Nightfall
Page 260It was very difficult for cultivators to break the realm, including Prince Long Qing on the snow cliff and Ning Que beside the Daming Lake. Both of them had spent several days of penance to achieve it. But sometimes breaking the realm was also very simple. Ning Que had once obtained enlightenment of the Perception State and then entered the No Doubts State. He did not feel it had been difficult to cross the obstacles between the three states.
It was also very simple for the Taoist girl in a red skirt to break the realm. When the wind and snow changed into a girdle around her waist and the peach blossom and grass on the cliff became static, she became a Grand Cultivator of the Knowing Destiny State.
It was known that Tao Addict, Ye Hongyu, had a higher state than Prince Long Qing. When he had almost reached the threshold of the Knowing Destiny State, she had already stepped onto the threshold long ago. But no one knew why she did not step over it. When Long Qing was about to enter the Knowing Destiny State, she did not feel jealous or scared at all.
Because she could enter the Knowing Destiny State at any time she wanted.
In the depth of the verdant valley, a violent aura fluctuation appeared, mixed with a terrifying talisman sign.
Ye Hongyu floated above the snow cliff with tightly closed eyes. Her red skirt ribbon extended in the air encircling her body and her beautiful face was filled with quietness. She seemed not to notice the movement in the distance. However, the snow and wind around her body suddenly blew wildly and made her red dress ribbon flutter.
As the strong aura skyrocketed in the depth of the valley, the red ribbon floating in front of her was shattered into numerous butterflies in the sky. The vague shooting orbit of the arrow passed through the red butterflies and rubbed her shoulder flying
diagonally to the faraway sky, and then disappeared.
The arrow shot from the depth of the verdant valley failed to penetrate her body, but still wounded her shoulder. The red blood flowed down from her white tender shoulder. The broken ribbon fell to the snow cliff; the blood flowed to her left hand and trickled
along with her fingertip.
Before the blood dripped on the snow cliff, a jade-like white hand caught it.
Ye Hongyu opened her eyes; they did not have the slightest emotion. She looked at the depth of the verdant valley and suddenly jumped down from the snow cliff. She stepped onto the ridge of the cliff and drifted into the dense hardwood forest with the wind.
As she entered the forest, her ribbon passed through the fine branches and young leaves flicked her face. It seemed that her body, the forest foliage and the air around her had merged together, becoming a part of the natural world. If one only perceived but did not use the naked eye to see, he could not find her at all. She floated indifferently into the depth of the valley with the wind in the forest.
…
Ning Que made a very rapid judgment. He had guessed that the strong person breaking the realm was Tao Addict. He had already ruined Prince Long Qing. Would he still want to destroy another hope of the West-Hill Divine Palace? No matter how firm one’s will was, he would be embarrassed in the face of such an unexpected situation. But his response was even faster than his judgment. He did not hesitate to use Primordial Thirteen Arrows once again. The action seemed to come even faster than his thinking.
Since he had already killed one, he did not care about killing another. Besides, he had destroyed Prince Long Qing. Tao Addict had suddenly broken the realm and obviously wanted to kill him. He could feel the hidden danger from the wind in the verdant valley.
Unfortunately, his second Talisman Arrow did not cause the same effect as the first. His physical condition and mental state at this time were not as good as when he had broken the realm. More crucially, he did not expect Tao Addict to break the realm so fast, even before his swift and resolute shooting!
He clearly felt a tearing pain in his right shoulder. The Psyche Power fluctuation caused by his using the talisman in his sense of perception made him feel slightly dizzy. But he knew that he could continue and shoot again as long as he did not give up. So he was not discouraged. He held the iron bow and put a Talisman Arrow between his fingers, aiming at the distance calmly, showing no emotion.
The light on the snow cliff suddenly faded away and disappeared. One could vaguely see the faraway forests moving against the wind and broad leaves swinging. Occasionally a gorgeous red cloth swept among them. At such a distance, he could only see it occasionally with his naked eye. He could not locate her position using his sense of perception. How could he aim at her?
Ning Que’s hand controlling the bow trembled. He knew that the current situation was terrible, but he only felt panic for a short moment before quickly making a decision. He put the iron bow behind his back and picked up the arrow box. He turned around and ran to the bottom of the meadow shouting, “Run!”
A moment ago, he had calmly pulled the bow. Now he was running away like a frightened rabbit. Mo Shanshan’s fingers that had constantly moved for a calculation suddenly stiffened. She looked at the back of Ning Que who had run to the bottom of the meadow. Puzzled and confused, she asked, “Shouldn’t we get ready to kill her here?”
Ning Que did not return and shouted, “That woman is too cruel. We can only be killed by her. Run!”
…
…
Sangsang was Ning Que’s life. Sangsang was a poor handmaiden who had been abandoned since childhood, had been soaked in corpse water, had suffered from a congenital cold-feeling disease and had been ordered around by Ning Que for years. If Sangsang was his life, this indirectly proved that…
Ning Que had a hard life.
He had finally managed to avoid Prince Long Qing’s revenge through his bet of breaking a state. He had taken a long arrow shot and destroyed the Prince Long Qing’s life. He had thought that everything would go on smoothly and he would take away Tomes of Arcane after the Front Gate of Devil’s Doctrine opened and find the familiar Taoist aura before returning south. He never expected that he would usher in an even more powerful enemy.
In the Yellow River, the waves behind drove on those before so that he couldn’t stand the waves. For example, after he hit a kid, the unreasonable parents came to argue with him. After he beat some rogues, their godfather came to get revenge. After he bullied a man from a rich family, this man’s terrifying sister who was cold, arrogant and inherited the great legacy came to reason with him. All in all, he had a very hard life.
…
…
On the peak of the cliff, the Red Scythe Tang Xiaotang clenched in her hand suddenly fell to the ground. She raised her hand to tightly cover her small mouth. She looked at the distant aura and thought of her brother’s words. An unbelievable and extremely anxious look appeared in her eyes. She said unhappily, “The crazy lady actually broke the realm of the Knowing Destiny State?”
“If I meet her again, I can no longer defeat her. What a shame!” The Desolate girl suddenly noticed the movements on the opposite side of the cliff and looked at the lonely Taoist robe drifting away from her. She was shocked and said, “Why did he go? His sister became a Grand Cultivator. Shouldn’t he say something? Doesn’t he want to help her?”
Tang looked at the fleeing Taoist on the opposite mountain path and felt the Taoist’s loneliness incongruent with the heaven and earth. He thought of the conceited young Taoist priest fourteen years ago and gradually furrowed his brows as wide as iron thorns, saying, “A person who has broken the realm of death naturally doesn’t care about his relatives.”
Tang did not mind that the Taoist priest who had just left the cliff was more powerful than the priest from years previous. Although he didn’t know exactly how the other party had broken the realm of death, he knew that people in that state tended to be indifferent about their surroundings and their Taoist Hearts would continue to exist in a new way. So the Taoist priest naturally would not care about his sister.
He looked towards the verdant valley in the distance. After a short moment of silence, he said, “Tao Addict is really amazing. I don’t know how such a young girl could resist the temptation of breaking the realm and forcedly seal her state in Seethrough for such a long time. Could it be extremely important for her to catch up with her lonely elder brother?”
Tang Xiaotang did not understand and asked, “Forcibly seal her state? Why would she do that?”
“Sometimes cultivation is like climbing mountain peaks or scooping water from a lake or filling the sea with stones. It’s all about perseverance. But in the end, the Lucky Chance represented by the last step, scoop, and stone is the most important.”
Tang said, “When one breaks the realm, different Lucky Chances lead to different gains. Tao Addict has already reached the final phase, namely the one last step to the peak, one last scoop to dry the lake and one last stone to fill the sea. But she didn’t complete the last phase and resisted the temptation of becoming a Grand Cultivator in Knowing Destiny State with great perseverance, forcing herself to stay in Seethrough. She meditated and cultivated different Taoists Laws, and just waited for the last Lucky Chance.”
Tang Xiaotang asked, “Today she suddenly broke the realm and entered the Knowing Destiny State. Has her Lucky Chance come?”
“Follow the natural Taoists Law. The most magical thing about Taoism Lucky Chance is to let nature take its course and gain what one should gain. Today Long Qing was destroyed on the snow cliff, so naturally, she became angry. Because Ning Que had stayed with Calligraphy Addict, she needed to break the realm and enter the Knowing Destiny State if she wanted to vent her anger and kill them. This type of need is natural for her. So she naturally broke the realm and entered the Knowing Destiny State.”
Tang Xiaotang did not feel annoyed that her elder brother considered her to be inferior to Tao Addict, Ye Hongyu. She spit out her tongue and proudly said, “If I go to Chang’an City and become a student of the Headmaster of Academy, I can definitely defeat her.”
After a short moment of silence, Tang nodded and said, “You’re right.”
Tang Xiaotang suddenly thought of something and gazed into the distance. She frowned and said, “Brother, if I’m the Headmaster of Academy’s student, Ning Que will be my Senior Brother. Should we save him?”
Tang stood up and said,”Tao Addict is strong indeed, but Ning Que is also the World Wayfarer of the Academy. How could a core disciple of the Headmaster die in such an easy way?”
He suddenly fell silent and looked at the desolate Snow-capped Peak. The cold wind above the cliff kept blowing his iron-like chest. He saw nothing but seemed to see what he wanted to see.
Tang Xiaotang stood beside him and asked curiously, “Brother, aren’t the Tomes of Arcane in the Front Gate?”
Tang slowly shook his head and said, “My teacher didn’t tell me.”
Tang Xiaotang said with lament, “When will the teacher reappear? Twenty-Three-year Cicada Cultivation… do we really have to wait for 23 years?”
After a short moment of silence, Tang said, “It’s been almost 23 years.”
At this moment, an intermittent singing suddenly sounded on the naturally formed mountain path between the opposite peak and cliff. The lonely Wayfarer of Zhishou Abbey walked alone in the lonely world and sang an obscure Taoist song.
“It blossomed on the Iron-arrow Cliff and sprouted on the fat-fish chopping board. The sea was full of rocks. I slept in the stable and you were on the other side of a rope… ”