Beneath the eternal night, on Spirit Lake in Ruicheng, a group of prodigies aboard the gilded, lavishly decorated vessel found themselves utterly baffled by two scriptures.
Wu Yaozu's brow furrowed tightly. He leaned closer, but the circulation chart of the Destiny-Altering Scripture left him so dizzy that his vision blurred, prompting him to seek Qin Ming's aid.
High up in the pitch-black sky, snowflakes drifted down, turning into water droplets as they neared the surface of Spirit Lake. A fine drizzle fell, creating ripples on the lake where golden light shimmered across the water.
Qin Ming did not immediately study the true scripture. His gaze drifted past the curtain of rain toward the misty, boundless lake, his thoughts wandering far into the distance.
*The "wanderers" who vanished many years ago have returned. They wander in and out of various ruins, yet who knows what they are truly searching for? It might not be ancient scriptures at all.*
These young prodigies had their own missions as well: to interact with the seed disciples of Yezhou and trade true scriptures.
For now, the waters between the two sides were calm, as if they had struck a tacit understanding.
Yet this was merely an initial encounter. What would the future hold?
Qin Ming knew all too well that even though they all belonged to the human race, in this treacherous, unpredictable night-fog world governed by the law of the jungle, relations between them were as fragile and flickering as a candle in the wind.
In Pugong, the landscape was magnificent and cultivation civilization highly developed, with Earth Immortals walking the land and seven-sun stackers presiding over it. If they ever came to view Yezhou as prey, the consequences would be terrifying.
Qin Ming suspected that their current wariness toward Yezhou was primarily due to Yujing temporarily lingering in these lands.
However, the day would come when this "tacit understanding" ceased to exist.
After all, they had people on the inside.
The "wanderers" born in Yezhou could scout the paths for them.
In particular, certain "wanderers" of immense seniority had yet to return, such as the silk book method patriarch and Helian Chengyun's martial uncle.
If such "sages" were to descend upon Yezhou one day, who would hold the final say in the ancestral courts of the various paths?
Faced with such a treacherous, killing-intent-laden situation, he wondered how the patriarchs of Yezhou would handle it. Surely, it gave them no small headache.
Moreover, rumors had it that Yujing was fluctuating, and the earthen city linked to it showed signs of awakening. No one knew what kind of monsters might emerge.
The long night was devoid of light, and the road ahead stretched endlessly. No one knew what would become of Yezhou in the days to come.
Thinking of the surging undercurrents of the greater landscape, Qin Ming looked back at the group of youths wracking their brains over the true scripture, suddenly finding the spectacle rather trivial, bland, and even utterly dull.
He soon shook his head to clear his mind. He had gotten ahead of himself just now, thinking far too ahead. At present, he was only a youth himself; it was better to focus on what was right before him.
As for the sky collapsing, it was hardly his turn to hold it up. Even if he were willing, he lacked the power.
Under the same night sky, snow fell on one side, draping the buildings in pristine white, while a fine drizzle drifted across the other, descending upon the golden waters of Spirit Lake and wetting the radiant silver lotus blossoms.
Luo Yao, the young maiden in white, was deep in thought, yet she could not comprehend that page of the true scripture. Her head felt ready to burst, her mind a chaotic mess.
With a glance, she noticed that singular fellow not far away, surprisingly still in the mood to sip tea.
She knew very well that the youth from Black-White Mountain possessed an absurdly high comprehension, on par with her elder sister's.
"Why aren't you reading the scripture? Can you make sense of it?" she asked in a low voice.
"Pour the tea," Qin Ming said, sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat and pointing to the cicada-wing-thin white porcelain cup on the low tea table.
Luo Yao stood up, brewed the tea, and poured it in a fluid, graceful motion, doing it all in one breath. Only after finishing did she realize what had happened. Why had she obeyed his order? She had been far too compliant!
She realized that when Qin Ming had gone to the immortal land last time, she had been responsible for these tasks, and it had somehow become second nature. Just now, she had reacted purely out of habit.
She almost struck herself with a delicate fist. Had she truly become a tea maid?!
"Can you do it or not? Can you comprehend it?" she pressed.
"Bow to me as your master, and I'll teach you," Qin Ming said, setting down his teacup.
"When I get back, I'm telling my sister you want to take her as a disciple!" She turned her head away, returning her attention to that page of true scripture.
Qin Ming stood up and first went to examine the Destiny-Altering Scripture.
Back then, even Li Qingyue had been unable to obtain the genuine original, only an artificially aged copy produced by the Pure Land, which was merely one or two centuries old.
Now, he gazed at the ancient volume, forced to wait his turn in line.
Jian Huaidao, Xie Lin, Mu Yunzhou, and the others all took it with great seriousness. They took turns handling it, each revealing some unique ocular art; runes surfaced in their eyes, divine light shooting forth with every blink.
They took pride in their extraordinary natural gifts, yet at this moment, they were utterly stumped. Just the three circulation charts in the general outline were enough to bar their way forward.
"A wondrous book indeed!" Xie Lin marveled.
Though he could not bring it to fruition, he could sense that this scripture was extraordinary, bordering on defying the heavens. How could anyone have conceived such an intricate path?
Moreover, judging from the subsequent chapters, this was a miraculous text capable of altering one's foundational bone structure and elevating an organism's innate gifts—its value was immeasurable.
Xie Lin sat quietly, his entire body beginning to glow. Dense clusters of symbols seeped from his pores, resembling script yet baring fangs and brandishing claws.
Each character carried a bloody hue and was accompanied by black mist. Some took the form of vicious dragons, others of fierce ghosts, black phoenixes, or gleaming light-patterns resembling blood qilin.
At once, the descendants of the wanderers, such as Feng Qiwu and Lu Wei, showed expressions of astonishment.
They knew this was the awakening of the Earth Immortal bloodline, blessing Xie Lin and amplifying his innate gifts—a gift from his ancestor.
The seeds from Yezhou were also stirred, breaking out of their meditative state to look up.
The spiritual radiance upon Xie Lin surged dramatically, his Daoist resonance thickening by a wide margin. His eyes grew profound, and his conscious spiritual light flared intensely—he was using his Earth Immortal bloodline to forcibly enter a state of enlightenment.
He gained some insight, but when he attempted to forcibly circulate the three secret diagrams of the general outline, he coughed up a large mouthful of blood, having actually injured himself.
He was certain he had gained something and had comprehended remarkable insights. Yet his immortal path seemed fundamentally incompatible with this technique!
This distressed him greatly. He had clearly drawn near, as though on the verge of scattering the mist and peering through the heavenly book, only for his pure immortal path to fail to support him in walking this road.
No one mocked him, for everyone knew his prior state had been extraordinarily profound; he had seemingly grasped part of the miraculous book's subtle truths, only for his path to clash with the scripture, causing him to fall short at the final step.
Beside him, Jian Huaidao, whose background was even more astonishing, had golden runes emerging from his pupils. His tangible gaze seemed almost glued to the pages.
He grew dead serious as well. An abundance of script seeped from his body, turning into immortal light and cloud patterns. Phantoms of true dragons materialized, heavenly phoenixes spread their wings in dazzling radiance, miniature golden rocs soared upward through immortal mist, and tiny figures sat cross-legged within the immortal glow.
A blessing from a seven-sun stacker, gifted to a descendant, was indeed distinct from that of an Earth Immortal. The dense characters flowing from Jian Huaidao's pores were, by comparison, exceptionally sacred, bearing none of that savage ferocity.
Yet when he forcibly circulated the Destiny-Altering Scripture, he too spat out a mouthful of blood.
He had gained some insight, as if grasping something, and in a daze, he caught sight of a resplendent great road. But the moment he drove forward with immortal methods, he tumbled from the clouds, unable to traverse it.
"It can extend lifespan, thicken the foundation, and alter one's destiny. A pity. Though I gained an inkling, I cannot put it into practice!" He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, filled with regret.
Zhuo Qingming spoke up. "No need to take it to heart. Even the patriarchs of past generations were unable to fully fathom its true meaning."
Mu Yunzhou, who had mastered Chaos force, stepped forward. He had integrated multiple formidable heavenly light forces, making his body resemble a miniature sun that thoroughly illuminated the grand vessel, casting bright light across the night sky and the lake's surface.
Everyone felt a chill of awe. This man's heavenly light force was truly terrifying, fully living up to the rumors that he might be even stronger than a Sky Shaker or a Golden Body Nirvanic.
With a soft sound, even someone as dazzling as he began coughing up blood, unable to walk the paths in the Destiny-Altering Scripture's general outline.
The descendants of the wanderers took turns contemplating it as well, only to sigh in the end. This wondrous book had stumped every last one of them.
Qin Ming stepped forward and gently stroked the page, treating it with great care. He placed immense value on the Destiny-Altering Scripture, for it was of tremendous use to him.
The phenomena mentioned in this marvelous text—waterspouts, divine magnetic storms, fiend caverns, purple-mist lightning fires, and the like—were deadly, yet they were also profoundly restorative, pairing peril with opportunity.
Most importantly, the Destiny-Altering Scripture could help him correct the silk book method, fine-tuning its circulation charts to perfectly harmonize with himself.
Qin Ming almost slammed the book down, for it was still not the original. The old fellows were exceedingly guarded; this remained an artificially aged product, though a rather old one, dating back five hundred years.
The more the people from Pugong wished to view the original, the less the old fellows from the Pure Land were willing to produce it. This proved that the two sides were nowhere near as "in sync" as imagined.
Even though Qin Ming knew the scripture's principles like the back of his hand, he had no choice but to put on an act here, turning the pages and pretending to comprehend the art.
"Cui the Second, what kind of look is that?" Wu Yaozu snapped in displeasure.
The crowd froze. Who was Cui the Second? Following his gaze, they realized who Xiao Wu was singling out—it was none other than Cui Chonghe.
In truth, even the man himself failed to react at first. Who would dare address him like that? He was ethereal and transcendent, a figure destined to pave new paths for the immortal Dao in the future.
Only when countless gazes landed upon him did Cui Chonghe erupt with rage!
"Calm down! Blood duels are forbidden here!" someone kindly warned.
Cui Chonghe did not believe Qin Ming could grasp the essence of this wondrous book. Thus, seeing him flip through the pages in such a perfunctory manner, a sneer had crossed his face.
He had assumed Qin Ming knew it could not be cultivated and was simply skimming through it in a slipshod fashion, not even bothering to put in a convincing effort to fake it.
"Mind your words!" Cui Chonghe looked coldly at Xiao Wu, issuing a warning.
Then he nodded frankly. "I indeed believe he cannot comprehend this scripture."
"Come, bet!" Wu Yaozu declared, his challenge boiled down to just two words.
Having been called Cui the Second, Cui Chonghe was already brimming with anger. Seeing the other party trying to resort to reckless gambling out of sheer incompetence, he agreed on the spot. What could a Qin Ming who was merely pretending to read possibly comprehend?
With a thud, Wu Yaozu slapped a book onto the table, his palm pressing down on it so that only the words "Demon Scripture" could be seen.
Tang Xumi's lips twitched slightly, but he said nothing.
Wu Yaozu said, "Not long ago, you traded scriptures with Xie Lin. Put that up as your stake."
"It isn't an art. You still want it?" Cui Chonghe asked coldly.
"I do!" Wu Yaozu nodded. In his view, anything Cui the Second fancied was bound to be exceptional.
At the same time, he stated in advance that so long as Qin Ming comprehended more of the principles than Cui Chonghe had, it would count as a win.
He naturally dared not let Qin Ming cultivate the art to completion in public; otherwise, it would surely draw out certain old fellows.
Back then, Qingtian had been so furious after reading the Destiny-Altering Scripture that he nearly tore it apart, while Liu Yu had ordered everyone in the know to shut their mouths and forbade any mention of his attempt to comprehend it, showing just how difficult it was.
As for the patriarchs of the immortal path, none of them had uttered a word after reading it, presumably failing to crack it as well.
Qin Ming harbored no goodwill toward Cui Chonghe and decided to test his blade here, putting on a slight display to suppress the man's arrogant bluster.
In the end, Cui Chonghe was stunned. His expression shifted drastically, finding it difficult to believe. How could someone so perfunctory actually comprehend part of the scripture's principles?!
In truth, it was not just him; Luo Yao, Helian Zhaoyu, Wei Cheng, and the others all felt as though they had been struck over the head with a club. How was it fair for someone to reap extraordinary gains while studying a scripture so casually?
Of course, some knew that Qin Ming might have encountered this wondrous book in the past, yet his ability to comprehend even more was still a heavy blow to their pride.
Expressionless, Cui Chonghe took out a very thin booklet, studied it closely to memorize its contents, and then tossed it to Xiao Wu. Turning on his heel, he walked away to resume studying the single page of true scripture brought from Pugong.
Jian Huaidao, Xie Lin, Mu Yunzhou, and the others also wore looks of astonishment. To think someone could study a scripture so casually and yet glean more than they had!
The descendants of the wanderers, such as Feng Qiwu and Lu Wei, were truly shaken. None knew better than they just how extraordinary the scions of Earth Immortals and seven-sun stackers were, given the gifts bestowed by their ancestors.
Their emotions grew tangled. Were the youths of the ancestral land truly this terrifying? His comprehension was actually higher than that of an Earth Immortal's descendant!
Wu Yaozu passed the booklet over. Qin Ming glanced at it once before stuffing it directly into his robes.
"Breaking news! Cui the Second suffered a setback!"
In Ruicheng, someone received firsthand information from Spirit Lake and was quite astonished.
Soon, the news spread.
"Who is Cui the Second?"
"Cui Chonghe!"
"Ah?!"
The outside world erupted into an uproar, and the matter quickly sparked heated debate.
Qin Ming walked to the other side, fixing his eyes on that glowing "single page of true scripture." It was forged from exotic metal, a clear testament to its value.
He noticed that from Pei Shuyan to Zhuo Qingming, and onward to Helian Zhaoyu and Wei Cheng, everyone's brows were furrowed tighter and tighter, their thoughts seemingly tangled in knots.
Cheng Sheng and Zhao Qingcheng of the esoteric sect each had a divine ring swirling around their bodies, having entered a realm of absolute serenity, yet they still struggled to pierce the mist shrouding the scripture's meaning.
Someone even forcibly ran their mental method to force-train the technique on the spot, only to turn pale and nearly spew a mouthful of blood.
Helian Yaoqing considered herself the orthodox successor of the Helian clan, the most gifted among her generation, yet now she was sighing. Facing the familiar Destiny-Altering Scripture, she had been able to glean some insights, but studying this single page of scripture from Pugong gave her a splitting headache.
Cui Chonghe prided himself on peerless talent, believing his comprehension surpassed many immortal seeds, but at this moment, his heart was rife with an unventable frustration.
He wracked his brain, his temples throbbing, his entire body wreathed in brilliant immortal light as he pushed himself into an enlightened state to decipher the principles. Unfortunately, as time slipped by, he made no progress whatsoever.
He retrieved a precious medicine and consumed it on the spot, allowing his inner being to become even more tranquil, as if blending with heaven and earth, bearing a rich Daoist resonance.
At this moment, his body seemed to radiate a light rain of ascending immortals, extraordinarily sacred and transcendent, as if he were about to leave the mortal world behind.
Yet to his utter disappointment, wisps of crimson blood eventually seeped from the corner of his mouth; he remained unable to grasp the true essence of this page.
"Come give it a try," Helian Yaoqing called out to Qin Ming. Dressed in white robes, she had returned to her feminine attire today, looking exceptionally radiant, possessing a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms.
"All right!" Qin Ming nodded.
Having put on an extraordinary display with the Destiny-Altering Scripture just now, he naturally drew everyone's attention.
Even Cui Chonghe quickly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, casting an aloof gaze in his direction.
Qin Ming took the seemingly thin yet heavy exotic metal scripture into his hands and inspected it closely. As expected, it held an immense amount of information, packed with dense writing that was completely illegible to anyone of low cultivation.
The page was pure white and translucent. The exotic metal exuded the weathered patina of age, while countless delicate characters sparkled across it like a dusting of stars.
Qin Ming resonated with it cautiously, after which he nearly slammed the book down again.
This was no ancient relic at all; it had been replicated less than fifty years ago. The aging technique was masterful, but it was by no means the original.
Still, the scriptural principles were authentic, with no falsehoods introduced.
Pugong had also held back a card, worried that the original scripture might conceal secrets they had yet to uncover, which was why they had not sent it over.
Qin Ming immersed himself in it, pondering for a long time and committing the text firmly to memory. He was certain that one had to thoroughly comprehend the Destiny-Altering Scripture before they could study this page.
Otherwise, even with the gifts of a Heavenly Immortal or the stature of a living sage, one would have no way to master this piece of scripture to completion.
Someone in Pugong had managed to make some headway; the artisan who crafted this forged page had once muttered to himself about it during its creation.
In fact, the few who had gained anything from it were all formidable, paramount figures who had relied on their bottomless cultivation to force-train the scripture.
"How is it?" Helian Yaoqing asked.
Qin Ming responded with a grave expression, "Extremely difficult. Gleaning even a fragment of a sentence is already quite an achievement."
Hearing this, ripples stirred deep within Cui Chonghe's eyes; he hadn't managed to grasp even a single trace.
Jian Huaidao, Xie Lin, and the others were even more shaken. They understood all too well how difficult this page of true scripture was; without profound attainment to pave the way, attempting to force-train it would yield next to nothing.
***
By evening, the fiery springs gradually dimmed, and the exchange gathering drew to a close.
Qin Ming had not put on an overly shocking performance, yet it still left some feeling thoroughly dispirited.
Only Qin Ming knew that their comprehension was not vastly inferior to his; rather, they lacked certain foundational disciplines. The Destiny-Altering Scripture and that exotic metal page required heavenly light to blend seamlessly with consciousness and divine wisdom.
Otherwise, trying to master it completely would prove immensely difficult even for an awakened ancient sage.
That same day, various pieces of news spread outward.
In the Cui family, several members slammed their hands onto tables in fury. Father Cui and Mother Cui, in particular, looked utterly grim. The true dragon of their clan had actually been called Cui the Second by an outsider.
What was worse, the nickname had already spread far and wide, and it would likely be difficult to ever wash away.
"It's the person by that degenerate son, that Wu Yaozu, defaming the true dragon of our household!" Mother Cui was seething with indignation. With a sharp slap of her fair hand, the tea table crafted from lightning-struck wood shattered into pieces.
Cui Chonghe also harbored a knot of stifled rage with nowhere to vent. He wanted to challenge Wu Yaozu and teach him the true meaning of disaster coming from the mouth.
Yet Xiao Wu completely ignored him.
Furthermore, at the final moment, Cui Chonghe had keenly sensed that Wu Yaozu harbored a massive problem within his body—he was by no means as simple as he appeared on the surface.
In the end, he departed with a cold expression, etching another debt into his mental ledger against both the abandoned son and that dark little pawn!
Amid the clamor of the outside world, while terms like Qin Ming, Cui the Second, the Earth Immortal descendant, and the exchange gathering were hotly debated, one of the primary figures quietly drifted away.
Qin Ming entered secluded cultivation once more. In this complex and treacherous situation, he could not see the underlying truth clearly; his only choice was to temper himself through bitter practice, elevating his strength and accumulating power.
Two months later, winter was more than half over. When he emerged from the mountains for a breath of fresh air and stepped back into inhabited lands, he was thoroughly shocked by the news that greeted his ears.
In just sixty-odd days, the winds and clouds had shifted drastically in the outside world. A monumental event capable of shaking the landscape of Yezhou and rewriting the course of history had come crashing down.
Chapter 356