Chapter 12.1 Copying Immortal Cultivation
Zhou Yun Sheng and Osborne toured the star field for more than two hundred years. One day they encountered a black hole during a voyage, and when he woke up, he was back in his Xinghai s.p.a.ce. The violent energy swirled toward him, almost filling his golden soul. He had the faint feeling that if he could get a bit more energy, he could completely break the shackles of the Lord G.o.d and reshape his body.
That meant that he could completely leave this virtual s.p.a.ce and go back to the real world. But what about his lover?
At this moment, what Zhou Yun Sheng felt wasn"t joy, but hesitation. He lingered in the void for a long time, then finally sighed, disappearing in place. Either go together, or stay together, even if it meant disappearing, then so be it… …
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Severe pain raked his body, especially his lower abdomen. Zhou Yun Sheng looked down and saw a slender white and smooth hand inserted in his belly, the fingers shaped like claws, his dantian area being crushed into ground meat. He raised his head, meeting a pair of murderous phoenix shaped eyes.
Shockingly, the one killing him was a beautiful and innocent looking young girl. She neatly pulled out her hand, swinging her sleeves to push him down into an abyss. Then she pinched a Dispel Dirt Talisman to cleanse off all the blood on her, and gracefully walked away, her pace light and even.
Zhou Yun Sheng didn"t have the time to think of anything else. He immediately pushed out his soul force to try and float, but found that the bottom of the abyss seemed to have a very strong suction, dragging him downward.
Bang! The body fell to the ground and shattered, immediately pushing Zhou Yun Sheng"s soul out of the body. Being killed as soon as he entered the world, this was the first time he experienced such a situation, not to mention the extremely tragic death.
Zhou Yun Sheng crouched beside the mangled corpse and sighed.
“007, find a suitable body.” He pressed the transfer b.u.t.ton.
Brrii, Brrii, 007 rang twice, then the screen blanked.
A foreboding feeling rose in Zhou Yun Sheng"s heart. He immediately opened 007"s sh.e.l.l and checked inside, but no matter what he did, he couldn"t find the problem. He tried to get out of the abyss, wandering around and around, but he always ended up back in the same place, and his soul was fading at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if something was extracting the power from his soul.
The foreboding feeling grew stronger. Zhou Yun Sheng looked around and finally found some clues, the stone and trees at the bottom of the abyss were not natural, rather, they seemed to be covering up a mysterious pattern. Zhou Yun Sheng, who had already experienced an immortal cultivation world, quickly recognized it. This was a soul sucking array, the array"s eye was a stone pillar, a soul judging aura flowed from the pillar, the person who had spread the array seemed to be a Dujie Qi ancestor.
In other words, only someone with a cultivation base higher than Dujie Qi, meaning, Dasheng Qi, could break the array.
He couldn"t get out by himself, where could he find a Dasheng Qi master to help? And was a Dasheng Qi master so easy to find? Every Large Thousand World probably had a handful of people with that ability, and no more.
Zhou Yun Sheng now wanted to explode in curses. He walked two rounds around the pillar, but he seemed to step on something strange. The pillar flashed out a bright light whip, tightly wrapping around him, dragging him into the pillar.
The golden light of his soul was quickly being absorbed by the tentacle shaped light, this was the first time Zhou Yun Sheng experienced the feeling of his soul becoming extremely weak. He knew that if he couldn"t break away from the shackles of the tentacle-shaped light, he would completely vanish.
This was definitely an immortal cultivation world, and the level was at least S-Cla.s.s. The Lord G.o.d must have found him, or it wouldn"t have set such a death trap. Zhou Yun Sheng desperately pushed his soul force, and at the last second, he finally broke away before he was dragged into the pillar of light.
He quickly shambled as far away from the light"s range as he could reach, then collapsed on the ground. His golden soul had become silvery white, and the light was very weak. A thread of his soul detached from his body and reached out to slowly wrap around the pillar, integrating into the pillar.
As long as his soul was in the array, the pillar would drain him until he became a dry lake, he couldn"t escape.
Zhou Yun Sheng gritted his teeth and secretly made a decision. He put his heart and soul into the broken body, using his last bit of soul force to repair his heart and limbs. In the last minute before he exhausted his soul force, the corpse became a livable body.
The light pillar slowly dimmed, and the mysterious engraved patterns also disappeared without a trace, becoming an ordinary moss covered rock.
Zhou Yun Sheng was relieved, he read the memory of the man"s body, then exploded in curses again.
This person not only had his dantian crushed, his spiritual roots were damaged, and his body was pierced by five full sets of Seven Star Bone Eating Nails. Not to mention cultivate, he couldn"t even move a finger. But his soul force had been consumed to the limit, he couldn"t restore this dilapidated body anymore, he could only resign himself to fate.
Zhou Yun Sheng, who"d hoped to leave the array with a corporeal body, was completely thrust into despair. The Lord G.o.d really was the Lord G.o.d, before attacking, the tasks were tough, after attacking, the tasks were insurmountable. As a paralyzed mortal, he"d die if he didn"t eat or drink for seven days, and after death, his soul would immediately be swallowed by the pillar, fading from heaven and earth.
Zhou Yun Sheng stared at the gloomy sky, really wishing he could raise a middle finger.
Time moved very slowly, every minute and every second was very unbearable as intense pain licked his body like a flame, the areas where the Seven Star Bone Eating Nails were planted oozed thick yellow pus, which also emitted a rancid odor. Zhou Yun Sheng, in order to distract himself from the pain, decided to sort out the original body"s memory.
Here was a Three Thousand Large World called Grand Heaven World. He was an Outer Sect Disciple for this Grand Heaven World’s largest sect, Promise Immortal Sect, called Fang Xinghai. He"d just turned 16 this year, and his qualifications were very poor, he was a four spiritual roots waste wood, but his character was extremely arrogant and domineering, he could be regarded as the tyrant of the Outer Sect.
The person who killed him was called Mo Yu, she was the Promise Immortal Sect leader, Chi Xiao Zhenren"s, beloved daughter. She was also a genius Inner Sect Disciple, only 18 years old and she already had late stage Zhuji cultivation base.
It was reasonable to say that as an Outer Sect waste wood, he wasn"t worthy of the Sect Leader"s beloved daughter"s hands on kill, and he was equally unworthy of having five sets of Seven Star Bone Eating Nails used to destroy his root bone. Not to mention that before this, the two people had never met, there should be no enmity.
However, Fang Xinghai was incapable, but he had a very capable older brother. His brother was called Fang Wen Guang, and he was a once in a hundred years cultivation genius. At 14 years old, he was at Zhuji, he progressed to Jiedan at 23 years old, and he was the Inner Sect"s Head Disciple, the Sect Leader"s first disciple.
Because the two brothers lost their parents at a young age, they"d always depended on each other, so their relationship was particularly deep. Fang Wen Guang protected his brother in all aspects of life, as long as his younger brother pushed someone"s b.u.t.tons, he would secretly help him out of the predicament, so over time, he"d actually raised his younger brother into a small overlord.
If Fang Wen Guang could successfully transition to Yuanying and become an independent peak master, Fang Xinghai would"ve been able to use his position to continue his arrogant and tyrannical days, but things suddenly took a turn for the worse.
Fang Wen Guang felt that he was about to transition to Yuanying, but he feared the retreat would take a few years or even decades. Worried that his younger brother would be bullied, he suppressed his cultivation base and entered the One Hundred Herb Secret Border to search for the spiritual roots purifying herb, Butian Herb, for his brother. The One Hundred Herb Secret Border opened once every fifty years, and only those who had Zhuji cultivation base could enter. Although Fang Wen Guang had suppressed his cultivation base, dealing with a group of novices should be easy.
Who could"ve guessed that he would never be able to come back, even his soul jade located in the Inner Sect had shattered into powder. There was no doubt that he was dead, and even his bones were missing.
Fang Xinghai, although he wasn"t very sensible, his feelings for his older brother were extremely deep. He begged the Sect Leader to find his brother"s whereabouts, insisting on finding the cause of his brother"s death and searching for the perpetrator.
He constantly nagged the Inner Sect Disciples to go to the Secret Border with him, incurring a lot of hateful disregard, and the Outer Sect Disciples who he"d previously bullied also launched a retaliation against him. Without his big brother’s refuge, Fang Xinghai was worse than a dog or a pig, but he didn"t care about his treatment, he only wanted to find out the cause of his brother"s death.
Today, Mo Yu suddenly sent a Transmission Talisman to him and asked him to come here, saying that she would tell him Fang Wen Guang"s whereabouts. He rushed over, and without even exchanging dialogue, Mo Yu immediately stabbed five sets of Bone Eating Nails into his body, crushed his dantian, destroyed his spiritual roots, and pushed him into the abyss.
Even if Mo Yu was related to Fang Wen Guang"s disappearance, she was a dignified Inner Sect Disciple, and also a talented cultivation genius, she had no need to personally kill Fang Xinghai. She just needed to order the Outer Sect residents to make things more difficult for him, and not a few days later, someone could kill him off without him being the wiser. Judging by her ruthless means, she probably had a private hatred for Fang Xinghai.
Zhou Yun Sheng repeatedly raided the memories in his brain, but he couldn"t find any intersection between Fang Xinghai and Mo Yu. An Outer Sect waste wood, the Sect Leader"s beloved daughter, their positions seemed to be the difference between heaven and earth.
If 007 could be used, the cause and consequences of matters involving the fate of the world’s son, and the trajectory of future events could be seen at a glance. However, Zhou Yun Sheng was now blind, he couldn"t even guarantee his own life, much less seek revenge for his brother.
The gloomy sky broke out in a drizzle, he quickly opened his chapped lips to drink the rainwater. There were a few cl.u.s.ters of soft-green weeds on both sides of his cheeks, he could chew a mouthful by turning his head. With these two things, he could live at least eight or nine days, after that, even Zhou Yun Sheng himself was uncertain.
He remembered Jin Yong"s novel character, Qiu Qianchi. She was also paralyzed and badly hurt, but survived by relying on the ripe fruit drops of a wild jujube tree, and she honed the remarkable skill of spitting out jujube pits to defend herself. But she had also been very lucky, a jujube tree happened to be growing above her head, unlike himself, who had nothing but clouds above his head.
Zhou Yun Sheng"s mouth curved up in a cynical smile.
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At the same time, a big event that shocked the world was occurring in Promise Immortal Sect. The so-called world-shaking wasn"t an exaggeration of speech, but a fact.
The original blue sky suddenly turned overcast, in the dark clouds were countless thick purple lightning, issuing deafening roars. The mighty pressure coming from heavenly law felt like a mountain was dropped into the vast ocean, causing the heaven fearing cultivators to be filled with the fear of death.
“Someone is transitioning from Dujie! The momentum is so vast, who is this expert?”
“The clouds are over Ding Guang Zhenren"s Silent Fire Peak! Could it be Ding Guang Zhenren?!”
"Ding Guang Zhenren is the only one who lives in Silent Fire Peak, if it"s not him, then who?”
The disciples stood in an open s.p.a.ce to wait and see, their faces showing unbelieving expressions, even Chi Xiao Zhenren, standing in Pure Cloud Pavilion, couldn"t help but expose doubts.
Promise Immortal Sect had twelve respected elders, and Ding Guang Zhenren was the youngest. He was only 400 years old this year but was already at Dujie Qi cultivation base. Outsiders called Fang Wen Guang a once in a lifetime genius, but the older cultivators knew that Ding Guang Zhenren"s talent was far above the so-called geniuses.
However, for some reason he"d insisted on cultivating the Shattered Heaven Sword Path, causing him to linger at the edge of Dujie Qi for over two hundred years, not progressing an inch.
The Shattered Heaven Sword Path was a path to turn upside down and shatter heaven and earth. Those who cultivated it to the pinnacle would be able to destroy all living things, and only the cultivator himself couldn"t be killed. They could take heavenly laws and replace them with their own versions.
So naturally, heavenly laws doesn"t tolerate him. Every time he progressed, he attracted more than ninety-nine Heavenly Tribulations, it was the same even when he was at Zhuji Qi. Even now, Chi Xiao Zhenren still couldn"t forget the scene of a 12-year-old child walking through scorched earth after bearing a full 80 back to back heavenly lightning bolts.
His sight could accommodate all living things, but once he looked away, all living things became incorporeal. Merely a young child in Zhuji Qi, but he had already comprehended changing reality into an ’empty’ state of nothingness.
Over the years, he hasn"t allowed anyone to enter his sight, including the Sect Leader, including the other eleven elders, his behavior could be called surly and unreasonable. However, when he was at Yuanying Qi cultivation base, his power could overthrow a rank 3 Heti Qi master. By the time he practiced into Dujie Qi, he could rarely find opponents, and many Dasheng Qi ancestors were afraid to become his enemy.
The reason Promise Immortal Sect was able to rank first in the eight great immortal sects was by relying on Ding Guang Zhenren"s deterrence. Now, this Zhenren was about to break into Dasheng Qi, could he resist the ninety-nine Heavenly Tribulations?
Chi Xiao Zhenren"s was secretly worried, but he didn"t dare get closer to Silent Fire Peak to watch.
While pondering, the pressure dropping from heavenly law formed a huge, black as ink tribulation cloud, purple lighting collided in the tribulation cloud, issuing a loud blood curdling noise. Some disciples with shallow foundations suddenly started bleeding from the seven openings. They fell limp to the ground, and even those of Yuanying Qi and above were unstable, fearing the raw darkness.
“All the disciples under Yuanying Qi go back to your bedrooms, come out after the Heavenly Tribulations have pa.s.sed!” Fear of punishment quickly led the disciples standing around in the open pavilion to leave, then they laid out a defense array in their rooms.
Ninety-nine Heavenly Tribulations would scare even a 9th Tribulation Loose Immortal out of their mind, it wasn"t something anyone could casually watch.
After getting rid of the weaker disciples, the first drop of lightning tribulation came down on Silent Fire Peak, the glittering purple lightning was thicker than the peak, instantly swallowing everything whole.
In just a blink of an eye, the most majestic peak in Promise Immortal Sect was razed to the ground, and a tall and straight figure stood among the destruction, gently flowing sleeves, indifferently greeting the second lightning. He did not use a magic weapon, nor did he swallow a medicinal pill, and he only brandished his double-edged sword skyward to greet the last lightning tribulation.
Chi Xiao Zhenren"s eyes couldn"t help but widen, revealing a horrified expression.
That pure black sword changed into a roaring dragon, flying toward the purple lightning tribulation, with a sound loud enough to shake the earth and the mountains, it split the lightning tribulation in half, breaking open the tribulation cloud, exposing the blue sky behind it. The spiritual energy within a radius of 10000 li was drawn in, forming a violent maelstrom as it flocked into the man"s body.
Chi Xiao Zhenren spread out the palm of his hand, he could even catch the spiritual energy, so concentrated that it had formed into a crystal-like, sparkling and translucent material. But it quickly fled from his palm, becoming embroiled in the center of the vortex.
As a result of the surging spiritual energy, the strong wind could even cut the flesh and bones of a Yuanying Qi cultivator to pieces, if not for the Sect Leader launching a defensive array in the nick of time, Promise Immortal Sect would"ve suffered heavy casualties.
After nine days and nine nights, the whirlpool finally disappeared, and a figure slowly walked out of the scorched dark earth. Chi Xiao Zhenren, who"d waited for a long time, hurriedly approached him to salute, "Junior greets Grand Elder.” This person was clearly younger than him, but because of his strength, he had become the most supreme existence in Promise Immortal Sect.
If his master was still alive, he was afraid that even he would also have to respectfully call the man Grand Elder. The amount of Dasheng Qi masters in Grand Heaven World could be counted on one hand, and the Loose Immortals had hidden away for many years, only the also rare Dujie masters roved about causing trouble.
But even if he was a 9th Tribulation Loose Immortal, he wouldn"t dare rashly make enemies with this person, not someone who could bear seven sequences of ninety-nine Heavenly Tribulations.
Ding Guang Zhenren didn"t even glance at him, he waved his sleeves to command that Silent Fire Peak be restored as soon as possible, then instantly vanished in place.
Chi Xiao Zhenren sighed in relief. Grand Elder"s coercion was really appalling, it had stimulated him so much that he"d would"ve sacrificed his Yuanshen to resist it. Fortunately, Grand Elder wasn"t sociable, if he had said just a few words, Chi Xiao would"ve definitely humiliated himself in front of everyone.
Chi Xiao Zhenren turned around and walked back to the disciples waiting in the distance, once again restoring his insipid like the mist, dignified immortal demeanor.
“Father, was that really Grand Elder? He"s completely different from what I imagined.” Mo Yu"s cheeks flushed as she pulled her father’s sleeve.
Promise Immortal Sect"s famous Grand Elder was actually such a young and handsome looking man, especially that pair of deep, cold eyes, just a glance from it could make people forget how to breathe.
“Shh, don"t talk about Grand Elder in private. Go back to your room and practice.” Chi Xiao Zhenren gave his daughter a warning glare, then looked back at the tranquil Silent Fire Peak in awe.
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Inside the Shattered Heaven Palace, Zong Yi, that is, Ding Guang Zhenren, was fiddling with a life and death divination pan. He incessantly stirred the life and death thread on the divination pan, but he couldn"t find that man"s trail.
When he was at Dujie Qi, he"d had the faint premonition that the person he was waiting for would finally appear, and in his ecstasy, he"d forgotten to suppress his cultivation base and had accidentally transitioned to Dasheng Qi. In another hundred years, or maybe even a few decades, he would ascend to the upper bounds, what should he do if he couldn"t find that person before then?
That conjecture actually made him unable to control his own temper, making him almost carelessly cut off the life and death thread.
Three thousand small worlds, three thousand medium worlds, three thousand large worlds, he"d searched them one by one in the past, but found nothing. But as a Dasheng Qi cultivator, he felt even more convinced of his intuition, that person must be here.
He went back to the life and death thread, searching once again, but the results were the same, not to mention a name, he couldn"t even deduce that person"s position, as if something had completely erased his traces.
Was it heavenly law? He suddenly sneered and discarded the divination pan, then walked out to stand in the courtyard, quietly waiting for darkness. After a few hours, when the dark sky was full of stars, he waved his sleeves, copying out a projection of the stars in front of him, using his fingertips to shift the direction of the stars to deduce that person’s location.
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Zhou Yun Sheng survived at the bottom of the abyss for ten days, fortunately there was plenty of rain and lush, so he didn"t starve to death. But the gra.s.s on both sides of his head had been eaten up, it probably couldn"t support him for another ten days.
He was hungry and cold, and his whole body was racked with pain, every second alive was torture. But he still didn"t want to die, he wanted to get out alive. The enemies of the Fang brothers, as well as the Lord G.o.d, should all be torn to pieces by his own hands.
The howling of wild beasts flowed out from the depths of the forest, fortunately, they couldn"t find their way in because of the array, giving Zhou Yun Sheng some peace of mind.
If anyone saves me at this time, I"ll devote my life to you, even if you"re not my lover. He thought vaguely.
Then miraculously, a tall figure appeared in the array. He was wearing a black robe, his jet-black long hair pulled back with a thin bamboo tie, revealing an angular face, oblique sword-shape eyebrows and long and narrow, cold phoenix eyes. That pair of eyes finally rippled with emotion at the sight of the scarred boy.
He walked two steps forward, stretched out his hands, and carefully brought the boy into his bosom, gently caressing his hair. Then he sighed, his face still expressionless, "Finally, I found you."
Zhou Yun Sheng hadn"t really expected someone to come save him, and from the sound of it, this person had been searching for him for a long time. He was sure that Fang Xinghai didn"t know this man, and judging from his aura, the other person was at least Dasheng Qi or above.
He thought of a possibility and his eyes slightly lit up, he asked hoa.r.s.ely, “You were looking for me? Do you know me?”
“You"ve never met me before today, but from now on, you"re my disciple. I"m called Zong Yi.” The man took out a medicinal pill and pushed it into the boy"s mouth, his fingertips stroking his dry lips, his eyes darkening gloomily.
“Can I know why you came to save me? And why you want to accept me as your disciple? My qualifications are very bad, I"m a four spiritual roots waste wood.”
“I only know that you"re the person I"m looking for, no matter what your qualifications, you"ll face no harm under Zong Yi. Wash out your marrow, change your fate, whatever you want, I"ll deliver it to your hands." Seeing the boy"s finally rosy face after taking the medicinal pill, the man"s pitch-black eyes seemed to soften.
“Then, could you kiss me?” Because the Seven Star Bone Eating Nails had not yet been pulled out, Zhou Yun Sheng"s internal injuries were healed, but he still couldn"t move, he could only moisten his eyes to appeal to the man.
The man apparently hadn"t expected him to make such a request, revealing a shocked expression. He"d lived for 400 years, but not to mention a kiss, he had never even embraced anyone else.
The boy"s bright eyes dimmed, he asked disappointedly, "Can"t you?”
He should never let the boy be disappointed, this thought occupied all of the man"s mind, he bowed his head, his thin lips fitting onto the boy"s pale lips. The boy suddenly stretched out his tongue between the seam of his teeth to explore, a gra.s.sy aroma and a faint astringent taste transferring, making the man"s heart and soul tremble.
He unexpectedly didn"t feel the slightest conflict, he even used his tongue to actively lick the boy"s gums, the faintly bitter yet surprisingly sweet taste left him in a trance. This feeling was mysterious and wonderful, making him unable to bear being separated from the boy, but sometime during the kiss, the gra.s.sy astringent taste was replaced by a touch of salt, it was the boy"s dripping tears.
He quickly let go, carefully observing his expression.
Bubbling tears gushed out from his eyes, but he couldn"t stop it, rational minded Zhou Yun Sheng had never cried before, this was the first time. If anyone struggled in despair for ten days and ten nights, and finally, their most beloved person came to rescue them, they also wouldn"t be able to suppress their emotions, a mixture of sorrow and exhilaration. He knew it, his lover would never abandon him, no matter what appearance he took, or where he"d fallen down to, he would always find him in time.
“You finally came, I waited for you for so long! I"d vowed that if anyone saved me, whether he was you or not, I would dedicate my life to them. But fortunately you came, or I couldn"t be with you this time." Zhou Yun Sheng incoherently complained, he was too tired, he couldn"t help but show his most vulnerable side.
"Don"t follow others, you"re mine.” The man"s expression was gloomy for a moment, but he gently picked the boy up. He wrapped the boy inside his large robe, rising into the air to depart, he waved his sleeves at the array"s eye, shattering the pillar into powder.
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T/N:
Welp, here"s your Christmas present folks, a confusing mess. I"ve made it as readable as I could, including making every term I could English and cutting out some awkward phrases. If someone who rarely reads xianxia can enjoy this, I"ll count it a win. There"s even a helpful glossary….
Dantian, array, spiritual roots, cultivation base, Yuanshen: Check Glossary.
Waste wood- good for nothing loser, talentless hack, etc.
Zhenren- Wikipedia, Zhenren, 真人, literally: “true or genuine person”, is a Chinese term that first appeared in the Zhuangzi meaning “Daoist spiritual master”, roughly translatable as “Perfected Person”.
Elders- Taishang- t.i.tle of respect for Taoists, Zhanglao- elder, 太上長老. They"re actually all "Grand Elders" but because Zong Yi"s more powerful than them they respectfully refer to him as "Grand Elder" although they"re the same rank. To avoid confusion, they"ve been downgraded to elders, and Zong Yi is left as Grand Elder.
Seven openings- 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils, 1 mouth
Strong wind- Gangfeng 罡風, in Daoism, astral wind on which immortals may ride / strong wind.
The thousands of worlds etc. has to do with Buddhism, above my paygrade. Check these out if you want: here, here.
The novel ZYS refers to.
Sword eyebrows