Murim's Weakest Princess-Chapter 243: Rebuilding Self

It took three weeks for Anji to examine herself. Ordinarily, a child like her would be unable to differentiate reality from illusion. However, with the inherited and lived experience of a four-hundred-year-old sage, it was possible.

Yan Ping did not rush Anji for the apology letter or the report. She let her student do as she needed, including redrafting the contents of her letter back to her family several dozen times. She kept a close eye on Anji’s progress throughout from the shadows.

Slowly but surely, Anji learned to disassemble herself and differentiate which parts belonged to her and which were from the Grim Reaper of Duan City. However, she quickly came to understand that the differentiation could not be made that simply.

Assimilation.

That was what Anji figured she would do after two weeks of sorting through her memories and emotions. With the clear and surgical logic she learned from her teacher, the young girl learned to stitch back an open wound with clarity about who she wanted to become, not just who she was.

The result?

Yan Ping could not have asked for better. The rebuilding of oneself required the death of the old one. Like a caterpillar emerging from the pupa to become a butterfly, Yan Ping could only watch as Anji chose how she wished to emerge from the murky swamp.

After three long weeks, Anji finally approached her teacher with a thick report and a letter of apology that was even thicker. Her logs were so comprehensive that Yan Ping decided to include them in the logs of the forbidden library under a new lost history of a sage. Although Yan Ping knew the Grim Reaper of Duan City’s memories were recorded with the sect, she had never experienced it for herself. Anji was the first person who viewed it firsthand, and her report was extremely valuable for the archive.

If Yan Ping had to grade Anji’s report and self-reflection, she would give her successor nothing short of the top marks. Anji’s reflection bore the semblance of an educated scholar who reflected the Celestial Dragon Sect’s eloquence and the influence of the Mystical Qilin Sect’s structure. However, her brush strokes and choice of words had become even sharper, like the Crimson Sabre that she had lived with for four hundred years. Even if the young girl could not comprehend what empty compassion meant, she had mastered the art of uncompromising integrity.

Anji had always been an honest and upright child. However, she was also a little timid, often doubting herself and trying to avoid conflict. It was not a flaw. However, becoming a leader required an unwavering sense of decisiveness. Anji lacked that previously.

Now, in her reassembled sense of self, Yan Ping could tell Anji had fully discarded her childish innocence for something stronger. Although Anji did not carry the Crimson Sabre or master its art, she inherited the sharpness from him. She no longer hesitated over consideration when she decided on something. Anji’s knock on her door reflected her new change, something Yan Ping felt proud of.

For now, Anji was sent back to help the medical centre in the sect while Yan Ping reviewed her progress. She was finally able to re-discipline herself and her emotions. The rude behaviour was nowhere to be found, even if she had a new sense of calm and sharpness surrounding her. Even if anyone noticed, nobody commented on it. They simply assumed it was from Anji’s stress from the special successor’s training program. In a way, it was. Anji found the short break working with something she was once familiar with very therapeutic. Being surrounded by people she found familiar made her more grounded in the reality that she was an eight-year-old child and not a murderous sage.

Yan Ping browsed through the archive after binding Anji’s report and approving her apology letter. It was very lengthy, and Anji self-reported even more acts of rudeness than Yan Ping recalled. Needless to say, there was no need for the girl to redo the report.

After claiming that she would select the next memory crystal for Anji, Yan Ping revisited the catalogue. In her time, there was one particular sage that she learned a lot from, whom Anji might benefit from similarly. The art of empty compassion is very vast, and many times, the contradictory concept eludes those seeking it. Enlightenment often comes to those who are not actively seeking it but experiencing it. Even if Anji still does not comprehend the vastness of the concept of mastering the Heart Sutra, she could still benefit from understanding the value of self from this particular sage.

After another week, Yan Ping finally found the memory crystal she had been looking for. It had been way too long, and even the all-knowing half-sage had trouble locating it.

Anji was nervous. After settling into a comfortable rhythm of getting reacquainted with the people she was once familiar with, it was time to bid them goodbye again temporarily. Even if it only felt like a few weeks apart, Anji had no idea how much she would forget about herself after viewing a new memory crystal. The last time, she spent four centuries apart. Although sages typically lived for a long time to attain enlightenment, Anji hoped the new sage would ascend sooner rather than later.

"Anji is here," she bowed after entering the forbidden library.

Yan Ping did not seem angry or disappointed. Although Anji still could not read her teacher’s emotions or expressions as well, she understood that her teacher was a benevolent person and had already forgiven her rudeness. In her hands, there was a yellow glowing memory crystal.

"You’re here," Yan Ping noted duly, sending out energy threads to probe at her successor’s cultivation. Anji did not disappoint and tangled her own energy threads in greeting.

"It’s good to see you still have good control over your qi," she smirked. "You’ll need it for this memory crystal. The sage is known to a Fallen Flower. The Lotus Sage is a woman born into a brothel who left to become a nun and cultivated herself to the highest level, the opposite of Sect Leader Hong. Most people do not know this, but she was the inspiration for the Founder of the Heavenly Phoenix Sect."

Lotus Sage! Anji had never heard of her, but she was very curious. Her shifu seemed very knowledgeable about this particular sage.

As if reading her mind, Yan Ping explained that this sage was one she had also personally experienced and had documented in the archive.

"If you prefer to choose a different sage, I will not stop you. I recommended the Lotus Sage because you and I are somewhat alike when it comes to looking at the bigger picture for the greater good."

Shaking her head, Anji immediately refused. Having a similar experience to Yan Ping’s was something Anji never thought would happen. After all, her teacher was someone who seemed otherworldly. They barely had anything in common before. Now, she would finally get to peek into a slice of Yan Ping’s mind to understand why she became the person she was.

"I’ll do it!" Anji insisted. "How long would I take to complete viewing this memory crystal?"

According to the records, the Lotus Sage lived for about six centuries, even longer than the Grim Reaper of Duan City. However, her memory crystal was condensed even more than the Unfilial Sage due to the lack of complexity in her cultivation path and history.

"Maybe two days," Yan Ping frowned. "It has been a long time, I do not recall."

Two days. Anji nodded in gratitude. That, she could do. The Lotus Sage sounded less intense as a character. Anji hoped the time she took to reflect and recalibrate herself after viewing the new memory crystal would be shorter than before.

"Anji is ready," she stepped into the array and made herself comfortable.

Sensing how eager her successor was, Yan Ping set up the spell and waited until Anji entered a deep trance. Likewise, she looked forward to seeing what Anji would take away from this new simulation.