Book of Heaven in the Cave

Jiang Ming watched the Black Water Mysterious Snake feign death and flee into the sea, and anger surged within him. In the end, he had been somewhat overconfident, believing he had the Black Water Mysterious Snake in the bag. He had not expected its body to be so tough, far beyond his expectations, causing him to fail to kill it in a single strike.

However, Jiang Ming had come here to find Volume One of the Book of Heaven in the Blood Drop Cave. Although it was a pity that the Black Water Mysterious Snake had escaped, Jiang Ming had still gained a great deal. The Blood Drop Cave was not so easy to find. In the original story, Zhang Xiao Fan had been flung away by a wave raised by the Black Water Mysterious Snake, crashing into a cliff far away. As he slid downward, he grabbed hold of a tree and thus fell into the Blood Drop Cave.

Jiang Ming believed that snakes were territorial creatures and would not appear elsewhere without reason. Therefore, his current location should be roughly the same as in the original story. As long as he searched for the cliff and tree along the path of the waves the Black Water Mysterious Snake had raised, his chances of success would be far higher than blindly searching. If he truly could not find it, he would have no choice but to repeatedly unleash the Primordial Spirit of the Heavenly Being realm to scan the entire Ruthless Sea. But that was the worst possible option. Continuously using his Primordial Spirit over such a wide area consumed tremendous mental energy, and recovering afterward would be troublesome.

Following this line of thought, Jiang Ming began searching for the tree on the cliffs of the Ruthless Sea. After flying on his sword for a quarter of an hour, he finally found that tree by the cliff. Near it, he finally discovered a cave entrance.

Looking at the entrance, Jiang Ming thought, At last, I'm here. Without lingering, he entered the cave. Once inside, he found it to be a sealed, damp place. The ceiling was roughly the height of two people, while the passage was only about three chi wide on either side, making it extremely narrow. He followed the tunnel inward until he reached a pool at its end. Looking at the seven red stones embedded in the ceiling, each half the size of a palm, with droplets of water falling from them from time to time, he thought, This is the entrance to the Blood Drop Cave.

Knowing the plot, Jiang Ming naturally knew how to open this door. Looking at the reflections of the seven red stones in the pool, he reached his right hand down to the bottom and pressed the seven raised spots in sequence. Suddenly, a harsh yet heavy series of cracking sounds echoed through the cave, and the stone door concealed behind the curtain of water finally opened.

Jiang Ming walked into the cave, passed through a long tunnel, crossed beyond two massive stone statues of Devil Sect deities, and arrived before another entrance. On the stone stele outside were carved ten large characters: "Heaven and earth are heartless, treating all things as straw dogs!" Every character on the stele was nearly half a person tall. From up close, they seemed to rush straight at him with a force that howled toward the heavens. Seeing this, Jiang Ming sighed inwardly. No wonder he was a man capable of unifying the Devil Sect.

Jiang Ming then used Destruction Sword Intent to carve words onto another wall: "Jiang Ming, beloved disciple of Tian Buyi of Qingyun Da Zhu Peak, was here." Then, without looking back, he headed toward the Book of Heaven.

Jiang Ming wound through the tunnels within the cave and finally arrived in a medium-sized stone chamber. On a rack along one side lay numerous rusted iron weapons, all battered and broken after so many years. The rack on the other side was empty, though it was covered with labels. In its final compartment sat an iron box. The moment Jiang Ming saw it, he understood that the He Huan Bell was inside, though the box itself was poisoned.

Jiang Ming had no need for the He Huan Bell, but he wanted to play a prank. He immediately carved four words onto the box: "Beware of poison." Satisfied, he continued onward. As for whether Bi Yao would still come here later, and whether she would have the courage to open it after seeing the endless words along the way, that was no longer Jiang Ming's concern. Still, he hoped Bi Yao would not come here.

Jiang Ming entered the stone chamber containing the Book of Heaven. The walls of the chamber were covered from top to bottom in dense carvings:

"Book of Heaven, Volume One"

"Heaven and earth's creation began in the age of chaos, when ignorance had yet to be divided. The sun and moon contained their radiance, while heaven and earth blended as one body. When the vastness transformed, clarity and turbidity emerged.

The celestial order has no punishment, the Dao has no name to praise. Thus it is said: no self, no person, no living beings, no lifespan—then one reaches the light. Hold to the one true path and embody one's inner nature; heaven and earth take the root as their heart."

As Jiang Ming looked upon Volume One of the Book of Heaven, the Taiji Xuanqing Dao within him began circulating madly, faintly showing signs of breaking into the Shangqing realm. At the same time, he gained considerable insight into his other martial arts and cultivation methods as well. He had a premonition that if he gathered all five volumes of the Book of Heaven, there was a great chance his current cultivation methods would break past their limits and deduce their next stage.

Looking at the skeletal remains on the ground and the faint traces of writing carved behind them, Jiang Ming guessed it was likely something about "the clear chime of a golden bell, blood-devouring error." When he had read the original story in his previous life, Jiang Ming had lamented Zhang Xiao Fan's fate. Fortunately, Zhang Xiao Fan had that sort of personality. If it had been someone more extreme, they might have destroyed Qingyun to bury it alongside Bi Yao! Even after becoming a devil cultivator and changing his name to Gui Li, he had not harmed anyone from Qingyun. On the contrary, he had saved Qingyun's people several times in the Western Great Swamp. It was clear that Zhang Xiao Fan had never truly changed, even after becoming a devil cultivator.

Having obtained the Book of Heaven, Jiang Ming thought, This trip can barely be considered a success, aside from letting the Black Water Mysterious Snake escape. He did not linger and headed back the way he had come.

He flew on his sword all the way, finally leaving Kong Sang Mountain several hours later. As for why Jiang Ming had not simply opened the Blood Drop Cave's mechanism and gone straight out, naturally it was because he feared Zhang Xiao Fan and Bi Yao might truly end up trapped inside and die as a pair of ill-fated lovers. The corrective force of fate was terrifying. Whoever could fathom fate, even if not the strongest, would still be extraordinarily formidable. They said first came destiny, second luck, third feng shui—proof enough of how frightening the path of fate was.

After leaving Kong Sang Mountain, Jiang Ming flew east on his sword. If there was any other special place in the world of Zhu Xian, then the Full Moon Well of Small Pond Town would certainly rank among them.

Jiang Ming headed east, leaving the territory of Kong Sang Mountain and flying for a full two days. In any case, the Seven Peaks Tournament was still far away. That brat Zhang Xiao Fan was probably still chopping Black Bamboo in the back mountain of Da Zhu Peak. He would spend three whole years at it and take three years to cultivate the first level of the Taiji Xuanqing Dao—a truly earth-shaking feat.

That day, Jiang Ming saw signs of human habitation gradually appearing below, so he descended to the ground. Looking down the ancient road, he saw a town in the distance. When he reached the roadside at its entrance, he found a stone stele inscribed with the words: Small Pond Town.