Master of True Insight Ruins

The Dao Vein was the foundation of cultivation.

This "Dao" was not the Dao of the Daoist Sect, but the Dao of the Great Dao. Whether they were Buddhist, Daoist, or Confucian cultivators, military strategists, Mohists, or followers of any other school, revealing a Dao Vein was always the first step on the path of cultivation.

In the Ancient Era, those called seeds of cultivation were people whose Dao Veins revealed themselves naturally at birth. But the Human Race did not let talent determine a person's whole life. The Vein-Opening Pill was one way to overcome a lack of cultivation aptitude.

With the pill's power, one could reveal the body's Dao Vein. It could also awaken the vitality of heaven and earth to nourish the flesh. The body's qi and blood would respond, giving birth to Dao Essence and setting one on the path of cultivation.

Come to think of it, compared with the tools destroyed in the explosion alongside Zuo Guanglie, the Vein-Opening Pill couldn't be considered precious.

But to this beggar, stranded at the end of his road, it was the only key to unlocking the body's hidden treasures.

Of all the trials of a thousand ages, only death was truly insurmountable. With life at its end, he begged Heaven for mercy!

Now, the beggar had grasped the key to his hope.

He was utterly devout.

With trembling hands, he held the jade bottle. His quivering lips found its mouth, and he tipped his head back and poured!

Nearby stood the silent, ruined temple. Farther off lay the corpses of the beggars, and at his side were scattered bones and flesh.

At that moment, the setting sun cast its last light, and the clouds parted along the horizon. Corpses littered the wilderness as the sick beggar swallowed the pill.

The Vein-Opening Pill rolled off his tongue, became a warm current sliding down his throat, then spread through his limbs and bones.

The beggar half-closed his eyes. In that instant, countless images flowed through his mind.

He had trained through summer's heat and winter's cold, practicing his sword through spring and autumn.

He had pursued wanted criminals and fought ferocious bandits.

At last, he had come down alone, sword in hand, from West Mountain, where bandits gathered, his body drenched in blood.

That was what it had taken to earn a single Vein-Opening Pill.

How many years had he spent trying to approach the world beyond the ordinary?

He had fought with all his might, struggling ceaselessly to advance. How had he made it this far?

His mother had died young. Later, his father had fallen ill and died, nearly exhausting the family's last bit of money.

He had been alone, with no one to rely on but himself.

He had passed the Dao Academy's entrance examination, where only one candidate in a thousand was selected. Then, amid fierce competition in the Outer Academy, he had stood head and shoulders above the rest. Only then had he finally grasped the key to the extraordinary for the first time.

But right on its heels...

Had come the poison and the ambush.

He had fought his way out, barely escaping with his life, then blended into a crowd of beggars to evade the search.

He had meant to wait for an opportunity, but his body could hold out no longer.

He had grown weaker and weaker, until at last he could only lie helplessly on a pile of straw, awaiting death.

He had dragged his sick body out to search the battlefield, driven only by a heart that absolutely refused to give up. But he had never expected to find a Vein-Opening Pill!

Why someone as mighty as Zuo Guanglie had carried a Vein-Opening Pill was a mystery that had died with his legend.

But the beggar's story had begun a new chapter because of it.

Nothing could compare to the whims of fate.

The beggar gathered his thoughts and felt the indescribable changes within his body.

Warm power welled up from every corner of him, "wandering" through his body in a way he couldn't understand before finally converging on his spine.

The process was slow, yet clear.

After who knew how long, a faint force rose from his tailbone and crept upward along his spine, higher and higher. It felt as if an earthworm were swimming upstream through a river channel.

The journey was arduous, but warm power from every part of his body continually sustained it... At last, the "little earthworm" swam through its long passage, connected his spine, and shot straight toward the crown of his head!

A miracle took place.

It was as if he could see light inside his body.

Warmth burst forth from his limbs and bones, from every corner of his flesh.

He no longer felt cold, weak, or pain.

Once the Dao Vein appeared, vitality nourished him.

The beggar opened his eyes, his gaze bright and keen.

He felt strength filling his body. At last, he had taken hold of his fate once more!

His Dao Vein had appeared. Though its Dao Vein True Spirit was only a tiny, lowest-grade Earthworm, it meant he could officially set foot on the path beyond the ordinary.

Flying through the sky, burrowing through the earth, entering and leaving the azure heavens—these were no longer distant dreams!

One day, Gongyang Bai, Mo Jingyu, and even Zuo Guanglie and Li Yi... He could accomplish anything these thunder-famous great figures could!

The beggar stood up and looked down at the pile of mangled flesh.

Life gazed upon death; an opening connected to an ending.

Outside the ruined temple, he buried Zuo Guanglie and the beggars. Even with his newly revealed Dao Vein and his renewed vigor, he didn't finish until the moon was high overhead.

It might have been a small, useless thing, but it was a principle he chose to live by.

When danger came, those beggars had chosen to abandon him. But in the days when he had been at death's door, they hadn't left him in the wilderness. They couldn't afford to find him a doctor or medicine, but at least they had given him a few mouthfuls of water.

For that alone, he ought to give them a proper burial, if he was able. He couldn't let them suffer in this life and remain without a home in the next.

People believed that only those laid in the earth could rest in peace. Within the vast, boundless, and merciful embrace of the earth, the souls of the dead could finally find rest.

At last, the beggar stood before Zuo Guanglie's grave.

"The one who buried you wasn't an unknown nobody. I'm from Maple Forest City, Qinghe Prefecture, Zhuang Kingdom..." Beneath the moonlight, the beggar stood before the small grave, filthy clothes on his back and mud on his hands. Yet he held his spine straight, speaking his name without the slightest shame. "Jiang Wang."

Though the tiger had yet to grow stripes, he already carried the spirit of one that could eat an ox.

"You didn't die in some nameless place, either. This place is called Huanzhen Temple. The writing on its broken plaque is hard to make out, and the temple is unknown to the world, but because of you, it will surely become known!"

After saying this, Jiang Wang bent forward and bowed with solemn care. "May your spirit find peace in the afterlife."

He bowed not only because Zuo Guanglie had left him the Vein-Opening Pill, but also because of the compassion, candor, and courage he had shown.

A man like Zuo Guanglie deserved every bit of respect.

It was the night of the full moon, and its pure light fell upon the fresh grave.

Somewhere beyond sight, a breeze seemed to stir.

Jiang Wang saw specks of silver light float up from Zuo Guanglie's grave. They rose slowly in the moonlight and gathered into a small silver crescent moon. It hovered above the fresh grave, within Jiang Wang's reach, mysterious and noble.

"This is..."

A sudden inspiration struck Jiang Wang.

He reached out and caught the silver crescent.

His vision went black.

In the almost endless darkness, a gentle voice rang out. It seemed to hold the truths of heaven and earth and the mysteries of the Great Dao; just hearing it cleared the mind and brightened the spirit.

"We welcome the master of True Insight Ruins Blessed Land!"

The next instant, a point of light appeared, followed by countless others.

The countless lights blotted out his vision. When Jiang Wang could see again, he found a brilliant Star River surging through the boundless darkness before him!

And before the Star River stood a young man.

The youth's eyes were clear and bright, his nose high and straight. His expression was so mild that he seemed incapable of aggression; only his tightly pressed lips hinted at a trace of stubbornness. He wore nothing but a Daoist robe made of some unrecognizable material, with no other adornments.

Jiang Wang froze.

Because that youth was none other than himself. His clothes were different, and he looked much cleaner and fresher than he did in reality, but how could he mistake himself?

And from some angle he couldn't yet understand, he was "looking" at himself in a way that had nothing to do with sight.

"Insufficient Dao Essence feedback. Nineteen layers of the Dao Evolution Platform sealed."

That gentle voice rang out again in the vast starry sky.

"Eighteen layers of the Dao Evolution Platform sealed."

"Two layers of the Dao Evolution Platform sealed."

Each time the words appeared, the Star River before his eyes grew a little dimmer.

Jiang Wang tried to make sense of what he was seeing, then heard:

"Third-Rank Sword Discussion Platform sealed."

"Fourth-Rank Sword Discussion Platform sealed."

The announcements continued as before until, at last, "Eighth-Rank Sword Discussion Platform sealed."

Jiang Wang didn't understand what any of it meant, but he assumed it had something to do with his meager strength. The so-called "master of True Insight Ruins Blessed Land" ought to have been Zuo Guanglie, not him.

At the same time, he saw a line of writing floating within his field of vision, in characters he had never encountered before.

The writing was entirely unlike the characters of Zhuang Kingdom that he had studied, and utterly unfamiliar to him. Yet he clearly understood what it meant.

"Merit: 1,850 points."

As Jiang Wang pondered this, the version of himself he had "seen" suddenly took a step forward and merged with him.

The process was so brief it could almost be ignored. Jiang Wang flexed his hands and feet, and everything responded exactly as he wished. At last, in this mysterious world, he had a body in some sense.

And in the next instant, the stars in the vast void surged. An entire brilliant Star River rushed toward him!

He was swallowed by the Star River.

Time seemed to lose all meaning. When Jiang Wang came to himself, he had appeared in a space hazy with immortal energy, while a flood of information flowed through his mind.

This was the world of the Great Void Illusion Realm, and the True Insight Ruins Blessed Land where he stood was enveloped within it.

The silver crescent he had caught was called a Void Key. It was the key to entering this place. Using the power of the Lunar Star, it drew its host's spiritual awareness into the Great Void Illusion Realm.

Everything here was simulated. Other than the fact that it couldn't harm the host's physical body in reality, it was no different from the real thing.

The Dao Evolution Platform was a place to deduce cultivation methods and Daoist Arts. The resource required for these deductions was "Merit."

The Sword Discussion Platform, meanwhile, was dedicated to traversing the Great Void Illusion Realm and sparring with other cultivators.

"Merit" was earned mostly through battle. In fights between opponents of the same rank, a victory earned Merit, while a defeat cost it. Challenging someone of a higher rank came with a corresponding bonus.

There were also a few other ways to earn it. For instance, the corresponding blessed paradises and grotto-heavens produced "Merit" at regular intervals.

Among the seventy-two blessed paradises, the lowest-ranked, East Sea Mountain Blessed Land, produced one hundred Merit each month. Among the lower thirty-six blessed paradises, each rise in rank added ten Merit to the monthly yield. Among the upper thirty-six, each rise in rank added one hundred.

The True Insight Ruins Blessed Land occupied by Zuo Guanglie ranked twenty-third and produced 1,850 Merit each month.

That was the wealth Jiang Wang had at his disposal now.

Though he still didn't know exactly what it could be used for, he could already hear his heart pounding wildly.

This place... This place!

This world of brilliant stars seemed to conceal a tremendous secret.

The Dao Evolution Platform and Sword Discussion Platform alone opened up a vast and turbulent world.

Deduce the Dao in a blessed paradise; discuss the sword in the Star River. What grandeur!

Yet before today, Jiang Wang hadn't even heard its name.

His emotions surged and refused to settle, until his gaze fell on the phantom of a Sundial and he saw the following line of writing:

The master of this blessed land will face a challenge from the master of the twenty-fourth-ranked Green Jade Altar in thirty days.

Defeat will result in a demotion.

The five characters were as black as ink, each one weighing a thousand jun.

"The line was originally, 'Of all the trials of a thousand ages, only death is truly insurmountable; how could the sorrow belong to Lady Xi alone?' I changed the second half."