Chapter 20: 019 Grandma Yushen (3/3)

“What do you intend for her to do?” Grandma Wang asked after a while.

“If Xiaolin cultivated her physique to some degree, perhaps she can bind a Fate-lock with no problem.”

“Fate-lock?” Grandma Wang shook her head. “They are too expensive. Even selling her entire property will get her useless stuff. Besides, without enough Qi, what’s the point of having a fate lock?”

“Your concern is genuine, but there is a type of artificial fate-lock core which is used for a supplement Qi source. Normally something like that would be nothing to a normal practitioner, but to someone like Xiaolin, it could change her whole life.”

“You mean those fake fate locks that some artisans came up with?” Elder Wang asked in a neutral voice, though her tone contained a staid detest to it.

Gale sighed, hearing her. The people of Tainhui were really old-fashioned, still resolute in keeping the traditional way of practising spirit arts. There’s nothing wrong with that, but eventually, they would have to bend, today or tomorrow. The only problem with that was time–the exact factor that couldn’t be controlled.

To Gale, it's always better to solve a problem today than to hold on to distorted tradition. Well, the creation of artificial fate locks was new, and not widely known in the east, much less in this unremarkable town. Considering that, her scepticism wasn't unwarranted.

It was that scepticism that was stopping many from advancing further into their path, as they would need something to lock their fate. Not everyone can afford genuine fate locks. Besides that, it's an artificial fate-lock or cultivating natural law to accumulate a fate out of it. But you have to be either a genius like Sage Heartflame or have good fortune, like our Dragon Prince, and search for waterfalls all over the world.

Neither of them was that common, leaving only one choice.

“There’s a kingdom in the west, Keldor,” Gale said after some deliberation. “Have you heard about it?”

“I have lived over a hundred and fifty years. Of course, I have heard about it, boy.”

“Well, my mistake,” Gale smiled. “Anyway, in Keldor, there’s a special division in the king’s army called the Burners. Thousands of practitioners of silver and gold, each with devastating firepower. Do you know how they are formed?”

Grandma Wang didn’t have to ask. Finding her curious, he continued:

“The Royal family of Keldor has the richest source of fire spirit stones, but they don’t use all of it on cultivating practitioners directly, instead they use a large portion of it though some special means and augment them into fire spirit gems. It didn’t end there. Keldor possesses the highest number of artisans too, and they put them to good use, using all those fire spirit gems to create artificial fate-locks, ignition weapons with immense firepower.

“Keldor is the youngest nation, barely having a few hundred years of history, but they know how to transform wealth into strength and they did a great job of it.”

 

Grandma Wang considered his words while Xiaolin looked with uncertainty. She understood very little of the conversation. She had heard of Fate-lock through the various stories of immortal lords and her study, but what Gale mentioned seemed like something else.

True, she would be ecstatic to have a fate-lock, but she knew she didn’t possess the wealth to get one. Besides, she needed to be at copper to fuse with a fate-lock.

"Fate-lock created by men?" She couldn't help but murmur. "How's that possible?"

"All fate locks are created by men," Gale snorted. "The only difference is their level of skill and the materials."

Xiaolin's eyes widened at the implication. But the more she thought about it, the more true it seemed. Most fate locks were in the shape of some weapon or tools, and who else would create such things other than intelligent beings? Well, she was aware some of the ancient ones, like Lord Heartflame's Bow, were God-given.

"Look at this." Gale rolled up his sleeves and showed the spiral mark that seemed to travel somewhere deep. Xiaolin prickled her nose at the boundless deepness. "This too is an artificial one, though the way to recreate it is lost. But this one is not artificial."

Saying that he unbuttoned a couple of buttons on his chest to show a white shield emblem. The surrounding aura made her feel close to that of Vale.

"This one works on intent and faith from what I've been told. There's no hammering or scribbling about it, but there are not many such fate locks left in this world.

“I’m not forcing anything, just putting it out there if there’s no other way.”

After saying that, Gale stood up. It's time for breakfast already. “Hit me when the papers are ready. I need to make a jog to the Artisan guild.”

Only then did the question arrive in her mind. Elder sister Wang Li said, senior is a copper ranker even though he drank a mug of iron drink, but how can he have two fate-locks if he's only copper?

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She wanted to ask Grandma, who knew more about that stuff, but the thoughtful look in her eyes made her reconsider. Also, she already spoke too much about Senior Gale to her, making her have wild ideas. She had enough of the embarrassment already.

“Have you counted the coins?” Grandma Wang asked when Senior Gale’s figure couldn’t be seen anymore.

Xiaolin nodded. “Nine hundred and seventy-two.”

“Seem like your senior really wants to pay full price for the property.”

“Or he didn’t care about marks,” Xiaolin replied. “He just tossed a portion that seemed close to the number.”

“Well, we took care of one thing. What do you want to do with the rest of the land?”

“I hadn’t thought about it.” Xiaolin’s voice grew solemn. “Father only wanted to sell this much because taking care of all of it became tough only with the two of us.”

“Well, you can’t do farming alone, and I won’t let you until the problem is settled. Perhaps you should ask your senior Gale to take a rest for lease.”

Xiaolin was too flustered to answer.

“I’m serious, girl,” Grandma Yushen snorted. “That boy would need a place to stay until he builds one. Besides, it's better to leave the property in use. Talk to him about it, or do I have to do it myself?”

“I’ll talk to senior.” Xiaolin paused. “Grandma, will there be any problem?”

“I hope not,” Wang Yushen said in an aged tone, “but if it arrives, I’ll deal with it. Can you carry the lockbox?”

“I”ll manage,” Xiaolin said, tugging at the metal chest.

“Well, leave it if you can’t. Anyway, you will go see Feng later, yes?” Finding the girl nodding, she continued, “Remember to take medicines from my room.”

“Yes, Grandma.” Xiaolin turned to carry out the chest, even though she wanted to ask about what Grandma thought about the way Senior Gale talked about.

But that look in her face didn’t go unnoticed by Wang Yushen's eyes.

“You wanted to know more about what the boy said?” She put it as a question, but it was really a statement. She continued, not waiting for her to reply. “I don’t know much about it. In my time there wasn’t such a thing, though I did hear before practitioners crippling themselves trying to fuse with fake fate-locks.”

Xiaolin’s face grew curious to serious in a matter of seconds.

“I’ll ask a knowledgeable person about it.”

Xiaolin nodded, tugged the chest and was about to leave when Grandma called her again.

“Linlin, what did you sniff about that beast?”

Xiaolin said the first word that came to her mind. “A majestic tree?” A frown perked on her brows. “I don’t know, but he felt sacred, somehow.”

“And the boy?”

“He smelted like burning and nothing.”

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Done! I'm off to sleep. We'll be farming in about a few chapters. But maybe before that, I would write a short interlude. Let's see.

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