The preparations for Lang Meng and Lang Hua's funerals were quickly taken care of, as were the preparations for Lang Huo's ascension to clan leader. The bodies of the couple were incinerated and the ash gathered together into separate urns made from special ice which were then paraded through the city so that the citizens could say their farewells.
After the urns were paraded throughout the entire city, they were brought back to the Lang clan estate and buried within the forest that surrounded the mansion. A single seed was placed within the urn as they were buried, the urns would melt and release the seed and ashes, allowing the seed to turn the ashes into nutrients and grow into a splendid tree.
Lang Huo's ascension ceremony took place seven days after the funeral, a grand array surrounding the entire Lang clan mansion and projecting Lang Huo's form high into the sky above the city. Lang Huo was clad in a long and regal golden robe where the entire back was embroidered with the emblem of the Lang clan, a proud wolf howling at the three moons. A patch of white fur said to have belonged to the companion beast of the Lang clan founder decorated the top of the dress, adorning her shoulders and covering the nape of her neck.
Her expression was dignified as she stood in front of the elders of the clan and the leaders of the four villages serving their clan, solemnly swearing to do whatever it took to preserve and strengthen the clan. Yin Long stood next to Lang Ru and Tang Fen a short distance away, the three of them smiling reassuringly at Lang Huo when she somewhat nervously glanced at them.
The ascension ceremony finished without incident and loud cheers rang out throughout the entire city as the clan welcomed its new leader. Lang Huo had to start taking care of official business the moment the ceremony was over, there was still a lot that she had to learn about how to run the clan, especially when it came to things that had to be handled following the death of the previous leader.
Lang Ru and Tang Fen went to help Lang Huo in whatever way they could and Yin Long headed over to the forest to meet up Bai Xiang for more training. Bai Xiang would only stay here for two more years so Yin Long had to take advantage of every second he could, he still had quite a few other things he had to take care of from now on after all.
Yin Long's eyes automatically narrowed as he stood within the mist-shrouded forest, his senses stretching out as he awaited Bai Xiang's incoming attacks. But to his surprise, Bai Xiang didn't launch any attacks and instead walked out from the fog, his hands resting behind his back.
"You've already found yourself, so it's time to change up your training. I've never encountered a soul like yours so you'll have to rely on yourself when it comes to figuring out how to best use it. I also don't have the law of space or the law of swords, but I've fought against thousands of people who use the law of swords and I know a bit more than a handful of people who use the law of space, so I can help you a bit with those. The law of swords is quite common so we'll spend most of our effort on your law of space."
Yin Long's ears immediately perked up. He was a bit disappointed that Bai Xiang couldn't really teach him anything about his parasitic soul, but no one could be skilled in all areas so that was just to be expected. Learning about the law of the sword was easy, the founder of the clan had used a pair of twin swords to carve open a path for himself so the clan had plenty of books on it.
But the law of space was different, it was an exalted law that was incredibly hard to get a hold of, most people who had it were lucky and had a great affinity for it from birth. In the long history of the Lang clan, there had never been a single person born with an affinity for the law of space, so the clan didn't have any books that could be used to learn more about this law. Bai Xiang gestured towards Yin Long's hand, uttering a short order.
"Sword."
Yin Long stretched out his hand and did as he was told, his soul seeping out and drawing in the surrounding space to form a translucent sword. Bai Xiang's gaze lingered on the sword for a few seconds, his pupils trembling unnoticeably as he observed the mark resembling scaled leaves. This obviously wasn't the first time he had seen Yin Long's translucent sword, but he had never allowed himself to observe it for too long. And right now was no different, Bai Xiang pulling back his gaze after only three seconds.
"It's a good sword, but you can probably make it stronger. You mustn't be lax in the future, study it well to figure out how to best use it. As for your law of the sword, it is the easiest one to use. As long as you infuse your Qi with it, you can manifest swords wherever your Qi can reach, you can also make your Qi as sharp as the edge of a sword. As such, believing that a sword cultivator is only dangerous in close range is something that only an utter fool would do."
These were both things that Yin Long had also noticed on his own, the current form of his sword was nothing more than a hollow shell, he would have to fill it with something else to make it reach its true power. He hadn't tried manifesting swords using his law of the sword, but he had seen his attack fly out beyond the range of his weapon while he fought the Demonic beast so he knew that he wasn't limited to close-range combat. Bai Xiang didn't say too much about those two points, a faint sliver of seriousness appearing on his face as he moved on to the main topic.
"The law of space isn't an exalted law for nothing, it is tremendously powerful but also incredibly hard to train in. We'll spend the mornings focusing on it, and if you don't have any plans with your father's friend then we'll also spend the afternoons and evenings on it. The main word I want you to keep in mind when training the law of space is Layers."
Bai Xiang didn't state it outright, but his words heavily implied that he already knew about Yin Long's plan to work with Jiu Meiyu. But with how unknown Bai Xiang's strength was, Yin Long had already become used to just accepting that he always knew more than he should. As such, he maintained his diligent expression as Bai Xiang continued to explain the law of space.
"Similarly to people who use the law of darkness and can enter the darkness, which is a separate dimension, people who use the law of space aren't limited to a single dimension, or layer of space if you will. But different from people who use the law of darkness and just enter a separate dimension, people who use the law of space create their own separate dimensions, splitting the surrounding area up into multiple layers. The number of layers they can split the surrounding space into depends on their own strength and understanding of the law, but the more layers they can form, the more terrifying they become. Do you know why?"
Yin Long could only shake his head to the question, he had only faintly heard about separate dimensions before so he had no idea how they factored into the strength of the law of space. Bai Xiang had clearly already expected this, as he started talking again the moment Yin Long started to move his head.
"Because they aren't limited to interacting and existing within a single layer at a time! Take your sword as an example, are you confident that you can create tens of different swords with the same power in a single instant? I'm guessing no, and that's where the layers come into play. If you split the space in the surrounding 5-metres into multiple layers, you can choose which items move over between layers and also how they interact with each other. Say that you want to attack someone from four sides at once, you split the surrounding area into four layers and allow your sword to exist within all layers at once. Then you move the layers around to suit your plan and attack, your sword will move along all four dimensions, all the layers, at once and strike the opponent from multiple sides."
Even though Yin Long had prepared himself, Bai Xiang's barrage of information was still a lot to take in. The general concept was easy to understand in theory, using your law of space to create multiple separate dimensions. But how would you even go about doing this? How would you move your Qi, use your law, how did you control the various dimensions? Yin Long didn't have the slightest clue, but he luckily had someone here who had more experience than him.
"We'll start by helping you truly sense the surrounding space, you'll never be able to use your law properly if you can't even do that. Turn around and sit down."
Yin Long once again did as he was told, dissipating his sword as he sat down and closed his eyes. He heard Bai Xiang walk up behind him and felt his hands land on his back, an overpowering yet restrained energy flooding into his body while the voice of Bai Xiang echoed in his ears.
"I may not have the law of space, but I can still use my energy to heighten your own senses. So focus on your senses, use the map of the surroundings that they paint in your mind whenever you use them to scan your surroundings."
Yin Long spread out his senses, which grew sharper and sharper as Bai Xiang poured more and more energy into him. The three-dimensional map in his mind slowly expanded and even grew clearer, it was to the point that he felt like he could focus on a small spider a few thousand metres away and even count the hairs on its legs.
But the law of space wasn't an exalted law for nothing, so even with Bai Xiang pouring his energy into him, Yin Long was unable to properly sense the surrounding space even as the hours passed. And the main reason was quite simple, he didn't quite know what to look for. Just sensing the surrounding area and the things within it was easy, but that wasn't the same as sensing the surrounding space, which was more about actually sensing the omnipresent space all around them. Yin Long was slightly disheartened, but Bai Xiang had already expected this long ago.
"There's no need to be so down about it, how many years do you think some people have had to train just to sense the surrounding space? If they felt so disheartened that they gave up after just a few hours then there really wouldn't be any spatial cultivators in the world. Calm your mind and keep trying as you go about your day, sooner or later you're bound to have a breakthrough."
Bai Xiang removed his hands from Yin Long's back as he spoke, neither his expression nor complexion changing despite having used his energy to aid Yin Long for several hours. Yin Long himself spat out a sigh he couldn't restrain, quickly hopping up and stretching his somewhat stiff body. He was used to moving around a lot, sitting still like this for several hours was a rather new experience to him. He wanted to continue for a bit longer, but he knew that there was something else he had to do right now so he bade Bai Xiang farewell.
"Thank you for the help, Grampa Xiang, I promise that I'll learn it before you leave."
Bai Xiang waved him away so Yin Long didn't waste any more time and left the mist-shrouded forest, his gaze landing on the mansion standing a short distance away. He spotted Lang Huo in one of the windows as he got closer, she was currently sitting at their father's desk and was listening to reports from the various elders.
She had a lot to learn now that she had taken up the mantle of clan leader so she didn't have too much time to rest. Yin Long only spat out a soft breath when he saw Tang Fen scurry up to Lang Huo and hand her a porcelain cup, forcing the various elders to stay quiet for a few seconds while Lang Huo drank. As Yin Long was looking up at the window, a soft cloth suddenly hit his head, the voice of Lang Ru reaching his ears.
"Don't push yourself too hard."
Yin Long pulled the towel down from his face and tilted his head at Lang Ru, who had just turned the corner of the mansion. She had probably been waiting for him, seemingly always knowing when he finished his training. There was barely any sweat on his face, but seeing the gentle expression in his sister's crimson eyes, he still wiped his face and smiled at her.
"Don't worry, it's no worse than the normal training."
Their parents had only recently passed, and while Lang Huo took on the role of clan leader, Lang Ru took on the role of caretaker. She made sure that both Yin Long and Lang Huo ate properly and that things continued on in a manner as normal as possible. It was a step up in responsibility, but she had already half-assumed such a role as their parents grew older so she adapted to it easily.
Yin Long walked over and handed off the towel, the two walking side by side as he followed his sister back to the entrance of the mansion. Lang Ru opened the doors of the mansion, but Yin Long turned away and started to head for the city, waving his hand at her.
"I'll head to Ten Flowers Pavilion for a bit, not quite sure when I'll return."
He walked with a leisure and carefree gait, nonchalantly declaring his intent to visit a brothel. Lang Ru's eyes lingered on his departing back for a few moments, but she only let out a sigh in the end and didn't say anything, entering the mansion and closing the door behind her.
I still dislike Bai Xiang, but now that he isn't being pointlessly vague, I can see that he isn't completely hopeless as a teacher.
Nice