Chapter 120: Heavenly Mystery Attains Unity

  …Hoo.”

  He ceased firing. Silently, An Jing set down the sword case—already growing hot—and the Frostfall rifle. Only then did he exhale, his body swaying slightly as though about to colpse. “What kind of monster is that? I fired three shots with my sword?case flying sword and went through two rifle magazines… A demon beast would have died already!”

  “A cultivator who has reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining—the ‘Condensing Spirit, Nurturing Life’ phase—already possesses blood essence comparable to a giant beast. Still, this Fengdu Guard is indeed rather unusual.”

  The Sword Spirit sighed. “His blood essence is twice that of an ordinary cultivator at the same level. Moreover, this ‘Fengdu Armor’ draws upon his blood essence and life force to catalyze the purest ‘Northern Yin Umbral Qi.’”

  “Because it’s converted from his own blood essence, sharing the same origin and intent, he can control it as though it were an extension of his body. At the same time, it holds both Netherworld Qi and Greenwood Vitality Qi, satisfying the requirements for cultivating the ‘Greenwood Longevity Withering-and-Blooming Technique.’”

  “Originally, one would need to find a pce where life and death coexisted to cultivate that secret ‘Withering-and-Blooming’ art. But now, he can accomplish it within this Fengdu Armor alone. These two energies complement and reinforce each other in rotation. Such a genius idea—future generations are truly not to be underestimated!”

  “What a pity it shortens his lifespan.”

  The Sword Spirit then added with regret, “Longevity is the foundation of our kind. This Fengdu Guard may be formidable in battle, but it leaves him prone to premature aging and a drastically shortened lifespan. I have no idea how they compensate for that in this era.”

  —Compensate my foot! This is a standard demonic-path battle tool if ever there was one!

  An Jing scoffed inwardly. The Sword Spirit, which could hear his every thought, wanted to ask why An Jing was so certain, but before it could, something else caught its attention. Surprised, it said, “An Jing, this is incredible. I can sense the fluctuations of life.”

  “That martial cultivator… he’s still alive!”

  Indeed, the martial cultivator was still alive. An Jing cleared away the debris, discovering the man pnted headfirst into the concrete, remarkably still hanging on.

  Falling rocks had shielded him from the explosion’s heatwave, and the debris had blunted much of the impact. Though his upper body was embedded in the concrete, he had managed to avoid outright fatal injuries—surviving wave after wave of lethal assaults by sheer tenacity. Truth be told, he was barely clinging to life.

  “…He’s dead? Hahaha… serves him right!”

  Part of his skull was caved in, and his flesh was in shreds. Though he was still breathing, it was a wonder he hadn’t died already. Even the Sword Spirit couldn’t fathom how he was still alive.

  Expending the st of his strength to ugh manically at the fallen Fengdu Guard, the martial cultivator then turned to An Jing.

  He had lost one eye in the earlier battle, leaving a gruesome, gaping socket. The remaining eye, bloodshot and fierce, stared straight into An Jing’s. “Countless powers plotted and vied against one another, yet in the end, the victor is neither the Righteous Return Army, nor Luofu, nor Xuandu, nor the Shouyang Mountain Chain…”

  “But instead, a barbarian youth.”

  “With so many yers of scheming, I’d lost from the start. Perhaps it was Heaven’s will that brought me before you.”

  “So young, yet such a barbarian genius—I’ve never heard your name. No matter. Anyone’s better than letting Luofu have it.”

  He lifted his only remaining arm and plunged it into his own chest. Flesh and blood churned as he extracted a jade talisman roughly two fingers in width.

  Billows of pure-white vital energy swirled around the pale jade talisman. Archaic cloud-patterned phoenix seals drifted up and down within its shimmering aura, their intricately shifting configurations mesmerizing to behold, evoking a deep sense of Dao.

  A pristine mist of vital energy lingered around the jade-green surface. Within that gently swirling glow, those ancient cloud-patterned phoenix seals floated in unceasing motion, their subtle complexities dazzling the eye and stirring a profound sense of the Great Dao’s mystery.

  “This is a ‘True Talisman.’”

  Strands of crimson vital essence stretched from the martial cultivator’s chest, fusing with the swirling aura around the True Talisman. This was the very force sustaining his life. “Its name is ‘Heavenly Mystery Attains Unity.’ Its exact function remains unknown. It was discovered by the Department of Campaign Protocol deep within the Ancient Dao Sect ruins on Tianyuan Mountain.”

  —Heavenly Mystery Attains Unity… it is the Utmost True Heavenly Breath, the fundamental essence of the divine body.

  So-called “Heavenly Mystery” refers to the refined essence of one’s life and nature, the radiance of mind and spirit.

  As the saying goes, “When the spirit remains whole and undivided,” this is called “Complete Authenticity,” or “Utmost Truth.”

  By upholding Utmost Truth—guiding one’s spirit with Heavenly Breath—Heavenly Mystery reverts to primordial qi, circuting without end. Such a state is precisely “Heavenly Mystery Attains Unity.”

  Hence, the “Heavenly Mystery Attaining Unity, Spirit-Guarding True Talisman,” also known as the “Complete Authenticity Natal Nurturing Register,” is a True Dao Talisman grounded in the very foundation of life’s essence.

  From the moment the Sword Spirit id eyes on it, it began discerning the True Talisman’s nature for An Jing, yet it remained baffled. “This jade talisman was obviously forged as part of a set, very likely a formation base for some Heavenly Gang or Pure Yang grand formation. How could it have been found by itself?”

  “Unless… it had already been removed before the site was excavated!”

  “That is an ancient mystery indeed.”

  An Jing heard the Sword Spirit’s expnation silently and conversed back through his thoughts, while outwardly he listened to the martial cultivator’s story. “We of the Righteous Return Army learned of this somehow. Our Eastern General believed we couldn’t simply allow Luofu to succeed, so we devised a pn to steal it.”

  “In the beginning, we deployed twelve decoys of different cultivation levels—some at Purple Mansion, others at Foundation Establishment or Qi Refining—scattering in all directions. Yet, for reasons unknown, the Department of Campaign Protocol and the Surveilnce Bureau locked onto me, even though I seemed entirely unremarkable… They pursued me relentlessly, even when I hid in the bck market.”

  By then, his life force was fading at a frightening pace, and his flesh was visibly wasting away. Yet his spirit burned more brightly than ever. “Perhaps a traitor lurked in our ranks, but it no longer matters.”

  “Because I’m giving it to you.”

  “Don’t refuse.”

  Shaking his head faintly, the martial cultivator halted An Jing, who seemed poised to protest. “During my desperate fight just now, I used my primordial vital essence to activate this True Talisman. I discovered that not only does it offer surging vitality, it also purges every form of demonic and toxic contamination. The Fengdu Guard’s lethal Nether Poison was supposedly incurable, yet it was banished with ease.”

  “And even the pill poison and Demonic Camity Qi that had built up inside me… all cleansed away!”

  He spoke with near-fanatical fervor: “You’re a barbarian, so you must realize what this implies!”

  “Even if it drains lifespan when using one’s primordial vital essence, it’s absolutely worth it!”

  —But I’m not really a barbarian….

  An Jing inwardly had no words, but he grasped the implications as soon as the martial cultivator expined.

  He had already learned from the Sword Spirit about the dangers of Demonic Qi while training in seclusion, yet this True Talisman could dispel such demonic and toxic forces? Incredible. Even if it required sacrificing some lifespan, in this end-of-days Tianyuan era, it was nothing short of miraculous.

  Had this been widely known, those vying for the True Talisman would never have been limited to just these Fengdu Guards and Purple Mansion True Persons.

  “Let it rest.”

  Finally, An Jing sighed and spoke seriously to the martial cultivator, “What I wanted to ask just now… is your name.”

  “You’re about to die. After fighting side by side, I’d at least like to know who you are.”

  He added solemnly, “And how do you want your body handled?”

  “…Bo Yan. Northern Hill Bo Yan.”

  The martial cultivator called Bo Yan fixed his gaze on An Jing, as though searching the young man’s face for something. In the end, he let out a carefree smile. “Just toss my corpse into any pile and stomp it to bits. The True Talisman has drained all my life force—I’ll soon rot away to bare bones and won’t draw attention.”

  “I’m the one who caused the Xuanming bck market to be nearly wiped out… serves me right. Plus, this way, others will assume I fled and won’t suspect you….”

  “Go, now!”

  He tore away the strands of blood essence and shoved the jade talisman into An Jing’s hand. Bo Yan’s vitality was rapidly slipping away. “With all this commotion, the other Fengdu Guards will surely come to investigate—even if they believed their comrade couldn’t lose!”

  His voice grew faint, and in his final moments he mumbled, “Go… As long as it’s in your hands, I haven’t failed…

  “We of the Northern Hill Army… have not forsaken our mission….”

  His head dropped forward in death.

  An Jing stood slowly, the True Talisman clutched in his hand.

  It had completely absorbed Bo Yan’s primordial vital essence. Tendrils of blood essence flowed into the talisman and disappeared without a trace. Even so, it retained an air of sacred profundity, as though inscribed with the Grand Dao’s hidden scripts, floating with an inscrutable aura. One would never guess it had just devoured a man’s life force.

  (End of Chapter)