Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace

Inside the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace, Qin Ming swayed violently. He felt as if crashing waves were battering the shore while he was nothing more than a lone skiff on the ocean. If not for the crowd packed shoulder to shoulder, he might truly have collapsed to the ground. Within this golden hall etched with the grain of passing ages, the surging emotions were far too overwhelming. He could barely endure them, battered until his head spun and throbbed. "No, I still want to live! I can't die here!" "A'lan, wait for me to return and marry you! I can bear the corrosion of heavenly light!" "This old man has reached the ripe age of one hundred and twenty, my life at its very end. I yearned for the heavenly light to pour into my crown, to step into a higher grand realm and extend my days... but in the end, it was not to be." ... In an instant, Qin Ming resonated with dozens of emotions, every single one intensely powerful and laden with the resentment and grievance of death's doorstep, slamming into him all at once. Moreover, even more emotions surged behind them, crashing against him wave after wave like an endless tide. If it were only a single emotion, he could observe the person's life and savor it slowly. But with so many, it was an outright deluge—he truly could not take it. Qin Ming broke out of the resonance state immediately. If this continued, he feared his mind would shatter under the impact. He naturally understood the cause. Countless people had died in the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace over the years. Before dying, every single one had felt despair and agony, filled with intense bitterness. All those emotions gathered together were truly terrifying. Qin Ming rubbed his temples to ease the discomfort, the waves in his chest struggling to settle. Aside from secret manuals bearing the life's blood of predecessors, a place like the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace could actually allow for mental resonance as well. For a time, his thoughts churned as he considered many possibilities. He then stared at this ancient thousand-year-old hall. Over the generations, had any Newborn's mental fluctuations on the verge of death touched upon certain secret arts? He shook his head. Someone with such indomitable willpower, fighting back with a special technique even at the brink of death, was probably exceedingly rare. Nine out of ten people likely spent their final moments in fear, agony, and despair. Qin Ming cautiously tried again, swiftly making contact with over twenty intense emotions. Just as he expected, they were predominantly negative. In his perception, those chaotic emotions resembled a black sea. He was somewhat reluctant to give up, wanting to dredge a few "treasures" from its depths. "I'll try again next time." It was certainly impossible right now, as the hall was packed with people. Swept along with the flow, Qin Ming was about to be carried out of the ancient structure. "I am never joining the crowd again," Wu Zheng lamented when they returned to the inn. He hadn't managed to save his other shoe either, returning barefoot through the snow. Even though he had undergone his initial Newborn transformation and had a very strong constitution, he still found it difficult to bear. In the end, he had taken off his outer garment to wrap his feet. "I didn't even get a clear look at what Mount Chixia or the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace actually look like!" Wu Zheng felt thoroughly wronged. Xu Sheng smiled. "In a little while, when early spring comes for the seasonal outing, are you really not going? Young ladies from every household will be touring the mountain. You don't want to go take a look?" Wu Zheng hedged, "Well... we'll talk about that when the time comes." Qin Ming asked, "Brother Xu, judging by the current situation, the spring thunder might arrive in a few days. If one wants to receive the heavenly light, does one need to go up the mountain in advance to wait, or else definitely miss it?" Xu Sheng grew serious. "You actually still want to go? Calling it one chance of survival in a hundred doesn't begin to describe the danger. You're still young. Don't gamble your life on a moment's impulse." Wu Zheng chimed in as well. "Brother Qin, don't be rash! We aren't even twenty yet, and you achieved Newborn status during your golden window. What's the rush?" Xu Sheng naturally opposed it with all his might, refusing to let him take the risk. Helpless, Qin Ming revealed a bit of information. "Back at Black-White Mountain, I once accidentally fell into a special node containing heavenly light, and I managed to survive." He felt that if anyone investigated him, this would hardly be a secret anyway, as the locals all knew about it. Wu Zheng had a realization. "Ah, right! When you went to my house to read, my grandfather seemed to mention that too, saying you were tough to kill." "You were still an ordinary mortal back then. Surviving was truly fortunate, but the density of heavenly light in the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace is countless times greater! You won't be able to withstand it at all." Qin Ming could see that Xu Sheng was genuinely a good man who truly feared for his safety, which was why he tried to stop him again and again. Yet Qin Ming had no way to explain to him in detail that he truly could endure the corrosion of heavenly light. "Brother Xu, you're a good man. But even though you're trying to stop me, I'm still going." Xu Sheng sighed. In the end, he told him about the need to go up the mountain in advance. "When the time comes, I'll go there personally and haul you out with a rope." This was obviously a roundabout way of offering to retrieve his corpse. Qin Ming said, "Brother Xu, find someone else to pull me out and carry me away as if I were dead. Hm, I'll try to make myself look as scruffy as possible so my face isn't easily recognized." Xu Sheng was stunned. "What are you trying to do?" Qin Ming said, "I'm just worried about being recognized when I go a second time. Don't show your face the first time either; find someone else to carry me away. After all, you used to be an itinerant merchant and know a lot of people. If you show up, they might pay extra attention to me." Xu Sheng could hardly believe his ears. What was this kid saying? He was already planning for a second time! Was his confidence simply boundless, or was this the recklessness of ignorance? "Brother Xu, I'm not joking." Seeing that Xu Sheng was truly a good person, Qin Ming prepared to trouble him for help. Seeing him so confident, Xu Sheng actually began to think he might survive. Only later did he come to his senses, feeling that he had gone mad right along with him—he was actually helping Qin Ming arrange someone to "retrieve his corpse" when the time came. The next day, Qin Ming treated Xu Sheng to a meal at the finest restaurant to express his gratitude, leaving the latter at a loss for words while Wu Zheng was equally speechless. Both of them felt that Qin Ming was nine parts dead on Mount Chixia and couldn't be dissuaded, yet here he was, treating people to dinner in high spirits. Qin Ming spoke up. "Actually, I still want to ask for Brother Xu's help. Could you check if there are any local families that were once prominent but have now fallen into ruin? I'd like to pay to read their books and borrow their secret manuals. The price is negotiable." Wu Zheng gave him an odd look, feeling invisibly "wounded"—offended quite unintentionally by Brother Qin. Xu Sheng said, "You're quite confident, believing you'll survive the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace and wanting to master a force method in advance so you can merge it into your heavenly light force that day." That was indeed Qin Ming's intention. He already knew that when spring thunder combined with outer heavenly light, it not only gave birth to a special spiritual substance that granted Newborn transformations, but was also accompanied by dense heavenly light, with effects even stronger than a three-colored flower. Those who survived could increase the overall quantity and quality of their heavenly light, making it the most suitable time to fuse different force methods. Xu Sheng agreed. "I'll ask around for you. Hm, what kind of force method do you need? There's great subtlety to this; you can't just combine them haphazardly." Qin Ming wanted to say any force method would do, but on second thought, he chose to keep a lower profile. "Something fierce and powerful. If there isn't one, I can try choosing something else." Lately, he had been practicing the Yellow Clay Palm and had already grasped yielding force. It was obvious that this method was extraordinary, likely having fused multiple kinds of heavenly light force. Learning one or two more now would suffice, ensuring he wouldn't waste this trip to the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace. The following day, Xu Sheng brought news, having found a fallen household that still retained a remnant art from their ancestors. Their current situation was truly hard to put into words. Qin Ming set out with him at once. When he saw the dilapidated courtyard walls and the decrepit house that looked ready to collapse, he realized the family had indeed fallen completely into ruin. Xu Sheng sighed. "In the past, the Sun family owned a grand mansion. Alas, fortune is fickle. Over a decade ago, the old master of the Sun family was severely injured by someone and died shortly after. His son also died in an accident two years ago, and his daughter-in-law ran off with someone else. Now only the old matriarch is left, struggling to raise her three-year-old grandson. It's truly not easy." When Qin Ming saw the old woman of the Sun family and the young child, he was touched instantly. Her face was lined with wrinkles, her edges long worn smooth by life. Her eyes were unfocused, lacking any luster, brightening slightly only when she looked at her little grandson. Supposedly, she had once been a daughter of a wealthy house, marrying into the prominent Sun family with great fanfare. Yet now her husband and son had died mysteriously one after another, the family estate was lost, and only a single grandson remained. Qin Ming felt that if someone was truly targeting them intentionally, this child would meet with misfortune sooner or later as well. Looking at the boy, his heart stirred, as if seeing himself in his early years. The three-year-old child wore clothes covered in patches, practicing some cultivation method in silence, exceptionally stubborn. Qin Ming had seen in his faded memories that his own childhood had been bleak and impoverished, raised alone by an old man who was likely his grandfather, teaching him the art recorded on the silk book. "Take it and look. It has no value anymore. People kept stealing it, and it's completely fragmentary now. Usually, I let any neighborhood children who want to learn read it for free," the old woman said, bringing out a secret booklet. She and her grandson lived a hard life, often receiving help from neighbors, so she let others read this book in return. Qin Ming took it and found that only the cover was ancient. The dozen or so pages inside were clearly not relics. The Newborn method was disjointed and fragmentary, the description of the force method lacked detail, and the handwriting was rather hasty. Yet both the beast-hide cover and the pages held intense emotional fluctuations. Taking it in hand, Qin Ming thanked the old woman, sat down on a battered chair, and began reading earnestly, his focus sharpening completely. In an instant, he saw part of the truth. "Xinyi Hall, you are far too ruthless! My Sun family has declined, and it's true my generation has fallen short, but for you to rob our secret manual! Ge Qianxun, I treated you as a brother in vain—yet you dealt me a lethal blow!" An old man coughed blood continuously, grievously wounded by the people of Xinyi Hall who tore away the secret manual, leaving him clutching only a single cover page. Slumped over the table, he tried to write down the lost manual's contents from memory. But his strength failed him. After writing twenty-odd pages, his body gave out, and he ultimately vomited blood and died. Evidently, more had happened later, leaving this remnant book with only a dozen pages. "This must be the truth behind the bloody tragedy from over a decade ago," Qin Ming sighed. He suspected the death of the old woman's son was likely connected to Xinyi Hall as well. Next, he focused his mind once more to resonate with the emotions within the leather cover, obtaining the complete contents of the secret manual. It was a hammer method, quite remarkable, containing two kinds of heavenly light force: hammer force and whip force. Only after mastering both could one unleash the true might of this hammer method. While it could not compare to peerless arts like the Yellow Clay Palm or the Sky-Severing Saber Intent, Qin Ming was still very satisfied. Gaining two more force methods at a juncture like this would be of great help to him. Looking at the pitiful grandmother and grandson, Qin Ming felt as though he were seeing his past life with his grandfather. He retrieved thirty pieces of day gold and, before the old woman's eyes, flicked them one by one into the ground. "Elder, I mean no disrespect. I only fear wicked people might cause you trouble. Whenever you have need, carefully unearth one coin. In the future, if I achieve success with this hammer method, I will write a new book for you to complete the art." Afterward, he took out a few silver coins, placed them into her hands, and turned to leave before she could speak. Waiting in the courtyard, Xu Sheng asked, "Finished reading so quickly?" "Yes, I'm done. Let's go." Qin Ming nodded. The old woman rushed out, only to find the two had already walked far ahead, impossible to catch. In the end, tears welled in her aged eyes, clouding her sight as they silently fell. ... Earthly vapors rose in steamy haze, the weather growing warmer day by day. Raindrops of light danced through the mountain woods as the snow rapidly melted. Qin Ming had already ascended Mount Chixia. Over the past few days, the place had finally quieted down, no longer packed with mountains of people. On Mount Chixia stood a mountain god temple with thriving incense offerings. Watching the sizable number of people who had taken up residence on the mountain in advance to await the baptism of heavenly light, an incense patron couldn't help but remark, "These days, do people even have to line up to throw their lives away?" Hearing such words, Qin Ming took no offense, merely chuckling to himself. This time, he finally had the chance to appreciate the scenery of Mount Chixia. Once spring blossomed, the entire mountain would turn fiery red, dominated by crimson vegetation. For now, one could only admire sights like sheer cliffs and bizarre rock formations. Over the following days, he entered the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace with its lustrous, glistening tiles every day, enduring the assault of various resentful emotions as he searched carefully for something. He wanted to dredge up treasures from that black sea of chaotic emotions, never quite giving up. Rumble! On this day, the first spring thunder stirred, letting out a muted roar in the distance. Qin Ming snapped his head up. Was it finally coming?