In just a flash, Yan Liqiang found himself in an extremely mysterious place.
Above his head, beneath his feet, in front, and behind him, spinning galaxies were everywhere. It was as though he was in the deepest void watching the universe.
The spinning galaxies collided with each other in the void. Countless stars and planets were destroyed in the splendid explosion. New galaxies were then born in the midst of destruction and fusion...
The gigantic black hole was like a whirlpool in a rapid river, hidden in the darkest place in the universe, swallowing up celestial bodies one after another...
Countless meteors streaked across the skies, rushing from one galaxy to the other as if they were a 'hi' from one galaxy to the other...
Every comet carried its own mysterious message as they spun around the mysterious orbit of every galaxy...
Some of the mysterious space-time expanded, some shrunk, some were perishing, some were regenerating. It was as though the universe was breathing.
Billions of starlight interweaved and converged around him. Among the starlight, the figures of beasts, birds, bugs, snakes, dragons, and horses manifested and vanished from time to time. These beasts and birds manifested from the colorful starlight were running and orbiting around Yan Liqiang. Some were flying, some were running. There were fantastic oddities of all kinds. Yan Liqiang even saw a small divine dragon, manifested from golden starlight...
The galaxies were spinning, with a myriad of life forms thriving within them. The stars were like grains of sand, forming a big path beneath his feet.
Yan Liqiang was stunned by such magnificent, majestic, mysterious and unfathomable scenery. He stood there blankly for quite a while before he finally realized that his current body was not his real body. He was currently in a nearly transparent soul-state like the one after his death last time.
Where is this place? Why am I here? Countless questions filled Yan Liqiang's mind.
"Is there anyone here? Where is this place?" Yan Liqiang shouted loudly into the void that surrounded him.
Neither anyone appeared nor answered Yan Liqiang's questions. But Yan Liqiang's shout caused the silhouettes of the various birds and animals revolving around him to instantly vanish and a white projection suddenly appeared in front of Yan Liqiang.
The light projection was round, like a big circular door. Within the light projection was an empty gray space. Just when Yan Liqiang's alertness was heightened, he realized that some human figures had started to form within that empty space. Everything that happened before his eyes seemed so surreal...
A youth was collapsed on the ground with a crowd of other youths surrounding and staring at him. Only one little fattie with some pimples on his face crouched in front of the youth who had collapsed on the ground and anxiously slapped his face. "Liqiang, wake up…! Liqiang, wake up…!"
When Yan Liqiang saw the face of the youth collapsed on the floor, he thought he seemed quite familiar. The moment he heard the name of the youth being called, Yan Liqiang jolted as his old memories suddenly came flooding back to him — he was that youth lying on the floor. The other youth who was slapping his face was Su Chang. The scene replaying before his eyes was the memory of his consciousness when he had woken up for the first time back then.
"Everyone, please give way. Don't surround him. Let's get him to the medical hall first…"
A middle-aged man came before Yan Liqiang. After checking his body, he had people carry Yan Liqiang away...
Scenes of the past replayed before Yan Liqiang's eyes. Right at this moment, he was watching everything from the perspective of a spectator watching a movie.
Yan Liqiang saw himself being deliberately dropped from the stretcher. After lying on the medical hall for a very long time, he once again heard the familiar yet indistinct voice...
"My son! Where is my son, Yan Liqiang…?"
At the sight of Yan Dechang's appearance in the ward, his forehead beaded with sweat, tears suddenly cascaded down Yan Liqiang's cheeks...
Everything that ensued was the experience Yan Liqiang had personally gone through. He followed Yan Dechang home on a bullock cart, met the steward from the Hong Clan in the middle of their journey, fled to Hualong County for safety, then started to cultivate Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing, and then coincidentally saved someone from the Lu Clan… Murdered King Cobra, eradicated the Hong Clan… Followed by his glorious achievement in taking the first place among the top three in the Martial Arts County Trial… Then arriving at Pingxi City and finally meeting a tragic end with his father in that city...
The moment Yan Liqiang died, everything in the light projection froze. A second light projection then fell in front of Yan Liqiang. In it, he saw himself lying beneath a pine tree, stark naked. He had woken up after a sneeze, then ran to the nearby Temple of Purity and borrowed some clothes. "I'm alive, I'm alive…!" He then yelled at the road at the foot of the mountain… Hu Provincial City appeared before his eyes next… In the small forest, he had murdered Wu Tao along with two others… Finally, in Longhu Mountain, he ran into Liu Guiyuan and was brought to Lai Province by him and joined the Divine Sword Sect… Then he was cleaning the toilets on Tianqiao Peak before he finally gathered in the Meteor Tower today with Huo Bin and the rest… He then returned to his small wooden hut, took off his shoes after washing up and climbed up his bed and sat in lotus position… The frame then froze...
Weakness from the sensation of his mind being sucked empty suddenly overcame him, everything before his eyes turned black...
Yan Liqiang opened his eyes and found himself still seated in lotus position on the bed in his small wooden house. Everything in the room was still. Only the vague sounds of the howling wind outside the house could be heard.
He took a glance at the clock placed on the table by the bed and discovered that only about three hours had passed since he climbed onto his bed. The time seemed to be the moment when his sea of consciousness was being sucked into that rock. Then why did he feel as though he had stayed a very long time in that mysterious place, even though time seemed to have been frozen outside?
Yan Liqiang had too many questions in his mind. Yet he wasn't able to ponder about it at this moment because his mind seemed to have just been emptied out by someone, even his thoughts had grown numb. Exhaustion and drowsiness assaulted him. He immediately fell backward into a slumber…
By the time Yan Liqiang woke up again, light from outside had already flooded into his small wooden house through the windows.
This was probably the latest Yan Liqiang had woken up over the past few months. He took a look at the time the clock was showing at the head of his bed and was shocked. He didn't even have the time to practice his eye technique and clambered out of his bed. With the quickest speed possible, he washed up, dressed up and tidied himself up. He then opened the door and left his room.
This morning happened to be the first day he had to report to Tianqiao Hall. If he had woken up half an hour later, he would have been late.
The snow outside had stopped, but the snow piled up on the ground had grown a few inches thicker since yesterday. The moment the cold wind outside blew against Yan Liqiang's face, which had been washed with cold water, Yan Liqiang was roused back to reality from his thoughts on the mysterious void last night.
"Ha, Leader, I was about to come over and wake you up with Huipeng. Today is our big day!" Gu Zexuan winked at Yan Liqiang. He and Zhao Huipeng had already arrived at Yan Liqiang's small courtyard. "Knowing that Leader actually sleeps in from time to time, Huipeng and I can finally let out a breath of relief. That proves you are still a human and there are times you can doze off too!"
Yan Liqiang didn't explain anything. He just laughed and led both of them up Tianqiao Peak...