Inside the grand azure-gold palace of Feixian Academy, brilliant lanterns illuminated the hall.
From Qin Ming's body, black and white light erupted simultaneously!
In an instant, the entire hall fell silent, and countless eyes fixed upon him.
This hall truly could be called "filled with distinguished guests." Possessing extraordinary talent was merely the minimum threshold to enter here.
Tonight, famous disciples from every path were gathered together under one roof. Their eyes were exceedingly sharp, and quite a few quickly noticed something abnormal.
Qin Ming was a Newborn. Deciphering a classic from the immortal dao arena already felt out of place for him, but now black and white currents of qi lingered around him, making him stand out all the more.
"The black and white light and mist are billowing—that doesn't look like a bluff!"
Many people were thoroughly astonished. Had he truly grasped some authentic insight?
One had to realize that even some celebrated young prodigies had come away empty-handed, looking at the scripture as if staring at demonic scribbles.
For a Newborn to decipher part of the true essence instead genuinely left many of them losing face.
Someone spoke up, "Did he practice it the wrong way? Everyone else has brilliant, variegated glows and dense immortal mists, whereas his black and white light is far too plain."
Quite a few nodded in agreement. Looking around, Leng Feiyue was cloaked in pure yang spiritual light, while Cui Chonghe and others were shrouded in five-colored immortal haze, each presenting marvelous phenomena.
There was also Cheng Sheng, a "great deity" of the esoteric sect, who had already reached the perfection of the third realm. Billowing tides of luminous mist surged around him with tremendous holiness.
Who were these people? Every one of them possessed a formidable background and had made their names resound throughout the night mist world long ago.
After contemplating the immortal skin, each looked as though they had been blessed with immortal light.
"Don't tell me he practiced it as a heavenly light force technique?" Some people revealed strange expressions.
Yet not that many chimed in; by no means did everyone believe Qin Ming had taken a wrong turn.
Even the very individuals being praised were frowning deeply, gazing toward the boy on the Newborn path, intent on thoroughly figuring out the truth.
Soon, onlookers noticed that the near-immortal seeds, the esoteric sect's divine seeds, and others were barely speaking, their expressions grave.
The most outstanding disciples of each path had all gained some comprehension and felt they had benefited immensely without straying into error.
However, they also clearly remembered that the circulation diagrams on the immortal skin were drawn with black and white lines.
Because of that, seeing Qin Ming's condition made their expressions turn heavy.
Chu Pianran spoke up: "With this scripture, different people behold different 'vistas.' Anyone of top-tier talent will reap their own harvest."
Instantly, many people breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, for a youth on the Newborn path to cultivate black and white light was truly peculiar. If he alone were allowed to outshine everyone else, it would genuinely be an upending of the natural order.
"I knew it. When a Newborn cultivates a technique inscribed on immortal skin, problems are bound to arise," someone remarked with a smile.
Several people agreed, nodding along.
Yet Chu Pianran spoke again, causing their expressions to freeze.
"The technique recorded on the immortal skin was originally named the Black-White Classic."
In a flash, shock surfaced across the faces of every immortal seed and divine seed. One after another, their eyes grew profound as they pondered in silence.
The rest of the crowd erupted into an uproar. Could it be that the technique grasped by the youth on the Newborn path was the one most faithful to the original scripture's meaning?
Sun Jingxiao, the immortal seed from the Pure Land, found it hard to believe. It felt utterly absurd—that youth did not even walk this path, so how could he possibly master it?
Earlier, Sun Jingxiao had even scoffed, thinking the other boy was daydreaming—just like a common brute who insisted on wielding a brush to compete in literary refinement.
Yet the scene before him taught him a harsh lesson.
If Qin Ming were an extraordinary prodigy of the immortal path, Sun Jingxiao would be convinced. But the boy had crossed domains to "exchange insights" with them and had actually achieved something extraordinary.
Sun Jingxiao was nearly petrified, feeling that this defied all reason.
He had contemplated painstakingly for a long time without any reaction inside his body. Only at the very last moment had faint glows surfaced on his skin, nearly resulting in nothing at all.
At this moment, several prodigies blessed by heaven felt deeply embarrassed.
Their gains had been limited, whereas that youth on the Newborn path appeared to have grasped the "orthodox meaning" of the scripture.
"Did he really... succeed?" The white-robed maiden Luo Yao opened her lovely eyes wide.
She was truly shocked. Earlier, she had thought he was just boasting, yet now he had actually pulled it off.
"He walked out from Black-White Mountain... sure enough..." In an instant, she filled in a great deal of the picture in her mind, thinking it made complete sense for black and white light to go with Black-White Mountain.
At this moment, every immortal seed and divine seed could not help but stare at Qin Ming's black and white light and mist, their feelings tangled and complex.
Even someone as self-assured as Cui Chonghe could not help furrowing his brow; this outcome exceeded his expectations.
With an aloof expression, he looked forward.
Once upon a time, that youth on the Newborn path had merely been his body double!
Zhao Shuyu, from the ancient immortal dao arena, had eyes sharp as swords. He had slashed that youth multiple times before, and in his eyes, the other was merely a drudge.
Yet an extraordinary book from their era had yielded part of its true essence to this youth, leaving Zhao Shuyu feeling hollow and finding it hard to accept.
No one knew the weight of this book better than him. Even Chu Pianran, said to have dominated the peer prodigies of an entire generation, had been stymied by it.
"This..." He wondered whether he had been born into the wrong era, feeling a sense of temporal disorientation. Were drudges about to rise?
The exceptional figures of the ghost path were similarly shaken to their core.
"What are you all staring at me for?" Qin Ming felt fortunate that he had exercised restraint and not allowed the black and white light to blossom fully, letting only a wisp escape his body.
"How did you decipher such an obscure and difficult classic?" Chu Pianran asked personally for guidance.
Instantly, everyone fell silent, eager to hear his insights.
Mainly, many people were still unconvinced. Why should someone on the Newborn path be able to comprehend it?
"Is it really that hard?" Qin Ming wore an expression of surprise, launching an area-of-effect strike right off the bat.
Even Leng Feiyue, descendant of the path-blazing old monster, and Cheng Sheng, one of the esoteric sect's young standard-bearers—figures of their stature—could barely keep straight faces.
Cui Chonghe did not utter a word either, silently staring at him again and again.
Chu Pianran had an unusual glint in her eyes, her feelings difficult to describe as she said, "The Black-White Classic relies heavily on innate talent and has stumped far too many people. Even my own path was blocked by it."
Qin Ming said, "Is that so? Could it be that my talent is just too high?"
Instantly, the place became so quiet that a dropped pin could be heard. Everyone gave him dark, brooding looks. He truly was not modest at all—where did that leave the immortal and divine seeds present?
Qin Ming chuckled and said, "Actually, this has nothing to do with innate talent. You all practiced in the wrong direction. I feel that this is a heavenly light force technique."
Could this get any more absurd? Many people simply did not believe it!
This fellow actually wanted to turn an immortal book into a Newborn method.
Someone spoke up: "I advance along both the immortal path and the Newborn path, and I tried driving it with heavenly light force. Why did I still gain nothing at all?"
Qin Ming asked, "Has your heavenly light force reached the level of Three Imperials force?"
He had nearly blurted out that it required reaching the level of Four Imperials force, catching himself just in time.
For a moment, those who had wanted to probe deeper and ask for guidance all shut their mouths.
Chu Pianran said, "Legend has it that in a very ancient era, someone mastered it. Moreover, that was a patriarch of the immortal dao who had never practiced heavenly light force."
"Perhaps all methods converge at the source. He probably cultivated a unique pure yang conscious spiritual light that was already comparable to supreme heavenly light force." Qin Ming was not speaking entirely off the cuff.
The prodigies of the other paths all fell silent.
"Could this truly be a scripture left behind by a supreme powerhouse among drudges?" Even Zhao Shuyu harbored such a thought.
Otherwise, there was simply no explaining it.
He refused to believe that a young drudge could comprehend an immortal method.
Qin Ming paid them no further heed. He immersed himself in the experience once more, feeling immensely satisfied. Although there were only twelve pages of scripture, they were easily on par with a top-tier peerless art.
Furthermore, there was clearly more to follow!
A complete Black-White Classic had quite a few pages and was priceless!
He believed there would definitely be chances to come into contact with the rest later, since Chu Pianran valued this scripture immensely. In the future, there would surely be opportunities to spar and discuss the Dao.
Qin Ming rose to his feet. In his buoyant mood, he appeared natural and unrestrained, his wide sleeves fluttering with an ethereal, transcendent air that seemed even more immortal than the disciples of the outside world.
"Qingyue, let me teach you," he transmitted to Li Qingyue.
"Let's find another place later."
Qin Ming nodded; this place was indeed unsuitable. Afterwards, he went looking for Luo Yao.
Approaching her, he smiled and said, "Bring out the Eight Views Classic to trade."
The white-robed maiden snapped back to her senses, feeling conflicted. She genuinely wanted to trade for this scripture, but she feared shouldering the blame, as it was an important component of the Immortal-Combating Classic.
Earlier, she had agreed on an impulse mainly because she thought he could not possibly decipher the technique on the immortal skin.
One look, and Qin Ming understood the situation. He said, "So you were boasting earlier. You don't have the authority to trade any scriptures at all!"
"Can't you just... see through it without calling it out?" Her skin was quite thick.
Then she whispered, "Later, I'll go ask for instructions and tell my sister. She doesn't need to have any qualms. I imagine she'll be extremely interested in the Black-White Classic."
Qin Ming turned around, not wanting to waste more words on her.
Li Qingyue walked over and said, "No matter. The Eight Views Classic, right? I know her sister. Later, I'll use the Black-White Classic to help you trade for it."
"Great!" Qin Ming truly attached great importance to the Eight Views Classic. It was an extraordinary art he cared about deeply along his planned path.
The remainder of the exchange gathering was far less eventful, with no other classic capable of capturing attention like the Black-White Classic.
In fact, before long, people began to take their leave.
In less than two months, Wu Yaozu had already integrated very well into the night mist world, chatting happily with various parties here.
When Qin Ming prepared to exit, Xiao Wu was still reluctant to leave.
"Then I'll head back first."
The next day, Qin Ming sought out Yu Gensheng and Zhao Ziyuan, informing them that he wished to enter the Heaven-Connecting Tower.
There were three tall towers in Shanhe Academy. During stormy weather, they could draw down outer heavenly light and thunder-fire, which could be used for artifact forging, decocting special panaceas, and the like.
Qin Ming intended to test his concept and see whether the path for his second realm was feasible.
In any case, he looked forward to it immensely. Entering a place akin to the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace would at least allow him to accumulate a denser pool of heavenly light.
With it, he could temper peerless arts and push them toward great accomplishment.
When Yu Gensheng and Zhao Ziyuan heard this, both were stunned. Using the physical body of an early second realm cultivator to head-on resist outer heavenly light—was this kid crazy?!
Qin Ming patiently explained to them, telling the pair that he had no fear of heavenly light's corrosion and had done this long ago.
"It isn't spring right now. Summer lightning is bound to be exceptionally violent!"
Both were adamantly opposed at first.
In the end, however, they were persuaded. Qin Ming stated that he would proceed with caution and would not act recklessly.
That same day, he smoothly entered one of the sky-reaching towers.
"It's the rainy season, and lightning strikes frequently fall. It shouldn't keep me waiting long." Qin Ming had everything fully prepared.
Chapter 253