The First Lesson of the Dharma Ending Era

No one knew when it started.

Above Sword-Wielding Mountain, dust billowed and clouds gathered.

Endless black clouds surged in from all directions.

Howling winds poured down from the sky, and the vast spiritual energy followed suit, causing the air pressure to drop sharply, making one's hair stand on end and bones creak.

Even nestled in the warmth and vastness of her master's embrace like a princess, Xiao Ran shivered with cold, wishing he could bury himself deeper.

Lingzhou Yue looked up at the sky, her sword-like eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"This is a rare occurrence."

With a wave of her sleeve, she summoned a floating cyan-colored Bagua formation.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran wisely dismounted from her.

Steadying his mind, he stood in the center of the Bagua's cyan light array.

It felt like standing on a suspended piece of glass.

He closed his eyes, held his breath, and focused his mind, listening to all things.

He sensed the abnormal spiritual pressure in the clouds, the space within was twisting, as if something was about to happen.

"It seems... it's coming for you."

Lingzhou Yue said.

Xiao Ran opened his eyes.

"It?"

Clearly, his master saw something he couldn't hear.

After learning the Art of Resonance, Xiao Ran's ability to listen to all things and his divine sense had greatly increased, but compared to his master, he was still far behind.

In the blink of an eye.

Black mist enveloped the sky.

The dim sky suddenly cracked open a blood-colored gash.

Crimson blood dripped from the edge of the gash, staining the sky red.

A huge, withered, and pitch-black human-shaped arm, as if traversing infinite space and time, stretched out from the blood-colored spatial rift.

It extended downwards, reaching towards Xiao Ran! Upon closer inspection, countless densely packed white eyes cracked open in the giant palm! Carrying a desolate and vast, silent pressure like that of the ancient primordial era, the countless white eyes opened and closed in a strange rhythm, as if billions of universes were simultaneously being born and destroyed.

Xiao Ran's eyes froze, his heart stopped, and his breath solidified.

It felt as if an invisible giant hand capable of tearing apart the universe was tearing apart his spiritual roots from afar.

It also felt as if strands of viscous, vague, and bizarre bytes, like the tolling of bells by gods and demons, were striking his soul one after another.

Wraith!

Xiao Ran steadied his mind and suddenly realized.

This was the first time he had personally witnessed the legendary Wraith! According to the theoretical knowledge he had scavenged over the past three years—

The Wraith, it was said, was an extraterrestrial entity, the culprit behind the arrival of the Dharma Ending Era! It usually appeared by tearing through the firmament in places with high spiritual energy concentration.

The Wraith possessed an indescribable physical form, with shapes that varied in countless ways, but they usually had withered black tentacles, huge, wide-open white eyes, and crimson weeping blood in their eyes.

Its appearance was often accompanied by strange celestial phenomena, desolate whispers and howls, a gloomy Wraith domain, and could even trigger widespread disasters.

It had quite a bit of the Cthulhu flavor from Xiao Ran's previous life.

For cultivators, the terror of the Wraith lay in three points—

It cannot be directly looked at!

It cannot be touched!

It absorbs spiritual energy!

First, the Wraith cannot be directly looked at.

Those who directly gaze upon the Wraith, the weak will faint, the strong will descend into madness. Only those who have specifically trained their mind and soul can barely maintain their sanity, but it will greatly slow down their neural reaction speed, and their combat power will be sharply reduced.

Second, the Wraith is untouchable.

Those who touch the Wraith will have their bodies dragged into spatial rifts. The weak will be directly annihilated, while the strong will encounter more Wraith attacks in the spatial rifts, with only a slim chance of survival.

Third, the Wraith absorbs spiritual power.

The Wraith's physical body is like an abyssal black hole, which can quickly absorb the surrounding spiritual power, devouring all spiritual pressure, spells, or the spiritual power contained in spiritual artifacts.

Based on these three points, the Wraith has become the natural enemy of cultivators!

Faced with a Wraith of the same realm, no matter how many cultivators there are, they can only be slaughtered by the Wraith, without any power to fight back.

The first lesson of the Dharma Ending Era—

When encountering the Wraith, do not look, do not listen, do not think, do not hesitate.

Run headlong... and then leave it to fate.

If it weren't for his master being present, Xiao Ran would have almost run away.

If it was really as his master said, that the Wraith was coming for him, then running would be useless, and staying by his master's side would be the safest.

But why was the Wraith coming for him?

Could it be a side effect of the Art of Resonance? Xiao Ran was terrified at the thought.

In Lingzhou Yue's clear and sparkling eyes, a hint of excited sword light was reflected.

"Interesting... it's actually a humanoid Wraith."

It is said that humanoid Wraiths are high-ranking beings among the Wraith, as if they have civilization, and they rarely appear.

Clang—

Clang—

Clang—

Zongzhi Mountain rang the air defense bell.

The low-level disciples in the sect moved upon hearing the sound, and all of them orderly escaped into the cave dwellings.

Usually, repelling the Wraith is the task of the sect master, elders, instructors, and personal disciples.

The huge withered hand accelerated its descent!

The mournful Wraith sound became more and more shrill and frantic, emitting a joyful howl, like a strange battle prelude, tearing at the scalps of the listeners.

Lingzhou Yue stepped out.

Her right hand was holding the wine bamboo tube, and her left hand drew out her sword, and she raised her head and said:

"If you want to snatch my person, you have to send a more presentable Wraith."

She stared at the billions of white eyes, as if traveling through infinite time and space, and her clear eyes reflected the stars.

When the abyss was staring at Xiao Ran, Lingzhou Yue was staring at the abyss.

Suddenly.

The withered black arm that was accelerating its descent stopped.

The billions of white eyes in the palm all reflected Lingzhou Yue's sword light.

The light of billions of stars flickered, like the colorful Milky Way.

The withered black arm suddenly froze, and with just a moment of trembling, the billions of white eyes emitted a silent howl like a soul being torn apart.

After a moment of stagnation, the indescribable withered black arm suddenly became as flexible as a loach, and with a jolt, it retracted into the blood-red spatial rift.

The spatial rift closed instantly, and in a blink of an eye, it disappeared into the sky. The dark clouds suddenly dispersed, and the sky was clear for thousands of miles, as if nothing had happened.

The Wraith... escaped?

The thing one fears most is the sudden silence of the air.

Lingzhou Yue was slightly disappointed, sheathed her sword and drank wine.

"A humanoid from the Wraith is this it?"

This was the first Wraith being Xiao Ran had encountered, and a high-ranking humanoid one at that! Yet this Wraith being, touted as the bane of cultivators, ran away at the sight of his master? He still remembered the first lesson of the Dharma Ending Era—

When encountering a Wraith being, don't look, don't listen, don't think, don't hesitate, just run for your life, and leave the rest to fate.

Could it be that the first lesson for Wraith beings was—

When encountering Master, don't look, don't listen, don't think, don't hesitate, just run for your life, and leave the rest to fate? Was Master even more terrifying than a Wraith being? Xiao Ran shuddered at the thought, his gaze towards his master now different.

From the Wraith being's appearance to its escape, it was only a hundred breaths of time. By the time the other elders and instructors of the sect mobilized, the Wraith being was long gone.

At that moment, not far away, a white-robed cultivator arrived on his sword, slowly asking,

"Martial Aunt, where is the Wraith being?"

Lingzhou Yue waved her hand.

"It ran away."

The white-robed cultivator approached and respectfully bowed to Lingzhou Yue,

"To know to run when encountering Martial Aunt, it must be a considerable powerhouse among the Wraith beings."

Xiao Ran was stunned.

To sense his master's power and choose to flee meant it was very strong!

And he, having learned the Art of Resonance, could listen to the breathing of all things, yet even so, he couldn't fathom the depths of his master.

Master was truly unfathomable! Xiao Ran made up his mind to cling tightly to his master's strong leg.

And then fleece her like crazy...

Lingzhou Yue took a sip of wine, glancing at the white-robed cultivator out of the corner of her eye.

"Back when you and I were vying for the position of Sword-Wielding Elder, if you had known to run like this Wraith being, you wouldn't have suffered from sword sickness. By now, you'd probably be the acting sect leader."

The white-robed cultivator gently shook his head, not taking offense, and smiled without a word.

There was such a past event?

Xiao Ran subconsciously looked at the white-robed cultivator.

This was a tall and slender young man with classical features.

His features were gentle and refined, yet ethereal like clouds. His seemingly sharp eyes radiated a constant, faint gentleness that didn't contend with others, giving one a androgynous impression. Perhaps, calling him a neutral person would be more appropriate.

Xiao Ran thought, could the sword sickness Master mentioned be... castration?

Ahem.

At this moment.

The white-robed youth was also sizing up Xiao Ran.

His gaze remained gentle, revealing no attitude, only cupping his hands in greeting,

"Presumably, this is Martial Aunt's newly accepted disciple—Xiao Ran, Junior Brother Xiao."

Before Xiao Ran could return the greeting, Lingzhou Yue, protective of her disciple, introduced,

"This is the Direct Disciple of the sect leader, named... right, what was your name again?"

The white-robed youth didn't take offense.

"Master Boyun."

Only then did Xiao Ran clasp his fist in return.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Master Boyun."

Perhaps having suffered losses at Lingzhou Yue's hands, Master Boyun believed in her eye for disciples.

At least this person was handsome!

"Martial Aunt has a discerning eye. Junior Brother Xiao is truly a talented individual. Given time, he will surely inherit Martial Aunt's mantle."

Lingzhou Yue wasn't buying it.

"You're here on official business, right?"

Master Boyun bowed again.

"Master was alarmed by the Wraith and decided to temporarily come out of seclusion to convene an elders' meeting. She also wants to see Junior Brother Xiao by the way."

"What time?"

"In an hour, at the Affairs Pavilion."

"Okay."

After Master Boyun left, Lingzhou Yue didn't ask much.

In the world of cultivation, everyone has secrets.

Regarding why Xiao Ran was able to quickly learn the Art of Resonance, and why it attracted the Wraith, Lingzhou Yue didn't ask anything, only chugging her wine.

Childishness aside, master is still master.

Xiao Ran was deeply impressed.

He had a premonition that the elders' meeting in an hour might be a public execution of Sword-Wielding Mountain.

To be on the safe side, he wanted to unify their story in advance, so he asked:

"Regarding the elders' meeting, does master have any instructions?"

Lingzhou Yue raised her jug to drink, but found it empty, and said listlessly:

"No."