Divine Wood Deep Abyss, Mankind-Kindled Light

Chaos. Clarity. "You're awake?" A slightly aloof voice drifted over, and Qi Yuan's consciousness gradually cleared. He opened his eyes, wanting to see the world. Unfortunately, what greeted him was not the world, nor was it the void or nothingness, but an expanse of black and red. "How long was I unconscious?" Having just awakened, Qi Yuan's mind was still somewhat muddled. "Two months." "That long?" Qi Yuan was somewhat surprised. As expected, he really was not cut out for offline meet-ups. Everyone else had been fine, but something had gone wrong with him. "I'm the one who saved you, using my own blood. And... you broke my swing," the blind girl said. "Thank you!" Qi Yuan thanked her earnestly. If he were not currently role-playing the Blind Implement Master, he surely would have added: *Thank you so much; I'll save a spot for you in the Netherworld.* For now, though, he had to remain eccentric and aloof. "You have to compensate me." The blind girl's voice carried no emotional inflection whatsoever. "I will!" Qi Yuan replied. "Do you know how to forge artifacts?" "I do." "Pity you're blind." "My eyes may be blind, but my heart isn't. I'm already a Heaven-rank implement master now, so don't discriminate against blind people." "I'm blind too." "Huh?" Qi Yuan looked toward the blind girl. Everything was a blur before him; he could see nothing at all. However, judging from her voice, he could tell she was quite young. He fell somewhat silent. In their surroundings, he could only hear her faint breathing and the sound of wind blowing falling leaves. "Is this the Divine Wood Abyss?" Qi Yuan asked. He was curious. Wasn't the Divine Wood Abyss supposed to require gathering three Divine Wood Tokens to open? Why had he tumbled straight in? "Sort of." "Hmm?" "This is the Divine Wood Deep Abyss. Only those favored by the Mandate of Heaven can enter." "A Mandate bearer?" Qi Yuan thought of many things. It seemed this blind girl was also a major exposition NPC. None of that mattered for now, though. His pressing priority was to role-play the Blind Implement Master, become a God-rank implement master, or perhaps something even greater. "Since this is the Divine Wood Deep Abyss, is there divine wood here? Can I take some divine wood materials to forge artifacts?" Qi Yuan asked. There was divine wood in the Divine Wood Abyss. The Divine Wood Deep Abyss had an extra word in its name, so it ought to be even more extraordinary. Having a few God-rank materials would be perfectly normal, wouldn't it? "...There is," the blind girl said after a long silence. "When you need it, I can give it to you." Qi Yuan's eyes lit up. Well, that was merely a figure of speech. He was blind, after all. "You're quite a good person." "You're quite naive." "That feels like an insult." "These things aren't free..." The blind girl paused and turned toward Qi Yuan. Qi Yuan said nothing, waiting for her to continue. Free things were always the most expensive. He much preferred when the other party wanted something in return. "I hope you can become a God-rank implement master, or even an Ancestral God-rank implement master," the blind girl said. "Once you become an Ancestral God-rank implement master, I want... you to forge a pair of eyes for me." Her voice sounded somewhat bleak. She seemed lost in memory. "True... living without eyes really affects things. Look at me now, blind as a bat, unable to see anything. Otherwise, I'd know your name by now." Blindness had an enormous impact on a person. Even though Qi Yuan possessed God-rank strength in the outside world. "I'm used to this life," the blind girl seemed to answer. "Ever since I was born, the world has been total nothingness—no sound, no color..." "Then why do you still want me to forge a pair of eyes for you?" "Because... once I have eyes, he won't give his eyes to me." "Huh?" Qi Yuan's gossip radar went off. "Who is he? Your father?" The originally cold, aloof blind girl seemed somewhat flustered by Qi Yuan's words, her icy tone tinged with a blush of bashfulness. "He is my future husband." "An enviable bond. Thumbs up." Back on Blue Star, Qi Yuan would surely have cracked a joke about a hopeless simp like Fei Yangyang, but this was an otherworldly game realm; he had to call it true devotion. Even role-playing the Blind Implement Master, he had to give credit where it was due. "Becoming an Ancestral God-rank implement master... is no easy task," the blind girl remarked. It was very likely that everything she invested would come to nothing. "My talent is incredible." "Among the implement masters I've seen, your talent is indeed near the top, but... you are blind." Forging artifacts was an intricate process. Identifying materials, sensing flames, tempering metals, and the like all required functioning eyes. A wisp too hot or a wisp too cold made a massive difference. A miss by an inch was as good as a miss by a mile. "You've met other implement masters? That makes sense. Anyone with the Mandate can enter this place... Quite a few Mandate bearers must have met you." "The last implement master who came here was named Sheng Nü. Her talent was greater than yours." "Sheng Nü?" Qi Yuan froze. He had not expected to hear of Divine Descent's creator from someone else. Had Sheng Nü also fallen from Sunset Cliff into the depths of the Divine Wood Deep Abyss in the past? "I taught her quite a bit of her forging methods," the blind girl said with a proud tone, as if showing off just a little. "You know artifact forging?" Qi Yuan desperately wished he had Three Days of Sight so he could see what kind of sacred figure this blind girl truly was. "I don't." She shook her head. "However, I have several forging methods. Back then, Sheng Nü chose one from among them." As she spoke, she tiptoed toward Qi Yuan. Before she reached him, a faint, pleasant fragrance drifted over, resembling the scent of unknown flower petals. She sat down on the cold stone, and several wooden plaques slid from her sleeves. "There are eight wooden plaques here, each recording a method of artifact forging. "I will give you one night to choose the path you want to cultivate." Leaning back against the cold stone, Qi Yuan touched the slightly warm wooden plaques. "Can I learn all of them?" He was always on the greedy side. "If you can learn them, help yourself." Having said that, the blind girl tiptoed away again. Perhaps unfamiliar with the surroundings, she stumbled along as she walked. After walking about ten meters, her crisp voice carried back: "Turn toward the cave entrance on the right and walk seven hundred meters. That is my dwelling. Don't disturb me under normal circumstances. If you need materials, throw a stone into the cave. When I hear the sound, I'll bring the materials to you." With that, the blind girl stepped into the pitch-black cave entrance on the right. Qi Yuan was left alone in this gloomy cavern. Aside from the faint sound of flowing water, leaves fluttering down, and her departing footsteps, it was terrifyingly quiet. "Sigh, what a shame I can't activate the Divine Wood Token in the Divine Wood Deep Abyss. Otherwise, I'd have to let them know I flaked on the meet-up." Qi Yuan muttered to himself, then placed his hand on the wooden plaques and began feeling them carefully. Though he could not see with his eyes, tracing them with his fingers allowed him to discern the characters inscribed upon them. "Metal Method." "Wood Method." "Water Method." "Fire Method." "Earth Method." "Cloud Method." "Thunder Method." "Rain Method." Eight artifact forging methods, quite systematic: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Cloud, Thunder, Rain. Every method was profoundly deep, yet their descriptions were extraordinarily brief. For instance, the Metal Method had only thirty-six characters, introducing the sharpness of metal. *When wood thrives, it ages; when metal strengthens, it extinguishes...* As for the rest, nothing was explained. "So these forging methods... are actually general outlines that require later generations to fill in the rest... Truly exquisite." Qi Yuan practiced Qi Refining through the five elements and was quite familiar with metal. Yet the Metal Method's description of metal still gave him fresh insight. "Pity I'm blind. Otherwise, my eyes could probably fill in the subsequent content on their own. How could it be like this?" Qi Yuan lamented. Since he was blind, he would have to rely on himself. ... Divine Wood Abyss. The divine wood towered into the clouds. It seemed right on the horizon, yet any attempt to draw near revealed it was all an illusion, nothing more than a mirage. Shen Lingxuan's entire body was soaked in a hot spring, her black gown wet and clinging tightly to her shapely, voluptuous frame. Her slender legs pressed together, her skin fair and lustrous as jade. Fluttering her wings, Insect Maiden Caidie landed and smiled at Shen Lingxuan. "Your cultivation progress these past two months has been remarkably swift. In less than two hundred years, we probably won't need to hide in the Divine Wood Abyss anymore." Shen Lingxuan opened her eyes. A veil still covered her face, concealing her peerless beauty. "How is the situation beyond the heavens?" Shen Lingxuan asked. She had always been deeply curious about the realm beyond the heavens. Hearing this, Insect Maiden Caidie's expression fell. "I haven't received word from beyond the heavens in three hundred years. The last message I received was... Heitu invaded the Void Sea." Between universes lay an unspeakable region known as the Void Sea. The boundary where two universes converged and collided was called the Void Sea. The Void Sea was fathomless and chaotic; even an Ancestral God struggled to survive and traverse it. Only Realm Lords—those at the third tier of the Yang God realm—could freely walk the Void Sea. Other low-tier cultivators could only navigate it by relying on Realm Lord-grade treasures. "Heitu, born of Heitian, boasts hundreds of millions of troops and seventeen black-sailed ships, seeking to invade this embryonic universe from the Void Sea. "Those seventeen black-sailed ships are all Realm Lord-grade wondrous objects. "Yet our Divine Wood Universe possesses only a single half-finished Realm Lord-grade wondrous object." At this, a pang of sorrow struck Insect Maiden Caidie's heart. "Ancestral God Yuan rode alone to the fray, bringing the Divine Wood Universe's sole half-finished Realm Lord-grade wondrous object, Lüyun, to the Void Sea to hold off Heitu. "Lüyun had only just been forged and was not yet fully formed; it could hardly be counted as a true Realm Lord-grade wondrous object. "Yet... the defenders of the Void Sea loaded all kinds of ancient divine artifacts and ancestral artifacts onto Lüyun to arm it and combat Heitu." A single half-finished Realm Lord-grade wondrous object against over a dozen fully completed Realm Lord-grade wondrous objects. Moreover, Heitu's Realm Lord-grade wondrous objects were fully formed and abundantly equipped. And what was aboard Lüyun? Battered divine artifacts and ancestral artifacts! Was this not the equivalent of hauling howitzers and cannons onto an aircraft carrier to duel a fleet of real carriers? How could they possibly win? Shen Lingxuan grew anxious. "What was the outcome?" Insect Maiden Caidie shook her head. "I don't know." That was the last message she had ever received. Ancestral God Yuan had taken Lüyun and a host of divine and ancestral artifacts into the Void Sea to meet the enemy and halt Heitu, born of Heitian. "The Qingshan Realm lies in the Chaotic Star Domain. In this region... the Radiant Society wields immense power. We cannot linger here long," Insect Maiden Caidie warned. Shen Lingxuan nodded. "Mandate bearers are the hope of all worlds. As long as you remain alive, you can represent the world's will. "If we gather all Mandate bearers, we can... kindle the light, forge the light, and dispel Heitian," Insect Maiden Caidie said with a solemn face. Hope shone in her eyes, yet deep within lingered a trace of despair. Gathering all Mandate bearers to forge the light was the only way to break the deadlock. Yet light was terribly difficult to forge. This embryonic universe possessed no Realm Lord-level powerhouses. How could it produce a Realm Lord-grade wondrous object? Thus arose the term "curious treasure of light"—an alternative form of curious treasure. Lüyun was essentially half a curious treasure of light. What filled Insect Maiden Caidie with the deepest despair was that this plan to use a curious treasure of light against Heitian had been proposed by the Tian Clan, who had fled to this embryonic universe. A curious treasure of light was an unorthodox Realm Lord-grade wondrous object specifically conceived to counter Heitian and the Heitu Clan. Yet even the Tian Clan had failed. More importantly, even if a true curious treasure of light were forged, could it truly stand against Heitian and Heitu? Just on the surface, Heitian and Heitu possessed thirty-two Realm Lord-grade wondrous objects. "If we could cooperate with the Radiant Society, perhaps things wouldn't be this difficult," Shen Lingxuan said in a cool voice. They were not the only ones forging curious treasures of light; the Radiant Society was forging them as well. The three hundred thousand implement masters hidden deep within the mountains of Shiwanshanjue, living anonymously, were there precisely to forge fragments of curious treasures of light. "Impossible!" Insect Maiden Caidie rejected the idea. "Free things are always the most expensive. The Radiant Society hunts down Mandate bearers relentlessly precisely because they fear we might forge a Mankind-Kindled Light! "Rather than a God-Kindled Light, we of Divine Wood choose... Mankind-Kindled Light!" Insect Maiden Caidie's voice was resolute. Only with Mankind-Kindled Light would control remain in their own hands. Believing in gods, worshipping gods, and praying for a god to cast down a glance and pity this universe to fashion a curious treasure of light was something she refused to accept. The people of the Divine Wood Universe did not worship gods, nor did they bow before them. They chose Mankind-Kindled Light! "The only party we can draw to our side is Void Paradise. As for the Radiant Society... they harbor wolfish ambitions." Insect Maiden Caidie felt deep disgust toward the Radiant Society. Within the Divine Wood Universe, there were two distinct voices regarding how to address Heitian and Heitu. One voice advocated God-Kindled Light, like the Radiant Society; the other advocated Mankind-Kindled Light. "Heitian is a mindless cosmic phenomenon, while Heitu represents conscious foot soldiers. Heitian uses guiling to project coordinates across the universe, then deploys Heitu to invade. "Even Void Paradise and the Zhou Universe behind it are unwilling to provoke them. Seeking their aid is likely just wishful thinking." Insect Maiden Caidie knew a great deal. Shen Lingxuan fell silent. The world was bleak and full of despair. Heitian possessed no consciousness; its devouring of this embryonic universe was driven purely by instinct. If anyone was to blame, it was the weakness of the Divine Wood Universe. Weakness was the original sin. "Right, in the recent battle in Rakshasa Country, Divine Descent was victorious." "What?" A trace of astonishment appeared in Shen Lingxuan's beautiful eyes. "According to the news I received, that young master sharing a surname with your husband is the incarnation of Divine Descent. To think... He has actually taken human form. "If I recall correctly, he also carries the Mandate of Heaven. "If we could get him to join us and leave the Qingshan Realm together, that would be wonderful. "If he stays here, the Radiant Society won't spare him," Insect Maiden Caidie said. Every Mandate bearer was an ally worth recruiting. "Unfortunately, we only managed to hide in the Divine Wood Abyss with great difficulty; we cannot go outside again. If the people from the Radiant Society sense your presence, they will strike ruthlessly without mercy," Insect Maiden Caidie said, worry evident in her eyes. In truth, hiding in the Divine Wood Abyss was not entirely safe either. Perhaps... only if they found a peculiar entrance and stepped into that special pocket of time and space, the Divine Wood Deep Abyss, could they truly find safety for a time.