Escape to Heaven

A sharp claw pierced through the heart, then slowly pulled itself out.

The heart was fresh, twitching mechanically every now and then.

That claw was familiar; Mo Jingxian had seen it on Kashima Chuwa.

He had even crossed blades with it, so he could not be mistaken—that was the claw of a transformed Satori.

It was just slightly smaller, the bone a more ghastly shade of white, but there was no mistaking it.

Long Yunzhi's expression froze on his face as he looked down in disbelief.

For the first time, he saw his own heart.

Mo Jingxian had never seen so many emotional shifts on a person's face, all played out in such a fleeting moment.

There was confusion, unwillingness, bewilderment, and in the end, even a hint of relief.

Long Yunzhi was dead.

He had died at the hands of Wugou.

The child he had used time and again to threaten Mui.

Long Yunzhi hadn't even managed to leave behind a single word, his mouth still hanging open, unable to close.

Interwoven with all the schemes of the world, he too had been unable to escape the jar of venomous insects.

Long Yunzhi died too casually, a death that did not befit his ambition at all.

"Father, I'm sorry! I..."

Wugou clutched the heart in his hand, acting like a child who had done something wrong, his first thought being—

To beg for his father's forgiveness.

"Do not blame yourself. This is the power that belongs to you; it is not a monster."

Before Mo Jingxian, a scene of fatherly love and filial piety suddenly unfolded, the transition coming with jarring abruptness.

How many more secrets remained that he did not know, and he had no interest in knowing them anymore.

The outcome was clear: Mui and his son had laughed until the end.

Long Yunzhi had prided himself on his intelligence and long-term planning, but he had never stepped outside the grand design Mui had laid out for him.

Thus, the result had been destined from the start.

"Satori" is unique; that much was true.

That child, Wugou... had long since become the true Satori.

Mo Jingxian had been keeping a portion of his focus on his system panel.

The moment Long Yunzhi fell, the final rule logically fell into his body.

The rules were now complete.

The name listed on the panel changed from Mo Jingxian to "Pseudo-Satori."

With things reaching this point, all the previous events finally made sense.

Mui had been using the Box of Ultimate Bliss to nurture a Satori, while incidentally plotting Long Yunzhi's death.

As for why he hadn't made a move against Mo Jingxian yet, he likely deemed it unnecessary.

At this moment, a thought of submission stirred within Mo Jingxian's heart.

If Wugou hadn't been so young, not yet fully transformed into a true Satori, he might have already knelt at his feet.

A Satori possessed rule-like dominion over all "Pseudo-Satoris."

Mo Jingxian placed the "Pseudo-Satori" rule onto the Balance of Fate.

Once it entered his body, it became his property—that was sound logic, right?

At least, that was how he interpreted it.

The Balance of Fate was quite generous, accepting the rule fragment and providing an equivalent item in return.

"Talent: Wind Element Mastery (Basic), Passive: +10 to 'Nature' and 'Life' attributes."

If he remembered correctly, the first trade had only granted 10 points to his Life attribute.

It seemed the quality of the item traded this time was higher than that of the Sharingan.

Through three trades, he had gradually grasped the pricing logic of the Balance of Fate.

Generally speaking: Rules > Permissions > Applications.

These transactions were completed within his consciousness, while his physical body began to undergo "Pseudo-Satori" transformation.

His legs slowly elongated, and his feet were rapidly turning into bird-like talons.

Time waited for no one, so he confirmed the "Exchange" option.

The instant his consciousness descended, the power of that rule within his body vanished into thin air.

Mo Jingxian suddenly felt a sense of freedom, as if he were soaring through the heavens and earth, and his depleted chakra reserves visibly surged back to fullness.

His body recovered rapidly, and his mental energy overflowed from its confined pool, continuously breaking through its previous limits.

He felt better than ever; in a short span of time, he had returned to his peak state.

It was not just himself that had changed.

Once the rules were extracted, the corpse of Long Yunzhi also reverted to its human appearance.

The traces of the Pseudo-Satori were completely erased, as if it had never existed in this world at all.

Mui also sensed the change and charged toward him in disbelief.

"What did you do?"

His opponent's expression did not seem feigned; Mo Jingxian had jumped out of the chessboard, and before leaving, he had flipped the board over.

The space inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss began to fluctuate violently, flipping upside down.

Mo Jingxian and the others felt like insects trapped in a jar, completely unable to distinguish up from down.

When his feet finally touched the ground and he felt the solidity of the earth, he realized he had returned to the original underground altar.

Everything inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss had been spat out.

He was the first to regain his senses, and seeing that Mui was still in a daze, he grabbed Long Yunzhi's corpse and bolted for the exit.

Mo Jingxian's actions jolted Mui back to reality.

The floor of the hall was littered with corpses, the blood still fresh, no different from when they had first entered.

Mui searched the area quickly, but failed to find any sign of his son.

He looked toward the Box of Ultimate Bliss atop the altar with a stunned expression, a growing sense of dread filling his heart.

The sun was warm and the breeze gentle, with vast stretches of grassland extending to the horizon.

Having escaped from Hozuki Castle, Mo Jingxian had traveled a long distance, running over a hundred miles in one breath.

He reckoned Mui was still busy cleaning up the mess and wouldn't be able to spare the effort to pursue him for the time being.

Besides, he hadn't revealed his identity, so he should be safe for now.

Mo Jingxian identified his bearings; he was likely approaching the border of the Land of Rain.

There was no rush to retrieve the secret documents; he should first take stock of his gains.

Far from any human habitation, he had no fear of being discovered, so he sat down to rest for a moment.

He opened his panel and took a glance.

[Host: Mo Jingxian]
[Life: 43]
[Nature: 27]
[Skills: Nintaijutsu, Water Dragon Technique, Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique, Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change, Wind Release: Vacuum Blade, Principles of Sealing Jutsu, Water Style: Fire-State Seal]
[Talents: Water Element Mastery (Intermediate), Wind Element Mastery (Beginner)]
[Tradable: Luck, Soul, Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique, Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change, Water Style: Fire-State Seal]
[Reputation: 671]

His personal stats had increased significantly, especially his "Life" stat, which was nearing the threshold of a Jonin.

Having unlocked the Wind Element Mastery talent, his means of dealing with enemies and his tactical versatility had greatly expanded.

Through this incident, Mo Jingxian realized a shortcoming: he lacked powerful offensive methods.

Once he faced an enemy who excelled in defense, he found it quite troublesome, which was very frustrating.

He closed the panel and tried to circulate the chakra within his body, releasing the ninjutsu Wind Release: Vacuum Blade.

Previously, this technique required attachment to a weapon, but now he could manifest it barehanded.

The wind-attribute chakra, possessing cutting properties, did not harm his palms.

With a casual wave of his hand, the two-foot-tall wild grass was shorn at the top.

The blades of grass danced in the air, the cuts as smooth as if sliced by a blade.

He retracted his palm and examined it repeatedly.

Hmm, the application of the technique was more fluid; it wasn't limited to his palms, but could even be used with his soles—any point from which he could channel chakra.

He waved his hand again, and the Vacuum Blade detached from his palm, shooting out like a flying dagger for dozens of meters.

A five-finger-wide trench was left in the grassland.

Mo Jingxian stopped his experimentation, having gained a clear understanding of how the wind element affected his ninjutsu.

Practice makes perfect; with his prior experience in cultivating the water element, he quickly mastered his new talent.

Next, it was time to consider the greatest harvest from this adventure.

A jade tablet with three cracks rested in the palm of his hand.

What kind of inheritance could it be? He could finally get to the bottom of it.

He began to slowly channel water elements into it, and the jade tablet gradually emitted a hazy green glow.

Mo Jingxian did not rush, maintaining a steady flow for fear of accidentally damaging the tablet.

This process lasted for roughly three minutes before the jade tablet stopped absorbing energy.

The fluorescent glow did not fade; it remained in that state.

Mo Jingxian observed it for a moment, then, steeling his heart, pressed it against his forehead.

He did not know if this was the right thing to do, but since there were no instructions, he might as well give it a try.

The moment the jade tablet made contact, information surged into his sea of consciousness like a tidal wave.

There were no miraculous visions from the heavens, nor were there any trials; it was completed with such ease.

The jade tablet finished its final transmission and shattered into pieces in an instant.

Mo Jingxian closed his eyes to perceive the information.

The information was not in any language, or rather, no language could clearly express what it contained.

The feeling was quite magical; he did not understand it, yet he knew its meaning.

If he had to convert it into understandable text, perhaps "breathing method" would be the most fitting term.

Mo Jingxian named it the "True Breathing Method," and the system panel quickly recorded the name.

He had not forgotten how practical Long Yunzhi's taijutsu was, and, eager to try it himself, he immediately threw himself into practice.

Mo Jingxian sat cross-legged, his back straight but not stiff, his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth, his entire body relaxed.

He focused his mind on the tip of his nose: when inhaling, his intent guided the breath to sink into his lower abdomen.

When exhaling, he retracted his lower abdomen, imagining the airflow circulating through his internal organs before slowly expelling it from his body.

He cast aside all distracting thoughts, attempting to capture spirit particles in the void; he did not count the inhalations, but counted from one to ten during the exhalation to complete one cycle.

The information contained a single maxim: "Those who consume qi shall become divine and live long."

He assumed this meant increasing one's lifespan.

Mo Jingxian followed the instructions; regulating his breathing was simple, but he did not quite understand this "capturing spirit particles" with his mind. What were spirit particles?

There was no one to answer this question.

He did not understand, but he could experiment; various elements were likely close to the definition of spirit particles.

If it meant capturing elements, that was simple—not only could he capture them, he could even chat with them.

Soon, Mo Jingxian discovered that only water and wind elements remained within his body.

Furthermore, the elements did not just participate in his chakra; a portion of them also integrated into his body and his sea of consciousness.

Perhaps it was because he could only perceive these two types of elements, or perhaps there was another reason.

He did not understand, but as long as it was useful, that was enough. He practiced in a daze for an hour, only stopping when his head began to throb.

Opening his eyes again, the world seemed a bit brighter, though he did not know if it was just his imagination.

He checked himself from head to toe, but other than his hearing and vision being sharper, there seemed to be no difference.

"Perhaps it is because the time has been too short."

Mo Jingxian felt this must be the case; Long Yunzhi had practiced for over a decade to achieve such results.

But time was exactly what he lacked. Fortunately, there were no side effects, so it was better than nothing.

Pulling back his thoughts, he shifted his attention to ninjutsu.

A miniature Water Flood Dragon appeared in his palm. He controlled the dragon to perform a few movements, finding it much easier than before.

This was the benefit brought by the growth of his "nature" attribute; his mental power had been comprehensively improved.

He slowly added wind-attribute chakra, but when the two reached a balance, the ninjutsu shattered.

Mo Jingxian frowned in thought:

The fusion of wind and water attributes into Ice Release was correct.

As for the reason why the ninjutsu shattered...