Sleepless Night

Qin Ming was truly startled. His fingertips turned icy cold, and the chill actually began seeping into his hand. How could he possibly remain calm?

He immediately shook his hand hard, then tried to pull at it.

A day passed. The Sun Stones in the copper basin were no longer so bright, and the room had grown rather dim. Even so, Qin Ming felt that he should not have failed to notice this mysterious substance at once. He had only detected it through the sensation in his hand.

He went to the copper basin, took out a Sun Stone, and examined it beneath the last lingering glow of the Fire Haze.

"A piece of ice melted?"

This icy liquid was colorless and odorless, making it easy to overlook. When Qin Ming crushed the stone, it had shown no unusual signs at all.

"Could this be rainwater that seeped into the stone, froze, and was then nourished by Heavenly Light into a mysterious substance?" he wondered.

This frigid liquid simply had no distinguishing features whatsoever.

The most precious substance, the Ten-Colored Light Pillar, pierced the heavens and drew the eyes of all directions. It was destined to spread through countless splendid cities, stir heated discussion, and be recorded in books.

"You are its scraps from the edge. Aside from being so cold that you sting the hand, why is there nothing mystical about you?" Qin Ming frowned as he examined it.

After he violently shook his hand, the liquid did not continue seeping in. Strangely, it had not splashed onto the ground either, yet it did not seem especially sticky to the touch.

"What use are you?" Qin Ming scrutinized it. This liquid had no special characteristics at all, leaving him frowning because he had no idea how to use it.

Should he simply let it seep into his flesh and blood? That seemed far too uncertain.

From Mu Qing and Cao Long, he had already learned that the mysterious substances nourished by Heavenly Light came in countless varieties. Some not only offered no benefit to the body, but were actually harmful.

"Hm?" Qin Ming's expression changed slightly. He had thought he had forced that chill out of his body just now. After shaking his hand violently, he had not believed the liquid had entered his flesh.

Now it seemed that was not the case. Something strange came from his right hand. The spot that had just been permeated by the icy cold now became warm.

Moreover, that warm current rapidly spread—more accurately, it swam—moving from his fingers into his arm, then swiftly traveling from his shoulder to his neck.

Though it felt comfortable, this unexpected development still made Qin Ming feel as if he faced a formidable enemy. At once, he circulated the New Life Method recorded in the Silk Scripture to resist it.

But it was useless. On the contrary, that warm current began rushing to his head!

Most crucially, the portion of icy liquid he had failed to shake off also began fully seeping into his fingers, turning from cold to hot as it traveled up his arm.

"I admit you are not a pool of stagnant water. You are somewhat special. Could we stop for now? Let me catch my breath!" Faced with this unknown, unpredictable situation, Qin Ming used every method he could, but nothing changed.

"It all got in?" He swung his arms and rubbed his hands repeatedly. Shattered Gold Ripples emerged over his body, but they were of no use at all. Instead, they accelerated the process.

The bone-piercing liquid rapidly transformed within his flesh and blood, warmth billowing forth. Then, whether from his left hand or right hand, it all traveled upward like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, finally reaching the center of his brow.

Qin Ming stared at himself in the mirror. Since he could not stop it, he could only observe calmly.

The warmth at the center of his forehead grew denser and denser. Once all the warm currents gathered there, his entire frontal bone began to glow, and then the light spread into the depths of his head.

He felt no discomfort. In the end, that dense warmth dissipated.

Qin Ming carefully sensed himself. Aside from feeling brimming with energy, there seemed to be no other abnormalities.

He carried the Long-handled Black Gold Hammer into the courtyard and ran through a set of saber techniques. His strength had not increased, and there was no obvious change in his physique.

Yet Qin Ming knew this liquid could not be so simple. It could not possibly leave no trace in the end. The changes it had caused were likely ones he had yet to discover.

He looked up at the night sky. It had become slightly clearer, and the night mist seemed less dense. His eyesight had improved somewhat, though not by any particularly noticeable amount.

Qin Ming casually ate something, then went to the village entrance and stood by the Fire Spring beneath the Black White Twin Trees.

He ran his hand over the rough trunks. One great tree was black as ink, while the other seemed carved from white jade. Their leaves did not wither even in the depths of winter.

"The liquid came from Black White Mountain. You must be seeds that drifted out from there..."

Clearly, Qin Ming had overthought things. Even after placing one black leaf and one white leaf in his mouth, nothing unusual happened.

"For now, this will do." He comforted himself. His body felt no discomfort; on the contrary, he was full of vigor. There should not be any terrible change.

Suddenly, he sensed something. Movement came from Old Man Liu's house at the village entrance, accompanied by the crying of women and children.

The distance was only several dozen meters. In the blink of an eye, Qin Ming entered the courtyard gate. His brows immediately furrowed when he saw three enormous walking chickens.

One of them was rather unusual. Its feathers were pale yellow and faintly luminous, its two legs exceptionally thick, and its claws abnormally sharp, leaving shallow scratches in the courtyard's bluestone ground.

It was much stronger than the other two walking chickens. It should be the so-called Golden Chicken that had undergone a Second Mutation.

A sullen-faced man stood in the courtyard. Though he was keeping his voice low, it was obvious that he was on the verge of losing his temper.

Qin Ming realized that this was a Golden Chicken Knight from Golden Chicken Ridge. Why had he come to Old Man Liu's home?

Two others stood beside him, also murmuring to Old Man Liu.

Old Man Liu's family stood off to one side, at a complete loss. Clearly, they had just been frightened by these people.

What kind of hearing did Qin Ming possess? Naturally, he heard every word clearly. They were forcefully trying to persuade Old Man Liu, hoping to "purchase" the red grass he had obtained from Fire Bat Cave.

During Shallow Night, people from Golden Chicken Ridge had seen Old Man Liu emerge from Fire Bat Cave. They had noticed a flash of red light from his chest and understood what had happened. Now they had come right to his door coveting it.

"Old Liu, you are already so old. You suffered serious injuries in your early years, and your foundation was ruined long ago. It will be difficult for you to undergo a Second New Life. You might as well sell it at a high price and leave your children and grandchildren something to fall back on."

"Yes. Eating that red grass is like being scorched by raging fire. You are old and frail, so you simply cannot endure it. If your Second New Life fails, the consequences will be too dreadful."

Old Man Liu was helpless. The expression on his face was indescribably desolate, carrying a touch of sorrow as well. "This old man has struggled his whole life, fought for more than half a lifetime, all for this chance!"

Without question, this was his obsession. He had also prepared some cold-natured supplementary medicine and had recently been slowly conditioning his body, planning to eat the red grass in portions. There should not be much of a problem, and he had a great chance of succeeding.

The substance that helped people undergo New Life was valuable chiefly because it contained abundant vitality and spirituality. Claims that its medicinal potency was too fierce, like being scorched by raging fire, were an exaggeration.

Hearing this, Qin Ming was furious. Was this not bullying? An old man in his seventies had longed for a Second New Life for decades. Under the weight of that obsession, he had finally glimpsed dawn, only for someone to come and force a purchase!

He heard the price they offered. How was that any different from outright robbery?

Several dozen pieces of Night Silver were indeed no small fortune to ordinary people, but this was Spiritual Matter that could help someone undergo a Second New Life. They were looking down on him far too much.

The red grass grew in a dangerous cave guarded by Third Mutation Fire Bats and was extremely difficult to gather. Even the Golden Chicken Knights themselves did not dare enter.

"Three elder brothers..." Qin Ming spoke as he stepped forward.

"Who are you? Stay to the side!" one of them said, showing no courtesy whatsoever and clearly not intending to let him say another word.

The Golden Chicken Knight merely gave him a faint glance. His gaze was cold. Though he said nothing, the warning was obvious: do not meddle.

"Little Qin, do not say anything more. Let me go inside and think it over." Old Man Liu spoke, unwilling to let Qin Ming get involved. Golden Chicken Ridge was too difficult to provoke. They had once been a band of great bandits, and though they had since been recruited into service, their style remained brutally overbearing.

Once they fixed their eyes on someone, the consequences were impossible to predict.

"Three elder brothers, this red grass of Grandfather Liu's was given to him by Cao Long and Mu Qing from Red Haze City..." Qin Ming spoke again.

His meaning was obvious. He mentioned the direct descendants of Red Haze City's nobility, who were now on very good terms with Old Man Liu and had not hesitated to give him Spiritual Matter to condition his body. Tomorrow, Old Man Liu would even rise early to guide those people.

"Old Liu has already told us these things himself. Heh, when all is said and done, you are nothing but..." The Golden Chicken Knight sneered. He did not outright say that Qin Ming was borrowing a tiger's hide to flaunt his authority, but that was clearly what he meant. He did not believe people from Red Haze City would form deep ties with a few hunters.

"Young man, you need to know how to read the situation. If it is not your business, do not meddle." The person beside him gave an even more direct warning.

Old Man Liu turned and entered the house. From a hidden compartment in the wall, he took out a bundle of gleaming red grass. Finally gritting his teeth, he grabbed a handful and stuffed it into his mouth. Rather than slowly conditioning his body with supplementary medicine, he directly ate more than half of it.

He kept only a small amount and brought it into the courtyard.

"Only this much? You did not eat some beforehand, did you?" The Golden Chicken Knight's expression immediately darkened. His instincts were quite accurate.

"There really is only this much," Old Man Liu said.

"What use is this little bit? Old Liu, you are very good!" The Golden Chicken Knight patted his shoulder before turning to leave.

After the three vanished beyond the village entrance, Old Man Liu opened his mouth and spat out blood.

"Grandfather Liu, what is wrong?" Qin Ming was startled.

Old Man Liu said, "That Golden Chicken Knight is vicious. He has trained in the Yellow Mud Palm. He suspected I had eaten the Spiritual Matter beforehand, so he secretly tried to shake apart my blood and qi and prevent my Second New Life."

Through the courtyard gate, Qin Ming gazed into the wind and snow outside the village. He truly wanted to chase after them and give each of them a Hammer Saber.

He knew he could not handle things so crudely. Behind them, Golden Chicken Ridge had a band of great bandits. Seeking a moment of satisfaction might bring Great Calamity upon the entire village. He would have to enter the mountains first and then make plans at length.

"Old man, are you all right?"

"Grandfather!"

Old Man Liu's family anxiously crowded around him.

"How do you feel?" Qin Ming asked.

Old Man Liu said, "I know Golden Chicken Ridge's style, so I was prepared in advance. Though the situation is not good, it is not that serious either. A few days of recuperation will do."

In truth, Golden Chicken Ridge was not the only group to come and force a purchase. The local Three-Eyed Sect had also sent people, with a Second New Life Evolver arriving in person.

In the end, after realizing that a forced purchase would not work, the people from the Three-Eyed Sect also swept their sleeves and left. Before departing, they cast several cold, gloomy glances around, leaving matters extremely unpleasant.

"Ordinary people already struggle to survive in such a harsh environment, yet becoming a New Life Evolver is just as difficult..." That night, Qin Ming sighed in his own courtyard.

Soon, he discovered what had changed in him. His vigorous mental state had not faded at all. It was already very late, yet he did not feel sleepy in the slightest.

After lying down, he endured for a long time and discovered that he simply could not fall asleep. The more he closed his eyes, the more awake he became.

What an aggravating thing in the middle of the night. What was going on? It was not as if he had become immortal. How could he not need sleep? Besides, if immortals and gods truly existed in this world, they would have lifted up the sun long ago. Why would the night mist still be so thick, leaving the world pitch-black?

In the latter half of the night, Qin Ming truly had no choice but to get up and take a walk. Yet after circling the village eighteen times, he only became more alert.

"What is going on with me?" After returning to the courtyard, he practiced the New Life Method from the Silk Scripture, then the combat techniques from the Sword Manual. He could feel tired, but he simply was not sleepy.

He went wandering in the deep night and finally returned to the village entrance. With nothing better to do, he cleared out the stone stele buried beneath the snow.

"I heard the elders say this stele weighs eleven hundred jin. I estimate that one hand of mine has a thousand jin of strength, but I have never actually tested it. I will try it with this."

In the end, Qin Ming forcibly pulled the stone stele out of the frozen earth, then actually raised it over his head with one hand.

"Though it is quite strenuous, I can do it. That means both my arms have twenty-two hundred jin of strength, slightly more than I estimated."

The next day, when Xu Yueping saw Qin Ming, he said, "Little Qin, did you cry?"

Qin Ming froze. "No."

"Why are your eyes a little red?" Xu Yueping asked.

"I did not sleep well last night," Qin Ming replied.

Old Man Liu entered the mountains as usual, showing no sign of being injured.

When they met Cao Long, Mu Qing, Wei Zhirou, and the others, Qin Ming did not hide anything. He directly told them how Golden Chicken Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect had tried to force a purchase the previous night.

"That is a bit excessive," Mu Qing said.

Half an hour later, yesterday's Golden Chicken Knight was found. Mu Qing slapped him across the face, sending him flying six or seven meters away and knocking out several of his teeth.

"This is someone I hired, and he has been helping me all along. You wanted to rob the spiritual grass we gave him?" Mu Qing asked coldly.

"No... it was a misunderstanding." The Golden Chicken Knight's voice trembled.

With a clang, Cao Long's Great Spear swept past his ear. After changing direction, it cleaved through a large tree nearby. "Even after we leave, you are not allowed to retaliate. Otherwise, there will be no good end for you."

"I understand!"

Not long afterward, the people from the Three-Eyed Sect were warned as well.

However, Mu Qing and Wei Zhirou also privately told Qin Ming and the others that the Three-Eyed Sect's local stronghold was of little concern, but their distant orthodoxy was powerful, with branches in many cities.

"Golden Chicken Ridge is not simple either. It is a foothold established here by the Golden Bandits."

Old Man Liu was deeply grateful. He had never expected that they would stand up for him.

That day, Qin Ming found an opportunity to dig out that Sword Manual. Since Wang Nianzhu had become a wanted criminal, he no longer needed to worry too much. He could bring the secret volume home and study it.

After Shallow Night ended, he returned to the village.

"I hope I can sleep tonight. I cannot keep being this energetic!"

After dinner, by the Fire Haze of the Sun Stone, he began leafing through the leather-bound Sword Manual. The instant he opened it, he was dumbfounded.

Qin Ming looked up outside the house, then lowered his head again to the old ancient volume. What was going on? This world seemed different to him!