Truth and Falsehood

Once Qin Ming entered the subterranean fissure, his exhaustion vanished completely. It had not been an illusion when he stood outside: the place where he had once narrowly escaped death was now completely different. He looked upward; the exit was only about four meters above. Beside him, silver light intertwined and spread underground like spider silk, imparting a slight warmth wherever it touched his body. With a short sword in one hand and the long-handled dark-gold hammer in the other, Qin Ming walked forward. After accidentally falling down here last time, he had not ventured deep, but now he wanted to explore. The ground was extremely uneven, scattered with damp rocks of varying sizes. Water droplets clung to the stone walls on both sides, occasionally dripping down. The path ahead was rugged and gradually narrowed until he was nearly brushing the stone walls on either side. Soon, he came to a narrow crevice that could only accommodate a single person. Though underground, it was not entirely dark. Silver threads crisscrossed in an irregular weave, shedding a faint glow, and touching the silver light caused Qin Ming no harm. Brushing lightly against the stone walls and picking up a bit of moisture, he emerged into an open space. The loose rocks on the ground thinned out, leaving the floor much flatter. In this area, the silver threads grew thicker, densely packing the entire cavern as though many giant spiders had spun webs here that merged together. Moreover, some threads emerging from the rock walls bore specks of pale gold, and white mist steamed throughout the space. Standing there, Qin Ming felt the effect even more distinctly. His body grew light and supple; his taut muscles relaxed on their own, bathed in warmth like soaking in a hot spring. He frowned. Was this caused by a dramatic transformation in the mountain's special node, or had he simply adapted to this place after surviving his earlier ordeal? Qin Ming remembered that terrifying experience vividly: his heart had pounded violently like frantic drumbeats, his chest nearly bursting, and his blood had surged at a frightening speed until he could faintly hear the roar of a waterfall. He reflected on the various changes that had occurred since leaving this place. The most abnormal of all was the "wild path" he practiced. For years it had shown no activity whatsoever, but after enduring that near-death state, practicing it again had actually produced a peculiar reaction. Now he already knew that his wild path was not wild at all. It was recorded in the silk book that he had practiced doggedly since childhood. *Someone told me the silk book couldn't be practiced because most of it was torn away and burned...* The remaining dozen or twenty pages could theoretically be practiced, but they required an initiated guide who had practiced it before—and those people had probably all died long ago. *Without being able to find such a person, without anyone's help, I ultimately succeeded. Does it have something to do with this place?* Qin Ming pondered, drawing various connections. *Could it be that practicing the method in the silk book originally required the protection of predecessors to enter this kind of extremely dangerous, special node...?* Qin Ming thought deeply. Afterward, he walked forward to observe this peculiar place, cautiously beginning to make contact with the thick threads tinged with pale gold. Before long, as he went deeper, he even saw glowing threads steaming with purple qi piercing through the rock walls—an extraordinary spectacle, yet harmless to the flesh. *** In the dense forest on the mountain's outskirts, the purple-eyed crow was flying when a vast sheet of black mist suddenly billowed ahead, blocking its path. "Who is it?" It instantly grew alert. Mysterious symbols swirled in its purple eyes, gradually piercing the thick fog to discern what lay within. A massive owl, as tall as a man, perched on a large tree. Its two wings were as dexterous as human hands, currently flipping through an animal-hide book. "Long time no see. Care for a few drinks?" the owl spoke. The thick fog did not disperse as it tucked the book beneath one wing. "I'm patrolling the mountains; I don't have time," the crow refused, harboring a fair bit of wariness toward it. "What sort of status do you hold now? This isn't your territory. You've really made something of yourself, haven't you—acting as a doorkeeper for a wretched old man?" The owl blocked its way, apparently thoroughly displeased with its behavior and intent on lecturing it here. The black fog thickened further, blanketing the forest. The purple-eyed crow replied, "Old Cat, I have business to attend to. Lately I took a liking to a halfway-decent seedling, and I need to go check on him. Don't block my way." Had Qi Huai'en known this, he would have broken into a cold sweat. Just like You Liangyun, he had not yet gained approval and was also being tested and observed. The owl said, "Are you really never going back to the black mist world of the wilderness? No matter how you slice it, you hail from an illustrious clan—a prominent family among birds. You carry the bloodline of higher beings, a bird with profound pedigree. How could you willingly debase yourself? Do you actually want to re-visualize your true form, turn into a two-legged beast, and live permanently in cities?" The purple-eyed crow nodded. "Hmm, it's not entirely out of the question. I have the talent to change my true form. Aren't there humans who linger near forbidden grounds deep in the mountains and great marshes, transforming into mutates? Why can't we do the opposite and find a path that suits ourselves?" The owl scolded, "What an outrage! Neither proper human nor proper beast! A crow from a renowned and noble lineage, yet you want to become human! I ought to report this to your grandfather crow, so he plucks every feather off your body and manually turns you into a bald two-legged beast!" The two began bickering. "Stay out of my business and get out of the way! You might delay my important affairs. If they test that boy ahead of schedule and an accident happens, things will go wrong. If he proves moldable, I'll need him in the future to retrieve something for me amidst humanity's boundless mortal dust. It concerns my future path, and you know the truth of the matter. Now get out of my way!" the crow snapped. You Liangyun had told it that he would test Qin Ming in about two days, but if the right opportunity arose, he might act ahead of schedule. "Master Wu, are you back from the depths of the mountain? Something terrible has happened! It's awful—those people are all dead!" a mutated speech sparrow shouted, flapping its wings as it arrived. The purple-eyed crow broke free of the black mist, appearing outside. "What happened?" "Master Wu, I carried out the task you gave me conscientiously. But along the way, a three-meter-tall bear led a huge crowd of two-legged beasts chasing me. I was frightened off for only a brief moment, yet a bunch of people on your end were already lying stiff as corpses! When I returned, I smelled the scent of blood they left behind, but I don't know how they died." Following the sparrow to the vicinity of the incident, the purple-eyed crow searched and sensed carefully. It was exceptionally sensitive to the aura of life and death. Closing its eyes for a moment, it opened them again and muttered to itself, "Qi Huai'en is dead, but there is no death qi from that youth here. Interesting. Was Qi Huai'en killed by an outsider, or did fighting that youth lead to his death?" It waved a wing, dismissing the speech sparrow. "If that boy is truly so formidable that he reached this stage on his own, it might be just as well if he doesn't go to Liuxia City. There's no need for me to meddle now." The purple-eyed crow flew away. *** In the snow, You Liangyun was reporting to the woman: "Qi Huai'en tested Qin Ming and said he was ultimately still a fraction short. The mountains are in utter chaos. Before I left, a fierce clash broke out in that dense forest..." The purple-eyed crow flew back, landing on a stunted tree, and said, "Qi Huai'en rushed over to save people, but died himself. A bit of a shame." "You may stay," the woman cloaked in the black fur mantle said to You Liangyun. "Ah?" You Liangyun froze in shock, then immediately bowed with immense solemnity, his expression overflowing with excitement. *** Deep in the mountains, the five-colored haze soaring into the sky gradually faded. Ling Xu and Wei Mo rose together, tossing aside the wine cups and jars in their hands. Ling Xu used his long saber to give his foot a gentle jolt. His hide boot instantly tore open, exposing a bit of his toes. Next, he struck his own chest lightly with a palm, shattering his white robes. His slender frame did not appear particularly burly, but beneath the illumination of the distant haze, the contours of his muscles flowed smoothly, seemingly edged in gold by the radiant glow. He reduced his appearance to tatters, then brushed his fingers across his skin, instantly creating smeared streaks of blood—a consummate display of fakery. Wei Mo spoke up: "To think that City Lord Ling, the most immaculate, polished man who cares so deeply about his appearance, could reduce himself to such a state. If the people outside saw this, it would probably become the talk of the town." Even as he spoke, Wei Mo was busy at work himself, plucking off several scarlet plates from his armor, stuffing them into his tunic, and making himself look thoroughly battered. In another stretch of mountain terrain, the civet cat captured an enormous black mountain cat, smeared a bit of its blood over itself with obvious distaste, and sprinkled on some glowing spiritual substance. Not far away, the mantis beast was doing the exact same thing. Without a doubt, the leadership of Chixia City and the mutates in the mountains were unwilling to let outside experts rush in and contest the rare bounty from the special node. The two sides had joined forces once more. A simple, crude ambush to slaughter those experts would never do; it would provoke widespread fury, and major organizations would seek revenge against them. Earlier, when they had teamed up to drive off the higher beings migrating in to seize the territory, they had slain a formidable mutate and extracted its dense spirituality. Using this, they deliberately detonated a special node to artificially engineer a region of five-colored haze, luring the various factions into competing for it. Meanwhile, Ling Xu, the civet cat, and the other high-tier mutates of the mountain staged battles against one another, pretending to clash and stall each other outside the battlefield. Of course, they could not fake every fight. For instance, the old weasel had been intercepted by a genuine opponent, and that mysterious mountain lord had rushed straight into the center of the battlefield to join the fray. The results were quite favorable. Experts had already fallen in battle near the five-colored haze, and several outside higher mutates and powerful figures from major organizations had sustained serious injuries. *** Deep in the subterranean fissure, Qin Ming began practicing the method from the silk book. More and more, he felt thoroughly clear and relaxed throughout his body, as if a mysterious warm current were cleansing him from head to toe. Various glowing threads crisscrossed this place. To someone like Wang Nianzhu, who had achieved a second Newborn, they posed immense danger, making it urgent to nourish oneself with spiritual creatures like blood snakes. Yet now, Qin Ming remained here for an extended period not only unharmed, but feeling his physical constitution subtly improving. *Could the method recorded in the silk book be suited for practicing in a place like this?* he wondered. However, no one could answer him now. The people of that era were dead, maimed, or gone without a trace. The silk book had long yellowed with age, a relic left behind who knew how many years ago. The ground suddenly shook violently, nearly knocking Qin Ming off his feet. Outside, at the epicenter where the five-colored haze was dimming, higher mutates and experts from mysterious organizations stood in confrontation. All of them were in terrible shape, and none had managed to enter the node. Right at that moment, all the brilliance within the node abruptly vanished. Far in the distance, a brand-new plume of five-colored haze erupted violently, far more astonishing than the earlier spectacle here had ever been! "How is there another one?" "No! The rare treasure that formed has shifted along the spiritual ley lines to another location!" Ling Xu, the old weasel, and the others had originally prepared further acts for their performance, but now they froze along with the crowd. They didn't even need to cover up anything anymore—a genuine five-colored haze site had emerged! *Rumble!* Suddenly, the entire mountain range shook violently, far more terrifyingly than before. Accompanied by blinding radiance, the pitch-black night sky was torn open and fully illuminated as an even more grandiose anomaly materialized. "What am I looking at?! Ten colors! Those beams of light stand like colossal pillars propping up the night sky! This is an unheard-of wonder! Just what kind of rare treasure is about to emerge?!" Even the higher beings were dumbfounded; this went far beyond anything they could imagine. In an instant, regardless of how badly injured they were, all the experts vanished from where they stood. Without sparing a single glance at the true five-colored haze site that had just emerged, they charged straight toward the place with the grander anomaly, where endless rain of light steamed and scattered, seizing everyone's gaze.