"Heaven Gate Town!"
Qiu Shuijing's mind trembled, and he could scarcely contain himself.
As the mist dispersed, Tianmen Town seemed to return from a ghostly realm to reality. When the fog first cleared, the town's buildings were only black and white, but gradually, other colors appeared.
Qiu Shuijing's eyelid twitched violently. Even with his Celestial Eye, he could not tell whether this transformation of color truly existed or was an illusion someone had forced upon his vision with magical power.
Tianmen Town was empty. Apart from the sea wind and crashing waves, only Su Yun's footsteps could be heard.
This town was an empty town. Other than the two of them, there was no one else.
Only after a moment did Qiu Shuijing steady himself and prepare to follow Su Yun.
"Legend has it that the houses in Tianmen Town were also built after the courtyards in Tianmen Ghost Market."
It is said that the people who originally lived in Tianmen Town were all figures of great consequence. One rumor claims that they came here under the Great Emperor's orders to study Tianmen Ghost Market, seeking through it the secret of immortality...
Just then, the sky suddenly shook. Sunlight pierced through above the sea, shining upon the Ghost Market in the heavens.
In the sky, Tianmen Ghost Market swayed violently as though a great curtain were being buffeted by the wind, then vanished amid the storm of sunlight!
The mysterious Ghost Market disappeared without a trace, and no one knew where it had gone!
Qiu Shuijing opened his Celestial Eye and saw all manner of magnificent lights falling into the great tombs scattered across the Tianshiyuan Wasteland, where they vanished.
Whoosh—
Over a hundred streaks of light descended from the heavens. They actually landed behind the archway of Tianmen Town, transforming into vivid figures that appeared on the streets, which had originally been empty and silent.
They came and went, greeting one another. The town was bustling with life.
Qiu Shuijing's heart stirred. There have long been no living people in Tianmen Town. These are merely manifested Spiritual Natures.
Su Yun walked to the front of a grand residence. As though he could see the old man sweeping there, he bowed and said, "Good morning, Uncle Qu."
The old man paused with his broom and said warmly, "Yun'er, you're back from the market? It's getting late. Go get some rest." With that, he glanced at Qiu Shuijing and ignored him.
Qiu Shuijing's Celestial Eye turned between his brows. Through it, he saw the grand residence behind the old man constantly collapsing and rebuilding itself.
Su Yun continued onward until he came before another residence. He bowed and said, "Good morning, Aunt Luo."
"Good child, you're back."
The woman stood at the doorway, busy winnowing rice. Smiling kindly, she said, "Go home early, eat something, and rest awhile. Don't forget tomorrow's lesson."
Qiu Shuijing looked toward the Luo residence. That manor, too, was endlessly collapsing and reforming, silently shattering on one side and silently reassembling on the other.
Su Yun walked through Tianmen Town as though he did not know that, aside from himself, there was not a single living person here. He greeted the townsfolk as he went.
"Good morning, Sister Fang'er!"
"Good morning, Uncle Xu!"
"Good morning, Grandma Le!"
Watching this scene, Qiu Shuijing felt something absurd and bizarre rise in his heart.
For a moment, it made him believe Tianmen Town still existed, that the townspeople were all still alive!
But alas, they were all dead. They had been dead for six years.
Su Yun came to a courtyard, pushed open the gate, and entered. After a while, wisps of cooking smoke rose from within.
Qiu Shuijing stood before the ruined courtyard and saw the blind youth busily making himself breakfast.
He looked back. Tianmen Town was filled with people coming and going, lively and bustling, no different from any ordinary small town.
He doesn't know he is the only human here.
He has always believed the people of the town are still alive, and these Spiritual Natures are hiding the truth from him as well.
Standing outside the courtyard, he quietly watched the youth eat breakfast. Mister Wild Fox was right. There is still a living person in Tianmen Town. Unfortunately, only one remains, and he is merely a child. That strange incident happened six years ago, so his eyes must have been blinded in that incident as well. He had still been an innocent child then.
After finishing breakfast, Su Yun tidied the dishes, returned to his room, and diligently recalled the lessons Mister Wild Fox had explained. Only after practicing for a while did he lie down to sleep.
He had been busy all night. Though he had not earned much money, he was truly exhausted.
Before long, he fell into a deep sleep.
The sun rose. Yet when its bright rays reached Tianmen Town, they seemed to take on a hint of gloom, blocked by the murk hanging over the little town.
Standing outside the courtyard, Qiu Shuijing saw the Yellow Bell within Su Yun's shabby room gradually become clearer.
When a person slept, the depths of their heart were like a spotless mirror. At such times, Spiritual Abilities reflected more clearly, becoming even more distinct and powerful than during the day.
Qiu Shuijing focused his gaze. The lowest level of the Yellow Bell spun without cease, while beneath the bell sat a tiny figure two inches tall, upright and solemn, breathing in and exhaling.
That was Su Yun's Spiritual Nature.
The Yellow Bell was formed from the thoughts of his Spiritual Nature.
Qiu Shuijing watched silently for a long while and discovered that Su Yun's Spiritual Nature cultivated only the most basic Master's Qi Cultivation Chapter.
The Master's Qi Cultivation Chapter simply cultivated qi and nourished vital energy. It contained nothing about how to develop Spiritual Abilities.
Then where had Su Yun learned these Spiritual Abilities?
"There is one other possibility."
Qiu Shuijing's eyes flickered. He imagined a Yellow Bell in his mind to keep time. He thought of it day after day, imagined it without end, until even at night, his Spiritual Nature continued imagining that Yellow Bell. Over time, imagination became visualization, and he thus cultivated a Spiritual Nature. If that is the case, then his aptitude is simply too extraordinary...
He hesitated. Among Spirit Scholars, very few could develop Spiritual Abilities through self-exploration without the instruction of a renowned teacher.
That Su Yun could do so showed that his aptitude was exceptional.
For someone like this to be buried away in the countryside, keeping company with wild foxes, was truly a waste of such talent.
Yet Su Yun was blind. Teaching him complicated cultivation knowledge would likely be exceedingly difficult. And even if Su Yun learned it and became a Spirit Scholar, unable to see, he would have nowhere to put his abilities to use.
"He is fine timber, but in the end, what a pity."
Qiu Shuijing sighed inwardly, withdrew his gaze, and walked through Tianmen Town. He carefully inspected the residences where Ghosts and Gods hid, observing the masters of those homes.
A faint mist permeated Tianmen Town. Six years had left this little town far less splendid than it appeared on the surface, but he could see through its true nature.
Qiu Shuijing had also heard rumors about the strange incident six years ago.
It was said that one day six years ago, a heavenly anomaly appeared in Tianshiyuan. Another world suddenly emerged, shrouding the North Sea.
It was an incomparably magnificent world, poetic and picturesque. Its sky was like a rounded vault, resembling a heaven within a cave. Immortal palaces seemed to float in the air, stirring endless reverie.
There were rumors that it was the world of immortals, the world of those who lived forever!
The attraction emanating from that world caused the waters of the North Sea to flow backward. A water column more than thirty li wide appeared upon the sea, stretching for tens of thousands of li and connecting to that world, forming a passage between the two worlds.
Experts from near Tianshiyuan rushed toward the North Sea, hoping to enter that Grotto-Heaven World.
And the place where they set foot was Tianmen Town.
One night, lightning flashed and thunder roared over the North Sea. The thunder rang out all night. By the next day, a great flood fell from the heavens, swelling the sea's surface. Tsunamis surged dozens of li inland, drowning an unknown number of Tianshiyuan's people in the raging floodwaters.
The next day, the survivors discovered that the strange Grotto-Heaven World in the sky had vanished without a trace, along with the seawater bridge connecting the two worlds.
When people reached Tianmen Town, the center of the flood, they found something strange: every person in Tianmen Town, including the experts from Yuanshuo Kingdom, had lost their physical bodies, leaving behind only their Spiritual Natures!
From that day onward, Tianmen Town became a land of ill omen, rarely visited by people. Sometimes, even if one deliberately sought it out, one might still fail to find the place.
As for what exactly happened that night, no one knew.
Qiu Shuijing had heard this rumor. He had always assumed that everyone in Tianmen Town had perished in that calamity, never expecting someone to have survived.
"Su Yun was too young then. He probably did not know what happened."
This unsolved case remains a mystery, impossible to unravel.
After Su Yun woke, he folded his bedding, washed up, then sat quietly to review his lessons. Only after confirming that he had forgotten nothing did he go prepare food.
Once he had finished tidying up, he pushed open the brushwood gate, walked out of the courtyard, and turned to close it behind him.
Just then, a deep, gentle voice came from behind him. "Young Friend Yun, may I take a look at your eyes?"
Recognizing the voice, Su Yun turned around and opened his eyes blankly, tilting his head. "Is that the gentleman from the city?"
Qiu Shuijing walked before him, lowered his head, and carefully examined his eyes. "That is right, it is me. My name is Qiu Shuijing. You may call me Mister Shuijing."
Su Yun asked curiously, "How long has Mister Shuijing been here? I did not hear your footsteps."
"Four hours. You were asleep, so I waited outside." Qiu Shuijing's pupils contracted slightly as he discovered something unusual in Su Yun's eyes.
Su Yun's eyes were not completely without pupils. Rather, his pupils seemed to have been stimulated by an intense light and contracted into incomparably tiny points. Those points were also blocked, preventing any light from entering his pupils.
Qiu Shuijing's eyesight was formidable, yet he could only vaguely make out an infinitesimal cold gleam in each of Su Yun's pupils, like the glint of a needle.
Qiu Shuijing's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly raised a finger and lightly rubbed it before Su Yun's eyes.
Whoosh—
A brilliant light shone out from Su Yun's pupils!
Qiu Shuijing's vision turned snow-white. Only after a moment did his sight recover, and he saw a curtain of light shining from Su Yun's eyes, projecting itself into the sky above Tianmen Town.
Qiu Shuijing turned around and looked up.
He saw the shimmering North Sea. Above its surface stood an incomparably thick water column, and upon it, many ships had raised their sails and were sailing into the heavens.
At the end of the water column lay another world.
That Grotto-Heaven World where the so-called immortals lived!
"However, the incident should have happened at night. What could have made the night sky so bright?"
Qiu Shuijing looked toward the source of the light. A sword floated in the sky, suspended in flight—a sword that had flown out from the other world.
The sword was fifty feet long and nine feet wide, flashing with incomparably dazzling light and trailing a blaze that stretched for several li.
And directly beneath that great sword was Tianmen Town!
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