Bridge of Oblivion, Meng Po's Soup

"So that man's name was Yuan Tian Gang." Xu Ying thought.

But he had no idea who Yuan Tian Gang was.

He was only a village boy. He knew nothing of the imperial court, nor did he know that Yuan Tian Gang had once enjoyed a glorious past.

Yuan Qi had read extensively and knew Yuan Tian Gang's illustrious name. He was filled with shock and uncertainty. "It's actually that legendary existence!"

The Bearded Man threw back his head and laughed. "I serve the Martial Sage Emperor's command. I cut off your dragon vein so you wouldn't develop into a scourge and bring chaos to the world. This is a public grudge, unrelated to anything personal! But if you want to fight, then let us fight! What has Yuan feared?"

Light leaped from his Sword Box. In an instant, the wind and rain vanished, revealing ten thousand miles of clear sky, deep blue and spotless. It no longer resembled the underworld—it was as though they had returned to the Mortal Realm!

Xu Ying and Yuan Qi were utterly stunned. They looked up and saw the Bearded Man soar into the sky with his sword in hand, battling the giant overhead. Sword light flashed and twisted, weaving together like lightning!

Suddenly, the giant's form changed drastically, transforming into a gigantic dragon of rock and mountain, stretching for dozens of miles. Its movements shook heaven and earth. Yet after only a short battle, the Bearded Man summoned his sword into the air. His Sword Qi was like a rainbow, striking the weak point at its neck and severing its head with a single blow!

The dragon's head crashed down with a thunderous roar, landing not far from the houses. Blood flowed like a river.

Xu Ying and Yuan Qi stood there dumbfounded. Then they saw the Bearded Man land, while the sword light returned to the Sword Box. The box closed, and the sword light vanished.

The Bearded Man said, "This dragon was formed from a mountain range and had two bodies, a mother and a child. I slew its mother back then. It seized the Imperial Destiny, and once it was born, it would have brought chaos to the Divine Land. As a result, I killed it before it could become emperor. Its child cultivated to maturity and came looking for revenge. You may bathe in the dragon blood. It will do you good."

Xu Ying and Yuan Qi came to the dragon's head and bathed in its blood. They immediately felt their injuries healing at astonishing speed, even faster than if they had taken miraculous pills!

Xu Ying's left shoulder had been wounded, but it healed as well. His blood and qi surged through him, stronger than ever!

He hurriedly placed Great Bell in the dragon blood as well, letting it soak in the blood. I hope Great Bell can absorb the Primal Qi from Dragon Blood and recover a little faster.

The Bearded Man watched, clicking his tongue in amazement. After examining the bronze bell, he smiled. "The origins of this treasure are extraordinary, but so are the entanglements surrounding it. If your fortune isn't deep enough, little brother, you may well be dragged down by it. You'd be better off throwing it away as soon as possible."

Xu Ying's heart stirred. Great Bell had been forged by someone to suppress the ancient well in Stone Mountain. There was a Black Coffin in that ancient well, and when the River of Oblivion changed course, the Maiden in the Coffin had escaped.

Could the entanglement the Bearded Man mentioned refer to this?

The Bearded Man offered no further explanation. He said, "Dragon essence is hidden in the dragon blood. It can heal your injuries, but absorbing too much dragon essence is harmful to the human body. Once your wounds have healed, little brother, you'd best stop absorbing it, lest you leave behind hidden trouble. As for the Strange Snake, he may as well absorb more dragon essence. It will actually be of great use to him."

Xu Ying therefore stopped bathing in the dragon blood and merely let Great Bell soak in it.

Yuan Qi simply immersed himself in the dragon blood. He felt the incomparably pure energy within it surge into him. This must be the dragon essence the Bearded Man had mentioned. He was both startled and delighted!

"A Ying, it won't be long before I can transform into human form!"

Yuan Qi cried out in delight. "Once I take human form, I'll finally be able to properly cultivate the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist!"

Xu Ying was also rather expectant. He asked, "Little Seven, once you transform, will you be male or female?"

"What do you mean, male or female? It should be whether I'm male or female in animal terms!" Yuan Qi shouted. "Of course I'm male!"

"What a pity." Xu Ying sighed regretfully.

Yuan Qi glared at him. "You surnamed Xu, I treat you as a brother. What are you planning?"

Xu Ying stammered, "Of course I treat you as a brother too. What else could I do?"

"You're not being sincere! You definitely have some other filthy thoughts!"

"I don't. Don't slander me!"

"Still saying I'm slandering you? Your Old Xu Family's reputation has never been any good among us snakes!"

Yuan Qi absorbed the dragon essence in the dragon blood and soon reached the limit his body could bear. He felt as though his body were about to explode. The Bearded Man said, "Never be insatiably greedy on the path of cultivation. Absorbing too much will only harm you."

Yuan Qi crawled reluctantly out of the dragon-blood pool, then lay beside it and gulped down several mouthfuls of dragon blood.

Seeing this, the Bearded Man shook his head. "You've pointlessly added several obstacles to your transformation into human form. How dull-witted. Little brother, come with me. Though this road is a path of survival, once you reach the Bridge of Helplessness, whether the Old Woman is willing to release you remains unknown. When you reach the bridgehead, your fortune will decide everything."

Xu Ying lifted Great Bell with his left hand and hurried after him.

Yuan Qi looked back at the dragon's head, regretful, but followed anyway. If only I could eat it...

Along the way, the Bearded Man searched through mountains and paths. Whenever they reached the end of a road, he would somehow find another route. Xu Ying and Yuan Qi followed him, seeing only a grim ghostly realm on either side of the road—terrifying and gloomy. They couldn't help but be horrified.

If they had traveled on their own, they might not have made it out alive!

At last, the River of Oblivion came into view. A rope bridge spanned the river, connecting to the opposite bank.

But the River of Oblivion had already run dry, leaving only a riverbed sealed beneath the fog.

The Bearded Man escorted them there and said, "Cross the rope bridge ahead, and you'll reach the Mortal Realm. If the Old Woman is selling tea at the bridgehead, don't drink her tea. Just cross the bridge. Once you drink her tea, you'll never be able to return to the Mortal Realm! Remember this, remember it well!"

Xu Ying thanked him and bowed. "Many thanks, senior. Do you have any unfinished wishes? If I can make it out alive, I will certainly repay you!"

The Bearded Man hesitated, then said, "I came to Wangxiang to prolong my life, but once I arrived here, I could neither live nor die and became trapped. Though I can often see my homeland, my family has no idea whether I'm safe."

He took out the Sword Box and said, "Carry this Sword Box on your back. If you encounter my family, it will fly back into their hands on its own. Let it serve as a small vessel for my longing."

Xu Ying agreed and strapped the Sword Box to his back.

The Sword Box had leather straps above and below that could be fastened together across his chest. It was no burden to carry.

Xu Ying bid him farewell and led Yuan Qi toward the rope bridge over the River of Oblivion.

The Bearded Man watched them climb onto the bridge. In a low voice, he said, "This boy's fortune is not shallow. I hope he can return to the Mortal Realm. Whatever happens, he must not drink the Old Woman's tea!"

Xu Ying and Yuan Qi climbed onto the rope bridge and walked forward. Their journey was peaceful, and they encountered no tea-selling Old Woman.

The human and snake gradually relaxed. They chatted and laughed as they walked. When they were nearly at the end of the bridge, they saw a crowd of people lined up beside it, blocking the way.

Xu Ying and Yuan Qi joined the very end of the line, watching the crowd slowly inch forward.

After a long while, they saw the people line up before a tea stall and drink tea. The tea seller was an old woman, her hair white as snow and her back hunched. Her face was covered in countless deep wrinkles. She held a teapot and poured tea into one bowl after another.

Yet the tea in the pot never diminished.

When Xu Ying and Yuan Qi reached that spot, their minds were muddled and hazy. They had already cast the Bearded Man's warning to the back of their minds. They only felt unbearably thirsty, and the purpose of joining the line was simply to drink a bowl of the Old Woman's tea to quench their thirst!

At last, the line reached Xu Ying.

At the other end of the bridge, the Bearded Man saw Xu Ying lift the tea bowl. He let out a quiet sigh and murmured, "His fortune is ultimately a little too shallow. Though his parents are powerful, they still cannot protect him from death..."

Just as Xu Ying was about to raise the bowl and drain it in one gulp, the tea-selling Old Woman looked him up and down. Her expression suddenly changed. She snatched away the tea bowl and sneered, "You brat, you've already drunk who knows how many bowls of my tea, and who knows how many times! You still want to trick me into giving you more? Get out!"

Xu Ying suddenly came to his senses. Cold sweat drenched his forehead. He seized Yuan Qi's tail as the snake was about to drink and dragged the huge serpent off the rope bridge.

At the other end of the bridge, the Bearded Man was likewise dumbstruck, frozen in place.

Only after a long while did he regain his senses. "Meng Po's Soup can erase all memories and return a person to primordial ignorance and chaos! The Old Woman just said he had drunk who knows how many bowls of Meng Po's Soup. Did she mean his memories had been washed away countless times, or that he had already lived through countless lifetimes?"

Unfortunately, Xu Ying had already left Wangxiang and vanished without a trace. The Bearded Man could not catch up to him or investigate what stories had taken place in Xu Ying's past.

Xu Ying dragged the Snake Demon Yuan Qi off the rope bridge. Yuan Qi finally regained consciousness as well, and a wave of lingering fear gripped his heart.

He looked back and saw the rope bridge tremble like fog before gradually dissipating without a trace.

The journey to Wangxiang had been like a dream, like an illusion. Apart from melancholy, Xu Ying still had questions left unanswered. Why were the faces of the parents I saw in Wangxiang different from the faces of the parents in my memories?

Though the underworld mountains along both banks of the River of Oblivion were still nearby, the sky gradually cleared, and the fog no longer billowed everywhere. Xu Ying carried the Sword Box on his back and felt a faint, indistinct Sword Qi lingering within it. From time to time, it leaped before his eyes, as though two swords were striking and colliding in midair!

Xu Ying asked Yuan Qi about it, but Yuan Qi sensed nothing at all.

"I've studied since childhood. The books say that from the Martial Sage Emperor's era through the reign of the Supreme Dao Great Sage Emperor, martial cultivation flourished. Official Nuo practitioners commonly nourished swords with qi, and this Yuan Tian Gang was a Great Nuo who nourished a sword with qi, eventually becoming a legend of his age."

Yuan Qi guessed, "There's still some of his Sword Qi inside this Sword Box. Carrying it on your back allows his Sword Qi to influence you, which is why you can see sword shadows."

Xu Ying grew interested. He asked, "Then can I comprehend the sword technique he cultivated from his Sword Qi?"

Yuan Qi burst out laughing. "A Ying, what kind of dream are you talking about? Even if an ordinary person handed you a true scripture, you wouldn't be able to cultivate it. And you want to comprehend the mysteries of a sword technique from Sword Qi?"

What he said was true. Countless people wished to cultivate but could not obtain the method. Even after obtaining it, they might not be able to master it. Even after painstakingly studying for years, they might comprehend it incorrectly and embark on the wrong path.

The Old Niu Family's three generations were a perfect example. They had cultivated the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist for generations but had never found the correct method and had failed to reach the fourth stage.

Only after Yuan Qi received Xu Ying's guidance had he quickly cultivated to the fifth stage, and now he was close to breaking through to the sixth.

From this, it was clear how difficult it was to comprehend a sword technique from Sword Qi!

Xu Ying was brimming with interest and continued studying it on his own. The boy picked up a straight willow branch and casually moved it as he walked, using it to reproduce the leaping sword light he sensed.

Gradually, Xu Ying's blood and qi flowed through the willow branch. Unconsciously, as he performed the movements, his blood and qi began circulating in a strange manner. When they reached the willow branch, they transformed into Sword Qi, their sharpness fully revealed!

He thrust the willow branch, swept it back in a cloud-like sword movement, flicked it up with his wrist, then chopped, sliced, cleaved, and jabbed. Sword Qi hissed through the air, its sound growing sharper and louder!

Swordsmanship consisted of many of the simplest movements. Broadly speaking, there were thrusts, lifts, sweeps, cleaves, chops, jabs, collapses, hooks, flicks, wipes, sweeps, blocks, intercepts, flourishes, coils, and glides. Xu Ying had never learned swordsmanship before, but as he sensed the Sword Qi, he somehow mastered these basic sword moves without a teacher!

He grew more absorbed in his practice. His blood and qi circulated with ever greater ease, and the willow branch actually sprouted a sharp sword aura. It lengthened and shortened with the flow of his blood and qi!

This sword aura was condensed from Sword Qi. It radiated a cold light and was sharper than a genuine treasured sword, capable of piercing anything!

Yuan Qi jumped in fright. Could he really comprehend an entire sword technique from the Sword Box?

Suddenly, Xu Ying lifted Great Bell with one hand and leaped into the air. Midair, he swung the willow branch, and hissing Sword Qi poured down!

Yuan Qi was startled and hurriedly dodged. Dozens of holes now riddled the ground, and even the rocks had been pierced through by the Sword Qi!

"This fellow can still be this fierce while lifting Great Bell!" Yuan Qi exclaimed enviously.

Xu Ying landed, delighted. He poked the willow branch here and there, itching to find something to stab.

Yuan Qi hurriedly moved farther away from him.

Xu Ying asked, "Little Seven, I've seen divine beings wield swords. Their flying swords can travel dozens of paces away, controlled as freely as their own arms and fingers. How do they control flying swords?"

Yuan Qi corrected him. "When divine beings control swords to kill, they can seize a person's head from a thousand miles away, not merely dozens of paces. Their flying swords are formed from Incense Qi. They aren't genuine flying swords and have no weight. Besides, flying swords are their Magic Power. Isn't controlling Magic Power only natural?"

Xu Ying stared blankly into space, then suddenly became ecstatic. "You're right! Little Seven, you're so clever! How did I never think of that?"

Yuan Qi was left dumbfounded. "Wait a moment. Which part of what I said was right? I'm a little confused..."