Chapter 1305: The Secret of Zhou Tian (Part 1)
"Senior Poxi," Yun Che bowed deeply, speaking with heartfelt gratitude, "Thank you for saving my life."
"There is no need to thank me. If you must thank someone, thank Ling'er."
Before meeting Poxi, Yun Che had never imagined that a person's voice could be so beautiful... soft as drifting clouds, exquisite as a heavenly melody, like a celestial sound from beyond the heavens that should not exist in this defiled mortal world.
The heavenly sound lingered by his ears, a strange softness spreading throughout Yun Che's body. After half a breath of daze, he said, "The grace of He Ling, and the grace of Senior Poxi—this junior will never dare to forget."
"Rise." Poxi's voice grew even softer: "From now on, you need not thank me, nor bow to me. Here, there are no mundane worldly rites."
Yun Che was startled, then rose and said, "Understood. This junior will remember."
"Extend your hand."
As she spoke softly, Poxi's right arm slowly extended.
This hand was incredibly beautiful—flawless as fresh snow, lustrous as divine jade, like a fairy's delicate hand reaching out from a dream. The faint white light covering it added an extra layer of illusory quality.
Yun Che's breath unconsciously caught... A woman's hand could be so beautiful it made him breathless. His own extended hand froze mid-air, almost afraid to approach, for fear of desecration.
Poxi moved her wrist lightly, her jade finger pointing. A wisp of white light flew toward Yun Che and touched the back of his hand.
Instantly, dense golden patterns appeared on Yun Che's body, spreading all over him in the blink of an eye.
Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal!
When the golden patterns appeared, it should have been the moment the seal violently activated. But now, although Yun Che's body was covered in golden patterns, he felt no pain at all. He looked closely and found that these golden patterns were covered with a very thin, yet extremely pure, lustrous white profound light.
As Poxi's jade finger moved, this lustrous white light grew slightly denser.
What kind of power is this... Yun Che wondered inwardly. It was not like any power he knew, nor was it pure profound energy, yet it could be so pure.
She withdrew her delicate hand, and Poxi spoke softly: "The Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal on your body has been suppressed, but it may still activate in the coming months. However, the pain should be within your tolerance. You should thank the Wood Spirit Pearl on your body; otherwise, your body would not be so affable to my power. To suppress it to this extent would require more than ten times the effort."
Wood Spirit Pearl... affable to her power?
"I will suppress it once every twelve hours. During this time, the seal will dissipate extremely slowly. But if it goes more than twenty hours without suppression, the seal will re-implant deeply, and all previous progress will be lost. You must remember this."
"Yes," Yun Che nodded. "I am indebted to Senior Poxi."
Poxi's words meant that until the Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal completely dissipated, he would be unable to leave this place... Otherwise, he would fall back into the abyss of living death.
"Senior Poxi, may I ask... must I truly stay here for fifty years?" Yun Che asked, his heart filled with countless complexities.
Poxi did not answer directly but said softly, "Even if you have countless concerns outside, you must stay here until the Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal completely dissipates. This seal cannot be undone by anyone other than myself and the one who placed it."
"...I understand." Yun Che nodded slightly.
Poxi turned around. She was real and right before his eyes, yet she gave anyone an endless sense of unreality, and to Yun Che as well: "The woman who brought you here left the Dun Yue Immortal Palace for you. It is just outside the barrier. Go retrieve it."
Without Poxi's reminder, Yun Che had already sensed a new soul connection after waking up... a connection with the Dun Yue Immortal Palace.
Xia Qingyue had left, forcibly severing her bond with him, yet leaving him this top-tier life-saving divine artifact that could even shake off pursuit by Divine Lords.
"She..." He managed only one word before feeling a slight sting in his heart. Yun Che took a deep breath before continuing, "When she left, did she say anything?"
Sensing Yun Che's worry and turmoil, Poxi said softly, "Are you afraid she returned to the Yue Shen Realm to die?"
Clearly, in the days Yun Che had been unconscious, Poxi had learned something.
Although this was a place beyond the world, Yun Che was already famous throughout the God Realm, and the commotion he and Xia Qingyue had caused was known to all, spreading ever wider. It was too easy to find out.
"...Yes." Yun Che nodded. "This matter will certainly greatly anger the Yue Shen Realm, and she feels extremely guilty toward her adoptive father and mother. Even if it meant death, she would go without complaint or resistance."
Yue Shen Di was Xia Qingyue's adoptive father—a secret known to very few. In his turmoil and lack of guard, Yun Che had unconsciously spoken it.
Love as thin as ice... severed bonds and broken feelings...
Thinking of Xia Qingyue's parting words, the bloodstains on her moon robe, the tears she shed for him, her begging that had exhausted her dignity, and the Dun Yue Immortal Palace she left for him... Yun Che sighed inwardly: If love was truly as thin as ice, why would it be like this?
Were you trying to resolve the Yue Shen Realm's anger toward me, or afraid that if you died, I would seek revenge against the Yue Shen Realm... If that's the case, you have underestimated me.
What you destroyed was merely a pale marriage contract... just a contract. Everything else remains intact, forever impossible to erase.
"..." Poxi was silent for a moment, then let out a soft sigh: "Just to protect your dignity, she put herself in such a situation. A woman capable of such a choice is indeed rare in this world."
Yun Che: "..."
"But you can rest assured," her soft voice, like floating catkins, brushed against Yun Che's heart and soul, as if gently comforting him, "When she left, she had no intention of dying. Instead, she had made a very important decision... Perhaps her experiences with you during those days caused some change in her state of mind."
"Or, let me put it in a way more fitting for her." Beneath the white light, Poxi's eyes slightly lifted, and her gentle heavenly voice seemed to carry a hint of mysterious anticipation: "Her glass heart is beginning to awaken."
"Glass heart... awaken?" Yun Che was completely baffled by these words. "Awakening... can it bring her heaven's blessing?"
"No." Completely contrary to Yun Che's expectations, Poxi shook her head. "The world spreads tales that the 'glass heart' is the residual power of the Primordial God, transcending the Heavenly Dao, thus granting heaven's blessing. But in truth, it is merely the vain words of self-righteous people."
Yun Che looked surprised. Women with glass hearts were called daughters of the Heavenly Dao, blessed by heaven. This was not a legend believed only by commoners; even Divine Lords and Divine Emperors believed it without doubt.
"Then what does the awakening of the glass heart truly mean?" Yun Che asked.
"Once the glass heart awakens, power, intellect, vision, and soul will all undergo a transformation at the fundamental level. The growth rate will be so fast that ordinary people cannot imagine it. The changes in intellect and vision will ensure she will never be content to remain under anyone... At the very least, she will no longer be weak, hesitant, or lost."
"The Zhou Tian Primordial Ancestor of that year was a precedent. From a mere mortal woman, she became the first Zhou Tian Divine Emperor and made the Zhou Tian Pearl submit."
"The glass heart is a true 'miracle.' I had thought that no glass heart would ever appear again in this world... Perhaps she is the last miracle. In that sense, 'heaven's blessing' seems not entirely wrong."
Yun Che found Poxi's words difficult to understand. Because what the "glass heart" truly was had never been clearly explained by anyone. All tales about it focused on the word "heaven's blessing."
But Poxi was speaking of a seemingly completely different answer.
"When Qianye Ying'er made her move against you, perhaps she did not realize that she was forcing a fearsome opponent for herself." Poxi glanced sideways, as if gently looking at Yun Che. "Within fifty years, she will be able to threaten Qianye Ying'er. You must believe in the 'miracle' within her."
"Fifty years... Why fifty years?" Yun Che asked in a daze.
"Because, if she cannot contend with Qianye Ying'er within fifty years, after you leave this place, you will live forever in Qianye's shadow... Her forcibly severing her bond with you was also because she feared her own failure."
Poxi stepped forward lightly. With just one graceful step, her figure gradually became illusory, then disappeared among the myriad flowers. Yet her heavenly voice still lingered in his ears: "I hope this explanation can ease your heart somewhat."
"..."
Yun Che stood there silently, not leaving for a long time.
Poxi's words did not relax his heart but instead made it heavier...
"Qingyue, what exactly are you planning to do?"
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Zhou Tian God Realm, the day of the Zhou Tian Divine Realm's opening.
The gathered chosen ones had assembled early, but including the replacement "Wei Hen," a young profound practitioner, only nine hundred and ninety-nine had arrived. Yun Che was nowhere to be seen.
The Zhou Tian Divine Realm was right before them. While the chosen ones were anxious about being separated from the world for a full three thousand years, they were also extremely excited. To cultivate single-mindedly within the Zhou Tian Pearl for three thousand years while only three years passed in the outside world—this was a true shortcut to heaven.
Among the crowd, a snow-white figure stood in the center. A large space surrounded him, as if no one wanted to be near him, or as if he did not want to be near them.
Shengyu Realm: Luo Changsheng.
The wounds inflicted by Yun Che a month ago seemed to have healed... at least on the surface. But his entire aura had undergone a noticeable change. Though still gentle as water, a frightening dark intensity had appeared in the depths of his eyes.
In his first battle with Yun Che, although he lost, he had displayed all his brilliance, fighting until his last bit of strength and conviction. It had only increased his fame.
But in the second battle, even as he achieved Divine King, the other side of his soul had erupted due to his defeat by Yun Che. In the end, he lost not only in profound strength but also in face and dignity.
Compared to before, his entire state had undergone an earth-shaking change... at least, that's what everyone who saw him again felt.
But, even though he had lost to Yun Che, and lost miserably, he was still Luo Changsheng—still the peerless genius bearing three divine powers and three elements, the youngest Divine King in the history of the Eastern Domain.
After three thousand years, what heights he would reach, no one dared predict.
After a somewhat long wait, an old figure slowly walked over.
Zhou Tian Shen Di.
He would personally send these chosen ones, selected through the Profound God Convention, into the Zhou Tian Divine Realm.
(?￣￣)? Rest for a while under Poxi's thigh. The next period of the story will also be very calm. When Yun Che steps out of the Reincarnation Forbidden Land, that will be the day the Eastern Divine Domain turns upside down (￣￣)
Probably...