Nightfall

Zhishou Abbey was becoming more and more silent under the starlight, as if no one had visited it for countless years. The golden thatch fell along the roof, as if the starlight had become material. Prince Long Qing sat at a desk in front of a window and read the scrolls in front of him. He completely ignored the heavenly views around the Taoist temple. There was only desire for knowledge in his eyes. He seemed to be calm and focused, like the quiet lake in front of the window.

mysterious On that day, when he opened the “Ri” Handscroll of Tomes of Arcane, he saw three names of Calligraphy Addict, Tao Addict and Ning Que. He could not help but feel envy, dissatisfaction, hatred, and resentment, because he was originally the Divine Son of West-Hill. He should have at least been at the same level as those three people. However, on the Wilderness snow cliff, all the good things were destroyed by Ning Que’s arrow. Although he encountered a Lucky Chance at the South China Sea, and he set foot on the road of cultivation again, he had to start over again. Now, he has only just entered the Seethrough Realm and seemed to be left farther and farther away by those three.

However, it didn’t take long for him to transform all the negativity in his mind into nothing because he was in the Zhishou Abbey. He could read all the Tomes of Arcane as long as he had the corresponding ability. This was an unimaginable big Lucky Chance. This was the highest thing in the world, but the negative emotions such as hatred were low-level things that only worldly mortals would be immersed in and suffered from. They could not be matched.

This did not mean that Long Qing no longer hated Ning Que, Ye Hongyu and Mo Shanshan. He just knew that all the emotions of hate and feelings of pain were very pointless. What was more important was the result. As long as he could become powerful again, or even become more powerful, just like the news that came from the West-Hill Divine Palace the other day, he could also regain everything he had lost and gain even more, like Ye Hongyu.

At this time, Long Qing was looking at the third scroll of the Tomes of Arcane: “Sha” Handscroll.

The reason why this scroll of Tomes of Arcane was called the “Sha” Handscroll was that it contained countless cultivation magic like the sand in the desert. Some of them were subtle and unspeakable. Some of them were the introduction to the magic of private sects. Some of them were the holy magic of Haotian Taoism. Some of them were the stately magic of Buddhism Sect. Some of them were even evil magic of Devil’s Doctrine. There was so much magic, that it was impossible to give it a value.

This scroll of Tomes of Arcane recorded almost all the cultivation magic in the world. From the number of magic to the quality of cultivation magic, only the back of the mountain of the Academy could compete with it. As for the famous Library of Qinghe County, it was simply not eligible to compare with the two.

The starlight fell on the pages of the book, and it showed human figures painted in deep ink. There were countless lines floating among the human figures. At the lower part of the book, it recorded the essence and matters needing attention to use this cultivation magic. This weird magic was called Gray Eye.

Gray Eye was not a Haotian Taoism’s magic, nor a Devil’s Doctrine magic. It was created many years ago when a master of Zhishou Abbey killed a Devil’s Doctrine Elder who cultivated the Practice of Taotie. He considered the danger in the battle. After three days and nights, through his knowledge and wisdom, he transformed the Practice of Taotie by holy Taoists Law into Gray Eye.

The foundation of this magic was the Practice of Taotie. In essence, it was still to seize other cultivators’ Psyche Power to strengthen the user. However, after the transformation of Taoist Law, it was no longer used to devour blood and flesh, but it could have direct seizure of conscious. It did not seem as bloody as it used to be, and it seemed peaceful and mild. In fact, it was still evil and cruel as it had been.

If he was still that proud and choosy Prince Long Qing, he would certainly not cultivate such evil magic. Even if he would be tempted by the powerful force. However, today he had experienced so many things. He used to be so filthy, so weak and he had done a lot of ugly and evil things. He was no longer that Prince Long Qing. So he did not hesitate to start cultivating.

Starlight was like water, shining brightly on the courtyard of the Taoist temple. In the hut, it was relatively dark. Long Qing was reading the “Sha” Handscroll of Tomes of Arcane. His awareness was moving with this magic, and his face became more and more pale.

…

…

A few days ago, on the South China Sea, a small boat floated along the waves. The fish already dived into the deep sea, and the seagulls had naturally disappeared. Long Qing kneeled behind the Taoist in indigo and was exposed to the sun. His face did not turn dark but pale.

This was the depths of the South China Sea. It was too far away from land. They could not see the coastline anywhere. The Taoist in indigo stood on the head of the boat and looked at the waves, as if he was watching the tide rising and falling along the coast.

“Persistence is an obstacle, even if it is the persistence to light and darkness.”

The hot planks made Long Qing feel as if his knees were about to be scorched, but he dared not move. His voice trembled, “I once tried to give up persistence and headed north to the darkness in the Wilderness. Even then, I still saw no light in the darkness.”

The Taoist in indigo put his hands clasped behind his back. He stood at the head of the ship. He looked at the sea and said, “You want to find something. Then you make a choice, and making a choice is a kind of persistence.”

Long Qing asked, “So, how can I not be persistent?”

The Taoist in indigo said, “Buddhism Sect pays attention to meditation and peace of heart. They pursue being desolate, and not being persistent is not thinking. If you think, one piece of mind is brightness, the other is darkness. How will you choose? So you don’t choose. You only need to listen to Haotian’s choice.”

Long Qing said, “But… I’m not the Great Divine Priest of Relation. I can’t sense the will of Haotian. How can I know what Haotian’s choice is? How can I know that I haven’t misjudged?”

The Taoist in indigo said, “What appears in your mind, then, is the will of Haotian.”

Long Qing was confused and said, “Then is it following my own heart?”

The Taoist in indigo suddenly laughed and said indifferently, “Everything in the world is destined by Haotian. The operation of all things is also in the control of Haotian, including the hearts of the people. If so, where is the real free will of human? You follow your heart. Then you are walking with Haotian.”

Hearing this, Long Qing felt as if the blizzard on the Wilderness had been spilled on his head, which washed away the extremely hot from the sun. He felt refreshed, and instantly understood a lot of things.

He fell forward, and pressed his forehead closely against the hot deck. His slightly trembling voice was filled with desire and courage. He said loudly, “I want to be powerful.”

The Taoist in indigo said, “The day before yesterday, I threw you into the fire spring, and used the endless warmth and compassionate mercy from Haotian to rebuild the Snow Mountain and Ocean of Qi in your body. Now you can cultivate. If you want to be powerful as soon as possible, then after you land on the shore, go to that rundown Taoist temple in West-Hill.”

Long Qing now knew that the Taoist in indigo was incomparably honorable. Naturally, he thought that the poor Taoist temple he mentioned was the legendary Zhishou Abbey. He could not suppress his joy. He kowtowed many times.

The Taoist in indigo said. “There are still six books of Tomes of Arcane. When you finish all these, you may be powerful. However, reading books is a very painful thing… Ye Su needed to stab himself to move his eyes away from the pages of the book. You are absolutely not able to resist the temptation of Tomes of Arcane. When your Taoist Heart is broken and reborn, it will be extremely painful.”

Long Qing looked firm and he said, “I’m not afraid of pain or suffering.”

The Taoist in indigo said, “There are thousands of disciples of Haotian Taoism. Only few have the Lucky Chance to enter Zhishou Abbey. You are not the Great Divine Priest of Divine Hall, or the former disciples who made great contributions to the Haotian Taoism. Thus you can only be a servant in Zhishou Abbey. Can you accept such a status?”

If the cultivators in the world were to know that they had the opportunity to enter Zhishou Abbey to read the seven books of Tomes of Arcane, they would not only be willing to be a servant, but also be willing to clean the toilets. They would even feel like the toilet cleaning was enjoyable.

Naturally, Long Qing was the same. He did not hesitate to say, “I’m willing to do anything for the Haotian Taoism.”

Taoist in indigo said, “I can see your mind is set at this time, but there are some very old bad-tempered people living in the Zhishou Abbey. Even I do not want to have any contact with them. So, you should control yourself when you meet them.”

Long Qing was shocked. He thought that the abbey dean of Zhishou Abbey was already so powerful and except for the Headmaster of Academy was there any person that could make him feel troubled?

…

…

There were a few sounds of bugs chirping in Zhishou Abbey at night.

Long Qing’s face grew paler, and the sweat rolled from his forehead like soybeans. His eyes became more and more listless and he looked abnormally weak. It could be imagined what kind of pain he was suffering now.

Every time he opened the “Sha” Handscroll, he would endure endless pain. When he began to cultivate Gray Eye tonight, the pain became more and more terrible. On the seemingly ordinary pages, it seemed that there were innumerable swords constantly stabbing his heart, trying to pierce his Taoist Heart into a honeycomb.

When he finished reading the last word of the Gray Eye magic, his Taoist Heart was broken into countless pieces. His fear and pain made him faint.

After a long time, Long Qing woke up. It was already morning. He checked himself in horror, but found that he had no wounds, and his Taoist Heart was still as stable as yesterday. It seemed that the innumerable sword style from Tomes of Arcane was an illusion.

He walked out of the hut in a muddleheaded state. He washed his face at the lake, and became a little more sober. Then he went to his house to brush his teeth, and began to fetch water for cooking. After serving three uncles who managed the Tomes of Arcane breakfast, he took two buckets of clear water and a few boxes of things to the back of Zhishou Abbey.

This spring, Long Qing was cleaning the courtyard, cooking, wiping the table, grinding ink and doing all kinds of chores every day. Only when it was late at night, he had the opportunity to read and cultivate the Tomes of Arcane. It was a hard life but his mind was very peaceful. He had no complaints. He was only working in silence, and used every spare minute to read.

Interestingly, his biggest enemy, Ning Que had been living a hard but meaningful life for the last dozen years, especially after he entered the Academy. Maybe just as the Youngest Uncle of the Academy said, the one who was chosen by fate would have many things to do.

Long Qing took the shoulder pole, carried the bags, and walked out of the Taoist temple to a cliff.

In these days in Zhishou Abbey, he had no complaints. Even if it was an unbearable pain, he still accepted it happily. However, looking at this cliff, his eyes were full of fear and he wanted to escape.

Under this cliff was a dense green forest. On the precipice, there were green vines that were about the thickness of a finger. In the crevices among the vines, it could be seen that the body of the cliff was grayish-yellow, and many caves could also be seen. The caves were very deep, and mysterious.

This cliff which was full of caves was very high and grand. Long Qing stood at the foot of the mountain like a small ant. If someone overlooked the earth from an extremely high point, he might think that this cliff was only an obscure mound, an ant hole covered by moss.