If Chen Changsheng had begun to draw starlight into his body on the night he lit up his Fated Star, thus beginning the first step of Purification, the young girl in the Hundred Herb Garden next door might have been able to use her gift to follow that unbroken sensation and discover his existence. If the syrupy sweat that had flowed from his body to the floor had not strangely melted away in the wind and seeped into the floorboards, perhaps she also would have been able to find him.
The problem was that Chen Changsheng once more displayed his difference in temperament, or perhaps way of thinking, when compared to the ordinary person. Without hesitation, he resisted the temptation of beginning Purification and returned straight to the house to bathe and sleep. As for the sweat, not even a single syrupy drop could be seen on the floorboards.
On the next day, Chen Changsheng carefully read over On Purification again, especially the parts on drawing starlight into the body for Purification. He made even more notes and, upon confirming that he had a firm grasp over its contents, he went out to the lakeshore and took a nap. Only when the setting sun had sunk below the city walls and night was on the verge of falling, and he had confirmed that his body and mind were all in excellent condition, did he finally push open the door to the library and formally begin Purification.
His spiritual sense was emitted into the air, but it did not pass through the roof of the library and into the night sky, yet he knew that there was already a mysterious connection between him and the small red star far in the distance. This was not a very vivid feeling. To be more accurate, this connection between him and that star was not perceived in any way by either his body or his spiritual world. But he was incredibly certain that the star was there and that no one could snatch it away.
Just as that Pope from so many years ago had said, that line really did exist.
Chen Changsheng closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and opened his soul. Based on the methods described in On Purification, he entered the state of complete forgetfulness, the realm of absolute relaxation, quietly waiting for the essence condensed from starlight to come down that line and enter his body.
Time gradually passed. The night wind was sometimes warm and gentle, other times hard.
The forest outside the library was peaceful. Yesterday, the laborers of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education had pruned this part of the forest, cutting off many extraneous branches. The bare stumps of the branches were exposed to the air, exuding the aroma unique to trees that was sent off by the wind to distant places.
The aroma exuded by those branch stumps was so strong because a gelatinous and near-transparent substance was seeping out from those places. This was sap. The Orthodox Academy contained a variety of trees, naturally including fruit trees, so this aroma was quite fragrant.
There was one extremely thick scholar tree that had all its branches near the ground cut off. One of these cuts was extremely similar to a scar and a thick layer of resin had already formed over it. Upon being blown by the wind, this resin began to slowly flow down the tree trunk. If one of those people that delighted in slaughter were to see this sight, they would think that this scholar tree's arm had been chopped off and that it was now bleeding. However, under the silver radiance of the stars, the sap flowing down the tree was more like a sweet, sweet syrup.
After a very long time, the honey-like sap finally reached the ground and dripped upon a clump of green grass. It was not able to luckily, or perhaps cruelly, trap an insect in the beginning stages of amber, so it could only ultimately become food for those insects.
In the library, a similar scene played out.
The radiance emitted by countless stars fell upon that invisible, imperceptible line and condensed into dense essence. Then, this essence began to slowly trickle towards the ground. After traveling some distance, the essence ignored the roof of the library and finally fell upon Chen Changsheng's body.
The radiance of the stars was soft and moist, and the skin of Chen Changsheng's face seemed to be transformed into white jade. Yet in the next moment, that radiance acted like sand or wind falling through the fingers, seeping into his skin and vanishing from sight. His face remained as it was before, as if nothing had changed.
Much more radiance fell on his body. This radiance seemed able to disregard any obstacle, easily passing through his clothes and resting on his skin. Yet it did not stop there, seeping deeper into his body to some unknown place.
Chen Changsheng's eyes were closed. He did not see these sights nor did he know what happened.
Only when the early morning light fell upon the capital and the roosters began to crow did he finally wake.
He was somewhat excited, an excitement that he had rarely felt in his fourteen years of life. This was because if he succeeded in Purification, then he would be stepping onto the path of cultivation. Whether or not he obtained first rank of the first banner in the Grand Examination, he was about to obtain some right to speak about his own fate.
This sort of emotion is not good for my body, he silently said to himself. He used his will which was completely at odds with his age to calm down in an extremely short amount of time. He then gazed at his hands and his expression flickered, his eyes brimming with disappointment and confusion.
His hands had not changed in the slightest—they were just as clean as they were last night.
He took a small, round mirror from his bosom and gazed at his face in its reflection. After a moment of silence, he placed down the mirror and pulled up his collar to examine his body. He discovered that nothing had changed—he was just as clean as he had been over the past few years.
A successful Purification should not be like this.
Based on the descriptions in On Purification, humans, by existing in this world, by eating, drinking, and breathing, whenever they took in nutrients, simultaneously took the filthy Qi of this world into their bodies. Thus, the radiance of the stars needed to be drawn into the body so that the purest and gentlest energy of the stars could be used to completely expel this filth from the body.
Based on the descriptions from his predecessors, after a successful Purification, the human body would expel massive amounts of rancid sweat and one even might get a severe case of diarrhea. Only in this manner could it be proved that the filthy Qi had been completely excreted by the body.
However, Chen Changsheng's body had not undergone a single change.
He was slightly obsessed with cleanliness and loved being clean, but now he had an incomparable desire to see black beads of filthy sweat appearing on his body, because this matter had nothing to do with cleanliness. No matter how he thought, he felt that he should not be like this.
Chen Changsheng silently gazed out the window at the rising sun for a very long time.
Suddenly, he placed the back of his hand on the floor and forcefully rubbed it against the ground. Only after he distinctly felt pain did he raise his hand and glance at it. The back of his hand was a mass of reddened flesh, with tinges of blood faintly visible. As a result, he knew that he had not succeeded in Purification.
When starlight descended, the first thing it touched was the skin, so in the very beginning phases of Purification, the skin would be strengthened first.
His skin was not any different from last night.
Chen Changsheng fell silent in thought. He had originally believed that the problem of his severed meridians would only result in the gradual loss of his soul, making it harder in the future for him to convert star radiance into true essence for preservation in the body. However, he believed that he would at least be able to complete the step of Purification. He didn't expect that even this was no good.
As the morning light gradually brightened, he stood up and walked out of the library. Because he had sat cross-legged for the entire night, his body was somewhat sore. He walked rather slowly, so from the back, he looked just like a child in the initial stages of recovery from some major illness.
As he returned to his house and gaze at the steaming basin of water on the stove, he felt somewhat sad. Based on the records in On Purification, he believed that upon his return, he would inevitably be covered in filth, so he had prepared hot water in advance. Unimaginably, he had not even sweat a single drop.
He thought and thought, ultimately deciding to still take a bath.
It wasn't because he had sat on the floor for the entire night, nor was it because the academy was still a little dusty.
His body had problems, which made him deeply dislike his own body. He always felt that his body was somewhat filthy.
His diligent washing of his face, his love of feeling clean, and his light obsession with cleanliness all stemmed from this.
He poured the hot water into a large basin in the corner and got in. He covered his face with a wet towel and leaned his two arms against the edge of the basin, seeming quite exhausted.
From behind the wet towel would occasionally arise an almost imperceptible sigh.
At this time.
From the other side of the wall, a sigh could also faintly be heard.
Chen Changsheng thought, it turns out that sad people can be found everywhere.
...
...
No one knew that Chen Changsheng was attempting Purification. Even those who had seen him light up his Fated Star did not know. Compared to fixing one's Fated Star, Purification was an even more commonplace affair. No matter if one was in Purification or a grand expert of Star Condensation, as long as one was cultivating, one would have to perform this task night after night. Moreover, those people with the ability to see the sight of the Fated Star being lit up were also powerless to see that line and were naturally even less aware of who was holding the other end.
The self-strengthening of humans had no upper bound.
Purification had never been a one-day affair.
At night, Chen Changsheng once more entered the library, sat himself on the floor, and continued to try.
For a fourteen-year-old youth to stir himself from a sense of defeat, he had used a rather too small amount of time. For this, he had to thank those matters he had once experienced and he was soon about to experience. Of course, it was probably more correct that he loathed those matters.
He had no time for dismay. He could incessantly try and persevere.
Succeed, or die for a righteous cause. These words were most fitting to describe him.
As he meditated, countless thick yet invisible star essences trickled down that invisible line of fate from the lofty night sky. Once more, they fell upon his body and lingered around him like the spring wind.
Like last night, this star radiance noiselessly seeped into his body and could be seen no more.
This process persisted for a very long time, all the way until the sky brightened and he woke up.
He carefully examined his hands but saw no change. He used his hands to rub his forehead, but found not a single drop of sweat. The old clothes on his body were still clean and dry. The morning wind coming in through the window could lightly sway his two sleeves.
He did not understand. Even if his meridians were severed, his skin and hair had received the radiance of the stars and should have changed.
Just where had the star radiance gone?
He believed that all the starlight had flowed into the air and disappeared.
He had no idea that when he closed his eyes in meditation, the star radiance was passing through his black hair and hands, passing through his old clothes and the dagger at his waist, and noiselessly entering his body. Not a single drop was lost.
Just like snowflakes passing through the wind and trees to fall upon the ground.
Not a single leaf was able to hold a single flake of snow. This was an unimaginable occurrence.
But it had really happened.
At present, this forest was still lush and verdant without a hint of white.
But in reality?
On the ground under the forest, the mantle of snow was gradually thickening.
This was an accumulation (厚积).
There would come a day when it would abruptly rise (薄发).
Or perhaps, explode.
(TN: 厚积薄发 is a Chinese idiom that means 'to rise abruptly based on accumulation of strength'.)