Chapter 36: Becoming a Summoner

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Four days later, in the secret room of the safehouse, Xia Ping’an opened his eyes. His vision was still blurry, as though he had just woken up from a long dream. He once again peered into his consciousness at his Secret Mind Altar that had just completely coalesced. After merging with the divine being boundary bead, the Mind Altar seemed to have become a hundred times larger. It had become an ancient tribe that was more than 1 square kilometer large. At the center of the tribe was a divine temple that appeared solemn and ancient. It was constructed from stone and huge logs. Compared to the cave and the wooden house before, it appeared much grander. Outside of the divine temple, there were seven steps made of granite. The divine fire in the divine temple was burning brightly. It had already become a huge fire altar, shooting out from underground. As for the floating dioramas on the jade wall of the temple, a section for Shennong had appeared. On the ceiling of the divine temple, a gigantic caisson hung above them. Beneath the caisson was the divine fire. Above it were the golden lights of divine power. This time, Xia Ping’an obtained 30 divine power points from merging with the divine being boundary bead. Adding on his previous 40 points of divine power, there were a total of 70 masses of golden light that represented his divine power points. Shennong’s diorama displayed him leading countless tribes in reclaiming large expanses of wasteland. It showed a scene of the prosperity of the tribes. A few of the tribe elders had faces full of gratitude. They were half kneeling in front of Shennong. They were holding the rice, broomcorn, foxtail millet, wheat, and other agricultural goods that they harvested. Beside them were some artisans who held up various tools, pottery, arrows, as well as a plow and rake. Some people were also holding up the various herbs that they gathered from the wilderness. Others were musicians who were playing their instruments. Everyone was happy. They were all gathered around Shennong, like the stars around the moon. These figures-a farmer who was holding rice, broomcorn, foxtail millet, and wheat; an artisan who was holding pottery in his left hand and a quiver of arrows in his right; as well as a person who was carrying a medicinal basket filled with herbs-seemed exceptionally lifelike. It was as though the three of them could walk out from the floating diorama. When Xia Ping’an reached out to these three figures with his mind, it was as though they could walk down from the jade wall. These should be the three familiar summoning slots he obtained this time. One was a farmer, one an artisan, and another an alchemist. As for the tribe outside of the temple, it was another sight to behold. In the distance, there was a green, misty mountain surrounded by a flowing river. There were more than 1,000 tribal houses and a vast farmland. Xia Ping’an could see the tribesmen working the fields, polishing stone tools, extracting salt, weaving hemp, making pottery, and gathering herbs. The scenery and the tribesmen appeared in Xia Ping’an’s consciousness as though they were part of a Chinese ink wash painting. Everything in the Secret Mind Altar in his consciousness was very similar to what he had seen when he left the Shennong tribe. Apart from his Secret Mind Altar, the rest of his consciousness was still enveloped in churning dark fog. It was full of mysteries and uncertainties. So this was how the Secret Mind Altar of a summoner looked like? Xia Ping’an was in awe. For Xia Ping’an, who had just become a summoner, what he experienced was merely the tip of the majestic and mysterious world of the summoners. Xia Ping’an had done his best when he was in the divine being boundary bead. He taught the tribesmen how to get salt from seawater and preserve meat by marinating it with salt. He also taught them how to rear silkworms to make silk cloth so that they could have better outfits. Besides that, he invented bows and arrows. He also taught the tribesmen to hunt using blowguns made of bamboo. He invented the cart and the plow to help with the plantation of five grains, allowing the tribe to develop their agriculture and produce a stable food source. He experimented with hundreds of medicinal herbs and recited almost the entire book of Shennong’s ‘Herbal Classics’ from memory. He created stringed instruments and pentatonic scales. He introduced the culture of brewing tea with pottery and saved countless lives with his medical knowledge. He left behind many exhortations and teachings. Before the world in the boundary bead dissipated, he was already the most knowledgeable and authoritative person among all the tribes in the radius of a few thousand miles. He was crowned Shennong and was obeyed by all. However, even so, he still failed to perfectly demonstrate all the contributions of Shennong. Due to his shortcomings, his merging with the divine being boundary bead was not perfect. The aspect which Xia Ping’an failed to replicate was the calendar of Shennong. The calendar created by Shennong was a lunisolar calendar that divided the year into 24 solar terms. However, the Shennong lunisolar calendar had not been passed down. Hence, Xia Ping’an couldn’t reproduce it even if he wanted to. Xia Ping’an had only heard of the calendar before. The Shennong lunisolar calendar was a tai chi diagram made up of 12 Earthy Branches. However, Xia Ping’an had no idea exactly how Shennong came up with the 12 Earthy Branches based on his observations of the orbits of the planets. Perhaps, no one in the world could deduce it again. Since Xia Ping’an had not been able to completely replicate the contributions and achievements of Shennong, one of the three major emperors of Huaxia, when he was in the boundary bead, his merge was imperfect. Hence, he only obtained 30 points of divine power. If he had had a perfect merge with the divine being boundary bead, he would have obtained 36 points of divine power. Right now, Xia Ping’an felt slightly regretful. Yet, at the same time, he was in awe and satisfied. He stood in awe of the great wisdom possessed by the ancient people of Huaxia. They could rule over the earth and had a profound understanding of the heavens. As a historian who once dedicated most of his life to study the history of Huaxia and trace the footsteps of his ancestors, he was also very satisfied to be able to personally witness and even recreate history. The regret he had was that even in the boundary bead, he couldn’t unveil the mystery of the Shennong lunisolar calendar. He currently had mixed feelings. “I guess from now on, I am a bona fide summoner…,” Xia Ping’an whispered to himself as he opened his eyes. He was somewhat excited. After merging with these three boundary beads, he could freely merge with any other boundary bead in the future. Xia Ping’an stood up, and, once again, he heard consecutive popping sounds from his joints. Right now, he could feel that his body was both agile and powerful-the two factors were in perfect balance. This feeling was awesome. He opened the door and left the secret room. From the basement, he took the elevator up to the mansion. He noticed that the place was empty. Yan Duo was not around, and he was the only one in the mansion. Warm sunlight cast into the room from the window. He checked the time. It was morning. Xia Ping’an took out his smartphone and realized that there were more than 20 missed calls and two messages. Among the more than 20 missed calls, most of them were from Xia Ning. Another two were from the landlord. The timespan was over three days. Both messages were from yesterday. One of them was from Xia Ning while another one was sent by Mo Yanshao. Xia Ping’an first opened the message sent by Xia Ning. [Elder Brother, you haven’t been picking up my calls these past few days. You have me worried sick. I called the National Order Council of Xianghe City to ask about your condition. They said that you were carrying out a mission. Are you alright?] Xia Ping’an started sweating cold sweat. These past few days, he had been merging with the divine being boundary bead. He never expected that Xia Ning would call him so many times. After reading through the messages, Xia Ping’an replied to Xia Ning, saying, [I am alright. I am doing very well. I just had no means of contacting you for the past few days. Don’t worry, I will be back for the weekend to cook good food for you!] Just a few seconds after he sent the message, Xia Ning immediately replied, [You are so old, and you still need to cause your younger sister to worry. Seriously. (Silly face)] Seeing the silly face that Xia Ning sent him, Xia Ping’an smiled. He then read the message that Mo Yanshao sent him. [Call me after you successfully merge with the divine being boundary bead. I will send a helicopter to bring you back.] Xia Ping’an immediately called Mo Yanshao. In less than two seconds, the call went through. “How was it?” Mo Yanshao asked over the phone. “I have successfully merged with the boundary bead!” Xia Ping’an announced. On the other side, Mo Yanshao let out a long sigh and said, “Very good. Head straight back to the provincial branch. Our helicopter will be there in an hour. Also, do not believe a word that b*st*rd Yan Duo says.” “Hmm.” After ending his call with Mo Yanshao, Xia Ping’an called his landlord. After waiting for seven or eight seconds and listening to the ringtone for a while, the landlord finally picked up. “Hello, Uncle Hong? This is Xia Ping’an.” Xia Ping’an was very polite as he spoke to the landlord. He and Xia Ning had stayed in their current rental place for many years. The landlord was a kind man. Knowing that the siblings were renting the place and were orphans, he had never raised their rental. The increase in rent for the past few years had been at Xia Ping’an’s request. Xia Ping’an had always been very polite to this landlord. “Ping’an,” called out the warm voice of the landlord from the other side. “I tried calling you twice two days ago, but the call never went through.” “Apologies, Uncle Hong. I have been busy for the past few days and did not bring my phone with me. By the way, I have already asked Xia Ning to transfer you this month’s rent.” “I have already received it. I was not calling you about the rent. I called to tell you that I have sold the house that you are renting. Starting from this month, the new landlord will find you to collect the rent,” Uncle Hong said, somewhat apologetic. He explained to Xia Ping’an, “I am getting old. I don’t want to stay in the city anymore. I wish to stay in the countryside and help my daughter take care of my grandchildren. That is why I sold this house in the city.” “No worries, Uncle Hong. You should enjoy a few years of peace and quiet. I will contact the new landlord regarding the rent. Thank you, Uncle Hong, for taking care of us siblings all these years.” “It is all good. Well, that is all. I didn’t do much. You siblings are meticulous and keep the house clean. You’ve never caused trouble for me and made it easy for me to rent out the place. I will be staying in the countryside in Wuding. Come by to visit if you have the time.” “Alright.” 2