Night of the Broken Gliph

Hung Leung cast his gaze around. His head hurt when it landed on Chui Yim and Kam Chin Kee whispering to each other at the corner.

Hung Ching Sun was absent for Baptism Day; this important event for the city was meaningless to him as the Heavenly Silver Waterfall was the Hung Clan’s backyard where he could enter and exit freely. However, things were different for some of the teenagers present since they did not have a clan behind them and it was a hard-earned chance for them to cultivate at the waterfall.

Adding how Kam Chin Kee sort of embarrassed Hung Ching Sun in front of the entire city, he most probably would not have the face to appear in the public’s eyes within this period of time anyway.

“Today is Baptism Day, and as all of you know, the Heavenly Silver Waterfall is separated into nine levels.

“Your performance yesterday does not signify just your ability but your tolerance level for cultivation at the Heavenly Silver Waterfall. Formed by the essence of an ancient divine beast, the waterfall contains endless might, and slight carelessness might lead to injuries, or even losing all cultivation in the worst-case scenario. Therefore, it is important to be careful.

“The nine layers represent the varying levels of power it harbours; the power is weaker near the peak and becomes stronger as you move toward the bottom. In short, most cultivators below the three-chambered state stay above the seventh level, while only three-chambered cultivators who have extremely strong physical bodies cultivate at the ninth level. Those that are unable to endure end up exploding to death.” Hung Leung turned to Kam Chin Kee.

The teen only replied with a gentle smile.

Even though Hung Leung sounded mean, he was in fact reminding Kam Chin Kee without malicious intentions but in a clumsy manner.

Seeing Kam Chin Kee’s expression, Hung Leung did not say anything more. Great Wisdom City would not stop Kam Chin Kee if he insisted on cultivating at the ninth level since he was eligible.

“Alright, you may follow your waterfall attendant to your respective levels now. Don’t play any tricks as your results during the festival yesterday were recorded. We will kick out anybody immediately if they are discovered sneaking into a level out of bounds to them.” Hearing Hung Leung’s announcement, a few participants’ eyes dimmed. They were obviously thinking of playing tricks previously.

However, the price to pay for sneaking into an upper level was not worth being deprived of cultivating in the forbidden area. Furthermore, Hung Leung reminded not just Kam Chin Kee but everyone of the danger in doing so. It was a fact that many people died by exploding as their body could not endure the power of the Heavenly Silver Waterfall since the ancient past.

With that, no participants had the intention to do so and followed their waterfall attendant to their level.

Chui Yim and Kam Chin Kee were now the odds one out, looking lonely after all other teenagers left in groups. Just then, a man walked towards them. “Good to see you again, teachers.”

“Oh! You’re Wai something something, right?” Chui Yim said.

“Wai Chung Yin.” Kam Chin Kee glared at Chui Yim.

Rather than being angry, Wai Chung Yin was surprised that Kam Chin Kee remembered his name. “It’s my honour that the sixth teacher remembers the name of a nobody like me. It’s something to rejoice about.”

Kam Chin Kee only replied with a smile, while Chui Yim patted his shoulder like they were friends. “Okay, so what’s up?”

“I’m one of the waterfall attendants, and I am here to lead the teachers to your respective levels.” Wai Chung Yin laughed and turned to Kam Chin Kee. “I have always been the attendant for the ninth level, and since sixth teacher is qualified to cultivate at the ninth level, it’s my job to serve the both of you.”

With that, the teens followed him down the mountain.

“So what’s with the waterfall attendant thing?” Chui Yim asked.

“Waterfall attendants’ job is to serve cultivators making use of the waterfall.” Wai Chung Yin smiled. “The attendants are normally from all walks of life. Some are criminals that committed severe crimes in the city, but taking their lives is considered too cruel so they’re sent to work here for the rest of their lives.

“There are also people who felt that they might not be able to break through ever again and wanted to seek a chance at the waterfall. Since attendants are allowed to enter the waterfall as well, they sell themselves into slavery with the hope of breaking through.”

“What about you?” Kam Chin Kee asked suddenly.

“Me?” Wai Chung Yin was taken aback slightly, but he wore a smile on his face within no time. “My clan has been waterfall attendants for the Heavenly Silver Waterfall ever since the founding of Great Wisdom City; in short, the first generation of waterfall attendants.”

The three of them reached the mountain slope as they chatted. Soon, they arrived outside the seventh level.

“Seventh teacher, please make your way in, the baptism room is right in front.” Wai Chung Yin smiled politely.

“Sixth teacher, the ninth level is located at the forbidden area at the bottom of the waterfall, we still have some distance to go.” He then turned to Kam Chin Kee.

“No need for the trouble, I’ll accompany Chui Yim at the seventh level instead.” However, to Wai Chung Yin’s surprise, Kam Chin Kee only answered so with a smile.

Wai Chung Yin did not ask much and led them in. “Alright, please follow me, teachers.”

They made their way into the baptism room, where there were already cultivators inside. Amongst them were some in silver robes, obviously waterfall attendants too, and when they saw Wai Chung Yin, their eyes showed a trace of emotion as they nodded to him to be polite.

The teens walked to a huge, wide stone platform with a few tables and cabinets at the side. The cabinets were protected well by gliph formations, and bottles of pills were placed in the cabinet. There were also towels folded neatly on the table.

“Oh?” Chui Yim knew that the towel was no ordinary tower with just a look.

“Seventh teacher has sharp eyes.” Wai Chung Yin smiled. “This towel is made of longevity vines, a plant found in the woods near the waterfall that has gone through mutation.”

“But longevity vines are just ordinary plants, not even considered to be gliphic plants.” Kam Chin Kee frowned.

Knowing what Kam Chin Kee meant, Wai Chung Yin smiled. “The sixth teacher is right, but if you observe, there are hardly any plants around the waterfall. It’s so powerful that no living thing, even plants, can endure it… except for longevity vines.”

“Great Wisdom City has spent centuries trying to understand the uniqueness of this vine. Unfortunately, the answer still remains unknown, but not only can the longevity vine endure the waterfall, it has even mutated to have resistance. Thus, we make towels out of this plant, which do a perfect job in cleaning the waterfall’s residue from all cultivators. Any ordinary towel or cloth would be ineffective.”

Kam Chin Kee nodded. Life was full of surprises. It was unexpected that an ordinary plant would become the only method of survival around such a dangerous forbidden area.

“Teacher, please consume this medicine first. I understand teachers are incredible cultivators having capability beyond your states, but the waterfall is no ordinary waterfall. Other than benefits, it can have side effects too, which can be countered by this medication.”

Chui Yim took the bottle and sniffed. It was the same as the medication they took yesterday, safe for consumption. “Brother, why is this water so weird that we have to take medicine to counter it?”

Wai Chung Yin laughed. “Nothing crazy. The waterfall was formed from an ancient divine beast’s blood and essence after it passed on, thus it contains minerals that weren’t meant for the human body since human and gliphic beasts aren’t the same. I am sure that, as a glipheon, seventh teacher would have heard about how medicine is three parts poison. This describes the waterfall excellently.”

Chui Yim nodded as he understood the theory.

There was no free lunch in the world, and even gliph pills used to help with cultivation came with side effects too. Since all medicines came with harmful effects, the pills increased cultivators' speed but limited their future at the same time. All cultivators that depended on pills would end up in a mediocre state, and there were no cultivators that reached the four-chambered or hundred-gliphic state by consuming pills to cultivate like they were water.

The side effects might not be seen immediately, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t present; they just hid in the body like a time bomb. Cultivators might not be able to reach a higher state, and the worst scenario would be that the side effects all exploded at the same time, turning the cultivator into a piece of trash.

Chui Yim agreed with Wai Chung Yin’s words, as Fury, which was tattooed on his right arm chamber, was the best example. It was not just the key that controlled his emotion, but the divine sacred flame of an elite monk from a millennium-old Buddhist sect that contained the only complete legacy of Buddhism today! However, when he was in the ruins of the Thousand-Leaves Sect, he almost lost his life when fighting Netherspectre.

Back to the saying: there was no free lunch in the world, and there were no secret powerful styles to be picked up anywhere on the streets. Danger and fortune went hand in hand.

Without hesitation, the teens took the medication and placed their hands together, turning to Wai Chung Yin. “Thanks, Brother.”

“Seventh teacher is the best amongst all, and I’ve heard about how powerful Cloud Palace is. Maybe I will challenge seventh teacher to a battle of medicine when you’re done with cultivating at the waterfall.”

“Alright! But I have not touched medicine for a long time, and I might get swallowed by my seniors alive if I lose!” Chui Yim laughed heartily.

“Seventh teacher is good at jokes.” Wai Chung Yin wore a gentle smile. With that, he looked to the sky and bid them goodbye.

“It’s getting late, I wish teachers all the best and that they will come back with huge improvements.”

“Hahaha, I count on your auspicious words!”

Kam Chin Kee, on the other hand, was less lowkey and only responded to Wai Chung Yin with a smile. The teens seemed to have a good impression of Wai Chung Yin.

As soon as the teens disappeared from sight, Wai Chung Yin’s face turned emotionless immediately as if he was in deep thought.