The Mending Studio - Chapter 6

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 6
Hei Huang studied the woman’s state, then his gaze shifted to the Go board scattered with hundreds of stones. In that instant, his eyes sharpened.
The situation appeared entirely different to Hei Huang.
The mysterious woman’s Divine Soul was being drawn deeper and deeper into the board itself. The position laid out by its master was tangled with countless Great Daos and currents of power—no Foundation Building Stage human could gaze upon it for long without preparation, much less emerge unharmed.
Even a master of Tribulation Transcendence or Hollow Void stage would find it reckless to face such a board. Yet the woman before him was thrusting her Divine Soul into it blindly, understanding nothing of what lay within.

‘If this continues, her soul will shatter.’

He let out a low growl.

“Grrrrowl.”

The woman did not hear it.
Hei Huang, at last, drew upon a Secret Technique buried in his inherited memories.

“Bark!”

The sharp bark rang through the courtyard—and the woman’s body convulsed violently.

“Gasp!”

Like someone wrenched from beneath the water’s surface, she drew in a ragged, desperate breath. Focus returned to her dimmed eyes, and her back and forehead were suddenly drenched in cold sweat.
The back of her garments clung wetly to her skin.

‘Just now……’

She could not bring herself to even glance at the Go board again.
Her consciousness had been dragged into a strange realm split in black and white—black clouds hung endless above white earth, and from within came an inexplicable resonance of the Great Dao that defied description.
What would have happened if she had remained trapped a moment longer?
She did not wish to confirm the answer.

‘My soul nearly shattered.’

Only belatedly did the woman trace the source of the sound that had pulled her free.
A black dog. A single black dog.
Until moments before, she had dismissed Hei Huang as nothing more than a beast of impressive size—yet now he regarded her with an ordinary gaze.
But she could no longer accept that appearance at face value.
The power that had jolted her Divine Soul and torn her from the board’s grip was no ordinary beast’s doing.
Slowly, her gaze drifted toward Ye Changqing.
His young face betrayed not the slightest hint of cultivation’s weight. And yet a single Go board he had laid down so casually had nearly cost her everything.
Even the black dog curled beside him—the one whose roar had awakened her spirit—was some immense, mysterious demon beast hidden beneath that form.
In that moment, words her family’s elders had once spoken returned to her.
There are strong masters who rule through the display of power, they had said, and there are beings who walk the mundane world indistinguishable from ordinary mortals, their might completely concealed.
When the former grow angry, corpses pile like mountains and blood flows like rivers—terrible beyond measure. But what is more terrifying still is the latter, who do not readily reveal even joy or sorrow.
Those who have reached such heights can alter their very appearance by will alone. One should never judge age by a youthful face.
Her spine went rigid with dread.

‘Could it be……’

If this young man before her truly belonged to that category, then all the strange occurrences until now would fall into place.
A single Go board harbored countless intertwining Great Daos. The black dog at his side concealed the power to awaken her Divine Soul with a single sound.
And yet from Ye Changqing himself—the true master of all this—emanated not the faintest trace of power.
As the morning’s incident returned to her mind, color drained from her face.
She had driven such a man from her room. She had called for others and commanded them to take his head. That she yet lived at all was perhaps not because he was weak, but because a being of his caliber had not deigned even to grow angry at a creature so far beneath him.
Ye Changqing lifted his head.

“Do you know how to play Go?”

The woman flinched.
Before she could gather her thoughts, the words already spilled from her lips.

“Yes.”

Then she shook her head at once.

“No, actually—I apologize.”

Ye Changqing’s eyebrows rose slightly.

‘What’s this?’

The woman broke into a cold sweat internally.
She couldn’t claim to understand when the board before her eyes terrified her so.
It felt foolish to display her Go skill in front of such a being.
Hei Huang, watching her, felt satisfied in secret.

‘She has good instincts.’

Ye Changqing reached an entirely different conclusion.

‘She can play, but she lacks confidence.’

Ye Changqing had loved Go since his previous life. He’d won the national youth championship around age ten, and after arriving in Xiaozhi Town, he’d unfurled a board almost daily.
Since he couldn’t cultivate, time was abundant; over five years of studying moves alone, he was confident his Go had improved beyond what it once was.
From Ye Changqing’s perspective, the woman who’d been staring intensely at the Go board from the start didn’t seem entirely ignorant of the game. Rather, she seemed to understand how to read the moves, but was unnecessarily burdened by the thought of placing stones directly against him.

‘Maybe she’s just nervous.’

Ye Changqing smiled and changed the subject.

“At least you could tell me your name, couldn’t you?”

The woman straightened her posture.

“I am Yan Bingxin.”

After a brief hesitation, she added where she was from.

“I come from the Imperial Capital in the Dayan Kingdom.”
“The Imperial Capital?”

Curiosity flickered across Ye Changqing’s eyes.
There was an air of noble upbringing about her—she appeared to come from a grand family indeed.
By contrast, Ye Changqing had spent the five years since coming to this world almost never leaving Xiaozhi Town.
Beyond Xiaozhi Town was danger, and he couldn’t even cultivate.
There was no reason to risk his life on travels, so he’d only heard tales of what the Imperial Capital was like. Now someone from outside was right before him.
He had many questions.
Yet if he pestered her openly, he’d seem like a provincial bumpkin.
Ye Changqing picked up a Go stone.

“Then sit, please.”

Yan Bingxin’s eyes widened.

“I beg your pardon?”
“Let’s play a game of Go while we talk.”

Yan Bingxin’s heart raced violently.
This was not an invitation—it was a fateful encounter.
Just from watching the board moments ago, she had glimpsed a fragment of the Great Dao.
Such a being had just offered to play Go with her directly.

“Thank you,” Yan Bingxin said.

Yan Bingxin settled carefully into the seat across from him.
Ye Changqing found the form of address slightly odd, but he didn’t bother to correct her.
Click.
A black stone was placed on the board.
Yan Bingxin steadied her breath, then carefully picked up a white stone.
Tension still lingered in her fingertips. But she couldn’t afford to let such an opportunity slip away.
Click.
The moment the white stone settled, her vision inverted once more.
The courtyard of reality vanished, replaced by a vast cosmos split into two lights—black and white. Beneath her feet spread white earth like snow; above her head hung dark clouds without end.
Soon the white earth and black clouds pressed against each other, spiraling. The two forces intertwined like a great yin-yang symbol, forming a single circle, and as they moved, the whole world resonated with the distant, boundless cry of the Great Dao.
A deep, resonant hum filled everything.
Yan Bingxin’s Divine Soul trembled.
Opposing forces collided yet never fully severed. When one receded, the other surged forward; as that power turned back, an endless cycle formed.
She felt as though she could reach out and grasp something just within her comprehension, but the moment she tried to seize that principle, a pain like skull-splitting agony washed over her. It was a vastness that no cultivation method she had ever studied could explain.
Meanwhile, in reality, Ye Changqing placed his second stone, oblivious.

“What does your family do in the Imperial Capital?”

There was no reply.
The third stone.

“How far is it from Xiaozhi Town to the Imperial Capital?”

Still no answer.
The fourth stone.

“Did you encounter any dangers on the way here?”

Yan Bingxin didn’t even blink.
Ye Changqing furrowed his brow.

“Are there any young nobles in the Imperial Capital particularly fond of calligraphy and painting?”

No response.
Ye Changqing looked down at the fifth black stone in his hand, then finally placed it back in the stone container.
Yan Bingxin’s face had gone deathly pale again, cold sweat beading on her forehead, her brows twisted in anguish. After just four moves, she looked exactly as she had when staring at the Go board alone.
Only then did Ye Changqing realize his mistake.

‘It wasn’t modesty at all.’

He’d assumed that because she’d nodded about playing Go, she understood it to some degree. But to see her face drain of color and her body stiffen after only four moves suggested she’d never truly learned it properly.
Ye Changqing recalled the time he’d taught Go to the scholar’s children. Strangely, even the brightest of them couldn’t grasp the feel of it no matter how much he taught, which made him wonder if this world simply wasn’t familiar with Go itself.
He’d expected Yan Bingxin, having come from the Imperial Capital, might be different. But her reaction before the Go board was no different from the scholar’s children.

“It seems the people of this world really don’t mesh with Go at all…….”

For someone who had loved Go enough to win the national youth championship around age ten, it was a melancholy realization.
His desire wasn’t grand. He simply wanted an occasional opponent to sit across from and exchange moves with properly.
Ye Changqing looked back and forth between the board and Yan Bingxin, then exhaled a long sigh.
The Cultivation World was something he couldn’t comprehend, and Go was something they couldn’t comprehend.

“Is Go really that difficult?”

He shook his head lightly and rose from his seat.
* * *
Ding―.
Dong—.
Dong—.
A long, clear bell tone echoed slowly from deep within the mist-shrouded mountain ranges.
Each resonance bounced off peaks and valleys countless times, leaving reverberations that lingered long into the distance.
One of Zhongzhou’s five great cultivation sanctuaries.
This was the Taixuan Holy Land.
From afar, the entire mountain seemed to belong to a world apart from the mundane realm.
Between emerald peaks flowed spiritual mist, while golden divine radiance and auspicious clouds bloomed in every direction. Upon the cliffs, spiritual beasts cried out, and higher still, islands floated suspended in empty air.
Waterfalls poured down from the heavens, and ancient halls and pavilions revealed themselves through the clouds and mist.
Between them moved disciples, their feet treading upon long swords.
It was the highest peak of all Taixuan Mountain.
Within Taixuan Hall sat seven elders.
The advance teams of disciples dispatched to various parts of the secular world had begun arriving at the mountain gates from the previous day. The children who passed the Spiritual Root examination mounted the Heavenly Ladder for the final test.
The staircase numbered one hundred and eight steps in total.
Every thirty-six steps marked a boundary.
To climb past thirty-six steps within twenty-four hours qualified one as an Outer Disciple, and climbing eighteen steps further granted entry into the Inner Sect. As one climbed higher, the positions of Core Disciple, True Inheritor, and Personal Disciple awaited.
The child who could reach the highest point might even have the possibility of receiving direct tutelage from the sect master himself.
Now was nearly the end of that second examination.
They were the Chief Seats leading the seven great peak lineages of the Taixuan Holy Land.
At the head seat sat an elder with a clear, refined face and a long white beard.
Behind him floated a faint Divine Halo, and light rippled ceaselessly around his body.
He was Zhang Xuan Zhenren, the current sect master of the Taixuan Holy Land.

“Yuan Jian, fellow apprentice.”

He glanced downward.

“Are you still holding a grudge about the lottery matter from last time?”

The elder across from him snorted.
This elder was Yuan Jian Zhenren, and he held the position of Chief Seat for Yingjian Peak among the seven peaks of Taixuan.
His face still bore traces of irritation, and behind him floated an ancient sword of its own accord.

“Zhang Xuan, elder brother. Surely you understand the situation at Yingjian Peak as well as I do.”

Yuan Jian Zhenren made no effort to hide his displeasure.

“We were once the foremost of the seven peaks, yet now we have the fewest disciples. And still, our recruitment areas must be decided by lottery every time…….”

Yingjian Peak’s disciples numbered fewer than a hundred, and while the other peak lineages were selective in accepting new disciples, Yingjian Peak adhered stubbornly to the standards set by its founding master. As a result, Yuan Jian Zhenren knew better than anyone how precious a gifted sword cultivator truly was.
In recent decades, there had been many years when they could not accept a single disciple possessing a superior Spiritual Root.
It would have been strange indeed if the Chief Seat himself did not feel impatient. Yuan Jian Zhenren tapped his finger on the table.

“In my view, Yingjian Peak ought to be given first choice of recruits going forward.”

Someone beside him let out a hollow laugh.

“That cannot be.”

It was Qing Ye Zhenren of Daling Peak.

“If Yingjian Peak chooses first, what becomes of the remaining six peaks?”
“Then at the very least, you must exclude Xiaozhi Town from the lottery.”

Yuan Jian Zhenren’s voice grew louder.

“A place where not a single superior Spiritual Root has emerged in centuries. Five years ago, there wasn’t even a middle-grade Spiritual Root to be found. It would scarcely be surprising if the Spiritual Veins below had long since run dry.”

This time, Qing Ye Zhenren did not counter.

“I grant you that point.”

He stroked his beard.

“Five years ago, when our Daling Peak took charge of Xiaozhi Town, we didn’t salvage a single prospect.”

Qing Ye Zhenren still remembered that day—dozens of candidates lined up, each placing their hand on the Crystal Orb in turn, yet not even a middling glow appeared, let alone anything brighter. He’d spent the entire day touring the town and returned to the mountain gates empty-handed.

“True. Xiaozhi Town hardly deserves to be called a prospect ground anymore.”
“We should exclude it.”
“I agree.”

The other peak’s Chief Seats nodded one by one.
In moments, consensus had shifted entirely.
Only Zhang Xuan Zhenren stroked his beard in silence.

“Excluding Xiaozhi Town would be difficult.”

Six pairs of eyes turned toward him at once.

“Why is that?”
“Have you forgotten?”

Zhang Xuan Zhenren spoke slowly.

“One of our Taixuan Holy Land’s patriarchs hailed from Xiaozhi Town. He has already transcended to the Heavens.”

The great hall fell quiet.
A few faces grew visibly uncomfortable.

“Ah… that one.”
“That does change things.”
“If the patriarch should learn of this decision someday…”

The sentence trailed away.
To remove Xiaozhi Town from the selection list entirely—to declare no talent came from it—only to have a patriarch who had ascended to the Heavens discover the slight… the consequences would be troublesome.
Yuan Jian Zhenren’s expression darkened further.

“Then there’s no solution?”

Qing Ye Zhenren glanced at him sidelong.

“Why not lower Yingjian Peak’s standards a bit?”
“What?”

Yuan Jian Zhenren’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yingjian Peak’s rules were set by the Patriarch of Yingjian himself.”

The Ancient Sword at his back hummed sharply.

“Even if Yingjian Peak falls to ruin, I will not alter those principles with my own hands.”

Qing Ye Zhenren knew his companion’s temperament too well to press further.
Push him harder and the man would draw his blade right here in this chamber.
Qing Ye Zhenren was confident he could win such a fight.
But what waited after was a long lecture from Zhang Xuan Zhenren—inevitable as the tide.
And that would likely mean Yingjian Peak would have to beg for additional resources to address its difficulties.
There was no profit in deliberately losing.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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