The Heavenly Gate Opens in the North Sea

The Heavenly Gate Opens in the North Sea

"Tianmen Town!"

Qiu Shuijing's mind shook, and he could barely contain himself.

As the fog dispersed, Tianmen Town seemed to have returned from a ghostly realm to reality. When the fog first cleared, the town's buildings were Black and White Colors, but gradually, other colors emerged.

Qiu Shuijing's eyelids twitched violently. Even with his Celestial Eye, he could not tell whether this shift in color truly existed or was an illusion someone had imposed upon his vision with magic power.

Tianmen Town was utterly deserted. Aside from the sea breeze and crashing waves, there were only Su Yun's footsteps.

This town was an empty town. Apart from 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 of Tianmen Town were modeled after the courtyards of Tianmen Ghost Market."

He thought to himself, "It is said that the people who originally lived in Tianmen Town were all of extraordinary origin. One rumor claims they came here by the Great Emperor's command to study Tianmen Ghost Market and seek the secret of immortality through it..."

Just then, the sky suddenly trembled. Sunlight pierced through above the sea, shining upon the ghost market in the heavens.

Tianmen Ghost Market in the sky shook violently, like a vast curtain buffeted by the wind, then vanished amid the storm of sunlight!

The mysterious ghost market disappeared without a trace, no one knew where it had gone!

Qiu Shuijing opened his Celestial Eye and saw all manner of magnificent lights falling from the sky into the great tombs scattered across the Tianshiyuan wilderness, vanishing from sight.

Whoosh—

More than a hundred streaks of light descended from the sky, landing behind the archway of Tianmen Town. They transformed into vivid figures and appeared upon the streets that had once been empty and silent.

They came and went, greeting one another, and the place became bustling with life.

Qiu Shuijing's heart stirred. "There have long been no living people in Tianmen Town. These are merely manifested spirits."

Su Yun came to the front of a grand residence. As though he could see the old man sweeping outside its gate, he bowed and said, "Good morning, Uncle Qu."

The old man stopped sweeping and said warmly, "Yun'er, you're back from the market? It's getting late. Get some rest early." With that, the old man glanced at Qiu Shuijing and ignored him.

The Celestial Eye between Qiu Shuijing's brows turned. Through it, he saw the grand residence behind the old man endlessly collapsing and rebuilding itself.

Su Yun continued onward until he reached another residence. He bowed and said, "Good morning, Aunt Luo."

"Good child, you're back."

The woman stood at the entrance, busy winnowing rice. Smiling kindly, she said, "Go home early, eat something, and rest. Don't forget tomorrow's lesson."

Qiu Shuijing looked toward the Luo residence. That mansion, too, was endlessly collapsing and reconstructing itself, silently breaking apart on one side while silently reforming on the other.

Su Yun walked through Tianmen Town as though he did not know there was not a single living person here besides himself, greeting the townspeople 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 within him.

For a moment, it made him think Tianmen Town still existed, that all its inhabitants were still alive!

Sadly, they were all dead. They had been dead for six years.

Su Yun came to a courtyard, pushed open the gate, and entered. A moment later, wisps of cooking smoke rose from within.

Qiu Shuijing stood outside the dilapidated courtyard and saw the blind youth busily preparing his own breakfast.

He turned back to look. The people of Tianmen Town bustled to and fro in great liveliness, no different from an ordinary little town.

"He does not know he is the only human here."

Qiu Shuijing thought, "He has always believed that the townspeople are still alive, and these spirits of the town have been hiding it from him as well."

He stood outside the courtyard, quietly watching the youth eat breakfast. He silently thought, "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 was still an inexperienced child then."

After Su Yun finished breakfast, he cleared away the dishes, returned to his room, and worked hard to recall the lessons Mister Wild Fox had explained. After practicing for a while, he finally lay 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, but when its bright rays reached Tianmen Town, they seemed touched by a hint of gloom, blocked by the haze hanging above the town.

Standing outside the courtyard, Qiu Shuijing saw the Yellow Bell within Su Yun's shabby room gradually become clearer.

When people slept, their hearts were like spotless mirrors. At such times, Spiritual Abilities were reflected clearly, even clearer and more powerful than during the day.

Qiu Shuijing focused his gaze. He saw the lowest level of the Yellow Bell spinning without rest, while beneath the bell sat a two-inch-tall little figure, upright and solemn, breathing in and out in cultivation.

That was Su Yun's spirit.

The Yellow Bell was formed from what his spirit contemplated.

Qiu Shuijing watched in silence for a long time, then discovered that Su Yun's spirit cultivated only the most basic Master's Qi Cultivation Chapter.

Master's Qi Cultivation Chapter merely cultivated and nourished qi, regulating one's vital energy. It contained nothing on how to cultivate Spiritual Abilities.

Then where had Su Yun learned his Spiritual Abilities?

"There is one more possibility."

Qiu Shuijing's eyes flickered as he thought, "He may have imagined a Yellow Bell in his mind to tell the time. He thought of it constantly, his imagination never ceasing. Even at night, his spirit imagined that Yellow Bell. Over time, imagination became visualization, and thus he cultivated a spirit. If that is the case, then his aptitude is simply far too good..."

He was somewhat hesitant. Among Spirit Scholars, very few could cultivate Spiritual Abilities through self-exploration without the instruction of a famous teacher.

That Su Yun had managed it showed that his aptitude was exceptional.

For such a person to be buried away in the countryside, keeping company with wild foxes, was truly a waste of his gifts.

Yet Su Yun was blind. Teaching him complex cultivation knowledge would likely be exceedingly difficult. Moreover, even if Su Yun learned it and became a Spirit Scholar, unable to see as he was, he would have nowhere to put his abilities to use.

"He is a fine seedling, but in the end, what a pity."

Qiu Shuijing sighed inwardly, withdrew his gaze, and walked through Tianmen Town. He carefully inspected those residences where Ghosts and Gods hid, observing their owners.

A faint fog pervaded Tianmen Town. Six years had made 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 of the strange incident six years ago.

It was said that one day six years earlier, a natural anomaly appeared in Tianshiyuan. Another world suddenly emerged and enveloped the North Sea.

It was an incomparably magnificent world, like a poem and a painting. Its sky was like a rounded dome, like a heaven within a cave, with what seemed to be immortal palaces floating in the air, stirring boundless reverie.

Rumor had it that it was the world of immortals, the world where those who lived forever dwelled!

The gravitational pull from that world caused the waters of the North Sea to flow backward. A column of water more than thirty miles wide rose from the sea, stretching tens of thousands of miles and connecting to that world, forming a passage between the two worlds.

Experts from around Tianshiyuan rushed toward the North Sea, seeking to enter that Grotto-Heaven World.

And the place where they set foot was Tianmen Town.

One night, lightning flashed and thunder roared above the North Sea. The thunder rumbled all night. By the next day, a great flood had fallen from the heavens, causing the sea to swell. The tsunami surged dozens of miles inland, drowning untold numbers of Tianshiyuan's people in the surging floodwaters.

The next day, the survivors discovered that the strange Grotto-Heaven World in the sky had vanished without a trace, as had the seawater bridge connecting the two worlds.

When people found Tianmen Town at the center of the flood, they discovered something strange: everyone in Tianmen Town, including the experts from Yuanshuo Kingdom, had vanished bodily, leaving behind only their spirits!

From then on, Tianmen Town became a place of ill omen, rarely visited by anyone. Sometimes, even those who deliberately sought it out might fail to find it.

As for what exactly had happened that night, no one knew.

Qiu Shuijing had heard this tale. He had always believed everyone in Tianmen Town had perished in that upheaval, never expecting that someone had survived.

"Su Yun was too young then. He probably did not know what happened."

He silently thought, "This unsolved case remains a mystery, impossible to unravel."

After Su Yun woke, he arranged his bedding, washed up, and sat quietly reviewing his lessons. Only after confirming that he had forgotten nothing did he go make breakfast.

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 and mellow voice came from behind him. "Young friend Yun, may I take a look at your eyes?"

Recognizing the voice, Su Yun turned around, opened his eyes blankly, tilted his head, and asked, "Is that the teacher 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 sleeping, 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 entirely devoid of pupils. Rather, his pupils seemed to have contracted under the stimulation of intense light into infinitesimally tiny points. Those points were blocked as well, preventing any light from entering his pupils.

Qiu Shuijing had powerful eyesight, yet even he could only vaguely make out an incomparably fine cold gleam in each of Su Yun's pupils, like the tip of a needle.

Qiu Shuijing's heart skipped half a beat. He suddenly lifted a finger and gently rubbed it before Su Yun's eyes.

Whoosh—

An incomparably brilliant light shone from Su Yun's pupils!

Qiu Shuijing's vision turned white. Only after a moment did his sight return, and he saw a curtain of light shining from Su Yun's eyes and projecting into the sky above Tianmen Town.

Qiu Shuijing turned around and looked up.

He saw the shimmering North Sea. A colossal column of water rose from its surface, and upon that column were many ships, sails unfurled as they sailed toward the heavens.

At the end of the water column was another world.

That Grotto-Heaven World where the so-called immortals dwelled!

"However, the upheaval should have happened at night. Then what made the night sky so bright?"

Qiu Shuijing looked toward the source of the light. A sword in flight floated in the sky, a sword that had flown out from the other world.

The sword was fifty feet long and nine feet wide, flashing with incomparably dazzling radiance and trailing a flame of light several miles long.

And directly beneath that great sword was Tianmen Town!

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