Chapter 1378: The World of the Heavenly Book
On the Tian Xuan Continent, in Liu Yun City.
Xiao Lie was a sentimental man, still accustomed to living in the Xiao Sect of Liu Yun City. Yun Che would visit him every so often and stay for a few days.
This was his small courtyard, filled with countless memories of him and Xiao Lingxi. The past in the God Realm seemed distant, yet the decade and more of their daily companionship felt like only yesterday.
"Master says your profound veins are extremely peculiar, completely different from ordinary people, so they cannot be repaired by conventional methods. He has been consulting many medical texts lately, but has found nothing. But don't worry too much—Master often says there is no incurable illness in the world; it's just that the method hasn't been found yet."
Su Linger had just finished helping Yun Che with his medicinal bath. While helping him dress, she spoke gently.
Yun Che shook his head with a smile. "Tell the old man I don't mind this matter. He doesn't need to trouble himself so much."
Su Linger smiled. "You know Master's temperament. He is obsessed with medicine. Rarely encountering an unsolvable problem, he will only focus on it even more. You don't need to be so pessimistic. Master is such a capable person. Perhaps... no, he will definitely find a way."
"Mm, you're right." Yun Che nodded without explaining. He knew well in his heart that something like the Evil God's Mysterious Vein could not be awakened by any conventional method.
After fastening his sash, Su Linger's hands still rested on his chest. She raised her head slightly, looking at him so close, her gaze gradually becoming misty. She leaned forward, softly resting against his chest.
"It's good that you are safe by my side... truly good." She closed her eyes and murmured gently. "That time, I was really afraid."
Yun Che reached out and held her, saying apologetically, "I know. Those four years I went to the God Realm must have made you worry."
"You don't know," Su Linger shook her head in his embrace. "The day you left, Sister Lingxi fainted. And after that, she would faint periodically—sometimes once a month, sometimes once every few days."
"...What?" Yun Che frowned. "Lingxi... why didn't anyone tell me?"
Su Linger comfortingly rubbed his chest and smiled. "She was afraid you would worry, so she told us not to tell you. And since you returned, she hasn't fainted again, so I dared to mention it."
Yun Che: "..."
"She was obviously worried about you too much. Moreover, every time she fainted, she had nightmares... and it was always the same nightmare. Every time she woke up, it was from that same nightmare."
"What nightmare?" Yun Che asked instinctively.
"She said she dreamed of you in a world full of starlight, covered in blood, your body riddled with wounds... Finally, you turned to ashes in a ball of crimson flame." Su Linger said softly. With Yun Che safe before her, she could now speak those images she had once dared not think about.
Yun Che was suddenly stunned.
"During that time, she was very scared. Although I kept comforting her that dreams were just dreams, I myself was also very afraid."
"..." For a long time, she didn't hear a reply from Yun Che. If she had looked up at that moment, she would have seen his eyes wide with shock. It took a while before he came back to himself and said with a smile, "Dreams are, of course, all fake. Don't worry, I promise that from now on I'll be well-behaved and proper, and won't make you worry anymore."
Starlight...
Body covered in blood...
Riddled with wounds...
Crimson flame...
Turned to ashes...
Coincidence... It must be just a coincidence!
"Where is Lingxi?" he asked almost subconsciously.
Su Linger pulled away from his chest, a hint of playful glint in her beautiful eyes. "I just asked her to join me in your medicinal bath, but she ran off... Long before you went to the God Realm, Grandpa Xiao had already personally acknowledged your relationship. Yet you still haven't taken her. That doesn't seem like you at all."
"..." Yun Che's face showed slight embarrassment. He said sheepishly, "Lingxi and I grew up together. We're too familiar with each other... so it's a bit hard to make a move."
"Hmph, you're so gentle with her, but so rough with us." Su Linger gave a light pout, then her eyes flickered. "Could it be... you're afraid Grandpa Xiao will blame you?"
"..." Yun Che nodded in admission. "A little bit."
"Pfft..." Su Linger chuckled. "Grandpa Xiao is busy every day now playing with Yong'an. He has no time to mind you. If anything, he probably can't wait for Sister Lingxi to give him a grandson early."
Her eyes suddenly brightened. "Do you want me to help you by adding something to her food?"
"No, no, no, no," Yun Che quickly waved his hands. "I'll handle it myself. I'll handle it myself."
Leaving the courtyard, Yun Che's brow slightly furrowed as he fell into thought.
Xiao Lingxi's dream...
That nightmare had started from the day he left for the God Realm, four years ago. For four years, it had been the same nightmare, accompanied by fainting spells that even Su Linger couldn't explain the cause of. And the dream Su Linger briefly described...
It was exactly the same as the place and state of his death... even the rebirth from fire after death!
He sensed an indescribable strangeness.
But he was the one who knew Xiao Lingxi best in this world. He had been by her side since her first day of birth, and they had grown up together. Her nature was simple and gentle, her talent in the profound way mediocre, and she had no ambition in that direction.
Among the women by his side, she was the most ordinary in terms of talent, cultivation, appearance, background, and status.
What was irreplaceable between them was the bond of childhood sweethearts, growing up together—a feeling that could never be erased.
Apart from coincidence, there was simply no other explanation.
If there was anything unusual...
At this moment, Yun Che stopped walking, suddenly recalling that mysterious black jade from Shiyue Mojun.
Back then, that black jade had no reaction to any method he or Mo Li tried, no matter what power they infused it with. But when Xiao Lingxi approached it, a strange resonance occurred, and it manifested an array of extremely peculiar characters in the air.
Yun Che didn't recognize any of those characters, but Xiao Lingxi knew them all...
What was even weirder was that even she herself had no idea why she knew those characters—she had never seen them before, yet she recognized them.
She called those writings the "Heaven-Defying World Scripture" and translated them for him word by word... Those characters seemed like a scripture, or perhaps a profound art. And at the end, it suddenly broke off, obviously incomplete.
At the time, he explained to Xiao Lingxi that perhaps the black jade had very strong spiritual energy that resonated with her aura, causing a reaction and establishing a soul connection, allowing her to recognize those characters... But those words were meant to comfort Xiao Lingxi and ease her panic at the unknown. They were also an explanation to himself—a forced explanation he himself didn't believe.
But beyond that, he couldn't think of any other reason.
As he pondered silently, the scripture that Xiao Lingxi had translated to him and that he had kept in his mind involuntarily surfaced:
"In the beginning of Primordial Chaos, at the dawn of Creation, heaven and earth were without order, light and darkness were inseparable. The source of the world, the Heavenly Dao as its shackle..."
At this moment, Yun Che's footsteps abruptly stopped.
The scripture of the "Heaven-Defying World Scripture" floating in his mind had, at some point unnoticed by Yun Che, transformed into great bells striking his heart and shaking his soul...
"One lifetime of desolation, a hundred lifetimes of wilderness, ten thousand lifetimes of pagoda. Stars form the universe, the heavens fall and float. A thousand peaks are all rebellion, ten thousand splendors are all illusions..."
Every word was like a divine bell shaking the world, trembling the world of his soul, spreading out a wilderness from a distant age...
"One thought becomes a sage, one thought becomes a demon, ten thousand thoughts become emptiness. Anger is sin, envy is sin, lust is sin, greed is sin, sloth is sin... The resting place of all souls, the final destination of all things..."
Yun Che's eyes widened. The world in his sight faded, vanished, turned into a blank emptiness, then transformed into an endless darkness...
Only those heavenly book characters, like ancient bells from the distant past, echoed in his world.
The courtyard door was pushed open. Xiao Lingxi, dressed in emerald clothes, walked lightly over. Seeing Yun Che, her brows curved. "Xiao Che, why are you alone? Where is Linger?"
But she received no answer. Yun Che stood facing her, only a few steps away, yet he showed no reaction to her appearance or words. His eyes stared straight ahead, completely unfocused and dull.
"Huh?" Xiao Lingxi wondered, thinking he was teasing her. She hopped forward and lightly tapped him. "Xiao Che... ah!"
At her gentle touch, Yun Che still had no reaction. Instead, like a wooden post, he stiffly fell backward.
She cried out in surprise and quickly stepped forward to support him. "Xiao Che? What's wrong? Xiao Che!"
She called out repeatedly, but Yun Che remained dazed and unresponsive, his eyes dull as if he had lost his soul.
Xiao Lingxi panicked. At that moment, Feng Xian'er descended like lightning and helped her support him. "Young Master... Young Master, what's wrong!?"
"Linger... go get Linger!" Xiao Lingxi said urgently.
The Xiao Sect wasn't large, and Su Linger was nearby. At Xiao Lingxi's cry, before Feng Xian'er could go fetch her, Su Linger had already hurried over.
After helping Yun Che sit upright, Su Linger pressed her finger to Yun Che's chest. Her profound energy quickly circulated through his entire body, but she found no abnormality. After a brief thought, she took out a sound transmission jade and sent a message to Feng Xue'er: "Sister Xue'er, come to the Xiao Sect quickly. Brother Yun Che is acting strange."
In just a few breaths, Feng Xue'er's figure appeared at the Xiao Sect. Then, with a flash of red light, she was already beside Yun Che.
Focusing on observing Yun Che's state for a moment, Feng Xue'er parted her pink lips slightly, showing confusion. She exchanged a glance with Su Linger, and both saw disbelief on each other's faces.
"What's wrong with Xiao Che? What exactly happened?" Xiao Lingxi said anxiously, tears already welling in her eyes.
"Brother Yun... he seems to have entered a state of enlightenment," Feng Xue'er said hesitantly.
"Ah?" Xiao Lingxi was startled.
"Enlightenment?" Feng Xian'er showed the same disbelief. "But, Young Master has lost all his profound power, even his profound veins are... How could he be in enlightenment?"
"It does defy common sense," Su Linger said with a frown. "But his mental state is indeed the most common form of enlightenment in the profound way..."
With that, she gave Xiao Lingxi a comforting look. "Although it's strange, both his physical body and his soul are completely normal and unharmed, so there's no need to worry. Just wait for him to wake up."
Enlightenment is a state of comprehension in the profound way, often encountered but not sought. But without profound power, even without profound veins, naturally one is not in the profound way—so how could there be enlightenment?
Yet, at this moment, Yun Che was indeed in a state of enlightenment... and a very bizarre one at that.
: 。 :