

Her long hair was dry and lifeless, and she wore a silk dress, along with an emerald necklace that caught the faint light and reflected a dim glow.

Seeing the necklace, An Xin felt a flicker of curiosity.

It would have been one thing if this woman had not been violated by the bandits, but such a valuable emerald necklace was plainly the sort of thing those thieves, who robbed for profit and killed for gain, should never have left behind. That simply was not their style.

And the woman, looking at An Xin as he sat so calmly and unruffled in this bandit nest, was also full of curiosity.