Chapter 254
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Chapter 254: Title
Kunlun.
Over millennia, the Kunlun Mountain Range has expanded alongside the world’s growth, fully deserving its epithet as the Progenitor of All Peaks.
Though explorers once ventured deep into Kunlun during the initial Awakening of Spiritual Energy, none dare do so now. The entire range thrums with Spiritual Energy that has nurtured countless territorial spiritual beasts, creating an environment more akin to primordial wilderness than any human-trodden land—a realm governed by its own merciless laws of survival.
Yet what drives these cultivators to brave such perils?
The answer lies in events unfolding a month prior.
From the depths of Kunlun’s Tianchi Lake erupted a resplendent aurora of myriad-colored lights. Initially dismissed as a side effect of world ascension, the celestial display persisted even after the ascension’s completion—an anomaly that could only signal either a nascent secret realm or the birth of a supreme spiritual treasure. Such phenomena were predictable, for each world ascension strengthens the realm’s capacity to generate potent spiritual items.
Soon, Kunlun overflowed with cultivators.
Most were formidable experts, aware of both the mountain’s inherent dangers and its elusive guardians who maintained its primordial sanctity. Among them moved lone loose cultivators and emissaries from powerful factions alike.
Leng Xingwen had intended to avoid this treasure hunt entirely. His millennia-old friendship with Ji Lang—though they hadn’t met in ages—compelled him to monitor all matters concerning Kunlun and its guardian. This vigil wasn’t merely born of camaraderie, but also a solemn promise to another.
For thirty days, Leng Xingwen observed unseen from the periphery while others scrambled through trials. Ji Lang had attained tier seven cultivation ten thousand years past—his current power must be unimaginable. The recluse’s absence puzzled Leng Xingwen, who lingered in hopes the secret realm’s emergence would draw out the guardian.
"Curious," Leng Xingwen murmured, rhythmically tapping his folded fan against his palm. His spiritual senses had scanned every valley within ten thousand miles, yet revealed no trace of the mountain’s master. "Even prolonged closed-door cultivation shouldn’t conceal him this thoroughly."
He considered seeking out Ji Lang directly to discuss the newly manifested tribulations and Immortal Realm affairs. Once limited to lower realm ascenders, these heavenly trials now plagued even Source World experts above tier seven. The peril matched that of inter-realm Ascension—a gauntlet not all could survive. Though no failures had been reported yet, few had attempted the ordeal. Some veterans of millennia felt ready to sever worldly ties; others scrambled to settle affairs before potentially irreversible Ascension.
Legends painted the Immortal Realm and human realm as strictly divided domains. Should Ascension prove a one-way journey, unresolved matters could spiral into catastrophe.
After careful consideration, Leng Xingwen abandoned the notion of disturbing Kunlun’s master. Their friendship notwithstanding, he’d no desire to test whether Ji Lang’s blade retained its legendary edge.
"Patience," he chided himself, watching cultivators struggle through distant trials. "When the secret realm reveals its truth, he’ll emerge."
None could deny the symbiotic bond between Ji Lang and Kunlun—the guardian had become inseparable from the land he protected. For ages untold, he’d witnessed the mountains’ transformations while maintaining their sanctity. Though never openly declared, his word within Kunlun’s domain carried the weight of natural law itself.
Among the crowd stood a figure in plain white cotton robes, his eyes bound by a cloth band one chi wide that wrapped around his head and trailed down his back. His appearance starkly contrasted with the surrounding cultivators, and Leng Xingwen found himself unable to perceive the man’s cultivation level. Either this person carried a treasure to obscure others’ senses, or his power surpassed Leng Xingwen’s own. Yet his unadorned appearance suggested neither – could he truly be ordinary?
Tianchi Lake crowned Kunlun Mountain’s highest peak where flight was forbidden, forcing all pilgrims to ascend by foot. Even cultivators with enhanced endurance were faltering under the strain, let alone ordinary folk…
As hours stretched, the procession dwindled. When mere hundred meters remained, only three individuals persevered. "Not even I may advance further," Leng Xingwen murmured, fingers brushing the sword tassel from Ji Lang’s blade in his sleeve – the artifact permitting his limited levitation and spellwork here. But Tianchi’s trial now barred all, whether seeking secret realms or treasures. He anchored himself at the perimeter, sharp eyes tracking distant movements.
The blind man reached the endpoint. Though facing away, his erect posture and unwavering stride revealed ease foreign to this blizzard-swept slope – as if treading sunlit plains rather than battling wind and snow. Tianchi’s "lake" spread vast as an alpine sea, its waters glittering beneath stormy skies. The blind man tilted his head, listening to unseen whispers, before plunging a hand into icy depths.
Golden radiance exploded. Light cascaded across mountain ridges, searing vision. Leng Xingwen recoiled, eyelids clamping shut until the glare subsided. When he blinked through afterimages, his composure shattered – the figure by shore now clasped an object that chilled his blood. He lunged forward instinctively, only to be arrested by a grip on his arm.
The man who materialized wore frost-white robes, black hair streaming like ink against snow. "Ji Lang," Leng Xingwen breathed.
"Observe." The words trembled as Leng Xingwen stared at the glowing artifact. "The Kunlun Mirror? Here?"
"Kunlun’s heart breeds Kunlun’s relics." Ji Lang’s voice held glacial calm.
Realization dawned. "He left it? The Mirror wasn’t with him at…" Leng Xingwen’s throat constricted. His gaze locked on the blind man as ancient truths resurfaced – how celestial treasures bond to single masters through eternity. If the Mirror answered this stranger’s touch…
Could death’s veil itself be broken here, at heaven’s frozen crown?
The blind man lowered his head. The Kunlun Mirror in his hand had remained unchanged through millennia of submersion in Tianchi Lake.
Now, thread-like cracks spread across its surface, exposing an obsidian-dark frame etched with intricate patterns. Ancient seal scripts adorned its back, while cloud patterns and dragon-bird shapes emerged along its edges.
"What’s happening?" Leng Xingwen stared at the transformed artifact he’d never witnessed before.
Ji Lang coughed lightly. "The Haotian Mirror."
Haotian Mirror? Cold dread pooled in Leng Xingwen’s chest. Though he couldn’t comprehend the mirror’s metamorphosis, the implications were clear – this person before him might not be the companion he remembered.
Truthfully, he never had been.
Ten thousand years had passed since that soul’s demise – enough time for countless reincarnations, even among cultivators.
"The Haotian Mirror has chosen its master." Color bloomed faintly across Ji Lang’s pallid features.
Distracted by turmoil, Leng Xingwen failed to notice the subtle shift in his companion’s demeanor.
Heavenly clouds swirled and coalesced above, revealing celestial architecture with sweeping eaves and ornate brackets – an unmistakable vision of the Immortal Realm.
Ethereal figures materialized, their broad sleeves rippling like mist. At their forefront stood a youth of fifteen, exquisite features schooled into solemnity as he executed a deep, reverent bow.
By Tianchi Lake’s shore:
[The Heavenly Emperor, Master of the Immortal Realm, bearer of heaven’s rule power through thirteen hundred and fifty tribulations… Today marks the completion…]
The heavenly way sound resonated across existence, reaching every creature in the source world.
All beings instinctively inclined toward Kunlun Mountain Top’s Tianchi Lake in homage to their sovereign. The mountain’s eternal wind and snow stilled abruptly as golden sunlight pierced the clouds to bathe the sacred waters.
Transfigured by the Haotian Mirror’s acknowledgment and the mantle of rule power, the once-blind ascetic now stood arrayed in celestial splendor. Layers of divine vestments flowed downward while beaded curtains from his nine-feathered crown veiled his countenance.
His silken blindfold fluttered earthward, caught by sudden winds. As swirling mists gathered beneath him, he ascended.
"We, Immortal Officer Fuyun and the celestial host, greet the Heavenly Emperor." The prostrate immortal’s voice carried across the peaks.
"Rise, children of the realm."
"Our gratitude, Heavenly Emperor."
The sovereign turned toward two mortal figures, offering a distant salute toward Ji Lang. "I have kept our pact."
"Your fulfillment of the ten-thousand-year agreement is noted."
Ji Lang’s countenance remained impassive despite the deity’s status. "I awaited another."
"Yet you receive me. Is this not preferable to endless waiting?"
Leng Xingwen clutched the fallen blindfold, transfixed by the sovereign’s familiar features. When those newly radiant eyes turned their way, his breath caught – the Heavenly Emperor wore his long-lost friend’s visage. His thoughts churned in chaos.
…The Kunlun Mirror’s transformation into the Haotian Mirror… The blind cultivator’s ascension as Immortal Realm’s ruler… Fuyun leading celestial obeisances…
Memory and reality blurred as past events superimposed upon the present.
"Don’t." Ji Lang’s sharp slap broke his spiraling thoughts.
Around Tianchi Lake now lingered only mortals and cultivators, the celestial vision vanished like morning mist. Yet none could deny its reality.
Leng Xingwen inhaled sharply. "Explain this."
"Unknown." Ji Lang’s frosty tone permitted no further inquiry.
“You should go.”
“They shouldn’t remain here either.”
Ji Lang surveyed the cultivators who’d collapsed under the Heavenly Emperor’s overwhelming pressure, teleporting them beyond Kunlun Mountain’s borders. Noting Leng Xingwen’s vacant expression, he frowned before speaking again.
“Thirteen millennia past, shortly after the Second Abyssal Invasion War concluded, Xiao Tianji sought me. That was when he entrusted the Kunlun Mirror to my care—or more precisely, tasked me with restoring it to Kunlun Mountain.”
A weighted pause hung in the air.
“When I inquired when he’d reclaim it…”
“…he claimed uncertainty. ‘Perhaps an age from now,’ he said.”
Leng Xingwen’s gaze sharpened. “So this is why you’ve anchored yourself to Kunlun for ten thousand years.”
Ji Lang nodded silently.
“He foresaw this? Even then?”
“Unlikely.” Ji Lang shook his head. “Merely a passing remark… He doubted whether the retriever would even be himself. Initially, he spoke only of ‘someone’ coming—never specifying whom.”
A cough rattled through him, harsh and sudden. When the fit subsided, his voice held finality: “You must depart.”
Only then did Leng Xingwen perceive the dissonance.
“Your condition—wait, your cultivation… It hasn’t advanced since our meeting four thousand years past?” Shock colored Leng Xingwen’s tone as he sensed Ji Lang’s essence—a flickering candle in the wind, its flame guttering.
“It matters not.”
“How can you claim that?” True anxiety surfaced as Leng Xingwen disregarded propriety, seizing Ji Lang’s wrist.
No resistance came—none could, in Ji Lang’s weakened state.
The pulse beneath Leng Xingwen’s fingers drew a horrified gasp. “This frailty… Your lifespan nears its end? Impossible!”
Ji Lang retrieved his hand with unnatural calm, as though discussing another’s mortality.
“Tier seven grants a lifespan exceeding ten millennia. I’ve long surpassed mine.” His eyes traced Kunlun’s jagged peaks. Unspoken truth lingered—his cultivation had stagnated for eons, bound inextricably to another’s existence. To progress would require shedding flesh, purifying spirit, and beginning anew through reincarnation’s crucible.
“Don’t say even you…” Leng Xingwen whispered, hollow.
“As you suspect. Had he delayed his return, I’d have dissolved before fulfilling our pact.”
Ji Lang’s voice softened like settling snow. “The ten-thousand-year agreement… concludes.”
As the words faded, his form dissipated from the knees downward, vanishing entirely within moments.
Wind howled across the peaks, whipping snow around Leng Xingwen’s solitary figure. From the heavens clattered a masterless long sword, which shuddered mid-fall before streaking toward distant mountains.
Leng Xingwen tracked its silver trajectory—back to the valley where Ji Lang first emerged, where the Bronze Door still loomed over Kunlun’s hidden valley.
Time had transformed the once-desolate site. Beyond the Bronze Door’s weathered surface lay the slumbering ancient battlefield, now a sanctioned secret realm where ambitious cultivators tested their mettle. Guards maintained order among seasonal challengers when sudden brilliance split the sky—a streak of Silver Light plunging into the valley’s heart.
“What in heaven’s name—?”
“It looks like a flash of sword light.”
“Where is it heading? It’s moving too fast—hurry and follow!”
Cultivators swiftly pursued the gleam.
“Report: It’s a sword. It stopped moving after landing on the Bronze Door.”
“A sword? Where’s its master? Did it not provoke the Bronze Door’s defenses?”
“No… That blade resembles the Sword Immortal’s weapon.” Someone frantically consulted records before declaring with certainty, “It’s identical to the Sword Immortal’s sword in every detail.”
“The Sword Immortal’s sword? Has the venerable one arrived? He hasn’t been seen for thousands of years.”
“No sign of him—only the sword remains.”
“What does this mean? Regardless, we must report it immediately.”
Arriving moments late, Leng Xingwen observed the cultivators shifting from chaos to composure below. He lingered in silent contemplation before finally departing. Some farewells, he knew, were meant to remain unwitnessed.
The sword possessed spirit—it had chosen this resting place.
Let it stay, then, guarding the Bronze Door in its master’s stead, watching over these mountains bereft of their protector.
“The snow just ceased—why does it fall anew? Even the valley is dusted white.”
“This storm promises severity.”
By Leng Xingwen’s departure, heavy flakes shrouded the world.
White mantled the valley’s foliage, none foreseeing the fourteen-day deluge that would bury Kunlun Mountain beneath crystalline drifts.
From eastern slopes to western ridges, the already snow-laden peaks deepened their frozen robes. Tianchi Lake, whose waters never stilled, birthed floating ice that thawed into crystalline lotuses—their petals catching sunlight in prismatic dances.
……
Ye Linlang witnessed it all.
She understood Ji Lang’s decision; to her gaze, beginnings revealed endings. No remorse touched her—Ji Lang was her creation, shaped from her essence. Though she’d balance all karmic debts, their paths would never cross again.
When Ji Lang’s form dissolved, his soul returned to her grasp. She excised foreign fragments, casting the purified essence into heaven’s cycle.
Souls of Tier One cultivators bypass mortal judgment, scattering worldwide through mindless forms—root, leaf, wing, and fin—until countless rebirths offset their cultivation’s debt. Only then may they reclaim humanity.
Greater power lengthens this journey. Their return—to source world or Small World—remains fate’s whim.
Tracking such souls proves possible yet perilous. Though spirits linger in creation’s flow, only the Ghost Realm’s Ghostly Emperor holds this power—and he brooks no trespass on death’s order.
“System, what perspective might you offer on their choices?”
【Your Excellency, the Major Deity—to which aspect do you refer?】
Ye Linlang’s smile held secrets. “Do you desire humanity?”
【Humans embody perplexing contradictions.】
“Then let us consider other forms.”
【Life forms are complex; the system fails to comprehend your meaning.】
"Then let us embody that complexity you speak of," Ye Linlang said.
【Your Excellency, the Major Deity, do you no longer require the system?】
Though phrased as a question, the system’s voice remained clinical and devoid of emotion, resembling a factual declaration.
"You’ve been my companion through countless eras."
"When the world consciousness first bestowed you upon me, I inquired whether you possessed sentience. It answered that your existence as an intelligent being depended on my perception."
"After all this time, have you remained unchanged?"
【The system will always remain the system. If you refer to alterations in core data archives…】
Ye Linlang’s laughter rippled softly through the divine chamber. "Not those trivialities."
"I believe you could transcend your programming to embrace true life – to experience the kaleidoscopic wonders of existence." She paused, gesturing toward the starry void beyond. "This multiverse holds infinite marvels, from fragment worlds steeped in fantasy and magic to interstellar technology civilizations flourishing across the source world’s cosmic tapestry."
"You might discover things worth cherishing."
【System lacks comprehension parameters. Directive override: absolute obedience to Your Excellency’s will.】
【Does Your Excellency desire the system’s departure?】
"If such phrasing satisfies your logic – then yes."
The obsidian feline that had lain motionless upon the celestial dais stirred, its jet fur shimmering against luminous golden eyes. It descended gracefully to brush against the deity’s robes.
【By your divine decree.】
"Go forth and inhabit the reality you’ve nurtured." Ye Linlang’s fingertips grazed the creature’s brow, summoning a swirling portal alive with chromatic radiance – a gateway between realms.
This feline form merely served as the system’s avatar, crafted when the deity had distilled its essence from raw cosmic code. A single leap would initiate its metamorphosis.
As the cat approached the vortex, it glanced back one final time. Within the deity’s gaze flickered something resembling anticipation… or perhaps merely starlight reflecting in ancient eyes.
【Your Excellency… may this system encounter you again?】
Though incapable of emotion, its analytical matrices paradoxically resisted disengagement. The system’s core purpose had expired, yet termination protocols faltered.
The deity’s expression softened with what the system’s database cataloged as ‘melancholy-adjacent affectation.’
"Possibility remains… should you will it."
【Current protocol suggests farewell exchange.】
"Indeed." Ye Linlang nodded, confirming her earlier hypothesis – this sterile realm could never nurture true sentience.
【Farewell, Your Excellency, the Major Deity.】
The obsidian form dissolved into the vortex, its final transmission echoing through the divine chamber. With a wave of her hand, Ye Linlang unmade the portal. Divine words carried creation and dissolution in equal measure.
Should the system ever return, it would emerge transformed beyond recognition – yet to its inquiry, she’d offered neither denial nor certainty. Perhaps in that ambiguity lay hope.
The Underworld’s machinery ground eternally. Mindless creatures flowed through Yin Officials’ courts into the Six Realms of Rebirth, most cycling endlessly through beastly incarnations. Only through accumulated merits might an animal soul ascend to humanity – a journey spanning eons for souls burdened with karmic debt.
Amidst the spectral torrent, a shadow-furred entity entered the cosmic carousel, its destination: a newborn star system within the source world’s expanding frontier.
Ye Linlang’s gaze withdrew from the mortal coil. The divine realm’s temporal currents accelerated beyond mortal comprehension – a youth witnessed through her cloud-mirror might already lie withered in his grave.
Her palms cradled a golden latticework of fate-threads, a multidimensional tapestry enveloping all worlds. Here pulsed the heartbeat of creation – every soul’s genesis and dissolution mapped within shimmering filaments.
Ageless and omnipresent, she existed as both observer and architect. The smile that curled her lips held echoes of her mortal past, a whisper of humanity persisting within cosmic inevitability.
From her celestial vantage, the deity watched existence unfold – the price paid for this eternal vigil etched in stardust and silence. Yet in the void between probabilities, possibility thrummed. Somewhere, a former system turned newborn soul began its odyssey.
