Chapter 151: The Beginning of Chaos and the Second Evolution of Fiery Eyes
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
It was not an auspicious day!
Junior Leopard felt a surge of anger coming from the Dantian the moment he saw this Fiery Eye.
It was a Fiery Eye, a perfect Fiery Eye. Junior Leopard even believed it was the same as what it was when it had just been excised.
An Eternal Eye!
A Fiery Eye would become An Eternal Eye after being excised from his owner. Water, fire, knives and guns could not harm it, and it would not decay as time went by, so it was called an Eternal Eye.
To kill a man was to cut off his head and leave it on the ground, so it was not a big deal to cut out one’s eyes. It was the spoils of war. It had been like this since ancient times. Even in the present age of Jin, there was a military rule that took credit according to the number of enemy you beheaded. But judging by the size of this Fiery Eye, its owner was not an adult, not even a teenager. Apparently it belonged to a child.
The magnificent scarlet in the eyeball was somewhat faint, but it suffused a thick b.l.o.o.d.y smell. There was also a strange atmosphere around it, cold and gloomy. But only Junior Leopard could sense it. w.a.n.g She, a Level Nine expert, had no response to it.
“See! This is the fate of owning Fiery Eyes!”
From Junior Leopard’s expression, w.a.n.g She could easily feel the anger in his deep heart. “It not only happened in the past, but it also still happens now. Once the other person knows that you have Fiery Eyes, I can ensure you that everyone who is related to you will be killed overnight. All of their eyes will be cut out, including your two little nephews!”
“Why? What is the reason?” asked Junior Leopard, looking up. “Now that you are a Level Nine expert, I think that you should be qualified to come into contact with these legendary secrets?”
“Yes, but not now, and you can’t be in a hurry!” said w.a.n.g She softly. “I have things to do. Besides, it might not be good for you if I uncover these secrets. Maybe when I see the secrets and learn the truth, I will change my mind and try to kill you. There’s a possibility!”
“Maybe you are right!” Junior Leopard nodded. “Who knows what the truth is, but even if the person who has the Fiery Eyes has done something, should it have anything to do with children like this one?”
“Yeah! Although this is the case, not everyone can do what they say!” said w.a.n.g She. “Fiery Eyes are amazing. If you possess one, you can use it to make External Elixirs and magic weapons, so of course they won’t care who they kill. They only know that killing you is good for them. If not, why are there so few evil beasts in the world? Isn’t it because every part of the evil beast is a treasure?”
Junior Leopard just sneered and closed the box, “OK, I have done what you asked me to do. You did what I asked you to do, too. We are quits on this matter!”
“Yeah, we are quits!” answered w.a.n.g She with a nod. “Just one more thing, I think I’d better tell you first…”
“What?”
“After this thing is over, will you go back to Zhonghe Prefecture?”
“Of course! I’m a personal guard of Admiral Li. This time I asked for leave!” answered Junior Leopard.
“That’s fine. Zhonghe Prefecture is the hinterland of Jin. Li Yuan has a strong background as well. To work for him, you should be fine!”
“What’s going on?” w.a.n.g She’s words caught Junior Leopard’s attention as he heard something unusual from the words.
“The whole world is going to be in chaos!” w.a.n.g She simply said.
“The whole world is going to be in chaos?” Junior Leopard was completely bewildered by his words. What did he mean? The present situation of Jin was very complicated. All sorts of relations.h.i.+ps were connected, such as the imperial court and the well-known families, the well-known families and the martial arts world, the martial arts world and the imperial court. But they not only had confrontations but also cooperations. At present, the Emperor was unhappy with the millennium families and the schools and was struggling for power with them, but this had lasted for tens of thousands of years. There was a set of rules and nothing unusual. Furthermore, these struggles were mainly concentrated in the upper echelons and rarely affected ordinary people. In the past hundred years, Jin had been in favorable weather since generations of emperors were wise, especially the present Divine Son. Since he inherited the throne, he had made great efforts to make the country prosperous and thus he enabled all kinds of talents close to the sages and alienated despicable people. The country was well governed and got a b.u.mper grain harvest every year. Even if there was a disaster, the disaster relief could be in place timely. Junior Leopard noticed it all. Even the people at the bottom were not to the point of rebellion.
Therefore, Junior Leopard was puzzled by what w.a.n.g She said.
“Boy, don’t think so much. Just remember what I said. Go back to Zhonghejun City, stay there and observe the changes of the world. Now that Jin is at its peak, decline must be right after flouris.h.i.+ng. If I were you, I would take advantage of this opportunity to make more capital and strengthen for the future!”
Since w.a.n.g She had said that, Junior Leopard could not ask any more questions, but nodded silently, “thank you for your reminder!”
“Well, that’s it. Be careful! About the extinction of Fiery Eyes’ bloodline, I won’t try to figure it out. When you have strength in the future, you can investigate yourself!” said w.a.n.g She, disappearing in front of Junior Leopard.
“I will!” Junior Leopard softly said, but w.a.n.g She had left before his words.
“Why is it getting more and more complicated!” Junior Leopard slowly frowned and put away the black box in his hand. The Fiery Eye is wonderful, but when he knew that it was from a child, he was completely in a bad mood. Now his mood was certainly not conducive to the study of the Fiery Eye. What’s more, it would take some time for the Fiery Eye to be used. It could not be used as he wanted. He was still in the Wu Residence, and so was the owner. The Fiery Eye was ‘booty’. If Junior Leopard used it and was found, he would be caught with the booty. He was not that stupid, and there was plenty of time after going back to Zhonghejun City anyway. Although he was impatient, he knew the priorities.
Since the First Elder lost something so important in the Wu Residence, the place was plunged into chaos. But no one ever suspected that the Fiery Eye was in the hand of Junior Leopard, because when the Fiery Eye was lost, he was drinking in the restaurant with a gang of the other disciples.
Moreover, his strength, though strong, could only be praised among the disciples of the younger generation. No one would believe that he could sneak into the retreat of Lyu Yiyue and steal the Fiery Eye. Recently, because of the marriage of Ma Mansion and Lu Mansion, a lot of people of the martial arts world that had evil intentions came to Qinlingjun City, Yunzhou, including many experts. If some of them came here for the Fiery Eye, it would be hardly preventable. After all, the news that Lyu Yiyue got the Fiery Eye had been deliberately concealed by the Wu Family, but it could not be hidden from anyone who really wanted it.
It was not a real secret.
Besides, Junior Leopard had the perfect alibi, so no one suspected him.
After a while in Qinlingjun City, the matter quietened down. But no news came from his teacher, perhaps it was delayed by things. Junior Leopard did not want to stay in the regional city any more, so he went straight back to Zhonghejun City.
After all, strictly speaking, that was his place now.
Back in Zhonghejun City, Junior Leopard did not return to work immediately. As with the custom for civil servants in the previous life, how could he go back to work before the holidays were over?
So he secretly returned to Zhonghejun City, went back to his house, and told w.a.n.g Tianlei and his wife not to tell anyone. Of course, w.a.n.g Tianlei and Zhou Hua’er would follow him.
In these days, he would study the mystery of the Fiery Eye.
On his way back to Qinlingjun City, he did not take out the Fiery Eye and study it due to caution. However, over time he increasingly felt his eyes seemed to have a fancy connection with the Fiery Eye in the box. Several times when he was having midnight dreams, he found himself in a mysterious s.p.a.ce in his mind and could not directly awaken.
It was a mysterious, deep call from the depths of the bloodline that he could not prevent or control. As time went on, his Fiery Eyes would work on their own, which worried him very much. Once, he tried to put the Fiery Eye away from him for a while, but then there was a stabbing pain which came from not only his eyes, but also his heart, as if he lost something very important in his life and was no longer complete.
It was then that he understood that from the moment w.a.n.g She brought the Fiery Eye to him, he could not break away from the Eternal Eye which did not belong to him, but shared the same bloodline as him.
It would never be good for him to take it with him for a long time without studying it thoroughly, or even refining it. He did not want his Fiery Eyes to get out of control, or let the world know that he had the taboo heaven-sent bloodline that had been severed for thousands of years. It was not something that deserved to be bragged about.
It was too dangerous. Junior Leopard had to solve it as soon as possible, and that was why he secretly came back. In fact, he regretted it. If this had been discovered earlier, he would have gone to Misty Mountain to practice for a few days. But now, it was also a good choice to hide back in Zhonghejun City.
The house Junior Leopard bought was not that large. w.a.n.g Tianlei had bought two more houses as his business grew.
More importantly, one of the two houses that w.a.n.g Tianlei had bought had a huge bas.e.m.e.nt.
Many people would dig tunnels at home, especially those who had some valuable property, thus they all had some cellars, secret chambers and so on. But it was the first time that Junior Leopard had seen such a large bas.e.m.e.nt.
Most of all, this bas.e.m.e.nt was a typical practice room with four walls and the ground made of huge bluestones. Pieces of bluestones were sliced into rectangles, creating an underground practice field of nearly 1000 square meters. The practice field which was made of bluestones was very grand and simple. Apart from the bluestone walls and ground, there was only a luminous pearl hanging in the middle of the stone room.
The luminous pearl was performing its most primitive function, illumination!
The luminous pearl was not very big, like the size of a pigeon egg, but its soft light shone through the bas.e.m.e.nt and made the room clear.
This was a good place, a rare good place. Although there was nothing but bluestone in the bas.e.m.e.nt, ordinary people could never build it. It would take a lot of money, resources, and manpower to incise the bluestone. One must get these stones into Zhonghejun City, dig a large place under the house, and trim the bottom. It was a big project, probably no less inferior than the grandest building, Guard County Manor, in Zhonghe Prefecture.
This surprised not only Junior Leopard but also w.a.n.g Tianlei. After inquiring, they knew the ancestor of the house’s original owner was a famous martial artist, a Level Eight expert, whose family had a monopoly on the food business in the whole Zhonghejun City in its heyday. With wealth, power and excellent feats, naturally he could do whatever he wanted. In fact, hundreds of years ago, several streets here all belonged to the family.
But then the family gradually declined, some of the houses were sold, and some were mortgaged, only the main house was left. In the end, the head of the family died in the Sect of Flame Rebellion, leaving some orphans and widows that had survived. They could not go on living in Zhonghejun City, so they sold the house, took the money and went to their relatives, which let w.a.n.g Tianlei and Junior Leopard take advantage of them.
w.a.n.g Tianlei was smart. After discovering the underground practice field, he left the whole house empty and kept it for Junior Leopard.
Junior Leopard was quite satisfied with it. He certainly did not hesitate to come in.
Such a secret place, of course, was the best place to study the Fiery Eye.
There was a thick red mahogany table and chair set below the luminous pearl. Junior Leopard sat in the chair. In front of him there was a desk, where the Fiery Eye, which was stolen from Lyu Yiyue by Snake King was placed.
Since w.a.n.g She gave it to him, he had only seen it once, and that was when w.a.n.g She gave it to him in the Wu Residence. He had not opened the box since that night.
It was the second time.
This time, compared with the first time, he looked more carefully. The original anger had disappeared, perhaps it was suppressed by a powerful calm.
The Fiery Eye had been on him for so long. Though he had not seen it, it had a mysterious connection with his own eyes. Today, he was trying to find the mysterious connection and do his best to make it his own.
The magnificent eyeball in scarlet!
Different from Junior Leopard’s Fiery Eyes, the Fiery Eye was pure faint scarlet and there was no boundary between the pupil, eye white and eye’s core. From afar, it looked like a scarlet crystal ball.
Junior Leopard’s Fiery Eyes were different when he started them. His eyes would become scarlet, but the boundaries were still clear. His eye white would turn scarlet, and his pupils were still as black as ink, just like two unfathomable black holes. His eye’s core was golden red, and around the scarlet part, there was a ring of black, like a mysterious ring covered his eyes. This was the state of his Fiery Eyes.
He started his own Fiery Eyes and then quietly looked at the Fiery Eye in front of him. He felt the mysterious connection from the Fiery Eye on the table and he knew that he didn’t need to do anything else, just stare at the Fiery Eye on the table.
Obviously, there was a link between different Fiery Eyes.
The Fiery Eye on the table, under the gaze of Junior Leopard, changed. The faint scarlet Fiery Eye moved.
Yes, it moved. It was like the scene of dropping a drop of red ink on a gla.s.s filled with water and slowly stirring it. Of course, this was the reverse of the process. The scarlet of the Fiery Eye filled the s.p.a.ce, and under the gaze of Junior Leopard, the color stirred. At the same time, Junior Leopard clearly felt his eyes’ change… The mysterious black lines that swirled around his pupils were also stirring.
Change was interactive, but what really led to the change was Junior Leopard’s eyes. With the rotating of black lines of his eyes, the change of the Fiery Eye on the table began to regulate. The stirring scarlet seemed to have been manipulated by an invisible hand and began to move in a fixed line. Slowly, the scarlet crystal ball became an eyeball.
Yes, an eyeball.
It changed from an original completely scarlet crystal ball into a human eyeball. The eye white, pupil and eye’s core were clear.
It was an eyeball, cut out from a man.
It had almost the same structure as Junior Leopard’s eyeb.a.l.l.s, scarlet eye white, black pupil and red eye’s core. Only two things are different. First, Junior Leopard’s eye’s core were golden red, but the eye’s core of the Fiery Eye in front of Junior Leopard was a dark red. Second, there was a ring of black around Junior Leopard’s pupil. Though there was black line around the pupil of the Fiery Eye on the table, the black line was not a perfect ring around the pupil like Junior Leopard’s eyes, but three black lines that stretched out 120 degrees from the black pupil. The weirdest thing was that Junior Leopard found that the length of the black line was just as long as the distance from the black line to the pupil in his eyes.
Could this be a coincidence?
Junior Leopard thought to himself and came up with a strange idea.
“Could it be that the Fiery Eyes can mutually absorb the eye strength to evolve just like the skill-copy eyes in comics?”
He could not get rid of the idea. It kept going round and round in his head. At the same time, his eyes were more closely connected with the Fiery Eye in front of him.
“Bang”, there was a loud bang in Junior Leopard’s head. After that, he was helpless to find that he was once again drawn into that mysterious s.p.a.ce by his Fiery Eyes.
In the hollow, the eyeball that was hanging in the air started turning slowly. He felt that the hollow now was different from the one he had come to before, which seemed to be filled with an ambiguous energy. The ambiguous energy gave him a familiar feeling as if it were the power of his own Fiery Eyes.
“Am I really absorbing the power of that Fiery Eye? It has been 3,000 years. Can it really work?”
Junior Leopard was thinking about such a possibility. Indeed, the eye of the man who lived three thousand years ago was an Eternal Eye, but was it really as eternal as it was stated in the legend?
It turned out that all he thought was superfluous and unhelpful. Just as he was thinking, the Fiery Eye hanging in the air changed. The three black lines, stretching from the eyeball at an angle of 120 degrees, were connecting to the black line of his eyes.
This connection made him suddenly feel extremely dizzy as if he had drunk a lot of wine. The whole hollow seemed to revolve around the dangling huge eyeball and condense.
Condense, completely condense. In the mysterious s.p.a.ce, Junior Leopard could even feel the process and the cause of the hollow condensing. It was completely crushed by a tremendous power which he had felt before in this mysterious s.p.a.ce, the ambiguous but familiar power. When the black line stretched from the pupil completely connected with the power, the gentle power broke out immediately. The entire s.p.a.ce was crushed into fragments, just like the earth cracking.
But it was not over. After the destruction, there was reborn, after the earth cracking, there was an Evolve the World.
In the process of Evolving the World, Junior Leopard had felt it at the beginning of his fist intent coming into being. He created a crus.h.i.+ng vacuum because of it.
Though the feeling flashed and vanished in a second, the flash and memory were preserved and remained in the deepest part of his memory. In the moment of the collapse of the s.p.a.ce, the memory of the moment was miraculously transferred out, there was no need for him to deliberately pursue it. In that instant, the Fiery Eye hanging in midair shook violently. A strong power that was h.o.m.ogeneous with the power which thrust into s.p.a.ce was coming out. The Evolvement of the World began again.
All of this was done in a flash, but in Junior Leopard’s mind, it seemed to last a lifetime. When his mind returned again, the hollow had been reorganized. Before he could carefully sense the s.p.a.ce after the reorganization, his thoughts were forced out of the s.p.a.ce and back to reality.
Then he felt a stab in his head as if his head was torn.
The faint scarlet in the Fiery Eye on the red mahogany table in front of him disappeared, the black line that stretched out from the eyeball also disappeared. The only object left was a seemingly ordinary eye, quiet on the table. The blood red in the eye also slowly faded away and disappeared.