Nightfall

The vines on the cliffs were very strong but appeared fragile as they were ripped off and shredded into pieces by the terrifying gusts of aura. They jetted toward the dense mountain path.

While the vines were strong, they were in fact lightweight. However, when they landed on the mountain path and in the forest, they fell like heavy rocks.

The vines fell in a resounding boom, smashing holes into the ground. They crushed several trees and caused debris to fly wherever they landed. The sounds of objects being shattered and crushed rang. Some vines became wedged deeply in tree trunks and some left deep gouges on hard rocks. It was terrifying.

A slender and soft vine fell from the cliff and hit Long Qing’s back.

He felt as if he had been struck by a large rock. His face was pale and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Fear threaded through his pupils but he bore the pain and continued running down the mountain.

The old taoist priests in the cave felt many different emotions towards Long Qing. Long Qing represented the hope for the world as well as the shadow of death. The two had mixed together and become the darkest and sweetest seduction.

They had silently watched the Halfman Taoist giving his powers to Long Qing earlier and have gained a faint understanding. They knew that even if Long Qing was no longer as vicious as before, he could not contain his greed and ambitions when using the Gray Eye. That cruelness, ambition, and greed would be the death of them all.

The taoist priests had been maimed by the Headmaster and Ke Haoran. They had lived in this mountain for decades on the brink of death. However, they did not die, and they did not want to die. If they wanted to live, they had to resist the dark, sweet seduction that Long Qing brought for them. The simplest way to do that was to kill him.

Long Qing had not understood this in the beginning. However, the Halfman Taoist had warned him before he died. Long Qing had reacted promptly and attempted to flee.

However, no matter what terrifying powers these old taoist priests possessed, they did not expect that the simple rays of aura could have an earth-shattering reaction.

Loose rocks flew around madly on the mountain path in an unceasing din. The trees in the dense forest fell, with their branches broken, giving rise to dust and smoke. It looked as if Haotian had been incensed and was pouring down rock-rain to punish sinners.

With a pale face, Long Qing scurried in the dangerous explosion of smoke and dust. He tried his best to hide from the vines and falling trees that could easily kill him.

Lucky for him, he had to climb up these cliffs every day to bring things for the old taoist priests since he left the southern seas for Zhishou Abbey. As such, he was very familiar with the cliffs and forests and it helped him to make the fastest and most accurate decisions.

The falling debris would occasionally cut his skin. As the number of wounds on his body increased, more blood flowed. There was no change at the black color of his taoist robe, but its edges were soaked with blood that started to drip.

The explosions in the forest gradually slowed down and the number of falling vines decreased. Long Qing did not slow down even when he was far away from the mountain. He grew more and more serene. Beneath this sereneness was a lingering fear or ecstasy that no one could see.

Not even Long Qing himself could see that.

When Long Qing had finally got away from the mountain, he ran into Zhishou Abbey.

When he arrived at the lake, he squinted at the seven grass huts with roofs made of grass that looked like gold and jade. He suddenly growled like an injured beast.

He rushed into the third hut and reached out for the “Sha” Handscroll of the Tomes of Arcane.

The “Sha” Handscroll of the Tomes of Arcane recorded many secrets that were as vast as the seas. It was very thick, but when his blood-stained hands landed on it, the book turned thin significantly.

Long Qing stuffed the “Sha” Handscroll into his shirt and walked out of the grass hut. He looked at the other huts, but just as he was about do something, he sensed a faint aura speeding towards the lake. His face grew cold, and he ran towards the Taoism Temple, not daring to waste any time.

That Taoism Temple was the Zhishou Abbey’s Hall of Medicine.

Long Qing had been making medicine and practicing cultivation in the Hall of Medicine and was very familiar with this place. He ran into the pill-making room at the back and took out the Earth Pill in the pot.

He had taken over the cultivation power of the Halfman Taoist, but the man was a powerhouse in the Tianqi state who had broken the Five States with a vast amount of Psyche Power. Long Qing’s current cultivation state would not allow him to completely absorb it in a short time. He even had to use his extremely strong will to suppress the power moving in his body.

He had even been severely injured while fleeing the cave.

Logically speaking, he should not have hesitated to swallow the Earth Pill that he had cultivated painstakingly. He should have sat down and used the medicine’s power to ensure that he survived. Strangely, he did not pay attention to the medicine but ran straight to the front hall.

He pushed the sandalwood door and walked to a simple display stand.

There was a small, crystal-clear medicine bottle that was made from an unknown material on the display shelf.

In order to resist the temptation, he had not opened the sandalwood doors or even glanced at the door in the past few days. However, he had fantasized many times how it would feel to hold this tiny medicine bottle, and he had imagined several times putting the medicine bottle into his pocket.

So he remembered the position of the small medicine bottle clearly.

He did not hesitate when reaching out and his movement was very precise.

Long Qing was so ruthless and dark that the old taoist priests in the cave were afraid of him. When his fingers touched the small medicine bottle, they couldn’t help but tremble.

His fingers were stained and smelled strongly of blood.

The small medicine bottle exuded a faint scent of medicine.

When this very light medicine lingered around his fingers, all the smell of blood seemed to be instantly purified, and could no longer be smelled. Long Qing even felt that his serious internal injuries had disappeared instantly.

He could hardly keep calm again and his eyes brightened suddenly.

…

…

Long Qing walked out of the Hall of Medicine and prepared to find the way out of the Zhishou Abbey with the fastest speed. Then he saw the middle-aged Taoist in the meadow. Long Qing was surprised but his appearance was somehow predictable.

Strangely, the meadow in the early autumn did not turn yellow and was still verdant. The middle-aged man wore a light green taoist robe. He looked inconspicuous standing in the meadow as if he was part of it.

This scene sent a different message to Long Qing. He had never known which cultivation state his uncle was in but now when he saw the man becoming one with the meadow, he finally realized that his uncle had entered the Knowing destiny State or even the peak of the Knowing Destiny State.

A bitter smile crossed Long Qing’s face. He thought to himself, that no matter how lonesome the Zhishou Abbey was, it was still a sacred ground of Haotian Taoism. It was still an Unknown Place that many cultivators considered as a holy land. How could a Taoist who was in charge of this abbey be someone ordinary?

The middle-aged Taoist looked at him silently. Then, he asked, “Why did you do that?”

Long Qing knew what he was asking. He answered, “Because I wanted to.”

On the boat in the southern sea, the Taoist in indigo and Long Qing had an important conversation. From then on, Long Qing understood that his thoughts were the will of Haotian.

The middle-aged Taoist practiced Tao enlightenment in the Zhishou Abbey throughout the year. He was the Younger Brother of the Taoist in indigo on the boat in the southern sea so he naturally understood what Long Qing meant.

He looked at Long Qing and said, “I do not understand my Senior Brother’s viewpoint, but I cannot find any reason to disagree. Even if our thoughts were the will of Haotian, I still do not understand why you did that. If you stay and cultivate in the Zhishou Abbey, read the Tomes of Arcane and get along with the seniors of Haotian Taoism, you will be able to regain your powers even if you don’t do anything else and continue cultivating calmly. You might even be able to attain a better state. Why risk doing this?”

“Because I am not the only cultivator in the world.”

Long Qing answered. His statement was incomplete. He knew that they had not stopped moving forward when he was cultivating in the Zhishou Abbey. The Tao Addict had already become the Great Divine Priest of Judgment and the Calligraphy Addict had entered the Knowing destiny State. The most important thing was that the person called Ning Que would not wait for him.

He needed time.

He could not stay in the temple and cultivate for decades.

Even though his mental state and heart were calm, he could not achieve true serenity.

He would never get true serenity until he beat the Tao Addict and killed Ning Que.

…

…

The middle-aged Taoist suddenly caught a whiff of the faint medicinal scent. He grew stern and said, “It is already a great sin to murder our seniors in Haotian Taoism. And you still want to steal our most precious medicine?”

Long Qing knew that his uncle had discovered his theft. He was about to say something when the middle-aged Taoist suddenly sensed the aura of the Tomes of Arcane on him. He grew incensed and scolded at him, “How dare you steal the Tomes of Arcane! Are you not afraid that you will end up in the Underworld?”

“I have always been thinking why the abbey dean would save me when I was most desperate and had stopped wasting away, faltering between light and darkness. Why did he save me when I began to try to be an ordinary businessman and lived a boring mortal life.”

“When I came to the Zhishou Abbey and began practicing the Gray Eye and saw the Heavenly Power Pill, I couldn’t suppress the temptation that was the aura of those seniors in Haotian Taoism. I only understood… when the Halfman Taoist told me about the relationship between strength and pride before he died. If the abbey dean had found something about me that was unique, that is I care nothing in the world. That is why I can behave proudly in the face of everything else in the world and also why I can’t be proud. I can abandon everything, which is why I have the best chance of becoming the most powerful person.”

Long Qing looked at the middle-aged Taoist and said quietly with a strange and exceptionally determined smile on his pale face. He said, “As long as I can become strong again, so what if I fall to the Underworld forever? If I am not willing to pay the price of falling into the Underworld forever, how can I become strong again?”