Daoist Master of Qing Xuan

In the beginning, Fang Yanying could still keep up with Shen Lian’s pace. As they kept going, she could feel the weight of each snowflake, as if it burdened her, crushing her body and stalling her movements. Furthermore, the Qi of heaven and earth here felt as if it originated from a single source, belonging to a master. She could not absorb it and her footsteps became increasingly heavier. It felt as though her consciousness had been lost, as she numbly followed the footsteps left by Shen Lian.

If she did not step on the path guided by a trail of golden flowers, this snow-capped mountain would not be scalable. One would even end up somewhere in the snow mountain, eternally frozen, trapped in a state where one is neither dead nor alive.

Shen Lian’s pace remained steady. The footsteps he left when he started was heavy. Then it gradually got shallower. The golden flowers too grew fainter and fainter.

There was no light on the snowy mountain – neither sunlight or moonlight shone on the mountain, there was only snow.

Barefooted, Shen Lian walked deeper into the mountain, everything became pitch black, the snowfall fluttered down, the cold wind howled, turning the world frozen and quiet. Apart from Shen Lian, there were no other signs of life, even the gilding technique could not bloom any golden flowers.

Shen Lian finally stopped. Although he did not know which part of the snow mountain this place was, he was clear about one thing, the snow mountain was the Dipamkara Temple, and vice versa. There was no difference.

Even the white-robed monk Shanjue could not change that fact, because this snow mountain was not a product of nature, but the product of a seemingly everlasting spirit.

There were no other powers in this place, nor any natural Qi of vitality that could be found here.

Shen Lian closed his eyes and shut off his five senses, relying only on the spiritual sense, going to a place no one can go.

A sharp awl appeared as Shen Lian took his first step, right where his foot landed. Having his five sense shut off, Shen Lian took no notice of it and landed his foot. The sharp awl did not go through Shen Lian’s tender sole, it was pressed back instead.

With Shen Lian’s every step a sharp awl appeared, stemming out from the everlasting snow, only to be pushed back into the ground again by Shen Lian’s bare feet. The awls were not an illusion, but a Buddhist instrument called ‘nullifying awl’, others would call it ‘a nullifying awl upon touch’. What it meant was that this awl would be able to absorb other magical energies, resulting in one to lose their power, and the awl was made of materials harder than steel or diamonds. Anything other than a Vajra’s body would be easily pierced.

But the nullifying awl lost its effect in the presence of Shen Lian. Shen Lian shut himself off in a world of his own, not leaking any power. His body had the composition similar to that of Vajra, matching the nullifying awl’s material by its own.

A total of eighteen awls came from the ground, each failing to achieve their purpose. When Shen Lian opened his eyes, it was as if a ray of black and white leaked from his eyes, breaking the spatial barrier.

Among the dark snowy mountain, two separate rays of black and white intertwined and became a spherical disc, rotating the black and the white. The darkness of water, and the whiteness of gold, were as if a reflection of itself, rippling slowly, continuously absorbing the surrounding darkness, seemingly erasing a void in space. The darkness was absorbed by the disc. Eventually, the entire disc turned black save the bit of white left in the middle.

A copper coffin appeared in front of Shen Lian, carrying a mottled appearance that spoke of its ancient age as if it had endured many millenniums that gave it such an appearance.

At one end of the coffin stood a lamp with a red light, it’s light akin to the shape of a bean. A lamp shining its light would radiate outward until it dispersed in the darkness.

The lone lamp above the coffin shone on Shen Lian and stilled.

‘The speed of light is the fastest in the universe, and every lux is many times smaller than a speck of dust.’ It was impossible to imagine anything that would be able to stop light.

But not a single ray leaked through, as the light there was stilled.

Fang Yanying managed to keep up, but her uncle-master was nowhere in sight. Movement eluded her as she felt the undeniable force of heaven and earth binding her where she stood.

The black and white disc disappeared as the light appeared, seemingly absorbed into the light itself, and in Shen Lian’s heart came a special feeling, as if he was a part of the light.

‘A coffin is where the dead were laid to rest and a lamp is used to light the dead’s way back.’

A lone lamp and a copper coffin. Could these represent death?

‘Where there is life, death is inevitable. And after death comes life.’

Shen Lian felt his spirit being invaded by a deadly force, his nostrils, mouth, eyes, and ears bled. This lamp lit his Primordial Spirit causing his body to not be able to withstand the energy released by the burning spirit.

Shen Lian went and stood in front of the lamp without regard for where the white-robed monk, who appeared in Jinji Country, was spying on him from.

If the light did not extinguish after some time, Shen Lian might cease to exist in the world.

Because the black and white ray of light scattered into the light of the lamp, Shen Lian thought he was a part of the light. In fact, he was not wrong. But it also led him to start facing the greatest danger, which was being turned into light.

Shen Lian reached a hand out into the light, to find his hand was possessed by a force of evil. Wisps of that dark aura lit up under the light and Shen Lian’s hand turned into ash.

Shen Lian appeared as though he was light itself. Exuding a faint glow. The ancestral cavity located at his glabella opened and out poured multi-colored thin rays, merging with the luminescence coming from the light.

Light is an amazing thing. If one was perceptive enough, one would be able to observe everything happened in the past because light records all experiences and acts as a witness to history.

In a trance-like state, Shen Lian saw the past playing out in front of him and discovered the origins of the copper coffin.

The copper coffin changed when Shen Lian reached his hand into the light. From the coffin came an immense and terrible force that overwhelmed and influenced everything. It was fortunate that there was no other life in the Great Snow Mountain save Shen Lian, Fang Yanying and the spying white-robed monk. Otherwise, the minds of any mortal creatures hit by this overwhelming force would be decimated, washing away the will of a living spirit, causing irreparable harm.

Under the overwhelming influence, Fang Yanying turned into a bloodied person, but she was more concerned about Shen Lian, not knowing his condition because the light had been stilled. Her senses were sealed, completely lost in the darkness. Her body would not allow her to even take one step. She could not recall a moment when she was as powerless as this.

Fortunately, she had the mystical sword in hand. It was silent at first, but under the terrible influence, it let out a sharp cry of retaliation. However, it was pushed back by the influence. The sword let out a soft cry, to alleviate Fang Yanying’s condition and gave her her ability to move again.

Step by step she advanced with the sword in her hand. Sightless in the dark, she did not know how far she was from uncle-master. She was not even sure if her uncle-master was anywhere near to her.

Holding the sword, her steps were heavy as she advanced. Relying only on sheer determination, she crept forward in the darkness.