Amid the ruins of the thatched cottage, bamboo slips lay scattered across the bluestone table. Originally there had been a massive pile, but most had burned away when the woman ascended to immortality, leaving only a small fraction behind.
Both youths held bamboo slips in their hands, overcome with excitement.
One was laughing heartily, slightly manic and rambling incoherently, wishing the heavens would knead him.
The other had a face brimming with joy, his eyes burning as he stared at the slips, itching to practice his martial arts right then and there and slap the heavens across the face.
"I get it! I understand! This is how the path should go!" Xiao Wu clutched the bamboo slips tightly, wave after wave of realization surging into his heart as he nodded repeatedly.
To Qin Ming, every single bamboo slip was priceless; these were divine artifacts.
At first, he had been shocked, because what he saw recorded upon them was the silk book method. The tiny characters were densely packed, remaining clear despite having weathered thousands of years, while various humanoid figures seemed to carry the vicissitudes of history.
The bamboo strips were yellowed with age, unmistakably ancient artifacts.
He had initially assumed they were left behind by the Patriarch, yet after studying and contemplating them closely, he found this silk book method differed slightly—it seemed to have undergone meticulous refinement and minor alterations.
Soon, realization dawned on him: these were all questions he had pondered bitterly on ordinary days. Now they surfaced on the bamboo slips, complete with "new interpretations"!
"This tea... is extraordinary! And these bamboo slips are truly miraculous—they are reflecting my own mind!"
The light in Qin Ming's eyes grew brighter and fiercer, like a flame of enlightenment had been ignited. His entire spirit transformed, radiating vibrant vigor.
"Brother, it's actually resolving my confusion! My path is smoothed out..." Xiao Wu said. The doubts of the past dissolved like splitting bamboo under a blade, and he gripped the bamboo slips firmly.
Qin Ming shook his head. "It isn't giving you answers or solving your doubts. It is reflecting what lies in your heart. The tea elevated your perception. We were already studying these accumulated questions, and now with deep contemplation, new interpretations naturally emerge."
Xiao Wu nodded. "Right! In the past, a single flash of inspiration was already rare, but right now flashes of insight keep sparkling endlessly!" With that, he fell silent. Such a state was exceedingly rare; ten thousand pieces of gold could not buy a single moment within this state of enlightenment.
Undoubtedly, the slips reflecting the heart combined with the mysterious tea caused one's comprehension to skyrocket within a short period, producing entirely different effects for different people.
If someone with Patriarch-level talent experienced a sudden, massive leap in comprehension—several times their ordinary level—how terrifying would that state be?
Holding the bamboo slips, the fog within Qin Ming's mind was continuously dispersed. Those questions he usually pondered gradually gained clear answers.
He spent his ordinary days studying the silk book, stacking various clues and accumulating flashes of insight. Some points were already on the verge of breakthrough, and now he naturally stepped right across the threshold.
"With the previous silk book method, I temporarily resolved the issue of my body bursting, but the finer details weren't perfect."
Qin Ming used this extraordinary state of sudden enlightenment to make refinements, deeply expanding upon the questions he had thought about and cross-referencing them with the refined version of the silk book method he had obtained in the divine temple.
Recently, he had closely studied the temple's silk book method. The modifications in the Newborn realm were minimal, but after practicing along with them, he discovered those subtle details were indeed far more ingenious.
Thus he had gained an insight: he needed to begin from the finest nuances, drawing upon the thinking of the Destiny-Altering Scripture.
When practicing the Destiny-Altering Scripture, he had gone with the flow, carrying the flavor of the Dao following nature, circulating his power by instinct.
Back then, when Qin Ming mastered the scripture's tenets, he had not placed blind faith in the meridian charts of the general outline. Instead, after fusing heavenly light, divine wisdom, and conscious spiritual light into one, he let them naturally spread outward, blazing a path under the framework of the general outline.
As he pondered the subtleties of the silk book method, the fog obscuring his previous questions blew away to reveal new interpretations. He now prepared to put them into practice.
Xiao Wu was grinning foolishly, but looked at from another angle, it was a manifestation of the pure, childlike heart that followed enlightenment.
Qin Ming did not disturb him. He picked up his own teacup and took a larger sip this time, for his next move would be pivotal and exert a tremendous influence on him.
In an instant, his mind flashed like lightning without a single stray thought, fully immersed in the realm he sought to conquer. What he conceived in his heart was mirrored onto the bamboo slips.
Qin Ming was all too familiar with the silk book method; it was what he had practiced the longest, over a dozen years since early childhood, strictly adhering to what was recorded in the book.
Now he broke from old rules. While keeping the overall doctrine unchanged, he let the silk book method circulate freely, carrying an effortless natural grace.
Qin Ming observed carefully; the overall pathway showed almost no alteration, seeming to proceed under its own momentum.
However, in his current extraordinary state, his spiritual intuition was sharp to the extreme. He noticed a slight sluggishness in several fine, subtle areas.
"Change!"
Qin Ming made his choice swiftly. Once the subtle paths shifted, he found that the sluggishness vanished.
On normal days, discovering and improving such nuances would have taken who knew how long, demanding repeated observation, trial, and adjustment to refine.
Today, however, was different.
His natural talent and comprehension were already terrifying—even speaking modestly, his baseline was at the Patriarch level. With this temporary surge, it reached an outright appalling degree.
At this moment, Qin Ming's thoughts were crystal clear. Flashes of insight intertwined continuously like lightning, a state of enlightenment capable of shocking many illustrious figures.
"The nuance here is not natural enough either; it feels too deliberate, and the micro-circulation pathway is dimmer than elsewhere." In this wondrous state, he could pinpoint flaws invisible to him under normal circumstances.
Qin Ming completed a full heavenly circuit, started anew, and made several minor adjustments in succession.
He ran the silk book method repeatedly, closing his eyes and letting nature take its course as heavenly light force surged like a blazing sun.
He felt the silk book method had reached its most perfectly suited state for him in the first realm!
The dazzling heavenly light, like a dense spiderweb interwoven through flesh and blood, flowed at blistering speed. He found it aligned with him far better than before.
Qin Ming felt that circulating along these finely tuned pathways ought to enhance the power of his heavenly light force!
A moment later, he opened his eyes and saw Xiao Wu grinning foolishly as he drank tea.
Qin Ming raised his cup and took a third drink, finally nearing the bottom.
Not far away, the other disciples could not see the thatched cottage ruins. Seeing only the two youths drinking imaginary tea and holding nonexistent bamboo slips among the briars while chatting, laughing, and seeking enlightenment, they were utterly speechless.
Yet a few individuals looked on with solemn expressions, such as Ling Yu and Xin Youdao.
Liu Hanya was shocked as well, having already come to believe that both youths were unfathomable.
This time, as Qin Ming circulated the silk book method, he paused slightly at the critical juncture before decisively merging heavenly light force, divine wisdom, and conscious spiritual light into one.
Evidently, he was reenacting the process and state from when he had comprehended the Destiny-Altering Scripture. After fusing the silk book method with the other two powers, it ran just as smoothly. Qin Ming was not surprised, for they had long been intertwined in his daily cultivation.
"Eh? The subtle details have become even clearer."
Qin Ming's flesh and blood lit up, as if golden rivers were coursing across an expanse of land cloaked in night mist, continuously pioneering new frontiers, spreading across his entire body and banishing the dark.
During this process, Qin Ming found only a single point of sluggishness, which was negligible. Still, he attempted to reroute it.
Afterward, when he circulated heavenly light force alone, he found the alteration held.
In the end, Qin Ming reached an epiphany: this pathway was the most suitable for him. Merging consciousness and divine wisdom into heavenly light force was like planting seeds into the soil of his physical body—cultivating the land in anticipation of a grand revival of all things and a future harvest season.
His improvements to the silk book method were fully complete. At this point, he felt it had reached perfection!
Qin Ming drank down the dregs of his tea, read the bamboo slips, and began contemplating other scriptures, reenacting the Departing Fire Classic and Wuji Classic while seriously studying the Golden Cicada Scripture, the Dragon Snake Scripture, and others.
Finally, he lifted the teapot, shook it thoroughly, and coaxed out a few remaining drops to drink. He noticed the tea's efficacy was no longer as potent; it seemed the prior amount had been just right for him.
"Brother, I still have a bit left in my cup. Do you want it? Drinking more doesn't seem to do anything for me anymore; I can't enter that epiphany state," Xiao Wu said, already thoroughly satisfied that so many of his perplexities were resolved.
"No need," Qin Ming shook his head.
"Then let's leave it for whoever is fated." Xiao Wu did not force himself to finish it, leaving the tea dregs behind.
Filled with longing, he said, "This is only leftover tea, perhaps eroded by thousands of years of time, yet it still has such an effect. If it were fresh tea... I can hardly imagine! If we could find a tea plantation like that—hiss—I feel like I could carve out a path entirely on my own!"
Evidently, his harvest just now had been immense!
Qin Ming believed that what he gained today would influence the entire path he was to walk.
In a state of enlightenment several times greater than a Patriarch's, he had tailored the silk book method for himself. The process appeared ordinary, but if outsiders were to learn of it, it would be no different from heavenly thunderclaps endlessly detonating across the Newborn path!
When Qin Ming stepped out, he found many teams had already set off. Those people had not wanted to watch the two of them "perform," believing it far too "fake."
In the distance, Ling Yu and Xin Youdao nodded toward them before quickly departing to catch up with their respective teams. They had been warned against associating too closely with these two, leaving them with considerable regret.
"Shanhe Number Two hasn't left yet," Xiao Wu noted.
In the distance, Liu Hanya and those around her felt an urge to roll their eyes at him; this fellow held grudges way too long. "Junior brothers, let's go. We can travel together," Liu Hanya took the initiative to invite them.
Qin Ming and Xiao Wu did not decline, gladly following along. With a large group scouting out mysterious terrain, they could save a great deal of effort.
By now, everyone understood that the spiritual herbs and minerals discovered in the physical realm could not compare to the extraordinary fortunes captured through spiritual perception.
Ahead, disagreements arose among the teams. Some no longer wished to travel together and wanted to disperse to explore separately. Soon, the large crowd in the dense forest split into numerous factions.
Yet soon enough, they all converged upon a single location once more, because the place was far too extraordinary—swirling with five-colored, multicolored mist visible from great distances.
Of course, many Newborns were the exception, unable to detect a thing unless they had reached the Outer Sage level and birthed some measure of conscious spiritual light.
"This place is truly absurd! Within the heavy mist, a reflection of oneself appears to battle you. Only by defeating that self can you pass through. If you fail, you won't even be able to see the five-colored mist anymore."
"I really want to hit someone! Just now, I was actually defeated by myself—it hurts like hell!"
In truth, many people failed. They discovered that the self in the mist was their strongest past self; at present, most could achieve a draw at best.
Qin Ming said, "In a realm where the real and the mystical intertwine, every arrangement holds profound purpose."
Having just achieved enlightenment, he was in dire need of such tempering. No matter how one looked at it, the two places were connected—this was the finest training ground.
"It hurts so much, I was nearly beaten to death by myself!" Gan Jincheng coughed up a mouthful of blood as he retreated. Even as a standout among the group, he still could not overcome the trial of himself.
Someone advised, "Everyone, after going in and having your reflection appear, don't rush to fight. Quietly contemplate first. If you can make a new breakthrough, then attempt the trial; otherwise, don't even try."
After passing by this area swirling with five-colored mist, the crowd suddenly turned back upon hearing a significant commotion from within. "Hiss... no way. Could those two fellows actually be formidable?"
Someone recalled that those two eccentric youths had once again been trailing behind. Were they attempting the trial now? This commotion was simply too grand!
Evidently, Liu Hanya had made up her mind to cling to these golden thighs—these two junior brothers were far too extraordinary. She had ordered her team to move ahead while waiting here alone.
With her own eyes, she witnessed a splendid arched bridge manifest within the dense fog, exuding an incomparably terrifying aura.
Immediately following that, her face drained of color as she noticed the other side: it was as though a brilliant sun was rising from the mist over a sea, radiating light that made even her divine soul ache with discomfort.
Mind you, she was outside that area; if she were standing up close, she could hardly imagine the impact.
"This... Young Ancestor talent? No, this feels considerably more terrifying than Ling Yu!" Liu Hanya was stunned, feeling that the two youths in the multicolored mist were each more absurd than the other.
She believed that if that Newborn unleashed his blazing sun-like fist light, not a single one among them could withstand it. Above all, for those on the immortal path, if they dared extend their conscious spiritual light, it would likely be ignited in an instant!
Before long, Qin Ming and Xiao Wu emerged from the multicolored land one after the other. They found it quite novel to be able to battle another version of themselves.
However, the "selves" reflected in the colorful mist were in the state they had been in prior to today; they did not manifest the changes wrought after their enlightenment in the thatched cottage ruins.
Otherwise, even Qin Ming would have emerged covered in blood, or perhaps suffered mutually assured destruction against his other self in the heavy fog.
After such a fierce battle, he felt the silk book's new path had attained perfection. Having been tested and tempered through real combat, it flowed even more smoothly and suited him impeccably.
Xiao Wu spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, thoroughly satisfied as he strode forward.
Grinning, he said, "Senior Sister, make an oath with a taboo technique not to speak of what you saw here."
Liu Hanya paused. She had known all along that these two harbored immense secrets; otherwise, they would not have remained so obscure.
Taking a deep breath, she actually complied. She knew full well that while the two appeared harmless to humans and beasts alike, they were undeniably dangerous.
Qin Ming and Xiao Wu did not walk fast, still experiencing the shifts within themselves.
"You two..." On Liu Hanya's fair and delicate face, her expression was complicated. Could they be some immortal seeds or divine seeds deliberately concealing themselves within the group?
"Ordinary as can be, just two nobodies. Senior Sister can just pretend you saw nothing," Xiao Wu said.
"There's actually... a village!" Liu Hanya gasped. At this moment, she stood atop a low hill looking into the distance.
Part of the preceding teams had entered, while another part skirted around to continue forward, clear evidence of a disagreement.
Moments later, the three of them drew near.
Qin Ming remarked with surprise, "It's very quiet. Those who entered vanished like clay oxen into the sea—not a sound has come out?"
Only when they made contact with the haze bordering the village did battle cries abruptly reach their ears. A fight was underway; an intense, bloody clash was taking place.
"Run! Get out of here!" a youth cried out in panic.
Over a dozen blood-soaked figures rushed outward, but some were blasted apart along the way, smashed to pieces by hurled short-handled hammers.
Others screamed as thrown spears impaled them, dripping with blood as a tragedy unfolded.
"What sort of genius disciples are so fragile? Haha, the academies of the Kunlou region are nothing to write home about!" A jackal-like roar of laughter echoed.
"Demons!" Liu Hanya's expression shifted.
Qin Ming and Xiao Wu charged straight inside. Although they found certain people thoroughly distasteful, when facing the demons of the plateau, they naturally presented a united front against external foes.
At that moment, Qin Ming drew his bow repeatedly. High atop the village rooftops, several towering figures hurling spears and short hammers were struck one after another, blooming with spray after spray of blood.
Qin Ming had not deployed jade iron arrows nor imbued them with heavenly light; refined iron arrows shot through pure physical strength alone achieved such results.
"Run!"
In a flash, over a dozen familiar faces burst outward.
"Don't go in! There are exceptionally powerful demons inside! Even Xin Youdao, Gan Jincheng, and Jiang Ruoli couldn't hold them off and were severely wounded!"
Someone warned, urging them not to throw their lives away for nothing. While grateful that Shen Wubing, Wu Yaozu, and Liu Hanya had rushed in to save them, they did not believe it could change anything.
Qin Ming said nothing and pushed inward. The fact that Xin Youdao and the others were severely wounded rather than killed instantly indicated the demons weren't so terr—yet soon enough, he realized he had oversimplified matters.
For a massive crowd was actually barred in its tracks by merely four demons.
Even counting the demons hurling spears and short hammers from the rooftops, the total did not exceed ten.
Yet five teams had arrived here, no fewer than fifty people, only to be routed by the demons and have several slaughtered. With a boom, Xiao Wu hurled a spear, sending it flying into the battlefield like a bolt of lightning.
Qin Ming released arrow after arrow, then scooped up a short hammer and hurled it with a roar like exploding thunder.
Among the four most formidable demons, one had his shoulder cut and bloodied by an arrow shaft. Meanwhile, several demons perched on the rooftops were pierced through.
"An expert has arrived?" a wolf-headed demon perched on a roof remarked.
The four leading demons on the ground remained silent and temporarily halted. All four bore human appearances, and prior to this, not a drop of blood stained their bodies, speaking volumes of their sheer prowess.
"Fall back, quickly!" Xin Youdao hissed. Catching sight of Qin Ming and Xiao Wu, his eyes lit up immediately. Over twenty people remained here, yet even banding together, they had failed to overpower those four demons.
"Did I say you could leave?" a silver-haired youth spoke. He was a demon virtually indistinguishable from a human. With a whoosh, he shot forward like lightning.
With a squelch, Su Junlin of Dameng Daoist Sanctuary was cleaved in half by his long saber!
Everyone went pale. Su Junlin had been the leader of a team and possessed formidable strength, yet he met such a gruesome end.
At the same time, a blond youth charged out, skewering Lin Qianyu with his spear and hoisting her into the air, drawing a shriek of agony from her.
Though Qin Ming and Wu Yaozu surged forward at top speed, hurling short hammer and spear, both attacks were blocked by the other two of the four demons.
With a bang, the blond youth gave a violent jerk, tossing Lin Qianyu away to crash onto the ground. She was clearly beyond saving, a bloody hole torn straight through her heart.
She had also been a genius and leader of her own squad, yet perished horribly. Qin Ming and Xiao Wu rushed near, regrouping with Xin Youdao and the rest.
"Take the others and fall back first!" Qin Ming murmured.
In truth, once the four demon youths paused, the others fled on their own, not believing for a second that three reinforcements could turn the tide.
However, seeing Xin Youdao stay behind, the most powerful among them gritted their teeth and returned—loyal enough not to flee solely for themselves.
Jiang Ruoli, Gan Jincheng, and Xiao Yaqin were covered in blood as they stood their ground once more, panting heavily.
Soon, they were stunned: the two youths who had rushed to their aid had exchanged palm strikes with two of the four demons and emerged completely unscathed.
It was precisely for this reason that the four human-like demon youths had not pressed their pursuit against the others.
Xin Youdao quickly explained, "These are four renowned demon youths from the plateau, all in the second realm. One has an immense background—that black-haired youth. He has a shot at competing for demon seed, the equivalent of our candidates for immortal seed. Once he polishes himself a bit more, he'll truly come into his own."
Xin Youdao was thoroughly aggrieved. Had his cultivation realm not been lacking—having yet to break into the second realm—he never would have suffered such a catastrophic setback today, nor such utter humiliation.
To think that so many of them had been hunted by four demons, and even ganging up proved useless.
"Competing for demon seed? Then he definitely won't get the chance!" Qin Ming stated.
The returning Jiang Ruoli, Gan Jincheng, Xiao Yaqin, and the others were taken aback. Was he truly that confident? To dare speak so boldly!
Immediately afterward, a thought struck them: Could the behavior of these two earlier at the thatched cottage ruins have been genuine rather than an act?
"Just how many demons entered this time? Did they lie in wait here on purpose to ambush us?" Qin Ming asked.
Xin Youdao replied, "No. Our side took over portions of the plateau, including this secret realm. These demons were already here at the time; unable to leave in time, they went into hiding."
"In that case, kill them all!" Qin Ming declared. Having spent time on the frontiers of reclamation and fought vicious battles against demons, he knew full well how terrifying demons could become once mature. These non-human entities harbored intense hostility toward their side, leaving no room for compromise between them.
"Two each!" Xiao Wu said.
The blond youth opposite sneered, "Heh... What did I just hear? An entire horde was routed by us. You two are indeed not weak, but to dare be this conceited—I take it you're tired of living!"
They advanced on their own initiative. As four renowned demon youths of the plateau, their confidence knew no bounds. All of them had set foot into the second realm, and each had a formidable demon sect backing them.
Qin Ming said nothing and walked forward.
Xiao Wu immediately fell in beside him, facing those four unique youths together.
"Those two..." Gan Jincheng found it hard to believe.
Liu Hanya whispered, "They might actually win!"
"We'll do our part too and hold back those demons on the rooftops!" Jiang Ruoli said.
Xiao Yaqin wore a complex expression. She understood now: those two youths were formidable. When Xin Youdao had recommended them earlier, she had actually turned them down.
"I don't know your background, but could you be candidates to compete for immortal seed? You certainly talk big," the strongest black-haired demon youth remarked.
"Who's stepping up? Butcher one of them first!" The black-haired youth's tone was icy. He was equivalent to a quasi-immortal seed—his realm had not yet reached the mark, but his potential was immense.
"Let me!" the silver-haired youth replied. It was he who had cleaved Su Junlin in half at the final moment; his cultivation was indeed profound, and he was extraordinarily ruthless.
"Brother, let me—" Before Xiao Wu could finish, Qin Ming had already charged forward.
Carrying his saber dripping with blood, the silver-haired youth approached. Seeing his opponent take the initiative and close the distance in a flash, he sneered ferociously. He had already set foot in the second realm two years ago, standing as an exceptional prodigy among demons.
However, the very next instant, horror seized him. A five-colored saber materialized in his opponent's grip, and five-colored rings of light revolved outside his body, making the demon's hair stand on end. This was no friendly sparring match; this was demon slaying. Qin Ming had no intention of wasting time and went all out right from the start.
In the briefest span of time, the two clashed over a dozen times in rapid succession.
It was evident just how strong the silver-haired youth was, having traded blows head-on so many times against Qin Ming, who had just attained enlightenment.
Between them, blinding saber light surged incessantly.
Finally, after exchanging yet another strike, the silver-haired youth shot past. With a clatter, his long saber shattered and fell to the ground. Blood began streaming from between his brows, followed by his chest and abdomen splitting wide open.
With a wet squelch, his body fell in two—he had already been cleaved clean in half, and only now did the blood splatter outward!
Chapter 204