Chapter 649: Chapter 351: Wet Shoes
In the outside world, a tumult of events unfolded, with various mysterious birds flitting through the night sky, messages buzzing everywhere, and many of them related to Qin Ming.
He entered the Outer World and Esoteric Buddhism consecutively, exchanged combat merits for the fragmented Scripture, and sparred with seed-level figures, stirring heated discussions, not to mention his entanglements with the Cui family’s grudges.
Even though the world was blanketed in heavy snow, it couldn’t halt the flow of information.
“Hiss, Sun Taichu emerged from seclusion, personally arriving at the Cui family and staying for two days, finally helping to stabilize their situation. Otherwise, the Cui family would have been very passive recently, their opponents were making bold moves.”
This piece of news exploded like thunder, causing a great shock to various forces. The renowned Ancestor Master of the Immortal Road came out of seclusion, showing his concern for his closed-door disciple, Cui Chonghe.
Many major organizations were keenly observing whether the Immortal Path Ancestor Master would make a move against Lu Zizai.
Evidently, people were overthinking. Sun Taichu had no intention of mass conflict; he emerged because of Cui Chonghe, merely advising all parties not to hit a man when he’s down.
He came calmly and left silently.
Even so, the names of Sun Taichu, Lu Zizai, Qin Ming, Cui Chonghe, and others continued to be mentioned, sparking heated discussions.
At the same time, the details of the battle between Qin Ming and the Divine Seed Helian ZhaoYu on the ice field outside the Pure Land had also spread completely.
Under the night fog, in various cities, many people were discussing it.
“Comparable to the return of the Ancient Saints in their youth? So incredible, and the higher-ups blocked the news; it only spread at the grassroots level now!”
“Don’t talk nonsense, Helian ZhaoYu is the seed of the Fangwai Heaven Pure Land, unrelated to our Esoteric Buddhism!”
“Hiss, there’s a rumor that Qin Ming once sparred in private with Jiang Ran during his time in the Immortal Soil, is the Newborn Road going to shine brilliantly again?”
…
Qin Ming retreated to Black and White Mountain, clearly a wise choice for low-key seclusion. Recently, topics in the Nightly News and World Report were all related to him, but he didn’t want to be scrutinized by all sides.
Amidst the external clamor, he completely vanished from people’s sight, focusing on studying various Scriptures to enhance his Taoist journey.
“With the body, slay the Divine!” Qin Ming comprehended the “Refining Body and Merging Tao Scripture,” and with the complete True Scripture in hand, his physique improved slightly again.
He sighed lightly; indeed, even the Silk Calligraphy Ancestor Master greatly valued this Scripture. If they had the complete version back then, several Ancestor Masters might have endured longer.
“Refining Heart Ape in the Furnace of Eight Trigrams, this is a potent remedy!”
Qin Ming paid utmost attention to the Four Leaf Jade Book, pondering over it seriously every day. It involved the Power of the mind, causing his Newborn’s Eye to change and become more formidable than before.
Because of this, he was also somewhat troubled, occasionally seeing ancient traveling merchants, ghosts, etc., hidden deep within layers of mist.
Half a month later, at Black and White Mountain, Qin Ming’s fist light cut through the darkness, illuminating the vast mountains, as he gained a deeper understanding of the “Golden Crow Illuminating Night Scripture.”
“In ancient times, some people at least cultivated both paths simultaneously.” He confirmed that by melding Divine Wisdom, Heavenly Light, and Consciousness Spiritual Power, this Scripture operated most smoothly and powerfully.
“The moment for Divine Travel has arrived.” Late at night, Qin Ming sat under the Heibai Dual Trees, like a divine being in enlightenment, black and white streams transformed into a Yin Yang Diagram on the trees.
On the ground, Qin Ming sat silently, melding Heavenly Light with Consciousness power, shedding his body, and then wrapping himself in broken cloth, carrying the Mysterious Iron Small Sword, rising to break through the dark clouds.
This was a type of arduous practice he underwent every day, venturing into the mysterious and deep skies, facing relentless fierce winds, receiving Heavenly Light, and occasionally encountering the baptism of Outer World fire to temper himself.
In fact, those on the Immortal Road who reached the Third Realm—Harmonious Light, would attempt ‘Crossing Tribulation’ or baptism by ‘immortal fire.’
Most of them would be accompanied by the elders of their sect, ascending above the firmament to confront various terrifying outer-world substances, thus crossing tribulation.
Now, Qin Ming was also experiencing such arduous practice.
He was unaccompanied, undertaking the divine travel by himself every day.
Above the thick clouds, it was pitch black, only illuminated when Heavenly Light or outer-world profound fire appeared; otherwise, it resembled a ‘Heavenly Abyss,’ suffocating dark, making it hard to see anything, and creating an oppressive feeling that could choke a person.
In his divine travel, Qin Ming ascended all the way, murmuring to himself: “Am I approaching the Nine Heavens? Different layers of the sky correspond to different fierce winds, and the heavenly light, immortal fire, etc., that can fall, all vary.”
Above the Nine Heavens, some terrifying fierce winds could disperse a person’s Consciousness Spiritual Light in an instant, and some outer-world immortal fires could instantly turn a Grandmaster to ashes.
Therefore, Qin Ming was relatively cautious, the more he understood, the more prudent he became.
Naturally, he dared not venture above the Nine Heavens; to be conservative, he always stayed within the domain of the Third Realm. However, in this area, capturing Heavenly Light, outer-world true fire, etc., relied heavily on luck.
Today, he had a significant harvest, with a large ‘meteor shower’ pouring down, all of which he caught, containing Heavenly Light, inexplicable profound fire, and an indescribable red mist, all ‘corroding’ him, subjecting him to ‘thousand-hammering and hundred-refining.’
Yet, they also contained vitality, supplementing his consumption.
Otherwise, without benefits, who would willingly ascend to the sky for the highly dangerous ‘Crossing Tribulation’?
Feeling ‘full,’ Qin Ming wrapped himself with the remaining large ‘meteor shower’ and aimed to penetrate the cloud layers to return to the ground.
Suddenly, his ‘hair stood on end.’ Though without physical form, he still felt as if awls were pressing against his back, the whole person tensed.
Qin Ming immediately wrapped himself with broken cloth, refraining from receiving the impact of ‘fierce winds’ and the ‘tempering’ of immortal fire, and clutched the Mysterious Iron Small Sword in his hand.