by <unknown>
Zhong Yue gazed at his psyche ocean, above in the air of the psyche ocean hung two celestial stars – the moon and the sun. The sun spirit nourished the moon spirit, causing the moon spirit to reflect a brighter luminescence; conversely, the presence of the moon balanced the indomitable heat of the sun. There was no sign of them deranging him.
“Some said that that the Yin and Yang curbed one another ... that’s purely nonsense. Yin and Yang form a synergy, mutually burgeoning and thriving on one another. The sun spirit nourishes the moon spirit, and the moon shines ever so brighter with the sun’s light, growing stronger and stronger..”
Xin Huo explained like an expert, he smiled and said, “As the moon spirit gets stronger, it will balance the Yin and Yang in your body, and give back to its master’s soul, and as the master’s soul grows stronger, so does the sun spirit. This is the aforementioned burgeoning – all of these have their own role in forming a virtuous cycle.”
Zhong Yue carefully reached out his senses and realized that Xin Huo was right, the sun and moon did not stymie each other but rather, formed a mutual synergy with each other from which they would thrive into something greater than the sum of their parts The great sun shone on the bright moon, the bright moon emitted a soft yet intense glow like mercury on the ground, seeping into every part of his body and psyche ocean, nourishing his body, psyche ocean and ultimately ... soul. In turn, his soul strengthened the great sun spirit, this mutualism continued recurrently and would continue to accrue benefits in every aspect.”
“Without the sun, the plants die, without the moon, reproduction stops.”
Xin Huo continued saying, “The view of Yin and Yang curbing each other is a wrong interpretation of water and fire; the water and fire are of the five elements, not the Yin Yang. Yin and Yang had never once restrained each other, they only beget one another, no one had ever found any examples of Yin and Yang restraining one other. The fourth Heavenly Monarch of Fuxi Celestial Race, Tai Hao, crowned as the East Sovereign and venerated as Tai Yi, had a Sun-Moon Twin Spirit.”
A hologram shot out from Xin Huo’s eyes, a black and white mixed pattern appeared, a sun and a moon revolves around the dragon-headed and snake-bodied Heavenly Monarch, he said, “This is the【Rising Sun and Falling Moon Tai Yi Art】, while some called it the【Tai Chi Art】, it speaks of the cycle of the Yin and Yang, the pathway of the Sun-Moon Twin Spirit.”
Zhong Yue looked at the【Rising Sun and Falling Moon Tai Yi Art】, he felt that the art itself encompassed all the insights within the Yin and Yang, the intersection of the sun and moon, was where the Heavenly Monarch Tai Wu’s body was at, this should be another type of abstrusely profound visualization technique.
“Xin Huo, why will the twin spirits cause chaos to their masters?” He thought of the crux and quickly asked about it.
Xin Huo shook his head in reply, “The twin spirit deranging the master only occurs when the Yin and Yang go out of balance, but with me here, you can calm your heart. All you need to do now is absorb the moon spirit and coalesce it your soul, and achieve the balance between the Yin and Yang!”
Zhong Yue was not reassured at all. Empirically, Xin Huo had proven himself to be an extremely unreliable person, if he were to place all his hopes onto Xin Huo, he would have probably died a few times already.
But soon, he realized the potential benefits that could be reaped from the consummating with the Sun-Moon Twin Spirit, the sun spirit and moon spirit engender one another, and thrive together. This synergy would in turn have a perpetual strengthening and nourishing effect on his psyche, physique, and soul.
My sun spirit is the Great Sun Golden Crow whereas the moon spirit is the Star Moon Jade Toad, could the disparity between these two forms have an adverse effect on my soul like Xin Huo had said happened to countless other Qi Practitioners? This is not the time to think about this, I’d better clean off the traces of this battle!
Zhong Yue dashed forward, he gathered Xiao Chuqing’s remains and with a shift of thought, a conflagration erupted and burned vigorously to turn Xiao Chuqing’s corpse into ashes.
Battle traces mustn’t be left behind, or otherwise, they can easily trace the skills and arts I practice, it would invariably lead to the discovery of my identity!
Zhong Yue moved around the battlefield, he removed every vestige of the battle that had occurred here, being careful to not leave a single mark behind.
Xiao Chuqing is of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race, the nose of a dog is their forte, this is not enough, my odor might still be lingering in the air.
Zhong Yue thoughts shifted and he suddenly bolted into the air. In midair, a pair of marvelous and fantastical looking wings spread out from his back, and as he flew away, a flurry of gigantic fireballs rained down from the sky and like surrounding wasteland into a blazing inferno. Meanwhile, Zhong Yue had already long disappeared into the horizon.
In the savanna, flames burned like devils leaving from hell and smokes and dusts billowed up into the air, The fire set a few hundred miles of land alight only to be stymied by a huge river. It continued to burn for a few days time before waning away only to leave a desolate and charred wasteland.
“My dear daughter, is dead….”
West Barren – layer after layer, the temples of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race stood high and aloft. Humongous statues towered in front of the archaic holy temples, some were three-headed Coiling Ao while the others were three-headed celestial beings, and there were the others with peculiar appearances.
In the largest celestial palace, the countenance of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race’s grand elder turned heavy as he watched the soul lamp extinguish before him. “My lovely daughter was killed by a petty human ... the one who escaped from the moon.”
The soul lamp was a lamp whose flame was linked with one’s soul, as long as the person’s soul lives, the soul lamp would continue to burn. The Xiao Mang Celestial Race did not have many celestials; the important disciples would all have their own soul lamp; namely for the purposes of ascertaining their living status and also for determining the position of their death if the worst case scenario were to occur.
And now, Xiao Chuqing’s soul lamp was extinguished, denoting the dispersal of her soul. She had died at the hands of others!
“Although Chuqing is not a pure-blood, but she was the daughter I loved most.”
Tears dripped down from the grand elder’s cheek and he mumbled, “She devoured her mother the moment she was born ... such a gifted celestial is very uncommon nowadays. And yet, she was killed, slain by the human that escaped from the moon … Xiao Lingxian, bring this soul lamp and find the place where your little sister died. I don’t care if you have to pierce through the heavens or drill your way down to the hell. You will find this wretched human!”
A brawny celestial man with three heads nodded and accepted the task. He gripped a long spear by its shaft and stepped forward. The three heads sounded out as one, “Grand elder, what do I do if I find out who that person is?”
“Bring them to the temple, I must torment that person myself! Also, find your sister’s remains and bring her back to bury her in the temple.”
“Understood!”
Xiao Lingxian reached out and drew the soul lamp into his hand, he stomped on the ground and a patch of cloud emerged beneath his feet. He proceeded to ride away with the cloud.
“My daughter, rest in peace, I will catch that human and bury him together with you,” the grand elder choked in anguish.
Tens of days passed, and Xiao Lingxian, guided by the soul lamp, had arrived at the site of Xiao Chuqing’s death. He glanced around to be met with a wasteland of a few hundred miles charred black. Not only that, he could not find Xiao Chuqing’s remains, not even the slightest vestige of her scent lingered.
Xiao Lingxian’s face changed drastically, and all of a sudden, he removed a piece of magical mirror and manipulated it. He chanted in deference, “May the spirit mirror reveal your excellency and elucidate the path to l
ittle sister Chuqing’s spirit!”
The magical mirror spun slowly in midair, but no radiance was emitted in response.
Cold sweat burst out of Xiao Lingxian’s face, “Even Chuqing’s spirit was destroyed! Who is this person that is so callous and ruthless? Even wiping off the last clue to trace their identity!”
He raised his head and looked around, he was in the middle of the Savanna Wasteland and in front of him was the East Barren, the place that the monster race inhabited, and behind him was the Great Wilderness, the territory of humanity. His eyes flashed with a cold light, “Little sister Chuqing was sent over to the human’s Swords Gate by the celestial envoy in charge of the monster race; and yet, she was killed right here in this desolate wasteland where she would never have come without a solid reason, she was tracking behind someone! Who is it, the celestial envoy in charge of the humans or the person that escaped from the moon?”
His body hovered in the air, his appearance started to morph. The Xiang Mang Celestial’s Coiling Ao countenance morphed into a human’s, and two of the three heads sunk into his chest with only the middle head remaining. With the spear in his hand, he flew over towards the Great Wilderness.
“First to the humans and condemn them, then get in touch with the human celestial envoy, and find out who killed my little sister!”
Swords Gate was currently in an illusion of peace and calm. But little did they know that all of it would soon be shattered by the chaos and disorder that would accompany Xiao Xianling’s arrival!
Xiao Chuqing of Swords Gate, the Moon Innate Spirit Body holder, a human-celestial half-blood disciple, was now dead. It had only been a month’s time since her arrival at Swords Gate and she was stealthily killed. As of now, the sudden arrival of a cultivation expert of the Xiang Mang Celestial Race would harbinger a commotion, the degree of which could be easily foretold!
An uproar rose within the Swords Gate, although Xiao Chuqing was one of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race, but her bloodline was still tainted with half the blood of her human mother. In addition, Xiao Chuqing was a figure that enjoyed a high level of prestige among the disciples – her death was a heavy blow to her staunch supporters.
While on the other side, ‘Shui Qingyan’s’ heart thumped in shock, she immediately stood up and looked for the celestial envoy. She thought in her self, Xiao Chuqing ... was killed by the Zhong Shan Clan member! This Zhong Shan Clan member can kill her, the rate of his advancement is disconcertingly quick!
A storm was now inconspicuously broiling beneath the illusion of peace., Meanwhile, Zhong Yue was tens of thousands of miles away from the center of the storm, he had arrived at the Falcon Ridge of the Gu Xia City and was now safe within the refuge of his monastery.
Chapter 109: 【Sun Moon Prodigious Emanation Art】 |
“Master Long is back!”
Chun, Xia, Qiu and Dong, the four young ladies were surprised and overjoyed at the same time, they quickly stepped forward and welcomed him, cheering for his return, Qiu’er blinked her eyes and asked probingly, “Master, what you are going to eat….”
“Don’t worry, master is not going to eat you all.”
Zhong Yue was already in his dragon-headed human form appearing as the figure of ‘Long Yue’. He waved his hand in the air and said, “Master is still a vegan, and my way of cultivation won’t allow me to have relations with women. Oh right, where is Elder Qiu?”
The four young beauties heaved a breath of relief, and Chun’er replied with a heavy heart, “Elder Qiu was eaten away by a madam that passed by….”
“Elder Qiu has been eaten?”
A surge of fury surged in his chest and Zhong Yue’s face darkened as he asked, “Who did it?”
Dong’er whispered lowly, “She is a madam from the Yanming Mountain, she said that when Master Sun was here, he would treat all the passer-by Qi Practitioners with delicacies, and yet why is it that now Master Long is unwilling to treat them with any food? She insisted on eating someone, and Elder Qiu sent us to request for Master Hu and Master Bai’s help. But he himself was eaten away by that madam. And along with her followers, they’ve wholly devoured every living human in one of the villages located at the foot of the mountain….”
Zhong Yue took in a deep breath of air, solemnly he asked, “This Qi Practitioner from the Yanming Mountain, what’s her name?”
Xia’er instantly blurted out, “From what I’ve heard from Master Hu and Master Bu, they call the master that passed by as ‘Mistress Ru’, even the two masters showed great respect towards her as they sent her off; the two masters told us that the Yanming Mountain is a mountain beside the Gu Xia City, the Qi Practitioners that reside there are all renowned figures, we shouldn’t provoke them easily….”
“Mistress Ru?”
Zhong Yue kept the name in his mind, he recollected his thoughts and said, “I’ll not be in Falcon Ridge most of the time, and the passer-by Qi Practitioners are countless, there will be some existence that will bully you all and insist on eating you with their higher status. Today, your master is back and I intend to change this status quo. I will leave my totem god pillars down for all the human tribes in my territory. Worship them and I would be able to sense all of you. Although the godly pillars aren’t too strong, as long as the supplication continues, their powers can be increased, and it will be sufficient to keep the safety of a territory.”
The four young ladies were filled with surprise and happiness, how could the totem god pillars possibly be something the human tribes could possess? Only those of the monster tribes were fit enough to own the totem god pillars, and they would also have to be large monster tribes.
“And the four of you.”
Zhong Yue gazed at the young ladies, the four of them were raised with medicinal pellets, their foundations were well built and their talents were strong. Their skin was like white carrots, and a sudden thought flashed across his mind, “I’ll teach the four of you some cultivation techniques, cultivate on your own and if you are talented enough to become Qi Practitioners, I will personally bring you all out to manifest a high-grade spirit, and let you become the Qi Practitioners!”
The four young ladies were shocked and overjoyed, the humans of the East Barren were merely nothing but livestock. How could they possibly be given the chance to cultivate?
And here they were, their Master Long intending to teach them the ways of cultivation, and they might even become Qi Practitioners!
The four of them quickly expressed their gratitude, but as Zhong Yue raised his hand up, the four of them were stopped midway in their act of kneeling. After all, these maidens were only a few years younger than him, and they were of the same ancestry, so how could he accept their genuflections so easily?
My prowess is not very strong yet, I can’t afford to expose myself yet, so I can’t pass down any techniques of the Swords Gate to them, while the techniques I’ve learned so far are very limited in number….
Zhong Yue pondered deeply, suddenly, an idea crossed his mind, Well then, I’ll teach them the moon totem patterns, and let them visualize the Bright Moon Star Toad!
It was no longer possible to sense the moon spirits from the moon. Anyone that reached out to the moon would only end up sensing the spirit of that Xiao Mang Celestial God, inadvertently nourishing the god’s spirit further.
While Zhong Yue’s moon spirit was the true moon spirit, he would most probably be the only one other than the Xiao Mang celestial. The moon spirit also had three forms, the first form was the Bright Moon, with a total of thirty-two totem permutations.
The second form was the Star Moon Jade Toad, fifty-six totem permutations and lastly, the third form of the Moon God, one which would require the state of Spirit Body as One to cultivate.
Along the way here, Zhong Yue had already fully mastered all thirty-two totem permutations of the moon spirit’s first form, but teaching it to the four young ladies who hadn’t the slightest inkling about cultivation was way harder than gaining insights
on the moon spirit. More than half a month’s time elapsed before Zhong Yue was able to successfully make the young ladies remember the thirty-two totem permutations and form into the shape of the moon.
As for the abstrusity and profundity hidden in the totem patterns, it was simply something beyond what their brains – that were still ignorant of all matters pertaining to cultivation – could comprehend. Only when their cultivation base had increased would they have a chance to understand the profundity hidden in the totem patterns. Now, all they needed to do was to keep on visualizing the bright moon and strengthen their psyche.
These young ladies, their starting points are way above mine….
Zhong Yue could not help but heave a breath in deep emotion. His eyes were filled with envy as he cast his gaze over to the young ladies who were striving in their cultivation. Only a few years before, he was only starting off with the Swords Gate Visualization Art, visualizing the Sword Gate, one of the most mediocre techniques of all. He wasn’t privileged with such things as medicinal pellets or spiritual herbs to strengthen his physique; a few moments of cultivation would exhaust his psyche and cause him to fall into a slumber, or otherwise, it would inflict a heavy toll on his body.
Hence, the poorer the children were, the slower their cultivation speed. With limited food to be consumed for energy and being subject to wearing ragged clothes that could never retain the warmth ... how could the peasant children have enough strength to even fathom cultivation? Zhong Yue himself hailed from the smallest and poorest tribe among the three thousand inhabiting the Great Wilderness, the other outer hall disciples would at least have resources and pills provided by their tribal people to supplement their cultivation whereas Zhong Yue ... he was alone and entitled to nothing. Surely, his cultivation speed would invariably be slower than the others.
However, these four young ladies started off with the 【Bright Moon Prodigious Emanation Art】 as their first step of cultivation. Visualizing the bright moon and refining their psyches, not only that, but the 【Bright Moon Prodigious Emanation Art】 itself was also a physique refining art. It could allow their physiques, psyches, and souls to advanced in tandem with one another, strengthening them all at the same time!
