Chapter 8

Jiang Le stared at the Celestial Mirror Pool and began to count the stars. The stars were not always in the same position but were constantly moving, making it difficult for him to remember.

He thought, “If I try to remember all 1080 stars, it will be difficult to remember their exact positions. But if I try to remember one star and its position, it is not difficult because it may be moving but it always returns to the same position after a while. After I remember one star position then I will move on to the next.”

He took a glance at the four maidens but they were had their eyes closed and he could not even hear their breathing sounds. Their mastery of the breathing techniques was astonis.h.i.+ng on the master level!

He returned to the Celestial Mirror Pool and began to follow his plan. But after a while, he was sighing miserable. “By the time I am watching the hundredth star; I have already forgotten the pattern of the previous stars except those at the start. This is really a test of my mental endurance and focus. The more I rush myself to remember, the faster I will forget. To remember these stars, just memory alone is not enough. I ought to relax my mind first and retry again.”

Others would try until they were exhausted mentally. But Jiang Le was different. He always had his own bright way of approaching problems from another angle and he was not one to give up easily. He had always been patience because he knew that a wandering pugilist like him that had no influential background would find it hard to survive in the intrigues of the martial fraternity.

So he started by counting the stars as he thought, “Is that really 1080 stars? It will be hard to count since the stars are not stationery but let see how it goes from here.”

By the time he had counted the three hundredth stars, he was thinking. “Why is that the more I have counted, I have found these stars patterns to be so vaguely familiar?”

When he had finished counting all 1080 stars, he was smiling because he did not even miss a single star even though his eyes were burdened with fatigue from seeing too many stars!

He was also nervous at the same time as he stared at the Celestial Mirror Pool, thinking. “If these stars are the constellations of the heavens then there must a pattern. Why is that I feel that these stars so closely resemble the intricate formula of the swordplay…”

All of a sudden he jumped up as he stood and stared at the Celestial Mirror Pool as the images of all the patterns of the stars flashed into his mind!

He muttered almost incoherent, “I can remember!”

He turned around and said, “Can I go to the Celestial Revealing Pool now?”

The Verdant Scarlet Fairy was the first to open her eyes and speak, “It is barely even half a day and you are giving up so soon?”

Jiang Le smiled weakly as he took a quick glance at Yue Ling. Even though she appeared to be composed but from her solemn expression eyes, she seemed to be expressing her disappointment at him.

Yue Ling nodded lightly and said softly, “Do you need more time? You have only this one chance.”

Jiang Le smiled even more weakly as he firmly said, “No need my protégé teacher. I am done.”

Even Xia Ji and Xue Ji were looking at him with a disappointing look but he was firm so he walked to the Celestial Revealing Pool on his own.

Yue Ling said with a soft sigh as she walked next to him, “Since you have decided then so be it. I hope that you know what you are doing. This concerns your divine fate and this testing is the basis of your confidence level in your future trials.”

Jiang Le nodded weakly as the Verdant Scarlet Fairy, Qingshuang, Xue Ji and Xia Ji had also gathered near him.

Yue Ling said gently, “Now put your hands into the pool and the reflections of your memories will surface.”

Jiang Le looked at the dark pool and thought, “Isn’t it too surreal to be true? Can this pool really reveal the number of stars that I have remembered? Never mind that first, let’s try.”

As he was about to put forth his hands, he was thinking with fond memories. “I have remembered seeing my protégé teacher lying naked in the pool. What a good sight…”

As his hands were in the pool, the black reflection of the black pool disappeared and a reflection of his naked protégé teacher was lying on a pool of water. And in the scene, he was caressing her bosom…

Jiang Le was so startled that he quickly pulled his hands out of the pool and he was flus.h.i.+ng so red that he was speechless!

Yue Ling’s ears were completed red as she said coldly, “So is that what you are thinking when you are supposed to be meditating on your divine test?”

The Verdant Scarlet Fairy, Xue Ji and Xia Ji were all averting their eyes and their ears were all red as well.

Xue Ji was muttering incoherently, “I didn’t see anything…”

The Verdant Scarlet Fairy had lost her usual cool composure and was saying weakly, “He, he…he is really a lecher!…”

As for Xia Ji, her flushes were redder than the others and she was speechless!

Jiang Le was stammering, “No, let me…explain…I was checking for heartbeat…that isn’t what you are all thinking…”

He panicky thought, “It is over. Jiang Le, Jiang Le! What are you thinking? Curse you! You can’t explain yourself anymore…”

Yue Ling seemed to have tears in her eyes as she said coldly, “I am so disappointed in you!…”

At the same time Jiang Le had put his hand into the black pool again. He did not know how to explain himself out of this awkward situation!

Instantly the reflection of the black pool turned into the starry heavens and mirrored exactly the same as the Celestial Mirror Pool.

Yue Ling, the Verdant Scarlet Fairy Qingshuang, Xue Ji and Xia Ji were all stunned for it mirrored exactly all the 1080 stars and even their swirling positions without missing a single movement!

They were all looking at Jiang Le with unbelievable eyes.

Xia Ji who had flushed the most was the first to ask, “How did you do it? This is impossible! No one is able to do it except a Celestial!”

Even Yue Ling was looking at Jiang Le in astonishment, “You can really remember the positions of the stars? How did you do it?”

How did Jiang Le accomplish this was the question that was in everyone’s mind!

Jiang Le was glad that he now got everyone distracted from what was happening earlier. He quickly said, “I have seen the positions of these celestial stars before. I can only remember a third of it in the past but now everything starts to come back to me.”

Yue Ling asked with a startled surprise, “Where have you seen it?”

Jiang Le was trying to contain his excitement, “In the secret chamber where I told you about…when I was just a kid…”

Even the Verdant Scarlet Fairy Qingshuang could not contain her excitement, “What secret chamber?”

Xue Ji shook her head as she kept muttering, “It is impossible. Impossible, impossible, even for a celestial pract.i.tioner to remember all the positions of the stars…”

Xia Ji was staring blankly at Jiang Le, not knowing what to say and she was blinking her eyes nonstop.

Jiang Le laughed softly, “What is wrong with everyone? Why are you all looking at me like this?”

Yue Ling looked at Jiang Le intently, “If you have known what you have done, you will be stunned as well. Do you know that hundreds of thousands of celestial initiates and pract.i.tioners alike have spent all their lives trying to unravel the mysteries of the celestial stars and yet it elude them. Every hundredth star contains a hidden star formation that will s.h.i.+ft its position from the last point while the last eighty stars each contain an intricate star celestial formation each and it can contain 6400 changes.”

Jiang Le smiled weakly, “Lucky you did not tell me earlier or I would really be freaked out.”

The Verdant Scarlet Fairy Qingshuang was trembling, “He is really a genius. No, not even a genius can visualize the entire map of the celestial stars. He is not mortal…”

Yue Ling said quietly, “You are the first person to ever remember the entire celestial star map. Your future may be boundless. How did you do that?”

Jiang Le heaved a soft sigh, “I don’t know. I just remember. When I was just a kid, I was drawn to a levitating sword in a secret chamber. There are many stars within the sword and I was mesmerized by it. However I have long forgotten about it until I see the same celestial stars pattern again.”

Yue Ling asked, “Where is that sword now?”

Jiang Le shook his head, “I don’t know. I told you I was orphan after that tragedy.”

Yue Ling said solemnly, “That heavenly relic may not be an ordinary divine sword. It may even be a celestial sword or an immortal sword. We must find it.”

Jiang Le asked, “Find it?”

Yue Ling nodded and said quietly, “No matter what the cost is, we have to find it before the other celestial pract.i.tioners. If it is already in their hands then we must seize it.”