Breaking the Ice

Excruciating pain jolted Ning Xuan awake. He tried to open his eyes, only to find his eye sockets in agony; no matter what he did, he could not perform the simple act of opening them.

That demon had once again eaten his eyeballs first.

It seemed that demon always ate his eyeballs first.

This time, Ning Xuan did not try to discern what the demon was through the sensation of being gnawed apart.

He decisively drew upon what little strength remained to him. With a muffled grunt, his blood and qi surged into his head, bursting from all seven apertures in an instant.

The agony of sinking into an endless hell dissipated with it.

Darkness.

Boundless darkness.

Ning Xuan felt the gentle night breeze stirring his hair.

[Three of Nine].

He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the dense forest, the black moon, and the towering mountains. With a soft sigh, he simply flopped onto his back, limbs spread wide, relaxing himself as much as possible.

Keeping his nerves taut at all times would destroy his will.

In this nightmare like an endless hell, dying once in the flesh was not frightening. What was frightening was the heart gradually collapsing, gradually falling into despair. That would mean truly being beyond redemption for all eternity.

He swore that when he got back this time, he would gather every Chaste Maiden from Drunken Flower House and Chenxiang Pavilion in one place, have them strip naked and drink and make merry with him, then have musicians play the pipa beneath the moon in the thinnest, sheerest red gauze.

He swore that he would eat the most extravagant, most delicious food. Even if it meant running the legs off ten thousand-li horses, it had to be delivered to him from thousands of miles away that very day.

He swore that he would gather together those people he found pleasing to the eye, then gently ask them what dreams they had. If they were good dreams, he would immediately help them fulfill them. If they were bad ones, he would make them eat shit.

He had suffered so much already. There was no way he would marry down into that Hanzhou Ranch. Why should he bow beneath another? Why should he keep suffering? Why could he not just rot away and do whatever the hell he pleased?

"Ha ha ha..."

Smack.

Ning Xuan raised a hand and slapped his forehead, letting out a low laugh. Then he drew several deep breaths, and his eyes regained their calm, ruthlessness, and decisiveness.

Here, he had no one to rely on.

He could only rely on himself.

He had to rely on himself.

He had to think of every possible way to kill the other side.

He... had recovered.

He began to ponder what had just happened.

He had nearly succeeded. At the very least, things had been moving in a favorable direction. Yet that Bodhisattva had suddenly recovered—and recovered even stronger than before.

Why?

That "Hum Ha" had been a sound-wave attack, similar to martial arts techniques like the Lion's Roar, except when wielded by a Bodhisattva, it was incomparably terrifying.

Then why had the Bodhisattva not used it from the start, instead crawling through the cracks between the mountains to look for him?

Therefore, "Hum Ha" was a secret art, and the Bodhisattva's sudden recovery was also a secret art.

Right?

After being struck by "Hum Ha," his entire body had almost completely collapsed, yet he had retained a thread of consciousness.

Thanks to his mother being a Buddhist believer, he could recognize the gestures the Bodhisattva had assumed before eating him.

Cupping him in an upturned palm was the Dhyana Mudra.

Flipping him over by the hand, then pressing him toward the earth, was the Demon Subduing Seal.

Yet he had not sensed any additional power in either of those seals.

In other words, those two seals were merely imitations of movements.

If it had been a true Bodhisattva, it would not have assumed the opening stance of a divine power without producing any effect.

Thus, this once again proved that it was merely a demon wearing the skin of a Bodhisattva.

Right?

Suddenly, two details flashed through Ning Xuan's mind.

First: ghastly white light.

Before the Bodhisattva used its secret art to recover, ghastly white light had erupted before his eyes.

That was the color of sunlight.

Why did the demon only appear during the day?

What about at night?

It had not appeared on the first night.

Then on the second night—was it still there?

Second, slow movements.

Compared to the Bodhisattva's strength, its movements were actually quite slow—especially once someone got close to it, when it became even slower.

The Bodhisattva could, in fact, be divided into "four ranges of power."

In terms of strength, a single palm strike or roar from the Bodhisattva could make him collapse completely, stripping him of all ability to resist.

In terms of speed, the Bodhisattva could only keep pace with him. He fled with all his might, and the Bodhisattva could only pursue with all its might.

In close-range shifting, dodging, and maneuvering, the Bodhisattva could be described as utterly "clumsy." Otherwise, he would never have been able to slip into its mouth, enter its esophagus, and force out its secret art.

Inside the Bodhisattva's belly, that demon—most likely a rat—belonged to the final range. From the fact that both times, it instinctively chose to blind him first, it was highly likely that the demon feared being seen. Even when facing food, it would first devour the other party's eyeballs.

Ning Xuan pondered, then glanced again at the black moon in the sky.

He decided to do something.

Something bold.

He took Many Children and Grandchildren and Four Generations Together, but did not carry them on his back.

He gathered up the bottles and jars of poison, but did not coat his blade with them.

At the same time, he collected some additional medicines commonly carried by martial folk—medicine for "restoring qi and blood," "relaxing the sinews and invigorating the blood," and "regulating and recuperating." He stuffed these into his clothes.

Then he planted the Beast Slaying Saber straight into the earth, like a flag snapping fiercely before dawn.

Freed of these external burdens, he felt light all over.

Then, he no longer explored the "nightmare boundary." He merely sat cross-legged beneath the Beast Slaying Saber, closed his eyes, and rested his mind.

As time passed, his condition steadily climbed toward its peak.

Finally—

Dawn came.

Ning Xuan opened his eyes and swept his gaze around.

He could already feel the watchful gaze above his head.

A rumbling voice, like thunder, came from overhead.

"Little fellow, you are looking for—"

Before the words had finished, Ning Xuan slammed his palm against the ground and sprang up. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the Bodhisattva hunched overhead, its downward gaze piercing through the forest and landing upon him.

Then, like a gust of wind, he shot toward Manfeng Mountain in the north.

Without all that weight, he was a fraction faster than before, and expended slightly less energy.

The Bodhisattva smiled faintly, then gave chase.

One incense stick's time passed.

Half an hour passed.

An hour passed—

A look of surprise appeared on the Bodhisattva's face.

Two hours passed.

Ning Xuan began popping medicine.

Three hours passed.

From behind him, the Bodhisattva said, "Little fellow, you can really run."

Ning Xuan did not answer, lest he waste his strength.

He kept running.

Another hour passed.

He felt that he had already crossed all of Manfeng Mountain. The instant he stepped out of the mountains, he finally felt himself strike a boundary.

And upon passing through that boundary, he saw the Beast Slaying Saber.

The Beast Slaying Saber still stood where it had been, giving off a faint moan in the fierce afternoon wind.

Ning Xuan sat down cross-legged and began rapidly restoring his strength.

He remembered that when he had previously refined the Mountain Crashing Bear, that bear demon had not leapt into the "boundary" to chase him. Instead, it had sensed where he was and then returned by the same route.

He very much looked forward to that Bodhisattva returning by the same route.

Ning Xuan waited a short while. Seeing that the Bodhisattva had not crossed the boundary and come directly here, he quickly found a water vat in the encamped army's camp, immersed himself in it for a proper rinse, then found some of the camp's dried rations and dried meat and wolfed them down.

He ate until he was seventy percent full, then sat cross-legged again beside the Beast Slaying Saber.

The sky gradually darkened.

The ghastly white sun slowly sank westward, blocked by the surrounding mountains, which cast cold, oppressive shadows.

Ning Xuan had recovered more or less all his strength.

But the Bodhisattva had yet to arrive.

When he had fought the Mountain Crashing Bear Demon before, that area had been within a mountain estate. Ning Xuan had never left that estate, so the time had never stretched to a full day and night.

But now, the second night was fast approaching.

He did not know whether the Bodhisattva would disappear, or whether it would keep coming after him.

The sun vanished.

The black moon rose.

Ning Xuan sat quietly.

His strength had fully recovered.

Another two hours passed, and he heard a rolling thunder from afar.

Under the moonlight, the Golden Body Bodhisattva was coming.

Ning Xuan smiled.

He slapped the ground and started running again.

He circled around the Golden Body Bodhisattva and headed north once more.

The Golden Body Bodhisattva followed in pursuit again.

Four more hours later—

He crossed the "boundary" once more and returned to where he had started.

The Bodhisattva continued coming.

Ning Xuan continued running.

He refused to believe the Bodhisattva could run forever without expending anything.

On the third circuit—

The Bodhisattva finally stopped. It no longer gave chase.

It began to recover.

The white radiance on its body started to dim.

Above, the black moon had just risen.

Ning Xuan drew a deep breath and finally pulled out the Beast Slaying Saber.

The young man's black hair whipped wildly in the wind. With "Many Children and Grandchildren" on his back and a long saber over his shoulder, he came before the Bodhisattva, looked up at the giant, and said, "A mere little demon dares to wrap itself in a Bodhisattva's skin?"

Those words seemed deeply wounding. The Golden Body Bodhisattva, which had been regulating its breath, snapped open its eyes and raised a hand to slap Ning Xuan.

Ning Xuan spun aside and dodged.

The Golden Body Bodhisattva glanced at the burden on his body, hesitated slightly, then suddenly rose and chased after him again.

Ning Xuan started running once more.

This time, he ran only as far as the crevice between the mountains where the waterfall crashed down, then slipped inside just as before.

Bang!

Bang!

The Golden Body Bodhisattva braced both hands against the sides, its huge face leaning in.

"Little brat, this time, let's see—"

Boom!

Before it could finish, a roar rang out, followed by a streak of swift light.

With the great iron box on his back and the Beast Slaying Saber in hand, Ning Xuan charged savagely into the Bodhisattva's gaping mouth in a posture he had envisioned hundreds, thousands of times—a posture that would allow no mistake whatsoever. Then he went straight down its esophagus.

He skillfully tossed out Four Generations Together to clear the way.

He skillfully activated Many Children and Grandchildren, then delivered a fierce kick, sending the great iron box plummeting rapidly as it sprayed hundreds upon thousands of hidden weapons.

Behind him, he circulated his Swallow's Cry Force and hacked wildly with his saber.

Cough!

Cough, cough!!

The Bodhisattva's coughing grew more and more violent.

The wind within its esophagus also became increasingly fierce.

Many Children and Grandchildren found balance in midair and could no longer continue falling.

Ning Xuan's black hair twisted upward like seaweed in the depths of the ocean.

And countless wounds appeared within the Bodhisattva's esophagus.

The two sides began a tug-of-war within the esophagus.

Just then, Ning Xuan suddenly heard an enraged shriek from the Bodhisattva's internal organs. Immediately afterward, a familiar, ghastly pale light burst before his eyes.

The light was not dazzling.

But after brushing over the wounds, it still rapidly healed all those injuries.

Ning Xuan was stunned.

No way?

A crushing sense of despair rose in his heart.

If he had already gone this far and it was still just another cycle, then... then what was he supposed to do next time?

A strange exhalation began to brew.

All the violent currents surging upward through the esophagus abruptly ceased.

"Hummm~~~"

Though Ning Xuan was despairing, his reaction was swift. He no longer went downward, instead kicking off the walls of the esophagus and shooting upward at high speed.

Just as he was about to reach the entrance of the esophagus, that tremendous blast erupted.

"HA!!!"

Bang!

Like a grain of rice, he was blasted from that enormous mouth and launched into midair.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed the Golden Body Bodhisattva below.

Then suddenly, he froze.

The ten-zhang-tall Bodhisattva had shrunk by a full notch, becoming eight zhang tall. It was now glaring at him with eyes blazing with utter fury.

"Little thing, I'll eat you slowly, slowly, until you regret ever coming into this world."

Ning Xuan threw back his head and laughed madly, the despair in his heart swept clean away.

The next instant, he abruptly exerted force and took his own life before he even hit the ground.