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Standing before the verdant valley and facing the desolate Snow Mountain, Prince Long Qing was silent, knowing that he had to decide once again. What he chose was not important, but the key point was the spirit that he showed in the process. Based on his previous mountaineering experience in the Academy, this time he turned and walked toward the verdant valley without any hesitation.
The moment that he lifted his foot and his boot left the snow, the blizzard above the snow cliff and behind the peaks suddenly stopped. He looked up to find that those thick and heavy clouds had disappeared somehow, revealing a blue sky.
The azure and tranquil sky was what truly existed, however, what was reflected in his Taoist Heart and sense of perception was totally different, with half of it being a clear and quiet black and the other half as brilliant as the stars.
Again he was standing at the boundary between light and darkness. After a short moment of silence, he smiled and shook his head, stomping ahead along one side of the snow cliff that was near the verdant valley. After each step, green grass would grow beside his boot, which spread quite marvelously and flourishingly and was about to cover the entire snow cliff.
The fence at the other end of the snow cliff that had imprisoned him for many days had already broken and was scattered on the ground. Among it was a piece of firewood, the top of which vaguely revealing a hint of green. The greenery, though faint, was extremely pure. When approaching it, he found that it was actually a green leaf as small as half of a fingernail.
A new bud had grown from the dead firewood! Perhaps more green leaves would grow from it and even bloom soon since the bud had grown so fast.
Prince Long Qing silently looked at the green bud, showing nothing on his face, yet deep in his heart, he was greatly moved. The so-called Knowing Destiny was to know the origin of the world, to master the rule of the Qi of Heaven and Earth or even the law of life, and only in this way could a cultivator be called a master of Taoism. Now, he was merely an inch from the Knowing Destiny State, and no obstacles from any Taoist Heart could stop him.
So, he would break the realm when the green leaves all grew out and flowers were in full bloom.
However, he became more serious now, for being interrupted was taboo at the moment of breaking the realm.
If he could break the realm of the Knowing Destiny State on Peach-Mountain of West Hill, the Great Divine Priest of Judgment would naturally protect him. Now, however, deep in the Snow Mountain of the Wilderness, he had to depend on himself to deal with all the possible dangers and obstacles.
Just at that moment, a sound of clothes stirring the air was heard.
And then, Ye Hongyu, the Tao Addict in red, appeared on the snow cliff. Her black Taoist bun was somewhat messy and her beautiful face appeared tired, which indicated that she had expended most of her energy in that chasing race with Tang Xiaotang.
As she glanced at Prince Long Qing, her crystal, cold eyes revealed a trace of hospitality and appreciation. Yet, she just sat close to him, without any special actions or words, and watched the surroundings indifferently.
Prince Long Qing nodded to her to show his gratitude, and then he sat beside the firewood and slowly closed his eyes, quietly waiting for the moment of blooming and welcoming the Knowing Destiny State.
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Deep in the verdant valley, Ning Que slightly lowered his head on the stone beside Daming Lake and seemed to have been sound asleep. The willow branch in his hand moved up and down along with his breath, which sometimes vibrated in the lake water.
A fish swam up from the depths of the water, waving its tail in a strange way. The reason why it was said to be strange was that it did not swim as lightly and gracefully as its peers did and it looked a bit tired. Borrowing the light that shone into the water, it saw the constantly vibrating willow branch and swam over to it, and then carefully and lightly, it held onto the branch with its lips.
The fish knew that it was a willow branch, a branch which, having been soaked in water for a long time, had turned white and fat and looked ugly. There was no meat nor worm on the branch, but the fish still wanted to hold it, because it believed it should be there and its destiny was to be there. The willow branch looked so intimate, as intimate as a part of its body.
In his dream, Ning Que unfolded the big black umbrella and then he woke up to find that he was still tightly holding onto the willow branch. When rubbing his eyes with his left hand, he found that the willow branch, which had no fish pay attention to it for a long time, moved again, and he could even faintly feel the other end of the branch drooping downward.
He lifted up the willow branch to find that there was a fish on the other end of it. The fish was constantly wiggling its tail, splashing water all over. But the strange thing was that no matter how hard the fish wiggled and struggled, it held onto the willow branch and did not give up.
Ning Que thought to himself, “How foolish this fish is.”
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In the vast northern Min Mountains was Tianqi Mountain, which stretched some 500 km around and was as enormous as the starry sky. That verdant valley was only an inconspicuously small place in the Tianqi Mountains, where there were far more towering Snow-capped Peaks and disorderly cliffs.
Two steep cliffs, which were almost upright, had stood there in silence, face to face, for tens of millions of years. Between them, there was a horrible bottomless valley. On the two cliffs, two people sat in silence facing each other, just like the cliffs silently did.
On the east cliff, a taoist priest with peaceful eyes and a thin figure was sitting. He was wearing a thin pale blue garment without a collar and held a thin sheathless wooden sword on his back. An ordinary ebony fork was inserted in his Taoist bun, which was made by his black hair. The fork was not as stable as a green pine, but was more like a cloud against the beautiful sky.
On the west cliff sat a man who had peaceful eyes and a strong body and was wearing a winter coat made from hide and cotton. He did not hold a weapon in his hand, but the plump muscle under his coat seemed to contain infinite power. He casually wore a pair of boots, which he had picked up somewhere, on his bare feet, as if he could break the sky with just one kick.
The delicate-looking Tang Xiaotang, who stood behind the man, was tightly holding a giant scarlet knife and vigilantly looking at the taoist priest that was holding a sword on the other cliff. She felt a bit cold.
She knew who the taoist priest was. And she was even more clear that, even though there was a deep valley between the two cliffs that seemed insurmountable, her senior brother or the taoist priest could meet anytime they wanted to.
That was because they were World Wayfarers of the Zhishou Abbey and the Devil’s Doctrine, respectively.
A gust of chilly wind blew up the valley, stirring the taoist priest’s clothes on the east cliff. He slowly began to speak, and it was just as clear as if he was just speaking beside your ears, even though he was over 10 feet away.
“I haven’t seen you in 14 years, but you are still the same stony Tang.”
Tang replied, “But the proud Ye Su seems not as proud as he was before.”
Ye Su calmly said, “You’ve been like this for three days and nights, do you want to continue?”
Tang continued, “This is our territory.”
Ye Su shook his head and said, “But the Tomes of Arcane are our Tomes of Arcane.”
Tang then shook his head and said indifferently, “But this Tome of Arcane is ours.”
Ye Su replied, “The Devil’s Doctrine has declined, and all the other branches have disappeared. We haven’t seen your master for a long time and I’m afraid he has already passed away. Now, only you and your young sister remain, but you think you can fight against the torrent of fate?”
Tang replied, “There are firm rocks in the torrent.”
Ye Su silently looked at him, then he suddenly said, “You don’t take any action because you have your reasons.”
Tang looked at him coldly and said, “You don’t take any action because you also have your reasons.”
After a moment of silence, Ye Su said, “I have waited 14 years for the chance to consult him. If I fight with you before the chance, I think it will be a disrespect to that chance, to myself, and to him.”
Tang coldly replied, “That can’t be called a reason because you are not qualified to fight with him at all.”
Ye Su slightly said with a smile, “Anyway, I need to give it a try. Are you interested?”
Tang shook his head and directly said, “I cannot beat him, and in addition, he is not my reason.”
The tip of Ye Su’s eyebrows tilted up slightly and he asked, “Have you ever seen him?”
Tang nodded.
Ye Su said, “Now that we both have reasons to not take any action, will we really continue watching them on the cliff like this?”
Tang looked off into the far distance at somewhere in the vast mountains while asking, “Which one do you think will be the first to break the realm?”
Following his gaze, Ye Su looked in that direction and calmly said, “We are both Taoism believers, so I naturally believe that the Prince will win.”
Tang said, “I believe Ning Que will win because he is the disciple of the Headmaster of the Academy.”
Ye Su said nothing further.
Tang also said nothing further.
The two of them on their respective cliffs remained silent and the bet was made.
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Ning Que did not know that his realm breaking was no longer merely just a bet with Prince Long Qing, but another more important one that would directly impact two real and powerful World Wayfarers.
From his expression and behavior, one could not find a trace of anxiety or nervousness, as if he were not affected at all by this bet of breaking a state. He took the foolish fish off and waved at Mo Shanshan to have her step aside and took out from his luggage all the seasoning and animal oil that he could find. He was ready to make a fire and fry the fish.
Fish in Daming Lake were fat with fine meat and had no scales. Their bellies, in particular, were almost crystal clear. After the fish was thrown into the pan, a special fragrance accompanied the sizzling.
Holding a branch, Ning Que stood by the fire, carefully and attentively watching the color of the fish’s belly. He furrowed his brows in concentration and was more careful than he was in cultivation and enlightenment. He only turned the fish over once in a while.
He did not choose firewood, but luxuriously chose talisman fire, and maintained the temperature with precision. When he was carefully frying the fish, he explained to Mo Shanshan, “As for things like frying fish, the cooking duration and heating temperature are very important, and you should not casually turn it over. It is like governing a country and practicing cultivation: Strategically, we can look down upon it, telling ourselves it is nothing at all; but tactically, we need to pay attention to it and be careful.”
The Calligraphy Addict could not bear his begging and had given him two Fire Fus. At the thought of using Talisman Taoism to cook, she could not help feeling sad and distressed. But, she felt what Ning Que had said was somewhat reasonable now after his explanation.
The semitransparent belly of the fish gradually swelled in the moderately heated oil, and then a shining cold fishhook was revealed.
Ning Que stiffened. It took him quite a while to figure out that this fish was the exact one that had bitten the hook, and the same one that had later taken away both the hook and the bait.
A willing victim that allowed itself to be caught. Back then, you were unwilling to be caught, so why did you come back to bite the hookless branch?
Looking at the fish that was fried to a golden brown and so fragrant in the pan, he slightly tilted up the tip of his eyebrows and smiled.
He handed the willow branch to Mo Shanshan and turned back to the lakeside. When he looked at the reflection of the Snow-capped Peak in the lake, the Psyche Power in his sense of perception was released with his mental state, but he did not perceive the Qi of Heaven and Earth around him…
because his Psyche Power had integrated with the Qi of Heaven and Earth around Daming Lake.
As he slowly closed his eyes, his mental state was sent out constantly along with the Psyche Power that had integrated into heaven and earth. He saw the moss stones beside the lake, the swimming fish in the water, and the grit under the fallen leaves— he saw everything.
He did not see them with his eyes nor under the light. He did not touch the surroundings by using his Psyche Power to control the Qi of Heaven and Earth and then perceive them. Instead, it was a kind of direct and subtle perception of heaven and earth.
Then, Ning Que opened his eyes and looked up to the sky. In the azure sky, there were white clouds transformed into different shapes, such as the shape of someone from the Horse Gang, the shape of a horse, the shape of Shubi Lake, the shape of the trees on Min Mountain, the shape of the cornice of Spring Breeze Pavilion, and the shape of the old library. They were all figures that he had seen.
He reached out his trembling fingers to lightly draw something in the wind, muttering, “Actually, there are talismans all over this world.”
Holding that willow branch, Mo Shanshan looked at the fried fish in the pan, her beautiful face full of nervousness. She did not know when she could move the fish. Gradually, the smell of burnt fish came to her, and along with that, the semitransparent belly of the fish suddenly exploded. The hook was blasted away, falling into the lake and disappearing instantly.
Listening to Ning Que’s murmuring and looking at the messy fish in the pan, she said in a low voice full of shame, “The fish broke.”
Ning Que turned back, looked at her, and earnestly said, “I broke it as well.”
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