The Reality of the Extreme Path

Yun Jingheng lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

His body was still weak, but slightly better than yesterday; at least he could move his fingers and turn his neck.

He tried to lift his arm, but it dropped halfway down, like a snapped tree branch.

He sighed.

After a year of inactivity, his muscles had atrophied; he would have to take it slow.

Footsteps sounded from the doorway.

The footsteps were hurried and rapid, and the door was pushed open.

Ye Xinglan stood at the entrance, wearing the Genius Class training uniform, her blonde hair tied into a ponytail, sweat on her forehead.

She had clearly run over, her chest still heaving, but those blue eyes were startlingly bright.

She looked at Yun Jingheng on the bed, and Yun Jingheng looked back at her.

The two stared at each other for three seconds.

Ye Xinglan walked in, stopped by the bedside, and looked down at him.

"You've lost weight," she said.

Yun Jingheng opened his mouth, his voice still hoarse, "Why are you here?"

Ye Xinglan sat down beside him, "I took leave from the intensive training."

"Took leave?"

"Mm."

Ye Xinglan nodded, "I said I had a stomachache."

Yun Jingheng was silent for a moment, "You have a stomachache, so you came to see me?"

Ye Xinglan was righteous, "I have a stomachache, and the school doctor told me to rest. While I was resting, I stopped by to see you."

Yun Jingheng looked out the window.

Sea God Island, Inner Court—to get from the Genius Class training grounds to here, one had to cross the entire Outer Court, a lake, and half the Inner Court.

Stopped by?

He didn't speak.

Ye Xinglan didn't speak either.

She sat by the bed, looking at Yun Jingheng's pale face, his bony, prominent hands, and the thin tube on the back of his hand.

After watching for a while, she suddenly spoke.

"You slept for a year."

Yun Jingheng nodded.

"I came thirty-seven times."

Yun Jingheng was stunned.

Ye Xinglan's tone was very flat, as if she were talking about something very ordinary.

"Every time, I was stopped outside. Your mother said you were sleeping and wouldn't let anyone in."

Yun Jingheng looked at her, not knowing what to say.

Ye Xinglan lowered her head, looking at her own hands.

"The first time I came, the moon in the sky was still full. Later, it slowly waned, and then it was just a sliver. Every time I came, I took a look, and that sliver kept getting thinner."

She raised her head and looked at Yun Jingheng.

"A while ago at night, the line vanished, and I thought, maybe you had woken up."

Yun Jingheng was silent for a moment, "And then?"

Ye Xinglan thought for a moment, "Then I went to train. Teacher Lan said my Sword God Star penetration wasn't enough and made me do extra training. I trained until midnight, practiced for half the morning today, and then my stomach started hurting."

Yun Jingheng looked at her and suddenly felt like laughing.

Stomachache? The tsundere act has retired, sister.

He curled the corners of his lips.

Ye Xinglan glared at him, "What are you laughing at?"

Yun Jingheng shook his head, "Nothing."

Ye Xinglan looked at him and suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable; she stood up.

"Alright, I'm going back. My stomach doesn't hurt anymore, I have to continue training."

She walked to the door, then turned back.

"Yun Jingheng."

"Hm?"

"I heard you reached three rings? What is that third soul ring of yours?"

Yun Jingheng was stunned for a moment.

He hadn't even checked his third soul skill yet.

He sank into his Sea of Spirit and sensed that pale black soul ring.

A stream of information flowed into his mind.

"..."

He remained silent for a while, then looked up at Ye Xinglan.

"I don't know yet."

Ye Xinglan frowned, "You don't know your own soul skill?"

Yun Jingheng nodded, "I just woke up, I haven't had the chance to test it."

Ye Xinglan stared at him for two seconds, "Then get well quickly. Tell me once you've tested it."

She turned and left.

Outside the door, Ye Xinglan leaned against the wall, standing there without leaving.

She lowered her head, looking at the tips of her shoes.

She stood for a while, then turned and walked away.

This time, she really left.

As she walked out of Sea God Island, she glanced back at that window.

The curtains were drawn, and she couldn't see anything.

She withdrew her gaze and strode away.

The training ground was still waiting for her.

After Ye Xinglan left, the room fell silent.

Yun Jingheng lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, her words still spinning in his mind—"What is that third soul ring of yours?"

He recalled the information he had just sensed.

Third Soul Skill: New Moon Assault.

Charge in a designated direction, and enemies along the path suffer from Moonlight impact.

If the destination or the path of the charge contains a target carrying a Moonlight Mark, the skill cooldown is immediately reset.

During the charge, the body enters a phantom state, unable to be locked onto by any means.

Yun Jingheng read it once, then read it again.

Then he opened his eyes, stared at the ceiling, and remained silent for a long time.

It was fortunate that Xiao Jiu in his Sea of Spirit was still asleep.

But once it woke up, it would definitely have something to say.

Because this soul skill was simply too outrageous.

He organized his thoughts.

First Soul Skill Crescent Slash, applies a mark from a distance.

Second Soul Skill Moonlight Protection, pull, shield, invincibility, and also applies a mark.

Third Soul Skill New Moon Assault, charge, reset, phantom state.

Apply a mark, reset the displacement, be invincible during the displacement, and apply another mark after landing.

Then reset again, displace again, be invincible again.

Infinite combo.

As long as his soul power was sufficient and the marks were not broken, he could shuttle across the field indefinitely, remaining in a phantom state, unable to be locked onto or hit.

"This really is an Infinite Moonlight Combo..." he muttered to himself, his voice as hoarse as wood rubbed by sandpaper.

After saying it, he was stunned by his own words.

Then he smiled, a very light smile, the corners of his mouth curling up.

Lying on the bed, he began to ponder the usage of this soul skill.

The core of the reset mechanism lay in the coverage of the marks and the grasp of timing.

The marks could not be broken, the displacement could not miss, and every step had to be calculated.

Achieving an infinite combo was still somewhat difficult; soul power flowed, opponents moved, and the battlefield changed in an instant.

Every charge had to be precise.

Intangibility, unable to be locked onto; this was no longer a feat achievable through mere speed or footwork.

In that instant of charging, he did not belong to this space. Any attack, any lock-on, any perception would pass right through him, as if passing through a beam of moonlight.

Moonlight.

He suddenly recalled that day in the Spirit Ascension Platform, when he had forcibly charged from the Crescent Moon into the Full Moon, and from the Full Moon into the Blood Moon.

Back then, he understood nothing; he only knew how to slash, only knew how to charge.

Things were different now.

He had tools, he had power that could be used repeatedly, power that would not spiral out of control.

New Moon Assault.

This was his first displacement soul skill in the true sense.

Mark Pursuit was a teleport, a result, not a process.

But New Moon Assault was a process—one he chose actively, one he could control, a process that allowed him to shuttle freely across the battlefield.

"Tomorrow should be a bit better..."

Eastsea City, Eastsea Academy.

The day's training had come to an end.

Gu Yue sat by the dormitory window, watching the last trace of sunset sink below the horizon.

They were setting off for Skysea City tomorrow; perhaps this opportunity would allow her to make contact with Shrek.

And so... demonstrate the value of her martial soul, then enter Shrek, and reach the moon.

It was simply perfect~

She did not turn on the lights. The room was dark, with only the faint glimmer from outside the window illuminating her profile.

Footsteps sounded from the corner, very light, but her ears twitched.

"Come here."

Di Tian emerged from the shadows and knelt on one knee behind her.

He did not speak, merely taking an object from his robes and holding it above his head with both hands.

It was a soul bone, entirely silver-white, its surface flowing with a faint luster like solidified moonlight.

The quality was extremely high—at least a hundred-thousand-year level soul bone; if placed in the outside world, it would be enough to drive any soul master mad.

Gu Yue did not turn back, merely glancing at the moon outside the window.

"Has he awakened?"

Di Tian nodded.

"He woke up three days ago. His body is very weak, but his soul power is stable. Three rings; the third ring is ten-thousand-year level."

Gu Yue did not speak.

The corners of her mouth curved slightly, a smile so faint it was almost imperceptible.

Di Tian knelt behind her, holding the soul bone in his hands, remaining silent for a long time.

Finally, he spoke, his voice very low, "Lord, this subordinate does not understand."

Gu Yue turned her head to look at him.

Di Tian's expression was complex, filled with confusion, bewilderment, and a trace of unwillingness he had not even noticed himself.

"The Extreme Path Nirvana Fruit is the only one you brought down from the God Realm. It is something even gods could make use of."

He paused, "You gave it to a human."

Gu Yue looked at him without speaking.

Di Tian continued, "And this soul bone, the core remains of a six-hundred-sixty-thousand-year Jade Rabbit—are you going to give him this as well?"

Gu Yue withdrew her gaze and looked back at the moon outside the window.

The moonlight was bright, falling upon her face and casting a faint silver glow.

"Di Tian," she began, her voice very soft, "do you know what the effect of the Extreme Path Nirvana Fruit is?"

Di Tian was stunned for a moment, "Nirvana rebirth, shedding one's mortal frame."

Gu Yue nodded, "Correct. Nirvana rebirth, shedding one's mortal frame."

"But it has a prerequisite: the user must have a foundation deep enough to bear this power."

"The deeper the foundation, the higher the achievement after nirvana. If the foundation is insufficient, they will only explode and die."

She paused, "Do you think his foundation is enough?"

Di Tian was silent for a moment, "Then the moon..."

"Exactly."

Gu Yue interrupted him, "That is the final creation of the Plane Master, the purest Martial Soul this world could ever birth. Its foundations are terrifyingly deep."

She stood up and walked to the window, the moonlight shrouding her entire figure in a silvery-white halo.

Her hair began to change, slowly fading from black to silver-white, strand by strand, as if dyed by the moonlight itself.

She turned back to look at Di Tian, her eyes having already transformed into a deep, profound shade of violet.

"The Extreme Path Nirvana Fruit is merely a painkiller to me now."

"My injury is in my Divine Core, not my body. Eating it would, at most, make me comfortable for a few days, and then what? It would remain the same."

Her voice was calm, so calm it sounded as if she were speaking of something that had nothing to do with her.

"Rather than wasting it on me, it is better to give it to someone who can actually use it."

Di Tian knelt there, his grip tightening slightly on the spirit bone.

"Then what about this spirit bone? Lady Jade Rabbit fought to the death to protect you back then, her remains..."

"Di Tian."

Gu Yue turned her head to look at him, her gaze as still as a stagnant pool.

Di Tian's words caught in his throat, and he could not continue.

"Jade Rabbit died for me back then; I remember it."

Gu Yue's voice was very soft. "Her remains have been in my hands for so many years, and I have never used them. Do you know why?"

Di Tian shook his head.

Gu Yue withdrew her gaze and looked at the moon outside the window.

"Because there is no use for them. My body does not need a spirit bone to be strengthened, and my power does not need a spirit bone to be replenished. In my hands, it is just a bone."

She paused. "But in his hands, it can become a shield, a sword, a means to save his life."

Di Tian knelt there, saying nothing.

Gu Yue walked back to the window, turning her back to him. "When Jade Rabbit died, she asked me to take good care of her remains. She said, 'Do not let them go to waste.'"

Her voice was faint. "Find someone who can use them. After tens of thousands of years, I have found that person."

Di Tian lowered his head. "This subordinate understands."

Gu Yue nodded. "Once his body has recovered, find a way for him to obtain that spirit bone through reasonable means."

Di Tian knelt there, silent for a long time.

Then, he put the spirit bone away and stood up. "This subordinate understands."

Gu Yue nodded. "There is one more thing."

Di Tian waited for her to continue.

Gu Yue looked at the moon outside the window, the moonlight falling upon her face.

"Go and investigate whether there is something called 'Nether Jade Dew Grass'."

Di Tian was taken aback. "Nether Jade Dew Grass?"

"A legendary immortal herb capable of repairing damage to the divine soul."

Gu Yue's voice was faint. "It only exists in places where the moonlight is eternal; no one has ever seen it."

Di Tian frowned. "My Lord, if no one has ever seen it—"

"That is why I am having you investigate it."

Gu Yue interrupted him. "It does not matter if you cannot find it; it was only a legend to begin with."

Di Tian bowed his head. "Yes."

Gu Yue waved her hand. Di Tian's figure vanished into the shadows.

"We... are all lonely."