Tiny drops made streams, which then converged into a river. The river had arduously rolled on for thousands upon thousands of miles through valleys, hills, plains, and mudflats, and finally, it mightily and torrentially flowed ahead and gushed into the sea. How joyful it was! It was exactly how Ning Que felt now.
Originally, he was only an urchin in Chang’an City that had unexpectedly suffered from misfortune. He had seen and experienced the ugliest and most dangerous things in this world and had to roam about with Sangsang at such a young age. And in the end, life had made him a young wood-chopper in the border town.
He had known that there was Taoism in this world, but had no idea at all how to practice it. In the Kaiping Market, he found the Article on the Response of the Tao, yet for years could not get any inspiration from it. He had not known that all his acupoints were blocked until he came across the sage, and hence, the so-called cultivation was only a daydream for him. Fortunately, his acupoints were activated, so he finally understood Taoism and entered the Academy, which made all his complaints disappear.
Today, he finally overcame the key obstacle on the path of cultivation and entered the Seethrough State, so he felt uncomparably comfortable, mentally and physically. Standing beside the lake, he supported himself with both hands on his waist and leaned backward to see the drifting clouds in the blue sky. Only through shouting or smirking could he now fully express the happiness that he felt.
Looking at Ning Que, Mo Shanshan felt that his figure was in such harmony with the surrounding scenery. She felt the aura sent by the wind and understood what he had experienced, and thus, she was showing a sincere smile.
Looking at the clouds in the sky and those above the lake, as well as those real or illusory Snow-capped Peaks hidden among the clouds, Ning Que was feeling and comprehending what the Seethrough State had brought him. He did not yet have a direct cognition of the real meaning of entering the Seethrough State, but at least he could obviously feel that he had a deeper understanding of Talisman Taoism.
The fine weather, the lake in winter, and the verdant valley, actually, all of these things in nature were talisman lines.
Because of this new understanding, he had a strong desire to unfold a piece of paper, grind some ink, and wield a brush pen beside the lake so he could write down all of the lines of nature that he had seen with his eyes and sense of perception.
But he did not do that because he had other more important things to tackle.
…
…
There was a gentle slope on the south bank of Daming Lake and near the steep cliff of the verdant valley. With the dissipation of the tactical array, spring was resurrected and the gentle slope was already covered with green weeds, which then spread into a meadow. But the outskirts of the meadow where it was near the cliff were invaded by the cold, thus appearing to be blighted and withered.
Ning Que and Mo Shanshan stood in the frost-covered grass, both looking up into the far distance where the snow cliff lay. Today, the sky was a cloudless blue, providing clear vision. But those numerous particles invisible to the naked eye made the sight of that snow cliff dozens of miles away become blurry, so they even could not see the snow cliff.
Although he could not see the snow cliff with his eyes, that did not mean that he could not see it another way. Since Ning Que had just now entered the Seethrough State, his spirit and aura were at their peak, and his already sharp perception was now sharp to the extreme. An extremely bright mass of light came clearly out from his sense of perception, which was golden yellow with an unusual brilliance. The edge of the mass shined out in all directions like a beautiful flower.
He was shocked by what he saw with his sense of perception and asked subconsciously, “Is the Seethrough State… so powerful? Did it actually help me to perceive that scene from such a long distance?”
Mo Shanshan looked in the direction of the snow cliff dozens of miles away, pensively saying, “It’s not the Seethrough State that had helped you to perceive the aura of nature from so far away, but because Prince Long Qing has reached the critical moment of breaking the realm. What he will break into is the Knowing Destiny State, so naturally, it will be earth-shaking. Now, he is only a step away from that state, so the Taoism that he has accumulated over decades of cultivation and his Psyche Power are all released, strongly interrupting the Qi of Heaven and Earth. That’s why we can see it.”
After a brief silence, Ning Que smiled and said, “Although there is one step left, I still won.”
Mo Shanshan looked at him and asked, “What should we do next?”
Ning Que said naturally, “I will tell Long Qing that I have broken the realm, of course. Now that he has lost the bet, he will get rid of his Snow Mountain and Ocean of Qi later, so why should he bother to break the realm with such difficulty now? If he admits that he is defeated, then perhaps he will be in less pain. It would be too cruel to get rid of them after he has entered the Knowing Destiny State.”
Mo Shanshan glanced at him with a complicated mood, thinking silently, “Now Long Qing is only one step away from the Knowing Destiny State, which cultivators wish for, and will soon become a Grand Cultivator. At such a moment, will he really keep his promise at the sacrifice of his cultivation and his identity in the Divine Hall? Ning Que, you are not usually as naive as you are being now!”
“Now, the problem is, how do we tell him that he has lost the bet?” asked Ning Que.
Mo Shanshan shook her head slightly and answered, “At the moment of breaking the realm, the Taoist Heart is transparent, so we can feel him. His Perception State is extremely sharp, so he should already have known that he was defeated the moment that you broke the realm.”
Ning Que looked at that invisible snow cliff and, after a moment of silence, asked, “Then what is he waiting for?”
…
…
Prince Long Qing was waiting for the moment of blooming.
A hint of green on top of the firewood had broken out, and more than a dozen flourishing green leaves sprouted out a pink-peach blossom, which burst forth at a visible speed. Its tender petals slowly unfolded one by one and were trembling in the wind somewhat, and one could faintly see some dewdrops from above.
Four petals had unfolded, and the fifth one was slowly, but firmly, stretching out.
If the last petal fully unfolded, that would be the time of flourishing, the time of full bloom.
And that would be the Knowing Destiny State.
The fluctuation of aura from the depths of the verdant valley had clearly reached the top of the snow cliff and entered his keenest sense of perception. He knew that Ning Que had broken the realm, but so what?
With his eyes closed, Prince Long Qing calmly and joyfully sat on the cliff, outside of the fence and in front of the green leaves and pink peach blossom. He was waiting for the moment of breaking the realm.
Perhaps, it was at just the next moment.
In the eyes of the Grand Cultivators in the Knowing Destiny State, those fellow travelers on the path of cultivation would become nobodies. Any obstacles that might impact their Taoist Hearts would not exist because, once they entered the Knowing Destiny State, they would become the supermundane ones who had separated from the secular world. So naturally, they would no longer need to care about the rules and principles of the secular world.
Sitting on the other side of the snow cliff, Ye Hongyu, the Tao Addict, did not look at Long Qing, because she knew that he would surely enter the Knowing Destiny State today. But instead, she felt bored and could not help furrowing her brows, feeling somewhat impatient.
It was strange that, as outstanding ones of the young generation in the West-Hill Divine Palace, Prince Long Qing and she were in charge of the Judicial Department together. Though they had never had any open strife, they had secret competitions. During recent years, she had always had the upper hand. But now, witnessing Long Qing about to enter the Knowing Destiny State, she was somehow indifferent toward it, as if she did not regard it as a threat.
She did not stare at the verdant valley either because she had perceived the change of the Breath of nature in the previous moment and knew that the disciple of Academy named Ning Que had entered the Seethrough State. Although it was beyond her expectation, she did not care too much about it, thinking secretly, “At the worst, I can kill both Ning Que and the Calligraphy Addict later to protect the honor of the Divine Hall, and then, who else in this world would know about this bet?”
…
…
Ning Que looked into the far distance and asked with the tip of his eyebrows tilting up, “Will he shamelessly break his promise?”
Mo Shanshan softly answered, “Right now, he won’t admit defeat.”
“But it’s a fact. He has to admit it.”
Ning Que said, “On that day, I told you that he has to keep his promise if I were to enter the Seethrough State first.”
Mo Shanshan turned back to look at him blankly. She could not understand how Ning Que could force Long Qing to keep his bet of breaking a state from over 10 miles away. Moreover, Long Qing was about to enter the Knowing Destiny State.
“In a casino, you have to acknowledge the loss.”
Ning Que put the luggage on the ground and took out a heavy wutong box, saying, “If somebody dares to disobey that rule, or is caught cheating, the most useful part of his body will be chopped off.”
There were strangely shaped metal pieces inside the box that had dark surfaces and were woven with countless thin metal lines. They looked as if they contained an extremely tenacious power.
Mo Shanshan furrowed her brows. She had entered the Wilderness with Ning Que and knew that the heavy luggage was important to Ning Que, but it was not until today that she realized that the luggage contained these strange things. And she still did not know what function they had.
Ning Que took the metal pieces out from the box, his fingers slowly rubbing along the relatively coarse surface of the box. Soon after, he quickened his speed, and along with the sounds of metal scratching together, a darkish metal bow was rapidly made.
Next, he began to wind the bowstring. From the dark-colored quiver, he drew out a darkish alloy arrow, the shaft of which was covered with scale-like microgrooves. It was unknown how many times the shaft had been forged to have such an effect. If one were to carefully examine it, they would find lines deeply carved between the microgrooves on the shaft. These were the lines of talisman exactly.
Mo Shanshan looked at the darkish metal bow and arrow in Ning Que’s hand in a daze, and subconsciously raised her hand to cover her lips in great shock.
These were the unique Primordial Thirteen Arrows made by the unique Academy.
They made their first appearance in the world in the vast Tianqi Mountain.
…
…
The day that they made the bet of breaking a state, Ning Que asked Mo Shanshan what would happen if, at the critical moment of breaking the realm, the realm-breaker was suddenly attacked from the outside world. Back then, Mo Shanshan answered that the breaker would be fiercely counter-attacked and would even have no hope of breaking the realm again in his life— so he decided to force Prince Long Qing to keep that bet.
Standing on the upper side of the withered meadow under white frost, Ning Que looked at the remote cliff over 10 miles away and focused on that golden blossom in the sense of perception that was about to fully bloom. He was emotionless and as calm as a winter lake.
The aura sent out from Prince Long Qing on the verge of entering the Knowing Destiny State was very brilliant, as if it were a bonfire at night. Its clarity made it unnecessary for Ning Que to aim at Long Qing.
Your happiness is the sun in my world.
Today was a good day and was suitable for shooting arrows.
Ning Que took a deep breath and raised the metal bow to aim at the cliff far away. He gradually drew the bow backward with his right arm, and the shape of the firm bow slightly changed as the bowstring dug deeply into his fingers.
“The world is flat, good!”
Upon saying this, he loosened his finger.
The tense bowstring rubbed against his fingertip and sprung back at a fast speed, allowing the Talisman Arrow to shoot out with a great force!
The sharp arrow bunchr moved forward from the bow where his hand had been holding it. And after it covered some distance, the diamond inlay on the bow slightly rubbed against the metal shaft, as if a brush pen had written on paper and left a line on it.
It was exactly in the empty space of the Fu character on the shaft, and the last stroke of that Fu character.
As the end of the arrow left the bow, a string of white liquid came out with it, either because it was moving too fast or because the Fu character was activated.
And then, the Primordial Thirteen Arrow disappeared in the white liquid.
…
…
Prince Long Qing, sitting on the snow cliff with his legs crossed, sensed the fluctuation of the aura of heaven and earth from off in the distance, and he even perceived the hostility and homicidal intent of Ning Que. But he did not care at all, nor bother to open his eyes.
Now in his sense of perception, the darkness had faded and brilliant stars were about to cover the entire Firmament. On the firewood behind him, the peach blossom had bloomed, leaving only that last petal, which would unfold quickly.
The higher your degree was on the path of cultivation, the more difficulty you would encounter when breaking the realm and the more dangerous it would be. However, since they were so far away from each other, he did not think that his opponent had the ability to affect him.
Only the sword of Liu Bai, the Sage of Sword, or the legendary Sage in the No Rules State could hurt someone 10 miles away from them. But did they really exist?
Moreover, he had Ye Hongyu, the Tao Addict, to protect him.
So, those were Prince Long Qing’s real thoughts when he was about to enter the Knowing Destiny State for the first time in his life.
And soon after, he discovered that he was wrong.
…
…
Ning Que had just broken the realm, whose aura of spirit was at the peak, yet he immediately shot out the most powerful Primordial Thirteen Arrow without even adjusting himself or enjoying his happiness for a while.
The Psyche Power accumulated over the past 10 years, the persistence fostered by those struggles and hardships, the cognition of heaven and earth, and the hatred, unwillingness, complaints, and coldness were all poured out with that shot.
It had nothing to do with gratitude or revenge, but indeed, it made him happy.
The water in Daming Lake rolled over turbulently, and the fish inside of it panicked.
From the meadow to the snow cliff, countless leaves fell down and the treetops all bent away in a panic, thus forming a hollow.
The invisible arrow was moving forward through the hollow.
That arrow,
startled the peaceful lake,
stirred the dense forest,
and made the newly bloomed peach blossom wither.
…
…
Prince Long Qing opened his eyes in shock, and looked in the direction of the verdant valley, his face suddenly turning pale.
He then looked down at his chest, stunned, and the expression in his eyes suddenly turned into extreme grief.
A flower was blooming from his chest, which was covered with a black taoist robe.
But it was not the golden flower that had appeared after he was enlightened by the West-Hill Taoists Law in his dreams.
It was a flower of blood.
And behind the flower, there was a hole.
An empty hole.
There was nothing inside it.
…
…
The previous moment, the blackish and thin Primordial Thirteen Arrow disappeared from Ning Que’s bowstring and faded into the white liquid of primordial Qi.
And the next moment, the Primordial Thirteen Arrow appeared before Prince Long Qing.
It seemed that a Talisman Arrow could fly, disregarding the constraints of time and space.
The tough Talisman Arrow directly pierced through the chest of Prince Long Qing where the flower of blood appeared. It had greatly disturbed the Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow inside his body and then continued to flash ahead like black lightning until it probed into the mountain far behind the snow cliff.
“Bam!”
The snow in the middle of the mountain began to collapse, which then formed a white torrent that thunderously flowed down.
Suddenly, the blue sky turned gloomy, and black clouds clustered in the northern part of the sky in the Wilderness.
Looking down at the empty hole in his chest, Prince Long Qing began to tremble.
The arrow arrived too fast for him to react. It pierced through his chest and vanished too quickly for the blood from his wound to bleed out.
And the peach blossom on the firewood had withered.
The brilliant stars in his sense of perception had all broken while the remaining darkness was torn into small pieces.
Prince Long Qing’s lips twitched upward to blankly force a smile, but the smile was heartbreakingly and piercingly full of pain.
Tiny drops made streams, which then converged into a river. The river had arduously rolled on for thousands upon thousands of miles through valleys, hills, plains, and mudflats, and finally, it mightily and torrentially gushed ahead and was about to enter the sea. But now, how dismal it was to be blocked by a cliff thousands of feet high and crash into pieces! That was exactly how Prince Long Qing felt.
Originally, he was a prince in the capital of the Yan Kingdom, who occasionally had happy encounters. He had experienced the most prosperous and the luckiest things in the world. As a youngster, he had already toured around all of the countries to make adjustments and finally, he became a handsome god in Peach Mountain for the sake of Haotian’s gift.
Today, he was finally about to reach the moment of surpassing that key obstacle of cultivation and enter the Knowing Destiny State, and thus, felt extremely happy. Against the verdant valley, he faced the Snow-capped Peak and, with the peach blossom newly bloomed on the firewood by his side, he felt that his life was on the verge of completeness.
But just now, an arrow had flown from somewhere.
That arrow destroyed all that he had.
How much pain he was in!
…