"It wasn't until I heard you mention that young Guan Changge might have been swallowed by the Wuliang Wall that I finally remembered."
Nangong Shirong spoke with a sigh of reminiscence.
"Since you once entered the Wuliang Wall and broke through it to escape, My Lord, then rescuing Guan Changge should surely be effortless for you," one of the accompanying cultivators, named Yan Yiqiu, hastily flattered.
Nangong Shirong's face darkened. "I make no guarantees. Whether it works or not depends on the lad's own luck."
Having flattered clumsily and struck a nerve, Yan Yiqiu's face turned bitter, and he hurried to lower his head.
Xu Bai picked up the conversation then. "My Lord, what is so wondrous about this Wuliang Wall?"
Nangong Shirong glanced at the curious Xu Bai and pondered for a moment before explaining, "I cannot say for certain; this is merely a conjecture based on my own experience. This Wuliang Wall might be a natural site of enlightenment. Whenever an apparition surfaces upon it, there is a chance it will draw nearby cultivators inside."
"And once within the Wuliang Wall..."
Nangong Shirong narrowed his eyes slightly. "It is like activating the Spirit Enlightenment function of the Heavenly Profound Mirror. No, it is several times greater than Spirit Enlightenment. At a single thought, countless insights come rushing in. The sheer joy of reaping without sowing—I still remember it clearly to this day."
"However, there is one drawback. This enhanced comprehension only seems to apply to the single art you are most obsessed with. Back then, all I could think about was comprehending..."
Nangong Shirong paused, glossing over what he had been cultivating at the time, and continued, "Originally, I had been just one step shy of the threshold. Under that manifold amplification of comprehension, it took me hardly any time at all to achieve sudden enlightenment. And so, naturally, I broke through the wall and emerged."
Xu Bai glanced at the Wuliang Wall. Connecting this to the clues gathered earlier, he said thoughtfully, "I have heard that Guan Changge deeply admires Guan Xingxiu and holds Senior Guan's swordsmanship in the highest esteem. Yet he happens to possess no talent for the sword...
"Even with the enlightenment boost of the Wuliang Wall, he would likely struggle to gain anything without spending half a year or a decade. Could this be the truth behind his disappearance?
"Furthermore, the scene witnessed on the Wuliang Wall by the cultivators traveling with Guan Changge was precisely a cultivator brandishing a sword. That also accords with your conjecture, My Lord..."
Xu Bai laid out his inferences in a single breath, attributing them entirely to Nangong Shirong's foresight.
Nangong Shirong neither confirmed nor denied it.
After a moment, he simply added, "The flow of time inside and outside the Wuliang Wall might not be the same. Moreover, if one stays inside the wall for too long, then even if they successfully achieve enlightenment, they might find it impossible to leave.
"So if we wish to save Guan Changge's life, we must act quickly."
Yan Yiqiu spoke up again. "In that case, My Lord, how does one enter the Wuliang Wall?"
Nangong Shirong turned his head, his expression souring. "Are you asking me?"
"This humble one wouldn't dare!" Yan Yiqiu quickly stammered.
Nangong Shirong scoffed coldly. "If I knew how, why would I have brought you three along?"
Yan Yiqiu cursed inwardly, wishing he could slap himself across the face.
Meanwhile, before Nangong Shirong had even finished speaking, Xu Bai flew over once more to the base of the Wuliang Wall.
He pondered silently: *Since it is not an anomaly, but rather a natural site of enlightenment, then with this body's affinity for the Heavenly Dao, I should be able to sense something.*
He observed it for a long while, but just as before, found nothing amiss. After some thought, Xu Bai stretched out his hands and placed his palms directly against the wall.
Closing his eyes, he stood motionless for a long time.
Prompted by a glance from Nangong Shirong, Yan Yiqiu and the other two also mimicked Xu Bai, using their hands to probe the Wuliang Wall.
Before the lustrous, mirror-like surface, it was as if four stone statues had suddenly appeared.
Through Xu Bai's persistent probing, the solid wall before him gradually seemed to soften.
His body softened along with it, slowly melting into the stone.
After a moment's hesitation, Xu Bai did not resist.
Instead, he allowed the Wuliang Wall to swallow his body.
Amid the startled cries of Yan Yiqiu and the others, Xu Bai vanished in an instant.
Nangong Shirong stared intently at the spot where Xu Bai had disappeared, an unreadable look flashing through his eyes.
Having learned the secrets of the Wuliang Wall from Nangong Shirong beforehand, the thought occupying Xu Bai's mind the moment he entered was: *How can I haul this Wuliang Wall away?*
He had not truly held any practical hope, so when countless thoughts began welling up spontaneously in his mind, Xu Bai was still somewhat surprised.
Evidently, however, he had squandered this opportunity for enlightenment.
According to the answers provided by the Wuliang Wall itself, moving it away without disrupting its enlightenment properties was entirely impossible.
The wall's creation was a pure fluke of nature. Even heaven and earth itself could not easily replicate it.
Xu Bai felt a tinge of regret, but he quickly regained his composure.
Having concluded a bout of enlightenment, Xu Bai was not expelled by the Wuliang Wall. Thus, he began searching within it for traces of Guan Changge.
This place bore some resemblance to the interior of the Root of Heaven and Earth; cultivators' bodies existed as abstract, distorted lines. However, inside the Root of Heaven and Earth, the lines were relatively orderly and uniform. Here, they were draped in iridescent, shifting colors, swaying continuously like seaweed drifting in water.
Xu Bai keenly perceived that, as time passed, some of the lines composing a body slowly dissolved, blending into the Wuliang Wall.
Every now and then, he caught sight of vague, lifeless figures that were reduced to mere external silhouettes. Those seemed to be the traces left behind by cultivators who had blundered into the wall and lingered too long, ultimately assimilated by the space itself.
Darting swiftly through the Wuliang Wall, Xu Bai soon tracked down Guan Changge by following the periodic fluctuations in the space.
At this moment, Guan Changge's body had already dissolved to the size of a seven- or eight-year-old child, yet he was completely oblivious. Clutched in his hands were a few sparse lines representing a sword, which he wielded with clumsy devotion.
"Guan Changge!" Xu Bai tried to shout to wake him.
Yet sound did not exist in the space within the Wuliang Wall. Only a few lines drifted from Xu Bai's form and vanished into their surroundings, failing to catch Guan Changge's attention in the slightest.
Xu Bai flew straight to his side and snatched away the "sword" in his hand.
Without a word, he shifted his mind, intending to drag him away.
At the final moment, however, the part of Guan Changge that Xu Bai grasped severed itself from the rest of his body.
Xu Bai looked at him in surprise, only to see Guan Changge meet his gaze and gently shake his head.
His shrunken form condensed another sword from the lines. With an expression of pure infatuation, he brandished it once more with unyielding resolve.
*If a man hears the Dao in the morning, he may die content in the evening.*
Xu Bai felt a faint stir in his heart.
After a brief pause, he forced the matter no further. Clutching that severed portion of Guan Changge, he broke through the wall and departed.
Chapter 739