A bright moon hung high in the sky, casting down pure, lustrous light that blanketed the ridges and filled the ravines, bathing the entire woodland in pale silver.
Qin Ming stared blankly. Was he hallucinating at death's door?
This was certainly no hovering Moon Insect; it shone far more brilliantly than that peculiar bug back at Black-White Mountain.
The night mist coiled around, though not nearly as dense as before. Moonlight poured down like water, making a thin wisp of smoke seem to rise from the wilderness, lending it a subtle, hazy beauty.
"I'm already dead; what mood do I have to admire the scenery?" Qin Ming forced himself upright and loosened his parachute pack, yet he still could not resist looking closely at this realm.
For someone who had lived in a pitch-black world, seeing a moon was an utter wonder!
Leaning against an old tree, he could no longer feel the excruciating pain across his body; numbness was creeping in. This was no good omen—it meant his life was likely counting down its final moments.
This was mountainous terrain, bathed in moonlight. There were towering trees, wisteria vines blooming with purple buds, and saplings bearing red fruit. Nearby, the pleasant chirping of insects only deepened the tranquil seclusion.
"In my state, I might end up eaten by wild beasts. Has my turn finally come to be buried in a stomach?" Qin Ming murmured to himself. At the same time, he realized his speech had grown slurred; this body was becoming increasingly unresponsive.
Looking inward with careful introspection, his internal organs had shut down completely, riddled with cracks. No heartbeat, no breath—he was a living corpse.
Yet Qin Ming refused to simply sit and wait for death.
"I have so many unfulfilled wishes; I cannot die like this. Cao Qianqiu is such a scoundrel, despised by gods, men, and ghosts alike, yet he thrives more with each passing day. I am so young, no worse than any founder in their youth—I cannot die an early death!"
He spurred himself on, rallying his spirits. He mobilized the Destiny-Altering Scripture and practiced Jade Splendor Force, attempting every single technique that could nourish the body.
"I want to blaze a trail for the Newborns; their path is simply too arduous. But... those words sound a bit too grand, hardly fitting for a lowly Newborn like me. Well, I still have a bunch of rivals waiting for me to beat them to a pulp. Another wish, then: I haven't found my grandfather yet. Back then, only the two of us depended on each other in hardship and loneliness. I want to marry, have children, and let him know the happiness of being a great-grandfather. Oh, and I've even seen the moon now—I have to see the sun too!"
Qin Ming's will to survive was pushed to the absolute limit. Refusing to die, he desperately conjured up one aspiration after another!
In the end, apart from the domineering Purple Palace thunderfire which he dared not circulate, he had tested every single secret method.
One of them actually proved somewhat effective: the gentlest art that nourished essence, qi, and spirit, the Yimu Scripture. Perhaps this environment was particularly suited to it.
All around him stretched verdant woods, dense with trees, the entire mountain wilderness brimming with vitality.
In moments, Qin Ming was enveloped by thick Yimu qi. The delicate fragrance of nearby wild blossoms and the scent of grassy foliage, mingled with the earthy aroma of soil, flowed and rippled here, rich with fresh life.
Yet it was only slightly effective at first.
Eventually, no matter his countless efforts, his physical condition continued to deteriorate to a dreadful state.
By now, his heart, lungs, kidneys, and other organs had ceased functioning entirely. Not even the faintest flutter remained from earlier; all his viscera had lapsed into silence.
Was his physical body truly dead? Qin Ming felt a wave of despondency. In the end, he could not escape this tribulation. He had exhausted every method at his disposal; there was nothing left to try.
Though he was neither a disciple of the immortal path nor a divine seed of the esoteric sect, he was an exceptional figure along the path of ordinary mortals. Yet even so, defying fate remained beyond his grasp.
Under the moonlight, Qin Ming leaned against the ancient tree, sighing helplessly, the sharp edge of his vigor dulled away.
Seeing the bright red wild berries on a tree not far away, he realized he hadn't eaten in a long time. But remembering that his stomach was torn apart and had already stopped working, he looked away once more.
He held no fear of death, only regret for this life. Gradually calming his mind, he quietly observed the surrounding landscape.
Nearby lay a lake where five-colored flood carps occasionally leaped, breaking the mirror-like water and shattering the reflection of the moon into shimmering ripples. Threads of lake mist blended with moonlight, appearing ethereal, mystical, and sublimely detached from the mortal dust.
"Burying my bones here... the scenery isn't bad at all." Though he said this, a trace of loneliness lingered in his voice.
Thin white vapor coiled through the woods. Qin Ming raised his head and gazed at the night sky. Was that a true moon? "Could I have fallen into the divine realm of some creature?" Qin Ming wondered with suspicion.
In the night mist world, masters stood in great numbers, and the senior figures wielded vast magical powers. Some path-blazers might even still be alive. If a bright moon hung in the sky, how could it have been kept from them?
Soon, he dismissed his own suspicion. This was definitely not the realm of a godkin creature deep within the mysterious black mist. According to what he knew, his physical body should not be able to enter such a place.
Qin Ming examined himself internally once more and discovered that although his pieced-together body had shut down completely, it had not decayed or undergone necrosis, which was beyond his expectations.
He inspected every inch of flesh and blood carefully. He believed the main reason his body remained alive was that his foundation was exceedingly solid; even though it had been torn into many pieces, it still retained strong vitality.
In addition, the "soil" he had obtained above the clouds, along with the purple mist, golden twilight, and silver light he had gathered, had also played a part, soaking into his flesh and viscera like secret medicine.
Moreover, his earlier drawing of Yimu qi from the entire forest had helped keep his flesh somewhat "fresh."
Yet none of this was a long-term solution. As time slipped by, no matter how profound his foundation, it would not hold up. Being stronger than the founders of previous generations at his age was useless; eventually, it would run dry.
"Perhaps only by undergoing rebirth once more can I preserve my life and rekindle vitality in my flesh!" Qin Ming stared at the dreamlike blue liquid he had preserved and bound outside his body using adhesive force.
However, the issues with his body were dire in the extreme; undergoing rebirth was almost impossible.
Furthermore, if one was not in peak condition, consuming mineral essence could backfire and harm the body. "I'm already on the verge of death, what else is there to care about!" Qin Ming threw caution to the wind.
He had no way out; he could only press forward!
In an instant, he circulated heavenly light force, sending all of the blue liquid into his flesh.
Right now, he could not ingest it by mouth.
His body hardly answered his will, but fortunately, his heavenly light force was unique—fused with divine wisdom and conscious spiritual light, it remained at his disposal.
Threads of blue mist flowed through every part of Qin Ming's flesh, including his torn heart, lungs, and kidneys.
"The path of ordinary mortals relies on bodily mutation to march forward. Back then, the trailblazing forebears fought desperately against giant beasts, consuming special medicinal herbs at the brink of death to successfully undergo metamorphosis. They pressed on, leaving bloody footprints with every stride—and so can I!"
He steeled his conviction, bolstering his spirit.
In an instant, his heavenly light force coursed throughout his entire body.
If he failed today, he would die right here.
Sure enough, without being in prime condition, consuming mineral essence inflicted heavy damage on his body, causing Qin Ming to bleed from his seven facial orifices.
He should have had no blood left to spill, yet now, with the dreamlike blue liquid invading his entire body, he trembled faintly as it tried to awaken his innate potential to undergo rebirth.
This brought severe consequences. His body had already been pieced together like porcelain covered in fractures, and now it threatened to burst apart again.
One wrong turn, and the ground would be littered with fragments of mangled flesh.
Clearly, he was unlike those trailblazing forebears. In the eyes of anyone else, his body was already dead and wholly incapable of rebirth.
What technique did he have left to prolong his life now?
At this juncture of life and death, Qin Ming held his physical body together to keep it from breaking apart. Having endured the violent upheaval brought on by consuming the mineral essence, he chose the Destiny-Altering Scripture.
This scripture had emerged from the depths of the night mist world and carried an air of great mystery; even people beyond the mundane world sought to comprehend it.
Now, he began to circulate this scripture.
The Destiny-Altering Scripture was extraordinarily miraculous, allowing heavenly light force, divine wisdom, and spiritual light of the mind to circulate simultaneously.
At this moment, the three powers converged into one, flowing through his dilapidated flesh like a golden river.
Covered in cracks, Qin Ming was in an abysmal state, as if shrouded in black fog. Not only were different parts of his frame separated, but the interiors of his heart, kidneys, and other organs were also carved and partitioned into multiple fragments by these fissures.
As he circulated the Destiny-Altering Scripture, advancing along a mystical network, golden rivers crossed the desolate, fractured earth enshrouded in night mist, gradually dispelling the darkness.
It was like reclaiming virgin land: the golden rivers spread, irrigating the black fog and awaiting the revival of life in the earth. The fusion of heavenly light, divine wisdom, and spiritual light of the mind was like a seed of yang, buried within the yin soil of flesh and blood.
Filled with hope, Qin Ming waited for the fog-laden soil of flesh to radiate brilliance once more and banish all deathly stillness.
Yet in the end, all the golden rivers sank deep into the "yin soil," running dry until they were completely exhausted. His mental consciousness sank into quiet slumber across the soil of flesh and blood, yet his body still had not undergone rebirth.
At this moment, Qin Ming's consciousness sank alongside it. Bewilderment seized him. Trapped within the black fog, he could not break free. Was he to die together with his physical body?
Were all his efforts in vain? Countless waves of helplessness and powerlessness welled up within him. His groggy consciousness released a sigh—even the Destiny-Altering Scripture could not alter his destiny.
"In this era, myriad arts are flourishing, and every path advances side by side. The Great Reclamation and Great Pioneering are fast approaching. In the vast, boundless depths of the night mist world lie endless mysteries. Those near-immortal seeds and divine seeds may have the chance to become gods and founders because of it. I don't want to miss it—I am not resigned! I want to blaze a trail for ordinary mortals, for the Newborns!"
With Qin Ming's final sigh, he fell silent. The Destiny-Altering Scripture ceased running. Those golden rivers seeped into the flesh-and-blood earth shrouded in black fog, never to reappear, and every ripple of his consciousness vanished completely.
His frame went motionless, deathly still inside.
Anyone arriving here and seeing him in this state would be certain that life had left him. With both flesh and spirit falling silent together, he was truly and completely dead.
In the night sky, a streak of rainbow light brushed across the bright moon, yet could not venture far, merely circling the moon before quickly dissipating. The night sky fell back into cold silence.
On the ground, Qin Ming lay motionless. Black fog churned within the soil of his flesh, and the "seeds of yang" planted by the Destiny-Altering Scripture were powerless to take root and sprout.
Now, commandeered by another scripture, they surfaced on their own accord. The golden rivers returned to the surface, crisscrossing and weaving through the black fog.
Before long, strands of golden thread appeared within Qin Ming's body, interlacing to stitch together his battered form. Silver light steamed and rose, applied like a salve between his torn flesh and throughout his shattered viscera.
At last, after he had fallen completely into despair, the silk book method began to circulate!
At this moment, golden needles drew thread across Qin Ming's body as though stitching him thousands, tens of thousands of times. The silver light metamorphosed, actually turning into jade light, applying medicine anew and wafting a faint medicinal fragrance.
Only now, after the silver light fully transformed into jade, could it perhaps be considered the true Golden Thread Jade Clothes. Even with such extraordinary phenomena, Qin Ming remained utterly silent; his condition was dire to the utmost!
One could see his whole body encasing itself like a cocoon. As the Golden Thread Jade Clothes dimmed, binding him tightly, he showed not the slightest stir.
No one knew how much time passed before a fragment of Qin Ming's consciousness revived, illuminating part of his body before bursting forth from the cocoon of flesh and blood.
He was utterly dazed. Who was he? Where was this place?
Then, looking down, he saw a body covered in scabs of clotted blood, deathly quiet and trapped as if in a cocoon. Just then, he caught sight of several butterflies dancing through the woods in the moonlight.
His mental consciousness followed suit, fluttering like a butterfly to trail after them.
"No, I am not them. Who am I?" He stopped once more and flew back near the body.
"Have I been reborn as a butterfly? No, I am Qin Ming... I cannot die!" Scattered fragments of memory surfaced. Though he was only a portion of consciousness, he still remembered many things.
This was only a fraction of his consciousness, but he knew that if he left the physical body and wandered away, his flesh and the dormant primary consciousness within would perish entirely.
In an instant, he returned to the body.
This fragmented consciousness, fused with divine wisdom and heavenly light force, was not frail. It shook with all its might, burning intensely to awaken the primary consciousness.
Gradually, that long-dormant primary consciousness began to glow, blooming with faint luster, and the Golden Thread Jade Clothes once again took on specks of sheen.
"I must awaken! I am no butterfly—I am a trailblazing founder!" That wisp of fragmented consciousness roared within Qin Ming, stirring wave upon wave of ripples in the primary consciousness before transforming into flames that blazed furiously, until the entirety of his primary consciousness grew dazzling and bright. He had awakened completely.
Chapter 175