Big Bodhi

Ji Yuenian lowered his body and gently grasped the dusty hilt of the long sword.

Yao got up on the wooden bench, stared at the slender back of the boy, and said in a low voice, “That thing is very heavy, you have to be careful.”

Under the wooden door, a breeze suddenly picked up.

Pale knuckles tightly gripped the hilt of the sword, and after a few breaths, it slowly loosened.

Ji Yuenian didn’t look back, but stood up, pushed open the wooden door, and walked out without saying a word.

The river of stars traversed the sky, blending with the brilliant silver moonlight and falling down, covering every corner of this small village under the mountain.

The biting cold wind swirled and swept past. Ji Yuenian seemed to be soaked in the cold from top to bottom, and his face became even paler.

Even the black robes made by the yin qi of the heaven and the earth seemed to have lost all their miraculous effects at that moment, and even the chilly wind couldn’t be blocked by it.

Ji Yuenian walked tens of feet away, and stopped under a pine tree which was several feet high.

It had been a long time since he felt the weakness of being an ordinary person.

In this world, countless ordinary people were no different from ants, and Ji Yuenian, who had lost everything at that time, really felt the crisis of being annihilated at any time.

He raised his head slightly, and the huge silhouette of this mountain lay in front of his eyes. Under the reflection of the moonlight, he felt extremely oppressive and suffocating.

“It will be midnight in two hours. If you leave the village without a spiritual spring to resist the cold, you will be frozen to death by the more fierce cold wind!”

The sweet voice of concern drifted through the biting and roaring night wind and reached Ji Yuenian’s ears.

Ji Yuenian turned his head slightly, and the girl in white clothes was standing in front of the wooden door, looking at him from afar.

This village was called Lingquan Village, and it was located under this moat-like Lingquan Mountain. In the center of the village, there was an inexhaustible gurgling spring that nourished the few creatures in the village.

The girl’s name was Yao. According to her, she had never had parents in her memory since she was born. There were only three families living in the village.

As for the name “Yao”, it was also given by Grandma Sun who lived in the tree temple at the edge of the village.

Grandma Sun once said that when Yao was born, a rare phenomenon occurred, and the Lingquan Village was covered with heavy snow, so she took a word from the ancient book, and named her.

Ji Yueniaodded imperceptibly to the girl standing beside the wooden door, then turned around again, and walked towards the edge of Lingquan Village.

In the past few days, Yao had already known about Ji Yuenian’s temperament. Seeing him nodding slightly at that time, she knew that he would not leave the village, and couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The night in Lingquan Village was extremely terrifying. The biting cold wind blew down from the top of Lingquan Mountain, and was enough to freeze all living beings. As far as Ji Yuenian was concerned, even if he had never left the village, the bitter night wind at midnight was simply not something he could bear.

After about half a stick of incense, Ji Yuenian’s complexion was already extremely pale when he reached the edge of Lingquan Village, but his eyes were still as calm as water, and there was never any ripple.

“You’re awake.” An old voice came from the majestic tree temple standing at the edge of Lingquan Village.

The tree temple was about thirty feet high. It was a towering giant pine, but its trunk had been carved into a majestic portal by an unknown force, turning this huge pine into a tree temple.

Ji Yueniaodded, glanced sideways at the dreadful darkness outside the village, and then walked straight to the entrance under the tree temple.

Gusts of cold wind swirled past, submerged into the darkness outside Lingquan Village, and disappeared without a trace.

If one looked down from the top of Lingquan Mountain, he would be horrified to find that Lingquan Village was an isolated village wrapped in boundless darkness!

The darkness was a bottomless nothingness, which couldn’t be detected at all. Only Lingquan Mountain and Lingquan Village exuding azure blue light stood in the darkness, and it seemed that they would be devoured by the darkness at any time.

In the tree temple, there were countless ever-bright fireworks lined up on both sides, reflecting the majestic temple as if it were daylight.

Wherever Ji Yuenian passed by, those fireworks became even brighter, and the magnificent blazing light rose accordingly. It was extremely gorgeous.

“Do you know where this is?”

The luxurious lady dressed in brocade embroidered with blue clouds and cranes stepped out from deep in the temple, and the next moment she appeared beside Ji Yuenian, with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

Ji Yuenian could vaguely sense the horror of the noble lady’s cultivation, but at that moment, he didn’t show any timidity, and shook his head slightly.

He was attacked by the freezing mountain wind just now, and now he was extremely weak. He was able to walk here entirely by the unknown power that surged up in the depths of his blood.

The noble lady looked at Ji Yuenian carefully for a while, then sighed softly, and said, “Lingquan Mountain is a seal of imperial water that passes through heaven and earth, named ‘Lihen’. It was a defensive treasure bestowed by His Royal Highness to Princess Ao Li.”

“Princess Ao Li’s fate was tragic. Although I am a weapon spirit living in Lihen, I could only watch the princess perish. There was nothing I can do.”

“According to the order of the princess, this seal has been wandering in the nothingness of the Yinlunyue realm with its own divine power. When you cultivate to the realm of crossing cause and effect, you can leave the Yinlunyue realm through the connection between bloodline power and go to Beiju Luzhou.”

“A few days ago, your true spirit and soul were directly captured by Lihen. After careful investigation, I found out that your body was crushed by an unknown wild god, and your true spirit was protected by the bloodline power. Hold on, and connect the Lihen within the Yinlunyue realm by yourself.”

The noble lady paused, glanced at Ji Yuenian’s expression, and said, “The changes in your body are too complicated now, and even I can’t see clearly due to the many restrictions set by Princess Ao Li. And I can’t help you really wake up.”

Ji Yuenian sensed the hidden meaning in her words, fell silent for a moment, and said, “Really awake?”

“That’s right,” the lady nodded, stroking her palms, and all the magnificent fireworks in the temple gathered together, turning into a blazing curtain of fire. “Now your true spirit is in a deep sleep. At this time, you are just the soul attached to the true spirit. If the true spirit cannot wake up, you can only maintain the current state of lifelessness and death for a hundred years, and then your soul will be completely silent in the depths of the true spirit. No difference from death.”

Inside the spiritual curtain was an endless darkness, and in the centre of the darkness was a group of azure blue flames.

Ji Yuenian stared fixedly at the scene inside the spiritual curtain, and after a long while, he opened his mouth and said, “Ao Li...”

“Don’t ask any more,” the noble lady seemed to know what he wanted to ask, and the sadness in her eyes became more intense. “Princess Ao Li has been completely annihilated between heaven and the earth, and this seal of imperial water was the last thing left to you by her. Princess Ao Li’s good intentions are really touching, and you must not blame her for her selfishness and cowardice. If you one day... can succeed in cultivation, I only hope that you will go to the East Sea’s Zhaoming Mountain, accept Princess Ao Li’s karma.”

“If you can awaken the true spirit, I can mobilize Lihen to reshape your body.”

“Lihen has been restricted by Princess Ao Li, and your current cultivation is too weak. I can only rely on the divine power of Imperial Water Seal to help you a little.”

The noble lady turned around and walked towards the depths of the tree temple, getting farther and farther away, but her voice still echoed very clearly.

“Ji Yuenian, you only have a hundred years. If you can’t wake up your true spirit within a hundred years, your soul will sink completely, and you will stay in the depths of hatred forever. You will cease to exist between heaven and earth again.”"