Chapter 2: The Youth Ding Hao
"Enter stillness!"
Ding Hao felt a surge of wild joy in his heart, and he opened his mouth and spat out a black stone.
This thing was the very culprit behind his transmigration, said to be a relic of the old devil Ding Chunqiu. This stone had one greatest function: helping a person enter stillness. When cultivating the Star Absorbing Art back on Earth, one also needed to enter stillness, and every time, Ding Hao would place it under his tongue and quickly enter a state of stillness.
"Good! This stone came along with me—heaven is truly aiding me!"
There was no time to lose. Without further delay, Ding Hao immediately returned to the bodhi mat beside his bed, sat down cross-legged, and held the black stone in his mouth.
"Facing wine, one should sing—how long is life? Let the mind be still and clear, untouched by a speck of dust."
Every time he held this stone in his mouth, he would hear these words. Afterward, Ding Hao would immediately enter a state of empty, Zen-like stillness, and before him would stretch a hazy, undifferentiated void...
But right at that moment, a bang came from outside. Seeing that this sound had not woken Ding Hao, a copper basin then crashed to the ground with a tremendous clang. That was still not enough—Ding Hao felt his body take a violent shove, and he was instantly pulled out of his state of stillness.
Being startled awake from stillness was extremely uncomfortable, and Ding Hao's face turned pale.
"These people are truly detestable! No wonder the original Ding Hao never managed to awaken—this was all your doing!"
It turned out that the wicked servant Ding Lao Si, in order to prevent Ding Hao from entering stillness and awakening, had instructed the household servants that whenever anyone saw Ding Hao sitting in meditation, they would immediately begin banging on tables and stools with a great clatter. If that failed to wake him, they would beat a copper basin directly, and there were even maids who would come in with brooms and such, using cleaning as a pretext to shove into Ding Hao hard.
"Truly hateful—servants rising above their masters! With this, how can I ever enter stillness?" Ding Hao seethed with rage in his heart.
These wicked servants had gone too far. He had barely entered stillness before being roused—how could he awaken this way? The previous Ding Hao had been too meek; whenever he met with such treatment, he simply endured it, which made these villains more and more brazen!
"Hmph, you cunning, wicked servants—I have my own ways of dealing with you!" Ding Hao said through gritted teeth.
Ding Hao was no honest, easily bullied saint. The descendants of the Ding family had all inherited the shameless, despicable character of the old devil Ding Chunqiu, and their reputation was terrible! That was why Ding Hao's father had named him "Ding Hao," meaning "righteousness vast and grand, surging like mighty waters!"
Unfortunately, as for Ding Hao's character... heh.
Since these wicked servants would not let him enter stillness, he simply left his little room.
The Ding family was of middling standing, with five courtyards front to back, though they had fallen on hard times over the years. Still, a broken ship carries a few nails—the household still had some servants and gardeners.
A gardener stood beside a tree, pressing his hand against the trunk. Using an immortal root technique, he could communicate with the tree, making it grow in the direction he desired and bear fruit. In the garden, several maids were planting flowers. With a wave of their hands, they wielded their immortal root techniques, and in a small patch before them, all the flowers completed their processes of pest removal and fertilization. Then a maid with a water immortal root raised her hand and summoned clouds and rain, watering the flowers.
"What a marvelous world," Ding Hao marveled inwardly.
In his previous life on Earth, great efforts had been made to promote agricultural modernization and industrial-scale production, but in this world, with just a few minor immortal root techniques, one person could easily cultivate dozens or even a hundred acres.
"This is what true high technology is," Ding Hao nodded. "In this world, mortals who haven't awakened an immortal root really don't even have the ability to farm or work as laborers!"
He walked along the corridor into the main hall, where there stood a wooden statue—the very likeness of his great-grandfather, Ding Yibai.
The rules of the Nine Provinces world stated that if a family had an ancestor who became a powerful figure in the Immortal Refinement Great World, a statue could be erected in their home in the Nine Pro Lesser World. The more statues, the greater the family's power; the higher the ancestor's cultivation, the finer the material the statue could be made from!
Ding Yibai was a Pseudo Core-level true cultivator in the Immortal Refinement Great World, so a wooden statue was barely permissible. Someone of mere Foundation Establishment cultivation could only have a clay statue; at Qi Refining cultivation, only a spirit tablet would do!
The higher the honor, the nobler the statue—if a family had a silver, gold, or jade statue standing in their main hall, even the Three Sovereigns and Nine Lords of the Nine Provinces Lesser World would have to kneel and bow before it!
Never underestimate these statues—they truly could manifest their spirit!
When a great event befell the family, or incense was burned in prayer, or calamity struck the household, the ancestral statue would manifest its spirit to protect the family's safety.
Unfortunately, for reasons unknown—perhaps something had happened to the Ding family's old ancestor in the Immortal Refinement Great World—he had not manifested for a very long time! Even when Ding Hao's own father died, the statue showed no sign! Thus some speculated that the Ding family ancestor had likely met with misfortune in the Immortal Refinement Great World.
Such things were common in this world: shared glory, shared ruin. If the ancestor lived, everyone prospered; if the ancestor perished, the entire family in the lower world was finished.
Ding Hao picked up the offering incense from the table, lit it, and bowed twice before the two-zhang-tall wooden statue before him, thinking to himself: Forebear, please don't blame me. Although my soul is not your great-grandson, this body still is. Forebear, please bless me to awaken soon...
At that very moment, a yellow dog came running into the hall from outside.
"Woof woof woof!" The yellow dog barked loudly and lunged at Ding Hao.
"Damn it!" Ding Hao thought—here he was burning incense to his ancestor, and instead of the ancestor manifesting, he had attracted a dog.
As he dodged the dog, he looked up and caught a glimpse of a ten-year-old boy outside. From the back, Ding Hao recognized him as Ding Juncai, the second son of the wicked servant Ding Lao Si!
"Da Huang, bite him to death and come out for a bone!" Ding Juncai shouted brazenly from outside, though he did not come in.
"Biting me isn't enough—you have to bite me to death?" Ding Hao seethed inwardly. "Only a mere ten years old—how can he be so vicious?"
Ding Hao had a real knack for dealing with dogs. He opened his mouth and spat out the black stone, then approached the yellow dog with it.
"Facing wine, one should sing—how long is life? Let the mind be still and clear, untouched by a speck of dust."
A human voice that only Da Huang could hear sounded from the black stone, and then this fierce yellow dog actually plopped down on the ground, eyes glazed—it too had entered stillness.
"Even a dog can enter stillness—this stone is truly formidable." Ding Hao patted the dog's head a couple of times before retrieving the stone and putting it back in his mouth.
This stone had been with Ding Hao for too long; when it took effect was entirely at his whim.
After its brief stillness, Da Huang looked a bit dazed. It glanced at Ding Hao, then turned and ran off.
Ding Hao did not linger in the hall. He gathered some incense ash and other items in his clothing and walked out. Once outside, he saw Ding Juncai standing with Da Huang under a tree, a bone of Bristle Beast meat in his hand.
The Bristle Beast was a low-grade spirit beast of the Nine Provinces world. Its meat was tender and delicious, and eating more of it benefited those who had not yet awakened an immortal root.
Ding Hao thought to himself—this Ding Lao Si was truly a vicious, wicked servant! He kept claiming he had no money, yet had spent ten taels of silver buying a book for himself. But where did the money come from, when his whole family lived and ate in the Ding household? Ding Lao Si's second son's dog was already eating Bristle Beast meat, while he, Ding Hao, a young master of the Ding family, had to this day never tasted what Bristle Beast meat was like!
"Da Huang, go bite that worthless thing to death!" Ding Juncai barked sharply.
People of the Nine Provinces world matured early, and ten-year-old Ding Juncai understood clearly: for his family to become masters of the Ding household, this worthless thing had to die.
Unfortunately, this time Da Huang did not obey his command.
"Da Huang, bite him! I'll give you a bone!" Ding Juncai shouted again.
Da Huang still did not move, and finally simply buckled at the hind legs and lay down right where it was.
"Da Huang, go bite him! Go on!"
Looking at the urging Ding Juncai, Ding Hao gave a cold snort. "Your Ding Lao Si family has done every evil imaginable—so depraved that even the dog won't help you. Just wait for your retribution!"
With that, he turned and walked back toward his quarters.
Back at his quarters, Ding Hao arranged everything, then sat down cross-legged, pretending to meditate.
Before long, clattering noises arose outside. In truth, these sounds had no effect on Ding Hao—the black stone's state of stillness was so powerful that even thunder outside wouldn't matter. The only thing Ding Hao feared was the maids deliberately charging in to ram into him.
Sure enough, seeing Ding Hao sitting there motionless, a maid in a red skirt came in carrying a broom. But just as she was about to push open the half-closed door, there was a whoosh from above—a great pile of incense ash came pouring down, covering the maid's head and face!
"What's going on!" The maid's eyes snapped open, and she saw that Ding Hao had already opened his eyes and was sneering at her.
"You wretch—how dare you toy with me?" Covered head to toe in incense ash, the maid's face darkened with rage. What frustrated her most was how difficult the ash was to brush off.
"Toy with you?" Ding Hao stood up and said coldly. "You, a mere maid, enter your master's room as if it were your own, without even knocking. Let me ask you—do you even know the rules? What kind of maid are you? Tell me, are you the master, or am I?"
The maid sized Ding Hao up with contempt in her eyes. "Master? What a joke. Fifteen and still not awakened—what right do you have to be master? Even I awakened at thirteen! You were simply born in a good spot!"
"What does it matter to you whether I've awakened or not? Don't forget that you eat the Ding family's food and wear the Ding family's clothes! If not for the immortal seed title earned by my Ding family ancestors, where would the monthly stipend of fifty taels come from? Without that stipend, where would your food, drink, and provisions come from? You enjoy the blessings of my Ding family in everything you eat and wear, yet you do everything with utter ruthlessness—preventing me from visualization, preventing me from entering stillness, scheming to steal my immortal seed status!"
As Ding Hao spoke, he drew closer and closer until he was right before her, pointing his finger at the maid, enunciating every word: "I am warning you all one last time! I, Ding Hao, am not to be trifled with. First time is incense ash—second time will be blades and swords!"
"Who are you trying to scare?" Though the maid still talked tough, she was in the wrong after all, and she turned and left.