The Scripture of Revered Sense was the jade scroll Fang Xing had snatched alongside the fox mask back at the Immortal's Hall within Qingqiu Tomb. It had been in Fang Xing's possession for quite some time and he'd flipped through it a few times while inside the Yin Prison Abyss , but the more he looked at it, the more perplexed he became.
This scroll was written in the language of immortals. The words were extremely difficult to understand, yet also seemed to have power and purpose. Fang Xing had been able to use his Book of Revelation to understand all of the definitions of these immortals' characters during his time in the Yin Prison Abyss, but the true meaning behind each was still incomprehensible to him. It was the same kind of feeling he got when he read the poems written by his ninth uncle; although he could understand the definitions of each character, he still couldn't understand the actual meaning of what was written. This had caused him to fail despite trying to decipher it several times, so he had put it down and decided to study it once more at another time.
Fang Xing suddenly recalled the scroll while sitting inside this Court of Enlightenment that had been specially built by the five Golden Cores for the young elites. If he couldn't comprehend it elsewhere, perhaps he might be able to here. There were still three more days, anyway, with no reason to squander them away.
After reading the script on the jade scroll for a while, Fang Xing felt a bit dizzy. Deciding to give it a try was one thing, but he still had a long way to go if he wanted to comprehend the meaning beyond just the definitions of the strange characters. The more he read on, the more confused he became, until he finally threw the jade scroll aside in a fit of anger and lay down to drink some wine while staring at the ceiling.
Fang Xing was someone who could be considered tenacious; no matter how strange this script was, he'd still managed to memorize every single one of its characters and imprint them deeply into his mind. In the end, though, he still couldn't interpret any of the implied meanings within, and so he had no idea how to even begin studying it. Even inside this Court of Enlightenment with the chill to suppress all distracting thoughts, all he'd been able to do was memorize the
script with more clarity—he still didn't have a single idea how to comprehend it.
Fang Xing took one gulp of wine after the other while sighing to himself. "Fine, fine. Maybe I really wasn't born with enough talent to study this kind of complex stuff?" He still wasn't in a hurry to leave, of course. Entering such a mysterious cave estate was a rare opportunity; how could he possibly give up such an advantage? Even if all he did was sleep for the next three days, he still wouldn't leave.
With this thought, Fang Xing simply continued casually drinking his wine. When the alcohol began to hit his mind, he didn't even bother activating any techniques to absorb it and simply let it engulf him until he fell into a deep sleep….
'The bounty of Dao is but a mist within the cosmos….'
Because he'd been thinking about it before falling asleep, the Scripture of Revered Sense that had been deeply imprinted onto his mind echoed without pause. Slowly over time, a strange and mysterious phenomenon began to occur and Fang Xing's spirit sense seemed to be drawn in by the scripture. A peculiar change began to take place, his Qi shifting, his spirit sense changing, while the entirety of his mind seemed to fall into a strange dream.
Cold….
That was the first thing Fang Xing felt.
Right now, it felt as though he'd regressed to a baby, crawling with great difficulty forward through a snow-filled land, alone. The cold cut into his flesh and bones like blades, suffocating his tendons and marrows, freezing his blood, piercing his skin. Fang Xing was so cold he wanted to grit his teeth, but he was surprised to find he had yet to grow any and so could only forcibly endure these hardships….
After an indeterminate time passed, this coldness even began to touch the Fang Xing who was fast asleep on top of the jade platform. He was covered in a layer of frost, and his hands were clenched so tightly that the knuckles cracked and his veins could be seen. He was fighting against the snow and wind, against the endless cold within his dream.
Crawling without pause. Every time he managed to crawl a step forward, the wind and the snow pushed him three steps back. Yet even then, he continued on….
Still, courage and desire to live weren't enough on their own to escape the fate of being frozen to death. A crystal ice block appeared over the snowy plains with an
an angry baby sealed within. The baby's eyes were rounded in anger, as though preparing to release its first heaven-shaking cry.
Time passed. The scenery changed, and Fang Xing was now entering a battleground.
The land cracked. Fire and lightning fell from the heavens. The world had been transformed into a burnt battleground where the flames of war destroyed the land and disturbed the stars and clouds above. A countless number of elites fell like stars from the heavens, and a countless number of people died heroically as they dashed towards the ferocious enemies who were numerous as stars in meteor shower.
It seemed Fang Xing had now become a soldier adorned in iron armor. He fought against the surging tide of enemies, the blood of his foes tainting his armor with every swing of his blade….
His side of the battle had already been defeated. The enemies he had to kill became more and more numerous. Never ending.
Even if he had the power to fight against the heavens, he lacked the fate to do so.
Until the very end, all Fang Xing could do was let out a howl of anger towards the heavens above before being stabbed to death by countless lances….
The scene changed once more. Fang Xing was now a scholar on his way to the imperial exam. He held a great deal of enthusiasm and an immense sense of pride, yet he failed the exam and could only return in disappointment to pack his personal belongings and return to his hometown once more. He spent three more years of diligent study and returned to the capital again, yet the results did not change—he was again not fated to have his name on that golden roll of honor. Fang Xing could only return back to his hometown to study even more diligently. Three years after three years, his black hair became white, his smooth skin was replaced with wrinkles, and all the savings of his family disappeared….
Amidst chilling wind and rain, a white-haired Fang Xing shrank in on himself within a leaking straw house. "Enough, enough, enough…" he cried out in despair, his dim eyes glancing towards the rope hanging from the ceiling as though remembering how enthusiastic and proud he'd been in his youth.
One dream after another. One lifetime after another.
As fleeting as the cicadas on a summer tree. As enduring as decades of changing seasons. Heroic endings. Lonely deaths….
A faint bell-like sound rang out within Fang Xing's mind: Dao is true; Dao is not fabricated….
"Nn?
not fabricated….
"Nn? Why are so many demonic spirits coming this way? Could it be the formation that cuts off the heavens and earth is experiencing some problems?"
Hundreds and thousand of incomplete spirits appeared like fireflies that circled the Snowy Mountain, and even the leftover Serene Ice Jade seemed unable to disperse them. Some that were stronger even directly flew towards the formation around the foot of the mountain, only to be immediately turned into ash.
"Evil creatures, how dare you come disturbing the seclusion of our Snowy Mountain disciples? Do you want to be dispersed into ash? Leave this instant!" the old servant commanded. He flew up into the air to protect the formation and drew a bamboo flute to his fore. The flute flowed with an exuberant purple light, and as he blew into it, it immediately began to sound out a long note carefully controlled by the movement of his lips and throat. Although the sound was peaceful, a terrifying amount of power was contained within, and all the demonic spirits were left shaken from it. Like ice being met with boiling water, they let out cries of misery and began to dissipate while those who remained fled in all directions.
"Hmph! Mere evil spirits, how dare you come disrupting our Snowy Mountain! This is simply seeking your own death!" After the old servant dispersed the spirits, he released a cold snort and checked on the formation. When he saw there had been no change, he felt somewhat relieved but also rather surprised.
"The formation isn't damaged, so how were so many evil spirits drawn here?" The old servant couldn't understand it even after some time of thought, so he returned back to the mountain to guard the Court of Enlightenment.
Although it was a bizarre scene, it wasn't anything serious. It was easy for places like the Court of Enlightenment to attract the attention of evil spirits, so something like this was rather normal. No matter how strong a formation was, it couldn't block out one hundred percent of all evil creatures. Considering all of this, he didn't suspect anything wrong. There were two people currently forming their foundation within the Court or Enlightenment, after all, and it was particularly difficult to hide from tribulations; this event may very well simply be caused by their Dao's tribulation.
"Dao is true; Dao is not fabricated…."
Fang Xing slowly began to wake up while muttering to himself, his head aching as though suffering from a terrible hangover. It had been a had been a long time since he'd felt something like this; after stepping on the path of cultivation, his physique had gotten stronger day by day, and hangovers had become a thing of the past.
In his mind, the giant drum-like sound still echoed repeatedly without pause.
"Sh*t, what the hell happened?" Fang Xing rubbed his head before slowly rising to a seated position. He felt something wasn't right, so he held his temper, sat up properly, and began to closely inspect the current state of his body.
He'd experienced an endless number of bizarre dreams in a single sleep, which was simply too strange. The feelings of despair washed over him like a tidal wave, leaving his body empty and powerless alongside an extremely painful headache. He considered whether his desire to forcibly study the Scripture of Revered Sense had caused some complications.
"Nn? No…. No…."
After some close inspection, however, Fang Xing realized there wasn't much wrong with his body, it was just that a huge amount of his Qi had been used up as if he'd just come back from a great battle. There wouldn't be any problems as long as he rested a while to recuperate his Qi, although there did seem to be something odd about his spirit sense….
It seemed as though his spirit sense had become much stronger, as though it had been forcefully pulled higher!
"Forming another tier of the foundation will certainly increase spirit sense, but this amount doesn't seem normal…?" Fang Xing muttered to himself. His spirit sense thrust out like a whip and swept along his surroundings, and he suddenly realized his effective range had changed from a hundred feet to over two hundred feet—around thirty to forty more than he'd anticipated from a breakthrough alone.
His expression grew somber and he checked the changes of his body once more. When he verified there wasn't any hidden damage, he let out a sigh of relief before thinking. 'Maybe it was after I fell asleep? Did I subconsciously touch the switch of the Scripture of Revered Sense? That endless strange dream left me unable to tell real from fake as I lived through all kinds of lives. In such desperation, my spirit sense was cultivated….
'Dammit, this scripture is stupid. It's like a swaying sword that forces you to take abnormal paths and use strange methods to cultivate spirit sense….' After making a rough guess at what the scripture did, he felt even more amazed and was unable to calm his mind for a long time.