Life and Death: First Cycle

Path Rift.

Quan Cangtian sat cross-legged on the black ground.

Above him was a starry sky.

Silvery-white stars flickered.

Electrolux's voice came from the Consciousness Sea.

"Don't rush."

"Feel the ground beneath your feet."

Quan Cangtian lowered his head.

The black ground was so smooth it reflected his image.

He had not noticed before that something was seeping from the cracks in the ground.

It was faint.

A chill crept upward from the soles of his feet.

"This is Death Qi."

Electrolux spoke.

"The Death Energy within the Path Rift is several times denser than outside."

"Your cultivation will be much more efficient here."

Quan Cangtian tried touching that chill with his spiritual power.

The Abundance Power instinctively rejected it.

The emerald-green specks of light in his Dantian pulsed, pushing outward.

The two forces collided within his abdomen.

It hurt.

Cold sweat slid down his forehead and dripped onto the black ground, which absorbed it.

Quan Cangtian gritted his teeth.

Electrolux spoke.

"Don't force it."

"You learned this before: harmonize opposing qi."

"Don't make them fight. Make them negotiate."

Quan Cangtian loosened his taut spiritual power.

He stopped pushing.

And stopped pulling.

He simply left them there.

The Abundance Power was still squeezing outward, but with less force.

The Death Qi cautiously edged forward a little.

Then edged forward a little more.

Very slowly.

The two forces swirled together in his Dantian, neither one consuming the other.

Quan Cangtian felt bloated and chilled inside. It was not exactly comfortable, but it hurt far less.

Just as he was about to sigh in relief.

His palm suddenly twitched.

The Dark Red Crystal.

Quan Cangtian's heart lurched.

Damn it, the gene is going out of control.

He instinctively clenched his fist, ready to activate Autonomous Adaptation.

But the crystal twitched twice, then stopped.

Not the kind of stop brought about by suppression.

It had settled down.

It was even more stable than when Autonomous Adaptation suppressed it.

Quan Cangtian froze.

Electrolux's voice changed.

"What is moving inside your body?"

Quan Cangtian spread open his palm.

"Something the Dark Soul Cult planted in me."

"The gene."

Electrolux fell silent.

He stayed silent for a long time.

So long that Quan Cangtian thought he had left.

"Death Energy can soothe that thing?"

Electrolux did not sound as though he was asking Quan Cangtian. He sounded more like he was asking himself.

"Interesting."

Quan Cangtian tried guiding another wisp of Death Qi toward it.

The crystal did not react.

It remained utterly still.

As if it had fallen asleep.

Electrolux spoke.

"Don't be greedy."

"You won't be able to withstand too much Death Qi."

Quan Cangtian withdrew his spiritual power.

But he remembered this.

Electrolux spoke.

"That thing inside you was put there by someone else. It isn't yours."

Quan Cangtian replied.

"I know."

Electrolux spoke.

"It grows by devouring Life Energy."

"When it encounters Death Energy, it has met its natural enemy."

Quan Cangtian's heart stirred.

"Can Death Qi be used to kill it completely?"

Electrolux paused.

"No."

"Your Death Energy is too weak right now."

"Touching it is fine, but killing it? You're far from capable."

Quan Cangtian said nothing.

Electrolux spoke.

"But it can serve as an auxiliary measure."

"Autonomous Adaptation suppresses it."

"Death Qi soothes it."

"Two-pronged approach."

Quan Cangtian nodded.

He committed this path to memory.

Body Sect stronghold.

Basement.

Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged on the floor.

Within his Spiritual Sea, pale golden eyes floated in the air.

They had been motionless before.

Now, they were turning.

Very slowly.

But they were definitely turning.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was beside himself with excitement nearby.

"Yuhao, you're almost there!"

Ice Empress spoke.

"Only the second stage."

"There's still a long way to go."

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm fell silent.

Du Busi stood nearby, watching Huo Yuhao.

He turned and said to Jin Peng.

"This boy's spiritual power is even stronger than I expected."

Jin Peng replied.

"Is it because he has three Martial Souls?"

Du Busi shook his head.

"Not only that."

"There's something in his Spiritual Sea."

Jin Peng wanted to ask further.

Du Busi did not continue.

Quan Batian had instructed them not to ask.

Inn.

Quan Cangtian opened his eyes.

It was dark outside the window.

Zixiao sat beside him.

The Thunder Light Sword lay across her knees.

She had been there the whole time.

Quan Cangtian flexed his fingers.

Zixiao spoke.

"What did you learn this time?"

It was not a question.

Quan Cangtian replied.

"Something my master taught me."

"Undead Magic."

Zixiao looked at him.

"There's enough chaos inside your body already."

Quan Cangtian smiled.

"One more thing means one more path."

Zixiao did not respond.

She did not leave.

Quan Cangtian knew she would not leave.

Quan Cangtian went to find Quan Batian.

He told him that Death Energy could soothe the gene.

After hearing him out, Quan Batian leaned back in his chair.

"Is Electrolux's judgment reliable?"

Quan Cangtian replied.

"He has studied life and death for thousands of years."

"He understands it better than anyone."

Quan Batian nodded.

After a while.

"Don't put all your chips in one basket."

Quan Cangtian replied.

"I know."

"Autonomous Adaptation is the main method."

"Death Qi is the auxiliary."

Quan Batian spoke.

"The Dark Soul Cult has been quiet for several days."

"Not normal."

Quan Cangtian.

"They're waiting for a month."

Quan Batian said nothing.

But they both knew that the quieter it was, the more dangerous it became.

Dark Alley District.

The third stronghold.

Basement.

The Titled Douluo stood beside the table.

The Soul Tool on the table lit up.

The Pontifex's voice came through.

"Withdraw."

The Titled Douluo did not move.

"Why?"

The Pontifex.

"Let him cultivate."

"The stronger he becomes, the faster the gene grows."

"Then we'll harvest it all at once."

The Soul Tool went dark.

The Titled Douluo stood there for several seconds.

Then he turned around.

"Withdraw."

Several Spirit Douluo began moving the Soul Tools.

They moved quickly.

The aura of the Dark Alley District was fading.

Inn.

Quan Cangtian sat on the bed.

His palm faced upward.

The crystal did not jump.

It lay perfectly still.

He sensed the aura in the southeast weakening.

The Dark Soul Cult was withdrawing.

He went to find Quan Batian.

"They're withdrawing."

Quan Batian frowned.

"Why?"

Quan Cangtian thought for a moment.

"Maybe they think there's no point in making a move against me now."

Quan Batian.

"Or maybe they're waiting for a bigger opportunity."

Neither of them said it aloud.

But they both understood.

This was not a good thing.

Night.

Path Rift.

Quan Cangtian sat down cross-legged once more.

Electrolux.

"Try the Life and Death Samsara Art."

"Let the Death Qi and Life Qi make a circuit through your body."

Quan Cangtian closed his eyes.

Death Qi flowed in through the soles of his feet.

Life Qi surged out from his Dantian.

The two forces met within his body.

He guided them.

Death Qi in front, Life Qi behind.

They circled his Dantian.

Slowly.

After half a circuit, they dispersed.

Quan Cangtian tried again.

Death Qi in front, Life Qi behind.

After half a circuit, they dispersed again.

The third time.

Death Qi in front, Life Qi behind.

They completed one circuit.

It worked.

Only for an instant.

But Quan Cangtian felt that, in that instant, the power inside him flowed a little more smoothly than usual.

Only a little.

Electrolux.

"This is the rudiment of harmonizing the qi."

"When you can keep this cycle from stopping."

"You'll have entered the Life and Death Samsara Art."

Quan Cangtian tried three more times.

They all dispersed.

Electrolux.

"No rush."

"You've only been learning for one day."

Quan Cangtian opened his eyes.

The crystal in his palm lay perfectly still.

A trace of Death Qi still lingered in his body.

The crystal was stable.

He clenched his fist.

The one-month countdown was ticking away.

The quieter it was, the more dangerous it became.

But he had gained another path.