Chapter 167: Torrential Realm pt. 6
Qin Yanzhi raised his eyes silently. Miao Wenxiang's eyelashes were still stained with tears, but he smiled brightly at him.
“You must live on.” Miao Wenxiang approached the blood pool. “If you dare to die, I have a way to torture your soul day and night, never to be reincarnated.”
He was still smiling, yet uttering such a vicious threat.
Qin Yanzhi didn't doubt the other party's words. The Middle Ages was full of weird secret techniques, not to mention that Miao Wenxiang was weird in the first place.
He said slowly, “When will you let me leave the blood pool?”
Miao Wenxiang didn't answer, but said, “You’re finally willing to talk. Your voice sounds very good. You should speak more.”
He knelt slowly and beckoned to Qin Yanzhi. “Come here, let me take a good look at you.”
Qin Yanzhi knew that even if he didn't move, Miao Wenxiang could pull him over by the chain, so he took the initiative to go over.
Miao Wenxiang, “Give me your hand.”
Qin Yanzhi raised his hand and felt a cold touch on his wrist. Miao Wenxiang groaned slightly and said, “Can you feel it? The change in your body.”
Qin Yanzhi hesitated a little but nodded.
Miao Wenxiang said softly, “It’s not easy for people like us. Saving you is to save me. Trust me, I won’t harm you.”
His fingers moved along Qin Yanzhi's wrist, slowly stroking upwards. Qin Yanzhi frowned and withdrew his hand.
Miao Wenxiang smiled. “Why are you so shy? Is there a taboo between us?”
Qin Yanzhi, “Respect yourself.”
Miao Wenxiang was taken aback for a moment, and suddenly laughed wildly, his whole body shaking. After laughing to his heart’s content, he stood up slowly, took out the things he prepared beforehand, and sprinkled them into the pool.
He stood quietly by the pool, watching as Qin Yanzhi bent down in pain that his head was almost immersed in the pool of blood.
“If you’re still alive the next time I come here, you can leave the blood pool.”
He concealed the eagerness in his eyes, and said softly, “I look forward to that day even more than you.”
When the boiling blood pool returned to calm, Qin Yanzhi stood up straight, his eyes were icy cold.
At this time, Jing Yue and his Shizun came to an extremely cold place. Since he entered the Torrential Realm, all he saw were green mountains and green fields, but everywhere was silvery white here.
Sprawling glacial mountains lay in front of his eyes, reflecting the cold light under the moonlight.
A-Wu told Jing Yue that these glaciers were formed at the beginning of chaos, and they were also the source of all water in this world. Every 100 years on this day, a drop of Tianyan Water would melt, and the Tianyan Water would turn into water veins, blend into rivers, lakes, and seas, and nourish all living things on land.
“As you know, I don’t have any talent.” A-Wu’s attitude was more serious than usual since they arrived. “Back then, I found this place and discovered a kind of mysterious power from the Tianyan Water. At that moment, I was able to practice suddenly.”
Jing Yue looked at the nearest glacier when A-Wu continued, “Actually, I sensed the same power from you, and that’s the real reason why I took you as my apprentice.”
Jing Yue was startled. “What power?”
A-Wu stared at him solemnly, with something in his eyes that Jing Yue couldn't understand. For some reason, Jing Yue was a little nervous. He couldn’t help feeling that what A-Wu was going to say had a lot to do with him.
A-Wu, “It's hard to say, very surreal.”
Jing Yue, “…”
A-Wu, “Anyway, as soon as I activate that power, I can attract source energy into my dantian.” He paused, and added, “And I also have the talent for moving in water, so I can control water.”
As he spoke, he spread his fingers, and his palm was immediately covered with a thin layer of frost. The thin frost was like flowing fine sand, gradually forming an ice flower.
A-Wu looked at Jing Yue and handed the ice flower in his hand to the blue phoenix who was curled up in Jing Yue's arms with only one head poking out.
The blue phoenix was overwhelmed by this action and blushed. Its head shrank into Jing Yue's arms again, revealing only a pair of shy and timid pea eyes.
A-Wu, “Ji-ji, don't you like this ice flower?”
The blue phoenix stared at the ice flower, looked up at its Jing-jing, and whispered something A-Wu couldn't understand, “On account of your sincerity, Ji-ji will accept it reluctantly, but even though Ji-ji accepts your flower, Ji-ji won’t develop any strange relationship with you. Don't be delusional!”
After saying that, it happily slipped out of Jing Yue's front lapel and was about to grab the flower with its small mouth, when the ice flower quickly turned into ice dust, flowing from A-Wu's fingers to the ground.
At the same time, it heard A-Wu laughing uproariously.
The blue phoenix, “…”
Jing Yue, “…” The hell with being more serious. It’s all an illusion!
The blue phoenix was so aggrieved that it wanted to cry, but it didn't receive Jing-jing's comfort.
At this moment, Jing Yue was thinking about what A-Wu said just now, and he suspected that A-Wu had comprehended a chant, which not only helped him guide Qi into his body but also allowed A-Wu to practice water magic.
“When the first ray of sunlight falls, the Tianyan Water will be born.” A-Wu suddenly said, interrupting Jing Yue's thoughts. “Sit down and wait quietly.”
Jing Yue, “…Okay.”
Soon, a streak of red suddenly appeared at the end of the dark horizon like a wound in the night.
“It’s here!” A-Wu stared at an ice spike protruding from the iceberg, and said to Jing Yue, “Look carefully, this opportunity is hard to come by. If you weren't my apprentice, I wouldn't have brought you here.”
Jing Yue, “Did Shizun bring anyone here before?”
A-Wu, “I brought a few boys here before, but they couldn't comprehend anything.”
But at this time, Jing Yue couldn’t be bothered with him anymore, because a drop of water slowly formed on the ice spike and at that moment, he was completely distracted by the water drop.
That drop of water was extremely colorful as if it contained an infinite universe and mountains and rivers from all realms.
From this drop of water, he saw the beginning of chaos, the falling of stars, the rise and fall of mountains, rivers, and land, and the birth and death of hundreds of millions of creatures.
This water had a soul, and the soul gave birth to the Heavenly Dao. Jing Yue suddenly realized that to comprehend the Tianyan Water was to comprehend the Heavenly Dao.
He had never felt so close to the Heavenly Dao before. Jing Yue stretched out his hand, instinctively wanting to touch it, but everything was like the reflection of stars in the water, and he couldn't grasp anything at all.
At the same time, the Art of Ten Desolate Universe he practiced started to operate by itself, and the surrounding source energy poured frantically into his dantian, stretching endlessly and infinitely.
Maybe ten thousand years, or maybe just a moment, Jing Yue only felt that his strength had skyrocketed, and his dantian continued to expand and rotate as if this space and time were under his control.
Drip…
As the water dripped, Jing Yue only felt his divine consciousness shuddering, and his body crackled like popping beans. He couldn't help but groan—and then he advanced.
It wasn’t from the lower level of Heavenly Grotto to the middle level, but from Heavenly Grotto to Return to Void!
Everything happened in an instant, and he wouldn't believe it if he hadn't experienced it.
After a long time, Jing Yue finally came back to his senses. He recalled the mysterious feeling just now and realized what he had gained.
Jing Yue was overjoyed, and turned to speak to A-Wu, but saw that the other party was still in meditation.
Jing Yue was a little envious at first, but on second thought, the other party had passed Mortal Tribulation, and would naturally comprehend more than Jing Yue.
He closed his eyes again, using his spiritual sense to explore every inch of his body. After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard a sword cry, and he felt a sharp sword energy.
Jing Yue opened his eyes and saw that an ice sword had appeared in A-Wu's hand at some point. At this time, the other party was waving the sword in his hand wildly. The sky suddenly changed, the rising sun was shrouded by the night, and in the dark night, the silver moon shone again. The places where the moonlight shone were shrouded by A-Wu's sword power.
Jing Yue even had an illusion that if A-Wu wanted to, he could cause the stars to fall with a single sword strike.
But none of these were enough to shock him. What really struck him like lightning was that he was extremely familiar with this set of sword techniques. It was clearly a move that only a Return to Void could practice in the Canglan Sword Technique—Cold Moon Falls on the Galaxy.
A-Wu obviously understood the meaning of this move better than him, and could wield this technique more smoothly than him, so the power could be imagined. But no matter what, the other party undoubtedly displayed the Canglan Sword Technique!
“How is this possible?”
Jing Yue froze on the spot and his mind went blank.
Clang!
The ice sword flew up into the air, straight toward the bright moon, finally turning into ice dust, and disintegrating in the air.
A-Wu couldn't stop laughing. Using his hand as a sword, he carved writing on a huge gray rock.
“Close your eyes, calm your mind, hold your hands firmly, and meditate. Close your lips and teeth lightly, and hold Kunlun in your arms.”
“Gather the divine light, reach Tianxin, enter the Niwan, and approach the Qi acupoint.”
…
Jing Yue clearly didn't recognize the writing, but he knew the meaning of each word.
He had memorized these words for more than ten thousand years since his previous life.
As A-Wu wrote more in-depth, the fear in Jing Yue's heart grew bigger. He felt like a chess piece, being manipulated by the chess players of fate.
“I hold the desolate universe in my hand, and all waters will return to one.”
When A-Wu finished writing the last word and turned around again, he saw that his apprentice was dumbfounded.
He could feel that Jing Yue had benefited a lot and only assumed that the other party was overjoyed by this opportunity. After all, even he didn't expect that he could comprehend so much this time, allowing him to break through the earlier bottleneck and create a new sword move.
He had a hunch that his swordsmanship was almost perfected, and when he achieved another comprehension next time, he would definitely be able to fully grasp this mysterious power!
A-Wu stepped forward and patted Jing Yue, “Have you gone mad with joy?”
Jing Yue's eyes gradually focused. He first looked at the writing on the stone and then at A-Wu. After a long while, he said, “Shizun, what did you engrave?”
A-Wu glanced at the stone. “Oh, it's the experience I summed up, roughly speaking about how to operate and refine that mysterious power for my use. Don’t worry, I’ll teach you later.”
Jing Yue, “…”
A-Wu, “Hehe, I believe this power of mine is no worse than any talent!”
Of course not, because it was a heavenly-grade chant!
“The Art of Ten Desolate Universe…” Jing Yue muttered under his breath.
A-Wu, “The Art of Ten Desolate Universe, what?”
Jing Yue was still in a trance and didn’t reply.
A-Wu wasn’t bothered but kept repeating the words. The more he recited it, the more his heart surged, and he suddenly shouted, “Okay! Let’s call it the Art of Ten Desolate Universe!”
Jing Yue only felt an explosion in his head, shaking the depths of his soul—the karmic line passed through the flow of time and sent him to the starting point of fate.
He suddenly thought of the memory in the Forsaken Flower that he experienced in his previous life, and recalled the gray stone that he had slept on when he was a child where he had an epiphany.
Was this his past or his future?
Did he change the effect or was he the start of the cause?
“Why are you in a daze again?” A-Wu looked at him amusedly.
Jing Yue didn't know how to answer him. He realized that he was talking to history, the true creator of the Art of Ten Desolate Universe.
And that person was his Shizun!
Jing Yue suddenly knelt heavily on the ground, unprecedentedly pious and solemn.
He kowtowed three times in a row and said in a trembling voice, “Shizun!”
A-Wu was puzzled and said with raised eyebrows, “You people from the West are always weird.”
No, this disciple is not from the West. This disciple came from many years in the future. This disciple is here for you.
Author’s Notes:
Reminder 1: As briefly mentioned before, Jing-jing’s memory of the Forsaken Flower in his previous life was that he saw a drop of water falling, and he heard a voice saying that the drop of water was the source of all water, and he quickly fell into a state of meditation. (TN: Refer to Chapter 149.1.)
Reminder 2: When Jing-jing was a shepherd boy in his previous life, he slept on the legendary stone that an immortal stepped on. (TN: Refer to Chapter 39.)
Well, it's probably like the butterfly effect.
This arc is very important. For example, Jing-jing's sword technique isn’t complete yet!